Corner Office from Marketplace

What do a small town doctor, a hair stylist, and the executive director of an independent movie theater have in common? They all run businesses that play key roles in their local economies, however small those businesses might be. These three people are part of a series we’re doing on Marketplace, “United States of Work,” that re-imagines the the U.S. labor force as 10 individuals. Find all the interviews at Marketplace.org/Work.

Joanne Heyler, founding director of the Los Angeles contemporary art museum The Broad, takes Kai on a tour of the vaults where the collection that’s not on display is kept. They discuss both how art can reflect the economy and the business of running a museum.

Despite unprecedented economic expansion in the U.S., the global economy is slowing down. On today’s episode, a wide-ranging conversation on what’s standing in the way of economic growth with Janet Yellen, former Chair of the Federal Reserve, and David Malpass, President of the World Bank Group. Recorded live on stage at the George Washington University, sponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Center, they touched on how everything from consumer debt, to the U.S./China trade war and the new coronavirus could affect the global economy.  

This season, you have a record 532 scripted TV shows to choose from. Netflix, Apple and cable networks are spending billions on marquee talent, intellectual property and reboots, some of them with the help of big data. AMC, however, is trying something different. Sarah Barnett took over as president the legacy network in late 2018, as the streaming war was heating up and cord cutters threatened cable’s dominance. She spoke with us about her plan to counter the streaming giants, AMC’s legacy of big hits like “Breaking Bad” and why investing in new voices is crucial to making good TV.

About one in nine Americans lacked access to affordable nutrition last year, according to the USDA. Enter Feeding America, a network of tens of thousands of food banks, meals programs and more. CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot talked with us about how she uses her corporate background to run one of the nation’s largest charities, and how she stays positive in the face of such a big problem.

Since Jonathan Reckford became the CEO for Habitat for Humanity in 2005, the nonprofit housing organization has grown to help nearly 30 million people improve their housing conditions. “An interesting hybrid between a global corporation and a denomination,” he said. But as the world faces a growing affordable housing crisis, his work faces the same barriers as many people trying to find shelter. He spoke with us about some of the challenges to building affordable housing in a for-profit world.

Kelly Sawyer Patricof and Norah Weinstein knew they wanted their nonprofit, Baby2Baby, to do big things to help kids living in poverty. But they didn’t realize that a photo featuring Jessica Alba and Nicole Richie at one of their first events would lead to a donation of 100,000 diapers and a totally new strategy for growth. They talked with us about running their nonprofit as a business, working together as co-presidents and why their work is nowhere near done.

Not long after Lisa Kaz graduated college with a computer science degree, she joined her grandfather in the auto show business. Today she’s the CEO of the LA Auto Show and the conference that happens immediately before, AutoMobility LA. She talked with us from the show floor about the challenges of running an auto show today and the technology she’s most excited to see in the cars of the (near) future.

David Nussbaum knows whatever he’s doing with “America’s Test Kitchen” is working when he attends events with hosts Bridget Lancaster and Julia Collin Davison. “You’d think I was with Michelle Obama and the ex-president,” he said. America’s Test Kitchen continues to grow, expanding from TV and magazines into podcasting, and attracting more than 400,000 paying subscribers to its website. Nussbaum spoke to host Kai Ryssdal about why the $10,000 spent developing each recipe on average is totally worth it; how he’s attracting a new and younger audience; and why he took the job at America’s Test Kitchen in the first place.

When Jim Hackett became CEO of Ford Motor Co. in 2017, he pledged to make the automaker leaner and invest more in electrics and hybrids. The Mach-E, an electric Mustang SUV, is the first look at that investment and Ford’s strategy to take their best-selling brands and electrify them. An electric version of the F-150 is expected in 2021. Will it be enough to overcome other challenges for the auto industry today, like tariffs, climate change and changing consumer preferences? Kai Ryssdal spoke with Hackett at the launch of the Mach-E Sunday night in Los Angeles to find out.

