Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Tim
Speaker 2: Stenebek on Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1: Oh, universe was in a hot dance state the nearly
Speaker 1: fourteen billion years ago.
Speaker 2: Expansion started waiting for the years began to cool. The
Speaker 2: atros began to Julie Andrew Falls developed tools.
Speaker 1: We built a wall of the Paris fu sciencestly.
Speaker 3: Started with a Big Bang.
Speaker 4: All right, everybody you know it well? It aired for
Speaker 4: twelve seasons September of seven to May of twenty nineteen.
Speaker 4: We're talking to him about The Big Bang Theory.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, he's the co creator of the hit television comedy
Speaker 2: The Big Bang Theory. It's about young scientists in Southern California.
Speaker 2: As if I needed to tell any of the world knows.
Speaker 2: And now he wants to help young scientists in Southern
Speaker 2: California even more than he had earlier.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he does through his family foundation. Chuck Luri, the
Speaker 4: TV writer, director, producer, is pledging twenty four point five
Speaker 4: million to the University of California, Los Angeles to help
Speaker 4: more low income students study science and technology. This adds
Speaker 4: to a program he began back in twenty fifteen, and
Speaker 4: this donation will double the number of undergraduate scholarship recipients
Speaker 4: with financial needs to eighty each year. Tim This is
Speaker 4: according to UCLA.
Speaker 5: Well.
Speaker 2: Janet Lauren is Bloomberg News higher education finance reporter. She
Speaker 2: earlier this month wrote about Lorie's latest donation. She's with
Speaker 2: us here in the Bloomberg Interactive Brokers studio. Also joining
Speaker 2: us is Chuck Laurie, who not only co created The
Speaker 2: Big Bang Theory, but also created or co created and
Speaker 2: produced Grace under Fire, Sybil Darman, and Greg two and
Speaker 2: a half Men, just to name a few. Chuck joins
Speaker 2: us from Los Angeles. Chuck, I do want to start
Speaker 2: with you because you've done a lot of philanthropy. You've
Speaker 2: supported STEM education in public schools before this latest donation.
Speaker 2: Give us your thinking behind the importance of STEM, especially
Speaker 2: when it comes to a world where you know we're
Speaker 2: talking about AI potentially doing a lot of the work
Speaker 2: for us.
Speaker 5: Well, when this all began, AI was not part of
Speaker 5: the conversation, so I really speak to you how that
Speaker 5: changes things. But my thinking early on was very simple.
Speaker 5: We had come to understand from various news reports that
Speaker 5: children here and in England because they were watching the
Speaker 5: Big Bang Theory or showing a spike of interest in
Speaker 5: stemated stem related fields at high school and college levels.
Speaker 5: And that was remarkable because that certainly wasn't the original
Speaker 5: goal for the Big Bang Theory to change the trajectory
Speaker 5: of a young person's life.
Speaker 3: It was happening.
Speaker 1: So I have to admit, as Chuck and I talked before,
Speaker 1: my family and I are huge fans of Young Sheldon.
Speaker 1: Me I had not watched The Big Bank Theory. We
Speaker 1: actually was introduced to the characters from Young Sheldon. So
Speaker 1: I have only maybe watched one episode of The Big
Speaker 1: Bang Theory. So all this is new to me. But
Speaker 1: I do know a lot about college financing, and one
Speaker 1: thing Chuck had said to me when we spoke earlier
Speaker 1: about the lack of finances is something he understood extremely
Speaker 1: well because he did not finish college and carried around
Speaker 1: student loans of two thousand dollars for fifteen years.
Speaker 5: So he understands after fifteen years that two thousand was
Speaker 5: about eight or no. Wow.
Speaker 1: Yes, that's the principle of accrude interest. But that's a
Speaker 1: good detail that a lot of people out there thinking
Speaker 1: about college they don't think about. And what I found
Speaker 1: remarkableut this program is not only does it fun college,
Speaker 1: but it gives mentorship, which is something that is hard
Speaker 1: to get through college without. Could you talk a little
Speaker 1: bit about why that it was important and why is
Speaker 1: it important for you to see, you know, kids college
Speaker 1: graduate college in a reasonable amount of time, such as
Speaker 1: four years, and how difficult that can be.
