Talks at Google

A.I. Archetecht Yoav Schlesinger visits Google to discuss Ethical Os. How can you predict the unintended consequences of the products you are building today? How can you actively safeguard users, communities, societies, and your company from new future risks? As we think about the future of tech at Google, Yoav Schlesinger will showcase the Ethical Operating System, or Ethical OS, and how it can help anticipate risks or scenarios before they happen. By asking the right sets of questions, EthicalOS provides a practical tool for beginning the tough conversations that ensure the tech we’re building lives up to its promise as a force for good. Originally published in April of 2019. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Sean Carroll visits Google to discuss his book “The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself.” Already internationally acclaimed for his notions in modern physics, Sean Carroll’s book brings extraordinary intellect to our deepest personal questions. Where are we? Who are we? Are our emotions, beliefs, hopes and dreams ultimately meaningless in the void? Does human purpose and meaning fit into a scientific worldview? Carroll's presentation of the scientific revolution from Darwin and Einstein to the origins of life, consciousness, and the universe is unique. He shows how an avalanche of discoveries in the past few hundred years has changed our world and what really matters to us. Originally published in May of 2016. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

The cast and creatives of “Titanique: The Musical” visit Google to discuss their award-winning, highly acclaimed musical parody of the eleven-time Oscar-winning film “Titanic.” When the music of Céline Dion makes sweet Canadian love with the eleven-time Oscar®-winning film Titanic, you get TITANIQUE, a musical celebration that turns one of the greatest love stories of all time into a hysterical and joyful slay-fest. Featuring powerhouse voices and show-stopping numbers, TITANIQUE is a one-of-a-kind musical voyage bursting with nostalgia and heart. Panelists include director and co-author Tye Blue, co-author Constantine Rousouli, co-author Marla Mindelle, producer Eva Price and choreographer Ellanore Scott. The performers include Marla and Constantine, joined by Anthony Murphy and Carrie St. Louis, who play the characters of Victor Garber and Rose, respectively. For more information, please visit titaniquemusical.com. Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.

Cal Newport visits Google to discuss his book “So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love.” Following your passion may not be good advice. Preexisting passions are rare and have little to do with how most people end up loving their work, but giving into the cliche can also be dangerous, leading to anxiety and chronic job hopping. After making his case against passion, Newport sets out on a quest to discover the reality of how people end up loving what they do. Spending time with organic farmers, venture capitalists, screenwriters, freelance computer programmers, and others who admitted to deriving great satisfaction from their work, Newport uncovers the strategies they used and the pitfalls they avoided in developing their compelling careers. According to Newport, matching your job to a preexisting passion does not matter. Passion comes after you put in the hard work to become excellent at something valuable, not before. In other words, what you do for a living is much less important than how you do it. With a title taken from the comedian Steve Martin, who once said his advice for aspiring entertainers was to "be so good they can't ignore you," Cal Newport's book is mandatory reading for anyone fretting about what to do with their life, or frustrated by their current job situation and eager to find a fresh new way to take control of their livelihood. Originally published in October of 2012. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to find this video and many more!

Ashlee Vance visits Google to discuss his latest book “When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach.” With the launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 1 rocket in 2008, Silicon Valley began to realize that the universe itself was open for business. Now, Ashlee Vance tells the remarkable, unfolding story of this frenzied intergalactic land grab by following four pioneering companies—Astra, Firefly, Planet Labs, and Rocket Lab—as they build new space systems and attempt to launch rockets and satellites into orbit by the thousands. With the public fixated on space tourism being driven by the likes of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson, these new, scrappy companies arrived with a different set of goals: to make rocket and satellite launches fast and cheap, thereby opening Earth’s lower orbit for business. Through immersive and intimate reporting, this book reveals the spectacular chaos of the new business of space, and what happens when the idealistic, ambitious minds of Silicon Valley turn their unbridled vision toward the limitless expanse of the stars. Visit http://g.co/TalksAtGoogle/HeavensOnSale to watch the video.

