What We Inherit: Martha Frick Symington Sanger on Family Trauma, Art, and Legacy

August 23, 2026Episodeffi

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In this episode of The Practitioner podcast, Martha Frick Symington Sanger, great-granddaughter of Henry Clay Frick, discusses the 10-year process of researching her family history and the discoveries that changed how she understood Frick’s legacy.

At the center of the story is the death of Frick’s young daughter Martha, a loss from which Sanger believes he never recovered—and one she sees reflected in his art collecting. She also shares the resistance she encountered from family members who wanted to protect Frick’s reputation and what she learned about the emotional power of objects passed through generations.

For Sanger, examining the past offers families an opportunity to recognize inherited patterns, break destructive cycles, and avoid passing unresolved trauma to the next generation.

The conversation previews themes she will explore during her pre-conference session on narratives at the 2026 FFI Global Conference in New York City.

In this episode of the FFI Practitioner Podcast, Jordan Rich sits down with neuroscientist, Joseph LeDoux to explore:

August 4, 2026Episodeffi

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Split-brain research and subliminal perception
The evolution of emotion research
The role and limits of the amygdala
Calming automatic responses and renarrating experience
The connection between neuroscience and music
LeDoux’s upcoming FFI conference appearance

Joseph LeDoux is a pioneering neuroscientist, author, and musician whose work has advanced scientific understanding of survival circuits, emotion, memory, anxiety, and consciousness. His early research examined consciousness and behavior in split-brain patients before he turned to the neural systems involved in threat detection and defensive responses.

LeDoux is also the lead singer and songwriter for The Amygdaloids, a band known for what it calls “Heavy MeNtal”—original music about the mind, brain, emotion, and mental disorders. The band has released multiple albums and performed in the United States and internationally.

Family Business Review Retrospective – Part II

May 18, 2026Episodeffi

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Three former Family Business Review editors—Pramodita Sharma, G. Tyge Payne, and Donald Neubaum—join the FFI Practitioner podcast to discuss the evolution of the journal and the growing maturity of the family business field during their tenure. They reflect on increasing submissions, rising impact, and the ongoing effort to maintain the journal’s high standards of rigor and excellence. The conversation also tackles the emerging challenge of AI-generated submissions and what it means for preserving scholarly integrity in academic publishing.

Family Business Review Retrospective

March 30, 2026Episodeffi

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In this episode, we explore the origins and evolution of Family Business Review—the leading academic journal in the family enterprise field.

Join early editors Ivan Lansberg, Kelin Gersick, and Joe Astrachan as they reflect on how the journal grew from an idea into a globally respected publication.

The conversation highlights the challenges of establishing legitimacy for a new field, building an interdisciplinary community, and bridging the gap between academic research and real-world practice.

The panel also discusses how the field has evolved—from early experiential insights to today’s data-driven research—and what the future of scholarly publishing may look like in an era shaped by artificial intelligence.

Christopher Gibson on AI, Dispute Resolution, and the Future of Legal Practice

February 8, 2026Episodeffi

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In this episode of the FFI Practitioner Podcast, we speak with Christopher Gibson, FFI’s 2086 Scholar in Residence, about the evolving world of mediation, arbitration, and legal education.
Christopher discusses the growing role of AI in dispute resolution, and how lawyers can help family enterprise clients in an increasingly uncertain world.

We also explore how legal education is shifting from traditional Socratic teaching toward skills-based learning, including contract drafting, simulations, problem-solving, and using AI effectively.
A timely conversation on managing risk, exercising control, and guiding families through complexity across generations.

Technology, Family Offices, and Investing for the Future: A Conversation with Aaron Vaccaro

October 3, 2025Episodeffi

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Today’s FFI Practitioner features a podcast on “Technology, Family Offices, and Investing for the Future” with Aaron Vaccaro, president of Singularity. In his conversation with interviewer Jordan Rich, Aaron discusses exponential technologies and their importance to the success of multi-generational family enterprises. His colleague, Rob Nail, entrepreneur, coach, and former CEO of Singularity, will open the FFI conference on October 29 with a keynote presentation on “Exponential Thinking and the Multi-Generational Family Enterprise: Innovation, Technology, and the Future.”

Since taking the role of president for Singularity in 2023, Aaron Vaccaro has led the management team in executing Singularity’s mission of educating, inspiring, and empowering leaders to create breakthroughs powered by exponential technology. Prior to joining Singularity, Aaron was Vice President at WestRiver Group, a global innovation investment platform and the lead investor in Singularity since 2016, where he remains an operating partner.

The Power of Narrative in Family Businesses: A Conversation with Jamie Yuenger and Lisabeth Sugahara

September 5, 2025Episodeffi

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FFI Practitioner is pleased to feature a podcast conversation with guests Jamie Yuenger from StoryKeep and Lisabeth “Betsy” Sugahara from Fairfield-Maxwell Ltd. They discuss the power of story and how it can have positive impacts on family businesses, including improved family dynamics and wider support of business decisions.

Jamie Yuenger is founder of Storykeep, which creates private films and podcasts with individuals and families to connect their current and future generations through the power of story. After training as a folklorist, worked in broadcast journalism, including as assistant producer at WNYC.

Lisabeth Sugahara is an owner of Fairfield-Maxwell Ltd, a private investment firm focused primarily on family businesses with like values and priorities.

Family Offices Around the World: A Conversation with Mary Duke, Aik-Ping Ng, and Peter Vogel

July 25, 2025Episodeffi

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FFI Practitioner is pleased to feature a podcast conversation with Mary Duke, Aik-Ping Ng, and Peter Vogel, about the future of family offices worldwide. They discuss the necessity of integrating financial, human, and social capital, and the importance of long-term relationships and generational bridging in family office advising.

Mary Duke, FFI Fellow, is an internationally recognized advisor to families navigating the complexities of substantial wealth. She focuses on empowering rising generations and on helping families adopt the practices and behaviors that foster individual growth and make family collaboration more effective and rewarding. She can be reached at mkduke@thehighrd.com.

Aik-Ping Ng, ACFBA/CFWA, is managing director and head of Family Office Advisory Asia Pacific at HSBC Private Bank. With twenty-two years of experience in private equity, corporate finance, and wealth management, he advises UHNW families on legacy planning. He can be reached at aikping.ng@gmail.com.

Peter Vogel, PhD, is professor of family business and entrepreneurship at IMD Business School. An expert on family enterprises, he leads IMD’s work in this field as director of the IMD Global Family Business Center and Debiopharm Chair in Family Philanthropy. He can be reached at Peter.Vogel@imd.org.

Advancements in Longevity Research: An Interview with Dr. Kris Verburgh

July 7, 2025Episodeffi

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FFI Practitioner is pleased to feature a podcast conversation with Dr. Kris Verburgh, who presented the keynote at the 2019 Global Conference. In today’s interview, Dr. Verburgh discusses the advancements in longevity research since his 2019 keynote, highlighting significant investments to address aging-related diseases. He also explores the ways in which a shift towards an ageless society would affect family businesses, investment strategies, and societal organization. Dr. Verburgh’s colleague Robert Nail will present the opening keynote at the 2025 Global Conference, entitled “Exponential Thinking in the Multi- Generational Family Enterprise: Innovation, Technology, and the Future.”

Kris Verburgh, MD, is an inventor, author, investor, researcher, and medical doctor specializing in aging, longevity, and the future of medicine and biotechnology. Dr. Verburgh is a partner and head of science at the BOLD Longevity Growth Fund and a researcher at the Free University of Brussels. He is an expert in the future of medicine and longevity at Singularity University, an FFI organizational member, and he is a member of the FFI IberoAmérica Virtual Study Group.

Measuring Performance in Family Enterprises: An Interview with Sir Andrew Likierman

April 18, 2025Episodeffi

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FFI Practitioner is pleased to feature a podcast conversation with Sir Andrew Likierman, 2025 recipient of the 2086 Society’s FFI Scholar-in-Residence grant. In today’s podcast, Sir Andrew Likierman discusses the complexities of performance management in family enterprises. He emphasizes the importance of having a common framework for success that aligns with the family’s objectives, the significance of integrating individual performance with the enterprise’s overall strategy, and the necessity for family enterprise advisors and practitioners to adopt a consistent and coherent set of performance measures to ensure clarity and alignment within the organization.

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