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Thomas Ranese, VP of global marketing at Uber, talks about how a lack of planning can sometimes blow up in your face, at least until you figure out how to make the best of it. He also weighs in on the wisdom he'd like to bring back from the mountaintop and how to avoid running into walls at work.

Elizabeth Del Valle explains how to plan and host a great gathering, even over Zoom. She also weighs in on catching up on peak TV and Caribbean coffee culture.

Gila Wilensky never expected to marry a rabbi, but she's settled into duties much like those of a first lady—and adapted to long-distance religious life during the pandemic. She also weighs in on trying out for MasterChef and the lessons we'll all take from forced digital sabbaticals.

Marvin Chow talks about his love of chains like McDonald's, Shake Shack and In-N-Out, especially outside the U.S. He also weighs in on working in his mother's 7-Eleven, being married to a chef and the social impact of brands at scale.

The consultancy's global CEO spent his younger years touring Europe playing indie rock for a share of the door take. He also weighs in on disappointing The National's Matt Berninger and why drummers have so much baggage.

Brand innovation and strategy partner Dan Clay talks about creating his 'Carrie Dragshaw' persona, meeting Sarah Jessica Parker and the drag we all wear every day.

Erich Joiner, founder of Tool of North America, talks about his side gig, driving a Porsche 911 GT3 R on the professional racing circuit. He also weighs in the benefits of learning filmmaking before digital, running a coffeeshop and crashing into a concrete wall at 120 mph.

Anders Wahlquist, founder and CEO of B-Reel, ran a microbrewery in Sweden in the '90s—the first in the country to produce an unfiltered beer. He also talks about '70s cinema, running a nightclub and performing as a DJ.

Lindsey Farrar, founder and editor in chief of CRWN Magazine, planted her first garden this year. The collard greens flourished. The tomatoes weren't so lucky. She also weighs in on conscious consumption, buying dirt and realizing she was conditioned out of a birthright.

Brian Salzman, CEO and founder of RQ, has an eye for interior design. He's also one of the owners of Dive Palm Springs, a boutique hotel he helped renovate. He also weighs in on painting parties, office environments and explains how to spruce up a room for $5.

Asa Akira, brand ambassador at Pornhub and adult film actor, talks about the benefits of mental health counseling and couples therapy. She also weighs in on wilderness survival, general anesthesia and how empathy can solve the world's problems.

Adam Singolda, CEO and founder of Taboola, talks about his love of building and creating with LEGO bricks. He also weighs in on Hebrew television and the triumph of obsession and curiosity over genius.

Agnes Fischer, president of The&Partnership, is also the author of a book on egg freezing, a process she undertook after a divorce in her mid-30s. She also talks about her love of traditional Hungarian foods like head cheese, dark dramas and how the pandemic has shifted calculations for many people about having a family.

Al Patton, CCO at Dagger, is an amateur stand-up comic who’s played shows in New York City and Atlanta. He talks about the similarities between pitching and stand-up, not being able to embrace Michael Jordan’s Bulls just yet—and Ron White’s advice for success.

Dennis Crowley, co-founder of Foursquare, talks about the vintage Honda CT90 motorbikes his father-in-law gave him for a wedding gift. They break a lot. He also weighs in on running a Division IV soccer team and the ultimate hot dog condiment.

Dave Edwards, global head of growth at BeenThereDoneThat, talks about navigating rooms full of brilliant (and some not-so-brilliant) people. he also weighs in on his alter ego Weather Edwards, movie trivia and the worst song in history.

Andrew Zimmerman is president of frog—a design and innovation consultancy. He talks about the year he spent traveling through Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union with one-ring circuses. He also weighs in on designing with empathy, finishing novels and  the dangerous life of a knifethrower's wife.

Madonna Badger is the founder and chief creative officer of Badger & Winters, the agency behind the Women Not Objects campaign, No Kids in Cages and Olay’s 2020 Super Bowl ad. In 2011, her three children and her parents were killed in a fire on Christmas Day. Badger escaped by crawling out a window, clad only in her pajamas. Now, as the country faces 100,000 deaths from COVID-19, she talks about dealing with grief, both personal and public, on this episode of the “Ad Block” podcast.

Ryan Ford, CCO at Cashmere, talks about the music that influenced him when he was young and how it continues to impact his work now. He also weighs in on lullabies for his new daughter (who guest stars for a bit), music distribution before the internet and how the pandemic is already changing the music people to listen to.

Ty Montague, founder co:collective, talks about being a licensed pilot who has been flying for nearly 20 years. He also weighs in on pandemic binge watching, aerobatics and the dangers of unstoppable artificial intelligence.

Dan Gardner, co-founder and CEO of Code & Theory, talks about quarantining with his family of seven—along with his wife and their five kids, ages 4 to 11. He also weighs in on the failures of structured learning, the benefits of accidental hoarding and how co-sleeping became a way of life for his family.

