ZigZag
TED and Stable Genius Productions
ZigZag , the business show about being human, returns as a member of the TED Audio Collective.
Join this zig-zagging quest with Manoush Zomorodi (Host of NPR’s TED Radio Hour; Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business) to discover new ways we can align our professional ambitions with our personal values.
Find @ZigZagPod on Twitter and Instagram. Get recommended readings to go with each episode and more with the newsletter. Share your zig or zag with Manoush by emailing a voice memo to [email protected]
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Top 10 ZigZag Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best ZigZag episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to ZigZag 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 ZigZag episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
12/20/18 • 26 min
The richest 1 percent of the world's population now owns more than half of the world's wealth. The calls for breaking up Big Tech companies are growing louder. On this episode, the author of Open Revolution, Rufus Pollock, proposes a solution (think regulation, but on steroids) for wrangling monopolies, sparking innovation, and getting profits into the hands of more people.
GO DEEPER:
"What the California Wildfires Can Teach Us About Data Sharing," Joi Ito writes in Wired. An old monopoly story: the Hush-a-Phone vs AT&T debacle from Atlas Obscura. And a new one: Infinite choices, few distributors in the digital economy from The Open Markets Institute. And the Senate Intelligence Committee's two reports on news manipulation on social media: The Disinformation Report and The Internet Research Agency and Political Polarization in the US.
Who You’ll Hear:
@manoushz (Manoush Zomorodi, host of @zigzagpod and cofounder of Stable Genius Productions), @**rufuspollock** (Rufus Pollock, author of The Open Revolution)
ZigZag is the business show about being human.
Join a community of listeners riding the twists and turns of late-capitalism, searching for a kinder, more sustainable way. Manoush Zomorodi and Jen Poyant investigate how work and business impact our wellbeing and the planet we live on. On Seasons 4 and 5, hear from rebels and visionaries with radical ideas on how we can build stable lives, careers, and companies.
**If you’re also interested in Jen and Manoush’s personal story and their adventures in starting their own business with a little help from blockchain technology, listen to the first three seasons, starting with Season 1, Chapter 1.
08/27/20 • 51 min
You may have heard Aarti Shahani’s voice on the radio when she was NPR’s Silicon Valley reporter. The techies she interviewed often assumed she came from a family of engineers or scientists. Nothing could be further from the truth, Aarti says.
Her parents brought her to the U.S. when she was a child. They overstayed their tourist visas, moved the family into a roach-infested apartment, and subsisted on welfare while looking for work. Eventually, they all got green cards and Aarti thrived as a American teenager...until the day her father was arrested at his electronics store in Manhattan for a crime he didn’t know he’d committed.
Now Aarti is reporting her own story: why her parents migrated, what it took for the family to survive in the U.S. economy, and how their saga reflects the state of the “American Dream” right now.
Plus, listeners share what’s happened to their careers, businesses, and mental health since the pandemic began.
This is the final episode of Season 5 which explains six systemic problems and profiles six amazing people working to fix them.
You can get updates and stay in touch with Manoush on Twitter @ManoushZor @ZigZagPod on Twitter and Instagram. Or just sign up for the newsletter.
End of A Partnership
ZigZag
05/07/20 • 35 min
Two years ago, Jen and Manoush quit their jobs and became business partners. Today their adventure comes to an end. Hear how financial and parenting pressures in the age of COVID-19 forced them to make a hard choice. And what happens to this podcast.
10/11/18 • 36 min
Manoush and Jen kick off the season with surprising new research from the Knight Foundation into how false information spreads on Twitter and its effect on society. They also have news about Civil, the blockchain startup for journalism, which is struggling to sell $8m worth of its cryptocurrency. With only days left in the token sale, techie journalist (and former WNYC colleague) John Keefe joins the duo to share his experience buying CVL tokens and where he thinks the startup went wrong.
