Big Questions with Cal Fussman

Latest Episodes:

Ellie Kemper: On Getting Laughs in Changing Times Nov 13, 2018

Show notes

The star of the Netflix comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt talks with Cal at Chicago Ideas Week about the art of being funny in an age when tastes are quickly shifting. Cal points out that the humor which made people laugh when he was a kid might not resonate with the current generation and in many cases would be seen as politically incorrect. With culture shifting generationally and our political divide, how does one find the sweet spot to strike a mass audience? Ellie does it naturally. Cal wonders if he can learn.

Frank Blake: On The Power of Questions Nov 06, 2018

Show notes

The former CEO of Home Depot shows Cal how he used questions and conversations to lift the fortunes of the company between 2007 and 2014. But this was only after he observed how questions could be used as traps, tests or even look like a "live wire in a wet basement" in political, legal and corporate settings during the decades before.

This is an authentic conversation that, at times, surprised both Frank and Cal, and took place in front of attendees at the two12 conference in Vail, Colorado.

Dan Pink: On WHEN To Get The Best Out Of Yourself Oct 30, 2018

Show notes

The author of the New York Times best-seller When joins Cal at Chicago Big Ideas week and gives him advice on the best time of the day to eat, exercise and hold meetings. Not to mention the worst time of day to make important decisions.

He also explains to Cal how people will be watching television and consuming podcasts at different times and in different ways, and why it's wise to think about serving up Big Questions in a new format. The takeaways in this episode may make you decide to live your life in a new way.

Rob Lawless: On Making 10,000 Friends Through Travel Oct 23, 2018

Show notes

Cal talks with Rob Lawless about the changes in travel since Cal went around the world back in the 80s. Whereas Cal used magazine work to get his journey off the ground and then was passed around the world by the people he met, Rob now uses the Internet to keep his trip going.

Rob has a goal of talking with 10,000 people for an hour. He makes Instagram posts after each meeting, and pushes the journey along through tech partnerships with companies that overlap with his mission.

He sets up conversations with four people each day via the Internet. Now 27, Rob will be 37 when he meets the 10,000th person and completes his mission. Cal is now one of those friends.

This conversation looks at the differences between travel back when there were no cell-phones and personal computers and now where contacts can be made and new friends can be located months in advance through the Internet.

The ultimate takeaway here is that travel is always doable, you just have to figure out how it can work for YOU.

Aston Martin's Laura Schwab: The Winding Road to Success Oct 16, 2018

Show notes

Aston Martin's president tells Cal about the circuitous journey that took her from jumping rope as a girl in Louisville, to the tennis team at Notre Dame, to law school, to working three jobs to make ends meet at age 27, all the way to the top of the iconic British car company. And then she made Cal feel like James Bond when she put him behind the wheel of an Aston Martin.

Takeaways:

-Work ethic goes a long way

-Risk taking that defined Schwab's career

-Finding the right mentors

-Getting the most out of being in the right place at the right time

-Making it all fun

David Sanborn: The Art Of Being Awake Oct 09, 2018

Show notes

The Grammy Award-winning saxophone player gets to the essence of the way we can all get the most out of our lives through the art of being awake.

From the time he was a boy who'd contracted polio and found the saxophone to improve the strength of his lungs, David Sanborn has been making a series of connections that evolved into an extraordinary life and career.

There are many takeaways in the art of awareness, including paying attention to the moment of your calling to overcoming addiction, along with the constant drive to get the most out of your passion – which has led him to create the Sanborn Sessions. A sample can be found on Facebook @DavidSanbornOfficial.

Ryan Holiday: On Merging Creativity and Business Oct 02, 2018

Show notes

Cal meets the best-selling author at an entrepreneurial conference in Colorado called two12 and becomes highly curious as to how Ryan can be a writer and ALSO an expert at marketing books, as well as positioning companies. Generally, when a person has one of those talents or skills, he or she is lacking in the other area.

Cal finds out exactly how Ryan became The Full House in a conversation that will benefit anyone trying to create a piece of art or a business.

There are many takeaways in this episode, especially for people who are coming up with ideas for a new business, or taking their business through obstacles. Ryan is, after all, the author of The Obstacle Is The Way. And some of the advice he offered to the entrepreneurs at two12 can be scooped up right here on Big Questions.

Glenn Beck: On Outrage and Empathy Sep 25, 2018

Show notes

When Cal asks the conservative talk show host about the roots of his new book, Addicted to Outrage, Glenn goes back to his childhood to explain the events that made him who he is.

Beck reflects upon his mother's suicide when he was 15 as the moment that turned him toward alcohol to deaden his pain. His inability to even mention his mother or her death in the home of his father and stepmother led him toward the microphone to release the emotions and thoughts that were bottled up inside him.

His career behind the mic took him to CNN, FOX and the groundbreaking move to start his own subscription Internet TV network back in 2011. When Beck came to grips with the fact that some of the rhetoric that made him famous was also dividing the nation, he takes a clear look at himself and begins his book with a phrase that would normally be heard in an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting: "Hello, My Name is Glenn, and I Am Addicted to Outrage."

"I know it is tough to even think about being part of the problem," he continues, "but the truth is, we all are."

The takeaways in this episode are numerous and revolve around the power of a safe discussion that everyone can benefit from – whether it's about a personal problem or a national one. The empathy Glenn exhibits in this conversation will give those who love him a deeper reason to, and nudge anyone who disagrees with him to listen to his voice in a completely new way.

Chip Conley: Airbnb's Mentor on How to Transform Yourself Sep 18, 2018

Show notes

Cal finds there can be life after one's heart stops beating. Chip Conley tells him what it was like to flatline at age of 47, how he recovered and went on to sell his boutique hotel company, which put him in the surprising place where he could mentor Brian Chesky and a group of millennials who'd founded Airbnb.

The combination of young minds and the wisdom of Chip's experience in hospitality made history. Airbnb has transformed travel across the planet, reinventing the hotel industry by allowing people to rent out their homes and apartments in 80,000 cities in 190 countries around the world.

Conley has taken the lessons from this experience and set them in his newly-released book, Wisdom at Work: The Making of a Modern Elder.

In this episode, he shows Cal the benefits that mentorship can have for both those with youth and age. The takeaways are life-changing, and needed now more than any other time in history.

As the author Yuval Noah Harari writes in his most recent book: 21 Lessons for the 21st Century:

"If you try to hold on to some stable identity, job, or worldview, you risk being left behind as the world flies by you with a whoosh. Given that life expectancy is likely to increase, you might subsequently have to spend many decades as a clueless fossil. To stay relevant — not just economically but above all socially — you will need the ability to constantly learn and to reinvent yourself..."

Chip's experiences and his book show you how.

Michael Wright: Surviving On 9/11 Sep 11, 2018

Show notes

Cal reconnects with the man who had the World Trade Center fall on his head and finds the lessons he learned even more powerful over time.

The two reflect upon the conversation they had shortly after Michael survived the deadliest attack on American soil. That conversation was turned into a noted Esquire Magazine story published in Michael's own words in the January 2002 issue.

The takeaways in this episode are vast. Michael has lived through the type of experience that most of us will never know - and has come to understand life in ways that most of us were never forced to ponder.

Yet, in the end, his voice is positive and reflective and offers insight to all of us on how to move forward from the most difficult of experiences.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Big Questions with Cal Fussman

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected