In this episode, I talk with Gautam Kaul about how we learn, make decisions, and deal with risk. Gautam, a finance professor at the University of Michigan, has spent much of his career studying markets, uncertainty, and how people respond to them. But what makes his approach unique is the way he frames finance not only as numbers and equations, but as stories about human behavior and responsibility.

We explore why humans often misjudge risk and how education can help people become more thoughtful decision-makers. Gautam explains how teaching finance is less about technical formulas and more about building the ability to understand uncertainty, weigh options, and take responsibility for choices. We also talk about the emotional side of learning and decision-making, and how stories can be just as important as logic in shaping our understanding of the world.

This conversation left me thinking about how education—whether in finance or any field—prepares us for the uncertainties of life itself. Instead of only focusing on outcomes, Gautam argues that we should be paying attention to how we make decisions, what values drive those choices, and how we learn from both successes and failures.