Product Hunt Radio

Steven Johnson is the author of many books, some of which Future Perfect, Where Good Ideas Come from, Mind Wide Open, and How We Got To Now. This episode is all about innovation, where it occurs in our own lives, where it occurs in communities, and how he keeps finding it in his own life. Innovation is one of those terms like "authentic" that has essentially been co-opted. It’s been used so much to describe nearly everything that it’s almost lost its meaning. But Steven’s been writing about innovation for two decades and has interesting and defining things to say about it. Edited by Alex Kontis For any feedback, message me by @eriktorenberg See more Steven Johnson at www.stevenberlinjohnson.com/ and message him at @Stevenbjohnson.

Jane McGonigal is an author and game designer who believes that playing games and adopting gameful mindset can help improve our health, relationships, and her new book, Superbetter, explains how. In this episode we talk about Superbetter and how it works, we talk about not judging games by their content but by how the game is played, co-operative games vs competitive games, the intersection of games & therapy and more. Check out her book here: http://www.amazon.com/SuperBetter-Revolutionary-Approach-Stronger-Resilient-Powered/dp/1594206368 Edited by Alex Kontis For feedback, message me @eriktorenberg

Troy Carter is the founder of Atom Factory and Smashd Labs. Artists he's managed include Lady Gaga, John Legend, Miguel, and many others. Startups in his portfolio include Uber, Dropbox, Spotify, and many others. In this episode we talk about the convergence between entertainment and tech, the music industry, and how Troy wants to be for entrepreneurs what Nike was for athletes. Edited by Alex Kontis For feedback, message me at @eriktorenberg

Chris Schroeder is a successful founder, investor, and now author of "Startup Rising: The Entrepreneurial Revolution remaking the Middle East" which chronicles startup stories in Cairo, Gaza, Damascus, and other countries throughout the region. In this episode we discuss his book, the role governments play in innovation, the intersection between tech and politics (both in the Middle East and in Washington where Chris lives), the future of cities and much more.

Robert Greene is the author of books such as Mastery, 33 Strategies of War, Art of Seduction, the 48 Laws of Power, and the 50th Law (w/ 50 cent). including mastery, strategies of war, art of seduction, laws of power, one of which is with rapper 50 cent This episode we talk about the ideas in his books (power, mastery, seduction) what in his personal life has inspired the books, but we also talk meditation, writing, not having kids, and bunch more. Edited by Alex Kontis For any feedback, tweet me at @eriktorenberg

James Currier is a prominent entrepreneur and investor. He was one of the earliest to build social networks, starting Tickle in 1999 and then selling it in 2004 He’s since advised/invseted in a bunch of startups including Goodreads, Honeybook and Meerkat, among many others. and most recently started NFX Guild, which is an invite only accelerator program for networks effects businesses. In this episode we discuss what James looks for in founders, common advice he finds himself giving, the concept of personal brand, his involvement in Goodreads and Meerkat, and more. Edited by Alex Kontis For any feedback, tweet me at @eriktorenberg http://nfx.com/

Felix Salmon is a senior editor at Fusion. He's of the rare writers who really understands both media and technology and the businesses and cultures behind both of them. In this episode we discuss media skepticism towards the tech industry, why there’s such an obsession with scale, why good things come from wasting time instead of optimizing it, the future of news delivery and brands, and much more. Edited by Alex Kontis Would love to hear feedback at @eriktorenberg

Kevin Kelly is perhaps most known for being a founding team member of Wired Magazine and for starting the Long now Foundation, which aims to solve problems in a ten thousand year time frame. More than a few people refer to Kevin Kelly as the most interesting person in the world. In this podcast we talk about what happens then robots take our jobs, how success to Kevin means doing things that only you can uiquely do, How Kevin didn’t have his first job till he was 35, and his first drug experience at 50, and a ton of other things. Check out his graphic novel, the Silver Cord, here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Silver-Cord-Kevin-Kelly/dp/1940689015 Edited by Alex Kontis Feedback to @eriktorenberg

Joe Greenstein founded Flixter, the popular movie discovery platform, for nearly a decade before selling it and since has founded Innerspace, a YC company that helps other companies build great companies + company cultures in addition to great products. Joe shares the struggles in his personal life building his company, the tension that comes with selling a company, him wanting to become a father, and much more. Check out Innerspace: http://www.helloinnerspace.org Edited by Alex Kontis Any feedback on the episode to @eriktorenberg

