A Book with Legs

Smead Capital Management
  • 4.4 (1.1K)
  • Investing

In each episode, we explore value investing through an entirely unique lens, bringing in authors to discuss books that have directly or indirectly influenced the decisions the Smead Capital Management team has made on their investments in stocks and equities. The podcast is for the curious-minded looking for worldly wisdom. Investing is the last great liberal art, and the team at Smead wants to learn as much as they can. Any level of investor, business person, or thinker, whether personally or professionally, will be intrigued and engaged by these discussions.

  1. 18h ago ·  Video

    Kenneth Rogoff - Our Dollar, Your Problem: An Insider's View of Seven Turbulent Decades of Global Finance, and the Road Ahead

    In this episode of A Book with Legs, Cole Smead, CEO and Portfolio Manager at Smead Capital Management, sits down with Dr. Kenneth Rogoff to discuss his book, "Our Dollar, Your Problem: An Insider's View of Seven Turbulent Decades of Global Finance, and the Road Ahead." Kenneth Rogoff is the Maurits C. Boas Professor of Economics at Harvard University. From 2001 to 2003, he served as Chief Economist and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund, and earlier in his career was an economist at the Federal Reserve Board. He is the co-author, with Carmen Reinhart, of the New York Times bestseller "This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly," as well as "Foundations of International Macroeconomics" and "The Curse of Cash." He earned his Ph.D. in economics at MIT and is also an international grandmaster of chess. The conversation explores the dollar's position at the center of global finance, from the history of currency dominance dating back to Spain, to the rise of populism and its threat to the dollar's exorbitant privilege, to real, candid stories from Rogoff's own experience meeting Chinese leadership and warning of the country's real estate crisis years before it hit. They also discuss the euro's uneven path, the Mexican peso crisis, and what stablecoins and cryptocurrency really mean for the future of money. Read Kenneth's column here: https://www.project-syndicate.org/columnist "Our Dollar, Your Problem: An Insider's View of Seven Turbulent Decades of Global Finance, and the Road Ahead," published by @YaleUniversityPress , is available now. Sign up to be notified about new episodes: https://hubs.ly/Q0452V800

    Kenneth Rogoff - Our Dollar, Your Problem: An Insider's View of Seven Turbulent Decades of Global Finance, and the Road Ahead

  2. Aug 31 ·  Video

    Adrian Wooldridge - The Revolutionary Center: The Lost Genius of Liberalism

    In this episode of A Book with Legs, Cole Smead, CEO and Portfolio Manager at Smead Capital Management, sits down with Adrian Wooldridge to discuss his book, “The Revolutionary Center: The Lost Genius of Liberalism.” Adrian Wooldridge is the global business columnist at Bloomberg News, and previously spent more than twenty years at The Economist, serving as political editor and Washington bureau chief. He is the author of twelve previous books, including “Capitalism in America,” co-written with former Federal Reserve chair Alan Greenspan, and “The Aristocracy of Talent.” The conversation traces the intellectual roots of liberalism, from Erasmus and Hobbes to Mill and Tocqueville, and explores where the philosophy has drifted from its original ideals. Along the way: how the concentration of power in figures like the Mag 7 and today’s tech leaders echoes Montesquieu’s warnings, how identity politics shifted the unit of analysis from individuals to groups, and what Wooldridge believes must change to recover what he calls “the revolutionary center” before autocracy, fascism, or societal stratification takes hold. “The Revolutionary Center: The Lost Genius of Liberalism,” published by Pegasus Books, is available now. Sign up to be notified about new episodes: https://hubs.ly/Q0452V800

    Adrian Wooldridge - The Revolutionary Center: The Lost Genius of Liberalism

  3. Aug 17 ·  Video

    Bryan Burrough - The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild

    In this episode of A Book with Legs, Cole Smead, CEO and Portfolio Manager, welcomes back Bryan Burrough to discuss his book, “The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild.” Bryan Burrough is a New York Times bestselling author or coauthor of eight books, including the Wall Street classic “Barbarians at the Gate,” which he previously discussed on A Book With Legs podcast, as well as “Public Enemies,” “The Big Rich,” and “Forget the Alamo.” He spent nearly a decade as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal and has been a longtime special correspondent for Vanity Fair. The conversation traces how a Southern honor code, a new piece of technology, the Colt revolver, and a generation of traumatized Civil War veterans collided in one state to produce three decades of violence, and how journalism turned killers into folk heroes. Along the way: how Texas became home to 30% of all major postwar gunfights in America, the true origins of the gunfighter in Southern dueling culture rather than frontier life, and how legends like Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp, and Jesse James were built as much by newspapers as by their own actions. “The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild,” published by Penguin Press, is available now. Sign up to be notified about new episodes: https://hubs.ly/Q0452V800

    Bryan Burrough - The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild

  4. Aug 3 ·  Video

    Liaquat Ahamed - 1873: The Rothschilds, the First Great Depression, and the Making of the Modern World

