Books Shows Tunes & Mad Acts
Episodes
Schoolhouse Burning: Public Education with Derek Black
22 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Law professor and public education policy expert Derek Black joins us to talk about his new book "Schoolhouse Burning: Public Education and the Assaul...
Have Mercy on Us All by Fred Vargas
21 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A modern-day town crier gets some ominous messages to read about impending pestilence in Paris while mysterious backwards 4s begin appearing on doors....
San Diego Musician and Producer Jeff Berkley
15 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
San Diego native, percussionist, guitarist, and producer Jeff Berkley talks about his musical evolution, his band Berkley Hart, song writing, record p...
Colson Whitehead's Zone One
13 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this zombie-apocalypse novel, literary novelist and dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker Colson Whitehead imagines three days in the life of a "sweeper," a ...
Up, Up and Away: The Angel Flight Book Launch
11 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Robin Kardon, author of "Angel Flight," the new second novel in the Flygirl trilogy, joins us to talk about love and work in the life of an ambitious ...
How Rules and Laws Pervert Salary Negotiations
08 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The correct starting place to negotiate the base salary for a position is its value on the open market. Happily, that information is now usually avail...
Thomas Mann and the Magic Mountain
06 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Mann began his novel The Magic Mountain with the intention of exploring comedic elements broached by Death in Venice, but World War I intervened which...
Lady Rebecca Jade, San Diego Songstress
04 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Rebecca Jade joins us to talk about her musical history, how she ended up in San Diego, and why she stays. She talks vocal technique, musical educatio...
In Memory of Pete Hamill
01 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
New York journalist Pete Hamill passed away this month after a stellar career as a columnist, essayist, and author. He and Jimmy Breslin inspired a ge...
Death in Venice: The Novella, the Film, and the Opera
30 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Thomas Mann's 1912 novella is about an esteemed artist suffering from writer's block who travels to Venice and becomes enamored with a beautiful Polis...
The Basics of Performance Management
28 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Being a boss is a big responsibility, even before you realize that your employee's poor performance is your fault. Yikes. We talk about reporting line...
Working from Home with Nick Bloom
25 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Stanford professor Nick Bloom shares his research about working from home: who likes it and why, what it does to productivity, what it exposes about p...
The Basics of Good Management
21 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In a continuing effort to improve our workplaces, particularly where management is concerned, we return to first principles in this episode to re-disc...
Reimagining Capitalism with Rebecca Henderson
18 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Harvard economics professor Rebecca Henderson's new book "Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire" outlines how capitalism has let us down in recent...
Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel
16 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This 2014 novel starts with the death of a Shakespearean actor followed quickly by a pandemic which wipes out most of humanity and causes the collapse...
Search, Rescue and Recovery Dogs of the Eastern Sierra
14 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Today we honor Takoda, Ayla, Journey and Buster, real SAR or recovery dogs who work in the Eastern Sierra. Although their work might seem a bit grisly...
Tupperware and Brownie Wise
11 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Biographer Bob Kealing talks about his book "Life of the Party," the story of how an ambitious saleslady rose to be a top seller of Tupperware, an exe...
The Painted Veil: The Book and the Movie
09 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
W. Somerset Maugham's 1925 novel concerning an unfaithful wife whose husband takes her to China during a cholera epidemic was adapted into a 2006 movi...
Our Parents' Jobs
07 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We talk about the immigrant experience where second generation Americans express their appreciation and respect for what their parents went through to...
News about the Covid-19 Vaccine and Arcturus Therapeutics
04 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Payne, the CEO of Arcturus Therapeutics, is back to talk about exciting progress on their messenger RNA Covid-19 vaccine and answer questions abou...
Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake
02 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Yay! Another novel about a dystopia caused by a virus! This time, Canadian Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale, presents her view of an ove...
Five Tips to Improve Your English (for Non-Native Speakers)
31 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Here are five ways to quickly improve your spoken English and improve your understandability. I've been offering the Your American Voice program for m...
How We Talk: The Conversation Machine
28 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Linguist Nick Enfield joins us to discuss ways that humans collaborate during a conversation, from turn-taking with split-second timing to using conti...
They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell
26 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Maxwell's semi-autobiographical novel is told in three parts from the perspective of two young sons and a husband who lose their mother and wife to th...
Taylorism: What It Means Today
24 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Extolled by management societies and consultants, Taylor's Principles of Scientific Management, published in 1911, laid the groundwork for a clear dem...
Could You Live On This?
21 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When McDonalds posted a sample budget to demonstrate to employees how they could live on minimum wage (including a second job), it triggered a hostile...
