The Dictionary Wars! with Gabe Henry
Host Sarah talks with writer and lexicography enthusiast Gabe Henry about the "dictionary wars" between Samuel Johnson, Noah Webster, and rival lexicographer Joseph Worcester, and how these battles shaped modern English spelling and national identity. They trace the messy history of English, the rise of Americanisms that offended British elites, Johnson's and Webster's massive dictionary projects, and the petty, decades-long feud between Webster/Webster's heirs and Worcester. The conversation also explores why radical spelling reform failed, how small spelling changes were quietly smuggled into American English, and what these stories reveal about obsession, failure, and the politics embedded in language.
Why Following Your Dreams Isn't Enough
Host Shankar Vedantam first speaks with Stanford professor Hagi Rao about why bold visions and passion often fail without careful attention to operations, using examples like the Fyre Festival, North Korea's unfinished "Hotel of Doom," and the rollout of healthcare.gov. Rao introduces the contrast between "poetry" (inspiring visions) and "plumbing" (execution, routines, and details), and explores how good leaders and organizations cultivate plumbing through practices like field visits, premortems, and empowering unsung "Sherpas." In the second segment, sociologist Rob Willer answers listener questions about bridging political divides, explaining why debate-style arguing backfires, how empathy and correcting misperceptions can reduce partisan animosity, and how structured conversations and role modeling from leaders can support healthier democratic engagement.
Are Two C.E.O.s Better Than One? (Update)
Stephen Dubner revisits the question of whether companies run by co-CEOs perform better than those with a single chief, exploring both supportive evidence and strong skepticism. CEO advisor Mark Feigen and several current and former co-CEOs describe the benefits and pitfalls of shared leadership, while Yale professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld critiques the model as creating role confusion and undermining decisive authority. Computer scientist Lori Williams adds evidence from pair programming, showing how working in pairs can improve quality and satisfaction, raising the broader question of when two leaders might truly be better than one.
Judd Apatow: Fear of Rejection Holding You Back? THIS Trick Will Silence the Inner Critic & Help You Feel Confident to Create
Jay Shetty interviews Judd Apatow about his life in comedy, from his early days as a teenage interviewer of stand‑up comics to creating influential films and television shows. Apatow describes learning to treat failure as part of the path to success, developing his voice as a writer and director, and navigating ego, rejection, and collaboration in Hollywood. He also talks about parenting, long‑term marriage, therapy, meditation, psychedelics, and the importance of kindness, mentorship, and doing work that feels meaningful rather than merely successful.
Forget the corporate ladder - winners take risks | Molly Graham (re-release)
Molly Graham challenges the traditional idea of a linear career "staircase" and argues that great careers are built by taking risks she calls "jumping off cliffs." She illustrates this with her own transition from a secure HR role at Facebook to a risky new project where she initially struggled, then grew into a far more capable version of herself. She outlines three skills needed for successful cliff jumps-learning to actually jump, surviving the emotional fall, and becoming a "professional idiot"-and urges people to question narrow definitions of success and dare to trade the known for the unknown.