Best Asia House Arts and Learning Podcasts (2025)

1
Atinuke O. Adediran, "Disclosureland: How Corporate Words Constrain Racial Progress" (Cambridge UP, 2025) 33:46

1d ago33:46

33:46

The 2020 murder of George Floyd sparked mass protests that challenged many institutions, including large for-profit companies, to reflect on how to address racial inequality. Large corporations began making systematic public statements to show alignment with causes that impact people of color. These statements were also used to protect corporate re…

1
Prithwiraj Choudhury, "The World Is Your Office: How Work from Anywhere Boosts Talent, Productivity, and Innovation" (Harvard Business Review Press, 2025) 1:00:00

1d ago1:00:00

1:00:00

As the debate around remote versus in-office work rages on, leaders in a wide range of industries continue to implement radically flexible work practices. Though there has been some pushback, many employers are still allowing most, if not all, of their employees to work from anywhere. The reason is that they understand that geographic flexibility o…

1
Moments of Impact: How to Design Strategic Conversations That Accelerate Change 1:05:44

8d ago1:05:44

1:05:44

In our fast-changing world, leaders are increasingly confronted by messy, multifaceted challenges that require collaboration to resolve. But the standard methods for tackling these challenges—meetings packed with data-drenched presentations or brainstorming sessions that circle back to nowhere—just don’t deliver. Great strategic conversations gener…

1
Charles A. O'Reilly, III and Michael L. Tushman, "Lead and Disrupt: How to Solve the Innovator's Dilemma, Second Edition" (Stanford Business Books, 2021) 1:06:23

10d ago1:06:23

1:06:23

Lead and Disrupt: How to Solve the Innovator's Dilemma Second Edition 2nd Edition by Charles A. O’Reilly III and Michael L. Tushman The second edition of this classic analyzes why mature organizations find it so difficult to innovate. This question has become ever more important as organizations face continuous disruptive changes. O’Reilly and Tush…

1
The Mamluks: A Louvre Exhibition, with Carine Juvin 33:37

14d ago33:37

33:37

Join curator Carine Juvin as she discusses the fascinating topic of her new exhibition at the Louvre: The Mamluks. Listen as she goes beyond the usual discussion of war and plunder, and dives into the rich world of Mamluk culture and society: from how the sovereignty of slave-soldiers changed monumental architecture, to what that world was like for…

1
Corporate Memory, Curated 1:08:00

15d ago1:08:00

1:08:00

Stephen Chambers of the historical consulting firm The Winthrop Group earned his BA, MA, and PhD in history. Throughout graduate school, he pursued interests in applied history—often doing the opposite (his words!) of what he was supposed to be doing as a future academic. He also wrote historical fiction and science fiction as a way to reflect on t…

1
Amit Ron and Abraham A. Singer, "Everyone's Business: What Companies Owe Society" (U Chicago Press, 2024) 54:35

19d ago54:35

54:35

The ethics of the company in a highly politicized time. Businesses are increasingly social actors. They fund political campaigns, take stances on social issues, and wave the flags of identity groups. As a highly polarized public demands political alignment from the businesses where they spend their money, what's a company to do? Everyone's Business…

1
John Horn, "Inside the Competitor's Mindset: How to Predict Their Next Move and Position Yourself for Success" (MIT Press, 2023) 1:45:13

20d ago1:45:13

1:45:13

Inside the Competitor's Mindset: How to Predict Their Next Move and Position Yourself for Success (MIT Press, 2023) offers a roadmap to help leaders predict, understand, and react to their competitors’ moves. It is a valuable tool to help companies stay ahead of their competitors when the competition is intensifying. To make the right choice when a…

1
Gennifer Weisenfeld, "The Fine Art of Persuasion: Corporate Advertising Design, Nation, and Empire in Modern Japan" (Duke UP, 2025) 44:44

23d ago44:44

44:44

Commercial art is more than just mass-produced publicity; it constructs social and political ideologies that impact the public’s everyday life. In The Fine Art of Persuasion: Corporate Advertising Design, Nation, and Empire in Modern Japan (Duke University Press, 2025), Gennifer Weisenfeld examines the evolution of Japanese advertising graphic desi…

