No Phones at Dinner

"The Ruthlessness in Winning" This November is the one year anniversary of the landing of the Mars InSight mission by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), one of the country’s top space organizations in Pasadena, California. While the InSight landing itself got a lot of mainstream attention, what many people don’t know about the InSight is that JPL was able to fund the mission by winning half a billion dollars in a highly cutthroat and very fierce competition run by NASA, our federal space agency, called The Discovery Competition. What even less people know, though, is that the Mars InSight team was the underdog in the competition that everybody thought had zero chance of winning. While he chokes on a little homemade hot sauce and downs some margaritas, Dr. Leon Alkalai, who led the JPL Mars InSight team to win the $500 million dollars in NASA’s Discovery Competition, shares how he strategically turned the team around to convince NASA to select their Mars InSight mission as the winner in the end — and the story is less straightforward and more savage than you would think. 

"The Hierarchy of Promises" Sorry we posted this Part Two late! Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  This November is the one year anniversary of the landing of the Mars InSight mission by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), one of the country’s top space organizations in Pasadena, California. While the InSight landing itself got a lot of mainstream attention, what many people don’t know about the InSight is that JPL was able to fund the mission by winning half a billion dollars in a highly cutthroat and very fierce competition run by NASA, our federal space agency, called The Discovery Competition. What even less people know, though, is that the Mars InSight team was the underdog in the competition that everybody thought had zero chance of winning. While he chokes on a little homemade hot sauce and downs some margaritas, Dr. Leon Alkalai, who led the JPL Mars InSight team to win the $500 million dollars in NASA’s Discovery Competition, shares how he strategically turned the team around to convince NASA to select their Mars InSight mission as the winner in the end — and the story is less straightforward and more savage than you would think. 

"The KISS Principle: Keep it Simple Stupid" This November is the one year anniversary of the landing of the Mars InSight mission by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), one of the country’s top space organizations in Pasadena, California. While the InSight landing itself got a lot of mainstream attention, what many people don’t know about the InSight is that JPL was able to fund the mission by winning half a billion dollars in a highly cutthroat and very fierce competition run by NASA, our federal space agency, called The Discovery Competition. What even less people know, though, is that the Mars InSight team was the underdog in the competition that everybody thought had zero chance of winning. While he chokes on a little homemade hot sauce and downs some margaritas, Dr. Leon Alkalai, who led the JPL Mars InSight team to win the $500 million dollars in NASA’s Discovery Competition, shares how he strategically turned the team around to convince NASA to select their Mars InSight mission as the winner in the end — and the story is less straightforward and more savage than you would think.   

While hating on keto shakes and munching on popcorn, mad Israeli (neuro)scientists Amir Amedi and Tomer Behor reveal how they went from being failed musicians to using music and sound to help the blind visualize the world for the first time. This quirky professor-student duo discovered that you can still develop vision by using other senses like hearing or touch and are now helping blind individuals finally experience the world with independence using sounds. These guys helped a blind person become a photographer with his own exhibit. 

While refusing to eat in the most James Caan way, actor who played Sonny in The Godfather, James Caan, talks something that the Hollywood interview world rarely gets to hear - his appreciation for Einstein and his suggestions to disrupt the youth education system. What you probably don't know is that James is an Ambassador to the Genius 100 organization (genius100visions.com), a group of the 100 visionaries of our lifetime, and... well his ideas do come coupled with colorful language. 

While dining on chipotle-paired bites (the real pepper, not the fast food chain), ad executive Jose Sokoloff shares how he got involved in the longest conflict in the history of the Western Hemisphere - the civil war between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrillas. If you've seen Narcos, you've seen these guerrilla armies have a heavy influence in the game and in bed with some of the world's most notorious cartels. For years, the Colombian government unsuccessfully tried to persuade these soldiers in the jungle to put their guns down and go home. But then one day international advertising executive Jose Sokoloff is hired to give it a go, and he starts making moves using some unique product placements that you wouldn't think of yourself. In this episode, Jose shares his story of how he and his team helped bring home the Colombian guerrilla soldiers using creative advertising and - shoutout to Jose's mom (!) - to this day he remembers her veggie burgers... though not fondly.

While dropping knowledge on what it means to eat with some Nigerian eat, Oby Ezekwesili, Nigeria's former Minister of Education and Minister of Minerals (of Everything, really) shares how she went from being a child who had to grow up quickly during the Nigerian civil wars to becoming such a dominant voice in her country that she was forced out at one point and even arrested. Oby is The Batman of Nigeria and on a mission to dismantle the institution of corruption so the people of Nigeria can regain their economic power. 

While chomping on Middle Eastern and Mexican Baja fusion bites, Amal Elsana Alh'jooj tell us her story of growing up as a Bedouin shepherd and how she, after being denied basic justice as a female Arab in Israel, decided to take down traditional institution and tell The Man to sit down . ✊

While wolfing down vegan gnocchi, Jan Creamer and Tim Phillips share with us their journey in rescuing animals from circuses and Hollywood.