UnNatural Selection

The World’s Leading Expert on Rude Dinosaurs What can rude dinosaurs teach us about competition, behavior, and survival? In this special April Fool’s episode of UnNatural Selection , we sit down with Roman Encina–widely regarded (at least in our household) as the world’s foremost expert on rude dinosaurs. Drawing on years of fieldwork across living rooms, playgrounds, and bedtime theory sessions,...

The Toilet Paper Thesis: How Innovation Creates a New Evolution What if you could take a crash course on innovation—one taught not in a classroom, but by the foremost pioneers across dozens of radically different domains? What might you learn? What patterns would emerge when the FBI, NASA, genomics leaders, policy architects, opera sopranos, and world-champion coaches all answered the same underly...

The Coral Reef of Innovation: Building Symbiosis in the Biotech Ecosystem In this season finale, Nic sits down with Errik Anderson , founder and CEO of Alloy Therapeutics , for a deep dive into how collaboration—not competition—is redefining the future of drug discovery. Alloy isn’t a traditional biotech company chasing its own therapies. It’s building the plumbing —the shared infrastructure and e...

Airborne Ideas: The Life of Scientific Storytelling What makes a science story worth telling — and how do you make it stick? In this episode, Nic speaks with Carl Zimmer , the award-winning science journalist behind the New York Times “Origins” column and author of fifteen books, including She Has Her Mother’s Laugh and Air-Borne . Carl’s work has earned the Stephen Jay Gould Prize, a National Aca...

Evolving Immunity Against Cyber Predators Rajeev Raghavan has been at the center of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 's ( FBI ) efforts to combat cybercrime and national security threats, advising the FBI Director and senior leaders on cyber strategy, policy, and the rise of AI-enabled risks. In this episode, he joins Nic to discuss the ever-evolving cat-and-mouse game with cybercriminals, the...

Signal vs. Noise: Revvity's Data Strategy for the Future of Life Sciences The life sciences and diagnostics industry is evolving faster than ever. We sit down with Prahlad Singh , CEO of Revvity , to discuss this dramatic shift. Prahlad explains the vision behind Revvity's major rebranding (formerly PerkinElmer), moving from a tools provider to a high-value, end-to-end solutions partner. The focus...

Tribal Leadership: How Culture Creates Champions What does it take to build a winning team—and a lasting community—around a sport still growing its roots in the U.S.? In this episode, Alex Magleby , Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of the New England Free Jacks , shares insights that go far beyond the field. Alex walks us through Rugby’s rich history, from its earliest origins to its ongoing evol...

Reweaving the Safety Net: Innovating Against Youth Homelessness Youth homelessness is a crisis hiding in plain sight. Unlike chronic homelessness, it doesn’t always look obvious—these are young people who may seem like classmates, coworkers, or friends, while quietly struggling with housing insecurity. In this episode of unNatural Selection , we sit down with Connor Schoen , co-founder and CEO of...

From Caves to Skyscrapers: Powering Progress and Paying the Price The modern world runs on an invisible foundation—precious metals, rare earths, and fossil fuels that power everything from smartphones to clean energy. But behind the shine lies a darker reality. In this episode, Dr. Matthew Humbert , a globally seasoned materials scientist, joins us to unpack the high-stakes world of resource extra...

From Revolution to Innovation: Shaping America’s Next Leaders The Eliot School in Boston , founded in 1713 , is one of the oldest public schools in the United States and counts Paul Revere and Samuel Adams among its early students. Today, it has transformed from an underperforming school into one of the most desirable in Massachusetts — a journey that reflects both resilience and vision. In this c...

Beyond Natural Selection: When Genes Are the Start, Not the Destiny We sit down with Dr. Robert Green of Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women’s Hospital , a pioneer in genomic newborn screening . From his early curiosity in science fiction to launching a field that’s now coming full circle, Robert shares the innovations, challenges, and ethical questions of applying genomics to healthy n...

Catalysts of Discovery: Powering Innovation in Biology and Medicine In this episode, Nic speaks with Gianluca Pettiti , Executive Vice President at Thermo Fisher Scientific , about the company’s vision for the future of life sciences, diagnostics, and healthcare. The conversation explores how Thermo Fisher positions itself as a value-added partner to the ecosystem, building seamless solutions that...