**GO DEEPER:
**The Knight Foundation’s report Disinformation, ‘Fake News,’ and Influence Campaigns on Twitter. Here are the Civil token sale stats. Forbes announced it will publish on Civil. Coincidentally (no, really) Jen and Manoush were profiled in Forbes. John Keefe went through 44 steps to buy CVL tokens. The links between trust, media, and democracy. CanThe Trust Project standardize a seal of ethical journalism?
Who You’ll Hear: Manoush Zomorodi (@manoushz) Jen Poyant (@jpoyant) Matt Hindman (@Matt Hindman) Sam Gill (@thesamgill) Vladimir Barash (@vlad43210) John Keefe @jkeefe
ZigZag is the business show about being human.
Join a community of listeners riding the twists and turns of late-capitalism, searching for a kinder, more sustainable way. Manoush Zomorodi and Jen Poyant investigate how work and business impact our wellbeing and the planet we live on. On Seasons 4 and 5, hear from rebels and visionaries with radical ideas on how we can build stable lives, careers, and companies.
**If you’re also interested in Jen and Manoush’s personal story and their adventures in starting their own business with a little help from blockchain technology, listen to the first three seasons, starting with Season 1, Chapter 1.
04/11/19 • 43 min
On the launch episode of Season Four, Jen and Manoush celebrate the first anniversary of their company, Stable Genius Productions, and share the most important and difficult entrepreneurial lessons they've learned over the past year.
They also explain how, after a year of experimentation with format and blockchain technology, ZigZag is evolving into a podcast that takes an honest look at the culture of business--and what needs to change.
*Sign up for our newsletter and subscribe to the podcast for free on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RadioPublic, Stitcher, Overcast, Spotify, or Breaker. *
WHO YOU’LL HEAR:
@manoushz (Manoush Zomorodi, host of ZigZag and cofounder of Stable Genius Productions), @jpoyant (Jen Poyant, cohost of ZigZag and cofounder of Stable Genius Productions)
ZigZag is the business show about being human.
Join a community of listeners riding the twists and turns of late-capitalism, searching for a kinder, more sustainable way. Manoush Zomorodi and Jen Poyant investigate how work and business impact our wellbeing and the planet we live on. On Seasons 4 and 5, hear from rebels and visionaries with radical ideas on how we can build stable lives, careers, and companies.
If you’re also interested in Jen and Manoush’s personal story and their adventures in starting their own business with a little help from blockchain technology, listen to the first three seasons, starting with Season 1, Chapter 1.
01/17/19 • 33 min
You may *feel *like a special snowflake, but even our best ideas usually take a predictable path: they'll pass through the 5 Phases of the Hype Cycle. Tech analyst Jackie Fenn created this iconic graph (see below) 25 years ago, and it's been used to track innovations (yes, like blockchain) ever since. But the Hype Cycle isn't just for tech: understanding it can help you decide when to press ahead with a job, relationship, or New Year's resolution... or cut your losses and move on.
All this season, we're exploring the lifecycle of ideas, including a visit to a town by the Canadian border where one of the biggest Bitcoin mining operations in the world is ramping up, and some claim crypto can save a community in financial ruin.
Tell us what's going on in your life and where YOU are on the Hype Cycle right now: record a voice memo and send it to [[email protected]]([email protected]).
**Also, our email newsletter is a must read. **Sign up for a bi-weekly letter from Manoush with links to her favorite articles and podcasts, a look behind-the-scenes at Stable Genius Productions, and upcoming events. (For example, our guest Jackie Fenn wrote a novel about a programmer whose algorithm goes rogue!)
Who You’ll Hear: (@jackiefenn) Jackie Fenn, Senior Analyst at Gartner, (@manoushz) Manoush Zomorodi, host of ZigZag
ZigZag is the business show about being human.