Speaker 5: Well, one of the original goals that I had, for
Speaker 5: better or worse, was to keep things local so that
Speaker 5: I could participate and and local for us here in
Speaker 5: Los Angeles was u c l A. And that was
Speaker 5: absolutely aided by the fact that our science consultant on
Speaker 5: the Big Bang theory, doctor David Salzburg, was a professor
Speaker 5: of physics at u c l A. And so we
Speaker 5: already had entree to the university through David and and
Speaker 5: wanting to participate and give back. It seemed it made
Speaker 5: sense to do so by focusing on young people who
Speaker 5: were pursuing or wanted to pursue a stem field and
Speaker 5: at UCLA, and also because it was local because it
Speaker 5: was UCLA because of David, the mentorship process was also
Speaker 5: part of this. We weren't just handing out money and
Speaker 5: saying good luck for a lot of the kids. They
Speaker 5: were the first generation in their families to get a
Speaker 5: college education, and so they're being thrown into a thrown
Speaker 5: onto a speeding train.
Speaker 3: You know, right out of the gate mentorship is important.
Speaker 1: Now the information about the scholarship says there's opportunities for
Speaker 1: graduate school funding. We all know how expensive medical school
Speaker 1: could be. Can you talk about was that important to
Speaker 1: you to continue students onto this trajectory?
Speaker 5: Not initially. This thing grew over a period of almost
Speaker 5: ten years now, and when we realized that the success
Speaker 5: rate we were having with the kids going through under
Speaker 5: graduate programs UH was phenomenal, and and that's when we
Speaker 5: decided to expand the program into graduate school. And again
Speaker 5: we were initially trying to keep the graduate school in
Speaker 5: in in the UH, in the California system so that
Speaker 5: we could again stay stay close to it and participate well.
Speaker 4: And I am curious to check you know, you guys
Speaker 4: really worked hard to get the science right on the show, right.
Speaker 4: I mean that was obviously a priority. Talking to David
Speaker 4: did Well talk to us about being in that environment
Speaker 4: for you and maybe how that also shaped your thinking
Speaker 4: about where you wanted to commit money towards to help others,
Speaker 4: you know, pursue potentially you know, degrees in the STEM world.
Speaker 5: It begins with the show. The show is about UH,
Speaker 5: a group of somewhat alienated, disenfranchised geniuses and UH, you know,
Speaker 5: struggling to make their way in the world, but clinging
Speaker 5: to one another as a community, basically almost a family
Speaker 5: unit in the way they treated one another, both good
Speaker 5: and bad. And so it made sense from the beginning
Speaker 5: that we we we we focus on STEM UH and
Speaker 5: UH for a couple of very practical reasons. One is
Speaker 5: the likelihood that you graduate in one of these fields
Speaker 5: you can get employed, saying can't be said with a
Speaker 5: with a B A. And in the humanities or communication,
Speaker 5: I think I lost you guys think.
Speaker 2: About our liberal arts degrees.
Speaker 5: Exactly disappointed, I, you know, very practically, I wanted to.
Speaker 5: I wanted the program to also, you know, help help
Speaker 5: young people who are going through you know, the journey
Speaker 5: of education to end with employability. Yeah, and and UH
Speaker 5: that may have been a little bit, but it seemed
Speaker 5: it seemed like, Uh, wouldn't it be great to graduate
Speaker 5: without debt and have a job for you Yeah?
Speaker 4: Right, Yes, yes, yes, and yes right. What did you
Speaker 4: study drugs? No, I'm not sure I have a follow up. No,
Speaker 4: what did you really academically?
Speaker 5: I may have had a it's a dim memory. I
Speaker 5: was talking about a long time ago. There was also
Speaker 5: rock and roll and girl, but there was it was.
Speaker 5: I think I might have been a political science major.
Speaker 5: I don't know if I ever mentioned it to anybody,
Speaker 5: but yeah, no, also a degree also, as they used
Speaker 5: to say, that degree and a token could get you
Speaker 5: right on the subway.
Speaker 4: We want to get back to our guest with us,
Speaker 4: as Chuck Laurie, TV writer, director and producer The Big
Speaker 4: Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, two and a half men, So.