Mikhail Bulgakov's The Fatal Eggs
19 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Bulgakov's science fiction novella, The Fatal Eggs, set in 1928 post-revolutionary Soviet Union, is an absurdist satirical tale of dead chickens, mons...
Studs Terkel and Working
17 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Studs Terkel was a Chicago broadcaster, author, and actor, whose oral histories came to represent the voice of Americans during the 20th century. His ...
Is This the End of America's Pastime?
14 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When you start adding things up, it's not looking very good for baseball right now. Sports journalist Andrew Pridgeon and I talk about the truncated 2...
Brian Kernighan on Dennis Ritchie: Unix, C and a Legacy
10 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Computer scientist Brian Kernighan joins us to talk about Dennis Ritchie, creator of the C programming language and co-developer of the Unix operating...
The Future of Office Space
07 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Commercial real estate broker Scot Ginsburg of the prestigious tenant rep firm Hughes Marino joins us to talk about what is happening and is likely to...
The White Plague by Frank Herbert
05 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Published in 1982 and set in 1996, The White Plague, written by Frank Herbert, the acclaimed author of Dune, describes the unleashing of a female-spec...
Food F*ck Ups at Work
03 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
From disasters with ice cream and cheese sauce to exploding milkshakes and smoothies, to garbage and blueberries ending up where they shouldn't, and i...
Considering Diversity Training? STOP
30 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Behavioral scientist Natasha Ouslis explains how diversity training can backfire, as well as irritate and shame your employees. Implicit bias testing ...
The Female Man and a Gender-Specific Plague
28 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Joanna Ross's science fiction book The Female Man published in 1975 is still hailed as one of the most influential feminist books. It concerns four wo...
The Interrupted Legacy of Adam Schlesinger
26 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Pop music aficionado Dan Stalcup joins us to talk about Adam Schlesinger, musician, singer-songwriter, producer, who passed away on April 1st from COV...
Avalanche Dogs of the Eastern Sierra
23 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For a change of pace, we talk about a different working species today—dogs! We introduce four avalanche dogs, three from Mammoth Mountain and one fr...
Mary Shelley and The Last Man
21 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We discuss Mary Shelley's life and her 1826 dystopian novel set in 2073 after a plague has wiped out everyone but one. Shelley's turbulent life had tr...
What's Up with the Economy
19 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
USD econ prof Ryan Ratcliff joins us to talk about unemployment, its various measures, and the shape of the potential recovery (is it a V, a U, a swoo...
What's So Wrong About Diversity Statements?
16 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Attorney Lisa Bildy joins us to talk about the freedoms that are put at risk by mandatory diversity statements that are growing in popularity from law...
The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe
14 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This gothic short story spawned a bunch of fictional viruses from Earth Abides to the Stand and the Red Plague. It concerns Prince Prospero who welds ...
Ward Hayden and the Outliers
12 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Boston band Ward Hayden and the Outliers, formerly Girls Guns and Glory, join us for a candid conversation about what it takes to sustain a hard-worki...
Staying Cool Under Fire
09 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Under attack? Or feel like you are? These specific, practical tactics allow you to respond powerfully but with dignity, and to model good behavior so ...
The Scarlet Plague by Jack London
07 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A survivor in 2073 looks back at a plague that killed off most of humanity in 2013. He describes to his great grandchildren what the world was like th...
Flygirl, a Female Pilot Exposé
05 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Former attorney and pilot R.D. Kardon joins us to talk about her novel Flygirl in which she describes the obstacles that lie in the path of an ambitio...
Howard Bloom, Rock and Roll Spinmeister
02 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Music publicist Howard Bloom joins us to talk about his new book Einstein, Michael Jackson and Me: A Search for Soul in the Power Pits of Rock and Rol...
George R. Stewart's Earth Abides, the Story of Another Literary Disease
31 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Science fiction readers have long been electrified by Stewart's 1949 novel Earth Abides, a post-apocalyptic story of a small community near Berkeley a...
Me, the "Entrepreneur"
29 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recent episodes about entrepreneurship have reminded me of this phase of my teenage life when I was trying to make enough money to get back to college...
Dirty Jobs, The Show
26 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
TV producer, Dave Barsky, talks about Dirty Jobs and its seven seasons featuring dangerous, bizarre, and, yes, even filthy, jobs. The show was fun and...
Did Eyes of Darkness Predict Covid-19?
24 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In February 2020, Twitter erupted with the theory that Dean Koontz's novel Eyes of Darkness had foreshadowed the Covid-19 pandemic with its Wuhan 400 ...
