Brave New World -- hosted by Vasant Dhar

In Episode 95 of Brave New World, Palaeontologist Peter Ward returns to explore life's evolutionary journey and examine compelling possibilities for its future direction. Useful Resources: 1. Peter Ward on Wikipedia and The University Of Washington. 2. Stephen Jay Gould. 3. Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and Nature Of History – Stephen Jay Gould. 4. Cambrian Explosion. 5. Burgess Shale. 6. Nick Lane. 7. Oxygen: The Molecule That Made The World – Nick Lane. 8. Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution – Nick Lane. 9. David Catling on Wikipedia and the University Of Washington. 10. Eukaryote. 11. Lynn Margulis. 12. Carl Sagan. 13. Chemoreceptors. 14. My Octopus Teacher. 15. Pippa Ehrlich On The Mysteries of The Sea – Episode 77 Of Brave New World. 16. Methuselah Foundation and Methuselah Mice. 17. CRISPR. 18. Future Evolution – Peter Ward. 19. After Man: A Zoology Of The Future - Dougal Dixon. 20. Future Evolution with Alexis Rockman 21. Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe – Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee. 22. Seth Shostak on Extraterrestrial Life – Episode 85 of Brave New World. 23. Drake Equation. 24. Endangered Species Act, Clean Air Act. 25. Daniel J. Evans. 26. David Battisti 27. Edward O. Wilson 28. Biophilia – Edward O. Wilson Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. The subscription is free!

Neuroscientist Anil Seth explores how the brain constructs our sense of self and reality in Episode 94 of Brave New World with Vasant Dhar, offering insights on the boundary between perception and consciousness. Useful Resources: 1. Anil Seth2. Being You: A New Science Of Consciousness – Anil Seth. 3. TED Talk: Your Brain Hallucinates Your Conscious Reality – Anil Seth. 4. Predictive Coding5. Hermann Helmhotz and Unconscious Interference. 6. Priming In Psychology. 7. Reality Is A Controlled Hallucination – Anil Seth. 8. Computational Functionalism. 9. How The Mind Works – Steven Pinker. 10. Ned Block, Co-Director, Centre for Mind, Brain and Consciousness, NYU. 11. Thomas Nagel. 12. Claude Shannon and Information Theory. 13. David Chalmers, Co-Director, Centre for Mind, Brain and Consciousness, NYU. 14. Panel Discussion at The World Science Festival, Moderated By Brain Green. 15. Stevan Harnard and the Symbol Grounding Problem. 16. Pippa Ehrlich On The Mysteries of The Sea – Episode 77 Of Brave New World. 17. A Tiger For Malgudi – RK Narayan. 18. Kevin Mitchell Makes A Case For Free Will – Episode 80 Of Brave New World. 19. Marcello Massimini20. Robert Sapolsky. 21. Robert Sapolsky on Free Will. 20. Compatibilism. 21. The Emergent Properties of The Connected Brain. 22. Aaron Schurger. 23. Benjamin Libett. 24. Readiness Potential. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. The subscription is free!  

How do we get meat that is more nutritious, sustainable, and less cruel to animals? Dr Uma Valeti, a cardiologist turned CEO of Upside Foods, joins Vasant Dhar in episode 93 of Brave New World to discuss the future of cultivated meat. Useful Resources: 1. Dr Uma Valeti, MD, Upside Foods. 2. Clean Meat - Paul Shapiro. 3. ‘Animal Liberation NOW' - Peter Singer. 4. How India Eats, Vegetarians vs Non Vegetarians percentage in India. 5. Maneka Gandhi On Animal Rights – Episode 44 of Brave New World. 6. Peter Singer On Animal Liberation – Episode 74 of Brave New World. 7. Paul Shapiro on Growing Meat Without Animals – Episode 54 of Brave New World. 8. Sean Sullivan, IndieBio, CPT Capital and Unovis Capital. 9. Cargill, Tyson Foods and Norwest Foods International. 10. CRISPR. 11. The Florida lab-grown meat ban. 12. The Alabama lab-grown meat ban. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!  

All meaningful reform happens when there is one smooth pipeline from research to policy to execution. Angela Hawkins joins Vasant Dhar in episode 92 of Brave New World to discuss her work as both a thinker in academia and a doer with government. Useful resources 1. Angela Hawken at Marron Institute of Urban Management. 2. Solly Angel's Atlas of Urban Expansion. 3. Graduated Reintegration: Smoothing the Transition from Prison to Community -- Angela Hawken and Mark Kleiman. 4. Unorthodox Philanthropy. 5. Bias in Smart City Governance -- Constantine Kontokosta and Boyeong Hong. 6. The Civic Analytics program. 7. Litmus. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Memory, consciousness and the self aren't what you think they are. Michael Levin joins Vasant Dhar in episode 91 of Brave New World to explain why the distinction between machines and organisms will soon fall apart. Useful resources 1. Michael Levin at Tufts, Wikipedia, Twitter, Google Scholar and The Levin Lab. 2. There's Plenty of Room Right Here: Biological Systems as Evolved, Overloaded, Multi-scale Machines -- Joshua Bondard and Michael Levin. 3. Self-Improvising Memory: A Perspective on Memories as Agential, Dynamically Reinterpreting Cognitive Glue -- Michael Levin. 4. The Space Of Possible Minds -- Michael Levin. 5. Endless forms most beautiful 2.0 -- Wesley Clawson and Michael Levin. 6. My Octopus Teacher — Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed. 7. Pippa Ehrlich on the Mysteries of the Sea -- Episode 77 of Brave New World. 8. Turing Patterns. 9. Mark Solms' theory of consciousness -- SelfAwarePatterns. 10. Mark Solms on Consciousness. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

We take it for granted -- but we shouldn't: smell is incredibly powerful and plays a critical role in our lives. Sandeep Robert Datta joins Vasant Dhar in episode 90 of Brave New World to discuss what neuroscience has taught him about the power of smell. Useful resources: 1. Sandeep Robert Datta at Harvard, Datta Lab, LinkedIn and Google Scholar. 2. Alex Wiltschko on the Sense of Smell -- Episode 81 of Brave New World. 3. Dmitry Rinberg on the Mysteries of Smell -- Episode 62 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

