Lauren Sandler: Journalist, author of One and Only: The Freedom of Having an Only Child and the Joy of Being One Roach wouldn’t willingly admit it in the interview, and perhaps this is presumptuous, but I think we all have a negative bias towards onl...

Christine Clapp – Presentation and communications expert, founder of Spoken With Authority The ability to communicate through language is what separates man from ape (and all other mammals for that matter).  The spoken word is a defining trait of hom...

David Kadavy: Author of Design for Hackers: Reverse-Engineering Beauty, design guru. If you know anything about the show, you know that Jon loves his weird stuff.  So leave it to him to find a guy who focuses on design.  What does that even mean? I w...

Maren and Jamie Showkeir – Authors of Yoga Wisdom at Work: Finding Sanity Off the Mat and On the Job, Yoga Instructor As you might know by now, Jon and I like to focus on how terrible work is – perhaps it’s because misery likes company. We get emails...

Susan Schorn – Author of Smile at Strangers: And Other Lessons in the Art of Living Fearlessly, writer, teacher, martial arts instructor, and dual black belt. “If you’re going for a groin strike, you want to attack from the bottom up, rather than fro...

Kevin Smokler – Literary enthusiast, speaker, author of Practical Classics: 50 Reasons to Reread 50 books you Haven’t Touched Since High School. When you hear the name Holden Caulfield, does it trigger any memories? Perhaps you get a nervous, jittery...

Michael Moss – Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter; author of #1 NY Times Bestseller, Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us  Look, we know you don’t need a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter to tell you that junk food is bad for you,...

Roman Krznaric: How to Find Fulfilling Work; founding faculty member of The School of Life in London. ONE MILLION DOWNLOADS AND COUNTING! That’s right – in case you didn’t see it on Facebook or twitter (@smartpeoplepod), Smart People Podcast (SPP) ju...

Jonah Berger – Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School, author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On. Do you remember the first time you heard the song “Friday” by Rebecca Black? I do – I f’ing hated it.  I also remember the first time so...

Dr. Paul Ruggieri – Author of Confessions of a Surgeon “Now I want you to count back from ten.  10…9…8…..” And that’s all you remember.  Sure you might be a little sore, groggy or confused – but for the most part, you felt nothing. However, during th...