Smart People Podcast

Chris and I have a discussion about Nintendo following our interview with Jeff Ryan. As you can tell, we had a lot of fun discussing Nintendo this week. Leave your top 5 games in the comments section! Episode below:

A lot of the ways companies reach you on a daily basis can be tied back to one man.  This same man was recently dubbed "America's Greatest Marketer" by American Way Magazine.  Well, it just so happens that this week we had a chance to interview this man - his name is Seth Godin.  Seth is a fantastic author who has written thirteen books that have been translated into more than thirty languages. Every one has been a bestseller. He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, and marketing. His book Free Prize Inside was a Forbes Business Book of the Year in 2004, Purple Cow sold over 150,000 copies in more than 23 printings and The Dip was a Business Week and New York Times bestseller. His most recent books, Linchpin and Poke the Box are both remarkable reads. Seth is also a serial entrepreneur, having founded numerous companies such as Yoyodyne and Squidoo.com.  Born in Mount Vernon, New York, Seth Godin graduated from Tufts University in 1979 with a degree in computer science and philosophy. Godin earned his MBA in marketing from Stanford Business School. For more info on Seth, please visit his site: http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/bio.asp.

We've all had the thought before. "That's it. I'm quitting my job and I am going to culinary school. I am becoming a chef or opening my own restaurant." Personally, I've had this thought many times. I've contemplated opening a food truck, a restaurant, or a hot dog stand. I love food. Who doesn't love food? It is one of the things that makes most of the people in this world happy. This week we talk to food critic/chef Lauren Shockey. Lauren decided to quit her job, go to culinary school and travel the world as a chef. Not only did her passion lead her to her current job as a food critic, but it also provided the stories for her book, Four Kitchens. Lauren has an undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago. She also holds a diploma from The French Culinary Institute and a Master of Arts in food studies from New York University. Currently, Lauren is a staff writer at the Village Voice.

Take a look into the sky tonight and try to imagine how many planets are out there. As of February 2011, there are 1,235 unconfirmed planetary candidates out there. It is widely estimated that there are billions of planets in our galaxy alone. Did you know that one man is responsible for discovering 70 of the first 100 extrasolar planets? That man is Dr. Geoff Marcy. He did not accomplish this feat alone, but it is still an incredible one. Dr. Marcy received his BA from UCLA and his PhD from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He has won countless awards including the Henry Draper Medal of the National Academy of Sciences, The Shaw Prize, and the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement.  Please join us as we have a wonderful discussion about the universe with Dr. Marcy. For more on Dr. Marcy, check out his autobiography at: http://astro.berkeley.edu/~gmarcy/Autobiography_marcy.pdf

How many times have you found yourself wondering why you are not as happy as you could be? There are plenty of times that I am sit at my desk and I start to wonder things like, "am I on the right career path?," "what would make me truly happy?," or "what does being happy really mean?". Gretchen Rubin asked herself the same question one day and decided to do something about it. In the process of doing so, she documented her steps on the path of becoming "happy". The resulting product was the New Your Times bestseller, The Happiness Project. Gretchen received her undergraduate and law degrees from Yale University and was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal. She was also a clerk on the U.S. Supreme Court for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and served as a chief adviser to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt. You can find out more about Gretchen at her website, http://www.gretchenrubin.com/. For more on The Happiness Project, head over to http://www.happiness-project.com and http://happinessprojecttoolbox.com/.

This week's guest is a guy I would love to emulate.  His profession goes a little something like this.  Find interesting subject, research the hell out of interesting subject, write about interesting subject in a clear and interesting manor, and make bank.  Not too many writers perform this process nearly as well as our guest, William (Bill) Poundstone. Poundstone is the best-selling author of eleven books. His Fortune's Formula was Amazon Editors' Pick for #1 nonfiction book of 2005. In our interview with Bill, we focus mainly on 4 topics he has written about: How can we change the way we vote in America, why do companies ask stupid riddles during job interviews, how are price's determined, what is the best system for betting, gambling and the stock market.  Bill has written for The New York Times book review and op-ed page, the Village Voice, Esquire, Harpers, The Believer, The Economist, and Harvard Business Review. He has appeared on the Today Show, David Letterman, CBS Morning News, Larry King, and hundreds of radio talk shows throughout the world. Bill's newest book, Priceless: The Myth of Fail Value can be found at Amazon and your local book store. To find out more about Bill Poundstone, please visit his website: http://home.williampoundstone.net/

