David Zipper, senior fellow at MIT's Mobility Initiative, on vehicle bloat, the elusive "15-minute city," EVs and much more. Ian Stewart guest hosts.Af Roben Farzad

Media reporter Oliver Darcy, recently of CNN's "Reliable Sources" newsletter, on leaving the global news giant to launch Status -- which publishes directly to readers. We discussed cable's brutal year; the struggle to get people to pay for news; and the risk-reward profile of building it yourself in 2024.…

John Doe of the seminal LA punk band X on the early days of the movement; staying in business through the decades and X's ninth --and final -- studio album, "Smoke and Fiction." Guest host: Ian Stewart.Af Roben Farzad

Market volatility and economic consternation are back. And so we bring back friend-of-the-show Caleb Silver -- editor in chief of Investopedia (turning 25 this year) and previously CNN's head of U.S. business news. We discussed the Fed, generational wealth, creative destruction...the works.Af Roben Farzad

Karina Benavides on her critically acclaimed restaurant Abuelita's, whose guisos, grilled cactus and red mole ranchero pay homage to her native Jalisco, Mexico. Guest hosted by Ian Stewart.Af Roben Farzad

Social media darling "Just Joe" Altier -- self-proclaimed blue collar musician -- on making a living in the era of disruption from TikTok, Spotify and AI. Plus, Def Leppard, Rush and Cyndi Lauper.Af Roben Farzad

In case you missed it: Netflix's "How to Rob a Bank;" The Economist on the solar revolution; former CIA director Gen. David Petraeus.Af Roben Farzad

The Economist's Hal Hodson on how solar energy is rapidly eclipsing our fossil fuel-based reality. The implications are revolutionary -- from clean water and A/C for the poorest populations; to a Saharan land grab; to solar-powered carbon vacuums; to fatter corporate profits. And so many dividends we cannot yet imagine.…

Seth Porges on his hit Netflix documentary "How to Rob a Bank" -- which tells the stranger-than-fiction story of the 'Hollywood Bandit,' a treehouse-dwelling ex-meth dealer who evaded authorities as he hit bank after bank in and around Seattle.Af Roben Farzad

Former CIA director. Professor. Commander. PhD. The 37-year military leader is now a partner with investing colossus KKR. We discussed the Middle East, Afghanistan, Ukraine, China, frontier-markets investing and Petraeus's bestseller, Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine.Af Roben Farzad

Highlights from recent episodes, including Slate's head of audio Alicia Montgomery; Chicken Fiesta founder Harold Vega; and Larry Ingrassia, author of A Fatal Inheritance: How a Family Misfortune Revealed a Deadly Medical MysteryAf Roben Farzad

Lawrence Ingrassia on his book A Fatal Inheritance: How a Family Misfortune Revealed a Deadly Medical Mystery. The veteran journalist, who lost his mother, two sisters, brother and nephew to cancer, discusses the painstaking detective work that has gone into understanding his family's Li-Fraumeni Syndrome.…

Soulidifly Productions' founder and CEO B.K. Fulton on reinventing from the top executive ranks of Verizon into a career as a prolific filmmaker and Broadway producer.Af Roben Farzad

Restaurateur Harold Vega on leaving the violence of his native Colombia for the U.S. -- where he bussed tables and accumulated the ambition and capital to found Virginia rotisserie empire Chicken Fiesta.Af Roben Farzad

Alicia Montgomery, Slate's head of audio and a longtime NPR producer, on the converging and diverging words of public and for-profit media. Slate, a 28-year old digital media OG with a roster of hit podcasts, just had its most profitable year on record.Af Roben Farzad

Cambria Investment Management's Meb Faber on staying ahead in the era of democratized markets -- with too many choices and maybe too much information. We discussed diversification, risk and the tech heavyweights dominating U.S. returns. And Faber's career journey.Af Roben Farzad

• NPR's Sarah McCammon on her bestseller The Exvangelicals• MBA-ish feels your corporate pain• New Martin Agency CEO Danny RobinsonAf Roben Farzad

Dr. Vanessa Sinclair on her new novel Things Happen -- which recalls her days as a homeless grunge teen crashing at Miami's then-abandoned Hotel Mutiny after Hurricane Andrew broke her family apart. Today, Sinclair is a psychoanalyst based in Sweden.Af Roben Farzad

Danny Robinson, The Martin Agency's new CEO, on staying competitive, omnivorous and funky amid the seemingly relentless disruption of advertising and media.Af Roben Farzad

NPR's Sarah McCammon on her new book, The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living and Leaving the White Evangelical Church. Recorded before an audience for Fountain Bookstore and Sam Miller's Restaurant in Richmond, Virginia.Af Roben Farzad

Erin Kennedy on finding purpose to emerge from crippling depression and start OMG OCPs, the booming oatmeal cream pie brand in Richmond, Virginia. She did this during the pandemic with only $300 in her bank account.Af Roben Farzad

Adeel Van, the lapsed consultant and startup CEO, on founding Instagram phenom MBA-ish -- where fun is poked, pain is felt and help is dished to so many lost and suffering corporate souls.Af Roben Farzad

Paramount and Warner Bros., the storied media empires, are in crisis; TV is bleeding viewers; VICE is nearing death, while The Messenger is already dead; big layoffs at the Washington Post and LA Times. Precisely the time to talk to Josh Tyrangiel, the veteran producer, executive and editor who has traversed many of these lands.…

Rick Wilson -- longtime GOP strategist; outspoken Never Trumper; bestselling author; co-founder of The Lincoln Project; FLORIDA MAN! -- on Election 2024, the past, present and future of the Republican Party and the near impossibility of removing candidate Joe Biden this late in the cycle.Af Roben Farzad

NPR's Steve Inskeep (live from UR) on Abraham Lincoln's leadership journey; Hussein Ibish on the Middle East's intersecting chess games since October 7; Zoe Schiffer on her Elon Musk / Twitter book Extremely Hardcore; and The Economist on China's race for electric-vehicle dominanceAf Roben Farzad