• Cannes Lions’ battle of the brands: Starbucks’ stumble, World Cup ads, and more
    Jun 30 2026

    Every year at Cannes Lions, the advertising world takes stock of itself — what's working, what's not, and what it's pretending not to notice. Autodesk CMO Dara Treseder joins Rapid Response live from the festival to cut through the noise. She breaks down the industry's complicated relationship with AI, weighs in on the hottest and most overrated campaigns of the year including sharp takes on Nike, Adidas, and Starbucks, and explains why the path from CMO to CEO is suddenly the most interesting career move in business. Treseder also gets candid about the brand of Elon Musk post-IPO, what Autodesk's $350 million investment in the next generation of workers actually signals, and what separates a brand collaboration that breaks through from one that just breaks.

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    31 mins
  • Gina Raimondo’s bipartisan fight for workers in the age of AI
    Jun 25 2026

    This morning, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo launched RAISE US, an initiative to directly confront what she calls America's missing piece: a people strategy to match its technology strategy. Raimondo joins Rapid Response to explain how she built a $500 million war chest, secured bipartisan backing, and signed up launch partners from Bank of America to Anthropic before the ink was dry. She also makes the case against the two most popular answers to AI displacement — slowing down development and Universal Basic Income, and explains why neither will actually work. What will? A collective reinvention of how America trains, transitions, and values its workers. The window, she warns, is narrower than most people think.

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    29 mins
  • $300m in year two. The controversy came free, with David Protein’s Peter Rahal
    Jun 23 2026

    David protein bars went from startup to one of the hottest consumer products in America in under two years. But the ride has been anything but smooth. Founder and CEO Peter Rahal joins Rapid Response to talk about building a breakout brand through lawsuits, a Jeffrey Epstein association, and the kind of social media heat most companies would run from. Rahal also revisits his $600 million sale of RXBar to Kellogg and what he learned about keeping your edge after a defining win.

    Visit the Rapid Response website here: https://www.rapidresponseshow.com/

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    21 mins
  • IBM’s $10 billion bet on what comes after AI
    Jun 18 2026

    While many tech companies race to build ever-larger AI models, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna sees the future differently. Speaking with host Bob Safian before a live audience during New York Tech Week, Krishna explains why enterprises are overcomplicating AI adoption, what kinds of risks leaders should be taking right now, and how to weigh AI's costs against its benefits. He also shares why IBM believes quantum computing will reshape the next era of technology.

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    41 mins
  • The U.S. at 250: The case for reckoning and rebuild, with Ian Bremmer
    Jun 16 2026

    As America hurtles toward its 250th birthday, the world is watching. Ian Bremmer, Eurasia Group President and PBS host, joins Rapid Response to give his unvarnished read on the state of Brand America. He shares how he’s advising business and political leaders around the globe, why he believes the US is overdue for a revolution, and what the widening gap between American wealth and American opportunity means for the country's standing in the world. Bremmer also reveals the defiant way he plans to celebrate July 4th, and makes the case for what it will take to extend the great American experiment another 250 years.

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    32 mins
  • U.S. Soccer CEO: The unseen stakes of this World Cup
    Jun 12 2026

    The World Cup arriving on American soil isn't just a moment. For U.S. Soccer Federation CEO JT Batson, it's a launchpad. Batson joins Rapid Response to reveal what’s on the line for the US men's team, where things stand with Coach Pochettino's future, and why this tournament is nothing like the last time America hosted in 1994. He also makes the case that winning a World Cup and growing a soccer nation are the same mission — and that the flywheel connecting pro leagues, youth development, national teams, and community access is finally starting to spin. Whether you've got World Cup fever or not, Batson's vision for building a winning culture from the ground up is a leadership story worth hearing.

    Visit the Rapid Response website here: https://www.rapidresponseshow.com/

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    25 mins
  • World Cup kickoff: Goals, greed, and geopolitics, with ESPN’s Sam Borden
    Jun 9 2026

    As the World Cup kicks off this Thursday, scrutiny surrounds ticket prices, disrupted fan travel, potential ICE activity, and FIFA’s murky dealings. ESPN Global Sports Correspondent Sam Borden has covered this tournament from Brazil to Qatar, and he joins Rapid Response to break down the USA's real chance, what Iran's presence on American soil actually means, and whether hosting the world's biggest sporting event is a blessing or a liability right now. Plus, Borden makes the most passionate case you'll hear for why the World Cup matters more than any scoreline.

    Correction: A government official proposed that Brazil’s Arena de Amazonia be used as a detention facility, but that plan was never enacted.

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    32 mins
  • Pioneers of AI: How fast can you upskill in AI? We did a sprint to find out.
    Jun 6 2026

    We all feel the urgency: learn to use AI, or risk falling behind at work. And we all know there's an upside: AI can reduce tedious tasks, streamline operations, and boost output. But knowing is half the battle (maybe even less) and implementing AI needs to happen across an entire organization. So what does it take to start?

    Well, here at WaitWhat (the company behind this podcast!) we paused all operations for three days to find out. From editorial curation to visual design to event planning, we split into teams for an “AI Sprint.” And this Pioneers of AI episode takes you to the starting blocks on the track with us, as we test new tools, discover their limitations, and find where AI can deliver on its promise.

    Learn more about Pioneers of AI: http://pioneersof.ai/

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    34 mins