Best Stanford GSB Podcasts (2025)

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S8E1: Orlando Bravo on Doing the Work, One Deal at a Time 55:47

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4d ago55:47

55:47

At 30, Orlando Bravo, JD/MBA '97, thought his private equity career might be over. “I did three deals and when the dot-com bubble burst two out of the three went to zero,” he tells Gintare Zukauskaite, MBA ’26. “It was an absolute disaster.” Mentor and firm principal Carl Thoma, MBA ’73, gave him one more chance. Bravo pitched software buyouts, and…

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The Experience 29:01

2d ago29:01

29:01

“Learning here isn’t just about ideas,” says host Kevin Cool. “It’s about what those ideas make possible.” It’s an ethos that’s present in every class at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Curious students, devoted faculty, and a community built on connection and purpose make Stanford GSB a place where students learn how to think, learn, and lea…

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Ep68 “Is It Better to Overestimate or Underestimate Your Enemies?” with H.R. McMaster 33:58

11d ago33:58

33:58

Historically, the U.S. has had a habit of overestimating the capabilities of its enemies. Why? Is this an intentional security strategy? Or does the U.S. need to change the way it gathers enemy intelligence? Former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster gives hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen a crash course on mil…

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GSB at 100: "The Spirit" 24:30

11d ago24:30

24:30

This week on [If/Then or View From The Top] we’re sharing an episode of GSB at 100, a limited audio series created especially for Stanford Graduate School of Business’s Centennial. GSB at 100 presents a scrapbook of memories, ideas, and breakthroughs as Stanford GSB celebrates its first century and looks around the corner to what the next 100 years…

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S8E10: GSB at 100: "The Spirit" 24:30

18d ago24:30

24:30

This week on [If/Then or View From The Top] we’re sharing an episode of GSB at 100, a limited audio series created especially for Stanford Graduate School of Business’s Centennial. GSB at 100 presents a scrapbook of memories, ideas, and breakthroughs as Stanford GSB celebrates its first century and looks around the corner to what the next 100 years…

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Ep67 Real Talk on Rent Control: Its Pros and Cons 27:26

25d ago27:26

27:26

As the 2025 municipal elections approach, the New York City mayoral race has garnered national buzz, with one issue particularly capturing attention: rent control. On this episode, hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen explore and unpack the best possible reasons for rent control, and why oftentimes – those reasons sti…

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What's Your Problem: "Teaching Computers to See" 27:03

25d ago27:03

27:03

This week on If/Then, we’re sharing an episode of What’s Your Problem?, a show from Pushkin Industries where entrepreneurs, engineers, and scientists talk about the future they’re trying to build—and the problems they must solve to get there. Hosted by former Planet Money co-host Jacob Goldstein, each conversation explores the challenges and breakt…

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The Spirit 24:30

25d ago24:30

24:30

A sense of shared purpose unites the staff of Stanford Graduate School of Business “If you just can change a little bit of the world, that’s all you really need to do,” says Nancy Gross, an operations manager in the MBA and MSx programs. “And I just feel that every day here.” Staff also happen to have a lot of great stories, including how our motto…

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Ep66 When (and When Not) To Listen to Investment Advice 26:45

1M ago26:45

26:45

Solicited or not, advice on where to invest your money seems to be around every corner these days. But determining whether the advice is credible and worth listening to can be challenging. On this episode, hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen put sources of investment advice to the test and provide listeners with some…

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Ep65 "Will Future AI Systems Operate Like The Human Brain? It’s Complicated” with Jeff Hawkins 32:40

2M ago32:40

32:40

With growing concerns over whether or not AI will take away jobs and eventually become superior to human intelligence, maybe it’s time to take a closer look at the human brain and discover how AI will always have its limitations. Hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen sit down with Jeff Hawkins, a neuroscientist and com…

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S8E9: GSB at 100: “The Magic” 20:44

2M ago20:44

20:44

This week on View From the Top we’re sharing an episode of GSB at 100, a limited audio series created especially for Stanford Graduate School of Business’s Centennial. GSB at 100 presents a scrapbook of memories, ideas, and breakthroughs, as the GSB celebrates its first century and looks around the corner to what the next hundred years may hold. Th…

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GSB at 100: The Magic 20:44

2M ago20:44

20:44

This week on If/Then, we’re sharing an episode of GSB at 100, a limited audio series created especially for Stanford Graduate School of Business’s Centennial. GSB at 100 presents a scrapbook of memories, ideas, and breakthroughs, as the GSB celebrates its first century and looks around the corner to what the next hundred years may hold. The first e…

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Ep64 "Why Higher Education Needs a Massive Overhaul: Are the Kids Even Learning Anything?" with Bryan Caplan 33:02

2M ago33:02

33:02

While a higher education may help your career in terms of income, how much of what you’re taught in a classroom actually prepares you for the work you do on the job? Hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen chat with economist Bryan Caplan about his book, “The Case Against Education.” In the book, Bryan lays out why educa…

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The Magic 20:44

2M ago20:44

20:44

In 1925, Herbert Hoover, a Stanford alum and future U.S. president, had an idea. “A graduate School of Business Administration is urgently needed upon the Pacific Coast,” he wrote. One hundred years later, what has Stanford Graduate School of Business accomplished, and what might its future hold? Listen in as professors reflect on founding principl…

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Celebrate Stanford GSB’s Centennial with “GSB at 100” 1:19

2M ago1:19

1:19

Created especially for Stanford Graduate School of Business’s Centennial, GSB at 100 presents a scrapbook of memories, ideas, and breakthroughs as the GSB celebrates its first century and looks around the corner to what the next hundred years may hold. You’ll hear insights from scholars and leaders, visit the archives to explore how the GSB came to…

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Rerun: Ep53 “The Truth About Inflation and Price Caps: Learn From Argentina” with Veronica Rappoport 26:36

3M ago26:36

26:36

It’s the final episode of the summer season and with some key mayoral races coming up this fall, we’re revisiting our conversation on inflation with Veronica Rappoport, a former official at the Central Bank of Argentina who had a front row seat to the country’s inflation crisis. Over the last couple U.S. election cycles, one policy idea to get infl…

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View From The Top: “Lisa Su Is Still Curious About How Things Work” 56:14

3M ago56:14

56:14

This week on If/Then, we’re sharing an episode of View From The Top: The Podcast, an audio series featuring leaders from around the world in conversation with MBA students. Recorded live at the CEMEX Auditorium at Stanford Graduate School of Business, episodes feature insights on effective leadership, the values that guide it, and lessons learned a…

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The Joy of Discovery and Why Research Matters 16:25

3M ago16:25

16:25

As we celebrate the conclusion of the second season of the If/Then podcast, we present a bonus episode featuring Deborah H. Gruenfeld, the Joseph McDonald Professor and Professor of Organizational Behavior and a Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Gruenfeld, who appeared on the first season of If/Then…

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Ep63 “What Explains the Growth of Private Equity? A Different Perspective” with Ludovic Phalippou 35:49

3M ago35:49

35:49

Private markets have taken off in the last couple decades, with more investors opting to invest in private equity and debt instead of public markets. But what caused that shift? And are the private markets really a better bet right now, or is there more to the story? Hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen sit down with …

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S8E8: Luis von Ahn Is Making Screen Time Count 57:51

4M ago57:51

57:51

Luis von Ahn was a tenured professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University who had sold a company to Google. “You were pretty set, a lot of us would say, so why were you so hungry to build something new with Duolingo?” asks Ayesha Karnik, MBA ’25. “For the first time ever, with phones, we can reach billions of people,” reflects the Duol…

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Rerun: Ep60 “A Trade Deficit? More Like a Capital Surplus” with John Cochrane 28:26

4M ago28:26

28:26

For the summer season, All Else Equal will be alternating between new episodes and reruns. In this week’s episode, we’re revisiting our conversation with Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University John Cochrane. What exactly is a trade deficit? And why are so many policymakers fixated on it? Lately, the trade deficit in the U.S.…

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The Future of Everything: "The Future of Motivation" 34:02

4M ago34:02

34:02

This week on If/Then, we’re sharing an episode of The Future of Everything, a podcast hosted by Stanford School of Engineering professor and friend of the show Russ Altman. Everyone has goals — some are monumental, others modest — but every goal matters. Szu-chi Huang, an associate professor of marketing at Stanford Graduate School of Business, is …

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Rerun: Ep59 “Why Tariffs Are Not The Ultimate Trade Weapon” with Dani Rodrik 32:32

4M ago32:32

32:32

For the summer season, All Else Equal will be alternating between new episodes and reruns. In this week’s episode, we’re revisiting our conversation with Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and the author of the book Straight Talk on Trade: Ideas for a Sane …

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S8E7: Ken Griffin Still Checks His P&L 47:35

4M ago47:35

47:35

Ken Griffin heads the most profitable hedge fund in history. But Citadel’s founder and CEO is focused on the future — not the scoreboard. “I like to think I haven’t accomplished yet what I will be remembered for,” Griffin tells Michael Liu, MBA ’25. “That this is not a view from the top, but a journey to a destination yet to be determined.” From en…

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Think Fast, Talk Smart: "Ambiguity to Action: Tensions and Trade-Offs of Leadership and Communication" 23:45

5M ago23:45

23:45

This week on If/Then, we’re sharing an episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, a podcast hosted by Stanford Graduate School of Business lecturer and friend of the show, Matt Abrahams. How do you communicate with others when you’re confused yourself? For fellow GSB lecturer Rob Siegel, leadership isn’t about avoiding uncertainty: it’s about embracing the…

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Rerun: Ep55 “The Future Of The MBA: From 3 Top Business Schools” with Madhav Rajan 32:17

5M ago32:17

32:17

For the summer season, All Else Equal will be alternating between new episodes and reruns. In this week’s episode, we’re revisiting our conversation with Madhav Rajan of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. As more and more universities move away from full-time MBA programs, what does the future of business education look like? How s…

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Culture Still Eats Strategy For Breakfast 29:54

5M ago29:54

29:54

Do you stick to the rules or do you roll through stop signs? Whether you’re “tight” or “loose” — how closely you adhere to social norms — has major implications for your life at home and at work. “To be effective, we want to be ambidextrous,” says Michele Gelfand, the John H. Scully Professor in Cross-Cultural Management and Professor of Organizati…

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Rerun: Ep54 “The Rise And Fall of Great Societies: Lessons from History” with Victor Davis Hanson 30:14

5M ago30:14

30:14

For the summer season, All Else Equal will be alternating between new episodes and reruns. On this week’s episode, we’re revisiting our conversation with historian Victor Davis Hanson. History shows that as societies rise to greatness, the scales eventually tip back and those societies fall. But what leads to that fall and are we heading toward one…

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S8E6: Aravind Srinivas Has All The Answers 1:00:12

5M ago1:00:12

1:00:12

Aravind Srinivas leads Perplexity — whose AI-powered search engine provides direct, sourced answers to any question you might ask it. On this episode of View From The Top: The Podcast, Srinivas joins Aislin Rorth, MBA ’25, for a conversation that provides unique insight into how a young leader steers a late-stage startup with big aspirations — from…

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The AI Prescription for Healthcare 27:40

6M ago27:40

27:40

AI has the potential to reshape medicine. But translating its promise into solutions for providers and patients is a high-stakes challenge. “There’s a lot more problems than solutions available,” says Mohsen Bayati, the Carl and Marilynn Thoma Professor of Operations, Information & Technology at Stanford Graduate School of Business. “So it’s ripe f…

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Rerun: Ep47 “Is the US National Debt Sustainable?” with Mohamed El-Erian 36:09

6M ago36:09

36:09

For the summer season, All Else Equal will be alternating between new episodes and reruns. On this week’s episode, we’re revisiting our conversation with Mohamed El-Erian on the intricacies of national debt and the best ways to measure it. Mohamed, Jonathan, and Jules explore the broader macroeconomic and geopolitical factors at play. They discuss …

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S8E5: Lisa Su Is Still Curious About How Things Work 55:23

6M ago55:23

55:23

Lisa Su, the chair and CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), leads one of the world’s most influential technology companies, a pioneer in high-performance computing and designer of chips that power everything from cellphones to supercomputers. On this episode of View From The Top: The Podcast, Su joins Michael Liu, MBA ’25, to talk about what it tak…

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Designing the AI Organization 26:35

6M ago26:35

26:35

“The way I think about trying to anticipate and shape the AI future requires us to take a step back and ask ourselves first, ‘What does this technology do? What does it enable?’” reflects Amir Goldberg, a professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business. “That’s very different from asking ourselves, ‘How is the technolog…

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Ep62 “The Cost of Social Compliance: Exploring Preference Falsification" with Timur Kuran 33:37

6M ago33:37

33:37

Is the emperor wearing clothes? Hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen are joined by economist and political scientist Timur Kuran who wrote the book, Private Truths, Public Lies: The Social Consequences of Preference Falsification. This 30-year-old book explains the social phenomenon where people express preferences th…

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S8E4: Doug McMillon Is Thinking Fifty Years Ahead 58:10

6M ago58:10

58:10

Doug McMillon began his career unloading trucks. Forty years later, he’s Walmart’s president and CEO, a role he’s held for more than a decade. On this episode of View From The Top: The Podcast, McMillon joins Aislin Roth, MBA ’25, to talk about what it takes to lead one of the world’s largest companies, from navigating billion-dollar decisions to m…

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What Happened to the Middle? 30:07

6M ago30:07

30:07

Neil Malhotra, the Edith M. Cornell professor of political economy at Stanford Graduate School of Business, aims to identify the nature of our tumultuous political moment in his work. In this episode, Malhotra explores rising distrust, shifting political identities, and what these changes mean for individuals — and businesses. Plus, the billion-dol…

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Ep61 “Pursuit for Academic Freedom” with Richard Saller 30:58

7M ago30:58

30:58

If universities believe they should be free from government interference and that students and faculty have the right to freely express whatever viewpoints they hold, then the universities should be held to the same standard, right? Hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen are joined by Richard Saller, an American classis…

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S8E3: Darren Walker on Finding Clarity and Purpose 1:05:21

7M ago1:05:21

1:05:21

For more than a decade, Darren Walker has led the Ford Foundation — and has been singularly focused on inequality. Why? “Because I want little boys and girls, wherever they are, if they're living in housing projects in the Bronx and they're Black or brown or they're living in rural towns that have been ravaged by opioids, I want them to be able to …

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Small Business, Big Impact 25:36

7M ago25:36

25:36

Sridhar Narayanan, a professor of marketing at Stanford Graduate School of Business, studies how small businesses operate and why they’re so important, especially in the developing world. “Modernizing small businesses will have a profound impact on economies worldwide in many ways,” he says. In this episode of If/Then, Narayanan explains why so man…

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S8E2: Leena Nair Refuses to Be the Last 59:28

7M ago59:28

59:28

Leena Nair doesn’t just talk about leadership — she redefines it. In a wide-ranging conversation with Ayesha Karnik, MBA ’25, Nair reflects on her journey from a factory floor in India to the corporate office in London, and ultimately, to Chanel’s C-suite. With humor and heart, Nair describes how she approaches leading a global luxury brand, shares…

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Ep60 “A Trade Deficit? More Like a Capital Surplus” with John Cochrane 28:17

7M ago28:17

28:17

What exactly is a trade deficit? And why are so many policymakers fixated on it? Lately, the trade deficit in the U.S. is taking the bulk of the blame for the economic situation we’re in and it’s one of the reasons the Trump administration is pushing for sweeping tariffs. But tariffs are likely not the answer, and a trade deficit might be better re…

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Could Financial Literacy Change the World? 27:40

7M ago27:40

27:40

Only a third of the global population is financially literate. Why? Because most of us don’t learn the basics of personal finance in school — or elsewhere. Treating financial literacy as an afterthought can have serious consequences, from personal calamities to economic crises, according to Annamaria Lusardi, a professor of finance and the director…

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S8E1: Roelof Botha Doesn’t Believe in “the Top” 1:00:09

8M ago1:00:09

1:00:09

In a candid conversation with Kailash Sundaram, MBA ’25, Roelof Botha, MBA ’00 — leader of one of the most influential venture capital firms in the world — reflects on his journey from South Africa to Sequoia Capital. From meeting his wife and partner Huifen Chan, MBA '00, at Stanford Graduate School of Business, to lessons about ambition and failu…

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Ep59 “Why Tariffs Are Not The Ultimate Trade Weapon” with Dani Rodrik 32:16

8M ago32:16

32:16

With President Trump’s tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China, and other countries now in full swing, what consequences from an economic standpoint could the U.S. be facing? And what was the path that led us here? Hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen put the tariffs question to economist and author Dani Rodrik. Rodrik is t…

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Adapting To Massive Technological Change 25:15

8M ago25:15

25:15

Susan Athey, the Economics of Technology Professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business and founding director of the Golub Capital Social Impact Lab, studies the impact of technological innovations on workers, businesses, and society. Will the world’s economies successfully adapt to a future defined by artificial intelligence? On this episode, A…

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Ep58 How Rich Are The Ivy League Universities, Really? University Endowments Explained 24:36

8M ago24:36

24:36

The recent crackdown on federal spending has universities sweating despite the fact that many of them boast huge billion-dollar endowments. So what gives? Why would less money from the federal government be a cause for concern? Where does all that money go? And could there be more to this budget picture than meets the eye? In this episode, hosts an…

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Think You Know Yourself? Think Again. 26:09

8M ago26:09

26:09

Brian Lowery, the Walter Kenneth Kilpatrick Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business and the author of Selfless: The Social Creation of You, argues that identity is about much more than external characteristics, family history, or the collection of experiences that compose the chronology of our lives. In fact, Lo…

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Rerun: Ep36 “Institutional Neutrality: Open Debate and Moral Stands” with John Etchemendy 25:04

9M ago25:04

25:04

All Else Equal is taking a little spring break, so on this episode we’re revisiting a fascinating conversation on what happens when universities step off the sidelines and take a stance on contentious issues. Are they boarding a roller coaster that they can’t ever get off? Hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen chat wit…

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How Taxes Influence Innovation 25:06

9M ago25:06

25:06

What’s one of the most powerful forces behind technological breakthroughs, business strategy, and job creation? The tax code. Rebecca Lester, an associate professor of accounting and one of three inaugural Botha-Chan Faculty Scholars at Stanford Graduate School of Business, studies how subtle tax incentives can trigger monumental business decisions…

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Ep57 “Effective Communication: Trump vs. Reagan” with Peter Robinson 36:40

9M ago36:40

36:40

One key to effective negotiation is to keep your opponent guessing by randomizing your strategy. And right now, there might not be a more prolific example of this kind of strategy than President Donald Trump’s communication style. In this episode, hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen are joined by Peter Robinson, a re…