There's always risk at the cutting edge of technology. Driverless cars are awesome -- but can we rely on the tech? Missy Cummings joins Vasant Dhar in episode 89 of Brave New World to share her insights on why we need to proceed with caution. Also check out: 1. Missy Cummings on LinkedIn, Wikipedia, GMU and Google Scholar. 2. California Bans GM's Cruise Robotaxis After Near-Fatal Pedestrian Accident -- Justin Banner. 3. Setbacks and Prospects for Autonomous Vehicles -- Henry Petroski. 4. Joshua Brown, Who Died in Self-Driving Accident, Tested Limits of His Tesla -- Rachel Abrams & Annalyn Kurtz. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

He lifted The Stern School of Business up significantly in the rankings, and is now making NYU a major global player in higher education. Raghu Sundaram joins Vasant Dhar in episode 88 of Brave New World to share his learnings about higher education where so much is changing, and yet, some foundational truths persist. Useful resources: 1. Raghu Sundaram on LinkedIn, Wikipedia, Google Scholar and NYY Stern. 2. Nandan Nilekani on an Egalitarian Internet — Episode 15 of Brave New World. 3. The Future of Liberal Education — Episode 11 of Brave New World (w Michael S Roth). 4. Indebted: How Families Make College Work at Any Cost — Caitlin Zaloom. 5. Caitlin Zaloom on the Explosion of Student Debt -- Episode 37 of Brave New World. 6. Susan Dynarski's papers on education and student debt. 7. Degrees of Return: Estimating Internal Rates of Return for College Majors Using Quantile Regression -- Liang Zhang, Xiangmin Liu and Yitong Hu. 8. Law and Education in Our Modern World — Episode 5 of Brave New World (w John Sexton). Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

What does it mean to be geeky -- and how are geeks changing the world? Andrew McAfee joins Vasant Dhar in episode 87 of Brave New World to share his insights on how geeks have created a brave new innovation culture. Useful resources: 1. Andrew McAfee on Twitter, LinkedIn, Amazon, MIT and his own website. 2. The Geek Way -- Andrew McAfee. 3. The Second Machine Age -- Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee. 4. Elon Musk -- Walter Isaacson. 5. No Rules Rules -- Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer. 6. Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128 -- AnnaLee Saxenian. 7. The New Argonauts -- AnnaLee Saxenian. 8. What the Dormouse Said -- John Markoff. 9. John's Markoff's interview of Raj Reddy. 10. The Secret of Our Success -- Joseph Henrich. 11. The Knowledge Machine -- Michael Strevens. 12. When It Comes to Culture, Does Your Company Walk the Talk? -- Donald Sull, Stefano Turconi and Charles Sull. 13. The Paradigm Shifts in Artificial Intelligence -- Vasant Dhar. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Imagine an America where the government provides a floor for all our needs, from housing to health care to college to an income. Natalie Foster joins Vasant Dhar in episode 86 of Brave New World to argue that such a shift is possible -- and the time to make it is now. Useful resources: 1. Natalie Foster on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, the Economic Security Project, the Aspen Institute and her own website. 2. The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America's Next Economy -- Natalie Foster. 3. The Economic Security Project. 4. Pulp Fiction and Dirty Dancing. 5. The Narrow Corridor -- Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson. 6. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State — Episode 19 of Brave New World. 7. Pippa Ehrlich on the Mysteries of the Sea -- Episode 77 of Brave New World. 8. Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better -- Jennifer Pahlka. 9. File your taxes for free -- Internal Revenue Service. 10. Code for America. 11. The FAFSA Fiasco. 12. Caitlin Zaloom on the Explosion of Student Debt — Episode 37 of Brave New World. 13. Indebted: How Families Make College Work at Any Cost — Caitlin Zaloom. 14. The Submerged State -- Suzanne Mettler. 15. Why We Sleep -- Matthew Walker. 16. Andrew Yang on the New Politics America Needs — Episode 27 of Brave New World. 17. Albert Wenger on the World After Capital — Episode 29 of Brave New World. 18. Paul Sheard Demystifies Money -- Episode 73 of Brave New World. 19. Capital in the Twenty-First Century -- Thomas Piketty. 20. The Political Economy of Education, Financial Literacy, and the Racial Wealth Gap -- Darrick Hamilton and William Darity Jr. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Does life exist outside our planet? Are we alone in the universe? Seth Shostak joins Vasant Dhar in episode 85 of Brave New World to describe his search for the answers. Useful resources: 1. Seth Shostak at The Seti Institute, Wikipedia, TED, Amazon and his own website. 2. Life in the Universe -- Jeffrey Bennett, Seth Shostak, Nicholas Schneider and Meredith MacGregor. 3. Sharing the Universe: Perspectives on Extraterrestrial Life -- Seth Shostak. 4. Confessions of an Alien Hunter -- Seth Shostak. 5. The Copernican Revolution -- Thomas Kuhn. 6. Peter Ward on Life on Earth -- Episode 76 of Brave New World. 7. Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe -- Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee. 8. The Drake Equation. 9. The Gaia Hypothesis. 10. Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth -- James Lovelock. 11. Kevin Mitchell Makes a Case for Free Will -- Episode 80 of Brave New World. 12. The Kessler Syndrome. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

He came to America as a ten-year old, and became invested in both the country and its world of finance. Vlad Barbalat joins Vasant Dhar in episode 84 of Brave New World to discuss his life and learnings. Useful resources: 1. Vlad Barbalat on LinkedIn and Liberty Mutual Investments. 2. The Story Of My Experiments With Truth -- MK Gandhi. 3. The Coddling of the American Mind -- Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. 4. The Future of Liberal Education -- Episode 11 of Brave New World (w Michael S Roth). Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

He has been a driver of change at Transport for London, which has shown the way to the rest of the world. Shashi Verma joins Vasant Dhar in Episode 83 of Brave New World to share his learnings on urban transport -- and the governance structures that lead to the best results. Useful resources: 1. Shashi Verma on LinkedIn and Centre for London. 2. Albert Wenger on the World After Capital — Episode 29 of Brave New World. 3. Estimating the Social Benefit of Constructing an Underground Railway in London -- CD Foster and ME Beesley. 4. A History of London Transport -- TV Barker and Michael Robbins. 5. The Subterranean Railway --  Christian Wolmar. 6. Evaluating Urban Transport Improvements -- Anthony J Venables. 7. Agglomeration, Productivity and Transport Investment -- Daniel J Graham. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

How much blame should we put on social media for polarizing our society? Perhaps not as much as we tend to do. Joshua A Tucker joins Vasant Dhar in episode 82 of Brave New World to discuss his studies on the effects of social media -- and the algorithms that run them.    Useful resources: 1. Joshua Tucker at NYU, Twitter and Google Scholar. 2. Online searches to evaluate misinformation can increase its perceived veracity -- Kevin Aslett, Zeve Sanderson, William Godel, Nathaniel Persily, Jonathan Nagler & Joshua A Tucker. 3. Less than you think: Prevalence and predictors of fake news dissemination on Facebook -- Andrew Guess, Jonathan Nagler and Joshua A Tucker. 4. Breaking the Social Media Prism: How to Make Our Platforms Less Polarizing -- Chris Bail. 5. Chris Bail on How to Fight Polarization -- Episode 34 of Brave New World. 6. The Social Media Industrial Complex -- Episode 3 of Brave New World (w Sinan Aral). 7. How Social Media Threatens Society -- Episode 8 of Brave New World (w Jonathan Haidt). 8. Quantifying the Impact of Misinformation and Vaccine-Skeptical Content on Facebook -- Jennifer Nancy Lee Allen, Duncan J Watts, and David Rand. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Smell is the most underrated of our senses -- and it affects everything. Alex Wiltschko joins Vasant Dhar in episode 81 of Brave New World to discuss the role of smell in our lives -- and in this new digital age. Useful resources: 1. Alex Wiltschko on LinkedIn, Google Ventures, Google Scholar and Twitter. 2. Osmo. 3. Perfumes: The A-Z Guide -- Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez. 4.  Perfume: The Story of a Murderer -- Patrick Suskind. 5. The Mystery of Smell -- Lydialyle Gibson on Sandeep Robert Datta. 6. A novel multigene family may encode odorant receptors: a molecular basis for odor recognition -- Linda Buck and Richard Axel. 7. Metabolic activity organizes olfactory representations -- Wesley W Qian et al (including Alex  Wiltschko.) 8. Hyperbolic geometry of the olfactory space -- Yuansheng Zhou, Brian H Smith & Tatyana Sharpee. 9. Odor Perception and the Variability in Natural Odor Scenes -- Geraldine A Wright and Mitchell G.A. Thomson. 10. The Biological Sense of Smell -- Christine WJ Chee-Ruiter. 11. Also check out the work of Jim DiCarlo, David Marr and Eero Simoncelli. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Given what we know of physics and neuroscience, can there be free will? Kevin Mitchell, a neuroscientist himself, joins Vasant Dhar in episode 80 of Brave New World to unpack his argument for the existence of free will. Useful resources 1. Kevin Mitchell on Amazon, Twitter, Trinity College, Google Scholar, his blog and his homepage. 2. Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will -- Kevin Mitchell. 3. Innate: How the Wiring of Our Brains Shapes Who We Are -- Kevin Mitchell. 4. Freedom Evolves -- Daniel Dennett. 5. Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will -- Robert Sapolsky. 6. Free Will -- Sam Harris. 7. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement -- Episode 21 of Brave New World. 8. Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment -- Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein. 9. Synthetic Biology -- J Craig Ventor Institute. 10. David Krakauer. 11. David Krakauer on Complexity, Agency, and Information -- Episode 242 of Sean Carroll's Mindscape. 12. Anthony Zador on How our Brains Work — Episode 35 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Artificial intelligence is transforming society. And therefore politics. Arthur Spirling joins Vasant Dhar in episode 79 of Brave New World to share his insights from his twin fields of data science and political science. Useful resources: 1. Arthur Spirling at Princeton, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Scholar and his own website. 2. Why open-source generative AI models are an ethical way forward for science -- Arthur Spirling. 3. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State -- Episode 19 of Brave New World. 4. The Narrow Corridor — Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson. 5. Why Nations Fail —  Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson. 6. How Social Media Threatens Society -- Episode 8 of Brave New World (w Jonathan Haidt). Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

How can we use the insights of behavioral economics to make the world a better place? David Halpern joins Vasant Dhar in episode 78 of Brave New World to share his learnings from running the Behavioral Insight Team for the British government. Useful resources: 1. David Halpern on Wikipedia and the Behavioural Insights Team. 2. The work of the Behavioral Insights Team. 3. Inside the Nudge Unit -- David Halpern. 4. Social Capital -- David Halpern. 5, The Hidden Wealth of Nations -- David Halpern. 6. The behavioural science of online harm and manipulation, and what to do about it -- Elisabeth Costa and David Halpern. 7. Subsidies vs Nudges: Which Policies Increase Saving the Most? -- Raj Chetty et al Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Her film My Octopus Teacher won an academy award -- and her insights on nature, and her love for it, go far beyond the film. Pippa Ehrlich joins Vasant Dhar in episode 77 of Brave New World to talk about her work and what she has learnt from it. Useful resources: 1. Pippa Ehrich on Instagram, X, LinkedIn and IMDb.. 2. My Octopus Teacher -- Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed. 3. Peter Singer on Animal Liberation -- Episode 74 of Brave New World. 4. Save Our Seas Foundation. 5. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea -- Jules Verne. 6. Using Deliberate Cold Exposure for Health and Performance -- The Huberman Lab Podcast. 7. Wim Hof Method. 8. The Effects of Cold Exposure Training and a Breathing Exercise on the Inflammatory Response in Humans: A Pilot Study -- Jelie Zwaag et al. 9. Dmitry Rinberg on the Mysteries of Smell -- Episode 62 of Brave New World. 10. Anthony Zador on How our Brains Work -- Episode 35 of Brave New World. 11. Deep Rising --  Matthieu Rytz. 12. David Chalmers on the Nature of Reality -- Episode 41 of Brave New World. 13. Sea Change Project. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Life on earth is a crazy accident. We have no idea how it arose or whether it will survive. Peter Ward joins Vasant Dhar in episode 76 of Brave New World to chat about the origins of our planet, the many extinctions and resurgences of life, and the future of our species. Useful resources: 1. Peter Ward on Wikipedia, University of Washington and Amazon. 2. Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe -- Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee. 3. A New History of Life -- Peter Ward and Joe Kirschvink. 4. The Medea Hypothesis -- Peter Ward. 5. The Flooded Earth -- Peter Ward. 6. Roy Chapman Andrews on Amazon. 7. Jason and the Golden Fleece --  Apollonius of Rhodes. 8. Hercules, My Shipmate -- Robert Graves. 9. The Gaia Hypothesis. 10. SETI Institute. 11. Rare Earth Hypothesis. 12. The Drake Equation. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