The Vanishing Herd: Survival and Innovation Global fertility rates are falling, populations are aging, and the consequences are already reshaping economies and societies. In this episode, Nic speaks with Anu Madgavkar , partner at the McKinsey Global Institute , about what these demographic shifts mean for the innovation capacity and long-term vitality of nations and companies . They explore how s...

The War on Illness: Inside Sanofi’s Arsenal of Innovation Recorded LIVE at the World Medical Innovation Forum and produced in partnership with MassGeneral Brigham , this episode of unNatural Selection features Nic in conversation with Michael Quigley , Chief Scientific Officer and Global Head of Research at Sanofi . Together, they explore Sanofi’s competitive edge in a rapidly changing pharmaceuti...

The Roots of Democracy Branch Toward Innovation Governor Maura Healey joins unNatural Selection to discuss how Massachusetts is navigating federal headwinds to remain a global leader in innovation. We explore the state’s partnerships with industry, academia, and communities, the challenges of competition with other states and nations, and the unique role Massachusetts plays as both a modern innova...

Light Into Life: Philips’ Journey of Reinvention Philips has been reinventing itself for more than 134 years — a rare feat in an age when most companies struggle just to survive. In this episode, we explore how a global giant stays competitive and vibrant through continuous innovation. Our conversation dives into the challenges and opportunities of innovating inside a large company with a long his...

Flock Survival: Innovation, Nutrition, and Building Resilient Communities Childhood obesity is one of today’s most pressing health challenges, but the story is far more complex than “eat less, move more.” In this episode, Dr. Elsie Taveras discusses the latest research on childhood nutrition and obesity, the myths that have shaped what we eat, and how her team at the Kraft Center for Community Hea...

Rewriting the Blueprint: How CRISPR and AI Free Us from Inherited Destiny Trevor Martin , CEO of Mammoth Biosciences , joins us to discuss how biology, AI, and engineering are converging to create a biotechnology operating system — a platform of reusable components that can be rapidly deployed to tackle new conditions. We explore the groundbreaking story of baby K.J., the first newborn to receive...

Harnessing Nature’s Defense: Antibody Breakthroughs in the War on Illness The immune system is one of nature’s most powerful defense systems—and antibodies have become a cornerstone of modern medicine. In Episode 29, produced in partnership with Mass General Brigham for the upcoming World Medical Innovation Forum , Nic speaks with Dr. Richard Blumberg of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Me...

Engineering Precision Care: Verily’s Strategy and Vision In this episode of unNatural Selection , produced in partnership with Mass General Brigham for the World Medical Innovation Forum, we sit down with Andrew Trister to explore the evolution of Verily , Alphabet’s precision health company. We discuss Verily’s journey from its early days as an innovation lab to its transformation into a platform...

Intelligence Eats Reality: One Neuron at a Time In this episode of unNatural Selection , we’re joined by Dr. Anders Sandberg — a researcher at the Institute of Futures Studies and one of the world’s most provocative thinkers at the intersection of science, philosophy, and the far future. His work spans neurotechnology, human enhancement, AI, ethics, forecasting, and even the search for extraterres...

Blockbuster Wasn’t Killed by Netflix — The Asteroid That Hit the Movie Giant In this episode, we sit down with James Keyes , former CEO of Blockbuster , to revisit one of the most iconic stories in business lore—the rise of Netflix and the fall of Blockbuster. But as Keyes explains, the real story is far more complex than the usual disruption narrative. We explore how Blockbuster was already prepa...

Emergent Patterns: When the Map Becomes the Terrain In this special 25th episode, host Nic Encina steps out of the interviewer’s seat to reflect on the origin, evolution, and future of unNatural Selection . What began as a curiosity about how innovation mirrors natural selection has grown into a living archive of how people and ideas adapt, survive, and thrive under pressure. Drawing insights from...

Divine Competition: Thriving as a World-Class Soprano Opera may sound like divine expression, but behind the curtain lies a fiercely competitive world where only the most adaptive survive. In this episode, Meredith Hansen — celebrated soprano and international performer — takes us inside the high-stakes universe of symphonic performance. We explore what it takes to thrive at the top in a field flo...

From Extinction to Immortality: George Church on Redefining Life George Church , one of the most influential figures in modern biology, joins us to explore the breathtaking frontiers of synthetic biology. From his foundational role in the Human Genome Project to his groundbreaking work on gene editing, de-extinction, and engineered immunity, Church has helped transform biology from a descriptive s...