Podcast

Create With Crap (& Other Empowering Approaches To Success) — Featuring Cathy Salit

2016-05-20

Introducing Cathy Salit -- a master of improvisation. Salit started improvising young. When she was only 12, she was so miserable at school, her mother convinced her to drop out and create her own school.  She has been improvising ever since.  Like any great improviser, when Salit sees a “crappy” situation, she sees an opportunity to create something better.  Do you know what happens when you take that improvisational mentality out of the theater and into almost any other workplace? That’s what Salit reveals in her new book, “Performance Breakthrough:  A Radical Approach to Success at Work.” What she shares during our half-hour conversation will, I believe, help make your work life a more satisfying production – and your home life too.

The Late Bloomer Advantage In Sports

2016-05-01

“The Sports Gene” author, David Epstein, joins me for a conversation that will empower young athletes, their parents, and coaches.  Our launching point is the case of late blooming QB Carson Wentz, the number 2 pick in the 2016 NFL draft.  Did Wentz rise to the top despite the fact that he was a late bloomer, or because of it?  The answer has profound implications for youth sports. Epstein’s superb synthesis of sports science studies (combined with his personal experience as an athlete) finds that, in most sports, specializing early puts young athletes at a disadvantage as they approach college age.  What is the best approach to maximizing a person’s athletic potential?  Epstein provides actionable intelligence on the key concept of “trainability.”  And it does not depend on 10-thousand hours of practice.

The Comma Queen

2016-04-20

Mary Norris tells me she prefers to be called a Prose Goddess.  But Comma Queen has stuck.  Norris, a copy editor at The New Yorker for more than 30 years, is author of Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen – just out in paperback.  Mary Norris -- with her wonderful sense of humor – helps make us feel more secure in our use of language.  She demystifies fine points of grammar and punctuation.  She liberates us to break rules that were never really rules to begin with.  Her journey -- from a teenager hired to check swimmers for foot-fungus at a public pool in Cleveland -- to published author -- is worth sharing.  So is her experience, recounted 23:30 into our conversation, of learning that her brother was becoming her sister (a singer/songwriter known by many New Yorkers) – which leads us back to grammar and the debate over the correct pronoun for transgendered individuals.

Lang Lang (& Mom)

2016-03-30

Backstage with the pianist who has been called “the hottest classical artist on the planet” – Lang Lang.  Featuring a rare appearance by his mom, speaking in Mandarin with such emotion that her son’s translations are barely necessary.   Michael first sat down with Lang Lang more than a decade ago, for CNN. Lang Lang had recently graduated from Philadelphia’s prestigious Curtis Institute via China and was emerging as a star.  It was the very first international news profile of Lang Lang.  Back then,he was not ready to reveal what he shares with Michael now about the struggles of his journey to the top. Lang Lang’s mom shares with us the painful sacrifice she made for the sake of her son’s future.  And she movingly describes the piece she most loves to hear her son play and why.  He honors her request, for a memorable musical ending to this episode.

Teaching Your Child To Lose with The Winningest Coach In College History

2016-02-19

The Wavemaker Parenting Wisdom Tour brings you the compelling personal story of Trinity College squash coach Paul Assaiante. He entered a sport without formal training, and took a second tier team to 13 straight national championships.  Along the way, through his "imposter syndrome" nightmares, he demonstrated what one can accomplish with single-minded determination, and the collateral damage that can ensue. Coach A shares the painful tale of his son's heroin addiction, and his insights of the young men and women entering college these days:  "They look more put together than they’ve ever looked before.  They just look perfect.  And the first time they face adversity, the fall to pieces like a porcelain doll."

Coach Bill Curry: How To Watch Super Bowl 50 Better Than Your Friends

2016-02-05

Bill Curry played center in three of the first five Super Bowls, winning with the Green Bay Packers and the Baltimore Colts. One of the great head coaches in college football and an inspiring leader, Coach Curry shares memorable stories of the mind-boggling mental processing that goes on before each snap, the training it takes to withstand the violence of the game, and lessons from football that transcend the sport, including his first huddle with African-Americans and how Vince Lombardi's refusal to tolerate racism helped make the Packers a great team. This episode will help make you the smartest football fan in the room on Super Bowl Sunday.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Life, Death, Parenting and Chores

2016-01-21

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, neurosurgeon & CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, weighs in on over-parenting, the unforgettable chores that shaped his childhood, his transformation from unmotivated to driven high school student, and the legacy he hopes to leave. That plus the latest on how physical exercise impacts the brain -- and advice to kids who might want to try marijuana.

“The Gift Of Failure” With Jessica Lahey

2016-01-07

Jessica Lahey -- author of "The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed" -- joins Michael as he continues to tap into the most creative and respected thinkers addressing the growing phenomenon of over-parenting in America. Lahey, a middle-school teacher and the mother of two, realized she was making the same mistakes as the parents of many of her students -- which drove her on her quest for actionable intelligence to set her own kids up for success -- and ours too. On this episode she shares that intelligence, including some techniques that will require parents to step back in ways they never have before, in order to enhance their children's autonomy, competence, and confidence.

“How To Raise An Adult” With Former Stanford Dean Julie Lythcott-Haims

2015-12-24

Julie Lythcott-Haims has emerged as a powerful new rudder for parents. As the Dean of Freshmen at Stanford University, she recognized the first signs that overparenting was damaging our kids' abilities to function as independent adults. Then she realized, she was making the very same mistakes with her own children -- which led to her perspective-changing new book: "How To Raise An Adult: Break Free Of The Overparenting Trap And Prepare Your Kids For Success." In our conversation, @DeanJulie shares stories from the front lines, where high-achieving young adults are poorly equipped to handle the new struggles they face, and identifies the "critical mindset shifts that must take place in the head, heart, and soul of every parent."

Saying No To The Pope feat. Michelangelo and William Ury

2015-12-16

Master mediator William Ury dissects Michelangelo's 500 year old letter to the Pope, a powerful example of how saying No can lead to a wiser Yes. The letter, recently circulated by the inspired Maria Popova of Brainpickings.org, contains wisdom that can be applied to our professional and personal lives today. Ury even ties its insights into his mediation of the longest-running war in South America. Get ready to say No more often in 2016 - Positively.