Steve Forbes: What's Ahead

What did Steve Forbes want to be when he grew up? Was he always expected to take over the family business? What was the hardest part of deciding to run for president? In this special anniversary edition of What’s Ahead, Steve takes a pause from the host chair to answer questions from Moira Forbes—Executive Vice President of Forbes Media, Publisher of Forbes Women, and last but not least, Forbes Daughter #4.

As the President & COO of the Children’s Scholarship Fund, Darla Romfo believes parents should have the right to choose the best K-8 schools for their children. And through “a hand up, not a hand out,” the CSF has helped hundreds of thousands of families do just that. In this episode of What’s Ahead, Darla talks to Steve about the problems with the U.S. education system and how school choice programs can create more equal opportunities for low-income families.

In his brand new book A-List Angels: How a Band of Actors, Artists, and Athletes Hacked Silicon Valley, Zack O’Malley Greenburg gives us a behind-the-scenes look at how celebrities have learned to monetize their fame like never before. From Ashton Kutcher with Airbnb, Nas with Genius, to Joe Montana with Pinterest, Hollywood A-listers are trading endorsements for equity in Silicon Valley startups—and the results are astounding. In this episode of What’s Ahead, Zack talks to Steve about the stories behind these unexpected partnerships.

The name of John Chuang’s creative staffing agency may be a made-up Latin term, but what’s not made up about Aquent is its success in an economy that depends more and more on a flexible workforce. Now boasting clients such as Google, Microsoft, and Apple, back in the 90’s Aquent became the first staffing company to offer full benefits to its fleet of independent contractors. In this episode of What’s Ahead, John talks to Steve about the evolution of the gig economy, the importance of worker benefits, and how legislation like California’s Assembly Bill 5 can intervene in the disturbing trend of benefits inequality. 

As first responders rushed to the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Roger Ferguson rushed to make sure the financial markets didn’t freeze up in the fallout of the tragedy. A childhood econ nerd with three degrees from Harvard, who better to carry on Andrew Carnegie’s legacy as President & CEO of the Teacher’s Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA)? In this episode of What’s Ahead, Roger Ferguson and Steve Forbes discuss solutions to the retirement and student debt crises, and how the recently passed SECURE Act can help.  

With a new album, a radio show on SiriusXM, and a movie deal in the works for his thrilling autobiography Me, The Mob, and The Music, Tommy James is very much still alive and rockin.’ There were some close calls, though, brought on by drug addiction, a gun obsession, and his unwitting ties to New York’s Genovese crime family. Looking back at his sensational, decades-long career as the leader of The Shondells, Tommy discusses these stories and more with Steve in this episode of What’s Ahead.

To those who knew the creator of Mickey Mouse, Disney Land was “just one of Walt’s screwy ideas.” According to Richard F. Snow, author of the new book Disney’s Land: Walt Disney and the Invention of the Amusement Park that Changed the World, the legendary cartoonist persevered with his vision despite near financial ruin and a disastrous opening day. In this episode of What’s Ahead, Steve talks to Snow about the epic failures and eventual triumph that made Disney Land the global icon that it is today.

Kenneth Frazier wanted to be Thurgood Marshall when he grew up. A beneficiary of Brown v. Board of Education, Frazier attended the best schools in Philadelphia and went on to earn his law degree from Harvard. In perhaps a surprising move, Frazier stepped into the role of CEO at Merck & Co. so he could preserve and extend human life on a larger scale. In this live recording from the Forbes Healthcare Summit, Frazier receives the first-ever Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award for Healthcare and talks to Steve about the sense of purpose and moral philosophy behind his leadership at Merck.

“Dignity is so much more important to the human spirit than wealth.” As founder and CEO of Acumen, Jacqueline Novogratz has developed a revolutionary, human-centered investment philosophy to promote small businesses and help the poor in developing nations. She calls it “patient capital,” and for good reason: besides creating new products or services, Acumen-backed entrepreneurs often have to create the markets and infrastructures to go with them—and that takes time. In this second installment of her conversation with Steve Forbes, Jacqueline explains her “patient capital” philosophy and tells some of the inspirational success stories Acumen has achieved with it.

As a wide-eyed young banker-turned-philanthropist, Jacqueline Novogratz learned that good intentions can sometimes get you poisoned. She’s documented this and other hard-won lessons in her best-selling book The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World. She’s also put those lessons into action as the founder and CEO of Acumen—a non-profit venture capital fund that seeks to alleviate global poverty through entrepreneurial approaches. In this episode of What’s Ahead, Jacqueline talks to Steve about her thrilling, heart-wrenching, and vitally important work.