The Soul of an Entrepreneur
22 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Journalist and author David Sax joins us to talk about his new book in which he researches what drives people to start up a business, from immigrants,...
Wildpreneurs: A Practical Guide to Starting a Business
19 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Tamara Jacobi, who started the Tailwind Jungle Lodge on the coast of Mexico with her parents 15 years ago, joins us to talk about her new book, "Wildp...
The Plague by Albert Camus
17 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We take a look at Camus' novel, The Plague, published in 1947 after Camus had fought in the French Resistance and become disillusioned with communism....
Truck, Scrip, and Creative Compensation
15 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A look at barter, truck systems, company scrip, and historical compensation methods, that may be more applicable than ever. Consider beer, for example...
My First Job
13 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In a personal episode, Jennifer recounts her early days of going to the local library as a young girl to check out giant stacks of books, beginning to...
Negotiating and Speaking Up for Introverts
12 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Career coach and creator of the Wharton Career Discovery Seminar, Jane Finkle, discusses her new book The Introvert's Complete Career Guide and her ad...
Katherine Anne Porter and Her Literary Virus
10 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We discuss "Pale Horse, Pale Rider," Katherine Anne Porter's work which covers the 1918 Spanish flu, along with a review of her long career with relat...
The Beauty of the Ombuds
08 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An ombuds office can offer a safe space for informal problem solving and conflict resolution, neatly sidestepping some of the conflict of interest pro...
Freedom of Speech in the Workplace
06 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Employment attorney Chris Olmsted joins us to talk about employees' free speech, protected speech, speech that might get you fired, and speech that's ...
LA's Garment Factories
05 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Garment Worker Center Director Marissa Nuncio joins us to talk about the history of the garment industry in LA, its so-called sweatshops, typical wage...
Stephen King's The Stand and Another Literary Virus
04 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We look at the origins of The Stand, a post-apocalyptic nightmare after Captain Trips, a virulent influenza, has killed off most of the world's popula...
Twenty Years as a TV Anchor
03 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Joya Dass worked as business reporter and TV anchor for twenty years, reporting from the floor of the stock exchange. She joins us to talk about her e...
America's Last Great Newspaper War
01 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We discuss his recent book with Michael Jaccarino about the Darwinian epic battle between the New York Daily News and the New York Post. He recounts t...
Bethany McLean on Enron and Business Reporting
30 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In March 2001, Bethany McLean made history by raising questions about Enron's financials in a Fortune article. This was before Enron went bankrupt, it...
Signs of Covid Comedy
29 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Time for a laugh! We take a look at people's humorous takes on working from home, being quarantined, and their own foibles during the pandemic. People...
The Trade Press and the Keating Five
28 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Journalism professor and author Rob Wells joins us to talk about his book, The Enforcers, the scandalous Keating Five, and why the trade press is so i...
Andromeda Strain, A Literary Virus
27 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We talk about The Andromeda Strain, Michael Crichton's first book under his own name, which tells the story of an alien bug brought to earth by a mili...
Arcturus and the COVID-19 Vaccine
26 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Payne and Neda Safarzadeh of Arcturus Therapeutics, a San Diego biotech, join us to talk about their progress on developing a vaccine against COVI...
The Evolution of HR, Accelerated by a Pandemic
24 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Patrick Wright, HR expert and one of HR Magazine's Most Influential Thought Leaders, joins us to talk about the events from the 70s to today that have...
The Depression, the New Deal, and the Coronavirus Pandemic
22 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In light of comparisons being drawn between the Depression and today's economic crisis, we look at comparative unemployment claims and declines in the...
Creative Work Done in Quarantine
21 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
"Shakespeare wrote King Lear in quarantine -- what's wrong with you?" While we are struggling to do our normal work, home-school our kids, and cook du...
The WWE and Sports During the Pandemic
20 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Sports journalist Andrew Pridgen joins us to talk about pro wrestling, its recent classification in Florida as an essential business, and owner Vince ...
A Quick History of Pandemics and Epidemics
17 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
SARS, avian, H1N1, covid, plague, Spanish flu—what is all this? If you're like me, it's become a bit of a blur. In this episode we review the major ...
The Expulsion of Journalists During a Pandemic
16 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Roy Gutterman of the Tully Center for Free Speech joins us to talk about media repression and the expulsion of journalists during a pandemic, both fro...
The San Diego Union Tribune and the Coronavirus
15 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Tarcy Connors of the San Diego Union Tribune joins us today. She is currently leading the paperwide effort to cover the coronavirus. She talks about t...
