Ro's Recz

One of my favorite shows on TV used to be the CBS show Survivor. For those who have not watched the show before, Survivor puts a bunch of people on a random island and has them compete in physical and mental challenges. There is a ton of strategy involved, and it is one of the best shows to learn more about human behavior; those who win Survivor typically know how to walk a fine balance of being a leader, remaining popular, but also not being seen as too overbearing or strong.

I only started watching Survivor in around 2010, so I did not watch the 2006 season that starred Yul Kwon. However, I do remember hearing the name, and he is considered a bit of legend for Survivor fans. He used a combination of game theory and personal skills to win his season of Survivor.

In this episode of People I Mostly Admire, Steven Levitt interviews Yul Kwon. While it may seem a bit weird just to interview someone who was on Survivor, Kwon has done much more throughout his career as well; Kwon has also been a lawyer, an instructor at the FBI Academy, and owned a frozen-yogurt chain; his current job is working at Google where he is building tools to track the spread of COVID.

During the interview, Levitt has a really interesting conversation with Kwon about his background and history. He has some really insightful career experiences, but also has some really thoughtful personal experiences. One of the experiences Kwon shares is his experience being bullied as a child, and how this ultimately shaped his view on life; while in the long term it probably made him stronger, it really affected his life when he was a kid.

This is the type of interview I really enjoy listening to because Yul Kwon is not someone I knew a lot about, and is not someone I would think is a natural choice for interviewing for a podcast. However, because he is a bit of a different choice, he had some really great and unheard stories and advice!