When it Mattered

Chitra Ragavan

1 Creator

How leaders are forged in critical moments

#47 in the Top 100 Indie management All time chart

2 Listeners

All episodes

Best episodes

Seasons

Top 10 When it Mattered Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best When it Mattered episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to When it Mattered for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite When it Mattered episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Binyamin Appelbaum

When it Mattered

02/10/20 • 45 min

Ep. 32 — An economics reporter is jolted by the 2016 Presidential race and rethinks all his assumptions about the American economy and electorate / Binyamin Appelbaum, Author, The Economist’s Hour. Binyamin Appelbaum had been reporting and writing about economics for more than a decade when Donald Trump won the 2016 Presidential race. The shocking outcome led Appelbaum to realize that he must go back to the drawing board, to Macroeconomics 101, in order to understand what had just happened. What resulted is his terrific book, "The Economists' Hour: False Prophets, Free Markets, and the Fracture of Society." The Economists' Hour refers to the 40-year period from 1969 to 2008 when a cadré of economists rose from obscurity to household names, shaping government policy and shifting the government's role from actively shaping the economy to allowing the market to largely do so. Appelbaum concludes that those economists were in essence, "False Prophets.” “They sold their ideas by representing that if we embrace this approach to public policy, the economy would grow more quickly, all boats would be lifted up, prosperity would be broad and well distributed, and even that democracy would benefit,” says Appelbaum. “And I think in all three of those respects, this change in policy making failed to deliver. Growth has slowed, inequality has increased, and our democracy is in worse shape than ever.” Now a New York Times editorial board member, Appelbaum offers an eye-popping primer on the economic forces that are shaping the 2020 Presidential elections. This is a terrific conversation that offers timely context for President Trump’s proposed $4.8 trillion budget that comes with huge safety-net cuts. Appelbaum’s sweeping history of America’s macro-economic policies in The Economist’s Hour is a must-read for every voter who plans to cast his or her ballot in the 2020 Presidential race. I know I came away feeling much smarter after reading Appelbaum’s book and having had this deep discussion with him and I can better understand the economic and social consequences of how I cast my ballot this November. And I hope so will you. Tanscript Download the PDF Ragavan: Binyamin Appelbaum had been writng about economics with considerable success for more than a decade. When Donald Trump was elected President in November 2016. The shocking victory jolted Appelbaum into a humbling realization. Hello everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan and this is When It Mattered. This episode is brought to you by Goodstory, an advisory firm helping technology start ups find their narrative. After Trump's election in 2016, Appelbaum knew he had to go back to the drawing board and reconnect the dots in his understanding and the public's understanding of the macroeconomic factors that got Trump elected President. What resulted is his terrific book, The Economists' Hour: False Prophets, Free Markets, and the Fracture of Society. Ragavan: Joining me now to share what he discovered and the factors that could swing the 2020 Presidential race is Binyamin Appelbaum. He is the lead writer on business and economics for the New York Times editorial board. Before joining the editorial board, Appelbaum was a Washington correspondent for the Times, covering economic policy in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Appelbaum also worked for the Charlotte Observer where his reporting on the subprime lending crisis won a George Polk Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer prize. Binyamin, welcome to the podcast. Appelbaum: Thank you for having me. Ragavan: Were you one of those geeky kids? A wiz at math and head buried in books? Where did you grow up and what were you like? Appelbaum: I grew up outside of Boston and yeah. My father is a professor. My mother is a historian. It was very much a family where books were very important. There was a shelf in my living room where my parents' books were read and shelves throughou...

