Talks at Google

Simon Sinek, optimist, author, and founder of The Optimism Company, visits Google to discuss how adopting an optimistic mindset can help you rediscover your purpose and thrive even when it seems like everything around you is changing.

Simon Sinek is an unshakable optimist, who believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together. He has devoted his professional life to help advance a vision of the world that does not yet exist; a world in which the vast majority of people wake up every single morning inspired, feel safe wherever they are, and fulfilled by the work that they do.

Simon may be best known for popularizing what he calls the concept of WHY, which he described in his first TED Talk in 2009. That talk went on to become the second most watched TED Talk of all time, and is still in the top five with over 50 million views. His interview on millennials in the workplace broke the internet in 2016. With over 80 million views in its first week, it has now been viewed hundreds of millions times. This led to Simon being YouTube’s fifth most searched term in 2017. 

His unconventional and innovative views on business and leadership have attracted international attention. From the airline industry to the entertainment industry, from finance to fashion, from big business to entrepreneurs to police forces, Simon has been invited to meet with a broad array of leaders and organizations in nearly every industry. He has also had the honor of sharing his ideas with multiple agencies of the US government and with the senior-most leaders of the United States Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, Army and Coast Guard.

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Muhammad Yunus, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and bestselling author of "Banker to the Poor," visits to Google to talk about his book "A World of Three Zeroes."

Muhammad Yunus is one of today's most vigorous social critics. Now he declares it's time to admit that the capitalist engine is broken, and that in its current form it inevitably leads to rampant inequality, massive unemployment, and environmental destruction. He advocates for a new economic system that unleashes altruism as a creative force just as powerful as self-interest.

Is this a pipe dream? Not at all. In the last decade, thousands of people and organizations have already embraced Yunus's vision of a new form of capitalism, launching innovative social businesses designed to serve human needs rather than accumulate wealth. They are bringing solar energy to millions of homes in Bangladesh; turning thousands of unemployed young people into entrepreneurs through equity investments; financing female-owned businesses in cities across the United States; bringing mobility, shelter, and other services to the rural poor in France; and creating a global support network to help young entrepreneurs launch their start-ups.

In "A World of Three Zeros," Yunus describes the new civilization emerging from the economic experiments his work has helped to inspire. He explains how global companies like McCain, Renault, Essilor, and Danone got involved with this new economic model through their own social action groups, describes the ingenious new financial tools now funding social businesses, and sketches the legal and regulatory changes needed to jumpstart the next wave of socially driven innovations.

Originally published in November of 2017.

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Tamron Hall and Lish Steiling join us to discuss their book “A Confident Cook,” where they share empowerment and excitement with those who are just beginning to cook. This book is packed with scrumptious recipes as well as cocktails and mocktails. Throughout, Lish and Tamron chat, teach, learn, and inspire you to keep it going in the kitchen.

Tamron Hall is an Emmy Award-winning television host and executive producer of the syndicated talk show, "Tamron Hall," a best-selling author, and a self-taught cook. Born and raised in Texas, Tamron had her culinary senses ignited at an early age by her grandfather, BBQ pitmaster Louis Mitchell, and their bond developed around food. She has guest judged on the Food Network’s “Beat Bobby Flay” and “Emeril Live,” and she’s a longtime supporter and participant of leading culinary events such as the James Beard Awards, Food & Wine Classic, and New York City Wine & Food Festival.

Lish Steiling is a chef, food stylist, recipe writer, and James Beard-Award and Emmy Award-winning culinary producer. She is a co-founder of the brand The Taste Curators and is a regular chef on Epicurious’s YouTube channel. Lish was also a champion on Food Network's “Chopped.” She has worked for and contributed to the Today show, Food Network, The New York Times, the Tamron Hall show, Vanity Fair, and the Kitchn, among others.

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Christopher McDougall visits Google to discuss his book “Born to Run.”

Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, and cutting-edge science, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world's greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong. 

Isolated by the most savage terrain in North America, the reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons are custodians of a lost art. For centuries they have practiced techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while enjoying every mile of it. Their superhuman talent is matched by uncanny health and serenity, leaving the Tarahumara resistant to the diseases and strife that plague modern existence. 

With the help of Caballo Blanco, a mysterious loner who lives among the tribe, Christopher was able not only to uncover the secrets of the Tarahumara but also to find his own inner ultra-athlete, as he trained for the challenge of a lifetime: a fifty-mile race through the heart of Tarahumara country pitting the tribe against an odd band of Americans, including a star ultramarathoner, a beautiful young surfer, and a barefoot wonder. With a sharp wit and wild exuberance, McDougall takes us from the high-tech science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultrarunners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to the climactic race in the Copper Canyons. Born to Run is that rare book that will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that the secret to happiness is right at your feet, and that you, indeed all of us, were born to run.

Originally published in October of 2009.

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Marion Jones visits Google to discuss strength, resilience, and using past experiences to serve as an example of no matter how far you fall down, you can always get back up.

Marion Jones is widely considered to be one of the greatest athletes of all time. She became the first woman to win five medals in a single Olympics in the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia. After a doping scandal that affected over 20 professional athletes, Marion was the only athlete to serve a prison sentence. She has since used that experience to serve as an example of resilience in the face of overwhelming adversity. In 2010, just four months after the birth of her third child, Marion made an impressive comeback to competitive sports earning a spot on the WNBA's Tulsa Shock. That same year she published her book “On the Right Track” and launched her campaign to help youth make better decisions. 

