Rewind Time! This week, we celebrate the graphic novel release of Ginseng Roots by Craig Thompson with a rewind of our chat with Craig in Season 3. Pick up the Ginseng Roots graphic novel in your local comic book store!

Why is the American agriculture story relevant to you (yes, you)? Is comic book a genre or a medium? Why should you care about where your food comes from? How does the story of an herbal root connect the US-China trade?

Kevin stumbled upon an issue in the series and got super curious - what could an American artist possibly say about Northeastern China and an herbal root best known in Chinese medicine? He ended up loving the entire series. Ginseng Roots explores class divide, agriculture, holistic healing, the 300-year-long trade relationship between China and North America, childhood labor, and the bond between two brothers.

Craig Thompson is a graphic novelist and author of Blankets; Good-bye, Chunky Rice; and Habibi. He grew up in a rural farming community in Marathon, Wisconsin, world capital of ginseng.

Follow us on Instagram & TikTok @LSPTPod

Why does saying the wrong thing make you a better communicator? How do we manage stress in any form of talking? How does martial arts make you better at communicating? How do you communicate with a Gen Z audience?

This week, we talk to Matt Abrahams, a lecturer at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business (Stanford GSB), where he teaches popular classes in strategic communication and effective virtual presenting. Matt hosts the award-winning Think Fast, Talk Smart podcast, and is the author of Think Faster, Talk Smarter: How to Speak Successfully When You’re Put on the Spot.

What does Gorav think about his first video game in years? How can arts, pre-med, music, and writing backgrounds set you up for a video game career? What do Spider-Man, MLB 2K, and Call of Duty have in common? This week, we learn from the captivating story of Eric Monacelli, Executive Producer at Marvel Games. Before that, Eric has had a decorated career experience across video game studios such as Naughty Dog, 2K Games, Capcom, Infinity Ward, and Atari. He is also a published author in Primary Psychiatry.

What storytelling lens do gen AIs have, and how does ChatGPT think about a book that talks about it? What does ChatGPT itself recommend this episode to you? This week, we chat with Vauhini Vara, author of the genre-bending non-fiction Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age.

Vauhini started her career in tech journalism at Wall Street Journal and later contributed to various well-known news platforms. In her subsequent creative writing career, she wrote The Immortal King Rao and This is Salvaged. Gorav discovered Vauhini's work because ChatGPT recommended it to him.

Finally, we're talking about Liquid Death, one of Gorav's favorite brands. How do you bring life into a brand? What makes canned water work? How does being healthy & sustainable become cool? This week, we chat with Andy Pearson, VP of Creative at Liquid Death.

After 12+ years as a copywriter and creative director at ad agencies, Andy now creates and leads creative with an incredible team at Liquid Death on its evil mission to make the world healthier and more sustainable.

Why and how should you prepare Topics for every conversation? When are you Asking the right questions? How do you bring Levity? Why does Kindness come from storytelling?

Welcome back to your storytelling journey! To kick off Season Five, we're having a great talk with the author of TALK: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves , Alison Wood Brooks. At Harvard Business School, Alison teaches an award-winning course in the MBA curriculum called “TALK.”

What are some of our favorite lessons from this season? What is the unique storytelling power of animation? For our season finale, we welcome back our dear friend Dr. Drea Letamendi. Drea is a clinical psychologist at UCLA, a psychological consultant for film, TV, graphic novels, and books, and a unique storyteller who draws important connections between pop culture and the story we tell ourselves.

Why do you love being in bookstores? What is the story of bookstores in American history? How did Barnes & Noble switch onto the underdog's team in the bookselling industry? What are the common traits of booksellers? This week, we chat with Evan Friss, author of New York Times Bestseller The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore, and Professor of Urban and Public History at James Madison University.

What is the dangerous story about technology in education, and where does the opportunity really lie? How should we revamp our reigning education system's core story and design for the past 200 years? What is Relational Intelligence, and why should we develop it in children? We chatted with Isabelle Hau, the executive director of Stanford Accelerator for Learning, about her own childhood education story and her insights into education tech. Isabelle has dedicated her career to innovating and investing in early childhood education, leveraging the latest science, data, and technology for two decades.

Has four years of exploring the power of storytelling ruined anything for ourselves? How have the lessons from our expert storytellers seeped into our day-to-day lives? What are our stories this year? Here's a special recap for LSPTPod's 4th anniversary. Thank you for joining, and we hope you're learning as much as we are.