He's been a successful entrepreneur and investor, and is highly regarded for his sharp understanding of India. Mohit Satyanand joins Vasant Dhar in episode 75 of Brave New World to share his inspiring story -- and to offer a word of caution. Useful resources 1. Mohit Satyanand on Twitter, Instagram and IMDb. 2. Gimme Mo — Mohit Satyanand's newsletter. 3. Salaam Baalak Trust. 4. Aswath Damodaran on Investing -- Episode 33 of Brave New World. 5. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State -- Episode 19 of Brave New World. 6. The Narrow Corridor: How Nations Struggle for Liberty — Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson. 7. Law and Education in Our Modern World — Episode 5 of Brave New World (w John Sexton). Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Why should only human beings be worthy of moral consideration? Would we still eat animals if we had a sense of their mass-produced suffering? Peter Singer joins Vasant Dhar in episode 74 of Brave New World to discuss his influential work as a philosopher. Useful resources: 1. Peter Singer at Britannica, Wikipedia, Princeton, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon and his own website. 2. Animal Liberation Now -- Peter Singer. 3. Animal Machines -- Ruth Harrison. 4. My Octopus Teacher -- Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed. 5. Seven Up! -- Paul Almond. 6. Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development. 7. A Theory of Justice -- John Rawls. 8. Everything is Illuminated -- Liev Schreiber. 9. Nudge -- Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein. 10. The Life You Can Save. 11. Maneka Gandhi on Animal Rights -- Episode 44 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

What is money? How is it created? What is the relationship of governments, central banks, and commercial banks to money? Paul Sheard joins Vasant Dhar in episode 73 of Brave New World to cut through the fog. Useful resources:1. Understanding QE in the New World -- Episode 10 of Brave New World (w Paul Sheard). 2. The Power of Money -- Paul Sheard. 3. David Yermack on The Crypto Revolution -- Episode 30 of Brave New World. 4. Monetary Economics -- Wynne Godley and Marc Lavoie. 5. The Deficit Myth -- Stephanie Kelton. 6. Inflation: Causes and Consequences -- Milton Friedman. 7. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State — Episode 19 of Brave New World. 8. Sapiens -- Yuval Noah Harari. 9. Leviathan -- Thomas Hobbes. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Digital Public Infrastructure sounds like a huge step forward for the world -- till you think about how it empowers the state to oppress the people. Ajay Shah joins Vasant Dhar in episode 72 of Brave New World to warn that we are not being wary enough of state coercion when we think of this incredible technology.  Useful resources: 1. Ajay Shah on Twitter and Substack. 2. In Service of the Republic: The Art and Science of Economic Policy -- Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah. 3. Everything is Everything -- Ajay Shah's YouTube show, co-hosted by Amit Varma. 4. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ajay Shah: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. 5. Imagining India -- Nandan Nilekani. 6. Nandan Nilekani on an Egalitarian Internet -- Episode 15 of Brave New World. 7. Albert Wenger on the World After Capital -- Episode 29 of Brave New World. 8. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State — Episode 19 of Brave New World. 9. The Narrow Corridor —  Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson. 10. Is the Singularity Near? -- Episode 2 of Everything is Everything. 11. 1984 -- George Orwell. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

David Sontag joins Vasant Dhar on episode 70 of Brave New World to highlight where and how AI is creating a major transformation in healthcare. We could create a brave new world of individualized and holistic healthcare, where the machine really cares about us and tells us what to do based on knowledge and data. Useful resources 1. David Sontag on Twitter, LinkedIn, MIT and Google Scholar. 2. Heuristic Methods for Imposing Structure on Ill-Structured Problems -- Harry E Pople Jr. 3. Harry E Pople on ResearchGate. 4. Human and Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare — Episode 4 of Brave New World (w Eric Topol). 5. Waiting for Doctor AI -- Episode 9 of Brave New World (w Regina Barzilay). 6. UpToDate. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

He was an early dotcom millionaire -- and he repeated his success. He wants to reinvent email, and has radical insights on politics. Rajesh Jain joins Vasant Dhar in episode 70 of Brave New World to share his insights on what he has learnt from success -- and failure. Useful resources 1. Rajesh Jain on LinkedIn, Twitter and his own website. 2. Startup to Proficorn -- Rajesh Jain. 3. Rajesh Jain and Dhan Vapasi — Episode 94 of The Seen and the Unseen. 4. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State -- Episode 19 of Brave New World. 5. Andrew Yang on the New Politics America Needs -- Episode 27 of Brave New World. 6. Competing for the Future -- Gary Hamel and CK Prahalad. 7. Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution -- Uri Levine. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