1 Listener

Lynsey Addario

When it Mattered

03/03/20 • 48 min

Ep. 35 — A war photographer confronts her own mortality as she bears witness to the world’s worst wars / Lynsey Addario, Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist. Renowned photojournalist and war photographer Lynsey Addario and three fellow journalists were documenting the Arab Spring uprising in Libya in March 2011 when the unthinkable happened at a hostile checkpoint. The journalists had lingered too long to complete their reporting on the front lines and were cornered and taken hostage by Col. Muammar Gaddafi's troops. They were repeatedly beaten, tied up, blindfolded and constantly threatened with execution before being released nearly a week later. It was hard enough to recover from the trauma of her violent kidnapping, the second in her 15-year career as a award winning war photographer. A month later, Addario learned that two other journalist friends had been killed in Libya, leading to a profound existential crisis about the life-threatening career she had chosen. Addario's soul searching led to her best-selling memoir, "It's What I do," in which the Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist, recounts the incredible risks she has taken covering every major conflict and humanitarian crisis of her generation, played out against the backdrop of the post-9/11 War on Terror. A regular contributor to The NewYorkTimes, National Geographic, and Time, Addario has reported and photographed from some of the world’s most dangerous hotspots including Afghanistan, Iraq, Darfur, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, South Sudan, Somalia, and Congo. Recently, Addario took on another difficult assignment documenting a very different kind of death that challenged her as a photojournalist in an entirely new way. I hope you enjoy this incredible story of courage, perseverance and sacrifice. Transcript Download the PDF Chitra: Renowned photo journalist and war photographer, Lynsey Addario and three fellow journalists were shooting the Arab spring uprising in Libya in March, 2011 when the unthinkable happened at a hostile checkpoint. Addario and her colleagues were released nearly a week later. It was hard enough to recover from the trauma of her violent kidnapping, but when a month later, Addario learned that two other journalists friends had been killed in Libya, her world fell apart. Chitra: Hello everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan and this is When It Mattered. This episode is brought to you by Good Story, an advisory firm helping technology startups find their narrative. My guest today is Lynsey Addario, the Pulitzer prize winning photo journalist, who for the past 15 years has covered every major conflict and humanitarian crisis of her generation. A regular contributor to the New York Times, National Geographic and Time magazine, Addario has reported and photographed from some of the most dangerous hotspots in the world, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Darfur, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, South Sudan, Somalia and Congo. Addario also is the author of the bestselling memoir, It's What I do, a powerful narrative about her coming of age as a photo journalist during the post 911 War on Terror. Lynsey, welcome to the podcast. Lynsey: Thank you. Thank you for having me. Chitra: Did you always want to be a photographer? Lynsey: No, actually I never wanted to be a photographer. For me, I started photographing as a hobby and it was something I did sort of as I was growing up, I taught myself, I bought books on how to photograph, but it was never really something I took seriously, I guess because I didn't have exposure to photojournalism. And so it wasn't until I graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in international relations and Italian that I moved abroad and I started really paying attention to photography as a form of journalism and storytelling. And that's really when I decided I wanted to become a photographer. Chitra: Your first camera was actually a gift from your dad. You were one of four sisters,

1 Listener

Maj Gen Robert Wheeler

When it Mattered

10/05/22 • 63 min

Ep. No. 70 — He built a career path at the age of eight to become a U.S. Air Force combat pilot and safe-keeper of U.S. nuclear weapons / Maj Gen Robert Wheeler, USAF (ret), CEO, Strategic Consulting Unlimited.

When Robert Wheeler was just 8 years old, his mother took him to the Chicago Air Show. It changed his life. From that moment on, Wheeler became obsessed with an unwavering goal: To become a U.S. fighter pilot.

Wheeler more than fulfilled his dream. During his 32-year career in the U.S. Air Force, he served as a combat pilot in the B-52 and B-2, earning more than 5,000 flight hours and seven operational commands, including Wing Commands in the two largest bomber wings in the Air Force.

Wheeler also served as the Deputy Director for Nuclear Operations, U.S. Strategic Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. As such, he served as the principal adviser to the commander on issues pertaining to strategic deterrence and nuclear operations. He served as the command’s principal flag officer responsible for management and oversight of the nuclear enterprise. He retired in March 2016.

