Governor Walker Unveils New Welfare Reforms, Silicon Valley’s Tech Revolution, Crafting An Effective Apology

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• Governor Scott Walker is traveling around the state to announce a package of welfare changes, a program he’s calling “Wisconsin Works for Everyone.” The governor was in Milwaukee Monday to announce part of the plan that would require parents who get food stamps to work at least 80 hours per month. We talk to a reporter about the new program and how it’s being received so far.

• Valley of the Gods: A Silicon Valley Story

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  Northern California’s Silicon Valley has become synonymous with the tech revolution. In her new book Valley of the Gods: A Silicon Valley Story, reporter Alexandra Wolfe writes about the ambitious young men and women with big ideas who are creating startups, developing a new social order, and taking unconventional roads to wealth and fame.

• Inside The West Coast Hub That's Changing The World

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  Silicon Valley has become synonymous with the tech revolution. But the Northern California community is home to more than the most cutting-edge gadgets and digital tools – it’s also a place where young people go to develop unusual ideas into lucrative and popular tools for the modern age.

  In her new book “Valley of the Gods: A Silicon Valley Story,” Wall Street Journal reporter Alexandra Wolfe follows the sharp young minds taking unconventional roads to wealth and fame. She looks at the ambitious and entrepreneurial people who have associated themselves with one of the biggest names in the tech revolution – PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.

  Wolfe tracked the first class of “20 Under 20” Thiel Fellows – a group of young people who opted out of college for at least two years in exchange for a $100,000 grant to launch their first companies. She said the idea behind the fellowship was to introduce bright people with big ideas to accomplish their goals through alternative avenues, or to “get them fresh before they had been corrupted by corporations or institutions like college.”

  And she said she believes the thing that made the fellows similar to one another was how unconventional their interests were.

  “They came up with all sorts of outlandish ideas from mining asteroids to starting funds that would try to extend life forever,” Wolfe said.

  But the road and means to success aren’t all that sets Silicon Valley apart from other parts of the country. Wolfe, who is based in New York, described a distinct lifestyle and aesthetic that shows a departure from what success looks like in her own community on the East Coast.

  “It really looked like it was a big dorm,” she said. “The offices have bean bags in them (and) everybody has hoodies and jeans and sneakers. The whole look of the place is different than on the East Coast.”

  Beyond the dress and big ideas that make young tech innovators who they are, Wolfe also described a strikingly essential component of the road to success in the Valley – failure. She described plans that don’t pan out and ideas that unsettle what is considered normal as some of the most crucial qualifications for someone trying to make it big.

  “Failure was seen as such a virtue. It was up there with words like ‘disrupt,’ ‘transgress,’ and ‘hack.’ They were really interested in hacking anything – from morality to gender behavior.”

• Why Won't You Apologize?

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  “I’m sorry” may be the two most powerful words in the English language, but can also be the most difficult to say. That’s according to Harriet Lerner, a psychotherapist and author of “Why Won’t You Apologize?: Healing Big Betrayals and Everyday Hurts.” She joins us to discuss the best ways to make amends and how we often undermine our own apologies without knowing it.