She's a business leader, a Grammy-nominated musician and is trying to transform education. Chadrika Tandon joins Vasant Dhar in episode 69 of Brave New World to discuss her life, her learning, and why she is still so driven. Useful resources 1. Chandrika Tandon on Spotify, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Tandon School of Engineering and her own website. 2. Ammu's Treasures on YouTube, Flipbook and other streaming platforms. 3. Rick Smolan on a Life in Photography -- Episode 65 of Brave New World. 4. Lust for Life -- Norman Corwin. 5. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. 6. Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard -- Thomas Gray. 7. A Psalm of Life -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 8. The Shadow Lines -- Amitav Ghosh. 9. Sri Venkateswara Suprabhatham -- MS Subbulakshmi. 10. Binaca Geetmala, 1953-2000. 11. The Beatles and Carpenters on Spotify. 12. Quiet Fire -- Roberta Flack. 13. The Pyramid Principle -- Barbara Minto. 14. The Paradigm Shifts in Artificial Intelligence -- Vasant Dhar. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Will big data and scary AI take over the world? Not a chance, says Gary Smith, as he joins Vasant Dhar in episode 68 of Brave New World. The human brain is special. Useful resources: 1. Gary Smith on Twitter, Amazon, Pomona College, Google Scholar and his own website. 2. The AI Delusion -- Gary Smith. 3. Distrust: Big Data, Data-Torturing, and the Assault on Science -- Gary Smith. 4. Standard Deviations: Flawed Assumptions, Tortured Data, and Other Ways to Lie with Statistics -- Gary Smith. 5. Security Analysis -- Benjamin Graham and David Dodd. 6. Sam Bowman on ChatGPT & Controlling AI — Episode 58 of Brave New World. 7. Raphaël Millière Looks Under the Hood of AI -- Episode 60 of Brave New World. 8. Nandan Nilekani on an Egalitarian Internet — Episode 15 of Brave New World. 9. Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment --  Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass R. Sunstein. 10. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement — Episode 21 of Brave New World. 11. The Nature of Intelligence — Episode 7 of Brave New World (w Yann le Cunn). 12. Ellie Pavlick on the Cutting Edge of AI -- Episode 67 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Does ChatGPT really understand anything? Or is it faking it? Hell, do we understand how it works? Ellie Pavlick joins Vasant Dhar in episode 67 of Brave New World to share her thoughts on where AI has reached -- and where it's going.  Useful resources: 1. Ellie Pavlick at Brown and Google Scholar. 2. Symbols and grounding in large language models -- Ellie Pavlick. 3. Sam Bowman on ChatGPT & Controlling AI -- Episode 58 of Brave New World. 4. The Nature of Intelligence — Episode 7 of Brave New World (w Yann le Cunn). 5. Music, Mind, and Meaning -- Marvin Minsky. 6. Emergent Abilities of Large Language Models -- Jason Wei et al. 7. Hugging Face. 8. EleutherAI. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free! 

Law and social conventions around free speech have evolved with the times, but technology presents new challenges to both. In this new world of social media, how should we think about it? Jameel Jaffer joins Vasant Dhar in episode 66 of Brave New World to share his thoughts on how we can navigate this territory. Useful resources: 1. Jameel Jaffer on Wikipedia, Twitter, ACLU, Columbia Law School and Knight First Amendment Institute. 2. Social Media Companies Want to Co-opt the First Amendment. Courts Shouldn't Let Them -- Jameel Jaffer and Scott Wilkens. 3. There's a Problem With Banning TikTok. It's Called the First Amendment. -- Jameel Jaffer. 4. Optimizing for What? Algorithmic Amplification and Society -- A symposium by the Knight Institute. 5. How Rights Went Wrong -- Jamal Greene. 6. Free Speech Futures -- An essay series edited by Jamal Greene. 7. Marketplace of Ideas. 8. Brandenburg v. Ohio. 9. Pentagon Papers. 10. New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. 11. The Federalist Papers. 12. Whitney v. California. 13.  The Technology Wars -- Episode 1 of Brave New World (w Arun Sundararajan). Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

In a rich career as a photographer, he's brought his own distinct gaze to every place he's been to. Rick Smolan joins Vasant Dhar in episode 65 of Brave New World to talk about his rich experiences -- and what he's learned from them. Useful resources: 1. Rick Smolan on Wikipedia, Instagram, Amazon, Ted Talks and Against All Odds. 2. The Good Fight: America's Ongoing Struggle for Justice -- Rick Smolan and Jennifer Erwitt. 3. The Human Face of Big Data -- Rick Smolan and Jennifer Erwitt. 4. Alone Across the Outback -- Rick Smolan's talk for National Geographic. 5. Natasha Pruss & Rick Smolan -- Their Profound Story. 6. Tracks -- John Curran. 7. The Coddling of the American Mind — Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. 8. How Social Media Threatens Society — Episode 8 of Brave New World (w Jonathan Haidt). 9. A Day in the Life of Australia -- Rick Smolan. 10. The Player -- Robert Altman. 11. The Birth of a Word -- Deb Roy. 12. George & Jerry Invent A Show About Nothing -- Seinfeld. 13. Generative AI at Work -- Erik Brynjolfsson, Danielle Li and Lindsey Raymond. 14. Erik Brynjolfsson on the Second Machine Age — Episode 18 of Brave New World. 15. Andrew Yang on the New Politics America Needs -- Episode 27 of Brave New World. 16. Forward: Notes on the Future of Our Democracy — Andrew Yang. 17. Bias, Lies, and Democracy — Episode 14 of Brave New World (w Ali Velshi). Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

