The 1O1 Principle
We believe that when you understand the 1O1 of anything, it helps you better understand everything.
The Promise of the Classroom
We believe that there is an amazing promise in the classroom, and that if the class is done right, and the education is orchestrated correctly, people will leave better and inspired. We believe learning is for doing. Theory is for practice. And, education should be useful. There is no dichotomy between what is “academic” and what is “practical" when a class is well done. When a class is done right, it all blends together, leaving the learner and the world better.
The Social Experience of “Now We’re Smarter”
Every episode, you learn along with host Troy Campbell and his team. Though Campell has a PhD and knows a lot himself, he genuinely learns from every guest. When he says, “Now We’re Smart,” he really means “we.”
“I didn’t want to make a lecture podcast,” Campbell explained, “I wanted to make a podcast where you felt a part of the learning. I hope people enjoy learning along with me, like we’re all one big group of people taking different classes together. Learning can be such a social experience, and I want the podcast to capture that as much possible.”
Into the Classroom and Academia
The podcast shows what great classes look like and provides a behind the scenes view into academia.
“So much of academia is hidden,” Campbell said. “Either it happens in classes few people attend, or in labs or on library shelves no non-researchers ever go. I wanted to make these spaces and moments come alive. There is magic happening on campuses every day, and people don’t know what it is and also how hard it is to make.”
Experts Chatting with Experts
Campbell got the idea for this podcast from listening to comedians interviewing comedians on various media outlets.
“With these comedians, they just cut to what really mattered about comedy," he said. "They skipped the obvious and went to complexity, but they stayed so understandable. I loved how passionate these comedians were when they were speaking to one another instead of to a professional interviewer. They felt comfortable with a fellow professional and were honest. I wanted to capture all that in an academic podcast.”
Every Episode Is Relevant to Everyone
Relevant is our guiding word. Rather than making sure an episode is “interesting” or “fun” to everyone, we want to make sure it feels relevant—that listeners see how the topic matters so much to their life and the world. We want listeners to finish a podcast episode knowing how they can use the new knowledge about a topic in their own lives.
This Is an Education Podcast
If we have a choice between more entertaining and more educational, we choose educational. We know there are so many people out there craving a truly educational podcast. With this podcast, we wanted to build something with good education principles, or “good pedagogy.” The podcast takes time to be clear about things, to break things apart, and to include summaries in order to encourage retention. We are an educational podcast, not a fun fact podcast.
Combining Education and Media Professionals
This podcast is a the combined effort of professional educators (Campbell and guests) with media professionals (editor Alec Cowan and the Lundquist College communications team), which we hope will help inspire more future ways of educating in modern media. There are lots of “educational” podcasts out there, but they tend not to be made by educators. While some are great, many of the top ones follow stories, prefer anecdotes, lack structure, and celebrate mystery rather than sensible learning. We aim to fix that.
Ways of Thinking
The Business 1O1 podcast, at its core, is about how any topic can help us think better. This is why we sometimes privately refer to the podcast as “Thinking with Troy.” Campbell is a psychologist by training and really cares about “clarity of thought.”
We want listeners to be holistically smarter after every episode and better at thinking about anything.
“Marketing teaches us how to think about all communication differently," said Campbell. "Finance gets us to think about time and the course of life, and this episode I have planned for a future season on biology shows through biological systems how to think about all the systems in our life. When we think about one thing correctly, it can helps us think about everything better.”
Guest Conversations Versus Guest Lectures
Rather than guest lectures, we have guest conversations, in which an academic and professional talk together as equals in the pursuit and dissemination of education.
These guest conversations feature professionals who believe so much in the power of education they have personally become involved in the education process as donors, collaborators, and board members. The guests come to share their knowledge and passion for education in conversation with an academic.
In generally, we seek to have guests that integrate well with the material and communicate in ways that follow learning principles.
How an Episode of Business 1O1 Is Made
- The host reads a lot about a topic.
- The host has lunch with a potential guest and talks about their class or passion, looking for things most relevant to any person.
- The host talks to a few other people in the field and reads some more.
- The host structures a 90-minute interview outline with the guest and presents it to them.
- The recording is conducted.
- The editing team cuts down the episode significantly.
- The editing team decides on segments to add, such as skits or vocabulary clarification.
- The editing team decides if the episode needs anything said in the “drinks after class” segment and records it if necessary.
- A series of students review the episode and provide their thoughts.
- A final cut is made.
- A summary post of the episode is made for the website.
- A quiz and a teacher’s guide is produced for teachers.
