A Bit of Optimism

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What's A Bit of Optimism about?

The future is always bright…if you know where to look. Join me each week for A Bit of Optimism - I talk to inspiring people who teach me more about life, leadership and general interesting things.

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The Value of Values with Wa...

12.05.2023

All business leaders want to make a lasting impact, but very few have the scale and tools to change the entire planet. Doug McMillon has the scale and the tools. He is the CEO of Walmart and employs over 2 ...

A Bit of Optimism episodes:

12.05.2023 The Value of Values with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon All business leaders want to make a lasting impact, but very few have the scale and tools to change the entire planet. Doug McMillon has the scale and the tools. He is the CEO of Walmart and employs over 2 ...
11.28.2023 A Curious Mind with movie producer Brian Grazer Authenticity is exceedingly rare. Yet Brian Grazer embodies it with an unparalleled zest and refreshing innocence. Though Grazer might not be a household name, his tv shows and movies (like "A Beautiful Mind" and “Apollo 13”) have earned him 242 ...
11.21.2023 Talking to Animals with A.I. ethicist Aza Raskin When did we get so disconnected from the world around us? How can we find our way back? Aza Raskin thinks the answer might lie in humanity's greatest adversary - listening. As co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology and ...
11.14.2023 A New Paradigm for Trust with entrepreneur Yat Siu We have lost trust in almost everything. Yat Siu has a clear vision for how we can solve our large-scale trust issues and enhance human coordination. For every problem technology creates, technology also has a solution. This is…A Bit of ...
11.07.2023 Humanize with designer Thomas Heatherwick We used to care about beautiful architecture. Luckily, Thomas Heatherwick still does. He is on a quest to make the world less boring. You may not know Thomas yet, but you know his work. He's designed iconic buildings and experiences ...
10.31.2023 Teammateship with NBA champion Shane Battier High-performing teams require more than just a leader. Great teams come from great teammates. Shane Battier won't be in the NBA Hall of Fame, but he was one of the greatest teammates to ever play professional basketball. He won back-to-back ...
10.24.2023 The Future of Leadership with educator Elizabeth English When we want wisdom, we turn to people older than us. But there is a lot to be learned from younger generations too. Elizabeth English knows this. She’s the head of one of the most innovative schools in the country, ...
10.17.2023 Remember Love with the poet Cleo Wade We are told from a young age to pursue love—romantic love, self-love, divine love. But how do you actually define love? And once you do, how do you find it? Cleo Wade is the right person to ask. She's a ...
10.10.2023 Purpose over Profit with Thrive Causemetics CEO Karissa Bodnar How do you run a thriving company that cares more about impact than about profit and margins? Karissa Bodnar is a genius CEO who dedicated herself to building a cause-based company. Thrive Causemetics started out of her one-bedroom apartment and ...
10.03.2023 Beautiful Conflict with the poet Yung Pueblo How are you? It’s a question we get asked everyday, but we hardly ever answer it honestly. When Diego Perez — also known under his penname, Yung Pueblo — started asking himself that question and answering honestly, his entire life ...
09.26.2023 Power with author Robert Greene How do people become powerful? Can understanding power protect us from those who wield it too strongly? When Robert Greene first set out to write about power, he didn’t have much of it. He worked odd jobs and was largely ...
09.19.2023 Failing Well with professor of leadership Dr. Amy Edmondson Failure is the secret to success. Our failures are agents of inspiration, iteration, and innovation. Dr. Amy Edmondson is the Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School and her newest book "Right Kind of Wrong" is all about ...
09.12.2023 Happier-ness with author Arthur Brooks You’ll never achieve perfect happiness. This might sound like bad news, but it’s actually a good thing. Because being happy is not a final destination, it’s an ongoing practice. In short, it’s happier-ness. That’s a term Arthur Brooks and Oprah ...
09.05.2023 Intuition vs. Reason with poker champion Liv Boeree When should we trust our gut and when should we depend on logic? Liv Boeree can actually answer that question. She won the World Series of Poker before retiring from the game to explore big questions about game theory, competition, ...
08.29.2023 When to Quit with Steven Bartlett (Part 2) When should you quit a project and when should you persevere? As one of the world’s leading entrepreneurs, Steven Bartlett has thought deeply about this problem. Steven is used to getting people to open up on his podcast, but it ...