There has never been a better time to be a creator. Amit Varma joins Vasant Dhar in episode 64 of Brave New World to discuss his learnings as a podcaster and blogger -- and to explain why AI is not a threat. Useful resources: 1. Amit Varma on Twitter, India Uncut and Substack. 2. The Seen and the Unseen -- Amit Varma's podcast. 3. Brave New World — Episode 203 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vasant Dhar). 4.  Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen on the creator ecosystem with Roshan Abbas, Varun Duggirala, Neelesh Misra, Snehal Pradhan, Chuck Gopal, Nishant Jain, Deepak Shenoy, Abhijit Bhaduri and Gaurav Chintamani. 5. A Meditation on Form -- Amit Varma. 6. Why Are My Episodes so Long? -- Amit Varma. 7. If You Are a Creator, This Is Your Time -- Amit Varma. 8. The Naked Sun -- Isaac Asimov. 9. Range Rover — The archives of Amit Varma's column on poker for the Economic Times. 10. Fog of War and Atomic Chess. 11. Fixing Indian Education — Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 12. A Scientist in the Kitchen — Episode 204 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok). 13. Law and Education in Our Modern World — Episode 5 of Brave New World (w John Sexton). 14. My Friend Dropped His Pants -- Amit Varma. 15. Eric Weinstein Won't Toe the Line -- Episode 330 of The Seen and the Unseen. 16. $800,000 to Zero – The FASCINATING History of DaVinci Resolve — Alex Jordan of Learn Color Grading. 17. Miss Excel on Instagram and TikTok. 18. How an Excel Tiktoker Manifested Her Way to Making Six Figures a Day — Nilay Patel. 19. This Australian Man Can Speak Fluent Hindi And Bhojpuri -- ABP News. 20. Advertising is Dead -- Varun Duggirala's podcast. 21. How I Gained 1 MILLION Subscribers — Ali Abdaal. 22. My Top 10 Tips for Aspiring YouTubers — Ali Abdaal. 23. Uplift the Unremarkables — Episode 2 of Brave New World (w Scott Galloway). 24. Amitava Kumar Finds the Breath of Life — Episode 265 of The Seen and the Unseen. 25. The Blue Book: A Writer's Journal — Amitava Kumar. 26. 1000 True Fans — Kevin Kelly. 27. 1000 True Fans? Try 100 — Li Jin. 28. Bill Bishop's newsletter on China. 29. The Life and Times of Jerry Pinto — Episode 314 of The Seen and the Unseen. 30. Murder in Mahim — Jerry Pinto. 31. Mallikarjun Mansur and Bhimsen Joshi on Spotify. 32. The New World Upon Us — Amit Varma on Alpha Zero. 33. Google's AlphaZero Destroys Stockfish In 100-Game Match — Mike Klein. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

He has skin in the game as a top banker -- and saw the power of AI long before others did. Piyush Gupta joins Vasant Dhar in episode 63 of Brave New World to share his excitement for the present -- and his vision for the future. Useful resources: 1. Piyush Gupta at DBS Bank, LinkedIn, Wikipedia and Twitter. 2. Tom Davenport on Artificial Intelligence in Business -- Episode 56 of Brave New World. 3. David Yermack on The Crypto Revolution -- Episode 30 of Brave New World. 4. SVB was a hedge fund in disguise–and the banking crisis is an overreaction -- Vasant Dhar. 5. The Three Laws of Robotics -- Isaac Asimov. 6. The Passions and the Interests -- Albert O Hirschman. 7. All-in On AI -- Thomas H Davenport and Nitin Mittal. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

We live in a world of smell -- and we barely understand it! Dmitry Rinberg joins Vasant Dhar in episode 62 of Brave New World to discuss what he has learnt about the neurobiology of smell over the last two decades. Useful resources: 1. Dmitry Rinberg at NYU, Google Scholar, LinkedIn, Twitter and Rinberg Lab.. 2. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer -- Patrick Suskind. 3. A Novel Multigene Family May Encode Odorant Receptors: A Molecular Basis for Odor Recognition -- Linda Buck and Richard Axel. 4. Linda Buck and Richard Axel win the Nobel Prize. 5. Learning to Smell: Using Deep Learning to Predict the Olfactory Properties of Molecules -- Alexander B Wiltschko. 6. Digitizing Smell: Using Molecular Maps to Understand Odor -- Richard C Gerkin and Alexander B Wiltschko. 7. This Cat Sensed Death. What if Computers Could, Too? -- Siddhartha Mukherjee. 8. SMILES to Smell: Decoding the Structure–Odor Relationship of Chemical Compounds Using the Deep Neural Network Approach -- Anju Sharma, Rajnish Kumar, Shabnam Ranjta, and Pritish Kumar Varadwaj. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

One of the great disruptions that shaped the modern world was the way in which technology transformed Wall Street. Marty Fridson joins Vasant Dhar in episode 61 of Brave New World to talk about those good old days -- and these mad new times! Useful resources: 1. Martin Fridson at Lehman Livian Fridson Advisors, Amazon, Twitter and his own website. 2. When the Tech Revolution Came to Wall Street -- Marty Fridson. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

ChatGPT is great -- but does it 'understand' what it is telling us? Raphaël Millière joins Vasant Dhar in episode 60 of Brave New World to understand on what's going on inside ChatGPT -- and the larger questions that arise from this. Useful resources: 1. Raphaël Millière on Google Scholar, Twitter, LinkedIn, Columbia University and his own website. 2. How to Talk to (And About) Artificial Intelligence -- Raphaël Millière. 3. Moving Beyond Mimicry in Artificial Intelligence -- Raphaël Millière. 4. AI Art Is Challenging the Boundaries of Curation -- Raphaël Millière. 5. The Vector Grounding Problem -- Dimitri Coelho Mollo and Raphaël Millière. 6. Sam Bowman on ChatGPT & Controlling AI -- Episode 58 of Brave New World. 7. Paulo Kaiser on Assimilating ChatGPT -- Episode 59 of Brave New World. 8. The Nature of Intelligence -- Episode 7 of Brave New World (w Yann LeCun). 9. The False Promise of ChatGPT -- Noam Chomsky, Ian Roberts and Jeffrey Watumull. 10. The Bitter Lesson -- Rich Sutton. 11. On Bullshit -- Harry Frankfurt. 12. Bing's A.I. Chat: ‘I Want to Be Alive -- Kevin Roose. 13. Language Models as Agent Models -- Jacob Andreas. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Will it take all our jobs? In what way will it make us better? What do we need to do? Paulo Kaiser joins Vasant Dhar in episode 59 of Brave New World to discuss the technology that is changing the world in ways we can't imagine. Bonus material: Wisdom for young professionals just starting out. Useful resources: 1. Paulo Kaiser on LinkedIn. 2. Plative. 3. Sam Bowman on ChatGPT & Controlling AI -- Episode 58 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Artificial intelligence is awesome -- but should we fear it? How can we stay in charge? Sam Bowman joins Vasant Dhar in episode 58 of Brave New World to discuss the Control Problem -- and more.   Also check out: 1. Sam Bowman at NYU Courant, LinkedIn,Twitter and Google Scholar. 2.  Measuring Progress on Scalable Oversight for Large Language Models -- Samuel R Bowman et al. 3. Herbert Simon, Harry Pople and Norbert Wiener. 4. Language Models as Agent Models -- Jacob Andreas. 5.  The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values — Brian Christian. 6. Human Compatible — Stuart Russell. 7. Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman. 8. ImageNet Classification with Deep Convolutional Neural Networks --Alex Krizhevsky et al. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

