This is Your Life in Silicon Valley

Alexia Tsotsis fell out of love with San Francisco, but fell back in love while preparing for this interview. We talk about Alexia's journey to San Francisco, and how she had a major part in the technology boom of the past decade. Alexia even has some choice catch phrases around bro culture in the city, and may add a new term or two to the vernacular.

Kara Swisher needs no introduction. She is one of the top business journalists, and covers technology for various outlets. More recently, Swisher became a contributor for the New York Times Opinion section - and she has a lot to say about Facebook.

In this episode, we learn a lot about Swisher's background, where she grew up, and what her thoughts are on San Francisco. Swisher provides us with her perspective on Facebook's problems, and whether one individual can even solve them at this point. We have an extensive discussion with Kara about ethics and technology.

We talk about the next wave of big innovation, and/or the lack thereof. We talk to Kara about whether she likes Scooters or not. And who her favorite social media follows are. We discuss Chrissy Teigen and why she's a great follow.

You don't want to miss this episode - Kara is a living legend, is candid, and opens up to us about a wide variety of subects.

Sam Lessin is one of the top minds in the technology world. He was VP of Product at Facebook, where he was instrumental in building the Facebook timeline. He's now working on a new company called Fin. But Sam is also a San Francisco resident, and has given a lot of thought as to whether the city can be fixed (and where it's headed). .

A common question people have inside of, and outside of San Francisco is: why don't people in technology use their talents toward civic responsibility and fixing some of the problems that ail San Francisco? Why is it not easy to fix homelessness, the housing crisis, transportation, and other issues that everyone talks about daily (given that the city's residents have virtually unlimited resources)?

Sam puts together some pretty compelling thoughts on San Francisco's infrastructure, down to when the city was chartered, to make an argument on how things can be fixed. A lot of what Sam describes in San Francisco is applicable to many cities in the country. Sam describes why half of the residents of San Francisco want it to be Paris, and the other half New York.

If you want to go out and make a difference and fix San Francisco - or wherever you live - consider listening to this episode first.

Jessica Powell ran communications at Google. She's now a bestselling author. We asked Jessica - who has seen her fair share of PR crises over the years - how she would handle communications issues facing some of the top tech companies in the world. You might be surprised where she stands on various issues plaguing some of technology's top players.

We asked her about Jack Dorsey's now infamous 'tweetstorm' about his meditation retreat to Myanmar and her reaction to it. We examined the broad spectrum of reactions that played out on social media.

We dig into Jessica's journey to San Francisco, which started in sunny So Cal, and the 'fake' Los Angeles San Francisco rivalry. Jessica dishes on some of her favorite athletes and sports teams.

As a communications exec, we had the opportunity to ask Jessica how she would handle PR crises at Facebook. And what was inherently different about Facebook and Google culture. We also asked Jessica about where change needs to occur at these companies - whether regulation will work, or how lasting change will really take place.

Jessica talks about why she began writing satire, and how people reacted to it. She talks about her recent interview on Fox News with Tucker Carlson and what that experience was like. Enjoy this broad, amazing interview with one of tech's top marketing execs!

Suhas Patil is a Silicon Valley legend, and an immigrant. He is a multiple-time successful Founder, and created the largest networking organization in the Valley - The Indus Entrepreneurs. Like father, like son - DJ - Suhas' son, is one of the most influential figures in technology today. We learn a bit more about Suhas' legacy, and how he paved the way for the success for generations to come.

We learn in this interview how hard it was for Suhas to make it as an immigrant. The perceptions that came with being an immigrant in the late 60s, and the nuances of his journey. It was not easy.

DJ in turn gained an appreciation of what it took to replicate the success of his father. DJ went on to become the first ever Chief Data Scientist of the United States. But the path wasn't a straight line for DJ - what did his father teach him along the way, and what was it like to witness the creation of TiE?

This podcast was originally piloted with NPR - we are releasing today on This is Your Life in Silicon Valley. It's a must-listen for anyone who is interested in immigration, technology, entrepreneurship, and the slow/arduous journey to success. We even get the opportunity to ask DJ some fun questions in the end.