What It Takes is a podcast series featuring intimate, revealing conversations with towering figures in almost every field: music, science, sports, politics, film, technology, literature, the military and social justice. These rare interviews have been recorded over the past 25 years by The Academy of Achievement. They offer the life stories and reflections of people who have had a huge impact on the world, and insights you can apply to your own life. Subscribe to the What It Takes podcast...

Frances Arnold's techniques of "directed evolution" have revolutionized the science of chemistry by creating new organisms and enzymes for use in medicine, agriculture, manufacturing and alternative energy. She came to her profoundly original research by an equally original career path, one that led her from undergraduate studies in aerospace engineering at Princeton’Ůand an early career in alternative energy in the United States and Brazil’Ůto postdoctoral chemistry studies at Berkeley and...

When the rest of the world was just waking up to the possibility of cell phones and the Internet, Tony Fadell was already creating the technology behind the smartphone. Author of more than 300 patents, he sold a microprocessor startup to Apple just as he was leaving college. He spent the next decade pioneering mobile technology for the leading electronics companies, but none would fully commit to marketing the devices he created. When investors passed on Fadell's idea for a pocket-sized...

In the late 1960s, it was already known that hormones such as adrenalin, histamine, dopamine and serotonin stimulate specific responses in the cells of human beings and other organisms. But the mechanism by which cells perceive and respond to these hormones was shrouded in mystery. In 1969, Lefkowitz successfully attached a radioactive isotope of iodine to a form of the hormone adrenaline, enabling him to track its movements within an organism. By 1974, he observed the hormone interacting...

The events of 2014 drew the world's attention once again to the role of NATO in preserving the hard-won peace of Europe. No individual bears greater responsibility for the readiness and coordination of the world's largest military alliance than the SACEUR (Supreme Allied Commander Europe), General Philip Breedlove. As SACEUR, General Breedlove is commander of all U.S. forces in Europe as well as the joint collective security operations of NATO's 28 member nations and its 22 Partners for...

This podcast features two of the visionaries of today's world of Internet commerce and social media. Reid Hoffman has been called "the most connected man in Silicon Valley," the "ˆºber-investor" who "has had a hand in creating nearly every lucrative social media startup." He was the originator of the PayPal online commerce tool and is the founder and Chairman of LinkedIn, as well as an early investor in Facebook, GroupOn and Airbnb. Joi Ito, a social media entrepreneur in his own right, is...

This podcast features two of the visionaries of today's world of Internet commerce and social media. Reid Hoffman has been called "the most connected man in Silicon Valley," the "ˆºber-investor" who "has had a hand in creating nearly every lucrative social media startup." He was the originator of the PayPal online commerce tool and is the founder and Chairman of LinkedIn, as well as an early investor in Facebook, GroupOn and Airbnb. Joi Ito, a social media entrepreneur in his own right, is...

In today's politically charged debate over the role of the courts in American society, Justice Anthony Kennedy stands as a model of judicial temperance and objectivity. At 38, Kennedy was the youngest federal appeals judge in the country. Appointed to the Supreme Court by President Reagan in 1988, Kennedy won the unanimous approval of the United States Senate. As a Justice of the Supreme Court, he has resolutely evaluated every case on its merits, without attempting to promote an overriding...

Prior to his appointment as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, David Petraeus was a four-star general in the United States Army who capped a brilliant career by leading the campaigns that turned the tide of battle in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In his 37 years in the Army, Petraeus held leadership positions in airborne, mechanized, and air assault infantry units in Europe, the United States, and the Middle East. In 2003, he commanded the 101st Airborne Division in the assault on...

Prior to his appointment as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, David Petraeus was a four-star general in the United States Army who capped a brilliant career by leading the campaigns that turned the tide of battle in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In his 37 years in the Army, Petraeus held leadership positions in airborne, mechanized, and air assault infantry units in Europe, the United States, and the Middle East. In 2003, he commanded the 101st Airborne Division in the assault on...

On May 1, 2011, President Obama and his national security team gathered in the White House Situation Room to watch a commando raid taking place half a world away. As the mission unfolded, the President was in continuous video contact with the senior military officer directing the operation from a base in Afghanistan, Admiral William McRaven. To this task, Admiral McRaven brought three decades of experience in special operations. The first officer to graduate from the Special Operations and...

Andrew Young was the pastor of a small country church when he faced down the Ku Klux Klan to organize a voter registration drive in South Georgia. He became the leading negotiator for the national Civil Rights Movement, enduring death threats, beatings and jail time to win for African Americans the rights of full citizenship they were promised by the Constitution, rights they had been long denied. Alongside his friend, Martin Luther King, Jr., he marched through the most dramatic episodes of...

Ray Dalio is the founder and owner of Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest and richest hedge fund. The firm manages approximately $130 billion in global investments for institutional clients including foreign governments and central banks, pension funds, university endowments and charitable foundations. The son of a jazz musician, Dalio began investing at the age of 12 when he bought shares of Northeast Airlines for $300, tripling his investment when the airline merged with another...

For those who follow the gyrations of American politics, the week is not complete until David Brooks is heard from. After completing his two columns a week for The New York Times, Brooks takes to the airwaves every Friday, on National Public Radio's All Things Considered, and on PBS television's The News Hour. On the air, as in print, he brings historical perspective, a bracing candor and gentle humor to his analysis of the week's events. Brooks was a senior at the University of Chicago when...

America's greatest living chronicler of men at war, Rick Atkinson draws on an intimate knowledge of the soldier's life. The son of a career army officer, he was born in Germany and grew up on military posts. He developed his mastery of research -- along with his powerful prose style and keen eye for the telling detail -- as a reporter for The Kansas City Times and The Washington Post. In 1982, he was honored, along with the rest of the Kansas City newsroom team, with a Pulitzer Prize for...

America's greatest living chronicler of men at war, Rick Atkinson draws on an intimate knowledge of the soldier's life. The son of a career army officer, he was born in Germany and grew up on military posts. He developed his mastery of research -- along with his powerful prose style and keen eye for the telling detail -- as a reporter for The Kansas City Times and The Washington Post. In 1982, he was honored, along with the rest of the Kansas City newsroom team, with a Pulitzer Prize for...

In 1995, when retired General Colin Powell took himself out of the running for President of the United States, he was leading every candidate in every poll. At the time, his autobiography, My American Journey, was a national bestseller. Millions of Americans have been inspired by his life story, from his boyhood in the South Bronx, through service in Vietnam, to his term as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. General Powell was the first African-American and the youngest...

In 1995, when retired General Colin Powell took himself out of the running for President of the United States, he was leading every candidate in every poll. At the time, his autobiography, My American Journey, was a national bestseller. Millions of Americans have been inspired by his life story, from his boyhood in the South Bronx, through service in Vietnam, to his term as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. General Powell was the first African-American and the youngest...

When Susan Hockfield was a student, women in the sciences had few role models. As a senior at the University of Rochester, she had come up with an idea for an interesting experiment, but lacked the confidence to carry it out herself. "People like me don't do these things," she remembers thinking. Fortunately, a sympathetic professor encouraged her, and she resolved to pursue a career in the sciences. Today, she is a neuroscientist of international reputation, and the president of one of the...

America’Ŵs greatest living chronicler of men at war, Rick Atkinson draws on an intimate knowledge of the soldier’Ŵs life. The son of a career army officer, he was born in Germany and grew up on military posts. He developed his mastery of research’Ůalong with his powerful prose style and keen eye for the telling detail’Ůas a reporter for The Kansas City Times and The Washington Post. His reporting on the 1991 conflict with Iraq resulted in the book Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf...

A. Scott Berg found his calling early in life. At 15, he already knew he wanted to attend Princeton University. At Princeton he determined to tell the story of 20th century America by writing "five or six biographies" of American cultural figures. At 19 he began work on his senior thesis, a biography of Maxwell Perkins, the legendary editor who "discovered" and developed F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, James Jones and dozens of other important writers. After graduating...

A. Scott Berg found his calling early in life. At 15, he already knew he wanted to attend Princeton University. At Princeton he determined to tell the story of 20th century America by writing "five or six biographies" of American cultural figures. At 19 he began work on his senior thesis, a biography of Maxwell Perkins, the legendary editor who "discovered" and developed F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, James Jones and dozens of other important writers. After graduating...

At the 2008 International Achievement Summit in Hawaii, three distinguished public servants address the problems and opportunities facing the modern metropolis. Richard M. Daley is now serving his sixth term as mayor of Chicago. He has earned a national reputation for his innovative, community-based programs to address education, public safety and neighborhood development; he was one of the first mayors of a major American city to take direct control over his city's school system. Antonio R....

At the 2008 International Achievement Summit in Hawaii, three distinguished public servants address the problems and opportunities facing the modern metropolis. Richard M. Daley is now serving his sixth term as mayor of Chicago. He has earned a national reputation for his innovative, community-based programs to address education, public safety and neighborhood development; he was one of the first mayors of a major American city to take direct control over his city's school system. Antonio R....