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Most Popular Interviews of 2014


Every week we have the pleasure of highlighting some of our productivity heroes, from company CEOs to artists and writers who manage to accomplish more than any reasonable human being should. Let's look back at some of our most popular interviews of 2014.

This year we tipped a glass to Ira and his method of developing stories, spoke with Amit Agarwal about his scripts and apps, had a look inside Dropbox with engineer Tina Wen, and pondered human irrationality with professor Dan Ariely. And that's just a taste.

I'm Ira Glass, Host of This American Life, and This Is How I Work

Ira Glass is a writer, producer, storyteller, performer, and a familiar voice. His show This American Life has set the contemporary standard of nonfiction radio shows, and has influenced and inspired countless others to grab a mic and give podcasting a try.

I'm Amit Agarwal, and This Is How I Work

What does it take to become India's leading technology blogger? For almost a decade now, Amit Agarwal has been writing at Digital Inspiration, coming up with guides and hacks to make life easier with the right tech. He's developed plenty of cool scripts and apps, and even managed to find the time to author a book. We caught up with the one-man blogging and hacking force to find out the tools and tricks he can't live without.

I'm Tina Wen, Engineer at Dropbox, and This Is How I Work

Dropbox seems so simple—drag and drop your files and wherever you go, there they are—but it's taken a dedicated team of designers and engineers to build out the deceptively effortless service. And one of those dedicated engineers is Tina Wen.

I'm Dan Ariely, Author and Professor, and This Is How I Work

Smart people sometimes do dumb things. Why is that? You may want to ask Dan Ariely, a professor of psychology and behavioral economics who has made a name for himself by studying why we often behave irrationally.

I'm Kathryn Minshew, CEO of The Muse, and This Is How I Work

At the age of 28, Kathryn Minshew is growing her career advice and job search tool The Muse at warp speed. Launched in 2011 with less than $3,000 and a small team of writers and editors, The Muse now has over one-million monthly users. Prior to The Muse, Kathryn worked at The Clinton Health Initiative, focusing on vaccine access in Africa. I caught up with the always-on-the-go entrepreneur to talk about time saving tricks, workspaces, Taylor Swift, and more.

I'm Steven van Wel, CEO of Karma, and This Is How I Work

The Karma is an incredibly useful little gadget—a pay-as-you-go mobile hotspot that can get you online wherever you are. It's one of the most popular Wi-Fi hotspots around, and has saved more than a few bloggers from internet outages and spotty hotel Wi-Fi connections.

I'm Ryan Carson, CEO of Treehouse, and This Is How I Work

Ryan Carson only works four days a week. In fact, all of Treehouse only works four days a week, doesn't have any managers, and yet it's still a fast-growing online coding school that brings technology education to the masses. Under Ryan's guidance as co-founder and CEO, Treehouse is a blossoming venue to learn how to build a website, code an app, and more. How does he get anything done with only a four day work week? We asked Ryan to share his tips and to find out how he works.

I'm Stephen Dubner, Co-Author of Freakonomics, and This Is How I Work

In 2005, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner's book Freakonomics brought a new perspective to everyday life through the lens of economic principles—shedding light on everything from parenting to crime and why we act the way we do.

I'm Jamie Todd Rubin, and This Is How I Work

I first connected with Jamie Todd Rubin last year while researching Evernote Ambassadors. (Jamie is Evernote's paperless living ambassador, meaning he's passionate about using Evernote and other programs to live digitally and clutter-free.) Come to find out, he's is also a prolific science fiction writer, blogger, software developer, and dad of two young kids. I caught up with Jamie to find out his tips for writing every day, going paperless, and so much more.

Behind the App: The Story of Pushbullet

We all live across multiple screens as our gaze hops from our phones to our laptops and to our tablets. How do you keep yourself in order when your digital life is sprawled about like paperwork in a messy office? Pushbullet is working towards an answer.

I'm Becky Stern of Adafruit, and This Is How I Work

Is Becky Stern an artist or engineer or designer? At Adafruit Industries, it's all of the above. As Director of Wearable Electronics, Becky combines her DIY skills with crafting talents to build cool gizmos that utilize all sorts of electronic components.

How I Work: Jimmy Soni, Managing Editor of the Huffington Post

The Huffington Post is, of course, one of the landmark blogs of the internet, and has grown into a diverse outlet that covers everything from politics to entertainment to local news. Overseeing the editorial operation is Jimmy Soni, whose own work has been featured in The Atlantic, Politico, and more. We caught up with Jimmy to learn how he manages his workload and the HuffPo empire.

Behind the App: The Story of Plex

At its most basic, Plex is an app that lets you stream media from your desktop to any other device, whether you're using a phone or a tablet or another computer. But it's slowly become an entire ecosystem of media management across virtually every platform you could think of.

I'm Susan Kare, Graphic Designer, and This Is How I Work

Susan Kare has led a diverse career as a graphic designer, but her reputation is preceded by an early milestone: she designed the indelible icons and fonts for the original Apple Macintosh.Her evocative, lucid, and witty designs set a standard for the graphical user interfaces that followed.

Behind the App: The Story of Kali Linux

If you've ever tried to crack Wi-FI passwords or test for security vulnerabilities on your network, then you're likely familiar with Kali Linux. It's a security-focused version of Linux that offers a multitude of tools to seek out weaknesses and secure your network.

I'm Alexa von Tobel, Founder of LearnVest, and This Is How I Work

The world of personal finance is hard to navigate, but Alexa von Tobel is making it a lot easier. Her company, LearnVest, pairs users with Certified Financial Planners who make custom plans for saving, getting out of debt, investing, and more. LearnVest also offers a suite of online and mobile tools to help users stay organized. Now, Alexa is taking her expertise to print—her first book, Financially Fearless, came out last month. We caught up with the fearless Ms. von Tobel to talk about time-saving tricks, sleep habits, workspaces, and more.

I'm Charles Duhigg, and This Is How I Work

You might say Charles Duhigg is a man of habit, and he'd probably say that we all are. His book,The Power of Habit, examines why we're prone to forming patterns of behavior—both good and bad—and how we can use that process to take the reins on life and work. We caught up with theNew York Times journalist to discuss some habits of his own.

I'm danah boyd, Researcher at Microsoft, and This Is How I Work

For years danah boyd has been watching the internet through an academic lens, studying how society interacts with technology. Her recent book, It's Complicated, looks at how teenagers, born into an online world, are navigating social media and whether they're better off for it.

I'm Hank Driskill, Tech Supervisor of Big Hero 6, and This is How I Work

It takes an army to make a film—especially an animated film in which every aspect is made from scratch. And contemporary animation is often tied to the technology behind it. Walt Disney Animation's most recent movie, Big Hero 6, is a prime example of the symbiotic relationship between story and technology.


It's been a good year to talk with such delightful and impressive people, and if you're hungry for more, have a look at 2013's most popular interviews. Someone you want to see on the site that we haven't yet featured? Email us.