Talks at Google

Mark Blyth, a political economist, challenges the notion of austerity as a solution, highlighting its negative impact on economic growth. He discusses the origins of the financial crisis, European banks' risky behavior, historical perspectives on debt, and alternative economic strategies in countries like Ireland and Iceland.

Susan Wilner Golden, author of 'Stage (Not Age)', discusses the $22 trillion opportunity in understanding and serving people over 60. Longevity presents both challenges and opportunities for companies. The book emphasizes life stage over age, highlighting the diverse needs within the demographic. With 10,000 Americans turning sixty-five daily, companies need to rethink their approach towards this rapidly growing market.

Avi Goldfarb and Ajay Agrawal visit Google to discuss their book "Prediction Machines: The Simple Economics of AI." The idea of artificial intelligence--job-killing robots, self-driving cars, and self-managing organizations--captures the imagination, evoking a combination of wonder and dread for those of us who will have to deal with the consequences. But what if it's not quite so complicated? The real job of artificial intelligence is to lower the cost of prediction. And once you start talking about costs, you can use some well-established economics to cut through the hype. The constant challenge for all managers is to make decisions under uncertainty. And AI contributes by making knowing what's coming in the future cheaper and more certain. But decision making has another component: judgment, which is firmly in the realm of humans, not machines. Making prediction cheaper means that we can make more predictions more accurately and then assess them with human judgment. Once managers can separate tasks into components of prediction and judgment, we can begin to understand how to optimize the interface between humans and machines. More than just an account of AI's powerful capabilities, "Prediction Machines" shows managers how they can most effectively leverage AI, disrupting business as usual only where required, and provides businesses with a toolkit to navigate the coming wave of challenges and opportunities. Originally published in May of 2018. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

The cast & creatives of Broadway's "The Kite Runner" visit Google to discuss their critically acclaimed play, based on Khaled Hosseini's internationally best-selling novel. Originally published in 2003, "The Kite Runner" became a bestseller across the globe and has since been published in 70 countries, selling 31.5 million copies in 60 languages. Now this powerful story has been adapted into a stunning stage production. One of the best-loved and most highly acclaimed novels of our time, "The Kite Runner" is a powerful tale of friendship spanning cultures and continents, that follows one man's journey to confront his past and find redemption. In 1972, Afghanistan is a divided country on the verge of war and two childhood friends are about to be torn apart. It's a beautiful afternoon in Kabul and the skies are full of the excitement and joy of a kite flying tournament. But neither of the boys can foresee the terrible incident which will shatter their lives forever. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

Dr. John P. Kotter is a New York Times best-selling author, award winning business and management thought leader, business entrepreneur, inspirational speaker and Harvard Professor. His ideas, books, speeches, and company, Kotter International, have helped mobilize people around the world to better lead organizations, and their own lives. Dr. Kotter visits Google to discuss his book "Change: How Organizations Achieve Hard-to-Imagine Results In Uncertain and Volatile Times". In the 21st century, the stakes for organizations, and more broadly humankind, are large and growing. The events of the last few years, from the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic crisis, to the social justice protests in the United States and the climate change induced forest fires in Australia and California, are a reminder that the world is increasingly unpredictable. Our ability to effectively adapt our institutions and engage many hearts, minds, and arms to deal with rapid and complex changes will have a profound impact on how we collectively address these challenges. The science and the stories of that science in action, shared in this book, will guide the reader in making decisions, mobilizing others, and executing change that will help individuals, teams, and organizations survive and thrive even in highly uncertain times. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

Neuroscientist and author Greg Gage visits Google to discuss his recent book "How Your Brain Works: Neuroscience Experiments for Everyone." The book is detailed guide on how to discover the hidden electrical world inside your nervous system using DIY, hands-on experiments, for all ages, with no MD or PhD required! The workings of the brain are mysterious: What are neural signals? What do they mean? How do our senses really sense? How does our brain control our movements? What happens when we meditate? In "How Your Brain Works", neuroscientist Greg Gage offers a practical guide that is accessible to readers from middle schoolers to college undergraduates wanting to learn about the brain through hands-on experiments that can be done at home. Greg Gage is an NIH-award winning neuroscientist and cofounder of Backyard Brains—an organization that develops open source tools that allow amateurs and students to participate in neural discovery. Greg has given nine popular TED Talks on neuroscience and has written dozens of peer-reviewed publications. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

