What It Takes®

While listening to this episode, we dare you to NOT sing out loud. Carole King and Hal David were each one half of a legendary songwriting duo, and each responsible for many of the greatest songs of the 1960’s and 70’s (too many to start mentioning here, but we packed as many as we could into the podcast). If you like a medley, you’re in the right place. Carole King worked with (and was married to) Gerry Goffin. Hal David worked with Burt Bacharach. They all worked in New York City’s Brill Building early in their careers, surrounded by record label execs, music publishers, radio promoters, and pianos. Lots and lots of pianos. The impact they had on music in the second half of the 20th century is undisputed.(c ) American Academy of Achievement 2016

There is only one surviving superstar from the Golden Age of Hollywood: Olivia de Havilland. The actress who portrayed Melanie Hamilton in "Gone With The Wind" (and admit it: you liked Melanie better than Scarlett, right?) turns 100 years old on July 1, 2016. This episode features an extensive conversation with Ms. de Havilland about the early days of the American film industry. She explains how the studio system confined her to the role of the ingenue, and how she eventually broke out of it to play some of the more complex and fascinating women on the silver screen -- including two that won her Academy Awards for Best Actress (in "To Each His Own" and "The Heiress").(c ) American Academy of Achievement 2016

Steven Spielberg hired Janusz Kaminski as the cinematographer for "Schindler's List” twenty-five years ago, and they have worked together, hand-in-glove, ever since. Their collaboration has produced "Saving Private Ryan," "Bridge of Spies," "Lincoln," and many others. In this episode, both filmmakers tell how they fell in love with the movies, and learned to make them. Spielberg talks about his first camera and trusting his instincts, and Kaminski talks about how growing up in 1970's Poland gave him an unusual eye on the world.(c ) American Academy of Achievement 2016

Quincy Jones’s fingerprints are all over America’s popular music. If you like Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, or hundreds of other artists, you have heard his work, whether as an instrumentalist, a composer, a conductor, an arranger or a producer. He’s also scored dozens of movies and television shows, and been a philanthropist and activist. It is hard to overstate the impact he has had over the past 70 years. But this prodigiously productive and talented man came from difficult circumstances. In this episode you’ll hear Quincy Jones tell how he survived and made his own way, to have outsized impact on jazz, rock, soul, r&b and pop. Oh yeah, and you’ll hear some GREAT music!(c ) American Academy of Achievement 2016

How do you become a multi-billionaire, and the most successful hedge fund manager ever? Ray Dalio attributes his success to transcendental meditation and what he calls "radical honesty.” In this episode, he lays out the principles that have guided his life and his investment firm, Bridgewater Associates. He also talks about caddying for Richard Nixon as a child, his first investment at age 12, and how he managed to go from being a terrible high school student to a graduate of the Harvard Business School to founder of a fund that manages $150 billion in global investments.(c ) American Academy of Achievement 2016

The Innocence Project has freed 1000’s of people serving time in prison for crimes they did not commit.Thousands. People who were misidentified by eyewitnesses, or were manipulated into false confessions,or were the victims of unreliable forensic science. Barry Scheck is the co-founder of The Innocence Project, andin this episode he talks about the developments in science that led him and his colleagues to believe that DNAtesting could reduce wrongful convictions and transform the criminal justice system. He also discusses someof the very high profile clients he’s represented during his career, including OJ Simpson, Hedda Nussbaumand Abner Louima. And he reveals how his unusual childhood, with a tap dancing father and a speed skatingmother, led him on his life’s path as a seeker of justice.Music in this episode from www.gosoundtrack.com.(c ) American Academy of Achievement 2016

Whether you grew up watching The Carol Burnett Show, or your parents did, this comedian, actress, singer and writer is someone you want to get to know better. Burnett broke new ground when she launched her own television variety show in 1967 (hosting was still a man's game in those days). And she kept Americans laughing for the next 11 years. She had a huge influence on the comedians that followed in her footsteps, including Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Kristin Wiig. In this episode she talks about her very humble beginnings and dysfunctional family, her mysterious benefactor, her breakthrough role on Broadway, and the path that finally landed her in the medium she loved best - television. She also describes the moment she knew that making people laugh was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.(c ) American Academy of Achievement 2016

During March Madness, can you think of anything more satisfying to do between games than listen to an interview with legendary coach John Wooden?! Wooden led UCLA to more NCAA championships than any other team in history, and he did it with a quiet, old-fashioned approach that challenged notions of what it takes to win. Wooden talks about his fatherly love for the players, his famous pyramid of success, and the difference between reputation and character. He also explains why basketball is the greatest spectator sport there is.(c ) American Academy of Achievement 2016

In this episode, an intimate history of two pocket-sized devices that changed the world, and the two men who created them: Steve Jobs and Tony Fadell. Jobs famously co-founded Apple. In the late 90’s, when the company was failing, he hired a young engineer and designer named Fadell, who created a little device that became known as the iPod. It not only turned Apple’s fortunes around, it transformed the music industry and the experience of listening. Fadell’s next assignment was the iPhone, which changed the nature of communication itself. After leaving Apple, Fadell went on to found Nest Labs, a company that has begun to alter the technology of the home. You’ll hear Tony Fadell’s fascinating personal story, told with all the passion and enthusiasm he brings to his game-changing inventions. And you’ll hear Steve Jobs, speaking as a young man (in 1982) about what it takes to innovate.(c ) American Academy of Achievement 2016

Sidney Poitier changed America’s view of black men. And he changed Hollywood (though the change is far from over, given the issues of diversity at this year’s Oscars.). The star of “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “The Defiant Ones,” and “In The Heat of the Night” was the first African-American to win an Academy Award - for “Lillies of the Field” in 1964. He was a leading man and box office sensation throughout the 1950’s and 60’s, portraying a huge array of characters with a dignity, courage and humanity that was radical for its time. In this episode, featuring an interview with Poitier at 82, you’ll hear him discuss how his childhood on a tiny island in the Bahamas made all the difference in his view of himself, and in the choices he made throughout his career as an actor.(c ) American Academy of Achievement 2016