Michael Covel's Trend Following Michael Covel

MIT professor Sinan Aral isn’t only one of the world’s leading experts on social media—he’s also an entrepreneur and investor, giving him an unparalleled 360-degree view of the technology’s great promise as well as its outsize capacity to damage our politics, our economy, and even our personal health.
Drawing on two decades of his own research and business experience, Aral goes under the hood of the biggest, most powerful social networks to tackle the critical question of just how much social media actually shapes our choices, for better or worse. Aral shows how the tech behind social media offers the same set of behavior-influencing levers to both Russian hackers and brand marketers—to everyone who hopes to change the way we think and act—which is why its consequences affect everything from elections to business, dating to health. Along the way, he covers a wide array of topics, including how network effects fuel Twitter’s and Facebook’s massive growth to the neuroscience of how social media affects our brains, the real consequences of fake news, the power of social ratings, and the impact of social media on our kids.
In mapping out strategies for being more thoughtful consumers of social media, The Hype Machine offers the definitive guide to understanding and harnessing for good the technology that has redefined our world overnight.
Bio: Sinan Aral is the David Austin Professor of Management, Marketing, IT, and Data Science at MIT; director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy; and head of MIT’s Social Analytics Lab. He is an active entrepreneur and venture capitalist who served as chief scientist at several startups; co-founded Manifest Capital, a VC fund.
In this episode of Trend Following Radio:
Gatekeepers Republicans and Democrats Polarization Social Media Facebook and Free Speech Social Brain Hypothesis The Impact of Social Media on Children Russian Interference China and Russia

Michael reaches back to the archives to combine Nobel Prize winner and mathematician Robert Aumann and mathematician Emanuel Derman to one mega episode. The two guests:
Robert Aumann
Emanuel Derman

What does it take for women to succeed in a male-dominated world?
At age nineteen, Shannon Huffman Polson became the youngest woman ever to climb Denali, the highest mountain in North America. She went on to reach the summits of Mt. Rainier and Mt. Kilimanjaro and spent more than a decade traveling the world. Yet it was during her experience serving as one of the Army’s first female attack helicopter pilots, and eventually leading an Apache flight platoon on deployment to Bosnia-Herzegovina, that she learned the lessons of leadership that forever changed her life.
Where did these insights come from? From her own crucibles of experience—and from other women. In the The Grit Factor, Polson made it her mission to connect with an elite pack of tough, impressive female iconoclasts who shared with her their candid stories of combat and career. This slate of decorated leaders includes Heather Penney, one of the first female F-16 pilots, who was put on a suicide mission for 9/11; General Ann Dunwoody, the first female four-star general in the Army; Amy McGrath, the first female Marine to fly the F/A-18 in combat and many more.
These women led at the highest levels in the most complicated, challenging, and male-dominated organization in the world. Now when positive role models of women leading are needed as never before, Polson brings these voices together, sharing her own life lessons and theirs with storytelling flair, keen insight, and incisive analysis of current research.
Bio: Shannon Huffman Polson served as one of the first women to fly the Apache helicopter in the US Army. In addition to her military service, she is the founder of the Grit Institute and speaks frequently on topics related to leadership, courage, resilience, and grit.

Eric Crittenden believes using an all-weather approach is the most effective way to prepare for a wide range of market environments, while still producing meaningful investment returns with limited downside risk. An all-weather approach is an asset allocation methodology that diversifies across geographic regions, asset classes, and investment styles. This approach helps investors navigate prolonged equity market declines, inflation, and negative real returns from bonds due to low interest rates. Historically, an all-weather approach has achieved higher returns than equities, with lower volatility, and smaller declines.
Bio: Eric Crittenden is the Chief Investment Officer of Standpoint Funds. He has over 20 years of experience designing and managing investment strategies, with an expertise in systematic trading in both mutual funds and hedge funds. Aside from creating sound investment strategies, his ability to simplify and communicate complex topics is what sets him apart from other investment managers. Tom Basso is the Chairman. He brings over 40 years of money management experience to Standpoint as Chairman of the Board. He was the Founder and CEO of Trendstat Capital, one of the largest futures managers in the U.S. in the 80s and 90s. Tom’s successful career has been highlighted in the book The New Market Wizards by Jack Schwager.
In this episode of Trend Following Radio:
Critical Thinking Social Media Portfolio Returns “Let’s do our best not to mistake psychological problems for philosophical insights.” –Sam Harris Increase Diversification Trading Commodities Zen Proverbs Understanding the Fundamentals Return on Investment 2020 The FED Tom Basso Standpoint Funds

Robert M. Rosenberg took over as CEO of Dunkin’ Donuts in 1963, 13 years after the first restaurant was founded by his father, William. In his remarkable 35-year run, he grew the company from $10 million in sales to over $2 billion, with more than 3,000 outlets. Through his tenure, Robert learned important lessons on running and scaling a family business.
In Around the Corner to Around the World, Rosenberg shares his insider perspective on all the dramatic highs and lows that are part of the Dunkin’ Donuts story to guide you to your own success story. Learn twelve key lessons from Dunkin’ Donuts former CEO Robert Rosenberg that offer critical insights and a unique, 360-degree perspective to business leaders and managers on building one of the world’s most recognized brands.
Around the Corner to Around the World:
Distills the characteristics of a successful company through all phases of growth. Provides a new perspective on the dramatic story behind the rise of one of the world’s most iconic brands. Tells the first-hand account (including essential lessons learned) from the tenure of one of the most successful CEO runs in modern business history. Reveals some of the dramatic and surprising plot turns in the story of Dunkin’s rise to global prominence. For entrepreneurs fighting for survival and leaders in growing businesses facing critical strategic decisions, competition is always fierce, and the future is never certain. Throughout all the chaos and the noise, you need a mentor that has seen a business through the ins and outs and can offer guidance that will exponentially tip the odds in your favor to succeed.
Bio: Robert M. Rosenberg served as chief executive officer of Dunkin’ Donuts from 1963 until his retirement in 1998. Under his leadership, the company grew from a regional family business to one of America’s best known and loved brands. Rosenberg received his MBA from Harvard Business School, and in just weeks after graduating at the age of 25, assumed the position of chief executive officer. Dunkin’ Donuts was a publicly owned company from 1968 until 1989 and earned a reputation for extraordinary stockholder returns. In that 21-year period, it earned its investors a 35 percent compound rate of return. After retiring from Dunkin, Rosenberg taught in the Graduate School at Babson College and served many years on the boards of directors of other leading food service companies, including Domino‘s Pizza and Sonic Restaurants.
In this episode of Trend Following Radio:
History of Dunkin Donuts Food Service Companies Business Strategies Planning, People and Product Define Reality

Michael jumps into the AI investing debate and adds a famous lecture from Richard Feynman. If you ever felt the need to worship the AI fantasy -- this episode will stop you cold.