Speaker 2: Much more time for the interview.
Speaker 4: I know he's out there in la and in our
Speaker 4: studio is Janet Lauren Bloomberg News higher Education finance reporter.
Speaker 4: So a couple of things we want to get to,
Speaker 4: but I do want to ask you about it really
Speaker 4: stung me what you said. And Jahna put in her
Speaker 4: story where she wrote about your donation to UCLA that
Speaker 4: you carried a student learn of about two thousand for
Speaker 4: fifteen years, and you said it it grew to eight thousand.
Speaker 4: The cost of education and this idea of you know,
Speaker 4: kids coming out of school and not having any debt,
Speaker 4: that's increasingly becoming a thing of the way past. I
Speaker 4: don't know any thoughts about it as you try to
Speaker 4: help others who are pursuing education in STEM fields and
Speaker 4: just thinking about kind of a younger generation, how we
Speaker 4: do it better, because it just feels like it's getting
Speaker 4: out of control and not getting better.
Speaker 3: I don't have an answer to that. I just know
Speaker 3: that when State of New York caught up with me,
Speaker 3: they didn't catch up with me. I was very young
Speaker 3: and naiven.
Speaker 5: I don't think I understood my Social Security number was
Speaker 5: a target. But you know, I spent probably eight or
Speaker 5: nine years sending the State of New York fifty dollars
Speaker 5: a month, and that's how I got out from under it.
Speaker 5: But I know, I don't have a solution for this
Speaker 5: situation other than what we're doing, which is especially you know,
Speaker 5: seeking out kids that are not only exceptionally talented in
Speaker 5: their scholastic efforts, but high financial need, backgrounds, underrepresented kids,
Speaker 5: and where the money can be puts a good use
Speaker 5: in allowing them to get that STEM education and walk
Speaker 5: out of UCLA with no debt. Is that seems like
Speaker 5: a goal worth pursuing major gift.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Hey, hey, Chuck, I want to take a step
Speaker 2: back and just ask you about your broader philanthropy, because
Speaker 2: this is just one part of it, the big bank theory,
Speaker 2: UCLA scholars. You've got the Venice Family Clinic, Chuck, Lori
Speaker 2: Rose Avenue Health and Wellness Center. You're working on some
Speaker 2: stuff when it comes to food banks and other healthcare
Speaker 2: related causes, a trust for public land as well in
Speaker 2: the greening of schoolyards. Just give us your philosophy when
Speaker 2: it comes to this type of work, this type of philanthropy,
Speaker 2: like where do you see the biggest needs?
Speaker 5: Well, it began very personally for me. I was very
Speaker 5: ill when I was a young man, desperately ill. I
Speaker 5: did not know about free clinics. I did not know
Speaker 5: where to go. I certainly had no insurance medical insurance,
Speaker 5: and I was It was a very frightening several years,
Speaker 5: and I was very fortunate that I managed to recover.
Speaker 3: But but that's that stays with you.
Speaker 5: If you can't afford to see a doctor and you
Speaker 5: need a doctor, that's a fear that I don't wish
Speaker 5: on anyone. And so that the philanthropy efforts began back
Speaker 5: in the nineties for me with Venice Family Clinic, which
Speaker 5: I wish I had actually known about when I was
Speaker 5: in my early twenties, but the idea that you could
Speaker 5: see a doctor without having any money in your pocket,
Speaker 5: I thought it was something I wanted to participate in.
Speaker 5: So I've been involved with the Venice Family Clinic for
Speaker 5: I don't know twenty five twenty six years, and that's
Speaker 5: expanded to other healthcare opportunities, and so that began, and
Speaker 5: then and then the STEM. The STEM efforts, as I
Speaker 5: said before, began really by accident when we found out
Speaker 5: that inexplicably or explicably the Big Bank theory was encouraging
Speaker 5: young people to pursue STEM research STEM fields.
Speaker 3: Uh and uh.
Speaker 5: So the thought was really quite simple, maybe we can help. Yeah,
Speaker 5: I mean, the original goal in making that show was
Speaker 5: to make people laugh. It was not to change again
Speaker 5: to change the trajectory of a young man or.
