Podcast Episodes

The sold-out chips at the heart of AI

Season 1 Episode 72

Brannin McBee is the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at CoreWeave.

A few years ago, he and a few friends started buying hardware to mine cryptocurrency. It turns out, the same hardware -- chips…

Published on 2 years, 1 month ago

Special Episode: The Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried

Season 1

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former crypto mogul, is on trial for fraud. On today’s show, we talk to Lidia Jean Kott, who is covering the trial for another Pushkin show, about a dramatic day in court. Caro…

Published on 2 years, 2 months ago

Getting Yeast to Make Medicine

Season 1 Episode 71

Christina Smolke is the co-founder and CEO of Antheia. Antheia is a synthetic biology company -- they’re in the business of genetically engineering microorganisms to produce commercial products.

Chri…

Published on 2 years, 2 months ago

Could a Robot Make Your Salad?

Season 1 Episode 70

Stephen Klein is the co-founder and CEO of Hyphen, a company that is developing an automated make line. Stephen's problem is this: How do you make restaurant food from fresh ingredients... cheaper?

C…

Published on 2 years, 2 months ago

What the Industrial Revolution Teaches Us About the AI Revolution

Season 1 Episode 69

Simon Johnson is an MIT economist and the co-author of a new book called “Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle over Technology and Prosperity”.

Simon’s problem is this: How do you create th…

Published on 2 years, 2 months ago

Can AI Tutors Help Kids Learn? Khan Academy Thinks So

Season 1 Episode 68

Sal Khan is the founder and CEO of Khan Academy. Sal’s problem is this: How do you design an AI that can give students the kind of benefits they’d get from working with a human tutor?

Earlier this ye…

Published on 2 years, 3 months ago

Smallpox: Gone but Not Forgotten from Incubation

Season 1

What can we learn from the centuries-long quest to eradicate smallpox, once the scourge of humanity? And how did it set the stage for all vaccines to come? First we meet Edward Jenner, a doctor in 18…

Published on 2 years, 3 months ago

Going to the Doctor Sucks. Can AI Make it Better?

Season 1 Episode 67

Allon Bloch is the co-founder and CEO of K Health. Allon’s problem is this: Can you use AI to make seeing a doctor easier and more helpful?

Today, thousands of patients a month are treated through K …

Published on 2 years, 3 months ago

Spotting Wildfires with AI

Season 1 Episode 66

Sonia Kastner is the founder and CEO of Pano. Sonia’s problem is this: How do you use data and machine learning to mitigate the damage caused by climate change?

Pano mounts cameras on remote mountain…

Published on 2 years, 3 months ago

Is the Era of Free Returns Over?

Season 1 Episode 65

Amit Sharma is the founder and CEO of Narvar. Narvar works with companies such as Sephora, Lululemon and Home Depot to manage the post-purchase phase of online shopping — tracking, alerts and returns…

Published on 2 years, 3 months ago