Do you ever reflect on your relationship and wonder why your partner does some of the things they do? "Honey, can you mow the lawn?" "Why don't we ever sit down and talk?" "I feel like our physical relationship is lacking." These are all things that most of you have heard from your husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, or partner at one time or another. Often, these things can lead to many arguments in a relationship. In this week's interview, we speak with Dr. Chapman as he addresses these "languages" in, "The Five Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts". Take a listen and try implementing Dr. Chapman's advice in your relationships. Who knows, maybe you will find more happiness in your relationships! You can find your love language by taking Dr. Chapman's quiz at his site: Five Love Languages.

This week's episode is one that we probably should be airing closer to the New Year.  See, most people start off the new year with lofty goals for the future - the infamous new years resolution.  However, we all know the problems with these.  Come March, that beer gut is still highly visible, those cigarettes are still just as addictive and that treadmill is still just as annoying.  Well this week, we here at Smart People Podcast arm you with the tools to make those resolutions reality. This episode we interview Kerry Patterson, author of Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success. Cofounder of VitalSmarts, Kerry has coauthored four New York Times bestselling books as well as designed the company's line of award-winning training programs. He received the prestigious 2004 BYU Marriott School of Management Dyer Award for outstanding contribution in organizational behavior. He also did his doctoral work in organizational behavior at Stanford University. Based upon the latest research in a number of psychological and medical fields, the authors of CHANGE ANYTHING will show that traditional will-power is not necessarily the answer to these strivings, that people are affected in their behaviors by far more subtle influences. CHANGE ANYTHING shows how individuals can come to understand these powerful and influential forces, and how to put these forces to work in a positive manner that brings real and meaningful results.

What does it mean to be educated? What does intelligence truly mean? These are tough questions, but luckily we get the chance to sit down with Dr. Mike Rose to discuss them Dr. Rose received a B.A. from Loyola University, an M.S. from the University of Southern California, and both an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. He has taught in a wide range of educational settings, from kindergarten to adult literacy programs. Currently, Dr. Rose is on the faculty of the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. Rose has written a number of books and has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Grawemeyer Award in Education, and the Commonwealth Club of California Award for Literary Excellence in Nonfiction. He has also been honored by the Spencer Foundation, the McDonnell Foundation Program in Cognitive Studies for Educational Practice, the National Council of Teachers of English, the Modern Language Association, and the National Academy of Education. He is the author of ten books including the book we discuss with him, Why School? Reclaiming Education for All of Us. You can find out more about Dr. Rose at his website: http://mikerosebooks.blogspot.com/.  

People enjoy doing things that they are good at - this is no secret.  However, many people don't even know how to assess themselves and find their strengths.  How can you find your path, what truly makes you happy, if you don't even have a good grasp on who you are? This is something so many people suffer with (or at least ponder on a regular basis).  Here at Smart People Podcast, we have a theory.  Ya see, this Millennial Generation is having a hard time.  This generation is perhaps the first ever (maybe there were a few lucky individuals before them) to have the time and the means to focus on themselves.  In the past, people were just happy to have a paying job that allows them to support their family.  But these days, with a boost in productivity and creativity due to technology, along with the fairly solid financial foundation that has been laid by those before us (relatively speaking - back in the day if you didn't have a job, you didn't eat - period!) people are allowed to sit back and try to figure out what they REALLY want.  What is REALLY going to make ME happy? We have the resources to learn about all of these different opportunities.  The world is at our fingertips.  But at times, this can be as much of a curse as it is a blessing.  What happens if we pick the wrong career or calling? Join us this week as we interview Donna Dunning, PhD.  Donna is a psychologist, author, consultant, certified teacher, and member of the MBTI® International Training Faculty. She specializes in the areas of career development, learning, and work performance.   For over twenty-five years she has provided consulting services including counseling, training, assessment, research, writing, evaluation, program development, and performance management. Donna has written numerous books on the subject such as What's Your Type of Career?: Find Your Perfect Career By Using Your Personality Type and 10 Career Essentials: Excel at Your Career by Using Your Personality Type.  Please check out her website for tons of amazing insight at http://www.dunning.ca/ Also, we here at SPP recommend the following site for taking the Myers Briggs and finding out your personality type.  You will be surprised at what you learn. http://www.personalitypage.com/ It costs $5 (which is much cheaper than any other out there).  This is in no way associate with us, just a great site that we both used! FINALLY, don't forget to use this link for all of your amazon purchases: Smart People Podcast Amazon Page - It helps out the podcast at NO COST TO YOU!

