london school of economics

This podcast is about two legal warriors who have spent the last 30 years protecting the concepts of equity in the courts, through analysis and by helping municipalities create policies that withstand assault.  

Rodney Strong and Delmarie Griffin are also a married couple who have come together from very different backgrounds. 

Delmarie was raised in Columbus, GA and attended an HBCU as an undergraduate and the University of Georgia for her law and business degrees. 
Rodney Strong was raised in Memphis, TN by parents who were active in the NAACP.  One of his strongest memories is being a 5-year-old child who couldn't go to McDonald's because it was segregated. 

Both came of age as Jim Crow racial separation ended and the struggle to merge ideals in the newly integrated workplaces began.  Rodney Strong was mentored by people who were looked at as giants in his home state and Atlanta, GA.  He gained a reputation for combatting, and winning against, court rulings that threatened the concepts of DEI  (diversity, equity and inclusion).  His life's work started when former Mayor Andrew Young hired him to be the compliance officer for the City of Atlanta.  It continues through his firm, Griffin & Strong PC.  
Delmarie worked as a corporate attorney for Hughes Aircraft for ten years.  She handled compliance and HR in government contracting with high clearance levels. 

The unexpected factor in this couple's story  is their  London School of Economics trained, Ph.D.-holding daughter.  She received a top-rated education and brought her skills back to the family firm as its director of operations.  

When this interview took place, one of the most unsettling court cases on affirmative action in higher education  in recent history had not taken place.  But Rodney and Delmarie  knew it was on the horizon and were already prepared to tackle its ramifications.  They also showcase that the skills and experience they bring to clients are often stronger than those offered by majority-owned firms that dabble in Griffin & Strong's chosen legal fields of compliance and equity.   

This podcast is both a profile and a story about family.  You will learn more than just what Delmarie Griffin, Dr. Imani Tucker and Rodney Strong do; you'll learn a great deal about who they are.  

Join Roger in this week's Liberty + Leadership Podcast as he speaks with author Alexandra Hudson. Roger and Lexi discuss her new book, “The Soul of Civility," why society is in dire need of a touch of humanity and how 'porching' can bridge the political and cultural divide. Lexi also shares fascinating excerpts from her book, and explains why Larry David may be the foremost defender of civilization in today's world.

Alexandra Hudson is writer, speaker, and the founder of Civic Renaissance, a publication and intellectual community dedicated to beauty, goodness, and truth. She has contributed to Fox News, CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, TIME Magazine, POLITICO and Newsweek. Before becoming a public advocate for civility, Lexi worked on the 2016 Presidential Transition Team, was the special assistant to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education and served as an adjunct professor at Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Lexi earned a master’s degree in public policy at the London School of Economics as a Rotary Scholar and holds a bachelor’s degree from Trinity Western University. She was awarded a 2019 Robert Novak Journalism Fellowship from TFAS, where she worked on a project titled “Make ‘Porching’ Great Again: How Front Porch Citizenship Can Save Democracy and the Soul of a Nation.”

The Liberty + Leadership Podcast is hosted by TFAS President Roger Ream and produced by kglobal. This episode was recorded at Reason Magazine’s podcast studio. If you have a comment or question for the show, please drop us an email at podcast@TFAS.org. To support future leaders like Lexi, please visit TFAS.org/support.

Pre-order Lexi’s book at https://alexandraohudson.com/book-preorder/.

To read a full transcript of the episode, click here.

Bio:
Susan Allen grew up in Massachusetts, and received her BA in communications and legal studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. After three years at a healthcare policy non-profit in Boston, she moved to New York City to join the Open Society Foundations. Susan completed her master's in management at the London School of Economics in 2015. She relocated to London in 2016 to lead the Foundation's work on diversity, equity, and inclusion and to launch Here We Flo with her best friend, Tara.

Tara Priya Chandra is co-founder of Here We Flo. Born in San Francisco, she studied economics at Columbia University in NYC After briefly working on Wall Street, Tara ended up in the music industry in LA while freelance copywriting for brands like Ray-Ban. Tara received her master's from the London School of Economics, where she met future co-founder Susan and received the C200Award for exceptional MBA students.

Links:
Website: https://www.hereweflo.co/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hereweflo/

Quotes:
“Our mission is shamelessly natural care for life’s messiest moments.”

“Don’t be afraid to fail, everything’s not going to go perfectly. As long as you’re learning and improving, that’s the most important thing.”

Episode Highlights: In this episode, we learn how Here We Flo was created by Susan and Tara.

Personal Journeys:
Tara grew up in San Francisco, California. Her parents were Indian and Persian. At 12, Tara lost her mom, and her independence journey started. Different people mothered her. Having the two sides of the family exposed Tara to different cultures and developed her open-mindedness.

Susan was born in the US Virgin Islands and her family moved to Massachusetts when she was one year old. Her mother started working to recruit minority doctors at Boston Medical Center and at the age of nine, Susan’s parents divorced. 

One day Susan’s brother was shot. Their mom didn’t have money for the required surgery, so he had a colostomy bag for 18 months. Later, they found out there was a free program that could have covered the surgery. The experience made Susan’s mother a strong healthcare advocate.

Childhood Incidents:
Hindu culture believes service to humankind is service to God. Growing up, Tara realized that her dad always encouraged her to pursue a career that would help her serve people. According to him, the most successful people were not the rich but those who served others.

Susan’s mom believes in service to others, and from Susan’s story, it is evident that her children took a similar path.

How Tara and Susan Met:
Tara and Susan met at the London School of Economics. One day, during a conversation in the restroom, Susan suggested they start a business, Tara was agreed and they started brainstorming. One thing Susan knew for sure was it would be a “feminine Mafia.” Tara loved her feminine organic care pack, but it was becoming difficult to find the products. They decided to launch a business for organic feminine care products, called “Here We Flo.”

Workplace Culture at Here We Flo:
Susan describes their workplace culture as a feminist oasis in a sea of patriarchy. Their culture revolves around trust, compassion, and appreciation for their team members. Their aim is to make Here We Flo a great workplace like Google and Microsoft.

What Brings out the Best in Susan and Tara:
Susan and Tara love working with people who are honest about their ambitions. To bring out the best in them, one must be open and willing to learn, vulnerable and transparent.

Tagline: Shamelessly natural care for life’s messiest m

John Feffer, author of Splinterlands, and director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies, focuses on  policies of the Trump and Biden Administrations. Support for Ukraine is critical to America’s interest. Donald Trump implemented several international policies that adversely affected the USA and endangered the world, such as withdrawing from the Iranian Nuclear Deal, the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Accord. While the Biden Administration has had more positive policies, it needs to accelerate its efforts to bring Iran into a new nuclear deal, move more quickly to combat climate warming and re-prioritize its policies in dealing with the “international community.” For example, over $100 billion has been spent to support Ukraine, while only $2.5 billion has been dedicated to all of Latin America. Many of the apocalyptic predictions in the dystopian novel Splinterlands are unfolding today where some superpowers have fractured, global temperatures are soaring, the global economy is teetering and violent nationalism is rampant.

Dr. Sajjan Gohel has a Bachelor of Arts in Politics with Honors from Queen Mary University in London. He earned his Master's in Comparative Politics and Ph.D. in International History both from the London School of Economics. 

• International Security Director for the London-based Asia Pacific Foundation
• Editor of NATO's Counter Terrorism Reference Curriculum
• Host of NATO's first-ever podcast series, "Deep Dive"
• Author "Doctor, Teacher, Terrorist" the story of Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahari

Show Notes:

• Dr. Gohel gives a succinct overview of Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahari and conflicts in the middle east.
• What are the ideological doctrines that radicalize? 
• What did the fall of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan mean for the middle east? 
• The near enemy vs. the far enemy.
• The 9-11 attack was less about an attack on America and more of an attack on a value system. It was part of an ideological war.
• What is the Haqqani Network?
• What is the Quad in the Indo-Pacfic? What you need to know?
• What is the difference between ISIS and Al-Qaeda? 
• Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahari's last strategy was the "safe base" concept being built in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.
• The difference between Osama Bin Laden and Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahari?
• Why is it important to know history and learn from history...it is the foundation of understanding our world today.
• Why and how did Dr. Sajjan Gohel choose his career path? Why people should be proud historians.
• What is Dr. Gohel's advice to young people starting their career?
• Dr. Gohel discusses his love of football, the Celtic Club in Scotland, and his prediction for the World Cup final.
• Book Recommendation - for Soccer (Football) fans - Martin O'Neill - Biography
• If Dr. Gohel could give a State of the Union address to the American people what would he say?