Scott Gimple was the showrunner for five seasons of “The Walking Dead” before becoming chief content officer for the entire franchise. And in that time, the series has become a content universe, with a spinoff series, video games and both a movie and another spinoff in the works. Kai Ryssdal interviewed Gimple in his Burbank office, not too far from a life-sized statue of Han Solo frozen in carbonite. They talked horror what it’s like to direct the storyline for an entire franchise. And Gimple made a passionate pitch for Ryssdal to give the series a shot.

Eva Price quit her job at ABC News at 26 to chase her dream of becoming a theater producer. Fifteen years later, with three Tony Awards, more than 18 Broadway credits and a place on the Broadway League’s board of governors, she’s a theater powerhouse. She took home a Tony this year for an edgy new version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” and she’s leading production of a new musical, “Jagged Little Pill,” inspired by the Alanis Morissette album. Kai Ryssdal sat down with Price inside Sardi’s restaurant in New York City, a place as synonymous with Broadway as the Tonys themselves. They talked about what a producer does, how the industry is changing and why Broadway matters.

When Dick’s Sporting Goods CEO Ed Stack took over the family business, it was only two stores. Now the company has over 700 stores, making it one of the biggest sports retailers in the country. Stack recounts all this, as well as the company’s decision to cut back on gun sales following the Parkland, Florida, shooting, in his new book “It’s How We Play the Game.” Stack and Kai Ryssdal talk about the book, the gun sale controversy and corporate responsibility.

Competitive bodybuilding, The Rock, and how you build an enterprise around a person: a conversation with Dany Garcia, CEO of The Garcia Companies.

Coursera is one of the largest companies offering “MOOCs” — that is, massive open online courses. Launched in 2012 by two Stanford professors, Coursera partnered with universities to offer college courses for free. In the years since, Coursera has grown to offer certificates and even full college degrees for a fraction of the cost of on-campus degrees offered by its partner universities. It has also expanded into offering employee training for businesses. Coursera CEO Jeff Maggioncalda says he thinks online learning could just be the future of higher education.

Slack is a workplace messaging platform that allows users to communicate with co-workers across the country, share files instantaneously and react to news about free doughnuts with the perfect GIF. Since its launch in 2013, it’s been popularized in workplaces around the country and around the world. Slack boasts 10 million users and went public in a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this summer. Things get philosophical as we talked with Stewart Butterfield, Slack’s co-founder and CEO, about what his company does, the future of email and how technology changes human behavior.

Pabst Brewing company is perhaps best known for Pabst Blue Ribbon or PBR, a beer the 175-year-old company has sold for over a century. But while the beer name and its signature blue ribbon label may have stayed pretty much the same for decades, the company itself hasn’t. Nearly two decades ago, the company nearly disappeared…then hipsters picked PBR as their signature drink and the company came roaring back. Today, general manager Matt Bruhn has been tasked with transforming Pabst from a beer company to a beverage company. And he’s starting with hard coffee and clear whiskey. Check out the taste test he did with Kai Ryssdal over at Marketplace.org.

Hearst was founded in 1887 by William Randolph Hearst, it started out as a single newspaper, the San Francisco Examiner. Now, Hearst is one of the largest media companies in the world, with holdings in dozens of magazines, newspapers, and television networks. Some might be surprised to know that Hearst also has its hand in healthcare and business information, as well. Hearst President and CEO Steve Swartz talked with us at the Hearst Tower in New York City.

Poshmark is an app where you can either buy items from other users or try to sell unwanted items like clothes, handbags, shoes, or home decor. Think of eBay, but with more social aspects where people could follow each other’s “closets,” and comment or share the listings they like. It started bak in 2011, and has grown to 50 million users and paid out more than a billion dollars to sellers. We talked with CEO Manish Chandra about his fashion magazine background, this year’s decluttering trend and how he kept the company from growing too fast.

The word “streetwear” might summon a few images in your head — Kanye West and his high-end Yeezy sneakers, stylish Supreme T-shirts and more. But once upon a time, streetwear was less a mainstream fashion statement and more of an expression of smaller, alternative subcultures like skateboarding, punk rock and surfing. That’s the world into which Bobby Kim, a.k.a Bobby Hundreds, launched a T-shirt business that eventually became the Los Angeles streetwear company The Hundreds. He spoke with Kai Ryssdal about how he kept his streetwear brand successful without “selling out” and his new book, “This Is Not a T-Shirt.”