John Cleese visits Google to discuss his book “So, Anyway…”, a chronicle of his early life and career. John Cleese’s huge comedic influence has stretched across generations; his sharp irreverent eye and the unique brand of physical comedy he perfected now seem written into comedy’s DNA. In this memoir, Cleese recalls his humble beginnings in a sleepy English town, his early comedic days at Cambridge University with future Monty Python partner Graham Chapman, and the founding of the landmark comedy troupe that would propel him to worldwide renown. Cleese was just days away from graduating Cambridge and setting off on a law career when he was visited by two BBC executives, who offered him a job writing comedy for radio. That fateful moment propelled him down a different path, cutting his teeth writing for stars like David Frost and Peter Sellers, and eventually joining the five other Pythons to pioneer a new kind of comedy that prized invention, silliness, and absurdity. Along the way, he found his first true love with the actress Connie Booth and transformed himself from a reluctant performer to a world class actor and back again. Originally published in November of 2015. Visit http://g.co/TalksAtGoogle/SoAnyway to watch the video.

Neil Mullarkey visits Google to discuss his book “In the Moment: Build Your Confidence, Communication and Creativity at Work” There are moments throughout our lives when our confidence and creativity can make all the difference. Every meeting, presentation and conversation is an opportunity to embrace your confidence and show your creative flair. With insights on collaboration, risk-taking and organization, this book arms you with a complete repertoire of powerful communication tricks and strategies. Neil Mullarkey is an actor, author, comedian and communication expert, notably known for his roles in “Whose Line Is it Anyway” and the Austin Powers movies. Neil also travels the world bringing the skills of theater and improv to clients such as EY, Deloitte, Vodafone, Accenture and Unilever. He has delivered hundreds of keynotes and workshops to various organizations and is a guest speaker at London Business School, London Business Forum and Bayes Business School. Visit http://g.co/TalksAtGoogle/BuildConfidence to watch the video.

Ogi Ogas visits Google to discuss his book “A Billion Wicked Thoughts.” What really turns us on? Throughout human history, people haven't been honest—with themselves or with each other. What they say they like is often quite different from what they look for when nobody is watching. But how can we learn the truth? Ogas and co-author Sai Gaddam have studied the secret sexual behavior of more than a hundred million people around the world. Their method? They observed what people do within the anonymity of the Internet. Ogas and Gaddam analyzed a billion web searches, a million websites, millions of personal ads, and tens of thousands of digitized romance novels. Their groundbreaking findings will profoundly alter the way you think about human sexual relationships. Originally published in July of 2011. Visit http://g.co/TalksAtGoogle/BillionWickedThoughts to watch the video.

Cecil Baldwin visits Google to discuss the creation and development of the hit science fiction podcast "Welcome to Night Vale". "Welcome to Night Vale" is a twice-monthly podcast in the style of a community radio show for the small desert town of Night Vale, featuring local weather, news, announcements from the Sheriff's Secret Police, mysterious lights in the night sky, a faceless old woman who secretly lives in your home, dark hooded figures with unknowable powers, and eldritch beings beyond mortal comprehension. Learn more at welcometonightvale.com Originally published in June of 2017. Visit http://g.co/TalksAtGoogle/NightVale to watch the video.

Anna Kendrick visits Google to discuss her book “Scrappy Little Nobody.” Even before she made a name for herself on the silver screen starring in films like “Pitch Perfect,” “Up in the Air,” and “Twilight”, Anna Kendrick was unusually small, weird, and just a little defiant. At the ripe age of thirteen, she had already resolved to keep the crazy inside her head where it belonged. Forever. But here’s the thing about crazy: It. Wants. Out. In “Scrappy Little Nobody,” she invites readers inside her brain, sharing extraordinary and charmingly ordinary stories with candor and winningly wry observations. Enter Anna’s world and follow her rise from “scrappy little nobody” to somebody who dazzles on the stage, the screen, and now the page—with a voice, at once familiar and surprising, sharp and sweet, funny and serious. Originally published in October of 2017. Visit http://g.co/TalksAtGoogle/ScrappyLittleNobody to watch the video.

Shellye Archambeau visits Google to discuss her book “Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers, and Create Success on Your Own Terms.” The book is an empowering leadership guide from one of Silicon Valley's first female African American CEOs that offers a blueprint for how to achieve your personal and professional goals. Shellye Archambeau recounts how she overcame the challenges she faced as a young black woman, wife, and mother, managing her personal and professional responsibilities while climbing the ranks at IBM and subsequently in her roles as CEO. Through the busts and booms of Silicon Valley in the early 2000s, this book details the risks she took and the strategies she used to steer her family, her career, and her company toward success. Shellye is one of high tech's first female African American CEOs and has been featured frequently in Forbes, the New York Times, Business Insider, and more. Formerly an executive at IBM and President of Blockbuster.com, Archambeau was recruited to be the CEO of a then-struggling Silicon Valley startup, now named MetricStream, a recognized global leader in governance, risk, and compliance software solutions. She currently serves as a Fortune 500 board member and holds board seats at Verizon, Nordstrom, Roper Technologies, and Okta. Visit http://g.co/TalksAtGoogle/UnapologeticallyAmbitious to watch the video.