David Quintanilla is a lecturer of Business Law & Ethics at The University of Texas and co-owner of Cavanaugh Quintanilla PLLC. “Mr. Q” has served as a VP of Legal & Finance in the healthcare industry, CFO of his family’s business in the restaurant industry, as well as having worked within the non-profit space. He received his BA in Government at UT, his law degree from St. Mary’s University, and his Masters in Public Policy & Philosophy from the London School of Economics. Above all, Mr. Q is not only a friend of the show but an amazing person dedicated to making the world a better place.

Connect with Mr. Q here:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-quintanilla-8b666784/

TRANSCRIPT:

0:00- 1:09 Intro

1:09 Mr. Q being Alec’s first and only Latino professor in college — what does that say about where we need to go as a country, state, community?

3:03 Mr. Q’s legal expertise in helping people create businesses and plan estates; Moving from working with the family business to discovering his passion for teaching

8:19 What’s important to know for someone trying to find what their meant to do?

• Difficulty of being young & not knowing
• Implications of school systems making kids specialize as early as 12 years old

15:38 Find what you’re good at & enjoy, makes you money, and what makes the world a better place — imagine a Venn diagram

16:16 The daunting decision 18 year olds are tasked with — what do I want to do with my studies and my life

• 17:30 Process of elimination and looking at intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation to aid decision making

18:10 Is there a problem with the education system steering kids towards specializing and pigeon-holing themselves into a specific career path as early as age 12?

• 21:32 Mr. Q’s perspective on how coming from places of privilege/ financial stability allow certain parents to tell their kids to go pursue happiness and passion

24:04 The utility and power of seeing different perspectives and being empathetic towards multiple

25:28 The world isn’t just black and white — there’s plenty of grey area. Why it’s important to ask what’s around the corner

28:29 The importance of unity as human beings despite differences in perspectives and belief systems

30:15 The toughest things Mr. Q teaches with regards to ethics and morality in his business law teachings

• Loyalty vs honesty
• Walking through everything
• Shitty answers vs a shitty answers
• “The best answer is rarely the easiest answer”

38:51 The effects of GroupThink, Conformity Bias, and Self-Confirmation Bias

• Benefits to thinking for yourself

44:23 The 50s-70s responding to hippie culture by saying “no everything exists within this strict box”; Boxed in ideology and the flaws of this way of thinking

• The benefits of putting ideas/ beliefs through analysis

45:40 Gone Baby Gone’s ethical dilemma: 2 tough decisions making us question where we draw the line in society on certain issues and who gets to make those choices

• 50:45 The importance of recognizing that our way of life isn’t the only way of life; Dangers of saying that “my world view should be someone else’s reality”

52:00 The slippery slope of making bad choices = “Incrementalism”

53:00 Alec’s journey of walking through the perspective of pessimism/ baggage and coming back to his belief in resiliency and optimism, how putting his ideology through the gauntlet yielded more confidence in his original belief than prior

• We must think of issues at an individual level AND at a macro level

58:21 What is law school really like

1:09:12 Dallas vs Austin

1:12:35 Characteristics of a good lawyer

• Integrity on integrity on integrity

1:14:35 Mr. Q’s 3 biggest motivators in life

Podcast info:

• Podcast website: https://smartalecshow.com
• RSS feed: feed:https://feeds.simplecast.com/ngBH2BfM
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/634MOIW582k2STgC06Rvl9?si=Zr4Fmx2nR6mqaeWNpFCfQQ&dl_branch=1
• Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-smart-alec-show/id1577614268
• Amazon Music & Audible: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/96993c84-1664-4a67-921d-9b731fbdca99

Connect with Alec on Social:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realsmartalec/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/1alecalvarez
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thesmartalec/

Recorded in January 2021

#055 – Today, we share our love for Study Abroad Programs. These are programs that offer students a great opportunity for personal, academic, and even, professional growth. We begin the episode by uncovering the details of Jankel’s experience as a participant in a study abroad program that took her to Italy. The experiences she had there were extremely positive, and continue to play a role in her life today. We continue our deep dive into Study Abroad Programs by sharing details of the program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. That program that makes a great number of opportunities throughout the world available to its students. In our conversation, we shed light on what Study Abroad Programs are, provide examples of available opportunities for students, and talk about how students usually finance Study Abroad activities. For the vast majority of students who have studies abroad, the outcomes they experienced went beyond academics. We are truly thankful for these programs, and we feel that after listening to this episode, you will gain a great appreciation for them as well. You can find the show notes for this episode at https://collegemetropolis.com/55. Would you please help our show by sharing with someone you know and needs it, by leaving us a 5-star rating and a positive review? That token of appreciation will go a long way in helping us reach other high school students and parents. We would be very grateful for your help. Thank you!

I am very pleased to bring you this conversation with historian Katherine Arnold. Katherine has a masters from University College London in History and is soon to be finishing her PhD after 4 years of study at the London School of Economics. Katherine is a specialist of 19th century Germany, with a specific focus on German imperialism and the natural history of its colonies. In this episode we discuss the the huge changes Germany went through in the 19th century, the second reich and Europe's tradition of exhibiting artefacts gathered from territories overseas.

Why not have a look at Katherine's website: https://www.lse.ac.uk/International-History/People/PhD/arnold/arnoldhttps://www.lse.ac.uk/International-History/People/PhD/arnold/arnold

Or follow Katherine on Twitter at @karnold01

Thrive by MusicbyAden | https://soundcloud.com/musicbyaden
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/

Luck is on your side this week as NYU and LSE faculty member Christian Busch joins Lloyd to discuss his new book, The Serendipity Mindset.

The Director of NYU’s Global Economy Program, Christian has extensive experience with social entrepreneurship. He co-founded the Sandbox Network, a global hub for young innovators, and has advised companies like TED and Haier. And with The Serendipity Mindset, he’s exploring how the world’s best CEOs cultivate luck to gain a competitive edge.

During their conversation, Christian tells Lloyd about the differences between smart and dumb luck, how to turn rejection into an opportunity, and why saying “no” can still leave you open to serendipity. Plus, they delve into the incident that sent Christian on an intense search for meeting and tackle unconscious bias in tech.

Follow Mana Search on Twitter

Follow Mana Search on LinkedIn

Buy Christian’s book: The Serendipity Mindset

Episode Highlights:

03:29: The Serendipity Mindset: how to attract smart luck

09:07: How to say “no” and still be open to opportunity

14:04: How to allow serendipitous connections to happen

20:28: Reframing: how to turn rejection into an opportunity

27:03: Why staying true to your north star ultimately helps you get ahead

31:18: The event that spurred Christian’s search for meaning

35:41: How can people network healthily online?

40:17: Combating unconscious biases in tech.

