Dr. Vikas Shah MBE DL Interviews the world's leading thinkers, and the people shaping the century.

In this interview, I speak to Professor Karthik Ramanna, one of the world’s foremost experts on governance and leadership in crisis. We discuss the reasons why our world feels so outraged- and how leaders can build resilient organisations which can make sense of outrage, turn down the temperature, progress through…

 

Renée DiResta is a highly regarded expert and speaker on adversarial abuse online – in other words, on how bad actors manipulate the digital public square. From spammers and scammers to state sponsored trolls, she investigates how social media platforms and technologies (such as generative AI) are used for evil. Although…

 

In this interview I speak to one of the world's most experienced kidnap-for-ransom negotiators, Scott Walker, who has successfully resolved over 300 life-or-death crises, facing down gang leaders, pirates, cyberhackers, and extortionists. Scott spent 16 years as a Scotland Yard detective engaged in counter-terrorism and kidnapping operations. He left the…

 

Have you ever noticed that what is thrilling on Monday tends to become boring on Friday? Even exciting relationships, stimulating jobs, and breathtaking works of art lose their sparkle after a while. People stop noticing what is most wonderful in their own lives. They also stop noticing what is terrible.…

 

Casey Michel is an author, journalist, and director of the Combating Kleptocracy Program with the Human Rights Foundation. He is the author of American Kleptocracy, named by The Economist as one of the 'best books to read to understand financial crime.' He has also testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on…

 

The GEANCO Foundation is an exemplar in the delivery of complex philanthropic projects in Africa. They lead complex surgical missions to Nigeria, and through a network of modern, solar-powered rural family clinics, they help pregnant women to safely deliver healthy babies & vaccinate infants. GEANCO schools and education programs are…

 

Mike Maples Jr. is a co-founding Partner at Floodgate.  He has been on the Forbes Midas List eight times in the last decade and was also named a “Rising Star” by FORTUNE and profiled by Harvard Business School for his lifetime contributions to entrepreneurship. Before becoming a full-time investor, Mike was…

 

Explore an archive of more than 3,000 quotes.

I want every mother in the world, from Baghdad to New York to be able to guarantee the same strength and health to her child; to give that child the tools to control their happiness and health, and to have the power to live well.

— Wim Hof
Extreme athlete known for ice exposure & breathing technique methods

The vast majority of fraudsters, and criminals get caught not because of good police work, but because they continue doing the same thing over and over again, until someone notices.

— Frank Abagnale
Notorious con artist and impostor who inspired the film "Catch Me If You Can

If you don't empower your team, you are doing them a disservice and it's not about working long, long hours but working smartly, productively, and sharing the workload with others who you are able to empower.

— Jacqueline Gold
Founder and former CEO of Ann Summers lingerie and party plan business

In my research spanning the last decade, it struck me that we might be conducting a massive, uncontrolled experiment on an entire generation of humans, without fully understanding the potential ramifications. We're all altering our behaviors due to the advent of mobile information, media, and communications technology.

Society at large only sporadically pays attention to the extraordinarily despair-producing conditions in which young black poor youth attempt to survive.

— Tricia Rose
Hip-hop scholar and cultural critic; author of "Black Noise

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Long-form Interviews with the World's Leading Thinkers — Thought Economics


The Wisdom Series

Ten in-depth articles distilling insights from over 550 interviews with the world's leading thinkers, creators, and changemakers.

The Wisdom of Leadership The Wisdom of Entrepreneurship The Wisdom of Creativity The Wisdom of Technology The Wisdom of Meaning The Wisdom of the Mind The Wisdom of Justice The Wisdom of Science The Wisdom of Geopolitics The Wisdom of Health
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