08.22.2023 Sweating the Small Stuff with Steven Bartlett (Part 1) How you do anything is how you do everything. Steven Bartlett embodies this old adage. His high standards and focus on the finest details launched him from a broke university dropout to one of the world’s most influential entrepreneurs. At ...
08.15.2023 Community and Empowerment with Sharmadean Reid Great businesses often look a lot like social movements. Sharmadean Reid knows this from experience—she has combined technology and culture to create multiple businesses around strong communities. She started her first business at 24, creating a nail salon that changed ...
08.08.2023 The Book of Charlie with David Von Drehle What does it mean to live a long and happy life? David Von Drehle has spent 40 years covering big stories and important figures as an award-winning journalist. But the best lessons turned out to be right next door. David’s ...
07.04.2023 Leadership with General CQ Brown, Jr. For this 4th of July, I wanted to do something special to celebrate the birth of our nation. So I invited Air Force Chief of Staff General CQ Brown, Jr. to join me on the podcast. General Brown is the ...
06.27.2023 Preparing for Change with Cassandra Worthy Change is inevitable. And yet fear, anger, and confusion are often our first reactions to changes. Cassandra Worthy experienced the negative emotions that stem from change so many times that she now sees them for what they really are: signals ...
06.20.2023 Trust with Jimmy Wales Information is power. But how do we adapt now that most of the information we consume comes with a heavy bias? In an ironic twist of fate, it’s Wikipedia — the encyclopedia that anyone can edit — that has done ...
06.13.2023 Life Worth Living with Miroslav Volf What does it mean for a life to go well? What matters most in our time on Earth? These are the most important questions of our lives and yet most of us have no clue how to answer them. Miroslav ...
06.06.2023 Determination with Steven Pressfield Creative success is notoriously elusive, but those who have made the journey insist it comes down to three factors: hard work, luck, and talent. Steven Pressfield wants to add one more thing to that list: a muse. And he should ...
05.30.2023 Rewarding Kindness with Jimmy Darts On the path to fame, most rising stars abandon their morals. Not Jimmy Darts. He’s done just the opposite. Jimmy started his career as a YouTuber pulling ill-advised pranks. Two decades later, he and his 20 million fans now make ...
05.23.2023 Love Without Judgment with Ana Kirova Dating doesn’t have to be about finding “The One.” At its most rewarding, modern love can be about growth, curiosity, and authenticity. Ana Kirova is the CEO of the dating platform 'Feeld’, a revolutionary app that helps people break free ...
05.16.2023 The Soul of an Idea with David Copperfield “Soul” is a word that I've never really used, but it perfectly encapsulates what has made David Copperfield the most successful magician of all time. He has filled global audiences with awe for over 40 years. He made the Statue ...
05.09.2023 Molly's Game with Molly Bloom Molly Bloom’s life story is one-of-a-kind. Her Olympic dreams were dashed, so she planned on going to law school. Instead, she wound up running a high-stakes poker game where hundreds of millions of dollars would change hands in a night. ...
04.04.2023 The Courage of Compassion with Robin Steinberg How would you like to be judged for the rest of your life by the worst thing you’ve ever done? Robin Steinberg was a public defender, where she had to learn to see her clients – who were often accused ...
03.28.2023 A Goofy Episode with Bill Farmer There is a very good chance that Bill Farmer has already made your life brighter and you had no idea. That's because Bill is a Disney Legend. He has been the voice of Goofy since 1987, among countless other Disney ...
03.21.2023 Insane Vacations with Mike Reiss When you get one of the most successful comedy writers in television history to come on your podcast, naturally the first thing to talk about is...his trip in a homemade submarine to visit the ruins of the Titanic. You see, ...
03.14.2023 Down A Rabbit Hole with Seth Godin Our time, energy, and emotions are valuable because they are finite. And yet conversations with Seth Godin always leave me feeling more patient, energized, and full of love. Seth is a prolific author and a marketing genius who knows first-hand ...
03.07.2023 How To Be An Entrepreneur with Jeff Rosenthal Want to go fast? Go alone. Want to go far? Go together. Most entrepreneurs aren’t lone wolves. Founders like Jeff Rosenthal know that the greatest ventures come with partners, mentors, and communities. Being enthusiastic, generous, and kind attracts people who ...
