You May Find Yourself

Today we hear from Eric Marcus. Eric hosts one of my favorite podcasts of all time: Making Gay History, a podcast that has been downloaded more than 6 million times. In addition to hosting the podcast, Eric is a writer, historian, journalist and activist.  Making Gay History is a total treasure chest of archival recordings of activists, some famous, some behind-the-scenes, and all fascinating. So it's a real thrill to sit down and chat with Eric, and to share our conversation with you.  This podcast comes with a content warning. So that's exciting. 

 Jeremy Lasman thinks deeply about how imagination and passion operate, and he's working on a sort of engineering manual that we can adopt. So we talked about that. Twice.  This episode combines two conversations recorded eight months apart. And you can hear an interesting evolution in thinking and approach that i think you'll enjoy. We get pretty heady here in a talk about consciousness, AI, quantum computing, SpaceX (where Jeremey worked as a teenager), engineering, happiness, freedom, parents, work, founding The Passion Company, and other stuff too. So have a listen. 

Mike Crowly was a veteran of the real estate industry and living the life in Irvine, California – the heart of Orange County. Then, one day, Mike sold his house, gave away everything, and started walking.  Because God told him to.  We talk about that fateful decision, the message he's sharing, and some of the things he's learned along the way.

Today on the podcast we hear from Mike Alcazaren for a conversation mostly about sustainability and how to get people (and employers) involved. And in the course of the chat, we talk about design for sustainability, how to associate cost to carbon, My Climate Journey, community building and advocacy. But we talk about other stuff too! Like product marketing, Product, Explained (Mike's podcast) music, mentoring, and NFL Twitter. 

Mert Esencan joins us today for the third and final conversation in a quantum computing trifecta. We talk about quantum (of course!) and we talk about risk, uncertainty, mentors, the role of luck, the march of time, founding a company in your early 20's (Mert is currently 26), science, art, machine learning models, David Deutsch, Nick Cave, and breakfast. Plus other stuff too.   Mert founded Icosa Computing and lives in London.

Daniel Goldsmith joins us today to talk about Digital Catapult and his role as Quantum Computing Technologist. What's a quantum computing technologist? Daniel tells us all about that and about his role as a quantum computing ambassador to the world on behalf of the United Kingdom.  This is the second in a series of conversations that covers quantum and emerging technologies, which I think would be rather amusing to all those science teachers who nearly prevented your intrepid host from graduating high school. One note. Listeners are promised a link to the Quantum Data Center of the future. Curious listeners, here you go: https://kets-quantum.com/2021/11/05/9m-quantum-data-centre-of-the-future-project/

Bill Genovese is a tech advisor who works with companies across the globe on implementation for next-generation tech and revenue-growth strategies. As such, he's got a big interest in fintech, quantum computing, AI, blockchain, predictive modeling for black swan events, and next generation analytics. So we talk about all that. And other stuff too.

Jesse Jarnow. If you know, you know.  Jesse is the author of three books (so far). These are: Heads: A Biography of Psychadelic America, and Big Day Coming: Yo La Tengo and the Rise of Indie Rock, and Wasn't That a Time: The Weavers, the Blacklist, and the Battle for the Soul of Ameirca. He's also the co-host of the official Good Ol' Grateful Deadcast and the host of the Frow Show on WFMU (Mondays, 9pm to midnight). This means that listeners get to hear about all of this with hero doses of chatter about Yo La Tengo, The Weavers, socialism, Phish, bootleg culture, battles for the soul of America, LSD, the Grateful Dead, and Jesse's grandmother. Plus other stuff too.

Monick Halm is a TEDx and keynote speaker, a writer, a podcaster, a wife and a mother. Her latest book is, "Invest Like a Goddess: Advice from the Most Successful Women in Real Estate." This conversation goes wide and deep. We talk about career, of course, and we also talk about the highs and lows of owning a business, the joys of mentoring, podcasting, changing careers, and family. Among many other topics.

Scott Shafer is the Senior Editor for KQED's Politics and Government Desk. He's a reporter, host, and oversees the politics desk. Scott's love of radio goes back to his days at Cornell, spinning vinyl in the golden era of college radio. Scott arrived to San Francisco in the early 80s, worked for a time as Mayor Art Agnos's press secretary, and ultimately landed at San Francisco's NPR affiliate in 1998 hosting the California Report. This is a wide-ranging conversation where we talk about San Francisco in the 80s, professional life in and out of the closet, public radio, The Talking Heads, how to be a good interviewer, how to listen, reparations, Gore Vidal, San Francisco legend Sydney Goldstein, the media, and other topics.