You've all had the feeling before. You're laying and bed and you start to itch somewhere on your body. Then that itch spreads. After a few moments panic is running through your head. "Oh man. What if I have bed bugs?!!?" It's an awful feeling, but what if it were true? Would you know what to look for? Would you know what to do? This episode, we interview Jeff Eisenberg, who is widely known as an expert in the field of bed bugs. He has been interviewed by The NY Times, CNN, and The Wall Street Journal. Jeff recently wrote a book called The Bed Bug Survival Guide (proceeds are donated to charity. Buy a book and help out!). You can buy Jeff's book at Amazon and other bookstores. His company's website can be found at www.pestawayinc.com.

This week on the podcast we have the very polarizing author and political commentator, Andrew Breitbart.  Andrew got his first break in 1995 when he contacted Matt Drudge and became part of the now infamous Drudge Report.  As he proclaims in our interview, he was "a slacker that just happened to be in the right place at the right time."  Soon after, he was put in touch with Arianna Huffington and the two of them created yet another hugely popular website called the Huffington Post.  With these two slam dunks on his resume, Andrew began to get his hands into various aspects of life, primarily concentrating his efforts in the political arena.  Breitbart's work has been published in the Wall Street Journal, National Review Online and the Weekly Standard Online, among others. He writes a weekly column for The Washington Times, which also appears at Real Clear Politics.  In this episode we cover numerous aspects of Andrew's background, beliefs and ideas - primarily in relation to his new book titled Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World, which discusses his political transition from liberal to conservative and his self-declared yet unconvincing hopes of creating a more transparent media.    You can find more of Andrew at www.breitbart.com and www.biggovernment.com/

Warning: SEX We spend the majority of this episode talking about sex and the female orgasm.  Ohhhh, so NOW you're interested?? You pervert (just kidding!).  Join us this episode as we speak with author, sex coach and therapist Nicole Daedone about her brand new book "Slow Sex: The Art and Craft of the Female Orgasm".  Nicole is the founder of OneTaste, a coed live-in commune and for-profit business dedicated to female orgasm, that promotes greater personal awareness and interpersonal connectivity through the practice of Orgasmic Meditation and Slow Sex. Nicole's slow sex practice has been covered by The New York Times, New York Post, EnlightenNext, the Huffington Post, ABC News Nightline and more. This weeks episode covers a lot of really interesting, exciting and especially embarrassing topics regarding sex that are bound to make even the most shameless listener blush - Jon and I sure did. However, Nicole is a true professional.  She really makes you sit back and feel at ease and we guarantee you will quickly find yourself engaged in the conversation.  And as with all of our episodes here on Smart People Podcast, we have a feeling you're going to learn a thing or two - you can thank us later (and so can your spouse). Nicole also has a great website worth checking out: OneTaste

Jancis started her academic career at Oxford University studying mathematics and philosophy. After working for a travel company, she decided that she wanted to follow her passion and became the assistant editor for Wine & Spirit. Jancis is now an Officer of the Order of the British Empire and a Master of Wine. She writes for the Financial Times and on her website, www.jancisrobinson.com.  She has written many books and even provides advice for Queen Elizabeth II's wine cellar. If you want to learn anything about wine, you don't need to look further than The Oxford Companion to Wine. Jancis wrote and edited this book, which is considered to be the most comprehensive wine encyclopedia in the world. Enjoy the interview AND a nice glass of wine!

Be honest. How often do you check social media sites throughout the day? How much do you now rely on carrying around a cell phone on a day to day basis? Do you ever stop to think about all the interaction we have with technology? Dr. Pamela Rutledge does just that. She is a media psychologist that studies the interaction of human experience and media technologies. Dr. Rutledge received a BA from Pomona College in Studio Art, an MBA from the Drucker School of Business at Claremont Graduate University, and an MA and PhD in Media Psychology from Fielding Graduate University. She is currently the Director of the Media Psychology Resource Center and the co-found of A Think Lab, which is an organization that focuses on a synthesis of psychology, media and technology, neuroscience, culture, and creativity.