02.28.2023 The Wisdom of Anxiety with Dr. Tracy Dennis-Tiwary Anxiety is the crown jewel of human evolution. That’s the professional opinion of neuroscience professor and clinical psychologist Dr. Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, who is driving a paradigm shift in how we understand anxiety. The emotion isn’t a sickness or a flaw ...
02.21.2023 Guaranteed Joy with Richard Curtis There are precious few moments in life that guarantee joy. That’s what makes time spent with Richard Curtis or watching his films so special – you just know you’re in for a great time. Richard is the patron saint of ...
02.14.2023 Exploration with Leland Melvin Explorers discover new worlds and perspectives that change humanity forever. Leland Melvin has spent his life exploring. He’s been a rocket scientist, an astronaut, and an NFL player. Now, he’s an educator who uses the dramatic ups-and-downs of his own ...
02.07.2023 Taking Comfortable Risks with Scott Galloway When is a risk worth taking? We have to learn to embrace the comfortable risks - the ones where the pain of failure is worthwhile or even valuable. Podcaster, author and NYU professor, Scott Galloway and I talk about a ...
01.31.2023 Digging Up the Past with Sarah Parcak Sarah has the coolest job: Space Archaeologist. She uses satellites to find undiscovered sites buried deep beneath the ground. But the real interesting stuff is what we can learn about ourselves from studying our past. This is… A Bit of ...
01.24.2023 High Performance with Divesh Makan Divesh is one of the most connected people I know. Charming and opinionated, he advises and invests the fortunes of the most successful and wealthiest people on the planet. So I wanted to ask him what he's learned along the ...
01.17.2023 Embracing The Fall with Carla Hall When you show up with love and aim only to give of yourself, everyone you interact with can feel it. Carla Hall has led a life and a career filled with zigs and zags. The two-time Top Chef contestant and ...
01.10.2023 Gen Z in the Workplace with Jonah and David Stillman Every generation is different, but one thing currently unites Boomers, Gen X-ers, and Millennials: they are all struggling to understand Gen Z. David and Jonah Stillman are a father-and-son research team who specialize in generational differences and their impact on ...
01.03.2023 Ask Simon Anything: Part Two New year, new opportunities, new questions! We’re ringing in 2023 with more answers to the hundreds of questions our listeners sent in from all over the world. This is… A Bit of Optimism.
12.27.2022 Ask Simon Anything: Part One A few weeks ago, I put out an open call on social media to see what questions my listeners have for me. And there were a LOT of responses. So, as an end-of-the-year special, our next two episodes will be ...
12.20.2022 Two Bits of Optimism with Brené Brown and Adam Grant: Part Two Remember how it was an incredible idea to get Brené Brown and Adam Grant on a call, have absolutely NO plan, and hit record? Well, this is the second part of that lovely, free-flowing conversation where we talk about creativity, ...
12.13.2022 Two Bits of Optimism with Brené Brown and Adam Grant: Part One What separates exceptional ideas from good ideas? Here’s a good idea: Book two podcast guests and meticulously plan a conversation about creativity. Now, here’s an exceptional idea: Get Brené Brown and Adam Grant to join you on a call, have ...
12.06.2022 Being Yourself with Kathryn Finney Daring to be different feels risky. There’s constant pressure to “read the room” or “tone it down.” Kathryn Finney discovered at a young age that – when it comes to being authentic – the rewards are actually far greater than ...
11.29.2022 Live A Long, Happy Life with physician Mark Hyman Turns out laughter isn't the best medicine. Medicine might not even be the best medicine. If you were to ask Dr Mark Hyman, he would tell you that food is the best medicine. Some would say Mark is a modern ...
11.29.2022 Live A Long, Happy Life with Mark Hyman Turns out laughter is not the best medicine. Medicine might not even be the best medicine. If you were to ask Dr Mark Hyman, he would tell you that food is the best medicine. Some would say Mark is a ...
11.22.2022 The Value of Interruptions with Janis Burl Most of us think that social media is the bastion of our younger generations. Until a middle-aged woman named Janis Burl proved that assumption completely wrong. She oversaw the team that built the TSA’s Instagram account (yes, the TSA has ...
11.15.2022 The Sweet Bitter with Susan Cain There’s something profound in life’s bitter moments. The transformative beauty of a sad song, the anguished past of a story’s hero, the unexpected turnout of a crowded funeral. Turns out we often need darkness in order to appreciate the light. ...
11.08.2022 Kindness with James Rhee You went to Harvard undergrad, you went to Harvard Law, you became a hot-shot Private Equity guy. So your next move is obviously…? If you’re James Rhee, you walk away from all of it and discover what really makes a ...

