Theo Baker in Conversation with Vinson Cunningham: “How to Rule the World”

As a freshman reporter for the Stanford student newspaper, Theo Baker received a tip. Most students would have let it go. But he didn't. What he discovered was a research misconduct scandal so significant that – by the time Theo had finished reporting and writing about it -- it forced the resignation of Stanford's president Marc Tessier-Lavigne, a celebrated neuroscientist and biotech executive worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Theo was nineteen at the time – he’s only 21 now – and the quality and impact of his reporting led to him being awarded a Polk Award that year, making him the youngest person ever to receive one of journalism’s most prestigious awards. Theo’s memoir, How to Rule the World: An Education in Power at Stanford University, is both a wild, often darkly funny takedown of Stanford’s culture of tech primacy and a case study in what real investigative journalism requires: patience, skepticism, and the willingness to challenge people and institutions far more powerful than yourself. Joining him in conversation for this episode of Beyond the Page -- recorded live at the 2026 Writers Conference -- is Vinson Cunningham, staff writer and critic at The New Yorker as well as a gifted novelist, whose own sharp eye for institutions and the people who run them makes him the ideal person to draw out this story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices