podcasts

Means of Ascent by Robert A. Caro on Audible:
http://www.audible.com/pd/Bios-Memoirs/Means-of-Ascent-Audiobook/B00GS3UI9G?source_code=SCLGB9091WS112513

Summary:

Robert A. Caro's life of Lyndon Johnson, which began with the greatly acclaimed The Path to Power, also winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, continues - one of the richest, most intensive, and most revealing examinations ever undertaken of an American President. In Means of Ascent, the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer/historian, chronicler also of Robert Moses in The Power Broker, carries Johnson through his service in World War II and the foundation of his long-concealed fortune and the facts behind the myths he created about it. But the explosive heart of the book is Caro's revelation of the true story of the fiercely contested 1948 senatorial election, for 40 years shrouded in rumor, which Johnson had to win or face certain political death, and which he did win -- by "the 87 votes that changed history."

Caro makes us witness to a momentous turning point in American politics: the tragic last stand of the old politics versus the new - the politics of issue versus the politics of image, mass manipulation, money and electronic dazzle.

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Means of Ascent: The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert A. Caro, Narrated by Grover Gardner

Show notes: ide.mit.edu/news-events-media?type_1=podcast
This podcast is all about digital experimentation. We discuss why it's useful, why it's harder that it seems, and best practices. Our guest is Dean Eckles, who is an assistant professor at MIT Sloan and previously worked at Facebook as a research scientist. We begin the conversation by describing how the human-computer interaction approach to studying digital systems differs from the marketing approach. We then discuss digital experiments, and how they can be used to both study policy and to learn about behavior. We then discuss when 'big data' is necessary for experiments to be informative and the possibility of non-parametric methods for inference. Next, we move on to Dean's research on peer effects between users on Facebook. We finish with advice for researchers collaborating with the private sector.

EF11: Digital Experimentation and Peer Effects with Dean Eckles

Show notes: ide.mit.edu/news-events-media?type_1=podcast
What is a platform and do platforms represent a new form of industrial organization? Marshall Van Alstyne, professor at Boston University and research associate at the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, joins us for a conversation on these topics. We start by discussing the fundamental economics of platforms. Next, we attempt to tackle the following questions: What generates market power on platforms? Do platforms improve efficiency by internalizing externalities or do they create distortions? What are the sources of demand side network effects? Does Google create a competitive bottleneck? When is regulation of platforms appropriate? When should a firm adopt a platform strategy?

EF12: Platforms with Marshall Van Alstyne

Matt Giroveanu, Rachel Bouton, and Kiki Mikkelson improvise a love song in Vern’s Audible special, "A Very Improvised Holiday Musical".  The prompt for the special was to create a new holiday on the spot, and the live audience chose “pickles” as the celebratory food, “periwinkle and maroon” as the holiday’s colors, and “the poop emoji” as the sacred symbol (Oh, millennials). But the resulting musical is surprisingly sweet.
 
Listen to the FULL holiday special on Audible: http://tinyurl.com/VernSpecial

Listen on Audible

A Very Improvised Holiday Musical (Teaser Clip)

Exclusively on Audible, an original audio documentary narrated by award-winning actress Mary-Louise Parker.

It’s always hard to make the crowd laugh — especially when joking about war, PTSD, and mental health. Strong Ending follows three military veterans as they attempt to turn their most painful stories into laughs by participating in a stand-up comedy boot camp.

After joining the military, deploying to combat zones, and coming home fundamentally changed, Michael Garvey, Isaura Ramirez, and Patrick Harth challenge themselves to share their stories on stage and perform original stand up-comedy about their experiences for a packed house.

Narrated by Emmy and Tony award-winning actress Mary-Louise Parker and featuring interviews with professional comedians Rob Riggle (The Daily Show, The Hangover) and Maria Bamford (Lady Dynamite, Arrested Development), Strong Ending explores the science behind the healing power of laughter and the role of military-comedies in popular culture.

Is laughter really the best medicine? Listen to find out: Audible.com/StrongEnding

Strong Ending  - Maria Bamford on Mental Health & Comedy (clip)

Strong Ending - Rob Riggle On Comedy (clip)

Featuring Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy, Eliza Skinner.

In this scene excerpt from a live cast reading, alien commander 9-Krelblax orders his navigator, Zzarvon, to set a course for the Big Dipper but things get off track pretty quickly.

Download and listen to the full Audible Original, "The Pole Vault Championship of the Entire Universe", at Audible.com/PoleVault!

The Pole Vault Championship - Live from SF Sketchfest - Navigating the Stars

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Means of Ascent: The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert A. Caro, Narrated by Grover Gardner

Audible

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