Did you know that the alcohol that gets you drunk in a beer or a cocktail is actually the waste products of billions of dead yeast organisms? Or that most of our crops were initially grown to make alcohol and only later were actually used for food? These are just some of the crazy facts that we learn this week as we interview New York Times Best Selling author, Amy Stewart. Amy is the author of 7 books, and perhaps her most popular is the one we focus on this week, The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks. This fascinating concoction of biology, chemistry, history, etymology, and mixology will make you the most popular guest at any cocktail party. Amy Stewart is the author of seven books. She has written six nonfiction books on the perils and pleasures of the natural world, including four New York Times bestsellers: The Drunken Botanist, Wicked Bugs, Wicked Plants, and Flower Confidential.  She lives in Eureka, California, with her husband Scott Brown, who is a rare book dealer. They own a bookstore calledEureka Books.  Since her first book was published in 2001, Stewart has appeared on NPR’s Morning Edition and Fresh Air, she’s been profiled in the New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle, and she’s been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America, the PBS documentary The Botany of Desire, and–believe it or not– TLC’s Cake Boss. Amy has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and many other newspapers and magazines. She is the co-founder of the popular blog GardenRant. ____ "Next time you have a beer or a cocktail, just remember what you are drinking is the waste products of billions of dead yeast organisms." - Amy Stewart Quotes from Amy: What we learn in this episode: How did humans discover alcohol? How is alcohol made?  What plants and/or grains are used to make each style of alcohol? Resources: The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks http://www.amystewart.com/ @Amy_Stewart Amy's Favorite Alcohol: Strega Cocchi Americano Woodford Reserve -- This episode is brought to you by: Lynda.com: Do something good for yourself in 2015 and sign up for a FREE 10-day trial to Lynda.com by visiting Lynda.com/smartpeople. WealthFront: The automated investment service that makes it easy to invest your money the right way. Visit wealthfront.com/smartpeople to to get your first $10,000 managed for free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the shift in gender roles, many children are no longer being raised primarily by their mothers. With dual income families increasing in popularity, child care is often outsourced to a neighbor, grandparents, or a nanny. But what is the effect on children? Contrary to conventional wisdom, growing up with a working mother is unlikely to harm children socially and economically when they become adults. The working mother study, authored by Harvard Business School professor Kathleen McGinn, HBS researcher Mayra Ruiz Castro, and Elizabeth Long Lingo of Mt. Holyoke College, found that women with working mothers performed better in the workplace, earning more and possessing more powerful positions than their peers with stay-at-home mothers. In the United States, adult daughters of working mothers earned 23 percent more than those whose mothers had not worked during their during the daughters' childhoods, earning an annual average income of $35,474 compared to $28,894. Over 33 percent held supervisory positions, compared to roughly 25 percent of their counterparts from more traditional households. The "working mother effect" actually improves future prospects, especially for adult daughters of mothers who worked outside the home before their daughters were 14 years old, according to recent findings based on a comprehensive survey of 50,000 adults aged 18 to 60 in 25 nations worldwide in 2002 and 2012. This week we interview one of the leading researchers in the HBS Gender Initiative, Harvard Professor Dr. Kathleen McGinn. One of the main goals Harvard Business School wants to achieve with the Gender Initiative is to ground discussions about gender in rigorous research so that people can make better- informed decisions for themselves, their families, their companies, and their communities.  ____ "There is a slight positive effect for maternal employment on children's achievement in school and on their behavior in school." - Kathleen McGinn Quotes from Kathleen: What we learn in this episode: What does gender mean to a "white, middle-class male"? Is it a good idea for a corporation to set a quota for number of employed minorities and women? Are children raised by stay at home moms happier? Resources: HBS Gender Initiative Women and Public Policy Website -- This episode is brought to you by: Animoto: Visit Animoto.com/smartpeople and use promo code “SMARTPEOPLE” to get 15% off to receive 15% off an Annual Pro subscription! Aspiration: At Aspiration, their investment strategies are built for the middle class. Signing up takes as little as $500 and five minutes of your time. You can sign up and find out more information at aspiration.com/smartpeople Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’ve ever sought a job or hired someone, applied to college or guided your child into a good kindergarten, asked someone out on a date or been asked out, you’ve participated in a kind of market. Most of the study of economics deals with commodity markets, where the price of a good connects sellers and buyers. But what about other kinds of “goods,” like a spot in the Yale freshman class or a position at Google? This is the territory of matching markets, where “sellers” and “buyers” must choose each other, and price isn’t the only factor determining who gets what.  