1
Lizhi Liu, "From Click to Boom: The Political Economy of E-Commerce in China" (Princeton UP, 2024) 59:37

29d ago59:37

59:37

Alibaba. Tencent. JD. Pinduoduo. Run down the list of China’s most valuable companies and you’ll find, for the most part, that they’re all e-commerce companies—or at least facilitate e-commerce. The sector created giants: Alibaba grew from just 5.5 billion renminbi of revenue in 2010 to 280 billion last year. But how did Chinese e-commerce firms sh…

1
Darryl Campbell, "Fatal Abstraction: Why the Managerial Class Loses Control of Software" (W. W. Norton, 2025) 1:09:28

1M ago1:09:28

1:09:28

A tech insider explains how capitalism and software development make for such a dangerous mix. Software was supposed to radically improve society. Outdated mechanical systems would be easily replaced; programs like PowerPoint would make information flow more freely; social media platforms like Facebook would bring people together; and generative AI…

1
Sandra Matz, "Mindmasters: The Data-Driven Science of Predicting and Changing Human Behavior" (HBRP, 2025) 41:31

1M ago41:31

41:31

A fascinating exploration of how algorithms penetrate the most intimate aspects of our psychology—from the pioneering expert on psychological targeting. There are more pieces of digital data than there are stars in the universe. This data helps us monitor our planet, decipher our genetic code, and take a deep dive into our psychology. As algorithms…

1
Jessica Smith on Engineering and Public Accountability in Energy Industries 1:15:56

2M ago1:15:56

1:15:56

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks to Jessica Smith, Professor in the Engineering, Design, and Society Department and Dean’s Fellow for Earth and Society Programs of the Colorado School of Mines, about her work on engineering and public accountability in energy and mining industries. The pair discuss Smith’s long-held interests in mining and …

1
Ipek A. Celik Rappas, "Filming in European Cities: The Labor of Location" (Cornell UP, 2025) 44:59

2M ago44:59

44:59

Filming in European Cities: The Labor of Location (Cornell University Press, 2025) explores the effort behind creating screen production locations. Dr. Ipek A. Celik Rappas accounts the rising demand for original and affordable locations for screen projects due to the growth of streaming platforms. As a result, screen professionals are repeatedly t…

1
"Brand Strategy, Diet Culture and Cultural Histories of Desire" with Jessica Hamel-Akré 53:17

2M ago53:17

53:17

I spoke with Jessica Hamel-Akré about her journey from literary scholar to historian to director of qualitative research at the consulting firm LoveBrands, and her work at the intersection of academia and industry. We discussed her fascinating 2024 book, The Art of Not Eating: A Doubtful History of Appetite and Desire (Atlantic Books), and how her …

1
Dessy T. Levinson, "From Overwhelm to Flow: Sailing the Seas of Self with Courage, Meaning, and Resilience" (Crate Mind, 2025) 35:12

2M ago35:12

35:12

Why do our attempts to control uncertainty often leave us feeling more adrift? What if our greatest source of stress could become our deepest well of creativity? Drawing from neuroscience, psychology, and two decades of experience across advertising and venture capital, Dessy T. Levinson offers a radical reframing of how we relate to intensity. Fro…

1
Joe Sutherland, "Analytics the Right Way: A Business Leader's Guide to Putting Data to Productive Use" (Wiley, 2025) 52:22

2M ago52:22

52:22

Organizations have more data at their fingertips than ever, and their ability to put that data to productive use should be a key source of sustainable competitive advantage. Yet, business leaders looking to tap into a steady and manageable stream of “actionable insights” often, instead, get blasted with a deluge of dashboards, chart-filled slide de…

1
Mike Ganino, "Make a Scene: Storytelling, Stage Presence, and the Art of Being Unforgettable in Every Spotlight" (Authors & Co., 2025) 1:03:21

2M ago1:03:21

1:03:21

Today I spoke with Mike Ganino about his new book Make a Scene, Storytelling, Stage Presence, and the Art of being Unforgettable in every Spotlight (Authors & Co., 2025) “The most powerful asset whether you want to lead a team, whether you want to pitch a deal, whether you want to close business, whether you want to interview for a new job, your mo…

1
Reading Parties: A Discussion with Ben Bradbury, Founder of "Reading Rhythms" 51:27

2M ago51:27

51:27

In this podcast interview, Richard Lucas hosts Ben Bradbury, founder of Reading Rhythms, to discuss the back story leading to founding Ben's his unique reading-themed events. Ben sharing his entrepreneurial journey, including early influences and the inspiration behind Reading Rhythms, which aims to reduce loneliness through shared reading experien…