Morra Aarons-Mele visits Google to discuss her book “The Anxious Achiever: Turn Your Biggest Fears into Your Leadership Superpower.” Anxiety is normal. The way we hide it is not. Although so much has been done to promote diversity and wellness at work, there’s a giant hole in the understanding of how mental health plays into not just our daily grind, but the very trajectory of success. We’re all in desperate need for better models of leadership - especially in a society that tells us that mental health challenges like anxiety and depression are weaknesses. Anxiety is a constant in today’s workplace, and people need tools to manage it. If you do nothing to address it, anxiety can seriously hamper your potential for high performance. However, “The Anxious Achiever” shows that anxiety can be fundamentally helpful to leaders, and with the right tools, you can harness its power to turn stress into strength. Mentally healthy workforces drive return on investment: employers see a $4 return for every dollar invested in employee mental health support. This book will help leaders and teams understand how anxiety shows up for them at work, lead and thrive through uncertainty, and create mentally healthy teams and culture. Visit http://g.co/TalksAtGoogle/AnxiousAchiever to watch the video.

Jamie Jones visits Google to discuss the evolution, ecology, and adaptation of the human species. Rationality has taken a hit recently. Recent work in psychology and economics has challenged the notion that the human brain is designed to make rational decisions. However, this observation raises a paradox. By almost any measure, Homo sapiens is a spectacularly successful species. From humble origins approximately two million years ago, humans have grown to a population that exceeds seven billion and have colonized nearly every terrestrial biome. This phenomenal growth suggests that our ancestors made very good decisions. Yet this work from psychology and economics suggests that the decision-making software that our brains run is profoundly flawed — that we are, in a word, irrational. How is it possible that a species apparently so defective in its ability to generate sound decisions can be so incredibly successful? It turns out that the rules for a living organism, anchored in the present and subject to a force of selection which is extremely averse to extinction, are quite different from the rules of abstract, formal rationality. In this Talk, Jones will show how the all-important need to avoid extinction in a world that is at best incompletely known has profound implications for preferences, utility, and rationality. By ignoring the condition of existential uncertainty, the theory of rational decision-making has developed distorted expectations of how an organism working in its own best interest should behave. Originally published in March of 2018. Visit http://g.co/TalksAtGoogle/HumanPreference to watch the video.

Kristy Hamilton visits Google to discuss her book “Nature's Wild Ideas: How the Natural World is Inspiring Scientific Innovation”. The book is a deep-dive into nature and the many groundbreaking human inventions inspired by the wild. When astronomers wanted a telescope that could capture X-rays from celestial bodies, they looked to the lobster. When doctors wanted a medication that could stabilize Type II diabetic patients, they found their muse in a lizard. When scientists wanted to drastically reduce emissions in cement manufacturing, they observed how corals construct their skeletons in the sea. This is biomimicry in action: taking inspiration from nature to tackle human challenges. In “Nature’s Wild Ideas”, Kristy Hamilton goes behind the scenes of some of our most unexpected innovations. She traverses frozen waterfalls, treks through cloudy forests, discovers nests in the Mojave desert, scours intertidal zones and takes us to the deepest oceans to introduce us to the animals and plants that have inspired everything from cargo routing systems to non-toxic glues, as well as the men and women who followed that first spark of “I wonder” all the way to its conclusion. While the joy of scientific discovery is front and center, “Nature’s Wild Ideas” is also a love letter to nature—complete with a deep message of conservation: If we are to continue learning from the creatures around us, we must protect their untamed homelands. Visit http://g.co/TalksAtGoogle/NaturesWildIdeas to watch the video.

Award-winning writer, stand-up comedian and TV and radio presenter Viv Groskop visits Google to discuss her book “Happy High Status: How to Be Effortlessly Confident.” Everyone wants to be able to face challenging situations without feeling daunted, intimidated or stressed. But no-one wants to be labeled over-confident, arrogant or smarmy, or to get caught up in their own hype. So how can you feel authentically confident - without the cringe, and without pretending to be something you're not? “Happy high status” is a new way of thinking about confidence and how you relate to yourself. It's how actors and comedians enhance their presence on stage and screen. It lends strength and energy to your interactions, big and small, and is a way of projecting status, minimizing self-doubt and moving effortlessly through life. Drawing on research, practical tips and lessons from the worlds of comedy, film, television, politics and sport, Viv Groskop offers a masterclass in how you can access this new form of confidence at any time. All, crucially, with no risk of anyone thinking that you are your own biggest fan. Visit http://g.co/TalksAtGoogle/HappyHighStatus to watch the video.

