How Politics Destroyed American Universities - Neil Gross
Episode Date: August 25, 2026Neil Gross joins me for a conversation about what happened to the American college experience, how politics, polarization, and fear of speaking your m...
You may think you know Anthony Scaramucci: a Harvard Law School graduate who cut his teeth at Goldman Sachs, went on to build two successful businesses and had an 11-day stint in the White House. What people don’t know is he’s an avid reader, endlessly curious, history buff with a restless mind. On Open Book, listeners will hear and get to know the real Anthony: the proud son of immigrant parents, a long-suffering New York Mets fan, and a father of five. Each week, he’ll invite you into an intimate and open conversation with some of the brightest minds out there, from business, politics, entertainment, and more. Together, they’ll go deep into a piece of work - whether it's a highly anticipated book, an in-depth feature story, or an opinion piece – to dig into why it matters to you, what we can learn from the past, and how their work is shaping our future. Along the way, you’ll learn more about The Mooch – beyond the headlines – where he came from and how he got here. He’ll turn the pages on his own life lessons from his blue-collar upbringing and career on Wall Street to getting his teeth kicked in the White House and then, coming back stronger. He’ll offer his perspective as a self-made entrepreneur and “open book” with a lot of experience, both good and bad. Tune in every week to hear fascinating conversations you won’t get anywhere else.
273 episodes transcribedNeil Gross joins me for a conversation about what happened to the American college experience, how politics, polarization, and fear of speaking your m...
Today on Open Book, we're not joined by an author, but by a woman fighting to become the next mayor of Chicago. Susana Mendoza grew up in Chicago lear...
Fidelity is one of the most powerful financial institutions in America, but the story of the family behind it has largely remained hidden. Justin Baer...
A former CIA officer sat down to write a "fun airport novel" and ended up putting a 20% probability on America actually splitting apart. James Telfer...
What does real courage look like when the cameras stop rolling, and the tribe wants you to fall in line? On this episode of Open Book, I sit down with...
I got fired from the White House, my marriage was falling apart, and the guy who talked me off the ledge was my publicist, Howard Bragman, a man so fu...
You send me the questions, I give you the answers, no filter, no spin, straight from the gut. This month: would I actually run for office, how I manag...
After reading his book on the war in Ukraine, you will understand the significance of this conflict as you never have before. Putin thought he could t...
Three-time Pulitzer winner Mike McIntire joins me to talk about his new book Ricochet (out today), and this one hit me hard. We've got more guns than...
We're all walking around convinced we're right and everyone else is the problem, and it's tearing apart our politics, our workplaces, our families. St...
Daniel Silva is back for the 4th appearance on Open Book, with a new must-read book, Ransom, and once again, he's writing tomorrow's headlines before...
Putin weaponized the justice system; he went after the media, the universities, and even pulled a comedy show off the air because it made fun of him....
He built a betting exchange three decades ahead of its time, got prosecuted for it while John Roberts almost took his case, and served time for someth...
They made a vow to survive together, no blame, no panic, just 28 hours of pure will against sharks, jellyfish, and the open ocean. My guest, Michael T...
It's the June Q&A on Open Book, and you came at me with everything this month: aliens, whether there's a reckoning coming when Trump's term ends, and...
Pete Carroll was written off as a flake, a fraud, and a two-time NFL failure, but then he built one of the greatest dynasties in college football hist...
Does America face a defining crisis every 80 years? In this episode, I sit down with musician and author Bob Crawford to explore the remarkable life o...
Kathleen Harriman was there at the center of it all, at Churchill's side in the Blitz, in Stalin's Moscow, at Yalta, and somehow history almost forgot...
What if the biggest thing standing between you and your best life isn't failure, it's what other people think of you? Today, I sit down with world-ren...
Mike Lynch was a working-class kid from East London who built one of Britain's greatest tech companies, and then watched it all collapse in a fraud sc...