Women of Power

Stanford professor Fei-Fei Li has been nicknamed the "godmother of AI." She recently wrote a memoir about her childhood in China, struggles as an immigrant in New Jersey, and the curiosity and relationships that propelled her to the top of the AI field. In this episode, I share my takeaways from her memoir, "The Worlds I See."

We unpack how Catherine, born a minor German princess, won the love of the Russian public and overthrew her husband to become Tsarina of Russia. We also examine how she became one of only 3 Russian rulers ever to have "the Great" appended to their name. -- Sources: Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie Catherine the Great: Life and Legend by John

In this episode, we do something different: we cover a woman whose power was entirely derived from her husband. We discuss how Lady Bird achieved her ambitions by fighting hard for her marriage to the most powerful man of her time, President Lyndon B. Johnson. We also dive into the political strategies they used to propel his career into the White House. Sources: Lady Bird: A Bio

Angela Merkel started her life as a research scientist in East Germany. At 35, within a year of entering politics, she was elected to Parliament, and went on to serve as Chancellor of Germany for 16 years. We analyze her stunning rise to power, and how she managed to combine political cunning with humility and integrity. Sources: The Chancellor: The Remarkable Odyssey of Angela M

We analyze the motivations and machinations of the media mogul and fashion icon who inspired The Devil Wears Prada. Sources: Anna: The Biography, by Amy Odell Front Row: Anna Wintour: The Cool Life and Hot Times of Vogue's Editor in Chief, by Jerry Oppenheimer