People with compelling ideas who have led interesting lives are interviewed in this podcast by social policy economist Bob Lerman and financial economist Zvi Bodie.
Ron Radosh, Historian and intellectually honest former activist
Ron Radosh describes growing up in Manhattan and attending a high school run and taught by communists. He became a leader on the political left through college, graduate school, and his early teaching career. Ron discusses how his book, The Rosenberg File, led to his ostracism from his friends on the left. He became further disaffected by the left when decrying the operations of the communist regimes in Cuba and Nicaragua, regimes defended by others on the American left. Ron went on to write several books, ranging from the foreign policy of the US labor movement, the Spanish Civil War, Harry Truman and the founding of Israel, to his 2001 autobiography, called Commies: A Journey Through the Old Left, the New Left and the Leftover Left. At 88, Ron remains a productive essayist and book reviewer.
18 Feb 2026
Joe Weber, entreprenuer, inventor and fun guy
Joe Weber walks us through his early life in Brooklyn and a New York suburb to his unlikely success despite his up and down experience in college. He finds himself partly because of a helpful medical school dean who could not believe he was applying for medical school with a very weak college record. Hear about Joe's adventures, his invention, and his innovations in a variety of spheres as well as his perspectives on artificial intelligence.
15 Sept 2025
Jonathan Treussard, Founder of Treussard Capital Management LLC, Wealth Empowered newsletter
Jonathan shares his upbringing in France and educational journey that led him from music studies to economics and finance, including his academic work on option pricing and financial theory. Jonathan describes his risky decision to fly to Los Angeles with few resources and little English. He relates how his enrollment in a local community college began his awakening to learning and led to success in college, graduate school, and a Ph.D. in economics. His mastery of finance theory and his experience working in the private sector gave him the ability to build his own firm managing funds. Jonathan came to recognize how the blending of theory, real-world uncertainties, and behavioral economics should be used to understand the financial world.
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