Major General Wheeler’s decorated career in the military culminated in his role as DOD Deputy Chief Information Officer for Information Infrastructure and Command, Control, Communications/Computers (C4), at the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon.

In these critical roles, Wheeler obtained a wealth of knowledge about the ways of Vladimir Putin and has some key insights into the trajectory of the Russian President’s invasion of Ukraine and Ukraine’s surge of wins in the ground game in recent weeks. And he offers sobering insights into Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine if pushed too far against the wall.

Thanks for Listening.

👍 Please Subscribe and give a Thumbs Up!

🎙️https://bit.ly/ChitraRagavanChannel

👂Contact Chitra & Link to Podcast Platforms

🎙️https://chitra.lnk.to/bio

When It Mattered:

🎙️ Ep. 60. Putin laid his cards on the table years before the Ukraine invasion / Gen. James Jones, USMC

🎙️ Ep. 66. Distinguished diplomat reclaims her narrative / Marie Yovanovitch, “Lessons from the Edge”

Techtopia:

🎙️ Ep. 29. How drones, crypto, and satellites are changing ...

Dr. Lisa Sanders

When it Mattered

11/04/19 • 43 min

Ep. 18 — A young television news producer watches a colleague save a life by doing CPR and finds her true calling in medicine / Dr. Lisa Sanders, Yale School of Medicine and New York Times Columnist. Early in her career, becoming a doctor was the last thing on Lisa Sanders’ mind. She loved the television news producing business and was happy with her life. Then one day, while shooting an episode on white water rafting, Sanders watched her doctor colleague save an elderly woman from drowning, through CPR. It wasn’t an overnight transformation. But it was an inevitable one, she says. Sanders decided to go to medical school. Since then, Sanders has blazed a unique trail as a doctor and a Professor of Internal Medicine and Education at the Yale School of Medicine, as well as a book author, journalist, and television consultant. She is the author of two popular columns in the New York Times about medical mysteries, called Diagnosis and Think Like a Doctor. She has a new book based on those columns. On that eventful white water rafting trip so long ago, Sanders and her colleague, were testing out their television station’s brand new satellite news van. Decades later, she continues to be fearless about using new technologies in the field of medicine. This time, she’s harnessing the massive power of the Internet to crowdsource diagnoses and bring relief to those suffering, sometimes for decades, from lethal diseases for which there is no name, cure, or reprieve. This Summer, Netflix released a new documentary series in which Dr. Sanders uses that novel, albeit somewhat controversial, technique of global crowdsourcing to help solve eight medical mysteries. Sanders is also helping to reshape the way in which doctors communicate with patients and to give patients and their loved ones a bigger voice in the often skewed power dynamic. She brings to that commitment her own personal experiences with the medical system, having watched both her mother and sister die without warning and finding the interactions with their doctors deeply lacking in both data and empathy. Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: Hello everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan, and this is When it Mattered. When it Mattered is a podcast on how leaders deal with and learn from adversity. This episode is brought to you by Goodstory, an advisory firm helping technology startups find their narrative. Chitra Ragavan: My guest today is the renowned physician, author and journalist, Dr. Lisa Sanders. She's Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Education at the Yale School of Medicine. Many of you know Dr. Sanders from her two globally popular New York Times columns about medical mysteries; Diagnosis and Think Like a Doctor. Chitra Ragavan: The Diagnosis column inspired the hit Fox television series, House, M.D., for which Sanders served as a technical consultant. And now a new Netflix New York Times series also called Diagnosis, showcases Sanders using global crowdsourcing to help diagnose and solve eight medical mysteries. Sanders new book Diagnosis: Solving the Most Baffling Medical Mysteries is a compilation of 50 stories from her column. Dr. Sanders, welcome to the podcast. Lisa Sanders: Hi, thanks so much for inviting me, Chitra. Chitra Ragavan: You majored in English in college at William & Mary, and you wrote for your school paper, the Flat Hat. And after you graduated, you became a television news producer. So what prompted you to give up television and go to medical school? Lisa Sanders: Well, I loved television and I loved the news business, but one day... and it happened over time; nobody really turns on a dime, no matter how they tell the story. But so, one day I was out with the correspondent that I usually worked with, Bob Arnot, or at least I worked with him for years, and we were doing a story about whitewater rafting. And suddenly, he disappeared from the television monitor where I wa...