Join a community of listeners riding the twists and turns of late-capitalism, searching for a kinder, more sustainable way. Manoush Zomorodi and Jen Poyant investigate how work and business impact our wellbeing and the planet we live on. On Seasons 4 and 5, hear from rebels and visionaries with radical ideas on how we can build stable lives, careers, and companies.
If you’re also interested in Jen and Manoush’s personal story and their adventures in starting their own business with a little help from blockchain technology, listen to the first three seasons, starting with Season 1, Chapter 1.
11/28/18 • 37 min
CRIMINAL was a mega-hit long before the genre of true-crime took off in podcasting. On this episode, Manoush and Jen talk to the show's co-creators, Phoebe Judge and Lauren Spohrer, about quitting their stable public radio jobs to start a company (sound familiar?), managing each other's quirks, and saying 'no' to the many business opportunities that come their way. This duo has great advice for anyone trying to manage a partnership, balance creativity with bill paying, or just stay to one's weirdo self.
GO DEEPER:
A deep dive into the messy relationship between true crime podcasts and justice. How Phoebe and Lauren get it done from Raleigh's The New & Observer. The New Yorker article on the new golden age of podcast storytelling. Guy Raz's mega-entrepreneur podcast in the New York Times. The Future of Voice and the Implications for News from Reuters. It's a bear market for some podcast shops. More acronyms: PRX (of which Radiotopia is a branch) merges with PRI (think The World). Help someone discover the joy of listening by sharing Gretchen Rubin's free Gift of Podcast instructions. Btw, the SEC has a new guide to ICOs. And Crypto is crashing.
Who You’ll Hear:
Manoush Zomorodi (@Manoushz), Jen Poyant (@jpoyant), Phoebe Judge co-creator and host of Criminal (@PhoebeVJudge), Lauren Spohrer cocreator of Criminal (@laurenspohrer)
ZigZag is the business show about being human.
Join a community of listeners riding the twists and turns of late-capitalism, searching for a kinder, more sustainable way. Manoush Zomorodi and Jen Poyant investigate how work and business impact our wellbeing and the planet we live on. On Seasons 4 and 5, hear from rebels and visionaries with radical ideas on how we can build stable lives, careers, and companies.
**If you’re also interested in Jen and Manoush’s personal story and their adventures in starting their own business with a little help from blockchain technology, listen to the first three seasons, starting with Season 1, Chapter 1.
11/07/19 • 27 min
After an onerous cancer diagnosis, Kate Pickert nearly skipped an interview for a job she desperately wanted. Her husband encouraged her to go, saying, "You never know. Maybe you won't die!" Pickert got the job...and she lived. Now she's a journalism professor and author of Radical: The Science, Culture and History of Breast Cancer in America. On this episode, she tells Jen how investigating her diagnosis like a reporter helped her realize how little people know about the latest cancer treatment options...and that working (and keeping your hair) through chemotherapy is even possible.
**Who You’ll Hear: **@manoushz (Manoush Zomorodi, host of ZigZag and cofounder of Stable Genius Productions), @jpoyant (Jen Poyant, cohost of ZigZag and cofounder of Stable Genius Productions), @KatePickert (Kate Pickert, author of Radical: The Science, Culture and History of Breast Cancer in America)
ZigZag is the business show about being human.
Join a community of listeners riding the twists and turns of late-capitalism, searching for a kinder, more sustainable way. Manoush Zomorodi and Jen Poyant investigate how work and business impact our wellbeing and the planet we live on. On Seasons 4 and 5, hear from rebels and visionaries with radical ideas on how we can build stable lives, careers, and companies.
If you’re also interested in Jen and Manoush’s personal story and their adventures in starting their own business with a little help from blockchain technology, listen to the first three seasons, starting with Season 1, Chapter 1.
Thank you for supporting us by using special offer codes from our sponsors, signing up for our free newsletter, and subscribing to the show on Apple Podcasts, GooglePodcasts, RadioPublic, Stitcher, Overcast, Spotify, or Breaker.
