Podcast Episodes

Building a Plane to Help Save the World

Season 1 Episode 55

Does flying have to be bad for the environment? Val Miftakhov, the founder and CEO of ZeroAvia, doesn’t think so. His company built a plane that’s powered by hydrogen fuel, which produces zero carbon…

Published on 2 years, 6 months ago

The AI that Might Take My Job (And Yours)

Season 1 Episode 54

Andrew Mason is the founder and CEO of Descript. Descript's software has made editing audio and video much simpler. 

The company recently received a large investment from OpenAI, the company behind C…

Published on 2 years, 6 months ago

The Hottest Thing In Energy Storage

Season 1 Episode 53

Andrew Ponec is co-founder and CEO of the energy storage company Antora Energy. 

Andrew's problem is this: How can you store renewable energy in a way that is cheap enough and reliable enough for ind…

Published on 2 years, 7 months ago

Using Bacteria to Dye Jeans

Season 1 Episode 52

Tammy Hsu and Michelle Zhu are the cofounders of Huue. 

Their problem is this: how do you get bacteria to produce indigo dye? And how do you do it cheaply and reliably enough to replace the toxic pet…

Published on 2 years, 7 months ago

The Quest for the Factory-Built House

Season 1 Episode 51

Today's show is about a problem people have been trying to solve for a hundred years: how can we mass produce houses, like we do cars?

Listen for a house that looks like a UFO, a giant mobile home bo…

Published on 2 years, 7 months ago

Building Houses Like Tesla Builds Cars

Season 1 Episode 50

Alexis Rivas is the co-founder and CEO of Cover.

His problem is: How do you build houses in a factory, the way you build cars? And how do you do it so they're cheaper and better than a traditionally …

Published on 2 years, 7 months ago

Human Bones, Made In the Lab

Season 1 Episode 49

Nina Tandon is the co-founder and CEO of a tissue engineering company called EpiBone.

Her problem is this: How do you grow custom bone from patients' stem cells, at a price that makes sense?

See omnys…

Published on 2 years, 8 months ago

Tiny Chips, Giant Stakes

Season 1 Episode 48

Microchips are the most important driver of technological progress in the modern world, and governments are fighting over who gets to make them.

Right now, most cutting-edge chips are made in Taiwan,…

Published on 2 years, 8 months ago

Problems Solved: Drones, Bananas and Real Estate*

Season 1 Episode 47

It's our first anniversary and—almost 50 episodes in—Jacob Goldstein checks in with three past guests. 
Drone delivery guy Keenan Wyrobek thinks he has solved a big problem holding back commercial dro…

Published on 2 years, 9 months ago

Faster, Cheaper Drugs with AI

Season 1 Episode 46

Alice Zhang is the co-founder and CEO of Verge Genomics. Alice's problem is this: How do you use artificial intelligence to drive down the price of developing new drugs?

The company is using AI to fi…

Published on 2 years, 9 months ago