Asra Nomani

When it Mattered

01/27/21 • 48 min

Ep.53 — A journalist upends her life and career to help identify and bring to justice the network of militants who murdered her friend and fellow correspondent at The Wall Street, Daniel Pearl / Asra Nomani, journalist, author, activist and co-founder, The Pearl Project. On January 23rd, 2002, Asra Nomani was waiting at her home in Karachi, Pakistan, for her dear friend, Daniel Pearl, a correspondent at The Wall Street Journal, to return from a reporting assignment. Pearl and his wife, Mariane, who was pregnant with their first child were staying with Nomani while he was investigating the Al-Qaeda networks that had conspired to pull off the 9/11 terrorist attacks on U.S. soil just a few months earlier. But Pearl never returned home. Pakistani militants kidnapped and held Pearl hostage before murdering him a week later. His captors then released a video of the beheading, shocking the world and galvanizing Nomani in her long and difficult quest to identify Pearl's killers and help bring them to justice. In this riveting episode, Nomani describes how Pearl’s murder helped shape her as a journalist, author and a feminist Muslim. And she shares how the tragedy gave her the courage to become an activist challenging the rise of Islamic extremism and what she perceives as the dangerous influence of Islamists in American politics — particularly on the Democratic Party. Nomani also discusses why she is speaking up against the growing influence of “critical race theory,” both in the U.S. public school systems and on American society as a whole. Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: On January 23rd, 2002, Asra Nomani was waiting at her home in Karachi, Pakistan, for her dear friend, The Wall Street Journal correspondent, Daniel Pearl to come back from a reporting assignment. Pearl and his wife, Mariane, who was pregnant with their first child were staying with Nomani while he was investigating the Al-Qaeda networks that had conspired to pull off the 9/11 terrorist attacks on U.S. soil just a few months earlier. But Danny Pearl never returned home. Pakistani militants kidnapped and held Pearl hostage before murdering him a week later. His captors then released a video of the beheading, shocking the world and galvanizing Nomani in her long and difficult quest to identify Pearl's killers and help bring them to justice. Chitra Ragavan: Hello everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan. Welcome to When it Mattered. This episode is brought to you by Goodstory an advisory firm helping technology startups with strategic brand positioning and narrative. I'm joined now by Asra Nomani. She's a journalist, author, activist and co-founder of The Pearl Project, a 31,000 word award-winning global investigative journalism report identifying the network of militants who perpetrated the heinous. Asra, welcome to the podcast. Asra Nomani: Oh, thank you so much, Chitra. I feel like I'm with such a good dear friend going into one of the darkest moments of my life, but I hope we can share some light with everyone. Chitra Ragavan: It's been 19 years, almost exactly two days shy of that fateful day, January 23rd, 2002, when your world and that of Danny Pearl and his whole family turned upside down. Tell me when you found out that something had badly gone wrong. Asra Nomani: Well, that day began like any other day for journalists in, posting overseas. We all wakened, Danny and his wife Mariane were visiting a house that I had rented in Karachi, Pakistan. And Danny, went about the business of all his flurry of interviews he had planned for the day. I found a car for him and we stood outside this home that I'd rented and waved goodbye to Danny. And I said, "See you later, buddy," because it was just an interview like any other that we go off to do and then come back home and write down our notes and write our dispatches. But that night, Mariane kept calling and calling Danny's phone number and he never picked up.

Officer Caroline Edwards

When it Mattered

09/27/22 • 54 min

Ep. No. 69 — A battered, bloodied, police officer proves her mettle during the January 6th insurrection on the U.S. Capitol / Officer Caroline Edwards, U.S. Capitol Police (USCP).

