Smart People Podcast

Shannon Kaiser –  travel writer, inspirational author, motivational speaker Sometimes here at SPP, we judge a book by it’s cover…literally.  We will see the most recent NY Times Bestseller and we fawn over the author.  The more designations, recommendations,  and accolations (hey, it’s a word in  Urban Dictionary) a person has, the more insight they...

Dr. Brian Wansink –  Director of the Cornell Food & Brand Lab, marketing guru, author and MUCH more. The Boston Medical Center indicates that approximately 45 million Americans diet each year and spend $33 billion on weight-loss products in their pursuit of a trimmer, fitter body.  I’d be willing to bet, if you are reading...

Creativity is like a fire hose.  Once you turn it on it’s hard to control, it spews out haphazardly, and if you don’t have a firm grasp on it, it can whip you in just about any direction.  The power that it yields is immense; however, one small malfunction can completely stop the flow and...

For most of us, our high school textbooks were nothing more than a paper weight.  Maybe if we would have actually opened them, we wouldn’t need to rely on talking to smart people, but that’s neither here nor there.  The main reason we didn’t care what was inside those massive bound bundles of  boring (yay...

This week we cover some seriously heavy topics.  What plays a bigger role in who you are, your experiences or your genetics? Are emotions strictly a biological response to an event, easily defined by the chemical that they are related to?  Are we born as moral beings, or is even morality subject to circumstances? What...

It’s not the first time we’ve talked about it, and it won’t be the last.  The human brain is plain ol’ amazing.  For example, have you ever thought about where a memory is stored? Give it a real long ponder.  Somewhere in your 3 pound ball of spongy tissue, memories from decades past are filed...

2. Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started. 3. Write the book you want to read. 4. Use your hands These are just 3 of the 10 pieces of wisdom that this week’s guest, Austin Kleon, wants to pass along.  But wait…where is #1? Ahhh, good question.  The first piece of...

Do you know what astrophysics is? I’m not going to lie, I had to wikipedia it.  This week we speak with the guy who Invented Astrophysics! ….Ok, not really, that guy has been dead for like centuries, BUT we basically get to talk to the next best thing in Dr. Charles Pellerin.  Dr. Pellerin is...

Welcome back everyone to our first official episode of Season 2!.  We are glad to see you back and we look forward to another year of awesomeness. Our twenties are supposed to be the time of our lives, right?  A time where you can do whatever you want and use the excuse, “I’m just trying...

If you’re anything like me (Chris) and nothing like the other host (Jon) you absolutely hate surfing the internet to find the next big thing. I mean, by the time I learned about Myspace, there was a movie being made about Facebook. But let’s face it, the web is where it’s at people.  Not understanding the inner workings of...

Craig Koslofsky, author, Associate Professor of History at the University of Illinois . Can you imagine a time without electricity and modern technology? First of all, HOW would you download this podcast? In Craig Koslofsky’s book, Evening’s Empire: A History of the Night in Early Modern Europe, Craig discusses “the history of night” and what it...

Dr. Srini Pillay – Neuroscientist, Psychiatrist, Executive Coach…amazing. The human brain is a miracle, no one can question that.  The brain is the source of all of our cognition.  It stores our memories, it creates our identity and it interprets the world in which we live.  It’s also a mechanism that can be exercised and fine tuned...

Drew Dudley takes a few minutes after his interview to speak on bipolar disorder. He discusses how it helped him become who he is today. It was very enlightening and we thank Drew for discussing such matters!

Drew Dudley – Leadership and Motivation Expert: Be prepared to look at leadership in a new light after this one.  According to this week’s guest Drew Dudley, leadership is no longer a description reserved for kings, presidents, and executives. It’s something we all possess and we need to use it to change the world. Drew...

Dr. Richard Alley – Geologist & Climate Change Specialist: It is no longer a matter of if, how or how long…it’s real & it’s happening.  The amount of greenhouse gasses within Earth’s atmosphere are increasing at an alarming rate which is causing a continuous and unsustainable rise in the Earth’s climate. This is not alarmist, I’m not...