When computer science and biology come together, can you reprogram nature? Richard Bonneau joins Vasant Dhar in episode 57 of Brave New World to share his insights on this incredible new field -- and how machine learning can play an important role. Useful resources: 1. Richard Bonneau at  Genentech, Wikipedia,Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Scholar. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

It is about time companies went all in on artificial intelligence. Tom Davenport joins Vasant Dhar in episode 56 of Brave New World to discuss how his work with AI in the corporate world makes him such an optimist. Useful resources: 1. Tom Davenport on Amazon, Twitter, Google Scholar, LinkedIn, Babson College and his own website. 2. All-in On AI -- Thomas H Davenport and Nitin Mittal.. 3. Competing on Analytics -- Thomas H Davenport and Jeanne G Harris. 4. Working with AI -- Thomas H Davenport and Steven M Miller. 5. The AI Advantage -- Thomas H Davenport. 6. Google fires software engineer who claims AI chatbot is sentient -- The Guardian. 7. Can AI have a soul? -- Fireside Chat with Blake Lemoine. 8. Portrait of an AI Leader: Piyush Gupta of DBS Bank -- Tom Davenport and Randy Bean. 9. The Future Of Work Now: Morgan Stanley's Financial Advisors And The Next Best Action System -- Thomas H Davenport. 10. Stop Tinkering with AI -- Thomas H Davenport and Nitin Mittal. 11. The AI-First Company -- Ash Fontana. 12. Competing in the Age of AI -- Marco Iansiti and Karim R Lakhani. 13. Data Scientist: The Sexiest Job of the 21st Century -- Thomas H Davenport and DJ Patil. 14. Foundation Medicine. 15. How Computer Automation Affects Occupations: Technology, Jobs, and Skills -- James E Bessen. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Social media has brought new challenges to our times, such as what they should or shouldn't publish or amplify. Do we need new laws to deal with these challenges, or are current laws sufficient? Paul M Barrett joins Vasant Dhar in episode 55 of Brave New World to share his insights. Useful resources 1. Paul M Barrett on Twitter, Amazon and NYU Stern. 2. Glock: The Rise of America's Gun -- Paul M Barrett. 3. A Platform ‘Weaponized': How YouTube Spreads Harmful Content—And What Can Be Done About It -- Paul M Barrett and Justin Hendrix. 4. It's Past Time to Take Social Media Content Moderation In-House -- Paul M Barrett. 5. Spreading The Big Lie: How Social Media Sites Have Amplified False Claims of U.S. Election Fraud -- Paul M Barrett. 6. The ‘Twitter Files' Show It's Time to Reimagine Free Speech Online -- David French. 7. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement -- Episode 21 of Brave New World. 8. Dissecting “Noise” -- Vasant Dhar. 9. Philip Tetlock on the Art of Forecasting — Episode 31 of Brave New World. 10. The Battle for Attention -- Vasant Dhar. 11. Section 230: It's Time to Equate Amplification to Publishing -- Vasant Dhar. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

We have become the first species that can edit its own programming. Dana Carroll joins Vasant Dhar in episode 54 of Brave New World to share his insights on the science of gene editing -- and the ethical questions it raises. Useful resources: 1. Dana Carroll at University of Utah and Google Scholar. 2. The Promise and Challenge of Therapeutic Genome Editing -- Jennifer Doudna. 3. Jennifer's Doudna conversation on CRISPR with Chris Anderson. 4. Jennifer Doudna at Google Scholar and Amazon. 5. CRISPR babies: when will the world be ready? -- Heidi Ledford. 6. Beyond CRISPR: What's current and upcoming in genome editing -- Chris Tachibana. 7. Human Genome Editing: Science, Ethics, and Governance -- Various authors. 8. Heritable Human Genome Editing -- Various authors. 9. Human genome editing: a framework for governance -- WHO. 10. Human genome editing: position paper -- WHO. 11. Human genome editing: recommendations -- WHO. 12. Animal Liberation — Peter Singer. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

In principle, you can take a single cell from an animal and feed an entire village. It's a matter of time. In the meantime, there are alternatives, like fermentation, to produce all kinds of new substitutes that could be better than meat in terms of nutrition and taste. Paul Shapiro joins Vasant Dhar in episode 53 of Brave New World to discuss how meat alternatives are the future -- and liberating for animals and the environment. Useful resources: 1. Paul Shapiro on LinkedIn, Twitter, Wikipedia and his own website. 2. Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World -- Paul Shapiro. 3. The Clean Meat website. 4. The Better Meat Co. 5. Is Old Music Killing New Music? — Ted Gioia. 6. Maneka Gandhi on Animal Rights -- Episode 44 of Brave New World. 7. Animal Liberation — Peter Singer. 8. Animal Farming and Protein — Vasant Dhar. 9. My Octopus Teacher -- Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed. 10. The Innovator's Dilemma — Clayton M Christensen. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Has the world become more or less safe over the years? How do we measure risk in these times of crazy change? Neeti Bhalla Johnson joins Vasant Dhar in episode 52 of Brave New World to share her thoughts on how professionals do it! Useful resources: 1. Neeti Bhalla Johnson on LinkedIn and Liberty Mutual. 2. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement -- Episode 21 of Brave New World. 3. Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgement — Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein. 4. Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman. 5. Dissecting “Noise” — Vasant Dhar. 6. Factfulness -- Hans Rosling. 7. Global Deaths in Conflicts Since the Year 1400 -- Chart by Max Roser. 8. War and Peace -- Max Roser, Joe Hasell, Bastian Herre and Bobbie Macdonald. 8. Destined for War.-- Graham Allison. 9. The Technology Wars — Episode 1 of Brave New World (w Arun Sundararajan). 10. The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy -- Michael Lewis. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