Officer Caroline Edwards of the U.S. Capitol Police’s First Responder Unit reported for duty on January 6, 2021, along with her colleagues, with little warning from her supervisors about the clear and present danger of extreme violence and the potential use of firearms from the angry pro-Trump mob descending on the Capitol that morning.

Officer Edwards is believed to be the first law enforcement officer injured by the rioters as she attempted to protect the west front of the Capitol.

But despite being knocked unconscious, suffering from a concussion, and getting bear-sprayed and pepper-sprayed, Edwards recovered enough to rush to the aid of her fellow officers who were in grave danger from the violent crowd.

This June, Officer Edwards testified about her ordeal before the Select Committee investigating the January 6th attacks.

In this dramatic interview, Edwards describes what happened on January 6th and her long and painful recovery from her injuries and trauma. And she reveals how she always wanted to be a police officer but held back for years from fulfilling her dream because she thought she wasn’t physically up to the job. She certainly proved her mettle and learned just how tough she is on the day of the riots.

I’m so grateful to Officer Edwards for sharing her incredible story of courage and resilience and those of her fellow officers. They rushed to her aid on January 6th, and she, in turn, reciprocated in full measure to help save them, despite her severe injuries, when they were overrun by the violent mob intent on overturning the results of the 2020 presidential elections at the behest of outgoing-President Donald Trump.

If you would like to donate to the U.S.Capitol Police Memorial Fund, please click here.

Thanks so much for listening!

Helpful Links:

👍 Please Subscribe and give me a Thumbs Up!

🎙️https://bit.ly/ChitraRagavanChannel

👂Contact Chitra & Podcast Platforms

🎙️https://chitra.lnk.to/bio

If you liked this episode please, check out these other great episodes!

🎙️When It Mattered:

Ep. 56. Retired cop learns his job has just begun / Thomas Manger, USCP

Ep. 66. Distinguished diplomat reclaims her narrative / Marie Yovanovitch, “Lessons from the Edge”

🎙️Techtopia:

Ep. 1. Technology is fueling conspiracy theories / Joseph Coohill, Professor Buzzkill

Ep. 2. How should the USG fight domestic terrorism and radicalization? / Anne Speckhard, ICSVE

Thomas Frey

When it Mattered

10/19/22 • -1 min

Ep. 71 — A failed apprentice farmer turns into a renowned futurist / Thomas Frey, Founder and Executive Director, DaVinci Institute & Co-host, Futurati Podcast.

Born on a grain farm in South Dakota, Thomas Frey was an unlikely candidate to become a world-renowned futurist and public speaker. But then one day, when he was four years old, Frey’s parents received a big mysterious box that would change his life forever.

His mom put him on a tractor at age 11 to distract him from the television but Frey would prove to be, in his own words, a “terrible farmer”—because his mind was always elsewhere. In fact, it was in the future. And that’s where it has stayed ever since.

I was delighted to have a deep conversation with Thomas Frey on the future of the world. He’s currently the founder and Executive Director of the DaVinci Institute & Co-host of the Futurati Podcast, with Trent Fowler.

Over the past decade, Frey has built an enormous following around the world based on his ability to develop accurate visions of the future and describe the opportunities ahead. Before launching the DaVinci Institute, Frey spent 15 years at IBM as an engineer and designer where he received over 270 awards, more than any other IBM engineer. And if that isn’t proof that he’s no slacker, Frey also is a past member of the Triple Nine Society (the High I.Q. society for those over the 99.9th percentile).

