Alex Blumberg

Podcasts

Episódios

  1. Introducing Michelle Obama and Her Mentees

    15/09/2020

    Introducing Michelle Obama and Her Mentees

    What's it like to have Michelle Obama as your mentor? In this preview of The Michelle Obama Podcast, she sits down with some of her mentees to talk about the fear of failure, working in the White House and what it's like to be a Black woman in the workplace. Listen to the rest at spotify.com/themichelleobamapodcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    14min
  2. Black Sheep of Wall Street: Henry Blodget

    11/03/2019

    Black Sheep of Wall Street: Henry Blodget

    During the dot-com bubble, Henry Blodget was making millions of dollars as a top analyst on Wall Street. But when that bubble burst, his fortunes changed. He became the public face of a Wall Street corruption investigation that ended with the SEC banning him from the securities industry — for life. Henry tells Alex about the supreme shame of that moment, and about how he eventually started over by founding a new venture, Business Insider. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    39min
  3. Ira Glass: The Man Who Launched a Thousand Podcasts

    10/12/2018

    Ira Glass: The Man Who Launched a Thousand Podcasts

    In November 1995, Ira Glass quietly launched the first episode of This American Life. The rest, as they say, is history. Today his show is a colossal success and Ira Glass is a household name. But in the intervening two decades, Ira has left an indelible mark on the industry by helping to shape hundreds of podcasts and as well as hundreds of podcasters—including Alex. On this episode, Alex sits down with his mentor and former boss to talk about the early days at This American Life, what Ira taught Alex, and how being a good boss means learning to set people free. Without Fail is hosted by Alex Blumberg and produced by Molly Messick and Sarah Platt. Devon Taylor and Alex Blumberg edited this episode. The episode was mixed by Jarrett Floyd and Peter Leonard. Music by Bobby Lord. Thanks to our sponsor, Cole Haan. You can hear more of Alex and other Gimlet hosts in conversation at ExtraordinariesOnTheMic.com, produced in partnership with Cole Haan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    52min
  4. Groupon's Andrew Mason: Pt. 1, The Rise

    01/10/2018

    Groupon's Andrew Mason: Pt. 1, The Rise

    When Andrew Mason started Groupon 10 years ago he was in his mid-20s, fresh out of grad school, and running a company for the first time ever. Within 2 years Groupon was called the fastest growing company in history.  And then just as rapidly and just as dramatically, its fortunes changed. This dream rise, the nightmare fall, all in this incredibly short time-span, it’s like a startup fable. But it actually happened. To a real guy! In part one of this two-part conversation, Andrew talks with Alex about Groupon’s rise. How it started as a website designed for something completely different, what it felt like when it finally caught on and started to grow, and Andrew’s own conflicted feelings about being a CEO.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    35min
  5. Relentless: How One Guy Brought the Internet to America’s Schools

    05/11/2018

    Relentless: How One Guy Brought the Internet to America’s Schools

    When you run a company, you hear two pieces of advice over and over again. One is that you must persevere at all costs. And the other is that you have to be ready to pivot on a dime. To persevere or pivot: it can be hard to tell which is right. But when Evan Marwell set out to tackle a huge national problem seven years ago, he didn’t really have to choose. Persistence is his default. Evan tells Alex the crazy story of how he helped to bring high speed Internet to American school children — thanks to a bit of luck and a lot of perseverance. Without Fail is hosted by Alex Blumberg. It is produced by Sarah Platt and edited by Alex Blumberg, Devon Taylor and Nazanin Rafsanjani. Jarrett Floyd mixed the episode. Theme and ad music by Bobby Lord. Additional music by Jupyter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    43min
  6. The Church of John Green

    17/02/2020

    The Church of John Green

    For years, John Green made a comfortable living as a writer and YouTube host, nestled right where he wanted to be: between obscurity and celebrity. But then he published The Fault in Our Stars and catapulted to fame. And being famous proved harder than he could have ever imagined. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    46min
  7. Introducing Motherhacker

    03/02/2020

    Introducing Motherhacker

    This week, we're sharing the first episode of Motherhacker. It's a fiction podcast about a mother who gets involved in an identity theft ring in order to support her family. The series stars Carrie Coon, Pedro Pascal, Alan Cumming, Lucas Hedges, Tavi Gevinson and Alex Goldman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    15min
  8. The Secret to Writing a Children’s Book

    16/03/2020

    The Secret to Writing a Children’s Book

    Everyone thinks they can write a children’s book, but very few people actually can. Abby Hanlon, the author and illustrator of the beloved Dory Fantasmagory series, describes her unusual creative process—it involves eavesdropping and bribery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    42min
  9. Being an A$$hole: The Final Frontier for Women on the Screen

    16/09/2019

    Being an A$$hole: The Final Frontier for Women on the Screen

    Aline Brosh McKenna got her big break as the screenwriter of The Devil Wears Prada. But even after successful box office hits and many years in Hollywood, she found herself having to compromise her vision over and over again. So she took matters into her own hands. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    38min
  10. The Cost of Having a Conscience in the Senate

    22/07/2019

    The Cost of Having a Conscience in the Senate

    As a Democrat from a red state, Senator Heidi Heitkamp built a reputation for her willingness to buck party pressure and reach across the aisle. But when Brett Kavanaugh was nominated to the Supreme Court, she found herself facing a decision between her principles and her political fate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    40min
  11. What's Happening Around Gimlet: Science Vs - Will Chloroquine Save Us?

