William K. Reilly has achieved a consequential career in environmental leadership. He has served four presidents in high positions and sensitive assignments requiring notable judgment and disciplined discretion.  In this episode of the Serve to Lead Podcast, Reilly discusses the past, present and promise of environmental leadership in the United States and globally. He […]

Frank DiStefano is a Washington, D.C.-based writer who focuses on the history and future of United States politics. He is the author of The Next Realignment: Why America’s Parties Are Crumbling and What Happens Next. The book has received praise from leaders and experts across the political spectrum.   ​ On this episode of the Serve […]

Jennifer Hernandez is a widely respected practitioner and thought-leader in environmental and land-use law. In this episode of the Serve to Lead Podcast, she discusses her provocative, influential new article, published by the Breakthrough Institute: “Green Jim Crow: How California’s Climate Policies Undermine Civil Rights and Racial Equity.”  She explains how environmental regulation is […]

Nationalism is back in the news. 2016 was a hinge moment. Brexit in the United Kingdom, combined with the Trump and Sanders insurgencies in the United States, focused attention on populism and evolving notions of national identity.   What does nationalism mean in our time? Is American nationalism a distinct variant? Is there a meaningful […]

Richard Nixon is often recalled as a historic foreign policy president, but his consequential domestic policy initiatives have been obscured amid the wreckage of the Watergate scandals. In fact, Nixon’s policies—from health care to welfare to the environment—reverberate through subsequent administrations, into the present day.    In this episode of the Serve to Lead Podcast, […]

In a turbulent, populist moment across the world, the costs and benefits of elites and meritocracy are very much contested. In this episode of the Serve to Lead Podcast, Aaron Renn discusses the American meritocracy and its discontents. Renn recently penned a provocative article relating to the customs and decline of the twentieth-century WASP (White […]

Stephen Wertheim is a historian of the United States in the world. He is the director of the Quincy Institute’s Grand Strategy program, and a Research Scholar at the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University. He is the author of an influential new book, Tomorrow the World: The Birth of U.S. […]

Steven B. Smith, the Alfred Cowles Professor of Political Science at Yale University, has written an important new book: Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes. In this episode of the Serve to Lead Podcast, Smith discusses why patriotism matters and why it must be reclaimed from the political left and right who have politicized it. […]

Richard Norton Smith is a presidential historian, biographer, essayist, and former leader of presidential libraries. He is a frequent commentator on C-SPAN and for many years appeared on the Lehrer Report on PBS. In this episode of the Serve to Lead podcast, Smith discusses the art and craft of history, and explores the changes of […]

Woodrow Wilson is recalled as one of America’s most consequential presidents. His two-term administration constitutes a keystone of the modern era of American government. John M. Cooper, professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has dedicated his career to illuminating Wilson and his era. Cooper is perhaps best known to the public as the author […]

Winston Churchill was undeniably one of the great leaders of history—was he a servant leader? In a new episode of the Serve to Lead podcast, Howard Behar, former president of Starbucks Coffee Company International, explores the Churchill conundrum and other aspects of servant leadership. Behar speaks with unique authority, pioneering the practice of servant leadership […]

In a new episode of the Serve to Lead podcast, General HR McMaster discusses geopolitics and his important new book, Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend Freedom.   HR McMaster is perhaps best known for his service as the 26th National Security Adviser to the president, in 2017-18. This was a capstone to a storied military career. […]

In a new episode of the Serve to Lead podcast, Katherine Gehl shares insights and observations from her important new book, The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy, co-authored with Harvard Business School professor Michael E. Porter. Katherine Gehl, is a business leader, writer, speaker, and political innovation […]

In a new episode of the Serve to Lead podcast, author Theresa Lina shares actionable insights on strategy and execution for enterprises aiming for dominant market positions in competitive and emerging markets. She has written a well-received new book, Be the Go-To: How to Own Your Competitive Market, Charge More, and Have Customers Love You […]

In a new episode of the Serve to Lead podcast, noted communications expert Larry Kamer shares his unique, actionable insights on crisis leadership. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing financial turbulence, no individual or institution—corporate, governmental, not-for-profit, military or religious—is immune to existential threats. Mr. Kamer’s extensive experience has never been more timely or […]

In this episode of the Serve to Lead podcast, acclaimed historian Andrew Roberts discusses his new book,  Leadership in War: Essential Lessons from Those Who Made History, as well as his recent book Churchill: Walking with Destiny. Churchill was published by Penguin in October 2018, became a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller, was […]

In this episode of the Serve to Lead podcast, Dr. Mark J. Plotkin discusses his important new book: The Amazon:  What Everyone Needs to Know, from Oxford University Press. He explains why the Amazon matters, what the coronavirus portends in human interaction with nature, and why the leadership legacies of Theodore Roosevelt and Winston Churchill […]

Michael Lind is a professor of practice at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. His latest book is The New Class War: Saving Democracy From the Managerial Elite. In this wide-ranging conversation with James Strock, Lind declares that the political disruption signalled by the election of […]

Daniel Esty is the Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy at Yale University. He directs the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy and serves on the advisory board of the Center for Business & Environment at Yale. Esty also served as Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection from 2011-14. […]

Tom Peters is acclaimed as a founder of the profession of management consulting. Dubbed “the Red Bull of management thinking,” Peters is a prolific author, inspiring speaker, and social media maven who gives President Trump a run for his money as an effective user of Twitter. In this wide-ranging discussion with host James Strock, Tom […]