If you liked this episode, check out these other episodes:

🎙️Techtopia:

29. How drones, crypto, and satellites are changing the face of war / Thomas Frey & Trent Fowler

28. How Artificial Intelligence is transforming the craft of writing / Iman Oubou, “The Glass Ledge”

27. North Korean hacks complicate USG’s crypto-security efforts / Carole House, NSC, The White House

26. Technology is rewiring Ukraine’s narrative / Alex Deane & Bryan Cunningham

24. What does IRS Criminal Investigation do? / James Robnett, Deputy Chief, IRS (CI)

21. Can machines replace humans? / Courtney Bowman, Palantir Technologies

12. Grandson remembers a “Flying Saucer Pilgrimage” / Bryan Cunningham, UC, Irvine

13. Astrophysicist searches for aliens / Adam Frank, University of Rochester

🎙️When It Mattered:

67. He built a successful startup while battling bipolar disorder / Andy Dunn, Author, “Burn Rate”

62. Machines are the new patrons of artists / Agnieszka Pilat, Conceptual artist

55. Great-granddaughter of a SciFi pioneer spots a UFO / Alex Dietrich, US Navy

38. Father’s gift and brother’s illness led him to crypto / Joey Krug, Pantera Capital, Augur.

30. Acting class led her to build social robots / Heather Knight, Oregon State University.

28. Dermatologist breaks mold in medicine, sports, Silicon Valley / Dr. Michelle Longmire, Medable

21. Disenchanted doctor finds secret inspiration in hero...

Cliff Banks

When it Mattered

04/27/20 • 32 min

Ep. 41 — A young man gets held up at knifepoint and learns the value of grit and perseverance / Cliff Banks, Founder and President, The Banks Report. When Philadelphia native Cliff Banks was 19 years old, he traveled to New York City to take a connecting train to Detroit to start a new job and a new life. But he got the fright of his life as he hailed a cab to get from Penn Station to Grand Central Station. “Before I got into the cab, two guys came up and asked if they could help and I said, ‘No, thanks. I've got it.’ And next thing I know, I was up against the cab with a knife to my throat,” Banks remembers. “And they demanded my wallet and anything else valuable that I had and took off running.” Although broke and in shock over what had happened to him, Banks somehow found his way to Dearborn. Lacking the money to buy a car for himself or a college education for that matter but blessed with sheer grit and perseverance, Banks went from hitchhiking to get to that first job loading cars on trains at railroad yards to fulfilling his dream of becoming a journalist covering automotive news. He founded The BanksReport, the most influential trade newsletter in the car retail space today. Now with 30-years covering the auto industry, Banks has a unique lens into the seismic impact of #Covid-19 and the unprecedented shutdown of car manufacturing in the United States. With family friends getting sick or dying from the #Coronavirus in hard-hit Michigan, Banks finds himself both living and working through what’s likely to be the most historic story of his lifetime. Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra : When Philadelphia native Cliff Banks was 19 years old, he traveled to New York City to take a connecting train to Detroit in order to start a new job and a new life. But a scary thing happened as he hailed a cab to transfer from Penn Station to Grand Central Station. Although broke and in shock over what happened to him, Banks somehow found a way to make it to Detroit. Chitra : Hello everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan and this is When it Mattered. This episode is brought to you by Goodstory, an advisory firm helping technology startups find their narrative. Chitra : That same resourcefulness that allowed Banks to recover from the armed robbery got him into the Detroit area automotive industry where he fulfilled his passion for journalism. Joining me now is Cliff Banks, Founder and President of The Banks Report, the most influential newsletter covering the automotive retail space. Chitra : Cliff, welcome to the podcast. Cliff: Thanks, Chitra. It's great to be here. Chitra : So tell us what happened and how you got mugged in New York. I mean, this was back in the 1990s when the big Apple wasn't quite so sanitized, was it? Cliff: No. No, not at all. In fact, it did look a lot different back then. It was 1990, early as mid-March I guess, and at the time there wasn't a train that went directly from Philadelphia to Dearborn, Michigan. So I had to go to New York and get off at one stage, Penn Station, and then take a cab to Grand Central to grab the train to Dearborn. Coming out of Penn station and getting into the cab, before I got into the cab, two guys came up and asked if they could help and I said, "No, thanks. I've got it." And next thing I know, I was up against the cab with a knife to my throat and they demanded my wallet and anything else valuable that I had and took off running. Cliff: I actually chased the guy that took the wallet. I caught up to him and he turned around with the knife and slashed at me and I just, I backed off and told him to keep it. I went back to the cab thinking for sure he would be gone with all my luggage. Actually he wasn't. He was standing there with a few cops around him, but there wasn't anything to do that that they could do. So the cab driver very graciously offered to take me to Grand Central. Cliff:

Dr. Andrew Lees

When it Mattered

11/26/19 • 44 min

Ep. 21 — A disenchanted doctor finds secret inspiration for his groundbreaking Parkinson’s research from a heroin addict / Dr. Andrew Lees, University College of London, Institute of Neurology. Dr. Andrew Lees was a young medical student when he realized that his profession was not everything it was cut out to be. Feeling suffocated by the conservative and powerful British medical system, which gave little room for independent thought and experimentation, Lees was at risk for dropping out. Then one day, Lees, a Liverpool-born avid Beatles fan saw the cover of their new album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. When Lees scanned the celebrity-laden faces on the album cover, he saw someone he didn’t recognize. It was William S. Burroughs, the Beat Generation writer, heroin addict, and harsh critic of doctors and the medical establishment. Feeling quite anti-establishment himself, Lees began reading Burroughs' work, starting with his most controversial book, “Naked Lunch,” and was soon sucked into Burroughs’ intellectual orbit. Lees was inspired and influenced by Burroughs’ writings about his frequent self-experimentation with dangerous opiates and his efforts to kick his various drug addictions. Re-energized, Lees dedicated his career to conduct ground-breaking research into the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, including using the drug Apomorphine to treat advanced complications of the disease — a drug Burroughs had used to kick his heroin addiction. Lees became one of the world’s most respected and cited neurologists on the disease. Because of Burroughs' checkered reputation, Lees kept his “Invisible Mentor,” a deep secret because he was afraid his colleagues would ostracize him. But late into his distinguished career, Lees finally picked up his courage and told the world about his muse through his book, Mentored by a Madman: The William Burroughs Experiment. Tanscript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: For much of his celebrated career renowned British neurologist, Dr. Andrew Lees, kept a deep professional secret from his peers and the world. The secret was that his groundbreaking research into Parkinson's disease was deeply influenced by the controversial American writer and heroin addict, William S. Burroughs. It all began when Dr. Lees, saw a face he didn't recognize on the cover of the Beatles album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Acting on idle curiosity, Lees learned it was William Burroughs. Pretty soon Lees was going down the Burroughs rabbit hole, learning from a man he would never meet, but who would become his life-long invisible mentor. Chitra Ragavan: Hello, everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan, and this is, When it Mattered. This episode is brought to you by Good Story, an advisory firm helping technology startups find their narrative. I'm joined today by Dr. Andrew Lees, Professor of Neurology at University College, London Institute of Neurology. His book about Burroughs is called, Mentored by a Madman: The William Burroughs Experiment. Dr Lees, welcome to the podcast. Dr. Lees: Thank you, Chitra. Chitra Ragavan: You achieved global recognition and many, many awards for your work on Parkinson's disease and abnormal movement disorders and you are one of the most cited researchers in the field. And one could argue that no one should be less afraid of ostracism by your peers than you. What was it about William Burroughs himself and about the culture of the medical profession that made you afraid to disclose his influence on your work and why did you keep it a secret for so long? Dr. Lees: Well even today, the British medical establishment is very conservative and also very powerful. So that, if you blot your copybook particularly as a trainee, you end up in the Outer Hebrides during something that you don't really want to do. We were all, I think certainly as trainees quite fearful because unlike the United States which is far bigger,