The brain and the gut are connected -- and our well-being depends on it. Emeran Mayer joins Vasant Dhar to speak about the importance of the gut in our physical lives -- and our emotional ones! Useful resources: 1. Emeran Mayer on Google Scholar, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and his own website. 2. The Mind-Gut Connection -- Emeran Mayer. 3. The Gut-Immune Connection -- Emeran Mayer. 4. Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions -- Jaak Panksepp. 5. Human and Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare -- Episode 4 of Brave New World (w Eric Topol). 6. Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman. 7. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement -- Episode 21 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

India has achieved a technological miracle by empowering hundreds of millions of people with the power of identity. Pramod Varma joins Vasant Dhar in episode 50 of Brave New World to discuss his pioneering role in setting up large scale digital public infrastructure. Useful resources: 1. Pramod Varma on LinkedIn and Twitter. 2. India Stack, Aadhaar, E-Sign, DigiLocker and United Payments Interface. 3. The Beckn Protocol. 4. Nandan Nilekani on an Egalitarian Internet -- Episode 15 of Brave New World. 5. Data Democracy: People and Power in the Digital Age -- Nandan Nilekani's talk. 6. Why the US needs public-private partnerships for digital infrastructure -- Vasant Dhar. 7. 3 ways to increase social media platforms' transparency -- Vasant Dhar. 8. On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog — New Yorker cartoon. 9. Who controls your data? India may pass a law ensuring that you do -- Vasant Dhar. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

We need to change the way we do philanthropy: it should be about sharing, not giving. Anshu Gupta joins Vasant Dhar in episode 49 of Brave New World to discuss his journey in building Goonj -- and why we need to rethink our frames. Useful resources: 1. Anshu Gupta on Goonj, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and his own website. 2. Goonj. 3. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State -- Episode 19 of Brave New World. 4. The Narrow Corridor: How Nations Struggle for Liberty — Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson. 5. Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty —  Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson. 6. Joseph Aoun on Becoming Robot-Proof -- Episode 45 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Is Bitcoin just a bubble, or the first face of the future? What about blockchain and DeFi? Hanna Halaburda and Yannis Bakos join Vasant Dhar in episode 48 of Brave New World to dig deeper into these questions. Useful resources:1. Hanna Halaburda at NYU Stern, Twitter and Google Scholar. 2. Yannis Bakos at NYU Stern and Google Scholar. 3. On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog -- New Yorker cartoon. 4. Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System -- Satoshi Nakamoto. 5. Michael Saylor: Bitcoin, Inflation, and the Future of Money -- Lex Fridman Podcast #276. 6. Artifact of the Month: Ross William Ulbricht's Laptop. 7. How FBI caught Ross Ulbricht, alleged creator of criminal marketplace Silk Road -- Tim Hume. 8. Smart Contracts: Building Blocks for Digital Markets -- Nick Szabo. 9. Obelix and the Sleeping Cups -- Vasant Dhar. 10. Antoinette Schoar on Decentralized Finance & Crypto -- Episode 42 of Brave New World. 11. David Yermack on The Crypto Revolution -- Episode 30 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

How did Covid-19 affect black Americans? What are the obstacles to their mobility and what can you do about it? Shelley Stewart joins Vasant Dhar in episode 47 of Brave New World to discuss his work at McKinsey trying to make an impact on black America. Useful resources: 1. Shelley Stewart at McKinsey & Company. 2. COVID-19: Investing in Black lives and livelihoods. 3. Soumitra Datta on Measuring Innovation -- Episode 46 of Brave New World. 4. Jeff Teper on the Post-Covid Workplace -- Episode 36 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

How can we tell if one country is more innovative than another? What drives that difference? And hey, what is innovation to begin with? Soumitra Datta joins Vasant Dhar in episode 46 of Brave New World to share his insights on innovation, and the lessons they hold for us. Useful resources: 1. Soumitra Datta on Twitter, Wikipedia and Saïd Business School. 2.  Does IT Matter? -- Nicholas Carr. 3. Global Innovation Index 2020 -- Edited by Soumitra Datta, Bruno Lanvin and Sacha Wunsch-Vincent. 4. India Innovation Index 2021: NITI Aayog. 5. Nandan Nilekani on an Egalitarian Internet -- Episode 15 of Brave New World. 6. The Swedish Hitmaker Behind Britney Spears, Taylor Swift and the Weeknd -- Neil Shah in the Wall Street Journal. 7. 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer. 8. Why Nations Fail -- Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson. 9. The Narrow Corridor --  Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson. 10. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State -- Episode 19 of Brave New World. 11. That Fancy University Course? It Might Actually Come From an Education Company -- Lisa Bannon and Rebecca Smith in the Wall Street Journal. 12. The Innovator's Dilemma — Clayton M Christensen. 13. Law and Education in Our Modern World -- Episode 5 of Brave New World (w John Sexton). 14. Too much efficiency not good for higher education, March argues -- Stanford University News Service. 15. Uplift the Unremarkables -- Episode 2 of Brave New World (w Scott Galloway). Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

If robots and AI are replacing us, we need to reinvent ourselves. Joseph Aoun joins Vasant Dhar in episode 45 of Brave New World to discuss the role of education in making humanity robot-proof. Useful resources: 1. Joseph Aoun on Twitter, Google Scholar and Northeastern University. 2. Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence -- Joseph Aoun. 3. The Innovator's Dilemma -- Clayton Christensen. 4. Caitlin Zaloom on the Explosion of Student Debt -- Episode 37 of Brave New World. 5. Indebted: How Families Make College Work at Any Cost -- Caitlin Zaloom. 6.  Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement -- Episode 21 of Brave New World. 7. The Future of Liberal Education -- Episode 11 of Brave New World (w Michael S Roth). 8. How Humans Judge Machines -- César Hidalgo. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!