    30/03/2020

    What's Happening Around Gimlet: Science Vs - Will Chloroquine Save Us?

    We're taking a break from in-studio interviews to social distance. During this time, we're going to share our favorite Gimlet episodes about Coronavirus. This week, we're bringing you "Will Chloroquine Save Us?" from Science Vs. Science Vs is a show that pits facts against fads and fiction. In this episode, they uncover if chloroquine, the anti-malarial drug works and whether or not it's dangerous by talking to doctors, scientists and academics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    25min
  12. How Megan Phelps-Roper Left the Westboro Baptist Church

    20/04/2020

    How Megan Phelps-Roper Left the Westboro Baptist Church

    As the granddaughter of Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps, Megan Phelps-Roper was raised in a culture of hate. Her family was known for their hateful rhetoric and practice of picketing the funerals of gay people and soldiers. For more than 20 years, Megan didn't imagine a life outside the church—until she got a Twitter account. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    59min
  13. What’s Happening Around Gimlet: Reply All - The Attic and Closet Show 2

    06/04/2020

    What’s Happening Around Gimlet: Reply All - The Attic and Closet Show 2

    We’re taking a break from in-studio interviews to social distance. During this time, we’re going to share our favorite Gimlet episodes about Coronavirus. This week we’re bringing you “The Attic and Closet Show 2” from Reply All. Reply All hosts Alex and PJ are recording in their respective attic and closet (hence the name) and breaking away from the normal, heavily reported show format to take calls from listeners and find out how everyone is doing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    48min
  14. How to Fire People

    18/03/2019

    How to Fire People

    In 1998, Patty McCord joined a new company called Netflix. Her title was chief talent officer. And over the next ten years as Netflix grew (and grew), she and CEO Reed Hastings built a new kind of workplace. They threw out all the usual rules -- no more expense authorization forms or vacation requests -- and focused on creating a culture of excellence. But that culture of excellence didn’t come only through hiring the right people. Patty had to get good at firing, too.  See the original Netflix culture deck here: https://www.slideshare.net/reed2001/culture-1798664 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    38min
  15. The Secret Early Lives of Sam Esmail (Rebroadcast)

    20/01/2020

    The Secret Early Lives of Sam Esmail (Rebroadcast)

    Director and screenwriter Sam Esmail’s TV series Mr. Robot was an immediate hit when it premiered in 2015, turning him into one of the most in-demand showrunners in Hollywood. But he didn’t have an easy path to that point. Sam was 38 by the time Mr. Robot launched. He’d worked all kinds of jobs -- including a stint as a startup founder -- and seen all kinds of setbacks. Sam tells Alex about the stuff that came before, and about why he couldn’t quit trying to make movies, even when success was a long way off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    40min
  16. Ira Glass: The Man Who Launched a Thousand Podcasts (Rebroadcast)

    21/10/2019

    Ira Glass: The Man Who Launched a Thousand Podcasts (Rebroadcast)

    In November 1995, Ira Glass quietly launched the first episode of This American Life. The rest, as they say, is history. Today his show is a colossal success and Ira Glass is a household name. But in the intervening two decades, Ira has left an indelible mark on the industry by helping to shape hundreds of podcasts as well as hundreds of podcasters — including Alex. On this episode, Alex sits down with his mentor and former boss to talk about the early days at This American Life, what Ira taught Alex, and how being a good boss means learning to set people free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    52min
  17. Nina Jacobson: How to Make a Hit in Hollywood

    22/10/2018

    Nina Jacobson: How to Make a Hit in Hollywood

    Nina Jacobson is a force in Hollywood. She’s behind some of the biggest movies of the last 20 years: The Sixth Sense, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hunger Games, and most recently Crazy Rich Asians. She’s had a lot of success. But also some pretty big failures: a public firing, some box office flops. Nina walks Alex through her failure resume and talks about what it takes to make a hit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    44min
  18. The Cyclist Who Blew the Whistle on Doping

    07/10/2019

    The Cyclist Who Blew the Whistle on Doping

    Jonathan Vaughters was a member of the famed USPS pro cycling team when his teammate Lance Armstrong won the first of a record-breaking seven straight Tours de France. While fans were awed and inspired by the victories, Jonathan knew there was something else fueling those wins: performance enhancing drugs — something the entire team was using, including himself. The deception weighed heavy on his conscience, and Jonathan found himself at a crossroads: live with the lie or come clean and become a traitor to his friends, colleagues, and the most powerful man in cycling, Lance Armstrong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    54min
  19. Introducing The Cut on Tuesdays

    01/04/2019

    Introducing The Cut on Tuesdays

    Today, we bring you an episode of Gimlet's new show launched in collaboration with The Cut from New York Magazine.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    32min
  20. How Anna Chlumsky Got a Second Act

    15/04/2019

    How Anna Chlumsky Got a Second Act

    Anna Chlumsky became famous virtually overnight at the age of 10, when she starred in the 1991 hit My Girl opposite Macaulay Culkin. And then, a few years later, she disappeared. She left acting completely and decided to become something else: an utterly normal college student, who set off on an utterly normal career. Anna tells Alex about that time in her life, about her eventual return to acting, and about playing Amy Brookheimer on the HBO show Veep. She’s earned five Emmy nominations in that role.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    39min
Alex Blumberg na Apple