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Barbara Corcoran from ABC's series Shark Tank visits Google to discuss entrepreneurship and her success in the real estate business.

After failing at twenty-two jobs, Barbara Corcoran borrowed $1,000 from a boyfriend, quit her job as a diner waitress, and started a tiny real estate office in New York City. Using the unconventional lessons she learned from her homemaker mom, she gradually built it into a $6 billion dollar business. Now Barbara is even more famous for the no-nonsense wisdom she offers to entrepreneurs on Shark Tank, ABC's hit reality TV show.

Originally published in July of 2015.

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Renowned computer scientist Neil Lawrence visits Google to discuss his book "The Atomic Human: What Makes Us Unique in the Age of AI."

What does Artificial Intelligence mean for our identity? Our fascination with AI stems from the perceived uniqueness of human intelligence. We believe it's what differentiates us. Fears of AI not only concern how it invades our digital lives, but also the implied threat of an intelligence that displaces us from our position at the center of the world.

Neil D. Lawrence's book shows why these fears may be misplaced. Atomism, proposed by Democritus, suggested it was impossible to continue dividing matter down into ever smaller components: eventually we reach a point where a cut cannot be made. In the same way, by slicing away at the facets of human intelligence that can be replaced by machines, AI uncovers what is left: an indivisible core that is the essence of humanity.

Human intelligence has evolved across hundreds of thousands of years. Due to our physical and cognitive constraints over that time, it is social and highly embodied. By contrasting our capabilities with machine intelligence, The Atomic Human reveals the technical origins, capabilities and limitations of AI systems, and how they should be wielded. Not just by the experts, but ordinary people. Understanding this will enable readers to choose the future we want – either one where AI is a tool for us, or where we become a tool of AI – and how to counteract the digital oligarchy to maintain the fabric of an open, fair and democratic society.

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Tero Isokauppila visits Google to discuss his book Healing Mushrooms: A Practical and Culinary Guide to Using Mushrooms for Whole Body Health.

Adaptogenic mushrooms are one of today's buzziest superfoods, known for their ability to restore skin's youthful glow, increase energy levels, reduce brain fog, keep your hormone levels in check, and so much more. In this book, you’ll learn about the ten most powerful mushrooms you can add to your daily diet to maximize your health gains. Though some of these mushrooms, like Tremella, Cordyceps, and Reishi will sound exotic, they're all easy to source online in extract form and easier to use in recipes. Even more familiar mushrooms, like Shiitake, Oyster, and Enoki, are full of healing potential--you just have to know how to use them. Packed with practical information, fun illustrations, and 50 mushroom-boosted recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even dessert, Healing Mushrooms unlocks the vast potential of this often-overlooked superfood category and will be the go-to resource for adding mushrooms to your health and wellness regimen.

Tero Isokauppila is the founder of Four Sigmatic, a nature-centric company specializing in functional mushrooms, superfoods, and adaptogens. He is a subject matter expert on all things mushrooms and natural health and was selected as one of the TOP 50 Food Activists by the Academy of Culinary Nutrition.

Originally published in March of 2019.

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Elizabeth L. Block visits Google to discuss her book “Beyond Vanity: The History and Power of Hairdressing” where she explores the diverse history of women’s hair.

In the nineteenth century, the complex cultural meaning of hair was not only significant, but it could also impact one's place in society. After the Civil War, hairdressing was also a growing profession and the hair industry a mainstay of local, national, and international commerce. In Beyond Vanity, Elizabeth Block expands the nascent field of hair studies by restoring women's hair as a cultural site of meaning in the early United States. With a special focus on the places and spaces in which the hair industry operated, Block argues that the importance of hair has been overlooked as well as its misguided association with frivolity and triviality. As Block clarifies, hairdressing was anything but frivolous.

Using methods of visual and material culture studies informed by concepts of cultural geography, Block identifies multiple substantive categories of place and space within which hair acted. These include the preparatory places of the bedroom and hair salon, as well as the presentation places of parties, fairs, stages, and workplaces. Here are also the untold stories of business owners, many of whom were women of color, and the creators of trendsetting styles like the pompadour and Gibson Girl bouffant. Block's ground-breaking study examines how race and racism affected those who participated in the presentation and business of hair, and according to which standards. The result of looking closely at the places and spaces of hair is a reconfiguration that allows a new understanding of the cultural power of hair in the nineteenth century.

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Stephen Pearcy, lead singer and frontman of the rock band RATT, visits Google to discuss his book "Sex, Drugs, RATT and Roll: My Life in Rock."

Women. Spandex. Drugs. Hair spray.

Welcome to heavy metal rock ’n’ roll, circa 1980, when all you needed was the right look, burning ambition, and a chance. Cranking out metal just as metal got hot, RATT was the perfect band at the perfect time, and their hit single “Round and Round” became a top-selling anthem. The bigger RATT got, the more excessive lead singer Stephen Pearcy and his bandmates became. There was nothing these guys wouldn’t snort, drink, bed, or break. But as RATT scrambled up a wall of fame and wealth, they then experienced a gut-wrenching free fall. Pearcy’s stunningly honest rock ’n’ roll confessional, by turns incredible, hilarious, and lyrical, is more than a story of survival—it’s a search for the things that matter most.

Originally published in July of 2013.

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