Our first episode, recorded at MNYK Studios. What a DBA really is, how it differs from a PhD, and what success looks like for executive doctoral education. Then Sunil's research on attention, distraction and consumer behavior, from how fake news spreads to what AI means for research, with examples running from Red Lobster to Cheez Whiz.

Lynne on her role as a professor at Temple, what it is like to sit on the Executive DBA Council, her research on incivility, and the word that named a whole decade of platforms getting worse. We had a blast recording this one and we think you'll like it.

Two leaders you would never expect to share a classroom: Raheem Manning, Senior Director of the Nighttime Economy for the City of Philadelphia, and Vince Patram, Global Vice President of Marketing for Lubricant Additives at LANXESS. Leadership, Philadelphia, global industry, and what it means to go back to school mid-career. No script. No prep. Just real conversation after class.

Ajay joins us to talk about the future, AI, and the leaders of Philadelphia, and about the Germination Project, his long bet on the city's next generation. One of the most prominent leaders in Philadelphia, at his most expansive.

Ashwini and Kevin on their own paths to a doctorate, what led them to the program, and the trip that turned into a story: a group of students stuck in Dubai when the Iran war broke out.

Nathan grew up in Utah, ran an indoor soccer arena, played college soccer at 25, did cardiothoracic research at Penn and CHOP, and walked away from med school before an MBA and now a doctorate in IT strategy. Sade was born in Jamaica and raised in Harlem, interned at Atlantic Records at 19, spent five years as a celebrity stylist, and went back for her bachelor’s during the pandemic. They talk about choosing a dissertation you love versus one you can finish, who you’re allowed to complain to when you’re the first in your family to get here, and the mirror after graduation. Twenty minutes in, Nate’s daughters climb onto his lap at the mic. Then Kevin sits down and it gets spicy: is using AI in a doctoral program cheating, or is not using it the red flag?

Cindy runs data and digital transformation programs for multinationals and came to the DBA to close the gap she kept seeing between practice and theory. James is a marketing and PR leader from Ohio who finished his master’s at Temple over Zoom, heard a professor ask “who’s going to keep going?”, and five years later put his hand up. Why a DBA and not a PhD, the surprise nobody warns you about (the cohort itself), the alumnus who said “my price went up,” and a long, honest stretch on AI: the eclipse you shouldn’t stare at, the tool that knows you versus the fresh account that doesn’t. Kevin joins to ask about dissertation topics, the stack of unread books, and what it takes to fly in for a doctorate.