44:00: What’s next for Christian

1. Start of interview [1:11]
2. Ahmad's "origin story" [1:52]
3. His experience as senior aide to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein in Washington, D.C. (2005-2010) [4:29]
   1. TARP Programs
   2. Dodd Frank Act
4. His experience with Barclays Investment Bank covering public sector infrastructure (2010-2020) [7:41]
   1. Led Barclays’ California and Silicon Valley regional municipal banking team.
   2. Led Barclays' public sector coverage of social impact engagements in the 13 western U.S. states.
   3. Served as a lead banker on several innovative transactions, most notably executing the first ever Social Bonds issue for a non-profit in the U.S. municipal bond market.
5. Introduction of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, founded in 1977 by David Packard of HP [11:19]
6. Membership of the SVLG: about 360 companies. [13:39] "That's where the juice comes from. When we speak on behalf of these Silicon Valley companies, there is a real opportunity to impact positive change not only in Silicon Valley but also in corporate America."
7. Board of SVLG "represents some of the best and brightest of Silicon Valley" [15:15]
8. The new AB-979 California Board Diversity Legislation [16:27]
   1. Introduced by CA AssemblyMember Chris Holden.
   2. On September 30, 2020, Governor Newsom signed AB 979, which requires publicly held corporations headquartered in CA to diversify their boards of directors with directors from “underrepresented communities” by December 31, 2021.
   3. AB 979 defines “director from an underrepresented community” as “an individual who self-identifies as Black, African American, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Alaska Native, or who self-identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.”
9. "What's so significant [for SVLG] is that we made a decision to stand on the side of progress" [18:35]
10. The precedent of SB-826 [19:13]
11. "I'm just so proud to stand with our executives and member companies to drive some serious change in a smart and responsible manner." [20:26]
12. What piqued his interest in corporate board diversity: "some of this is very personal" [21:29]
13. "The statement being made [with AB-979] was one that we [SVLG] wanted to stand in line with" [24:20]
14. "The shareholder oversight questions are extremely serious and significant for public companies, especially for tech companies" [27:30]
15. SVLG is developing tools to help on diversity initiatives (such as a database/repository of resumes) [29:09]
16. Impact of Black Lives Matter movement in corporate America and SVLG [30:26]
17. "There is overwhelming research that demonstrates a clear tie between increased profitability, increased market leadership, and more innovation with diverse executive leadership teams" "There is a business imperative to act, and also a moral imperative." [32:30]
18. SVLG Is working on a pledge to improve diversity numbers in both public and private companies [35:56]
19. Shareholder primacy vs stakeholder capitalism [43:44]: "What I would hope is that a business association like ours might be a proponent of tying social responsibility in every way, shape and form, and very strategically, to the business and to the bottom line."
20. What's next for SVLG [46:40]: In terms of racial justice and equity: "It is about hiring, it's about funding, and it's about measuring results."
21. His favorite books: [49:27]
    1. Endurance, by Alfred Lansing.
    2. To Sell is Human, by Daniel Pink.
    3. Bad Blood, by John Carreyrou.
    4. Total Leadership, by Stewart Friedman.
22. His professional mentor: [51:23]
    1. Dianne Feinstein
23. His favorite quotes: [52:27]
    1. "Luck is where preparation meets opportunity" (attributed to Roman philosopher Seneca)
    2. "You've got to get comfortable being uncomfortable in roles like this"
    3. "There is nothing more uncommon than common sense" (attributed to Frank Lloyd Wright)
24. What is an unusual habit or an absurd thing that you love?
    1. Two Beyond Burgers a day!
25. Which living person do you most admire? His Dad, who grew up in the segregated south.

Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License

You can follow Evan on social media at:

Twitter: @evanepstein

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/ 

Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/

__

You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:

Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod

__

Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License

Science is often seen as a pure, objective discipline — as if it all rests neatly on cause and effect. As if the universe acknowledges a difference between ideal categories like “biology” and “physics.” But lately, the authority of science has had to reckon with critiques that it is practiced by flawed human actors inside social institutions. How much can its methods really disclose? Somewhere between the two extremes of scientism and the assertion that all knowledge is a social construct, real scientists continue to explore the world under conditions of uncertainty, ready to revise it all with deeper rigor.

For this great project to continue in spite of our known biases, it’s helpful to step back and ask some crucial questions about the nature, limits, and reliability of science. To answer the most fundamental questions of our cosmos, it is time to bring back the philosophers to articulate a better understanding of how it is that we know what we know in the first place. Some questions — like the nature of causation, where we should look for aliens, and why we might rationally choose not to know important information — might not be answerable without bringing science and philosophy back into conversation with each other.

This week’s guest is David Kinney, an Omidyar Postdoctoral Fellow here at SFI whose research focuses on the philosophy of science and formal epistemology. We talk about his work on rational ignorance, explanatory depth, causation, and more on a tour of a philosophy unlike what most of us may be familiar with from school — one thriving in collaboration with the sciences.

DavidBKinney.com

On the Explanatory Depth and Pragmatic Value of Coarse-Grained, Probabilistic, Causal Explanations.Philosophy of Science. 86(1): 145-167.

Is Causation Scientific?

Visit our website for more information or to support our science and communication efforts.

Join our Facebook discussion group to meet like minds and talk about each episode.

Podcast Theme Music by Mitch Mignano.

Follow us on social media:
Twitter • YouTube • Facebook • Instagram • LinkedIn

During the 2020 Winter School for PhD candidates, LSE Associate Professor Jonathan Hopkin joined us to discuss his forthcoming book on anti-system politics and economic inequality in the West. Jonathan and Aidan Regan discuss whether it's cultural changes or neoliberalism that drive anti-system parties of the left and right, as well as the relationship between welfare states and party politics.

Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJMjTbbz7UQ&feature=youtu.be

The book: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/anti-system-politics-9780190699765?cc=us&lang=en&

Our website: http://www.newpoliticaleconomyeurope.eu/

Follow us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/UCD_DEI