1
Wall Street Billionaire and Philanthropist Gives Advice for the Exceptionally Ambitious 41:00

2M ago41:00

41:00

Robert Rosenkranz was described by Bill Bowder as “the most powerful titan on Wall Street you’ve probably never heard of." As CEO of Delphi Capital Management the value of its assets under management grew to U$20 billion, and its value grew 100 fold. While his book The Stoic Capitalist (Bloomsbury, 2025) – has the tag line “advice for the exception…

1
Daryl Fairweather, "Hate the Game: Economic Cheat Codes for Life, Love, and Work" (U Chicago Press, 2025) 36:04

2M ago36:04

36:04

The secret insights of economics, translated for the rest of us. Should I buy or rent? Do I ask for a promotion? Should I tell people I’m pregnant? What salary do I deserve? Should I just quit this job? Common anxieties about life are often grounded in economics. In an increasingly win-lose society, these economic decisions—where to work, where to …

1
John Kay, "The Corporation in the 21st Century: Why (Almost) Everything We Are Told about Business Is Wrong" (Yale UP, 2025) 55:15

2M ago55:15

55:15

John Kay's The Corporation in the 21st Century: Why (Almost) Everything We Are Told about Business Is Wrong (Yale UP, 2025) is an accessible and entertaining reappraisal of what business is for and how it works. Full of history and written in a compelling narrative style, this book describes a shift in the underlying assumptions of the relationship…

1
Will Potter, "Little Red Barns: Hiding the Truth, from Farm to Fable" (City Lights Books, 2025) 38:18

3M ago38:18

38:18

Little Red Barns: Hiding the Truth, from Farm to Fable (City Lights Books, 2025) is a groundbreaking investigation of factory farms and the unprecedented measures being taken to hide their impact -- on animals, public health, and the environment -- from the public. Hiding behind the little red barns that dot the landscape of rural America and decor…

1
History and Geopolitical Risk Analysis with Tinatin Japaridze 1:13:36

3M ago1:13:36

1:13:36

I sat down with Tinatin Japaridze to explore how history shapes her work as a geopolitical risk analyst at the Eurasia Group. We discussed the role of historical context in forecasting geopolitical risks and how historical training fosters deep curiosity about the world. Tinatin shared her unconventional path to the field—one that took her from com…

1
Jenny Wood, "Wild Courage: Go After What You Want and Get It" (Portfolio, 2025) 39:02

3M ago39:02

39:02

To be successful you need to be Weird, Selfish, Shameless, Obsessed, Nosy, Manipulative, Brutal, Reckless, and Bossy. And that takes courage. As a former Google leader and top career coach who chased an attractive stranger off the subway and later married him, Jenny Wood knows her way around courage. In this book, Wood shatters conventional wisdom …

1
Chris Skinner, "Intelligent Money: When Money Thinks for You" (Marshall Cavendish, 2024) 25:18

3M ago25:18

25:18

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy New Books Network

1
Don A. Moore and Max H. Bazerman, "Decision Leadership: Empowering Others to Make Better Choices" (Yale UP, 2022) 54:54

3M ago54:54

54:54

The word Leader often brings to mind the heroic image of a charismatic, confident, and persuasive person who seems to "know" what to do in an instinctual, gut-driven way. In Decision Leadership: Empowering Others to Make Better Choices (Yale UP, 2022), Don A. Moore and Max H. Bazerman offer a well-researched and compelling corrective to this view. …

1
Sustainable Teamwork and Team Leadership in Southeast Asia 26:05

3M ago26:05

26:05

The workplace is forever facing new challenges. These challenges are also unique in the context of Southeast Asia. Effective team work and leadership are at the core of organisational success. Yet much remains under investigated in how we can best help organisations and their teams and leaders in navigating shifts in the business environment. To th…

1
The Library of Mistakes: A Conversation with Russell Napier 54:53

3M ago54:53

54:53

The Library of Mistakes is a library located in Edinburgh, Scotland dedicated to financial and economic history. Russell Napier, the founder and keeper of the library is a professor at The Edinburgh Business School and investment manager. In this wide-ranging discussion, Russell discusses his work as a practitioner and a scholar of financial crises…

1
Historical Consulting, Memory Decay and Mirror Archives ((with Michael Weatherburn) 1:00:49

4M ago1:00:49

1:00:49

I spoke with London-based historical consultant Michael Weatherburn about his journey into entrepreneurship, his innovative projects, and the practical implications of his training. Michael shared how he combined his interests in history and organizational metrics to shape his PhD dissertation at Imperial College London and how he continues to deve…