Maria Molland, CEO of underwear and period care brand Thinx, talks about facing a global pandemic while 9 months pregnant. She also talks about how the pandemic has changed her media diet, her reluctance to end work-from-home protocols and why prospective parents may want to reconsider right now.

Jan Jacobs, co-founder and chief creative officer at Johannes Leonardo, talks about his love of surfing. He also weighs in on the allure of F1 racing as both a sport and a design challenge, how art may have helped kill off the Neanderthals and why he likes to read creative briefs as early as possible.

Amber Guild, the president of T Brand at the New York Times, talks about growing up as the child of political activists. She also weighs in on life with her British husband, questioning authority at work and the lies ads tell kids.

Mark Bernath, ECD at Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, is a musician that records psychedelic rock under the name 'Necessary Explosion,' illustrating the tracks with hand-drawn animations created on his smartphone. He also weighs in on the benefits of having an agency radio station, why he likes awkwardness and why it’s always better to ask for forgiveness than permission when Netflix-cheating on your partner.

Judy John, global CCO at Edelman, talks about making it in advertising as a shy, socially awkward person who hates small talk and public speaking. She also weighs in on her favorite football team, her love of Kanye West and what she would eat for her last meal.

Jessica Pels, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, she talks about growing up as a ballet dancer. She also weighs in on the ways her training has made her a better editor (high pain tolerance, for one), the joys of mass transit and skin care tips from presidential candidates.

Dyllan McGee, founder and executive producer at the women-focused media company Makers, talks about getting off the couch and finally becoming a runner. She also weighs in on her favorite things about Peloton, exercise as therapy and the lies people tell about the runner's high.

Derek Fridman, design partner at Work & Co, talks about his background in street art, specifically wheatpasting—poster graffiti applied with a homemade glue made of flour and water. He also talks about a close shave with Lucasfilm, the failings of the InstaPot and how “The Mandalorian” succeeds as episodic, appointment television.

Jeff Sweat, founder of Sweat & Co., the public relations and consulting firm previously known as Mister Sweat, talks about growing up Mormon and leaving the religion with his wife and family as an adult. He also talks about his disappointment at being sent to Iowa for mission work, his proclivity for climbing tall objects and his thoughts after seeing Broadway musical “The Book of Mormon.”

Joe Staples, executive creative director at Mother Los Angeles, talks about growing up with undiagnosed dyslexia and dealing with a school system that didn’t understand him. He also weighs in on the similarities between advertising and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, the joys of driving in Los Angeles traffic and shepherding his young son through his own diagnosis of dyslexia.

Melissa Hobley, CMO at OKCupid, describes the obstacles facing people who are undergoing in vitro fertilization. She is currently pregnant with her second child conceived using the technique. The process is stressful, time-consuming, painful and expensive, and it involves plenty of uncertainty. “It’s one of those things that so few people talk about, for obvious reasons.” She also weighs in on the best and worst couples, the allure of live TV and mixing politics and family.

Neal Arthur, managing director of Wieden & Kennedy New York, shares stories of his time as a sex ed teacher at a Catholic school. “There’s a weird sort of faux confidence in 8th grade that you have to have to make it,” he says. “You walk around acting like you’ve got it all figured out, yet you know nothing.” He also weighs in on his love of Nike’s “Mars Blackmon” ads and admits that he doesn’t like The Beatles or one particular Golden Girl.

Joan Creative CCO Jaime Robinson keeps both a spinning wheel and a loom in her closet so she can spin yarn and knit blankets and sweaters, “like the lady in Rumpelstiltskin.” She also reveals her favorite Joan and goes deep on the allure of “Russian Doll” and her childhood memories of the Sears Wish Book.

Teresa Younger, president and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women, is a lifelong Girl Scout who earned every possible merit badge. She also talks about the appeal of local talk radio and weighs in on the very best flavor of Girl Scout cookie.

Toygar Bazarkaya, global chief creative officer at Optimist, talks about hitchhiking across Europe in the ‘80s and ‘90s, thumbing rides from his home in Stuttgart, Germany to art museums around Europe. He also also talks about growing up the child of Turkish immigrants in Germany, the excitement of finally owning the work of artists he’s admired for decades, the legendary exploits of Peggy Guggenheim and a diet he swears by that he says lets him lose weight and still indulge his sweet tooth.

Terri Meyer is co-founder and co-CEO of Terri & Sandy, the agency she runs with her best friend Sandy Greenberg. She talks about how she gets away from the pressures of agency management to recharge, as well as the dystopian allure of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” the bright nostalgia of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and the acquired taste of gefilte fish.

