The Crux of the Story

In our forty-seventh episode of The Crux, we welcome Judy Samuelson, the executive director and founder of the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program. We discuss Judy's new book, The Six New Rules of Business: Creating Real Value in a Changing World, the changing role of business in society, and why CEOs should be paid less.

In our forty-sixth episode of The Crux, we welcome Jen Prosek and Mark Kollar from Prosek Partners, one of the world's leading financial communications and strategic advisory firms. We discuss the role of purpose, ESG efforts, and areas of growth for the company. As we close out 2020, our team also names our own communicators of the year.

In our forty-fifth episode of The Crux, Gary and Mike speak with Alan Murray, the president and CEO of Fortune Media Group. We discuss the ways the 90-year-old media business has reinvented itself, trends in CEO activism, what business leaders can expect from the Biden Administration, and the future of journalism.

In our forty-forth episode of The Crux, we welcome Stefanie Johnson, professor of organizational leadership at the University of Colorado-Boulder and author of a new book, Inclusify. We discuss research-backed ways to create authentic diversity and inclusion, trends in unconscious biases and related training, and findings on women's tasks and trajectory in the workplace. TW: This episode discusses sexual harassment in the workplace, starting around the 50:00 mark.

In our forty-third episode of The Crux, Gary and Mike interview Vivian Schiller, executive director of the Aspen Institute and former president and CEO of NPR. Vivian emphasizes using evidence-based reality to guide media literacy and shutting down false, harmful information, especially amid the ongoing "infodemic."

In our forty-second episode of The Crux, Mike and Gary welcome Jeff DeMarrais, CCO of Cognizant, one of the world's leading professional service firms. We discuss using the "moneyball" methodology of communications, recruiting talent for the future, and telling your story looking beyond the traditional PESO model.

In our forty-first episode, Gary and Mike are joined by Tony Fratto, managing partner of Hamilton Place Strategies and former deputy press secretary in the George W. Bush White House. In the wake of a historic election, we discuss the evolution of news, polling, internal communications, and the notion of Trumpism.

In our fortieth episode, Gary and Mike welcome Jacqueline Adams, co-author of A Blessing: Women of Color Teaming Up to Lead, Empower and Thrive. Jacqueline shares anecdotes from her career as an Emmy Award-winning CBS correspondent and explains the book's fresh, bold analysis of African American female leadership.

In our thirty-ninth episode, Marta Newhart, Chief Communications Officer at Westinghouse Electric Company, joins Gary and Mike. After sharing compelling experiences relating to her Mexican-American background, Marta discusses how we can build upon diversity to create inclusion, as well as how companies should best communicate nuclear energy, science, and technology in a world that often distrusts and doubts it.

In our thirty-eighth episode, Gary and Mike welcome the team that created the third annual PRWeek Bellwether Survey in partnernship with Boston University. Steve Barrett, editor in chief at PRWeek, Arunima Krishna, assistant professor at Boston University, Ray Kotcher, professor of the practice at BU, and Don Wright, the Harold Burson professor of public relations and chair for the department of mass communication, advertising and PR at BU, discuss agility and its effects on organizational outcomes.