What’s Your Problem?

  • Creating the Uncrashable Car

    When Austin Russell was 17 years old, he founded Luminar Technologies to work on a remote sensing technology called Lidar.  Today, Austin is one of the world’s youngest self-made billionaires, and Luminar may be on…

  • The Electric Truck that Went Viral on TikTok

    Chace Barber is the co-founder of Edison Motors. Chace’s problem is this: How do you build electric logging trucks in rural Canada, with money you raised from people who follow you on TikTok? Chace started…

  • Introducing Other People’s Pockets: Mistress Marley, Financial Dominatrix

    Here’s a bonus episode of a new show from Pushkin, Other People’s Pockets. Have you ever wondered how your friend bought that vacation home or why that colleague of yours makes everyone meticulously split the…

  • Running in Recycled Shoes

    Caspar Coppetti is the co-founder of On, a company that makes athletic shoes. Caspar’s problem is this: How can you sell tens of millions of shoes a year — and then take them all back,…

  • 355 Days in Space: Finding Meaning with Astronaut Mark Vande Hei

    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…

  • Turning Garbage Into Food

    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…

  • The Fake-Meat Frontier

    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…

  • From Impossible Burgers to Fake Steak

    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.…

  • Small Pizza Shops Want a Bigger Slice

    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…

  • Turning Waves Into Electricity

    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…