What It Takes®
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What It Takes®
Revealing, intimate conversations with visionaries and leaders in the arts, science, technology, public service, sports and business. These engaging personal stories are drawn from interviews with the American Academy of Achievement, and offer insights you’ll want to apply to your own life.
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Jane Goodall In Memoriam: A Dedicated Pursuit
As a girl in England, Jane Goodall dreamed of traveling to Africa to study animals in the wild. In 1960, that dream brought her to Tanzania, to obser...
Lotte Bjerre Knudsen: Shivering with Curiosity
Ozempic is one of the most important new medications in a generation. The driving force behind it is the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, w...
Gustavo Dudamel: The Power of Music
When he was just 26 years old, Gustavo Dudamel arrived from Venezuela to become conductor and music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He immed...
BestOf(2024)_Johnny Cash: True To His Own Voice
Johnny Cash had a voice that could make a mountain quake. And his impact on the world of music is so legendary that this week a new 11 feet tall bronz...
In Memoriam_James Earl Jones: The Voice of Triumph
In honor of James Earl Jones, who has died at the age of 93, we bring you this encore episode. James Earl Jones had a voice like no other. It reverber...
In Memoriam_Edna O'Brien: Love, Loss and Literature
In honor of Edna O'Brien, who died this week at 93, we invite you to listen to this re-broadcast of our episode. Edna O'Brien's first novel, "The Coun...
Pete Townshend: Who I Am
One of the greatest and most admired rock n’ rollers of all time talks about his long and fascinating life in music. Pete Townshend, guitarist and so...
Willie Mays: For the Love of the Game_In Memoriam
We invite you to honor and celebrate the great Willie Mays, who died this week at the age of 93, by taking a listen to the stories he told about his l...
Jeff Koons: Contemporary Art Phenomenon
Jeff Koons is one of the most successful artists of our time. For 40+ years, his iconic works have brought a sense of playfulness to museums worldwide...
Best of (Nobel Prize Edition) - Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman: The Vaccine Revolution
The COVID-19 vaccine came out at warp speed because of the work of these two scientists. This week, they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
Best Of - Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind
Gordon Lightfoot has died, at the age of 84. He spoke with the Academy of Achievement last year, and we featured that interview in an episode. To hono...
T.J. Stiles and David Blight: The Epic Life
These two Pulitzer Prize-winning biographers have spent their careers delving into the lives of Americans who changed the course of U.S. history. T.J....
Best of - Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding: Jazz Invention
Wayne Shorter was a legendary saxophonist and composer whose career began in the 1950's and spanned the development of modern jazz. Mr. Shorter died t...
Best Of - Neil Sheehan and David Halberstam: Truth Seekers
Fifty years ago today (January 27, 1973), the United States' military involvement in the Vietnam War came to an end, with the signing of the Paris Pea...
Best Of - Maya Angelou (Part 2): In the Spirit of Martin
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we treat you to a re-broadcast of this episode from 2017. Maya Angelou and Martin Luther King Jr. were close f...
Best Of - Nora Ephron: Unstoppable Wit
Contemplating what movie to watch this holiday week? You can't go wrong with "When Harry Met Sally," perhaps the greatest rom-com of all time. Nora Ep...
Best of - John Irving: A Literary Life
2022 was a big year for John Irving, the author of "The World According to Garp," "A Prayer for Owen Meany," and "The Cider House Rules." He turned 80...
Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind
He had a slew of international hits in the 1960's and 70's, including "If You Could Read My Mind," "Sundown" and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."...
Roger Daltrey: Rock Icon
The Who changed rock n roll, with the use of synthesizers, feedback, power chords and a wild onstage presence They were rock gods. And they created t...
Best of - Milton Friedman: Champion of Capitalism
As Americans struggle to pay their bills in the face of inflation, policymakers and economists are debating the best way to control rising prices. Ce...
Best of - Sonia Sotomayor: Power of Words
We celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept 15 - Oct 15) by taking a new listen to our 2017 episode on United States Supreme Court Justice Son...
Mike Wallace and Art Buchwald: Blues Brothers
One was an aggressive, no-holds-barred television interviewer. One was a newspaper columnist, who employed gentle satire to swipe at the rich and the...
Best Of - B.B. King: King of the Blues
BB King began life as a humble Mississippi cotton farmer, and ended up one of the most influential guitarists and singers of the past century. Jimi He...
Best of - David McCullough, Stephen Ambrose and David Herbert Donald: Time Travelers
It is the rare writer who can make history so compelling, so alive, that people will flock to read it. David McCullough, who died last Sunday, was on...
Best of - Bill Russell: Giant of a Man
The most astonishing winning streak in the history of sports, belonged to the Boston Celtics. They won eleven championships between 1957 and 1969, ei...
Best of - John Hume and David Trimble: A Vision of Peace
These two remarkable men, from opposite sides of the 30-year "Troubles" in Northern Ireland, bravely reached across the divide and waged peace. They w...
Best of - Frank McCourt: Teacher Man
No one could tell a story better than Frank McCourt. His first book, Angela's Ashes, remains one of the most compelling accounts of poverty, alcoholis...
Best of - Steve Jobs and Tony Fadell: Inventing the Future
Fifteen years ago, a sleek pocket-sized device was introduced that would change much about how we interact in the world: the iPhone. This is the intim...
Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman: The Vaccine Revolution
The COVID-19 vaccine came out at warp speed because of the work of these two scientists. For many years they had been investigating the secrets of me...
Best of - Lauryn Hill: Family, Faith & Hip-Hop
Lauryn Hill has had an outsized impact on the world of hip-hop, soul and R&B. She entered the music world in the mid-1990’s as one third of the band T...
Best of - Daniel Inouye and Norman Mineta: In Defense of Liberty
Norman Mineta spent three years in a internment camp for Japanese-Americans when he was a child. But this shameful period in American history did not...
Best of - Naomi Judd: Dream Chaser
As a tribute to Naomi Judd, who died suddenly on Saturday night at the age of 76, we are re-posting our episode from 2017. Ms. Judd's life and storie...
Andrea Ghez and Donna Strickland: Frontiers of Knowledge
Only four women have ever received the Nobel Prize in Physics. This episode features two of them! Andrea Ghez unlocked a secret of the universe when s...
Best of - Edward Teller: Destroyer of Worlds
Russia's war in Ukraine, and Vladimir Putin's threat to unleash nuclear weapons, has put the world on edge. In 2018 we explored the complicated histor...
General C.Q. Brown and Lt. Col. James Harvey: Wings of Freedom
The Tuskegee Airmen were some of the bravest and best pilots to ever fly for the United States Armed Forces. One of the last surviving members of the...
Best of - Coach John Wooden: Character for Life
During March Madness, can you think of anything more satisfying to do between games than listen to an interview with legendary UCLA coach John Wooden?...
Best of - Lynsey Addario: Portraits of Love and War
Last week, a shocking photograph was seen around the world. It showed a Ukrainian mother and her two children - lying dead on the street - killed by R...
Best of - Andrew Young: My Life, My Destiny
Andrew Young has worn many hats: pastor, congressman, ambassador & mayor, but his first role in public service was as Martin Luther King Jr’s strategi...
Best of - Rosa Parks and Judge Frank Johnson: Standing Up for Freedom
In the fall of 1955, Rosa Parks refused to stand for a white passenger on the bus, Martin Luther King Jr. was chosen to lead the boycott that followed...
Tenley Albright: Miracles on Ice
Every time the Olympics roll around, we’re regaled with inspiring stories of the athletes. Well, it’s hard to imagine a more inspiring story than this...