In There's Nothing Like This: The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift, Kevin Evers examines the singer-songwriter's remarkable career success from a business strategy perspective.Evers is a senior editor at Harvard Business Review, where he has edited bestselling and award-winning books on high performance, creativity, innovation, digital disruption, marketing, and strategy.In discussion with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, they cover the scale and longevity of Swift's success, the strategic moves and innovations that have driven her rise and staying power, her ability to reinvent herself and connect with fans in new ways, and lessons for strategists and companies.

In Space to Grow: Unlocking the Final Economic Frontier, Matthew C. Weinzierl and Brendan Rosseau discuss the discuss the history, the present, and the future of the space economy.Weinzierl is the Joseph and Jacqueline Elbling professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and founder of the Economics of Space project at HBS. Rosseau is an Orbital Launch strategy manager at the American space technology company Blue Origin. Together, they provide in-depth academic and practitioner perspectives on the space economy.In their conversation with Nikolaus Lang, global leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, they discuss the central governance vs. market-driven models of the space economy, the geopolitics of space, and whether the first trillionaire will be an asteroid miner.Key topics discussed: 02:03 | The three phases of the space economy05:28 | Central governance vs. market-driven model of the space economy08:23 | Geopolitics of space11:33 | The market structure of the space economy (on Earth)17:14 | Space junk21:03 | Asteroid mining23:47 | How to make space interesting again

In The Corporation in the Twenty-First Century: Why (Almost) Everything We Are Told About Business Is Wrong, John Kay provides a novel perspective on the evolution of the contemporary corporation.One of the UK’s leading economists, Kay is a fellow of St John’s College, Oxford. He was the first dean of Oxford’s Saïd Business School and has held chairs at London Business School, the University of Oxford, and the London School of Economics and director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies.In his conversation with Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Kay discusses the essence of the modern corporation, the changing relationship of capital and labour, the gap between the our historic concept of the corporation and the current reality and the forces that have and will further shape the corporation including sustainability, geopolitics, and technology.Key topics discussed: 01:56 | The essence of a 21st century corporation05:53 | The changing roles of workers and capital12:26 | Limits to corporate scale16:00 | Forces that will shape the future of corporations sustainability, geopolitics, technology21:50 | The impact of AI on the nature of the corporation24:12 | Implications for managersAdditional inspirations from John Kay:Radical Uncertainty: Decision-Making Beyond the Numbers (W.W. Norton & Company, 2020)The Long and the Short of It: A guide to finance and investment for normally intelligent people who aren’t in the industry (IPS - Profile Books, 2016)Other People's Money: The Real Business of Finance (PublicAffairs, 2015)Obliquity: Why Our Goals Are Best Achieved Indirectly (Profile Books GB, 2011)

In Uncertainty and Enterprise: Venturing Beyond the Known, Amar Bhidé revisits and modernizes the concept of Knightian uncertainty. Introduced more than 100 years ago, the concept offers great potential for better understanding corporate decision-making.A renowned expert on innovation, entrepreneurship, and finance, Bhidé is a professor of Health Policy at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, as well as a professor emeritus of Business at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.In his conversation with Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Bhidé discusses the important distinction between repeated and unique events, the relationship between uncertainty and imagination, how corporations can use persuasive narratives and social routes to navigate the future, and whether AI will help or hinder these practices.Key topics discussed:01:16 | The definition of uncertainty04:49 | The relation between uncertainty and imagination09:32 | The power of corporate routines15:57 | The changing nature of uncertainty17:25 | How AI impacts uncertainty21:02 | Corporate implications22:38 | Implications for business educationAdditional inspirations from Amar Bhidé:A Call for Judgment: Sensible Finance for a Dynamic Economy (Oxford University Press, 2010)The Venturesome Economy: How Innovation Sustains Prosperity in a More Connected World (Princeton University Press, 2008)The Origin and Evolution of New Businesses (Oxford University Press, 2000)Flourishing in an Uncertain World: How Entrepreneurs Overcome Doubts and Disagreements (The Kansas City Public Library Lecture, 2025)

In The M&A Failure Trap: Why Most Mergers and Acquisitions Fail and How the Few Succeed, Baruch Lev and Feng Gu provide a wealth of evidence on the success and failure factors of acquisitions.Lev, professor emeritus of Accounting and Finance at NYU’s Stern School of Business and Gu, professor of Accounting and Law at the State University of New York, have analyzed more than 40,000 acquisitions over the past four decades. This has not only allowed them to understand the reasons why 75% of deals fail but also to develop a scorecard that can help decision-makers assess the likelihood of acquisition success ex ante.In their conversation with Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Lev and Gu discuss how to measure acquisition success, how to curb overconfidence on the side of the acquirer, and key lessons for CEOs seeking inorganic growth.Key topics discussed:[02:45] How mergers and acquisitions have changed[05:00] Judging the success or failure of acquisitions[08:16] Drivers of acquisition failure[14:41] Patterns of successful acquisitions[17:27] Overconfidence and its causes[19:51] Managerial implications

In Mindmasters: The Data-Driven Science of Predicting and Changing Human Behavior, Sandra Matz explores what our digital footprints reveal about us and how these insights are used to influence our daily decisions.Matz is the David W. Zalaznick Associate Professor of Business at Columbia Business School, where she also serves as co-director of the Center for Advanced Technology and Human Performance. Using her background in psychology and computer science, Matz investigates the intricate connections between our digital and real lives and how these are shaped by technology.In her conversation with Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Matz discusses the power of psychological profiling, highlights the harms as well as benefits of the personalization it enables, and outlines implications for businesses and regulators, including the possibility of entirely new business models.Key topics discussed: [01:10] Power of psychological profiling[05:05] Scale and impact of big data–based psychological profiling[09:06] Benefits and harms of personalization[16:05] Challenges of regulating profiling and personalization[17:57] Ramifications of the AI-driven content revolution[23:20] Implications for businesses[28:37] How to manage your data footprintAdditional inspirations from Sandra Matz: Psychological Targeting: What Your Digital Footprints Reveal About You (TED Talk, 2019)

