I was at an in-person conference a few years back, the old days when people used to meet

face to face, and a few minutes before we all sat down to dinner, the conference organizer

pulled me aside and asked if I would be willing to facilitate the conversation at my table.

Now, that is roughly my least favorite thing to do, and it only got worse when I was handed

a list of suggested topics, not one of which was remotely interesting to me.

So I decided to try something different, something I had never tried before.

I tore up that list of topics, and instead I proposed that to start the conversation, each

person should take five minutes to tell his or her life story.

But with one twist, I told them I wanted no self-devocation and no modesty, that I was

giving them permission to be braggy and arrogant.

I turned to the woman sitting on my left, her name badge said Marina Nitsa, she was younger

than the other people at the table, small and stature, clearly an introvert.

I said Marina, how about you start?

And it was immediately obvious that braggy arrogance was far out of her comfort zone.

She spoke slowly, repeatedly apologizing after she noted an accomplishment, each time I

interrupted, telling her I gave her 100% permission, indeed that I insisted that she tell us about

every amazing thing she had done.

And what unfolded was one of the most fascinating life histories I've ever heard.

Welcome to People I Mostly Admire, with Steve Levitt.

More than a year had passed since that dinner, when I decided to start this podcast, I began

by writing a list of possible guests to have on the show, and the first name on that list

was Marina Nitsa, and I hope you will find her story as enthralling as I did.

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