Between the two rounds of the French Presidential election, Sami J. Karam speaks to Axel Gyldén, senior reporter at L'Express, France's leading weekly. Topics include analysis of the first round results, President Emmanuel Macron's popularity, Marine Le Pen's probability of winning and what such a victory would mean for France and Europe.

What makes an effective politician? Politicians come from all walks of life but the vast majority of them do not have formal politician training. Renova, an innovative non-partisan non-profit organization in Brazil, seeks to change that and to also improve governance, by training aspiring political candidates. In this podcast, Sami J. Karam speaks to founder and chairman Eduardo Mufarej about Renova's mission, its training curriculum and its prospects.

Sami J. Karam welcomes back best-selling author and strategist Michele Wucker to discuss her new book "You Are What You Risk". Michele explains the concepts of a "risk fingerprint" and of a "personal risk portfolio" among others.

0:00 Introduction of Michele Wucker

2:13 Thesis of 'You Are What You Risk'

5:20 How much of attitude to risk is innate vs. acquired through experience

10:40 Taking a risk vs. following a path; Risk and entrepreneurship

14:10 About each person's risk fingerprint

19:45 Taking risk as the only woman in the room

24:40 "Risk is value-neutral"

33:00 Matching risk fingerprints in interactions; Measuring risk

38:20 The personal risk portfolio

42:25 Remembering the onset of the pandemic as a gray rhino

Sami J. Karam speaks with Joe Issa El Khoury, a Beirut-based financier, about the tragic events that have unfolded in Lebanon since 2019. Issa El Khoury explains the sequence of events that led to the present, and offers a possible way forward.

0:00 Introduction of Joe Issa El Khoury

2:25 What is it like right now on the ground in Beirut?

8:33 Why did Lebanon have a golden period in 1945-75; why was it later so prone to crisis?

17:40 The Rafik Hariri era and the return of growth 1990-2005

20:00 What explains the weakness of the Lebanese state: geography and demographics

26:30 Lebanon's diversity as a source of wealth; Example of Lebanese cuisine

30:40 Crossing the line from a laissez-faire economy to a crony economy

35:05 The real estate boom of 2007-11

36:55 The impact of the Syrian civil war

39:10 Crowding out the private sector

44:10 The proximate factors that led to the meltdown

46:15 The current condition of the banking sector; Role of the Central Bank

51:00 Will depositors suffer a haircut? The Lazard and other plans

54:45 Talk of privatization of state assets

59:45 Political patronage in the public sector

1:01:50 "All roads lead to Washington DC and the acronym IMF"

1:05:20 Political reform and the role of the diaspora

Sami J. Karam speaks to best-selling author Michele Wucker about her 2016 book The Gray Rhino and how its method and lessons apply to the coronavirus pandemic.

Topics include:

0:00 Introduction of Michele Wucker

1:05 When will we be able to travel to Asia or Europe again?

3:10 Explaining the concept and examples of Gray Rhino events

9:00 Various reactions to the spread of the pandemic

15:50 Was the virus predictable?

19:20 Why should we have been readier for the virus when it is so rare?

22:00 Why we ignore what is "over there". Did it start "over there" or over here?

25:35 How could we have prepared for the pandemic?

31:00 The current catch-22: deaths by virus vs. deaths of despair

44:10 Stages of a Gray Rhino event applied to the pandemic

50:10 What other Gray Rhino events do you worry about? A triad of Gray Rhinos

55:45 How alarmists help avert deep crises

59:40 Conclusion

Aaron Renn, a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, talks to Sami J. Karam about US cities. What makes coastal cities so successful? What are the prospects for mid-sized and smaller cities in the rust belt? What is the future of transit? What role does immigration play in the future of cities?

Sami J. Karam speaks to CEO Nadim Curi of CityCop about the company's plans to roll out its anti-crime app and social platform for community watch across US and international cities.

Sami J. Karam speaks with Jesse Eisinger, a Pulitzer Prize winning Senior Reporter at ProPublica and former Wall Street Journal reporter. Eisinger talks about his forthcoming book on white collar prosecutions and other issues.

For more on this podcast and other topics, please visit populyst.net.

Aaron Renn, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, talks with Sami J. Karam, founder of populyst and creator of the populyst Index™. Among several topics on demographics and economics, Karam describes the construction and uses of the index.

Sami J. Karam speaks with Colombian architect Alejandro Echeverri about his role in the transformation of Medellín. In his position as Medellín’s Director of Urban Projects under Mayor Sergio Fajardo, Echeverri set out with his team to bring real improvements through a strategy of “social urbanism” which included large and small projects in the most troubled parts of the city.

For more on this podcast and other topics, please visit populyst.net.