Authority Issues

Rachel Perkins and Kendall Miller
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Welcome to Authority Issues, a podcast about leadership, management, and competitive prescription writing. Hosted by Rachel Perkins (aka piebob), and Kendall Miller

  1. 2024-07-18

    Episode 100: 100 means 100 percent done, right?

    In this episode, rachel and Kendall talk about: * Crushing Kendall's dreams * How much rachel missed her own home and bed * All the biking Kendall did in Spain * Fraud avoidance via CarFax * The varying qualities of our guests * rachel's propensity for initial kneejerk low assessment of every recording * Our lack of investment in recording quality * The breadth and scope of our interviewees and their employers * What we've been bad at * The frustrations of trying to get guests to talk about themselves * How well we balanced each other's extremes * Episode highlights * Our varying assessments of how well we know each other * Unexpected listener vectors * Humanizing our heroes, possibly a little too much? * Being prepared to stop Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music 3

    32 min

  2. 2024-04-25

    Episode 99: Sonja Mathews (Nonprofit Exec, formerly VP roles at USAA, PepsiCo)

    In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Sonja talk about: * The fact that this podcast is not sponsored by USAA * A journey that started with childhood on a "poser farm" in North Carolina * Driving the tractor as a path to an enjoyment of adventure and power * Discovering that being a defense lawyer meant you would represent a lot of guilty people * How Kendall ruins everything * Being the data pusher and getting hooked on her own supply * The Stephen Covey 7 Habits seminar, aka a sausagefest * Early interpretations of leadership as a command and control process, feedback from other managers, being curious, being willing to apologize and grow * Kendall gets his due, FINALLY * Learning more from mistakes than successes * That there's a difference between listening and "waiting to speak" * The fun of building and running her own "retail lab" aka fake grocery store theater for research * Advocating for the strategic pre-meeting when decisions are being made * Reasons to switch to the nonprofit world, including a cancer diagnosis * What strong 501c3 nonprofit board leadership looks like * That all workers deserve joy in their work * The tragedy of over-volunteering, trying to extricate herself * Recommendations for exploring the Olympic Peninsula * Friends: you should make some and spend time with them :) You can find Sonja at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonja-mathews-63a6a02/ Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music 3

    52 min

  3. 2024-04-04

    Episode 98: Ali Shahriyari (Reality Defender)

    In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Ali talk about: * The rarity of a "traditional" computer science background * Antique hardware * Learning a lot in the fashion business * Why startups are more fun than big companies * The need for deepfake detection * Measuring performance * Designing to mitigate the abuse of your product * Lack of interest in hierarchy * The difficulties of balancing work and life * Sailing, and having a skipper's license * The importance of remaining calm * Getting pwned in your own interview process * A recommendation for watching Terminator 2 You can find Ali on Twitter at @A_Shahriyari and on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alishahriyari/ Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music 3

    47 min

  4. 2024-02-01

    Episode 97: Artificial Intelligence, LLMs, ML: is all the hype warranted?

    In this episode, Kendall and rachel talk about: * rachel's need to finish things and coping mechanisms around that * The recent spate of cold weather/storms and a tale of Kendall's friend and the whisky night * (This podcast may be sponsored by Friday Deployment Spirits, i guess) * An unsurprising objection regarding terminology * How Kendall is obviously a Markov Chain bot, and how have i never noticed this before * The fact that AI-directed research is nothing new * Public access to AI-type tools and how it has expanded the hype cycle * Environmental concerns around resources required * Robots and why they should just exist to do stuff humans don't want to do * Implications of the mismatch in public expectations vs the reality of what AI is actually capable of * Losing the ability of finding the needles of useful information in the haystack of real and generated content * How the hype is definitely hype but it should still be in your pitch deck * The word rachel was looking for: Captcha * Usefulness as a writing tool, but not as an author * Kendall's tantalizing taste of socialized medicine * rachel recommends: Shelter Point distillery's Smoke Point whiskey (Vancouver Island, BC) * Kendall recommends: barrel-finished/aged gins * rachel also recommends: The Future by Naomi Alderman * Kendall also recommends: Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music 3

    52 min

  5. 2023-11-23

    Episode 96: Lessons learned, values earned

    In this episode, rachel and Kendall talk about: * rachel's stuffed animal ownership * Podcast homework * How busy on top of busy Kendall is * Ungulates and double welt pockets * The power of understanding motivation * Wil Wheaton's first law is also Kendall's first law * Context is for kings * Digging into bridge burning * Unpacking what "I love this job" really means * Being a person who works hard * An agreement to play a shit-giving game of cards * Why rachel retired (redux) * Why Kendall is the Patron Saint of Whimsy (hint: it's because he wants to make you smile) * Recommendations: * rachel is excited about new work from James S.A. Corey (the people who wrote The Expanse Series) * Kendall is looking forward to his dad's memoir Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music 3

    49 min

  6. 2023-11-02

    Episode 95: Seif Lotfy (Axiom)

    In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Seif talk about: * The pressures of what your parents want, in various cultures * Quitting a "good job" because they made you a manager * Bringing your team with you to the next company * Open source culture and the meritocracy * The tensions inherent between product management and innovators * Respective hirsuteness * When it's the right time to go off the rails * Acknowledging a need for the rails * A team as a functioning organism, nerdy giant robot references * The gravitational pull of excitement and going off-plan * Recommendations for "Getting to Yes," "Getting Past No," and "Drive" * Smelling things! * Reverse engineering what your kid wants You can find Seif on the Axiom Discord as "Seif" Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music 3

    49 min

  7. 2023-10-12

    Episode 94: Kids: What are they good for? (Absolutely nothing/everything)

    In this episode, Kendall and rachel talk about: * Maritime traffic and the construction of cruise ships * How hard it is to be a foster parent * Kendall's new booze company: Friday Deployment Spirits * Improvements in Kendall's family life post-return from Portugal * rachel's reasons for choosing to not have kids * Why being a woman might impact this perspective * Kendall's awareness of not being an 'equal partner' in the raising of his kids * A lifechanging interaction for Kendall * Why maybe you should get a dog instead * Making the assumption that your kids will take care of you when you're old * The relationship between leadership/management and parenting * Sexism and Kendall's thoughts on having daughters * Not wanting to bring kids into the world we're leaving them * How many kids is enough kids * Recommendations: rachel is looking forward to reading Starter Villain by John Scalzi, Kendall recommends The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, and a podcast called If Books Could Kill Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music 3

    50 min

  8. 2023-09-21

    Episode 93: Ilan Rabinovitch (Scale Conference, formerly Datadog)

    In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Ilan talk about: * Moving from the IT to the Ops side of the house * Being on both sides of "the wall" * Wearing All The Hats at Datadog * The nature of "glue work" * How org size affects leadership roles * Stretching and doing new things vs "fake it 'til you make it" * How product management roles change as you move up the ladder * The relationship between domain expertise and authority * How sometimes it's not a democracy * Taking a break to find out what's next * The pressure of prior successes * Learning how to chill out a bit :) You can find Ilan at https://www.linkedin.com/in/irabinovitch/ Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music 3

    49 min
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About

Welcome to Authority Issues, a podcast about leadership, management, and competitive prescription writing. Hosted by Rachel Perkins (aka piebob), and Kendall Miller

Information

  • Creator
    Rachel Perkins and Kendall Miller
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2024
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Rachel Perkins and Kendall Miller
  • Show Website
    Authority Issues