Authority Issues

By Rachel Perkins and Kendall Miller

Welcome to Authority Issues, a podcast about leadership, management, and competitive prescription writing.

Hosted by Rachel Perkins (aka piebob), and Kendall Miller... more

4.6

88 ratings

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FAQs about Authority Issues:

How many episodes does Authority Issues have?

The podcast currently has 100 episodes available.

Authority Issues episodes:

July 18, 2024Episode 100: 100 means 100 percent done, right?
In this episode, rachel and Kendall talk about:
Crushing Kendall's dreams
How much rachel missed her own home and bed
All the biking Kendall did in Spain
Fraud avoidance via CarFax
The varying qualities of our guests
rachel's propensity for initial kneejerk low assessment of every recording
Our lack of investment in recording quality
The breadth and scope of our interviewees and their employers
What we've been bad at
The frustrations of trying to get guests to talk about themselves
How well we balanced each other's extremes
Episode highlights
Our varying assessments of how well we know each other
Unexpected listener vectors
Humanizing our heroes, possibly a little too much?
Being prepared to stop
Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
...more
33min
April 25, 2024Episode 99: Sonja Mathews (Nonprofit Exec, formerly VP roles at USAA, PepsiCo)
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Sonja talk about:
The fact that this podcast is not sponsored by USAA
A journey that started with childhood on a "poser farm" in North Carolina
Driving the tractor as a path to an enjoyment of adventure and power
Discovering that being a defense lawyer meant you would represent a lot of guilty people
How Kendall ruins everything
Being the data pusher and getting hooked on her own supply
The Stephen Covey 7 Habits seminar, aka a sausagefest
Early interpretations of leadership as a command and control process, feedback from other managers, being curious, being willing to apologize and grow
Kendall gets his due, FINALLY
Learning more from mistakes than successes
That there's a difference between listening and "waiting to speak"
The fun of building and running her own "retail lab" aka fake grocery store theater for research
Advocating for the strategic pre-meeting when decisions are being made
Reasons to switch to the nonprofit world, including a cancer diagnosis
What strong 501c3 nonprofit board leadership looks like
That all workers deserve joy in their work
The tragedy of over-volunteering, trying to extricate herself
Recommendations for exploring the Olympic Peninsula
Friends: you should make some and spend time with them :)
You can find Sonja at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonja-mathews-63a6a02/
Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
...more
52min
April 04, 2024Episode 98: Ali Shahriyari (Reality Defender)
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Ali talk about:
The rarity of a "traditional" computer science background
Antique hardware
Learning a lot in the fashion business
Why startups are more fun than big companies
The need for deepfake detection
Measuring performance
Designing to mitigate the abuse of your product
Lack of interest in hierarchy
The difficulties of balancing work and life
Sailing, and having a skipper's license
The importance of remaining calm
Getting pwned in your own interview process
A recommendation for watching Terminator 2
You can find Ali on Twitter at @A_Shahriyari and on LinkedIn at:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alishahriyari/
Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
...more
48min
February 01, 2024Episode 97: Artificial Intelligence, LLMs, ML: is all the hype warranted?
In this episode, Kendall and rachel talk about:
rachel's need to finish things and coping mechanisms around that
The recent spate of cold weather/storms and a tale of Kendall's friend and the whisky night
(This podcast may be sponsored by Friday Deployment Spirits, i guess)
An unsurprising objection regarding terminology
How Kendall is obviously a Markov Chain bot, and how have i never noticed this before
The fact that AI-directed research is nothing new
Public access to AI-type tools and how it has expanded the hype cycle
Environmental concerns around resources required
Robots and why they should just exist to do stuff humans don't want to do
Implications of the mismatch in public expectations vs the reality of what AI is actually capable of
Losing the ability of finding the needles of useful information in the haystack of real and generated content
How the hype is definitely hype but it should still be in your pitch deck
The word rachel was looking for: Captcha
Usefulness as a writing tool, but not as an author
Kendall's tantalizing taste of socialized medicine
rachel recommends: Shelter Point distillery's Smoke Point whiskey (Vancouver Island, BC)
Kendall recommends: barrel-finished/aged gins
rachel also recommends: The Future by Naomi Alderman
Kendall also recommends: Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.
Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
...more
53min
November 23, 2023Episode 96: Lessons learned, values earned
In this episode, rachel and Kendall talk about:
rachel's stuffed animal ownership
Podcast homework
How busy on top of busy Kendall is
Ungulates and double welt pockets
The power of understanding motivation
Wil Wheaton's first law is also Kendall's first law
Context is for kings
Digging into bridge burning
Unpacking what "I love this job" really means
Being a person who works hard
An agreement to play a shit-giving game of cards
Why rachel retired (redux)
Why Kendall is the Patron Saint of Whimsy (hint: it's because he wants to make you smile)