1
Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law--A Conversation with Janie Nitze 43:33

4M ago43:33

43:33

In the latest episode of Madison’s Notes, I spoke with Janie Nitze, co-author of Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law (Harper, 2004), a book written alongside Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. Janie, a Harvard-educated attorney and former clerk for Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch, discussed the growing complexity of laws in Americ…

1
Paul Podolsky, "The Uncomfortable Truth About Money: How to Live with Uncertainty and Learn to Think for Yourself" (Harriman House, 2024) 47:55

4M ago47:55

47:55

We are all stuck in a money cage. Money isn’t the most important thing, but it is a thing and you can’t get away from it. Birth costs money and death costs money. So even if you hate talking about money, you need to know the basics, the same way you need to know how to cook yourself a simple meal. The problem with most money books is that they are …

1
The Historian as a CEO (with Terah Crews) 1:04:13

4M ago1:04:13

1:04:13

What history skills can be useful in leading a company? The CEO of ReUp Education Terah Crews shared her experiences leveraging her History MA degree in various leadership roles. Terah talked about what drew her to studying history, what pushed her into business, and how she found ways to connect the two domains. She discussed how her history train…

1
Silvia Vong, "Critical Management Studies and Librarianship" (Library Juice Press, 2024) 38:19

5M ago38:19

38:19

Critical Management Studies and Librarianship: Critical Perspectives on Library Management Education and Practice (Library Juice Press, November 2024) introduces key concepts in the field of critical management studies (CMS) and critiques dominant theories and concepts in the management field. The aim of CMS is to denaturalize dominant theories in …

1
Matthew Lynn: Journalist and Author Turned Publishing Entrepreneur 1:08:45

5M ago1:08:45

1:08:45

In this podcast, Matthew talks about his late entry into entrepreneurship, taking advantage of opportunities that emerged as Kindle offered a new way to distribute books. In his career as a journalist with well known business publications he enjoyed talking to entrepreneurs, even having his editor turn down his pitch to interview Amazon founder Jef…

1
Jean Burgess and Nancy K. Baym, "Twitter: A Biography" (NYU Press, 2020) 43:29

6M ago43:29

43:29

As Twitter enters its own adolescence, both the users and the creators of this famous social media platform find themselves engaging with a tool that certainly could not have been imagined at its inception. In their engaging book Twitter: A Biography (NYU Press, 2020), Jean Burgess and Nancy K. Baym (@nancybaym) tell the fascinating and surprising …

1
History and Entrepreneurship (with Marshall Poe) 1:14:07

6M ago1:14:07

1:14:07

In this episode, NBN founder & CEO Marshall Poe talks about his early plans to become Michael Jordan, his journey from a professorship in Russian history to his fascination with communications, and his present role as a podcasting entrepreneur. We chat about the surprising alignments between the craft of history and entrepreneurship, the power of o…

1
Harry Max, "Managing Priorities: How to Create Better Plans and Make Smarter Decisions" (Two Waves Books, 2024) 1:05:54

6M ago1:05:54

1:05:54

The key to a life well-lived is prioritization, but people rarely explain how to do it effectively. In Managing Priorities: How to Create Better Plans and Make Smarter Decisions (Rosenfeld Media, 2024), Harry Max provides a useful guide. He explains how learning to prioritize is helpful in life as well as at work. He explains how he - and his clien…

1
Matt Beane, "The Skill Code: How to Save Human Ability in an Age of Intelligent Machines" (HarperCollins, 2024) 1:30:01

6M ago1:30:01

1:30:01

As part of our informal series on artificial intelligence, Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Matt Beane, Assistant Professor of Technology Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara, about his book The Skill Code: How to Save Human Ability in the Age of Intelligent Machines (HarperCollins, 2024). Beane outlines the fascin…

1
Benjamin J. Shestakofsky on How Venture Capital Shapes Work, Innovation, and Inequality 1:12:53

6M ago1:12:53

1:12:53

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks to Benjamin Shestakofsky about his book, Behind the Startup: How Venture Capital Shapes Work, Innovation, and Inequality (U California Press, 2024). Shestakofsky is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is affiliated with AI at Wharton and the Center on Digital Culture …

