Porchlight is a new series on the Curiouser and Curiouser podcast where we talk with fascinating, accomplished individuals about their formative years, unusual trajectories and the lessons they learned along the way.

Imagine the relief when you return home late at night, after a long journey or a trying day to find the porchlight on, a welcoming northstar, guiding you back to warmth and safety. We're hoping that delving into people's early flight paths will similarly, not only be educational and entertaining, but also serve as a model, a template and a beacon of inspiration, a step forward by looking back at the guiding values, attitudes and behaviors that laid the foundation and templates for lives.

In our second episode we chat with Captain G.R. Gopinath, Founder of Air Deccan, India's first low cost airline.

Popularly revered as the "father of Indian low-cost airlines" Captain Gopi is a beloved entrepreneur who democratized air travel by his vision of making flying accessible to the common man and pioneering budget travel. He is also the founder of Deccan Aviation, Deccan 360 and other ventures, but prior to his aviation career, Captain Gopi was a different type of entrepreneur, a farmer, making an unusual pivot after a career in the military. Driven by his deep connection with the land and its people and against all odds, he built a successful working farm from scratch on the principles of sustainability and ecology, a farm that he still works to this day.

We'll talk with Captain Gopi about his formative years in a more personal light and about making something out of nothing.

Please note this episode was recorded across several land masses and two oceans.

If you have suggestions of guests or topics for Curiouser or Porchlight, please drop us a line at [email protected]

We're back! Porchlight is a new series on Curiouser and Curiouser where we talk with fascinating, accomplished individuals about their childhoods and formative years. These episodes will be in addition to regular Curiouser and Curiouser content. 

Imagine the relief when you return home late at night, after a long journey or a trying day to find the porchlight on, a welcoming northstar, guiding you back to warmth and safety. We're hoping that delving into people's early trajectories will similarly, not only be educational and entertaining, but also serve as a model, a template and a beacon of inspiration, a step forward by looking back at the guiding values, attitudes and behaviors that laid the foundation and templates for lives.

Our first guest is a world renowned CEO and business executive, advocate for education, STEM and innovation, Dr. Craig Barrett, the former CEO and Chairman of the Intel Corporation. Dr. Barrett is a leading advocate for improving education in the U.S. and globally, and is a spokesman for the value technology can provide. We'll chat with Craig about his formative years and you'll get to know him in a more personal light. 

Please note this episode may have skips due to a new editing platform. This conversation is also just that: a conversation, free form and informal.

If you have suggestions of other guests we should have on Porchlight or Curiouser, please drop us a line at [email protected] 

A retreat. A university. A rich historical site. A yoga center. An oasis. We chat with CEO Robert Mulhall about the magical place that is Kripalu (www.Kripalu.org).

Set on a 100 acres of forests, gardens, trails, wilderness, lakes and lawns in the Berkshires, Kripalu offers a range of yoga, health, outdoors, retreat, spiritual, mindfulness, nutrition and wellness programming.

The center occupies spiritually and historically significant land once sacred to Native Americans who participated in vision quests on it, housed the Gilded Age estates of industrialists including Andrew Carnegie, and served at various times as a yoga retreat, Hindu ashram and Jesuit novitiate. In an age where wellness experiences are out of reach of the ordinary man, Kripalu is notable for how it makes high quality programming, cuisine, resources and nature available to all. We talk to Robert about Kripalu, its history, the extraordinary land it sits on and its future.

This episode originally aired November 9, 2022

We continue our chat with special guest Mangalam Srinivasan touching upon the irony of the Silicon Valley business pioneer household names today that were born out of the California counter culture.

Our conversation winds through memorable moments in Dr Srinivasan’s career and life as an advisor to Indian PM Indira Gandhi, the non-aligned summit lunch where Fidel Castro insisted on sitting next to her, and where she was the only civilian and only other woman besides Mme Gandhi, advising the Taiwanese government in the 1980s (where my brother and I were, incidentally, the first American children to visit), journeying to the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan as the guest of HRH the King of Bhutan in the 1980s and more.

An academic by vocation, Dr. Srinivasan has held international faculty & research appointments including at Harvard, MIT, Tufts, Northeastern, University of Madras, American University & UC Berkeley, served on global corporate & advisory boards, as an S&T advisor to Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi & was one of the first distinguished female fellows invited to Harvard (CFIA) in the 1970s.

In addition to academia, she has either worked (often as the first woman) or served on the Boards of organizations as diverse as the World Bank, Wells Fargo, Arthur D. Little, United Nations, the Forsythe Institue, National Academy Of Sciences, NSF, State Bank of India (first woman there) and several notable technology companies from the 1960s on.