In The Unaccountability Machine: Why Big Systems Make Terrible Decisions and How the World Lost Its Mind, Dan Davies examines why companies and governments systematically generate outcomes that everyone involved claims they do not want.Davies is an economist, writer, and former investment banker known for his insightful analysis of finance, corporate governance, and decision-making systems. He has written extensively on topics such as financial fraud, accountability in organizations, and the intersections of economics and management. His latest book combines cybernetics theory and real-world examples to explain how decisions are increasingly made not by accountable individuals, but by systems.In his conversation with Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Davies describes the pathologies of failing decision-making systems, explains why we tend not to learn from past mistakes, and outlines why he worries that AI might not improve our capability to make decisions unless we carefully redesign decision systems to tap its potential.Key topics discussed: 01:03 | Unintended outcomes generated by decision-making systems07:08 | What we can learn from the theory of cybernetics09:49 | Pathologies of failing information systems11:49 | Why we make the same mistakes again and again14:41 | How AI may impact decision-making16:39 | Steps toward improving our decision-making systemsAdditional inspirations from Dan Davies:The Brompton: Engineering for Change, co-authored by William Butler-Adams (The Experiment, 2022)Lying for Money: How Legendary Frauds Reveal the Workings of the World (Scribner, 2021)Back of Mind (Substack)

In AI Snake Oil: What AI Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference, Sayash Kapoor and his co-author Arvind Narayanan provide an essential understanding of how AI works and why some applications remain fundamentally beyond its capabilities.Kapoor was included in TIME’s inaugural list of the 100 most influential people in AI. As a researcher at Princeton University’s Center for Information Technology Policy, he examines the societal impacts of AI, with a focus on reproducibility, transparency, and accountability in AI systems. In his new book, he cuts through the hype to help readers discriminate between legitimate and bogus claims for AI technologies and applications.In his conversation with Martin Reeves, chair of the BCG Henderson Institute, Kapoor discusses historical patterns of technology hype, differentiates between the powers and limitations of predictive versus generative AI, and outlines how managers can balance healthy skepticism with embracing the potential of new technologies.Key topics discussed: 01:05 | Examples of AI “snake oil”04:42 | Historical patterns of technology hypeand how AI is different07:26 | Capabilities and exaggerations of predictive AI11:42 | Powers and limitations of generative AI17:11 | Drivers of inflated expectations20:18 | Implications for regulation23:26 | How managers can balance scepticism and embracing new tech24:58 | Future of AI researchAdditional inspirations from Sayash Kapoor:AI Snake Oil (Substack)A Checklist of Eighteen Pitfalls in AI Journalism (UNESCO article, 2022)

In The Age of Outrage: How to Lead in a Polarized World, Karthik Ramanna provides a framework for leaders to navigate outrage—the intense, polarized reactions to perceived social injustices, political stances, and misaligned corporate actions—by addressing root causes, engaging stakeholders, and building resilience.Ramanna, a professor of Business and Public Policy at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government, specializes in business-government relations and corporate accountability.In conversation with Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Ramanna discusses the three causes of outrage (fear of the future, past injustices, and ideologies of othering), common instincts that mislead leaders, and his five-step framework for navigating the age of outrage.Key topics discussed: 01:08 | Managing in the age of outrage4:21 | Three causes of outrage: fear of the future, past injustices, and ideologies of othering5:48 | The five-step framework for navigating the age of outrage19:04 | Instincts which mislead companies into taking the wrong stance or making the wrong analysis20:45 | The impact of “temperate leadership” and leadership attributes25:22 | Key factors impacting the age of outrageAdditional inspirations from Karthik Ramanna:Political Standards: Corporate Interest, Ideology, and Leadership in the Shaping of Accounting Rules for the Market Economy (The University of Chicago Press, 2015)

In The Corporate Life Cycle: Business, Investment, and Management Implications, Aswath Damodaran presents the corporate life cycle as a universal key for demystifying business finance, strategy and company valuation.Damodaran is a professor of Finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University. Known as “the Dean of Valuation,” he has published extensively in academic journals, written many books for students and practitioners, and remains the world’s foremost expert on the subject of corporate valuation. In his latest book, he outlines how corporations age, describes the characteristics of each stage of their life cycle, and discusses implications for managers and investors.In his conversation with Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Damodaran outlines how to determine where in the life cycle your company is at, what leadership skills and behaviors are required at each stage, and how the distribution of life cycle stages has changed over recent decades.Key topics discussed: 00:56 | The stages of the corporate life cycle02:21 | How to determine your stage in the life cycle03:36 | The importance of acting your age10:06 | Balancing capital allocation across the portfolio11:27 | Leadership skills for different stages in the life cycle16:56 | Creating value at any stage of the life cycle20:21 | How the distribution of life cycle “shapes” is changing22:58 | The art of communicating complex ideas in simple waysAdditional inspirations from Aswath Damodaran:Applied Corporate Finance (Wiley, 2014)Investment Valuation: Tools and Techniques for Determining the Value of Any Asset (Wiley, 2012)Musings on Markets  (Blog)