Dr. Nathalie Cabrol visits Google to discuss the science and technology of exploring Saturn’s moon, Titan. Titan is the largest moon in the Saturn system. It is 50% larger than the Earth's moon, has an atmosphere, and is presumed to have seas filled with methane and other hydrocarbons. In order for humanity to explore Titan in the future, we need exploration systems that are radically different from those currently used in space. In particular, we need to develop robots that can accumulate knowledge about their environment; understand mission priorities, and make and evaluate observations as events happen on site, not only when receiving commands from Earth. Dr. Nathalie A. Cabrol leads projects in planetary sciences and astrobiology at NASA. She develops science exploration strategies for Mars and Titan, and designs robotic field experiments. She explores lakes in the Andes up to 6,000 meters high, where environmental conditions are analogous to early Mars. Through geologic and diving expeditions, she documents life's adaptation to extreme environments, the effect of rapid climate change on lake ecosystems and habitats, its geobiological signatures, and relevance to planetary exploration. Originally published in June of 2014. Visit http://g.co/TalksAtGoogle/Titan to watch the video.

Comedic actor, producer, and writer Rainn Wilson visits Google to discuss his book “Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution.” The book is a deep-dive into the problem-solving benefits that spirituality gives us to create solutions for an increasingly challenging world. The trauma that our species has experienced in recent years is not going away anytime soon. Existing political and economic systems are not enough to bring the change that the world needs. In this book, Rainn Wilson explores the possibility and hope for a spiritual revolution, a “Soul Boom,” to find a healing transformation on both a personal and global level. For Wilson, this is a serious and essential pursuit, but he brings great humor and his own unique perspective to the conversation. He feels that culturally, we’ve discounted spirituality, and we need the wisdom that the great spiritual traditions can provide. Wilson’s approach to spirituality—the non-physical, eternal aspects of ourselves—is relatable and applies to people of all beliefs, even the most skeptical among us. Visit http://g.co/TalksAtGoogle/SoulBoom to watch the video.

Dr. Robert Califf visits Google to share his views on the nascent field of technology-enabled healthcare. One of the most prominent and influential physician-scientists in the US, Robert is the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, where he is responsible for protecting public health by assuring the safety and effectiveness of drugs and medical devices. Described as “the most qualified commissioner in the FDA's History”, Dr. Califf is a cardiologist and professor of medicine at Duke University and Stanford University, with more than 1,200 publications in peer-reviewed literature. Originally published in July of 2018 Visit http://g.co/TalksAtGoogle/TechnoHealth to watch the video.

Actor, producer and director Idris Elba visits Google to discuss the creative influence that Africa and its diaspora has across the tech, entertainment and business worlds. The only child of African immigrants to the UK, Idris Elba is one of a handful of British actors who can claim to be a Hollywood leading man. In 2002, he rose to fame playing the role of Stringer Bell in HBO’s “The Wire”, which is still considered to be one of the finest TV dramas ever made. He went on to big-screen success and cultural ubiquity, as an actor, director, producer, musician, fashion designer, philanthropist, dare-devil, podcaster, and heart-throb. Visit http://g.co/TalksAtGoogle/IdrisElba to watch the video.

Behaviorist dog trainer Rob Peladeau visits Google to discuss effective strategies for training your dog. Rob has been training dogs for almost twenty years, specializing in behavior modification and rehabilitation of aggressive and reactive dogs, as well as problem solving for unwanted behaviors. Rob and his company NextGen K9 specialize in helping dogs that struggle to cope with the urban environment we live in. Many unwanted traits become apparent when dogs are not given the right stimulus that they need to cope with city living. The close proximity of the space we share in urban areas makes a reactive or aggressive dog stand out. It can also turn dangerous in some cases, injuring other dogs, cats or human adults or children. Join us for a Talk about how a dog learns, the concepts of Marker Training, and behavior modification through counter conditioning. Originally published in December of 2014. Visit http://g.co/TalksAtGoogle/NextGenk9 to watch the video.