Guest Thinkers — December 21, 2010

PBS Transcript and video

Gregory Johnsen

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Here is the transcript and video from the PBS News Hour yesterday.

The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.

A grid of connected translucent spheres on a light blue background represents network leadership, with one central sphere colored orange instead of grey.

Business

“Sense and respond”: How to harness the power of network leadership

The rapid crash of Nokia was triggered when key information gatekeepers became bottlenecks. Here’s the key lesson.

Black-and-white photo showing a disc-shaped object with a shadowed underside, floating in a blank sky—an iconic image from the UFO craze.

Books

Science fiction, Project Blue Book, and the beginnings of the UFO craze

In this preview from “The Saucerian,” author Gabriel Mckee explains how the combination of fantastical stories and obscure bureaucracy launched the “space age of the imagination.”

A silhouette of a crowned figure holding a scepter and a red bag, with various coins spilling out against a blue background.

Mini Philosophy

Why the people who actually drive history aren’t in the textbooks

Follow the money and you’ll follow history.

Barry Ritholtz, a man in a suit and tie, stands confidently before a blue zigzag line on a light backdrop.

The Long Game

The Barry Ritholtz Interview: “Smart is good. Smart and lucky is better”

Barry Ritholtz — market commentator, founder of Ritholtz Wealth Management, and podcast host — shares what really trips investors up.

An older man with a white beard sits in a room, wearing a light blue shirt, hands clasped together. Bookshelves and artwork are visible in the background.

The Future

Kevin Kelly points a new way forward into the Age of AI

One of the most original and optimistic thinkers in America sketches some big ideas about what’s possible with AI in the next 25 years.

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