David begins by highlighting the background of his parents, how they met in Mexico, and their careers. He discusses his elementary and high school experience in San Antonio and his first national award. He describes how he chose Harvard among o

Bill Raduchel, economist, corporate leader and tech innovator and author

Jul 21st, 2023 1h 1m

William Raduchel describes growing up in Houghton County, Michigan, as it evolved from a prosperous to a declining area. Starting from a local college, Michigan Tech, a school focused on engineering, on to Michigan State and then to many roles

State Senator James Rosapepe

Jul 9th, 2023 59m 19s

State Senator Jim Rosapepe describes where and how he grew up, his heritage, his early interest in politics, and the beginnings of his business career and entrepreneurship. He then turns to the relationships he built in politics, business, and

Eytan Sheshinski, noted Israeli economist and head of government commissions

Aug 3rd, 2022 1h 2m

Eytan Sheshinski describes growing up in Haifa, Israel with parents who emigrated from Germany and Switzerland in the 1930s to a kibbutz. While initially joining a kibbutz and understanding economics from a Marxist perspective, Eytan talks of

Diane Jones, from community college science professor to Deputy Secretary of Education

Jul 19th, 2022 1h 14m

Diane Jones describes coming from a Baltimore family of modest means, attending a state college, and becoming a community college professor as she followed her deep interest in science. Her experience at the National Science Foundation led to

Stephen Goss, Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration

Jun 30th, 2022 1h 5m

Stephen Goss describes his transition from a math major in college with an interest in economics to his career as an actuary. He discusses the approach used by the Social Security Administration to estimate long-term costs and outlays for bene

Nat Lewin, from Polish refugee to first class lawyer

Jun 20th, 2022 1h 13m

Nathan Lewin describes his family's escape from Poland soon after the 1938 Kristallnacht pogrom against Jews through Japan to the US. He recounts how his father, an important rabbi in Poland, transitioned to become a noted writer and professor

Don Ezra, thought leader and expert consultant on pensions

May 11th, 2022 58m 58s

Don Ezra describes growing up in Calcutta with a Bhagdadi Jewish heritage. He is grateful for the Catholic school he attended, especially how the teachers pushed students to investigate issues deeply. He naturally followed this approach, ask

Paula Hogan, author, pioneer and entrepreneur in personal financial advising

May 10th, 2022 50m 28s

Paula Hogan describes her early experience with finance, growing up with a father who pioneered concepts of variable annuities. After graduating college, Paula thought she would enter a health policy field, but came to begin financial advising

Theo Kocken, academic, finance entrepreneur

May 1st, 2022 1h 2m

Theo Kocken describes how his upbringing in a large family encouraged his independence. He drew on that experience to rethink the nature of risks by banks and pension funds. He discusses how he came to start Cardano Development in response to

Harvard Professor Benjamin Friedman, macro economist and author

Apr 25th, 2022 1h 4m

Professor Friedman describes his upbringing in Louisville, Kentucky, including the influences of his father and the family business as well as a special English teacher's contributions to his ability to write well. He recounts his introductio

Bob Lerman, Social Polilcy Economist, leading on apprenticeship

Mar 20th, 2022 1h 1m

Bob Lerman describes how his parents and upbringing in a family of nine brothers and one sister influenced his path in life. After growing up in South Bend, Indiana with a focus on sports and music, he became attracted to the world of ideas at

Zvi Bodie, financial economist, co-host of Ideas and Lives

Mar 2nd, 2022 1h 4m

Zvi Bodie describes his lifelong interest in ideas and learning. From his birth and high school in Brooklyn and his evolution from a socialist/Zionist and kibbutz life to becoming a noted financial economist, Zvi recalls how his thinking evolv

Tzvi Marx, noted rabbi, scholar, and teacher

Feb 22nd, 2022 58m 14s

Hear about Rabbi Tzvi Marx's fascinating upbringing, career, and ideas. Rabbi Marx describes his development from his birth in occupied France to his schooling and university experience in New York, to his role in building the Sholem Hartman I

Alair Townsend, from Elmira to Congress to Deputy Mayor of New York

Feb 17th, 2022 1h

Alair Townsend describes her journey from growing in Elmira and attending Elmira College, the London School of Economics, and the University of Wisconsin to a career at the highest level of public service. She describes her role as staff direc

Bill Sharpe, Nobel Prize winning Financial Economist

Feb 15th, 2022 56m 55s

William Sharpe describes how he became interested in economics and how shifting his UCLA dissertation topic while working at the RAND corporation ultimately led to his work in finance and his derivation of the widely known and widely used Capit

Tamar Frankel, pioneer and expert on fiduciary law

Feb 13th, 2022 57m 28s

Tamar Frankel, Emeritus Professor of Law at Boston University, talks about growing up in Israel during its pre-State period, her service in the army and government, and how she came to Harvard Law School. She explains how she developed an inte

Joe Nocera, reporter, New York Times columnist, and podcast producer of "The Shrink Next Door"

Jan 30th, 2022 59m 51s

Joe Nocera describes his upbringing in Providence, his views on learning journalism, his early career in journalism, and high points in his writing and career. He recounts his coverage of T. Boone Pickens and sitting in on one of the first pri

Larry Kotlikoff, innovative economist and Presidential candidate

Jan 13th, 2022 49m 57s

Larry Kotlikoff describes how his upbringing and family circumstances led to his hard work and his entrepreneurial streak, not only in economic research. but also in promoting wise policies for the United States. Larry explains the logic behin

Chris Farrell, top economics reporter in print and broadcast journalism

Jan 6th, 2022 58m 33s

Chris Farrell describes his early career, including his service on a merchant ship, his education, his entry into the world of journalism, and how came to author several books. He concludes with some perspectives on the state of journalism tod

Dan DiBartolomeo, Founder of Northfield Financial Services, on Evaluating Risks

Dec 22nd, 2021 1h 3m

Dan describes how he developed Northfield Financial Services as making the evaluation of many possible asset portfolios affordable. Instead of having to buy expensive software that could only be run on expensive mainframe computers, Dan's inno

David Shipler as NY Times journalist and Pulizer Prize winning author

Dec 8th, 2021 1h 23m

David Shipler recounts the arc of his career after college, including his service as an officer in the US Navy, early jobs at the New York Times, assignments in Vietnam, Russia, and Israel, and how he came to author books. Among the seven boo

SheldonGlashow, Nobel prize winning physicist

Nov 19th, 2021 53m 3s

Dr. Sheldon Glashow, former Harvard professor of physics, begins by describing his fascination with science as a kid. He then explains how he came up with the ideas and paper that won his Nobel prize. Amazingly, Dr. Glashow wrote the paper ju

Derrick Ramsey as star athlete, as Kentucky Secretary of Labor and Education, and thoughtful leader

Nov 11th, 2021 1h 10m

Derrick Ramsey talks about growing up in rural Florida, his development as an athlete in high school, his experience in college football, his transition to professional football, and how he prepared for his post-football career and advanced edu

Paul Solman, PBS Economics Correspondent, describes his early career and idea for helping America.

Oct 29th, 2021 40m 52s

Paul Solman is an award-winning journalist who has specialized in economics, business, and politics since the early 1970s. He has been the business and economics correspondent for the PBS NewsHour since 1985, with occasional forays into art rep