The newsletter company Mailchimp made an impressive $700 million dollars in revenue in 2019 and, after 20 years, it’s still owned and operated by co-founders, Ben Chestnut and Dan Kurzius. On this episode, Ben shares his tactics for staying focused and calm through market crashes, tech disruptions, and now playing role model for CEOs who think success requires treating employees poorly. Manoush and Jen aren’t so sure about Ben’s advice regarding “scaling.” But as they play voice memos from listeners going through professional zigs zigs, they realize a serious truth about their own small business.
**Who You’ll Hear: **@manoushz (Manoush Zomorodi, host of ZigZag and cofounder of Stable Genius Productions), @jpoyant (Jen Poyant, cohost of ZigZag and cofounder of Stable Genius Productions), @benchestnut (CEO and cofounder of Mailchimp)
ZigZag is the business show about being human.
Join a community of listeners riding the twists and turns of late-capitalism, searching for a kinder, more sustainable way. Manoush Zomorodi and Jen Poyant investigate how work and business impact our wellbeing and the planet we live on. On Seasons 4 and 5, hear from rebels and visionaries with radical ideas on how we can build stable lives, careers, and companies.
If you’re also interested in Jen and Manoush’s personal story and their adventures in starting their own business with a little help from blockchain technology, listen to the first three seasons, starting with Season 1, Chapter 1.
Thank you for supporting us by using special offer codes from our sponsors, signing up for our free newsletter, and subscribing to the show on Apple Podcasts, GooglePodcasts, RadioPublic, Stitcher, Overcast, Spotify, or Breaker.
08/23/18 • 40 min
Manoush and Jen wrap up Season One* by interviewing Joe Lubin, co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain, about his involvement with Civil and whether the tech is up to the task of supporting a new platform for journalism. They also have honest answers for listeners about where ZigZag and their business, Stable Genius Productions, go next. Plus, a surprise treat at the end makes this season finale sing.
*ZigZag will be back with updates on the Civil token sale on Sept 6 and Sept 20. Season Two officially starts on Oct 11.
GO DEEPER:
Joe Lubin believes the most valuable companies of the future will be decentralized with “flat” leadership. What Ethereum is doing to handle more transactions. 40 Ethereum apps you can, allegedly, use right now. But also, Ponzi schemes are breaking out there too. Track how many people have signed up for the Civil token sale here. The state of podcasts in 2018. “The challenge is not a small one”: analysis of Civil from the Columbia Journalism Review and Brooklyn Based, Breaker, and Marketplace. The button to donate to Manoush and Jen is finally working.
Who you’ll hear: Manoush (@manoushZ) Jen (@jpoyant) Joe Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum and Founder of Consensys (@ethereumJoseph)
Support our work at https://zigzagpod.com/donate/
**Credits:
**David Herman, Audio Engineer and Composer
Alice Rutherford, Illustrations
ZigZag is the business show about being human.
Join a community of listeners riding the twists and turns of late-capitalism, searching for a kinder, more sustainable way. Manoush Zomorodi and Jen Poyant investigate how work and business impact our wellbeing and the planet we live on. On Seasons 4 and 5, hear from rebels and visionaries with radical ideas on how we can build stable lives, careers, and companies.
If you’re also interested in Jen and Manoush’s personal story and their adventures in starting their own business with a little help from blockchain technology, listen to the first three seasons, starting with Season 1, Chapter 1.
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FAQ
How many episodes does ZigZag have?
ZigZag currently has 74 episodes available.
What topics does ZigZag cover?
The podcast is about Podcasts, Business and Careers.
What is the most popular episode on ZigZag?
The episode title 'S4 EP20: How Valerie Jarrett Turned Her Misery Into Motivation' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on ZigZag?
The average episode length on ZigZag is 32 minutes.
How often are episodes of ZigZag released?
Episodes of ZigZag are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of ZigZag?
The first episode of ZigZag was released on May 29, 2018.
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