John Ousterhout, Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, visits Google to discuss the complex techniques that can help you to become a more confident coder. John is excited to announce that he just published the first edition of a new book on software design, based on material from a software design class he has been teaching at Stanford for the last several years.

Prior to joining Stanford, John spent 14 years in industry where he founded two companies, preceded by another 14 years as a professor at Berkeley. Over the course of his career, Professor Ousterhout has built a number of influential coding systems and has taught several courses on software design. In this talk, he synthesizes these experiences into an insightful and provocative discussion on how to (and how not to) design software.

Originally published in August of 2018.

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Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy and Olympic diver Greg Louganis visit Google to discuss what it's like to thrive as an athlete on the world's biggest sporting stage, how things have evolved for LGBTQ+ competitors, and what work remains in the quest to create a more inclusive world for future generations of rising queer athletes.

Gus Kenworthy is known as one of the best all-around park skiers of all time and is one of the only athletes to have podium finishes across all three disciplines: slopestyle, halfpipe, and big air. In 2014, Gus won a silver medal for Team USA at the inaugural slopestyle of the Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. At the 2018 Olympics, Gus made history by becoming the first openly gay man to compete for the U.S. in a Winter Olympics. In 2015, Gus came out on the cover of ESPN Magazine, becoming the first openly gay professional athlete in any action sport.

Greg Louganis is considered one of the greatest divers in history. With a total of 5 Olympic medals, 5 World Championship titles, 6 Pan American titles and 47 national titles, his records remain unbroken. Greg is the only male to win gold medals on both 3 meter springboard and 10 meter platform in consecutive Olympic Games. Today he is a coach, speaker, author, actor, activist and humanitarian as he continues his tradition of excellence.

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Robert Greene visits Google to discuss his latest book, "Mastery."

What did Charles Darwin, a middling schoolboy and underachieving second son, do to become one of the earliest and greatest naturalists the world has known? What were the similar choices made by Mozart and by Caesar Rodriguez, the U.S. Air Force's last ace fighter pilot? In Mastery, Robert Greene's fifth book, he mines the biographies of great historical figures for clues about gaining control over our own lives and destinies. Greene culls years of research and original interviews to blend historical anecdote and psychological insight, distilling the universal ingredients of the world's masters.

Temple Grandin, Martha Graham, Henry Ford, Buckminster Fuller—all have lessons to offer about how the love for doing one thing exceptionally well can lead to mastery. Yet the secret, Greene writes, is already in our heads. Debunking long-held cultural myths, he demonstrates just how we, as humans, are hardwired for achievement.

Originally published in April of 2013.

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Laurel Harris and Alexandra Socha, who respectively play Elphaba and Glinda in Broadway's Wicked, visit Google to celebrate 20 years of the hit musical.

Wicked looks at what happened in the land of Oz…but from a different angle. Long before Dorothy arrives, there is a young woman, born with emerald-green skin – smart, fiery, misunderstood and possessing an extraordinary talent. When she meets a bubbly blonde who is exceptionally popular, their initial rivalry turns into the unlikeliest of friendships – until the world decides to call one "Good" and the other "Wicked."

Laurel Harris is thrilled to rejoin Wicked Broadway after just completing 9 months on the Wicked tour. Beginning her Wicked journey 13 years ago, she's proudest of playing Elphaba 10 years ago full-time on tour.

Alexandra Socha's Broadway credits include Head Over Heels, Brighton Beach Memoirs, and Spring Awakening. On television, she is known for her role as Skye on Amazon's "Red Oaks" and has also appeared in "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," "Evil," "The Big C," and many more.

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Author Mary Pilon visits Google to discuss her book, "The Monopolists". The book reveals the unknown story of how the classic board game Monopoly came into existence, the reinvention of its history by Parker Brothers and multiple media outlets, the lost female originator of the game, and one man's lifelong obsession to tell the true story about the game's questionable origins.

Most people think Monopoly was invented by an unemployed Pennsylvanian who sold his game to Parker Brothers during the Great Depression in 1935 and lived happily--and richly--ever after. That story, however, is not exactly true. Ralph Anspach, a professor fighting to sell his Anti-Monopoly board game decades later, unearthed the real story, which traces back to Abraham Lincoln, the Quakers, and a forgotten feminist named Lizzie Magie who invented her nearly identical Landlord's Game more than thirty years before Parker Brothers sold their version of Monopoly. Her game--underpinned by morals that were the exact opposite of what Monopoly represents today--was embraced by a constellation of left-wingers from the Progressive Era through the Great Depression, including members of Franklin Roosevelt's famed Brain Trust.

A fascinating social history of corporate greed that illuminates the cutthroat nature of American business over the last century, "The Monopolists" reads like the best detective fiction, told through Monopoly's real-life winners and losers.

Originally published in April of 2015.

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Acclaimed science writer Ferris Jabr visits Google to discuss his book "Becoming Earth: How our Planet Came to Life."