When Your Job Can Get You Killed
13 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Lucy Westcoff from the Committee to Protect Journalists joins us to talk about CPJ's statistics on journalists who are killed or injured while on the ...
Union Activities and Essential Workers During a Pandemic
10 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Labor and employment relations professor John Logan joins us to talk about unionizing in the modern era, particularly recent activism during the pande...
Losing the Local News
09 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
PEN America writers Viktorya Vilk and Nora Benavidez join us to talk about their investigative report, "Losing the News: The Decimation of Local News ...
Money During Corona
07 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Two of the creators of the brand new website moneyduringcorona.com, Ben Hsu and Paul Klein, join the show to talk about the inspiration for the projec...
A Scientist's Perspective on Face Masks
06 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Microbiologist, research scientist, and co-chair of the Cambridge City COVID–19 Expert Advisory Panel (and my sister!), Jill Crittenden, joins us to...
Talking Journalism During a Pandemic
05 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Associate dean and professor at Syracuse University, Joel Kaplan, joins us to talk about historical trends in journalism, its golden age, some legal p...
The San Diego Food Bank Steps Up
02 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Covid-19 has created a surge in food needs. Jim Floros, executive director of the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, joins us to talk about how...
Typhoid Mary: A Believe-It-Or-Not Story
01 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In honor of April Fools' Day, we tell the story of Typhoid Mary, a carrier of typhoid fever although she herself was without symptoms. She infected a ...
Useful Questions, A New Book
31 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
First-time author and life coach, Corrinn Davis, joins us to talk about her new book, "Useful Questions: A Guide to Self-Coaching." According to Jack ...
What the Pandemic Is Teaching Us About Leave Policies
30 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Christine Dinan, an attorney with A Better Balance, a worker advocacy group, joins us to talk about how the pandemic is bringing the lack of adequate ...
Publishing Versus Podcasting: Either, Neither, or Both
29 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In our 100th episode, we change things up a bit to talk about creative projects people might be contemplating during the pandemic and what to consider...
How the Coronavirus is Affecting San Diego Employers
27 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Jennifer Jacobus of the San Diego Employers Association joins us to provide updates about the latest legislation regarding sick leave and what problem...
Productivity During a Pandemic
26 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Futurist and expert on productivity and rest, Alex Pang, talks about the challenge of remote work, organizing your day, how to facilitate your most cr...
Remote Leadership with Wayne Turmel
25 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Wayne Turmel of the Remote Leadership Institute joins us to talk about some basics of effective remote leadership, pitfalls, how remote work can exagg...
Brand Messaging During a Pandemic
24 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Content creator and influencer Ted Bauer joins us to talk about email blasts and other news releases during the pandemic and why some fall flat with g...
Keeping Our Network Healthy During a Pandemic
23 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Coach Helena Demuynck talks about strategies to stay positive, creative, and forward-looking during difficult times, in order to contribute and pursue...
Remote Working Fails
20 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
During this time of Corona, we're all learning the risks of working remotely. From pets, kids, and naked roommates appearing on camera to unmuted mics...
A Guide to Workplace Humor
17 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Humor researcher Barbara Plester joins us to talk about the four types of humor, why jokes sometimes offend, how managers can embrace humor and reduce...
The Genius of Office Space
13 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Stuart Gaston and Jennifer, both fans of the movie, Office Space, chat about the evolution of the film into cult status, why it's been called a "bruta...
Alex Pang and the Four-Day Work Week
10 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Futurist and author Alex Pang joins us to talk about his new book "Shorter: Work Better, Smarter, and Less - Here's How" and his discoveries about com...
Jack Welch Through Today's Lens
07 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Welch biographer and early skeptic, Tom O'Boyle, joins us to talk about his book "At Any Cost: Jack Welch, General Electric, and the Pursuit of Profit...
An Employee-Centric Culture
03 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Entrepreneur and author Sherry Stewart Deutschmann joins us to talk about her new book "Lunch with Lucy" that comes out next week and the unique cultu...
Work-Life Balance: My Stories
28 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Working parents are often overwhelmed and looking for advice about how to handle all their responsibilities. I can't say that I was particularly succe...
The History and Future of Employer-Provided Health Insurance
25 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ever wonder how on earth it came to be that we get our health insurance from our employer? How did that happen, what changes have transpired since the...
What Is She? The Sex That Cannot Be Named
21 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We discuss the various terms used for female people: ladies, women, gals, and girls, their connotations and use, to good and bad effect in the workpla...