About Barry Maher

Barry Maher

Barry Maher

Barry Maher is a product of the University of Notre Dame, the Graduate Journalism Program at U.C. Berkeley and five confused weeks at The Whopper College of the Burger King Corporation. In his misspent youth, he was an award-winning poet (the award was seven copies of a xeroxed "literary" publication). His non-fiction appeared in perhaps a hundred different publications, and in order to eat, he held nearly that many different jobs. Sometimes he lived on the beach. Not in a house on the beach. On the beach. With the sand and the seagulls.

Then he started his own marketing business. He turned out to be good at it. Soon, he was an executive in a Fortune 100 conglomerate. Companies started asking him to consult. They started paying him to speak at their meetings. To his great surprise, nobody asked for their money back. He built a multimillion-dollar business telling stories to business and non-business audiences across the country and around the world, his client list a Who’s Who of multi-national corporations and leading associations.

You may have seen Barry on The Today Show, NBC Nightly News or CNBC, and he’s been featured in publications and websites ranging from The New York Times, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal to, his personal favorite, Funeral Service Insider.

We should also mention Barry’s been incarcerated twice. Once for not making a lefthand turn out of a lefthand turn lane, and once for aiding and abetting a loiterer. He’s deeply repentant.

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Mild, Multilevel Me Oct 31, 2025

I have nothing against doctors. Some of them have saved my life. Some of them have damn near killed me. I won't say some of my best friends are doctors, but my sister is. I love her and I know she's an excellent physician. But that's not what I notic... Read More

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The None-of-My-Business Column Oct 24, 2025

Perhaps due to my previous incarnation as a traveling know-it-all, I keep getting requests for a column on one business or self-help topic or another. Much as I enjoy pontificating on whatever the subject, the "Slightly Off-Kilter" column is neither ... Read More

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Toddlin' in Chicago: Government Overreach, Circa 1972 Oct 10, 2025

Chicago, I'd heard, was a toddlin' town. In fact, I'd heard it repeatedly from a woman in the seat behind me on the bus from South Bend. "Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin' town, toddlin' town." That was as much as she knew. Then she'd sing it again eve... Read More

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Artificial Intelligence Meets Natural Stupidity Oct 03, 2025

We keep hearing that Artificial Intelligence may one day decide to improve the planet by getting rid of the world's biggest problem — human beings. And it does seem to be setting us up. Our laptops, tablets, phones and watches are taking over o... Read More