One of humanity's oldest beliefs is that our world is alive. Though once ridiculed by some scientists, the idea of Earth as a vast interconnected living system has gained acceptance in recent decades. We, and all living things, are more than inhabitants of Earth—we are Earth, an outgrowth of its structure and an engine of its evolution. Life and its environment have coevolved for billions of years, transforming a lump of orbiting rock into a cosmic oasis—a planet that breathes, metabolizes, and regulates its climate.

Acclaimed science writer Ferris Jabr reveals a radical new vision of Earth where lush forests spew water, pollen, and bacteria to summon rain; giant animals engineer the very landscapes they roam; microbes chew rock to shape continents; and microscopic plankton, some as glittering as carved jewels, remake the air and sea.

Humans are one of the most extreme examples of life transforming Earth. Through fossil fuel consumption, agriculture, and pollution, we have altered more layers of the planet in less time than any other species, pushing Earth into a crisis. But we are also uniquely able to understand and protect the planet's wondrous ecology and self-stabilizing processes. Jabr introduces us to a diverse cast of fascinating people who have devoted themselves to this vital work.

Becoming Earth is an exhilarating journey through the hidden workings of our planetary symphony—its players, its instruments, and the music of life that emerges—and an invitation to reexamine our place in it. How well we play our part will determine what kind of Earth our descendants inherit for millennia to come.

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Professor Adrienne Mayor of Stanford visits Google to discuss her book, "The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World". This book is the first comprehensive account of warrior women in myth and history across the ancient world, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Great Wall of China.

Amazons―fierce warrior women dwelling on the fringes of the known world―were the mythic archenemies of the ancient Greeks. Heracles and Achilles displayed their valor in duels with Amazon queens, and the Athenians reveled in their victory over a powerful Amazon army. In historical times, Cyrus of Persia, Alexander the Great, and the Roman general Pompey tangled with Amazons.

But just who were these bold barbarian archers on horseback who gloried in fighting, hunting, and sexual freedom? Were Amazons real?

Mayor tells how amazing new archaeological discoveries of battle-scarred female skeletons buried with their weapons prove that women warriors were not merely figments of the Greek imagination. Combining classical myth and art, nomad traditions, and scientific archaeology, she reveals intimate, surprising details and original insights about the lives and legends of the women known as Amazons. The Greeks were not the only people enchanted by Amazons―Mayor shows that warlike women of nomadic cultures inspired exciting tales in ancient Egypt, Persia, India, Central Asia, and China.

Driven by a detective's curiosity, Mayor unearths long-buried evidence and sifts fact from fiction to show how flesh-and-blood women of the Eurasian steppes were mythologized as Amazons, the equals of men.

Originally published in December of 2014.

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Ecological engineer Dr. Nadina Galle visits Google to discuss her book "The Nature of our Cities: Harnessing the Power of the Natural World to Survive a Changing Planet." The book describes her journey to show how scientists and citizens from around the world are harnessing emerging technologies to unlock the power of the natural world to save their cities, a phenomenon Dr. Nadina calls the "Internet of Nature." Traveling the globe, Nadina examines how urban nature points the way toward a more sustainable future.

Dr. Nadina Galle is a Dutch-Canadian ecological engineer, technologist, and podcast host, at the forefront of the growing movement to fuse nature and technology for urban resilience, and celebrated for her pioneering work on what she calls the 'Internet of Nature.' Her contributions have been showcased in documentaries by BBC Earth and featured in publications such as National Geographic and Newsweek. She was honored as one of Forbes' "30 under 30" and recently designated a 2024 National Geographic Explorer.

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Professor Alexander Meyer visits Google to share the ways ancient Greeks and Romans kept time and their reasons for doing so. He discusses various time-keeping artifacts and works of literature to show that the manner in which time was kept and tracked reflected and continues to reflect much broader cultural issues, including imperialism, commercialism, religion, and law.

This Talk analyzes ancient Greek and Roman calendrical systems, highlighting their diverse cultural expression and the challenges they faced in reconciling different calendars, with a focus on the calendar reforms made by Julius Caesar and Emperor Augustus. For example, in 46 BCE Julius Caesar implemented calendar reforms to correct the discrepancies caused by the lunar calendar's inaccuracy, and Augustus further refined the calendar system to ensure that leap years occurred every four years, as intended.

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Master Certified life coach Kara Loewentheil visits Google to discuss her book "Take Back Your Brain: How A Sexist Society Gets in Your Head – and How to Get It Out," Her book weaves cognitive psychology and feminist theory with practical thought-work exercises to awaken new possibilities for all.

Kara Lowentheil is a founder of The School of New Feminist Thought, and host of the internationally top-ranked podcast "UnF*ck Your Brain: Feminist Self-Help for Everyone", which has 50+ million downloads. A graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School, Kara transitioned from being an Ivy League lawyer to a life coach. Eight years after she stepped down as director of a think tank at Columbia Law School, she created multiple-seven-figure businesses, taught millions of women how to identify the ways that sexist socialization impacts their brains, and helped women all over the world rewire their thought patterns to liberate themselves from the inside out.

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