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Author: What’s Your Problem?

  • How Bubbles Power Breakthroughs

    How Bubbles Power Breakthroughs
    How Bubbles Power Breakthroughs

    There are moments in history when people make huge technological advances all of a sudden. Think of the Manhattan Project, the Apollo missions, or, more recently, generative AI. But what do these moments have in common? Is there some set of conditions that lead to massive technological leaps?

    Byrne Hobart is the author of a finance newsletter called The Diff, and the co-author of Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation. In the book, Bryne makes the case for one thing that is really helpful if you want to make a wild technological leap: a bubble.

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  • Teaching AI to Build Stuff in the Physical World

    Teaching AI to Build Stuff in the Physical World
    Teaching AI to Build Stuff in the Physical World

    AI works well in the virtual world. That’s partly because the internet provides so much data to train AI models. But there’s no analogous data set for the physical world – and as a result, AI doesn’t work as well there… yet.

     Edward Mehr is the co-founder and CEO of Machina Labs. Edward’s problem is this: How can you use AI to turn robots from dumb, inflexible machines into skilled, versatile craftsmen?

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  • NVIDIA: At the Heart of the AI Boom

    NVIDIA: At the Heart of the AI Boom
    NVIDIA: At the Heart of the AI Boom

    In the past few years,  NVIDIA has become one of the most valuable and important companies in the world by making GPUs, the chips powering the AI boom. But where did the company come from, and why are NVIDIA chips the ones that dominate AI?

    Tae Kim is the author of a new book called The Nvidia Way. In his book, he tells the story of how NVIDIA’s founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, set NVIDIA on the path to becoming what it is today.

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  • What Claude Shannon Figured Out

    What Claude Shannon Figured Out
    What Claude Shannon Figured Out

     Claude Shannon is a major figure in the history of technology. Known as the father of information theory, Shannon spent decades at Bell Labs and MIT. But what exactly did Claude Shannon figure out, and why is it so important?

    To answer that question, Jacob talked with David Tse, a professor of electrical engineering at Stanford who studied under one of Shannon’s students, and who teaches Shannon to his own students today. David used Shannon’s work to make a breakthrough in wireless communication that underpins every phone call we make today.

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  • Measles: The Cancer Killer?… from Incubation

    Measles: The Cancer Killer?… from Incubation
    Measles: The Cancer Killer?… from Incubation

    We thought we knew everything there was to know about measles. But in recent years, new research has revealed that the virus attacks the immune system and creates effects far more dramatic than a rash and fever. For this episode we’re joined by Michael Mina, a former Harvard epidemiologist now at eMed, who helped discover how measles was causing “immune amnesia.” Our second guest is Stephen Russell, a former Mayo Clinic researcher who co-founded a company called Vyriad. Russell is trying to use the measles virus to treat cancer. Enjoy this episode from Incubation, another Pushkin podcast.

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  • RoboPod and the Perpetual Money Machine – Cautionary Questions 2… from Cautionary Tales

    RoboPod and the Perpetual Money Machine – Cautionary Questions 2… from Cautionary Tales
    RoboPod and the Perpetual Money Machine – Cautionary Questions 2… from Cautionary Tales

    What really drove the 2008 financial crash? What’s a shadow bank? And what’s the connection between NIMBYs and BANANAs? Tim Harford and Jacob Goldstein answer more of your questions. Enjoy this episode from Cautionary Tales, another Pushkin Podcast.

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  • Turning Solar Energy Into Fuel (The Solar Era, Part 3)

    Turning Solar Energy Into Fuel (The Solar Era, Part 3)
    Turning Solar Energy Into Fuel (The Solar Era, Part 3)

    Solar power and batteries are becoming cheap and ubiquitous. Great. But there are problems batteries can’t solve – like fueling ships and planes. One way to solve those problems: Use solar power to create hydrogen, and turn that hydrogen into fuel.

    Today’s guest is Raffi Garabedian, the co-founder and CEO of Electric Hydrogen. Raffi’s problem is this: How do you turn solar and wind energy into clean hydrogen that’s cheap enough to compete with fossil fuel?

    This is the last of three episodes we’re doing about the solar-power revolution. Listen to the previous episodes on your podcast player or at our website: https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/whats-your-problem

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  • Get Happier, Help Others: Some Good Ideas About Giving

    Get Happier, Help Others: Some Good Ideas About Giving
    Get Happier, Help Others: Some Good Ideas About Giving

    It’s the season of giving: colorful paper and shiny bows, sure, and charitable giving, too. In this special episode, Jacob Goldstein, the host of What’s Your Problem, gets smart about donating.

    Did you know that spending money on others makes you happier than spending money on yourself? Or that altruistic nerds have discovered four of the most impactful charities in the world (per dollar spent)? Have you ever wondered how poker players think about giving?

    Dr. Laurie Santos from The Happiness Lab, Elie Hassenfeld of GiveWell, and Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova from Risky Business talk about how to maximize your giving – and why you’ll be happy you did.

    Link to donate: https://givingmultiplier.org/happinesslab

    Listen to The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

    Listen to Risky Business

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  • Can Hot Bricks Save the World? (The Solar Era, Part 2)

    Can Hot Bricks Save the World? (The Solar Era, Part 2)
    Can Hot Bricks Save the World? (The Solar Era, Part 2)

    This is the second of three episodes about the solar-power revolution. Last week, we talked about how solar power got so cheap. This week, we’re talking with someone who is building giant plants around the world to take advantage of all that cheap, intermittent energy.

    John O’Donnell is the co-founder of Rondo Energy. John’s problem is this: How do you turn intermittent energy into the cheap, reliable, intense heat that companies around the world need to make everything from steel beams to t-shirts?

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  • How the Sun Won (The Solar Era, Part 1)

    How the Sun Won (The Solar Era, Part 1)
    How the Sun Won (The Solar Era, Part 1)

    In the past 20 years, the price of solar panels has fallen by more than 97 percent. This extraordinary decline is good news for the world – and it’s transforming the way energy is produced and consumed.

    For the next few episodes, we’ll be talking to people who are in the middle of this solar power revolution to find out how it happened, and what it will mean for the world.

    Today, Jenny Chase, the author of Solar Power Finance Without the Jargon, tells the story of how solar power got so cheap and where it’s exploding today, and she explains what problems we still need to solve to pull off a worldwide energy transition. 

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