She has listed companies on the NYSE, Nasdaq, Euronext & the BSE, and hAs also served as an advisor to heads of states, governments and apex scientific, corporate and academic institutions in various capacities. She seems to be everywhere something happened much like Forrest Gump.

Finally, Dr. Srinivasan also happens to be my Mother. (Pause for laughter), in the second part or our conversation we’re going to chat about some of her experiences.

This is part 2 of a two part episode.

This episode originally aired August 21, 2022

Football. Soccer. The game. We talk to ex-PSG professional soccer player, Jonathan Famery-Mariani about life in the big leagues playing for Paris Saint-Germain F.C. France’s most successful football club.

Jon played the role of the “creator” after which he pursued a career in the business world working in tech and finance.

Join us for a wide ranging conversation where we’ll talk about all aspects of life and the game playing at elite levels. Bring your questions. And your A game.

Texas should be proud. Part Texas blues, part boogie, part experimental and all weird, ZZ Top is simultaneously both local and alien, tough rock and synth, camp and genuine, raw talent and humorous show.

Basically they’re everything. Just like this show.

And I just love them.

On this episode of Curiouser & Curiouser we’re going to talk about the indomitable sons of Texas, ZZ Top.

Originally broadcast July 2022

William Shakespeare is not only one the greatest dramatists of the Western world, he also is one of its best psychologists.

An astute observer of the human condition, Shakespeare was a prolific purveyor of timeless wisdom which he embedded in his plays. He was a master psychologist with insight so effective it ranks up there with Rilke, Jung and Rumi. Though written almost 400 years ago, his advice is modern and applicable today. In fact, we consume his words often emblazoned on coffee cups, via common quotes or delivered through daily inspirational apps and we don’t even know it’s him..

So join us as we examine and dole out Shakespeare’s life advice; you just may not need to go to therapy this week. (You’re welcome)

This show originally aired July 30, 2022

As the totems of disco, the Bee Gees have been the butt of many decades long jokes but they have in reality also had an extraordinary and outsized impact on music and culture with their unique sound making them one of the most successful musical acts of all time.

They occupy a rarified position in a small pantheon alongside Michael Jackson, Elvis, & the Beatles as one of the best selling acts of all time.

Their instantly recognizable sound is joyful, stirring and timeless, offering a lingua franca understood everywhere people are dancing, singing & happy.

Join us as we dig into the wonderful worlds of Barry, Robin & Maurice… The BeeGees 🔥

NOTE: we had a few technical difficulties at the start so a bit of unfortunate wonkiness with the first song To Love Somebody

This episode originally aired July 28, 2022

We chat with novelist-author, financial journalist (Barrons) & all around decent guy Ed Lin about his latest novel “Death Doesn’t Forget” the fourth installment in the beautifully titled “Taipei Night Market” series.

Ed is the first author to win three Asian American Literary Awards accrued all while doing his day job at Barron's. In addition to his writing, we’re also going to touch upon Ed's love for (and big collection of live-recorded) punk and alt shows, financial journalism, New York City as we knew it back win the 1980s and 1990s and if I was a good neighbor when we lived across the dorm hall from each other at Columbia University.

This episode originally aired July 24, 2022

We “Journey through America: 1960s & 1970s” with our special guest Mangalam Srinivasan who arrived to the 1960s US as a young Fulbright.

Dr. Srinivasan has held international faculty & research appointments at Harvard, MIT, Tufts, Northeastern, University of Madras, American University & UC Berkeley, and served on major global corporate & advisory boards, as an S&T advisor to Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi & was one of the first distinguished female fellows invited to Harvard (CFIA) in the 1970s.

In addition to academia, she has worked (often as the first woman) or served on the Boards of national & international organizations as diverse as the World Bank, Wells Fargo, Arthur D. Little, United Nations, the Forsythe Institute, National Academy of Sciences, NSF and the State Bank of India, where she was the first woman, from the 60s on, and has listed companies on the NYSE, Nasdaq, Euronext & BSE.

She is an author, performing artist, classical Indian (Bharatnatyam) dancer and a sharpshooter with undergraduate and graduate degrees in Mathematics, Physics, English Literature, Business, Management & Technology Assessment.

She also served as an advisor to heads of states, governments and apex scientific, corporate and academic bodies in various capacities to present.

She seems to be everywhere something went down a la Forrest Gump. And that's why we're talking to her. Finally, Dr. Srinivasan also happens to be my Mother. (Hold for laughter)

Dr. Srinivasan taught and lived in Berkeley during the tumultuous 60s and 70s witnessing the times and rubbing elbows with icons of the day. We’re going to chat about America with her beginning at this time.

Welcome to Curiouser and Curiouser.

This episode originally aired July 23, 2022