Our guest this week, Alvin E. Roth, is one of the world’s leading experts on matching markets. He has even designed several of them, including the exchange that places medical students in residencies and the system that increases the number of kidney transplants by better matching donors to patients. Alvin is the Craig and Susan McCaw Professor of Economics at Stanford University. He is also the Gund Professor of Economics and Business Administration Emeritus at Harvard University. He works in the areas of game theory, experimental economics and market design. He is also the author of the fantastic new book, Who Gets What — and Why: The New Economics of Matchmaking and Market Design, and in 2012 he won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences "for the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design" ...whatever that means. ____ "Markets are what people do. It's how we get along with each other. When you're not alone and you're interacting with other people there is a good chance you're engaged in some kind of marketplace." - Alvin Roth Quotes from Alvin: What we learn in this episode: What is the true definition of a market? What are matching markets and what are some examples? What is a repugnant transaction? What's a great trick to increase your chances of being accepted to the college of your choice? Resources: Who Gets What — and Why: The New Economics of Matchmaking and Market Design http://marketdesigner.blogspot.com/ http://web.stanford.edu/~alroth/ -- This episode is brought to you by: Animoto: Visit Animoto.com/smartpeople and use promo code “SMARTPEOPLE” to get 15% off to receive 15% off an Annual Pro subscription! Lynda.com: Do something good for yourself in 2015 and sign up for a FREE 10-day trial to Lynda.com by visiting Lynda.com/smartpeople. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Early birds and night owls are born, not made. Sleep patterns are the primary result of the highly individualized biological clocks we inherit, but these clocks also regulate bodily functions from digestion to hormone levels to cognition. Living at odds with our internal timepieces can make us chronically sleep deprived and more likely to smoke, gain weight, feel depressed, fall ill, and fail geometry. By understanding and respecting our internal time, we can live better. In this episode we interview Till Roenneberg, professor of chronobiology at the Institute of Medical Psychology at LMU in Munich, Germany, and author of the book, Internal Time: Chronotypes, Social Jet Lag, and Why You're So Tired. ____ "We don't even know how much sleep somebody needs. We can calculate how much sleep someone gets, but we don't know if it's the amount they need. And we know there is a genetic individual difference between how much sleep people need." - Till Roenneberg Quotes from Till: What we learn in this episode: What is chronobiology? What is the difference between a night own and an early bird? Is it genetic or environmental? The science behind out circadian rhythm. How can you adjust your circadian rhythm? Resources: Internal Time: Chronotypes, Social Jet Lag, and Why You're So Tired Twitter: @TillRoen  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5ylqK-aPX8 Get the F.Lux software we discussed -- This episode is brought to you by: Igloo: Go to igloosoftware.com/smartpeople to use Igloo for FREE with up to 10 of your favorite coworkers or customers! Lynda.com: Do something good for yourself in 2015 and sign up for a FREE 10-day trial to Lynda.com by visiting Lynda.com/smartpeople. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have all heard the axiom, "It's better to give than to receive." And although it sounds good in theory, is it actually true? What about in the cut throat business of selling? Many people are arguing that the old days of pressure sales are gone and a new era is upon us, yet we are reluctant to believe it. If you've ever been in sales, you have probably felt the pressure of "convincing" someone to buy. Well this week you will learn not only how to improve your sales game, but to become successful in all areas of life while also adding value to the world. By following the 5 Laws of Stratospheric Success, you can tap into the natural rhythm of a free-market economy and achieve your goals. Our guest this week is Bob Burg, a sought after speaker and best-selling author. One of his most popular books, The Go-Giver has sold over 250,000 copies. Bob Burg shares information on topics vital to the success of today’s businessperson. He speaks for corporations and associations internationally, including fortune 500 companies, franchises, and numerous direct sales organizations. Bob regularly addresses audiences ranging in size from 50 to 16,000 — sharing the