Marc J. Dunkelman is a political scientist and author of Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress and How to Bring It Back. Drawing on examples from infrastructure, public policy and everyday bureaucracy, Marc explains why institutions that once delivered big projects now struggle to get even simple things done. He brings to fore the cultural shifts since the 1970s, America’s “vitocracy” and why good ideas get stuck between competing interests. It's a clear, grounded look at how systems break and what it would take to fix them and is as relevant for those living outside the US.

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Patrick McGee, the Financial Times’ San Francisco correspondent, covers Apple and the U.S. technology industry. His book, Apple in China: The Capture of the World's Greatest Company is a brilliant read. In this podcast he explains how Apple became deeply tied to China’s factories, workers and politics and why that relationship still defines the company today. He also discusses the roles of Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, Tim Cook and others in shaping Apple’s culture while revealing how design, operations and manufacturing came together to create some of the most influential products of our time.

Photograph by Cayce Clifford

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Few people have had more access to Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s charismatic founder, than Stephen Witt. In his book The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip, Witt traces the company’s three-decade journey under the leadership of a man he describes as sometimes “neurotic”, a founder who, despite being at the top of his game, constantly fears going out of business.

And yet, his team remains fiercely loyal. He rarely fires those who face his ire. So how does he lead a company in an industry where every few years the technology is upended and replaced by something entirely new? And how does he stay grounded while working relentless hours? Stephen spoke to hundreds of people to find the answers, many of which he shares in his book and in this podcast.

Image source: https://stephenwitt.info/

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