Madeline Mann

When it Mattered

07/06/20 • 33 min

Ep. 51 — A young employee gets a mediocre performance rating in her first job and transforms herself into an influential human resources leader and career strategist / Madeline Mann, Founder, Self Made Millennial. Three months into her first corporate job as a market research analyst, Madeline Mann got her performance review and it was a nasty wakeup call. Always an academic high achiever, Mann was stunned to see her mediocre work scores. “And it really was a moment of me realizing, ‘Wait, I do need to work harder. I do need to find more ways to contribute,’ says Mann. ‘I wasn't in those meetings jotting down a bunch of notes of, how am I going to look up these terms later and ask a bunch of questions.’ I was just kind of clueless and aimless.” Mann realized she just wasn't motivated by her job and through some serious soul-searching, discovered that her true passion actually lay in human capital management, i.e. people. Today, Mann is thriving as a human resources leader and career strategist. She’s known for her rapid-fire career advice videos on her popular channel "Self Made Millennial." Mann’s work has been featured on Business Insider, Newsweek, and more. She was named a Top 50 person to follow on LinkedIn, and a Top 10 YouTube channel for job seekers. Mann currently also serves as Talent Development Manager at Inspire. Her HR focus could not be more perfect given the coronavirus. According to Pew Research Center, the U.S. unemployment rose higher in three months of COVID-19 than it did in two years of the Great Recession. Today it’s at a record 11.1%, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Mann says she's helped hundreds of people find jobs despite these grim trends. [Hear Excerpt Below] “The number one question I'm asked is, ‘Is there even a point in applying right now?’ Or, ‘When should I start pursuing opportunities?’ And those questions break my heart because the answer is yesterday, right? You should still be pursuing opportunities,” says Mann, “But the thing is, a lot of people, it's a different landscape, things are shaken up, they don't know if the company had layoffs or not. They don't know if they're still hiring. They're posting job descriptions, but does that mean, was that just automatic? And, ‘Oh, I had an interview, but then I haven't heard back. But is it okay to even follow up with anyone during these conditions?’... I want you to move from a planning mindset to an experimentation mindset. Just try things, keep moving during this time, don't freeze, don't be in this constant getting ready stage, because while you're doing that, other people are getting these jobs.” Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: Madeline Mann began her first job as a market research analyst as she was wrapping up her master's degree. But the super driven academic had a disastrous six months on the job. Humbled by the experience, Madeline went into her second job searching for what truly motivated her to perform and to succeed in the workplace. Hello everyone, I'm Chitra Ragavan, and this is When It Mattered. This episode is brought to you by Goodstory, an advisory firm helping technology startups find their narrative. Chitra Ragavan: Joining me now is Madeline Mann, a human resources leader and career strategist. Madeline is known for her rapid fire career advice videos on her channel, Self Made Millennial, which has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers across all the major social media platforms. Madeline transformed her own experience as an HR and recruiting leader into advice on how to empower ambitious professionals to fast track their careers. Madeline's work has been featured on Business Insider, Newsweek, Thrive Global and more. She was named a Top 50 person to follow on LinkedIn and a Top 10 YouTube channel for job seekers. Madeline currently also serves as talent development manager at Inspire in Los Angeles. Madeline, welcome to the podcast.

Show more best episodes

FAQ

How many episodes does When it Mattered have?

When it Mattered currently has 72 episodes available.

What topics does When it Mattered cover?

The podcast is about Management, Entrepreneurship, Podcasts and Business.

What is the most popular episode on When it Mattered?

The episode title 'Binyamin Appelbaum' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on When it Mattered?

The average episode length on When it Mattered is 42 minutes.

How often are episodes of When it Mattered released?

Episodes of When it Mattered are typically released every 7 days, 1 hour.

When was the first episode of When it Mattered?

The first episode of When it Mattered was released on Jul 10, 2019.

Show more FAQ

When it Mattered

Chitra Ragavan

Top 10 When it Mattered Episodes

FAQ

How many episodes does When it Mattered have?

What topics does When it Mattered cover?

What is the most popular episode on When it Mattered?

What is the average episode length on When it Mattered?

How often are episodes of When it Mattered released?

When was the first episode of When it Mattered?

Comments