Ben is the co-author of The Start-up of You and The Alliance with Reid Hoffman, served for two years as Reid's chief of staff at LinkedIn, and has founded many different companies in Silicon Valley. In this podcast we chat about career strategy, what it means to live in "permanent beta", loneliness in San Francisco, and much more. Ben's blog: http://casnocha.com/blog The Alliance: http://www.amazon.com/The-Alliance-Managing-Talent-Networked/dp/1625275773 Edited by Alex Kontis Any feedback please let me know at @eriktorenberg

This week we talk with Brit Morin, CEO of Brit and Co. about the transition from working at Google to running her own company, about becoming a mother in the middle of running that company, and having a sense of privacy when she is literally the face and name of her company. https://www.brit.co/ Brit's book, Homemaker: http://www.amazon.com/Homemakers-Domestic-Handbook-Digital-Generation/dp/0062332503 Edited by Alex Kontis Let me know what you think @eriktorenberg

Tyler Cowen and I discuss why he thinks Elon Musk is overrated, religion is underrated, happiness overrated, and much more. Tyler Cowen is one of my favorite economists and bloggers - check out his blog here: http://marginalrevolution.com

This week we talk with Kevin Nguyen, editorial director of Oyster. We talk about Kevin’s role curating books for Amazon, his thoughts on the future of publishing, what books have influenced him the most, reading highbrow vs low brow, and much more. Edited by Alex Kontis Interview by @eriktorenberg

This week I talk with Dayna Tortorici editor in chief of n+1 magazine. It’s my fundamental belief that you can be a huge fan of your industry while also critiquing it at the same time. So I found it N+1 magazine especially refreshing in that offers no humble bragging, no-ass kissing, and no click bait. Just dead on, beautifully-written, social commentary. If you want to read something that may challenge core fundamental beliefs, pick up a copy N+1 Magazine. I’m such a believer in its importance that I feel something of a moral responsibiltiy to encourage you to read it. Dayna and I talk about Women in Tech, the Lean In philosophy of Feminism, the difference between an artist and a businessperson, and much more. Check out N+1 here: https://nplusonemag.com Edited by Frances Harlow Interviewer: @eriktorenberg

What does friendship mean in the era of social media? what should the ideal college experience look like? what’s the difference between an entrepreneur and an artist? William Deresiewicz and I, Erik Torenberg, talk about these topics as well as his new book, Excellent Sheep, the Miseducation of America’s Elite and the way to a meaningful life. Check out his great book here: http://www.amazon.com/Excellent-Sheep-Miseducation-American-Meaningful/dp/1476702721 Edited by Alex Kontis

How do you write a book about your own story w/ the subtitle “How an ordinary person can make extraordinary change” and be humble at the same time? How do you write a book for yourself but also the reader and not sacrifice something? How do you evaluate whether you’re a founder, entrepreneur, or executive, and what’s the difference? I get into all of this with Adam Braun, Founder of Pencils of Promise, a non profit that builds schools all over the world, and best selling author of The Promise of a Pencil - how an ordinary person can make extraordinary change. Check out the book here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Promise-Pencil-Ordinary-Extraordinary/dp/1476730628 Edited by Alex Kontis Interviewer: @eriktorenberg

Dan Ariely is a leading behaviorical economist, 3 time best-selling author, and he is the first guest to appear multiple times on Maker Stories. In this episode we talk about Dan’s new documentary on dishonesty and cheating and why people cheat in sports, politics, relationships. I also ask him about his favorite thinkers, the limits of behavioral economics, how he met his wife, and how he views the term ‘success’ If you liked this episode, check out these other episodes with Dan Ariely: https://soundcloud.com/product-hunt/maker-stories-episode-6-w-dan-ariely https://soundcloud.com/product-hunt/dan-ariely-pt-1

Cindy Gallop is interested in building the YCombinator of Sex Tech. She’s an author, TED speaker, and is the founder of Make Love Not Porn, which aims to revolutionize the porn industry. Cindy's TED talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV8n_E_6Tpc http://makelovenotporn.com/pages/landing Edited By Alex Kontis

Daniel Pink is a NYT best selling author who writes about how can we have more fulfilling work lives We talk about the tensions between journalists and academics, the term "pop science", and what TED’s effect on intellectual culture has been. We also discuss Dan’s writing process, the differences and overlaps in his personal + professional life, and his latest book "To Sell Is Human." Check out his book here: http://www.amazon.com/To-Sell-Is-Human-Surprising/dp/1594631905 He'll be giving a live AMA on Product hunt 7/28

Seth Godin is the author of 18 bestsellers, a popular blogger and founder of the altMBA. We discuss marketing and distribution, how to build online communities, and what he’s learned from his various education experiments. His newest book is What To Do When It’s Your Turn http://www.yourturn.link