Recommendations:
rachel is excited about new work from James S.A. Corey (the people who wrote The Expanse Series)
Kendall is looking forward to his dad's memoir
Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
...more
49min
November 02, 2023Episode 95: Seif Lotfy (Axiom)
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Seif talk about:
The pressures of what your parents want, in various cultures
Quitting a "good job" because they made you a manager
Bringing your team with you to the next company
Open source culture and the meritocracy
The tensions inherent between product management and innovators
Respective hirsuteness
When it's the right time to go off the rails
Acknowledging a need for the rails
A team as a functioning organism, nerdy giant robot references
The gravitational pull of excitement and going off-plan
Recommendations for "Getting to Yes," "Getting Past No," and "Drive"
Smelling things!
Reverse engineering what your kid wants
You can find Seif on the Axiom Discord as "Seif"
Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
...more
49min
October 12, 2023Episode 94: Kids: What are they good for? (Absolutely nothing/everything)
In this episode, Kendall and rachel talk about:
Maritime traffic and the construction of cruise ships
How hard it is to be a foster parent
Kendall's new booze company: Friday Deployment Spirits
Improvements in Kendall's family life post-return from Portugal
rachel's reasons for choosing to not have kids
Why being a woman might impact this perspective
Kendall's awareness of not being an 'equal partner' in the raising of his kids
A lifechanging interaction for Kendall
Why maybe you should get a dog instead
Making the assumption that your kids will take care of you when you're old
The relationship between leadership/management and parenting
Sexism and Kendall's thoughts on having daughters
Not wanting to bring kids into the world we're leaving them
How many kids is enough kids
Recommendations: rachel is looking forward to reading Starter Villain by John Scalzi, Kendall recommends The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, and a podcast called If Books Could Kill
Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
...more
50min
September 21, 2023Episode 93: Ilan Rabinovitch (Scale Conference, formerly Datadog)
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Ilan talk about:
Moving from the IT to the Ops side of the house
Being on both sides of "the wall"
Wearing All The Hats at Datadog
The nature of "glue work"
How org size affects leadership roles
Stretching and doing new things vs "fake it 'til you make it"
How product management roles change as you move up the ladder
The relationship between domain expertise and authority
How sometimes it's not a democracy
Taking a break to find out what's next
The pressure of prior successes
Learning how to chill out a bit :)
You can find Ilan at https://www.linkedin.com/in/irabinovitch/
Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
...more
49min
August 24, 2023Episode 92: Edafe Onerhime (JPMorgan Chase)
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Edafe talk about:
An early and enduring love of working with data
Getting a job at JP Morgan Chase because of a tweet
The kind of data problems one solves at the World Bank
Turning a sexist assignment into communication of data issues
Maturing beyond being the complainer
The impact of giving a talk
Gaining context as you go up the mountain
Coming to the universal realization that, yes, people are the problem :)
Style guides for goths
Learning to communicate at the appropriate level, removing jargon
Expressing what's possible to help someone solve a problem
Approaches to decisionmaking
Knowing when to let people learn for themselves
Catering to the needs of a yearning cat
Special contractor time math
You can find Edafe at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekoner/
Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
...more
48min
August 03, 2023Episode 91: Does your life have meaning? Do you know what it is yet?
In this episode, rachel and Kendall talk about:
Kendall being back in the US, how many desks he has had to order, and the various benefits of Pickleball vs Paddleball
rachel's reign of terror over a particular kind of cooking pan, being sick, and heading to Vegas to dj at DEFCON
Why people might be pivoting away from their tech careers, looking for greater meaning
What actually is a midlife crisis?
Planning for your midlife crisis, understanding your path forward
What triggers a midlife crisis? What does one look like?
How unwillingness to talk about death as a society makes this a crisis for us
Living life well when you know you're going to die
The impact of having grown up in genX, the assumption that no one is going to take care of you when you're old
Perpetuating a cycle of dissatisfaction
The fallacy of "follow your dreams and everything will be fine" vs "enjoy the work you have because life is short"
Intentionally doing things inefficiently in order to enjoy the process more, thank you Kurt Vonnegut (see https://www.mondaymorningmemo.com/kurt-vonnegut-farting-around/ for the full quote/story)
How does one's belief in an afterlife impact these things?
Whether having some control over the time and manner of one's death is comforting
What living well means to Kendall, and his upcoming book :)
recommendation from rachel: The Witch King by Martha Wells
recommendation from Kendall: Eat something so spicy you leave your physical body temporarily
Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
...more
48min

FAQs about Authority Issues:

How many episodes does Authority Issues have?

The podcast currently has 100 episodes available.