Talks at Google

Chef Tala Bashmi visits Google to discuss her successful culinary career and how she is bringing cuisine from the Gulf region to the forefront of the global food industry. Tala Bashmi started her culinary career by joining The Gulf Hotel Bahrain as a trainee and eventually working her way up the ranks. She studied at the Culinary Arts Academy in Lucerne, Switzerland, where she received her Masters of International Business in Culinary Management. Returning to the Middle East, she joined the cast of Top Chef, Middle East & North Africa, as a contestant, where she finished in the finals and showcased the modernized Bahraini cuisine that she would become famous for. Chef Tala then opened her inaugural restaurant Fusions by Tala in her home country of Bahrain, where she prides herself in her daring and willingness to experiment with a range of ingredients and techniques that come from different parts of the world. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.  

Professor Richard D. Wolff visits Google to discuss the economic dimensions of our modern lives, our jobs, our incomes, and our debts in his unique mixture of deep insight and dry humor. He presents insights into current events and draws connections to the past to highlight the machinations of our global economy. He tries to help us to understand political and corporate policy, the organization of labor, the distribution of goods and services, and challenges us to question some of the deepest foundations of modern society. Professor Wolff argues that modern capitalism has spawned a deepening economic crisis alongside a captive political establishment. He argues that whether it is secure, well-paid, and meaningful jobs or a sustainable relationship with the natural environment that we depend on, our society is not delivering the results people need and deserve. He believes that this state of affairs is due to the lack of genuine democracy in our economy as well as in our politics. His proposed solution requires the creation of a genuine economic democracy, starting with workers managing their own workplaces, as the basis for a genuine political democracy. In this Talk, Professor Wolff lays out a hopeful and concrete vision of how to make that possible, addressing the many people who have concluded that economic inequality and politics as usual must be changed. Originally published in June of 2017. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.  

North African fashion designer Nadine Bejou visits Google to discuss her journey as an Arab woman entrepreneur navigating the fashion industry, and how patience, persistence, and a willingness to self-teach has helped her to find her authentic voice. Nadine is a North African fashion designer and entrepreneur based in Seattle, who has built her businesses from the ground up despite the challenges she has faced being a first generation Libyan-American. She runs several successful fashion ventures including IDINA Bride, a luxury bridal shop, and Nadia’s Evening, a fully sustainable prom and eveningwear brand which can be found in over 20 locations in the US and Canada. Her latest project, Soraya, a modest luxury evening label, has already received favorable recognition in the evening luxury space. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.  

Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

Peter Kohler, founder of The Plastic Tide project, and Dr. Stefan Leutenegger, Lecturer in Robotics at the Imperial College London, visit Google to discuss how the ocean is under siege from an ever-increasing tide of waste, and how technology like machine learning and drones can help us fix the issue. Plastics are threatening not only a vital economic resource worth an estimated $5 trillion a year, but also humanity’s very own life support. Oceanic plastic waste is growing by 8 million metric tonnes a year. If nothing is done, it is estimated that this figure will rise to 80 million metric tonnes a year by 2025. It consists of all sizes of plastics, with larger pieces taking at least 400 years to break down into fragments known as microplastics. These and other tiny pieces of plastic, like microbeads, accumulate into a toxic oceanic soup that recent estimates put at 15 to 50 trillion pieces. Solving this problem is becoming a major priority for scientists. But without further knowledge, it is impossible to identify trends, support legislation, monitor improvement, or develop strategies to reduce plastic pollution if we don’t have evidence of when, where and how the plastics are distributed. That’s why Peter Kohler founded The Plastic Tide initiative in 2015, with the aim of quantifying the problem using drone imagery of beaches in England & beyond. By raising awareness and generating precise data, Kohler is hoping to drive solutions at societal, political, and technological levels. He has already collected a huge database of drone imagery around British beaches, and a prototype algorithm he developed combines a deep-learning based plastic detection scheme in drone images with geo-referenced mapping. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.  

Physics professor Richard Wolfson discusses his book “Nuclear Choices for the 21st Century,” which explains, clearly and accessibly, the basics of nuclear technology and describes the controversies surrounding its use. The book begins with scientific issues, covering the nature of the atom and its nucleus, nuclear radiation, and nuclear energy. It discusses nuclear power, the operation of nuclear power plants, nuclear accidents, nuclear waste, alternatives to nuclear energy, and considers nuclear weapons: strategies for use and non-use, controlling the spread of these weapons to other countries and terrorist groups, and the prevention of nuclear war. “Nuclear Choices for the Twenty-First Century” offers readers an authoritative and unbiased guide to difficult questions. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.  

Explore the fascinating world of tree communication and intelligence with Professor Suzanne Simard. Learn about the vital role of 'mother trees' in forest ecosystems, the interconnected networks of mycorrhizal fungi, and the impact of climate change on forests. Reflect on the speaker's journey into academia and the importance of preserving natural partnerships for ecosystem health.

Licensed marriage and family therapist Laura Heck visits Google to give a Talk on Dr. John Gottman’s "Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work." This talk outlines the Seven Principles that every couple can adopt in order to have a harmonious and long lasting relationship. "The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work" has revolutionized the way we understand, repair, and strengthen marriages. This unprecedented study of many couples over a period of years has allowed for the observation of the habits that can make—and break—a marriage. Straightforward yet profound, these principles teach partners new approaches for resolving conflicts, creating new common ground, and achieving greater levels of intimacy. It offers strategies and resources to help couples collaborate more effectively to resolve any problem, whether dealing with issues related to sex, money, religion, work, family, or anything else. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.