    In this episode of A Book with Legs, Cole Smead, CEO and Portfolio Manager, and Bill Smead, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer at Smead Capital Management, sit down with Liaquat Ahamed to discuss his book, “1873: The Rothschilds, The First Great Depression and the Making of the Modern World.” Liaquat Ahamed explores 1873 as the first truly global financial crisis, centered on the Rothschild family, then the wealthiest bankers in the world. The conversation traces how the Rothschilds nearly collapsed in 1848, losing 40% of their capital, only to rebuild over the next 25 years into a bank controlling a third of the entire European banking system. Liaquat and the Smeads discuss how market psychology moves in generational cycles, why it can take a full generation to recover confidence after a crash, and how President Grant’s decision to defend the gold standard during the 1873 panic prolonged deflation across the U.S. economy. “1873: The Rothschilds, The First Great Depression and the Making of the Modern World,” published by Penguin Press, is available now. Sign up to be notified about new episodes: https://hubs.ly/Q0452V800

    Liaquat Ahamed - 1873: The Rothschilds, the First Great Depression, and the Making of the Modern World

  5. Jul 20 ·  Video

    David Williams - The William E. Boeing Story: A Gift of Flight

    In this episode of A Book with Legs, hosts Cole Smead, CEO and Portfolio Manager, and Bill Smead, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer at Smead Capital Management, sit down with author David Williams to discuss his book, “The William E. Boeing Story: A Gift of Flight.” The conversation traces Bill Boeing’s path from a wealthy heir working timberland in Hoquiam, Washington, to founding both Boeing and United Airlines almost by accident, chasing a hobby with no clear business model at the time. Along the way: a prohibition-era wiretapping scandal that helped shape modern privacy law, a government breakup of his company in the 1930s that was reversed within a decade when Roosevelt needed thousands of bombers built for WWII, and the origin story of the modern flight attendant through Ellen Church, a woman who was told no when she asked to be a pilot and created an entirely new profession instead. David is a former executive director of the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum near Seattle and has written 10 books on motorsports and aviation. For this project, the Boeing family gave him unprecedented access to their private archives, thousands of never-before-seen photos, diaries, and personal letters, making this the first full-length biography of the father of commercial aviation. “The William E. Boeing Story: A Gift of Flight,” is available now on https://www.hydromuseumstore.org/books-and-magazines/ Sign up to be notified about new episodes: https://hubs.ly/Q0452V800

    David Williams - The William E. Boeing Story: A Gift of Flight

  6. Jul 6 ·  Video

    Alex Wright - Empire of Ink

    What can the history of newspapers teach us about today's media landscape? In the latest episode of A Book with Legs, Smead Capital Management CEO and Portfolio Manager C. W. Smead, CFA is joined by author Alex Wright to discuss his book, Empire of Ink: The Printers, Rogues, and Radicals Who Invented the American Newspaper. Cole and Alex trace the evolution of American newspapers from the Revolutionary era through the rise of mass media, exploring how technological disruption, government policy, advertising, and human behavior shaped the way information spread. They also discuss the parallels between the early newspaper industry and today's digital media ecosystem. Sign up to be notified about new episodes: https://hubs.ly/Q0452V800

    Alex Wright - Empire of Ink

  7. Jun 29 ·  Video

    The Smead Book List - Summer 2026

    What is the Smead Capital Management team reading, and what ideas are shaping their view of today's markets? In this quarterly Book List episode of A Book with Legs, Smead Capital Management CEO and Portfolio Manager Cole Smead is joined by longtime listener Steve to discuss the books that have recently captured their attention. Cole and Steve discuss their recent reads which cover a range of topics from investor psychology, Chinese history, mathematics and intelligence, to business turnarounds and cooperation. They also share the books currently on their nightstands and discuss what they hope to learn from future reads. Along the way, the conversation touches on energy markets and the role of history in understanding today's investment landscape. Sign up to be notified about new episodes: https://hubs.ly/Q0452V800

  8. Jun 15 ·  Video

    The Long View: Defining Intelligence

    Can a human being’s behavior and personality be fully explained by a machine, chemistry, biology, or data? Or is there something intangible left over? These questions and the different conversations they can spark were the inspiration behind this special episode of A Book with Legs. Smead Capital Management CEO and Portfolio Manager Cole Smead revisits highlights from conversations with experts offering unique perspectives on the topic, including a computer scientist, a geneticist, a neuroscientist, and a cognitive scientist. Check out the full episode to hear from names like Paige Harden, author of "Original Sin: On the Genetics of Vice, the Problem of Blame, and the Future of Forgiveness" and Charles Murray, author of "Taking Religion Seriously." Smead Chairman and CIO Bill Smead also shares his perspective on what past manias have had in common and why those lessons remain relevant for investors today. Sign up to be notified about new episodes: https://hubs.ly/Q0452V800

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About

In each episode, we explore value investing through an entirely unique lens, bringing in authors to discuss books that have directly or indirectly influenced the decisions the Smead Capital Management team has made on their investments in stocks and equities. The podcast is for the curious-minded looking for worldly wisdom. Investing is the last great liberal art, and the team at Smead wants to learn as much as they can. Any level of investor, business person, or thinker, whether personally or professionally, will be intrigued and engaged by these discussions.

Information

  • Creator
    Smead Capital Management
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    134
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Smead Capital Management
  • Show Website
    A Book with Legs

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