In this classic episode of Ad Block, Goodby Silverstein & Partners founder Jeff Goodby talks about his tequila importing business—a small-batch, high-end liquor aged for 5 years in three kinds of barrels. “It makes you do your other job better to have things on the side, whether it’s fishing or painting or playing soccer or whatever you take seriously,” he says. He also chooses the best vandals throughout history, recommends alarming audio books and takes a milk-based pop quiz.

Michael Fanuele, president of MDC media agency Assembly, talks about competing in formal debate in high school and college, including against future Texas Senator Ted Cruz. He also weighs in on the best Italian comfort food, why the data says country music is better than rock ‘n’ roll and handicaps the persuasive messaging in the Democratic primary.

Paul Charney is CEO and founder of Funworks, an agency that incorporates sketch and improv comedians into the creative process. He talks about founding Killing My Lobster, a sketch comedy troupe in San Francisco. Charney also weighs in on the trauma-inducing laughs of Netflix’s “Big Mouth,” the tight storytelling of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and drafts a “Saturday Night Live” fantasy cast.  

Kay Hsu, global director at Instagram Creative Shop, talks about living with stage IV metastatic breast cancer, an incurable form of the disease that has spread to her bones. “People always say you’re going to fight it, but it’s not one of those things,” she says. Someday, the doctors tell her, “the medicine will stop working.” She also weighs in on the sheer volume of fascinating content on YouTube, what to wear to chemo (loose, comfortable clothing) and her ideal meal at McDonald’s.

Veronica Parker-Hahn, SVP, growth & innovation at Effie Worldwide, talks about how she and her husband learned how to renovate their home—and even prepare for having a baby—all from do-it-yourself videos on YouTube. She also geeks out about “Star Trek: Discovery” and its predecessors, explains why Miles Morales and “Into the Spider-Verse” are the best incarnations of Spider-Man and sings a local jingle from Philly.

Kay Hsu, global director at Instagram Creative Shop, talks about living with stage IV metastatic breast cancer, an incurable form of the disease that has spread to her bones. “People always say you’re going to fight it, but it’s not one of those things,” she says. Someday, the doctors tell her, “the medicine will stop working.” She also weighs in on the sheer volume of fascinating content on YouTube, what to wear to chemo (loose, comfortable clothing) and her ideal meal at McDonald’s.

Winston Binch, chief brand and experience officer at Gale Partners, talks about transcendental meditation, which he has practiced for several years. Each morning, he closes his eyes and silently repeats a short, secret phrase for 20 minutes. He also weighs in on Pink Floyd’s homage to “The Wizard of Oz,” the enduring power of U2 and growing up with the same name as a popular brand of cigarettes.

Aleen Kuperman, co-founder and CEO at Betches Media, talks about growing up the child of Russian immigrants who escaped the Soviet Union in 1988, a year before the Berlin Wall fell. It was a struggle to explain what “Betches” was to her parents. She also talks about the joys of Café Bustelo instant coffee, the pressures of planning a vacation and the relief she felt when she was finally able to hire someone else to write about "The Bachelor."  

Mary Pryor, chief marketing officer at Tonic CBD, talks about more effective ways to market the climate crisis, in order to motivate skeptics or people who don’t grasp what she says is the full extent of the issue. “We literally had the top oxygen source on fire, and that didn’t work,” she says. She also weighs in Kieran Culkin’s masterful turn on HBO’s “Succession” and the strange resilience of villains in anime and opines at length on the evils of pumpkin spice.

Alex Chung, founder of Giphy, talks about the intersection of art, experimentation and technology. He also talks about his favorite street in New York City, the evolution of language and culture and the benefits of working with your friends.

Sarah Watson, chairman of BBH NY and global chief strategy officer at BBH, talks about giving birth to both her children at home in her apartment, without anesthesia or painkillers. She also admits that she plays the flute, though not as well as Lizzo (yet), sings a famous beer jingle and actively tries to recruit more users to Foursquare.

Lenny Stern, founding partner at SS&K, talks about working on political campaigns for Democratic candidates, from Mondale in 1984 to Obama in 2008 and 2012. He also weighs in on Trump's chances at reelection, his love of multitasking and why ‘mainstream media’ is a lazy phrase.

Anthony DeMaio, head of U.S. sales at Bloomberg Media, talks about running a 100-mile ultramarathon. After dropping out after more than 85 miles the first time he attempted the race, he completed it on his second attempt, in 97-degree weather. “Life and running have similarities,” he says. “They’re about peaks and valleys, about being in the hole and coming out if it. If you keep moving, you’re going to feel better.” DeMaio also weighs in on his love of Madonna and the importance of maintaining ties with family and friends even in the middle of intense training.

Dave Snyder, chief creative officer at Firstborn, talks about his lifelong love of skateboarding and his new role as a skater dad to an 8-year-old with sponsorships. Skating “forces you to see the environment different and use it differently,” he says. He also tells the story of how he got a gnarly scar and weighs in on Donald Trump’s golf skills and people who ride longboards.