What's Your Problem?

While we’re off celebrating the new year, here’s an episode from another Pushkin show: Some of My Best Friends Are… Hosts Khalil Gibran Muhammad and Ben Austen, two best friends from the South Side of Chicago, invite listeners into unfiltered conversations about growing up together in a deeply-divided country, and navigating that divide today. On this episode, Khalil and Ben find out how Sherman “Dilla” Thomas has become the face of Chicago history on TikTok, TV and in tours. We hear how Thomas was influenced by stories told by his father, a Chicago police officer, and hometown Black politicians making history right in front of him.  You can hear more episodes at https://link.chtbl.com/WypbestfriendsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anders Forslund is the co-founder and CEO of Heart Aerospace. Anders' problem is this: How do you build a commercial airplane that can fly on battery power -- and win the approval of regulators around the world? As other sectors are decarbonizing, emissions from aviation are projected to triple by 2050. This is partly because figuring out how to build a commercial plane that doesn't burn jet fuel is a very, very hard problem that Anders has been trying to solve for years. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts be sure to subscribe to our email list.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bayard Winthrop is the founder and CEO of American Giant. Bayard's problem is this: How do you make clothes in America -- and compete in a global economy? Today's show is about the future of American manufacturing. But it is also about something very simple: A sweatshirt made in America. It costs $138, and it is wildly popular. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts be sure to subscribe to our email list.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Farzad Mostashari is the co-founder and CEO of Aledade. Farzad's problem is this: How can we pay doctors to keep us healthy, rather than treating us after we get sick? People have been struggling to solve this problem for decades. But for a bunch of reasons you'll hear about on the show, Farzad and his colleagues may be the ones to finally solve it. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts be sure to subscribe to our email list.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This bonus episode is from Story of the Week with Joel Stein, a new Pushkin podcast. On Story of the Week, journalist Joel Stein chooses an article that fascinates him, convinces the writer to tell him about it, and then interrupts a good conversation by talking about himself.   This episode is about the Medium story “Survival of the Richest” by Douglas Rushkoff. In it, Rushkoff discovers a whole industry catering to billionaires looking to buy things to prepare for the apocalypse.  You can read the full story here: https://onezero.medium.com/survival-of-the-richest-9ef6cddd0cc1 And you can subscribe to Story of the Week here: https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/story-of-the-week See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sallie Krawcheck is the founder and CEO of Ellevest, an investment firm for women that has over $1 billion in assets under management. In her career in finance, Sallie was often one of the only women in the room. But even she had to be convinced that women would benefit from an investment firm created just for them. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts be sure to subscribe to our email list.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In May of this year, we interviewed Sam Bankman-Fried, the young billionaire philanthropist who started the crypto exchange FTX. Last week, in a matter of a few days, FTX collapsed and filed for bankruptcy, and Sam resigned. It's unclear if customers or investors will ever get their money back. In light of the news, we are replaying the episode -- and trying to figure out what to make of everything Sam told us earlier this year. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts be sure to subscribe to our email list.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stacey Vanek Smith is the author of "Machiavelli for Women: Defend Your Worth, Grow Your Ambition, and Win the Workplace." Her problem is this: How do women get ahead in a workplace that is stacked against them? Stacey is my old co-host from Planet Money. Today, she brings us strategies from the 16th-century writer for how to thrive in an unjust world. This episode was recorded in front of a live audience. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts be sure to subscribe to our email list. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cathy Edwards is vice president and GM of Search at Google. Cathy's problem is this: how do you teach computers to tell people what they want to know, even if they don't know how to ask? Google's last leap: Moving from search results based on keywords to search results based on concepts. The next step: Figuring out how to let people search using not just words, but combinations of words and images. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts be sure to subscribe to our email list.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Matt Duesterberg is co-founder and president of OhmConnect. Matt's problem: How do you build a business around getting people to save energy? Not all that much. And not all the time. But just enough, at just the right time. OhmConnect is paying customers to reduce their household's energy usage at times of high demand. The company is a window into the bizarre world of energy markets -- and human behavior. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts be sure to subscribe to our email list.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.