platform with notables including today’s top thought leaders, broadcast personalities, Olympic athletes and political leaders including a former United States President. The Go-Giver shot to #6 on The Wall Street Journal’s Business Bestsellers list just three weeks after its release and reached #9 on BusinessWeek. Since its release it has consistently stayed in the top 25 on 800ceoread’s Business Book Best Seller List. It’s an international bestseller and has been translated into 21 languages. It is Bob’s fourth book to sell over 250,000 copies. ____ "Nobody is going to buy from you because you have a quota to meet. They are going to buy from you because there is more value in doing so than in not doing so." - Bob Burg Quotes from Bob: What we learn in this episode: What are the keys to providing value? How can you become a better salesman? Should a boss aim for commitment or compliance? Why? What are the 5 laws of stratospheric success? Resources: The Go-Giver: A Little Story About A Powerful Business Idea www.burg.com Twitter: @bobburg Bob recommends: How to Master the Art of Selling Think and Grow Rich As a Man Thinketh Psycho-Cybernetics The Magic of Thinking Big How to Win Friends and Influence People Peace, Power and Plenty -- This episode is brought to you by: Animoto: Visit Animoto.com/smartpeople and use promo code “SMARTPEOPLE” to get 15% off to receive 15% off an Annual Pro subscription! Lynda.com: Do something good for yourself in 2015 and sign up for a FREE 10-day trial to Lynda.com by visiting Lynda.com/smartpeople. Aspiration: At Aspiration, their investment strategies are built for the middle class. Signing up takes as little as $500 and five minutes of your time. You can sign up and find out more information at aspiration.com/smartpeople. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all understand that technology is addicting. Every passing year, we become more dependent on our gadgets to get us through the day. And although it can seem like a harmless problem, this addiction has deadly consequences. Perhaps the best way to illustrate the problem is to examine the implications of using a smart phone while driving. Consider this - more than 3,000 teens die each year in crashes caused by texting while driving. That is 300 more deaths a year than drunk driving. Why do we still continue to use our phones in the car, despite the consequences? This week we interview Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Matt Richtel. Matt is the author of the New York Times Bestseller, A Deadly Wandering: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention. In the book, and this episode, Matt explains what technology is doing to our brains through the true story of a deadly car crash that was caused by texting a driving. We not only learn about the neuroscience, but we finally see the real life implications of our addictions. Matt Richtel is a novelist, cartoonist and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the New York Times. He writes about technology, its impact on society, and how it changes the way we how we work, play, and relate to each other. His 2010 series, ‘Our Brain On Computers‘ focuses on how constant use of our devices impacts not only our behavior but our thought processes and even our neurology. His 2009 series about the dangers of multitasking while driving won the Pulitzer for national reporting. Matt joined the Times in 2000 and has written on range of topics, including Internet gambling, identity theft, corporate espionage, video games, mobile communications, the dot com boom and bust, and the pornography industry. He was a Loeb award finalist for his work on the Hewlett-Packard spying scandal and the winner of best project from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers for his work on distracted driving. ____ "Social information is engrained in us. So when the phone rings, it is a piece of social information that is nearly impossible to ignore." - Matt Richtel Quotes from Matt: What we learn in this episode: What is happening in the brain when we text and drive? How does a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist decide what story to cover? How does Skinnerian Theory play a role in explaining our infatuation with our smart phones? Resources: A Deadly Wandering: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention Twitter: @mrichtel https://mattrichtel.wordpress.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcQY14n_Xe4 -- This episode is brought to you by: Igloo: Go to igloosoftware.com/smartpeople to use Igloo for free with up to 10 of your favorite coworkers or customers! Lynda.com: Do something good for yourself in 2015 and sign up for a FREE 10-day trial to Lynda.com by visiting Lynda.com/smartpeople. Aspiration: At Aspiration, their investment strategies are built for the middle class. Signing up takes as little as $500 and five minutes of your time. You can sign up and find out more information at aspiration.com/smartpeople. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You don't have to be a comic book fanatic to love superheroes. And even if you've never picked up a comic book in your life, you've almost certainly seen a comic book movie. A recent surge in comic book movies has brought us blockbusters such as The Avengers, Iron Man, Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, Batman, Superman, Spiderman, and many more. Given the success of this genre of movies, we are honored to interview the man who has been credited with bringing comic books to the big screen, and has been dubbed "The Godfather of comic book movies", Michael Uslan. Michael is the owner of the Batman series, producer of the Batman movies, and was the first instructor to teach an accredited course on comic book folklore at any university. Michael Uslan is a film producer with numerous award winning projects to his credit. He is Executive Producer of all of the Batman features from Batman to The Dark Knight Rises and won an Emmy Award for TV's "Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?" He has been a speaker at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, and at the Smithsonian Institution. Michael recently teamed up with Stan Lee and the Smithsonian Institution to create a free online course titled the Rise of Superheroes. Take the course here! ____ "When I was in my twenty's, I bought the rights to Batman from DC Comics with my business partner, I quit my job, gave up all security, and rolled the dice. With Batman in my back pocket I went to Hollywood." - Michael Uslan Quotes from Michael: What we learn in this episode: How Michael turned a passion for comic books into a very lucrative career doing what he loved. What is the most disturbing comic book of all time? What is it like creating and producing the Batman movies? Why is the Smithsonian Institution teaming up with Michael Uslan and Stan Lee to create an online course on super hero's Resources: The Rise of Superheroes Course with Stan Lee and Michael Uslan - Free Trailer - The Rise of Superheroes The Boy Who Loved Batman: A Memoir -- This episode is brought to you by: Igloo: Go to igloosoftware.com/smartpeople to use Igloo for free with up to 10 of your favorite coworkers or customers! Lynda.com: Do something good for yourself in 2015 and sign up for a FREE 10-day trial to Lynda.com by visiting Lynda.com/smartpeople. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For many of us, the suburbs hold a magical place in our heart. We grew up in an environment where we knew our neighbors, we played outside, we didn't lock our doors, and the word "community" meant something. But despite how hard we try to relive those times, todays suburbs are a far cry from what we remember, and many of us are looking for a new type of neighborhood. This week we discuss what happened to the suburbs of the 80's and 90's, and what will our neighborhoods look like in the future. Our guest is Leigh Gallagher, Assistant Managing Editor at Fortune magazine, and author of the book, The End of the Suburbs: Where the American Dream is Moving. We also talk to Leigh about new media vs. old media, the Kardashians, the job of an editor, and much more!  Leigh Gallagher is an Assistant Managing Editor at Fortune magazine, where she edits feature stories on a variety of subjects, oversees Fortune franchises including the magazine’s 40 Under 40 rankings and writes The Urbanist column on Fortune.com. She is also a co-chair of the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, speaks regularly at Fortune and other business and economics conferences, and is a seasoned business news commentator, appearing regularly on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, CBS News’ Face the Nation, CNBC’s Squawk Box, CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper, public radio’s Marketplace and a wide variety of other programs. She is also a co-chair of the Fortune U.S. State Department Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership and a visiting scholar for the Business and Economic Reporting program at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University. Before joining Fortune in 2007, Leigh was a senior editor at SmartMoney magazine and a reporter and writer for Forbes. Originally from the “urban burb” of Media, Pennsylvania, Leigh is a graduate of Cornell University and lives in New York. ____ "The new model of suburbs has put people in their cars all the time...That's a lifestyle that increasingly has failed to deliver on its promises." - Leigh Gallagher Quotes from Leigh: What we learn in this episode: How is the democratization of media affecting our culture? Is it good or bad? What are the responsibilities of the top editor for an enormous media brand such as Fortune? Where did the American Dream come from?  Why are people opting to leave the "typical suburb"? What will the new neighborhood look like? Resources: The End of the Suburbs: Where the American Dream Is Moving www.endofthesuburbs.com www.fortune.com http://fortune.com/tag/fortune-live/ Twitter: @leighgallagher -- This episode is brought to you by: Highfive: Go to highfive.com/smartpeople to request your free trial and start meeting face-to-face with Highfive. Lynda.com: Do something good for yourself in 2015 and sign up for a FREE 10-day trial to Lynda.com by visiting Lynda.com/smartpeople. Aspiration: At Aspiration, their investment strategies are built for the middle class. Signing up takes as little as $500 and five minutes of your time. You can sign up and find out more information at aspiration.com/smartpeople. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you think about professional blogging, what's the first thing that comes to your mind? Mommy bloggers of course! The term "mommy blog" has become part of our common lexicon due to the insane success of so many mothers turned bloggers. And this week we are fortunate to interview the queen of mommy blogs, Deedra Determan. Deedra created a blog initially targeted towards moms in her local community and quickly turned it into a 7-figure business with national reach. In this episode Deedra teaches us how to start small, find your niche, create a profitable business, market on a zero dollar budget, and much more.  Deedra has 20+ years of marketing experience starting on the agency side at Ackerman McQueen Advertising Agency to 10 years in the television industry launching news at KOKI Fox 23 making it one of the top Fox affiliates in the country. She went on to launch niche websites for moms including 918moms.com, 405moms.com, and MoneySavingQueen.com with over 100,000 moms visiting the websites each month. After one year from launching, she sold the websites to Griffin Communications. Determan then followed her true passion in launching D2 Branding, an innovative marketing firm igniting brands to be the market leader in their industry through marketing, public relations, social media, advertising, strategic partnerships, sales, website creation, search engine optimization, content creation, video production, graphic design, and more! Deedra is also a mentor at Thrive15.com. "You can be passionate all day long, but until you realize what your revenue streams are going to be, passion will only take you so far." - Deedra Determan Quotes from Deedra: What we learn in this episode: Your business doesn't have to be huge, just find your niche How to start small, find your market, and pivot How to find your revenue model for your business or blog Resources: Thrive15.com Sales Training with Deedra https://www.thrive15.com/mentors/deedra-determan Twitter: @deedradeterman -- This episode is brought to you by: Highfive: Go to highfive.com/smartpeople to request your free trial and start meeting face-to-face with Highfive. Lynda.com: Do something good for yourself in 2015 and sign up for a FREE 10-day trial to Lynda.com by visiting Lynda.com/smartpeople. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For most of us, we don't need to know about how to get media coverage...until we need to get media coverage. You could come up with the most brilliant business idea, or write the next best seller - but if no one talks about it, it's just another particle out there in an atmosphere full of noise. But how do you get coverage? How do you convince a powerful media outlet to cover your story? It turns out, there are very specific tricks that you can use to give yourself the best shot of becoming the next new headline. Listen up this week and learn how to become a media darling (or at the very least how not to waste money on PR firms). This week our guest is Conrad Egusa. Conrad is an entrepreneur and the Founder of Publicize, which is a PR firm focused on startups. The company's mission is to change the way startups approach PR. He has been featured on publications including The Financial Times, Bloomberg, and TechCrunch.Conrad is a guest writer for VentureBeat, and he is currently a Mentor at The Founder Institute, ANDI (Asociación Nacional de Empresarios de Colombia), and the Spanish accelerator Zarpamos. He is also the Co-Founder of ESPACIO, which is a coworking space/entrepreneurial center in Medellin (coverage on TechCrunch is here: http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/11/espacio-medellin/). Conrad is the Co-Owner & Chairman of Colombia Reports (www.colombiareports.co), which is the largest English news publication in South America. Colombia Reports was founded in March 2008 and is frequently cited by the New York Times, BBC, CNN and Fox News. Conrad has consulted for Y Combinator startups, global brands (Intercontinental Hotels Group), and leading internet businesses. "You have to make your story and your company as interesting as possible through using social proof." - Conrad Egusa Quotes from Conrad: What we learn in this episode: Do press releases actually get you earned media? Why is the PR world still operating on an old model? How do you create a good PR strategy for your business? What is the best way to reach out to a media person to get earned media? Resources: http://www.publicize.co/ http://techcrunch.com/contributor/conrad-egusa/ LinkedIn - Conrad Egusa -- This episode is brought to you by: Igloo: Go to igloosoftware.com/smartpeople to use Igloo for free with up to 10 of your favorite coworkers or customers! Lynda.com: Do something good for yourself in 2015 and sign up for a FREE 10-day trial to Lynda.com by visiting Lynda.com/smartpeople. Aspiration: At Aspiration, their investment strategies are built for the middle class. Signing up takes as little as $500 and five minutes of your time. You can sign up and find out more information at aspiration.com/smartpeople. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices