Our Hosts

Malcolm Gladwell is president and co-founder of Pushkin Industries. He is a journalist, a speaker, and the author of six New York Times bestsellers.

Dr. Laurie Santos is a professor of psychology and head of Silliman College at Yale University. Dr. Santos is an expert on human cognition and the cognitive biases that impede better choices.

Frederick Jay “Rick” Rubin is an American record producer and former co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, he is the co-founder of Def Jam Recordings and also established American Recordings.

Glory Edim is the founder of Well-Read Black Girl – a Brooklyn-based book club and online community that celebrates the uniqueness of Black literature and sisterhood.

Hallie Rubenhold is the host of Bad Women: The Ripper Retold. She is an award-winning historian, author, and consultant.

Jacob Goldstein spent more than a decade as co-host of the Planet Money podcast. He's also the author of the book Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing, which the New York Times called “a history of currency full of astonishing tales you might tell a friend in the pub.”

Dr. Maya Shankar is a cognitive scientist and host of A Slight Change of Plans. She is is currently a Senior Director of Behavioral Economics at Google.

Ronald Young Jr., host of Solvable, is an audio producer and storyteller based in Alexandria, VA.

Eric Vetro, host of Backstage Pass, is the celebrity vocal coach to stars such as Ariana Grande, Shawn Mendes, John Legend, Camila Cabello, Katy Perry, Rita Ora, Chloe x Halle, Juanes, and Rosalia.

Michael Lewis has published many New York Times bestselling books, including The Fifth Risk, Flash Boys, and The Big Short. Movie versions of The Blind Side, Moneyball, and The Big Short were all nominated for Academy Awards.

Dana Goodyear is the host of Lost Hills and a staff writer at The New Yorker. She is the author of two collections of poetry.

Khalil Gibran Muhammad is co-host of Some of My Best Friends Are... and one of the nation’s leading experts on the history and present of race and racism.

Ben Austen is co-host of Some of My Best Friends Are... as well as a journalist and author. His feature writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, GQ, and Wired.

Sam Fragoso is a writer, director and host of Talk Easy. In a past life, he was the Creative Director of the Roxie Theater in San Francisco.

Dr. Ibram X. Kendi is host of Be Antiracist and the founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research.

Jill Lepore is the David Woods Kemper Professor of American History at Harvard University and a staff writer for The New Yorker, where she writes about politics, history, law, and literature.

Marlo Thomas is an award-winning actress, author and activist. Phil Donahue is a writer, producer, journalist, and media pioneer.

Hari Kunzru is the author of six novels. His short stories and articles have appeared in many publications, including The New York Times, The Guardian, and The New Yorker.

Niala Boodhoo is the host of Axios Today, a podcast that gives you everything you need to know to start your day informed.

Justin Richmond is the lead producer (and occasional host) of the music podcast Broken Record.

Eric S. Lander, Ph.D. is president and founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

Tim Harford’s long-running column in the Financial Times,“The Undercover Economist,” reveals the economic ideas behind everyday experiences. He is also a BBC broadcaster and the author of nine books, including his latest, The Next Fifty Things That Made the Modern Economy.

Ashley C. Ford is a writer, host, and educator. She has been named one of Forbes magazine’s 30 Under 30 in Media.

Noah Feldman is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and director of its Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish and Israeli Law.

Jacob Weisberg is CEO and co-founder of Pushkin Industries. He was previously CEO of the Slate Group, co-founder of Panoply, and editor-in-chief of Slate Magazine.

J.A. Adande is the director of sports journalism at Northwestern University. He has worked in sports media for over two and a half decades.

B.J. Armstrong played 11 seasons in the NBA and won three championship rings as a member of the Chicago Bulls dynasty of the 1990s.

Anne Applebaum is a staff writer for The Atlantic and a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian.

Bruce Headlam is one of the co-founders and co-creators of the music podcast Broken Record.

Jake Halpern is a journalist, bestselling author, and winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize.

Tali Farhadian Weinstein is a prosecutor, a professor, and a proven criminal justice reformer.