Speaker 3: Young woman's life.
Speaker 5: But it was doing that. So as long as it
Speaker 5: was doing that, let's participate. And that's how the scholarship started.
Speaker 1: Well, young Sheldon has really made us laugh.
Speaker 5: By the way, I love I absolutely love that you're
Speaker 5: watching Young Sheldon and you haven't watched The Big Bank.
Speaker 1: It's amazing.
Speaker 2: It's like it's like a gate but it could be
Speaker 2: a gateway into the original show that it's spun off from.
Speaker 1: But he's a great character, and so is doctor Sturgis.
Speaker 1: I love Doctor.
Speaker 3: Surge Wally Sean.
Speaker 5: We've been so blessed with some of the casting at Begley,
Speaker 5: and while it was Sean, it's been a terrific experience.
Speaker 1: And the university president that depiction seems entirely realistic to me, Well,
Speaker 1: how did you decide to pivot into young Sheldon? And
Speaker 1: you know he finished college in what three years? And
Speaker 1: the idea of going to East Texas Tech, And how
Speaker 1: did that all come about? Because it is it is
Speaker 1: a sort of a realistic path or a young genius
Speaker 1: like that.
Speaker 5: Well, the backstory of Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory
Speaker 5: was that he graduated college at fourteen or thirteen or
Speaker 5: fourteen I forget exactly, and then went to cal Tech
Speaker 5: to do postgraduate work. And so we had already laid in,
Speaker 5: you know, the backstory for Sheldon's journey graduating graduating high
Speaker 5: school at the age of al eleven and and uh,
Speaker 5: you know, in a in an East Texas town where
Speaker 5: they simply did not have the wherewithal to deal with
Speaker 5: a genius of that of that of that size, and
Speaker 5: East Texas Tech we invented in order to in order
Speaker 5: to keep him, you know, to keep him look so
Speaker 5: we can do the show and uh, and for have
Speaker 5: him ripping through that university as well on his way
Speaker 5: to cal Tech and and ultimately as we did.
Speaker 3: If you watch The Big.
Speaker 5: Bang Theory, he does win a Nobel Prize in the
Speaker 5: in the final up, we.
Speaker 4: Definitely get it. We're gonna work Chuck on Janet because
Speaker 4: she's got it. If she likes young Sheldon, she's gonna
Speaker 4: love The Big Bang Theory. She's got it like the
Speaker 4: it's like.
Speaker 5: It is different and the seed that the absolute genius
Speaker 5: of that cast let. Jim Parsons playing Sheldon at a
Speaker 5: later age, it's it's we had. We had twelve years
Speaker 5: of absolute fun making that show.
Speaker 4: Just get a minute left? Do you have a favorite
Speaker 4: moment in time considering all that you've worked on and
Speaker 4: created or co created or what? Have you? Just got
Speaker 4: about forty five seconds left here?
Speaker 5: Wow, that's a macro question I know.
Speaker 4: Sorry, I'm a member kind of gal.
Speaker 5: It's kind of hard to pull a favorite moment. There
Speaker 5: certainly have been moments that that have stuck with me.
Speaker 3: No.
Speaker 5: One of the I'm not Rather than specifically answer that question,
Speaker 5: what I've loved about The Big Bang Theory h and
Speaker 5: I guess you know we're talking mostly about young Sheldon
Speaker 5: is and I think why it was attractive to young people, Yeah,
Speaker 5: if you felt this enfranchised, if you felt you're on
Speaker 5: the outside looking in, which a lot of people do,
Speaker 5: and you don't have to be a mensa participant or
Speaker 5: a genius to feel that way. The show represented community,
Speaker 5: is represented, like minded souls helping one another. Maybe that's
Speaker 5: what was at practice to kids watch it.
Speaker 4: I think that's a great way to finish up. Listen,
Speaker 4: thank you, and it's a great thought. Thank you so much,
Speaker 4: so appreciate it. Be well, Chuck Lori, TV writer, director, producer,
Speaker 4: co creator The Big Bang Theory, and of course our
Speaker 4: Janet Lauren.
Speaker 3: Here this is Bloomberg