What’s Your Problem?

After a historic 355 days in orbit, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei returned to Earth on March 30, 2022, breaking the record for the longest single spaceflight by an American. In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Malcolm Gladwell and Mark Vande Hei discuss conducting experiments in space, the impact of extended spaceflight on … Read more

Matt Rogers is the co-founder of Mill. Matt’s problem is this: How do you turn garbage into food?Before Mill, Matt co-founded Nest, a smart thermostat company. Now, he wants to take on the garbage in our kitchens with a high tech garbage can that can transform food waste.  This is the fourth and last episode of … Read more

Jacob Goldstein co-hosts today’s show with Dan Pashman, host of The Sporkful. Jacob and Dan eat their way through the history of fake meat — from Gardenburger hockey pucks, to meatier Impossible burgers. And they get a report from the fake-meat frontier, where scientists are trying to make lab-grown chicken breasts. This is the third … Read more

Pat Brown is the founder of Impossible Foods. Pat’s problem is this: How can you make meat without animals? Pat’s goal isn’t to make better burgers for vegetarians; he wants to sell to meat eaters. To succeed, he’ll have to figure out how to make fake meat that is at least as good — and … Read more

Ilir Sela is the co-founder and CEO of Slice. His problem: How do you bring the technological revolution to thousands of tiny mom and pop pizza shops? Most local pizza shops haven’t adapted well to consumers’ appetites for online ordering. Ilir’s mission is to make sure that the technology powering Big Pizza can also benefit … Read more

Tim Mundon is chief technology officer at Oscilla Power. Tim’s problem is this: How do you turn waves into electrical power? You can see the power of the ocean in every wave, but the complex churm and swirl of the surf has made it difficult to translate that movement into something useful. Tim Mundon and … Read more

While we’re off celebrating the new year, here’s an episode from another Pushkin show: Some of My Best Friends Are… Hosts Khalil Gibran Muhammad and Ben Austen, two best friends from the South Side of Chicago, invite listeners into unfiltered conversations about growing up together in a deeply-divided country, and navigating that divide today. On … Read more

Anders Forslund is the co-founder and CEO of Heart Aerospace. Anders’ problem is this: How do you build a commercial airplane that can fly on battery power — and win the approval of regulators around the world? As other sectors are decarbonizing, emissions from aviation are projected to triple by 2050. This is partly because … Read more

Bayard Winthrop is the founder and CEO of American Giant. Bayard’s problem is this: How do you make clothes in America — and compete in a global economy? Today’s show is about the future of American manufacturing. But it is also about something very simple: A sweatshirt made in America. It costs $138, and it is wildly popular. … Read more

Farzad Mostashari is the co-founder and CEO of Aledade. Farzad’s problem is this: How can we pay doctors to keep us healthy, rather than treating us after we get sick? People have been struggling to solve this problem for decades. But for a bunch of reasons you’ll hear about on the show, Farzad and his … Read more