1
Andy Hines, "Imagining After Capitalism" (Triarchy Press, 2025) 50:29

7M ago50:29

50:29

Imagining After Capitalism (Triarchy Press, 2025) is the culmination of a decade-long exploration of what comes next after capitalism. It leverages previous work in developing foresight methodologies, which are featured in two previous books: Teaching about the Future and Thinking about the Future (2nd edition), both with Peter Bishop. It also leve…

1
Eric Drott, "Streaming Music, Streaming Capital" (Duke UP, 2024) 1:34:12

7M ago1:34:12

1:34:12

Streaming Music, Streaming Capital (Duke University Press, 2024) provides a much-needed study of the political economy of music streaming, drawing from Western Marxism, social reproduction theory, eco-socialist thought and more to approach the complex and highly contested relationship between music and capital. By attending to the perverse ways in …

1
History and Journalism with Alex Keller 55:09

7M ago55:09

55:09

In this episode, I sat down with Alex Keller, then a Digital Content Producer at CBS News Texas, to talk about his unconventional career path. From studying biology and neuroscience to earning an MA in history, Alex’s journey is a testament to the unexpected ways history skills can shape careers. We dove into how his history background prepared him…

1
Toby Bennett, "Corporate Life in the Digital Music Industry: Remaking the Major Record Label from the Inside Out" (Bloomsbury, 2024) 49:23

7M ago49:23

49:23

How does the music industry actually work? In Corporate Life in the Digital Music Industry: Remaking the Major Record Label from the Inside Out Toby Bennett, a Senior Lecturer in Media, Culture & Organisation in the School of Media and Communications at the University of Westminster offers a deep ethnography of everyday life in a contemporary recor…

1
Ken Wilcox, "The China Business Conundrum: Ensure That "Win-Win" Doesn't Mean Western Companies Lose Twice" (John Wiley & Sons, 2024) 1:02:05

7M ago1:02:05

1:02:05

The China Business Conundrum: Ensure That "Win-Win" Doesn't Mean Western Companies Lose Twice (Wiley, 2024) describes former CEO of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) Ken Wilcox's firsthand challenges he encountered in four years “on the ground” trying to establish a joint venture between SVB and the Chinese government to fund local innovation design―and th…

1
Lizhi Liu, "From Click to Boom: The Political Economy of E-Commerce in China" (Princeton UP, 2024) 56:58

7M ago56:58

56:58

How do states build vital institutions for market development? Too often, governments confront technical or political barriers to providing the rule of law, contract enforcement, and loan access. In From Click to Boom: The Political Economy of E-Commerce in China (Princeton, 2024) Lizhi Liu suggests a digital solution: governments strategically out…

1
Lior Arussy, "Dare to Author!: Take Charge of the Narrative of Your Life" (Greenleaf, 2024) 33:45

7M ago33:45

33:45

In this episode Drora Arussy interviews her husband, Lior. As this book brings in personal accounts and builds on experiences, there was some banter and stories that normally do not come up in discussions like this. Lior Arussy’s latest book, Dare to Author! from Greenleaf book club press, 2024, is a call for people to write—and therefore own—their…

1
The Rewards (and Challenges) of Running One's Own Historical Consulting Firm 1:13:22

9M ago1:13:22

1:13:22

I talked to the river historian Scot McFarlane who runs his own historical consulting firm, the Oxbow History Company. My guest shared how he translated his passion for river histories into work with clients and how he found his niche within this competitive market. It was fascinating to learn about the daily grind of running a historical consultin…

1
Ellen T. Meiser, "Making It: Success in the Commercial Kitchen" (Rutgers UP, 2024) 46:54

9M ago46:54

46:54

The restaurant industry is one of the few places in America where workers from lower-class backgrounds can rise to positions of power and prestige. Yet with over four million cooks and food-preparation workers employed in America’s restaurants, not everyone makes it to the high-status position of chef. What factors determine who rises the ranks in …

1
Ethical Machines: A Conversation with Reid Blackman 52:30

9M ago52:30

52:30

Join us as we discuss Dr. Reid Blackman’s new book: Ethical Machines: Your Concise Guide to Totally Unbiased, Transparent, and Respectful AI (Harvard Business Review Press, 2022). We dive into the intricacies of developing AI and the intersection of ethics and innovation. Reid Blackman, Ph.D., is the author of Ethical Machines, creator and host of …

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Asia House Arts And Learning Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Quick Reference Guide