Older episodes

A Bit of Optimism

What's A Bit of Optimism about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

A Bit of Optimism episodes:

The Value of Values with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon

A Curious Mind with movie producer Brian Grazer

Talking to Animals with A.I. ethicist Aza Raskin

A New Paradigm for Trust with entrepreneur Yat Siu

Humanize with designer Thomas Heatherwick

Teammateship with NBA champion Shane Battier

The Future of Leadership with educator Elizabeth English

Remember Love with the poet Cleo Wade

Purpose over Profit with Thrive Causemetics CEO Karissa Bodnar

Beautiful Conflict with the poet Yung Pueblo

Power with author Robert Greene

Failing Well with professor of leadership Dr. Amy Edmondson

Happier-ness with author Arthur Brooks

Intuition vs. Reason with poker champion Liv Boeree

When to Quit with Steven Bartlett (Part 2)

Sweating the Small Stuff with Steven Bartlett (Part 1)

Community and Empowerment with Sharmadean Reid

The Book of Charlie with David Von Drehle

Leadership with General CQ Brown, Jr.

Preparing for Change with Cassandra Worthy

Trust with Jimmy Wales

Life Worth Living with Miroslav Volf

Determination with Steven Pressfield

Rewarding Kindness with Jimmy Darts

Love Without Judgment with Ana Kirova

The Soul of an Idea with David Copperfield

Molly's Game with Molly Bloom

The Courage of Compassion with Robin Steinberg

A Goofy Episode with Bill Farmer

Insane Vacations with Mike Reiss

Down A Rabbit Hole with Seth Godin

How To Be An Entrepreneur with Jeff Rosenthal

The Wisdom of Anxiety with Dr. Tracy Dennis-Tiwary

Guaranteed Joy with Richard Curtis

Exploration with Leland Melvin

Taking Comfortable Risks with Scott Galloway

Digging Up the Past with Sarah Parcak

High Performance with Divesh Makan

Embracing The Fall with Carla Hall

Gen Z in the Workplace with Jonah and David Stillman

Ask Simon Anything: Part Two

Ask Simon Anything: Part One

Two Bits of Optimism with Brené Brown and Adam Grant: Part Two

Two Bits of Optimism with Brené Brown and Adam Grant: Part One

Being Yourself with Kathryn Finney

Live A Long, Happy Life with physician Mark Hyman

Live A Long, Happy Life with Mark Hyman

The Value of Interruptions with Janis Burl

The Sweet Bitter with Susan Cain

Kindness with James Rhee

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