In this second installment of our two-part series featuring Dr. Oz, we’ll learn more about how to lead happy and healthy lives in 2020 and beyond. Breaking down barriers between people and their health, “America’s Doctor” shares his signature views on nutrition, traditional medicine, government regulation, and family—including how his wife helped make him the phenomenon he is today. 

Need help keeping your New Year’s Resolution? Dr. Oz has you covered. An accomplished cardiothoracic surgeon and host of The Dr. Oz Show—now in its 11th season—Mehmet Oz has saved thousands of lives and helped countless Americans take charge of their own health and wellbeing. In this first installment of a special two-part series, “America’s Doctor” opens up about his family, his personal and spiritual beliefs, and his signature views on how we can all get healthier in 2020.

“If dementia were a country, it would be the ninth largest country on the planet,” says Dr. Gregory Petsko, noted Alzheimer’s researcher and biochemist at Harvard Medical School. With the already high number of U.S. Alzheimer’s patients expected to more than double by 2050, Petsko is leading the charge against the epidemic with outside-of-the-box research methods, hoping to find ways to prevent the disease and ease the “colossal burden” of its treatment—which amounts to $290 billion a year and immeasurable emotional distress for families. In this episode of What’s Ahead, Petsko shares fascinating insights from his work, promising new directions for dementia research, and crucial ideas for future sources of support.

“Why do we need hospitals?” “Where are all the women in healthcare leadership?” Innovara founder, president, and CEO Barri Blauvelt may have driven her professors crazy with questions she says a two-year-old would ask, but her approach has led to some profound discoveries—notably, the link between ethnicity and certain types of cancer. In this episode of What’s Ahead, Barri talks with Steve about her remarkable career, the ground-breaking research she’s conducted around the globe, how to get more women into leadership positions, and her perspective on how millennials might fix America’s ‘hopeless’ healthcare system.  

Universities used to be bastions of free speech and diverse opinions, but not so anymore say filmmakers Justin Folk and Owen William Brennan. In their new documentary No Safe Spaces, they examine the recent trend of college students protesting controversial speakers and getting them banned from their campuses. Should we be proud of these young people for speaking out and demonstrating? Or should we be worried that their rigorous ideology poses a threat to first amendment rights? In this episode of What’s Ahead, Folk and Brennan discuss how their film seeks to answer these questions.

In this second installment of our two-part series featuring Bernard Tyson, the late chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente shares his insights about the importance of “high touch” in the future of healthcare. A powerful storyteller, Tyson opens up about his personal experience with a compassionate nurse and his views on how healthcare can help enhance the playing field for success.

The healthcare industry lost one of its most visionary leaders with the sudden, untimely passing of Bernard Tyson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente. Named by Time magazine in 2017 as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, Tyson had been implementing far-reaching reforms that were profoundly and positively changing the nature, quality and accessibility of healthcare for all. In this special, two-part series, Bernard talked to Steve shortly before his death about his pathbreaking programs that hold such promise for this critical area of our lives.

A box full of ignored ideas? An esteemed Fed Chairman schmoozed into folly? These are just some of the provocative stories found in Great Society: A New History, the latest work from former Forbes contributor and NYT bestselling author Amity Shlaes. Reexamining the turbulent era of the 1960’s and 70’s in America, Shlaes considers the long-lasting effects of LBJ’s “War on Poverty,” portraying it as a well-meaning yet misguided reform movement with unintended consequences we’re still experiencing today. 

2019 marks exactly 150 years since Leland Stanford hammered in the Golden Spike, tying together America’s east and west coasts through the transcontinental railroad. Since those glory days, though, rail companies been fraught with obstacles—resistance from landowners, regulation from Washington, and competition from the trucking industry. But good news is on the horizon. According to Lance Fritz, chairman, president, and CEO of the venerable Union Pacific Railroad, trains are now speeding back to their rightful place in the U.S. economy, powered by cutting edge technology.

Jack Ma failed his exams. But that didn’t stop him from founding Alibaba Group, one of the largest e-commerce conglomerates in the world. Having empowered millions of entrepreneurs through Alipay – an online payment platform that has boasted more users than PayPal – Ma is now stepping away from his role as CEO to enter the world of philanthropy. In this live recording from the Forbes Global CEO Conference in Singapore, listen in as Steve talks to Ma about entrepreneurship, inclusivity, and fighting with Jet Li.