Lands’ End is a 56-year-old American company that made its name in the catalog business. In the digital age though, it’s had to adapt. Jerome Griffith became CEO in 2016. At the time, the company needed a change after years of declining sales and more than a decade under the ownership of Sears. Griffith has invested in building out the company’s e-commerce capabilities and opening Lands’ End stand-alone retail stores. He talked with us about why he took the job, how he’s turning the company around and what he likes about this moment in retail.

Health care employs more people in the United States than any other industry. About 11% of all all private-sector workers work in health care. Heather Hasson and Trina Spear’s company Figs is out to reinvent and disrupt the uniforms that many of those workers wear: scrubs. We talked with them at Figs’ warehouse in City of Industry, California.

Amy Sherman Palladino and her husband, Dan Palladino, are deep in production for season three of their hit show on Amazon, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” It’s the story of Midge Maisel as she pursues a career in stand-up comedy in 1960s New York. The pair have already won a ton of awards for the show, including Emmys and a Peabody. They talk to us about the joys of producing a show for a streaming company, why no detail is too small to notice and how Midge’s story will end.

When we last talked with Ed Bastian in 2016, he had only just been appointed CEO of Delta Air Lines. This time we caught up with him at Los Angeles International Airport as he stepped off a flight from Atlanta. He talked about the company’s plans to spend billions on remodeling and updating airports across the country, including $2 billion at LAX; why he thinks his airline has figured out how to break through the boom-and-bust cycle of the industry; and what he said to the CEO of Boeing.

Running the Tribeca Film Festival is Jane Rosenthal’s side hustle. Rosenthal co-founded it with her producing partner, Robert De Niro, in the aftermath of 9/11 when few visitors wanted to make their way downtown. Her more than 50 credits include movies like “Meet the Parents,” “Bohemian Rhapsody” and the upcoming Martin Scorsese directed crime drama “The Irishman,” which will be released by Netflix later this year. She talked with us about why she doesn’t like the word “content,” what she does like about video games and why she’s excited for the way Netflix has disrupted the movie business.
 

Jamie Dimon led JPMorgan Chase & Co. through the financial crisis. Today, it’s the largest bank in the United States, managing nearly $3 trillion – more than the gross domestic product of several countries. Now, though, he’s more worried about cyber security. And yes, he does know what he wants to do when he (eventually) retires.
This interview was originally released October 3, 2018

One of the few women leading global economic policy today is Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund. She says the biggest problems of our day, from cyberthreats to climate change, can’t be solved “by turning inwards, by looking at your belly button.” She describes herself as part architect, part firefighter and explains why she thinks banks would be better off if more of them had female CEOs.

You already know Luis von Ahn’s work. He helped create CAPTCHA, the technology that helps control spam on the internet and crowd-sources humans to help computers read and digitize old text. In 2012, he co-founded Duolingo, a free language learning app. To him, the app was meant to solve “this mismatch where most of the people trying to learn a language didn’t have $1,000, whereas the software that would teach you a language cost about $1,000.” Von Ahn says there are now more Americans learning on his app than there are in the public school system. Why? Because Duolingo works like a video game.

Millions of people lost their homes, their jobs and their savings during the financial crisis. The resulting recession destroyed over $30 trillion of the world’s wealth. Although the crisis grew out of big banks’ handling of mortgage-backed securities, no Wall Street CEO served time for it. So what happened? We spent the past year reporting on how the crisis changed America, and this was the question we were asked the most. On this special episode of Corner Office, we have the answer.

Dennis Muilenburg started as an intern at Boeing in 1985 and never left. The aerospace company is America’s largest exporter, the Defense Department’s second-biggest contractor, and since Muilenburg became CEO, its annual revenue topped $100 billion for the first time. We visited the company’s headquarters in Chicago to talk with Muilenburg about biking 10,000 miles a year, his differences with the president, and why manufacturing in America today is “harder than it’s ever been.”