Author Cate Flanders visits Google to discuss her book "The Year of Less". In her late twenties, Cait found herself stuck in the consumerism cycle that grips so many of us: earn more, buy more, want more, rinse, repeat. Even after she worked her way out of nearly $30,000 of consumer debt, her old habits took hold again. When she realized that nothing she was doing or buying was making her happy, she decided to set herself a challenge: she would not shop for an entire year. "The Year of Less" documents Cait's life for twelve months during which she bought only consumables such as groceries, toiletries, and gas for her car. Along the way, she challenged herself to consume less of many other things besides shopping. She decluttered her apartment and got rid of 70 percent of her belongings; learned how to fix things rather than throw them away; researched the zero waste movement; and completed a television ban. At every stage, she learned that the less she consumed, the more fulfilled she felt. This challenge became a lifeline when, in the course of the year, Cait found herself in situations that turned her life upside down. In the face of hardship, she realized why she had always turned to shopping, alcohol, and food—and what it had cost her. Unable to reach for any of her usual vices, she changed habits she'd spent years perfecting and discovered what truly mattered to her. Blending Cait's compelling story with inspiring insight and practical guidance, The Year of Less will leave you questioning what you're holding on to in your own life—and, quite possibly, lead you to find your own path of less. Originally published in June of 2018. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

Diego Perez visits Google to discuss his book "Lighter: Let Go of the Past, Connect with the Present, and Expand the Future." The book demonstrates how we can all move forward in our healing, from learning self-compassion to letting go, to becoming emotionally mature. Diego Perez is a New York Times bestselling author who is widely known on Instagram and various social media networks through his pen name Yung Pueblo. His writing focuses on the power of self-healing, creating healthy relationships, and the wisdom that comes when we truly work on knowing ourselves. Diego is primarily a meditator who shares his insights on his life, his healing journey and advice on lifting the heaviness that prevents us from healing ourselves and the world. Diego hopes to inspire others into believing that deep healing is both possible and achievable. He also hopes that as more of us heal, our actions will become more intentional, our decisions will become more compassionate, our thinking will become clearer, and the future will become brighter. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

Anand Giridharadas visits Google to discuss his book "Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World." Anand Giridharadas takes us into the inner sanctums of a new gilded age, where the rich and powerful fight for equality and justice any way they can—except ways that threaten the social order and their position atop it. The book argues that elites rebrand themselves as saviors of the poor; that they lavishly reward so-called thought leaders who redefine "change" in ways that preserve the status quo; and that they constantly seek to do more good, but never less harm. Giridharadas asks hard questions: for example, why should our gravest problems be solved by the unelected upper crust instead of the public institutions eroded by lobbying and tax dodging? His groundbreaking investigation has already forced a great, sorely needed reckoning among the world's wealthiest and those they hover above, and it points toward an answer: Rather than rely on scraps from the winners, we must take on the grueling democratic work of building more robust, egalitarian institutions. Originally published in October of 2018. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

Gerd Gigerenzer visits Google to discuss his latest book "How to Stay Smart in a Smart World: Why Human Intelligence Still Beats Algorithms." The book is a comprehensive guide on how to stay in charge in a world populated by algorithms that beat us in chess, try to find us romantic partners, and tell us to "turn right in 500 yards." Doomsday prophets of technology predict that robots will take over the world, leaving humans behind in the dust. Tech industry boosters think that replacing people with software might make the world a better place, while tech industry critics warn darkly about surveillance capitalism. Despite their differing views of the future, they all agree: machines will soon do everything better than humans. Machines powered by artificial intelligence are good at some things, like playing chess, but not others. Gigerenzer explains why algorithms often fail at finding us romantic partners, why self-driving cars fall prey to the so-called Russian Tank Fallacy, and how judges and police rely increasingly on nontransparent "black box" algorithms to predict whether a criminal defendant will reoffend or show up in court. He invokes the hit TV show Black Mirror, considers the privacy paradox in which people want privacy, but give their data away, and explains that social media gets us hooked by programming intermittent reinforcement in the form of the "like" button. Gigerenzer tells us that we shouldn't trust smart technology unconditionally, but we shouldn't fear it unthinkingly either. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.