Brave New World -- hosted by Vasant Dhar

Smell is the most mysterious of our senses and we've been getting it wrong. Biophysicist Luca Turin joins Vasant Dhar to reveal why and how our noses detect vibrations and what that could mean for disease diagnosis, security, and the future of AI. Useful Resources: 1. Luca Turin . 2. Perfumes: The A-Z Guide - Luca Turin, Tania Sanchez. 3. The Secret of Scent: Adventures in Perfume and the Science...

Your networks shape you more than you know. Nicholas Christakis joins Vasant Dhar to reveal how machines inserted into human groups quietly rewire the way people cooperate, coordinate, and trust — and why a little artificial noise might be exactly what we need. Useful Resources: 1. Nicholas Christakis 2. Human Nature Lab 3. The spread of obesity in a large social network over 32 years - Nicholas C...

Your nose knows more than you think. Professor Leslie M. Kay joins Vasant Dhar to reveal how smell is wired directly into the brain's emotional core — and how every breath you take is quietly synchronising your mind. Useful Resources: 1. Leslie Kay 2. GenBank 3. National Library of Medicine 4. Walter Jackson Freeman III 5. Dynamical Systems 6. Linda B. Buck and Richard Axel 7. Dmitry Rinberg , Rin...

What separates fluency from understanding? Léon Bottou joins Vasant Dhar in Episode 103, Brave New World, to explore the deep question at the heart of AI. Useful Resources: 1. Léon Bottou 2. Léon Bottou - The Fiction Machine 3. Hopfield Network in AI 4. Yann LeCun 5. J. L. McClelland , D.E. Rumelhart  and G.E. Hinton - The Appeal of Parallel Distributed Processing 6. Claude Shannon - Entropy and R...

AI is reshaping national power and governance. Drawing on India's digital public infrastructure, Jayant Sinha and Vasant Dhar discuss innovation and sovereignty over compute, data consent and privacy by design in Episode 103 of Brave New World. Useful Resources: 1. Jayant Sinha 2. Eversource Capital 3. India's Green Startups: Jayant Sinha and Sandeep Bhammer 4. Nandan Nilekani 5. Brave New World E...

Professor Alex 'Sandy' Pentland, one of the most renowned computational scientists in the world, joins Vasant Dhar in Episode 102 of Brave New World to discuss the state and development of human-centric AI. Useful Resources: 1. Alex 'Sandy' Pentland . 2. Stanford Research Institute . 3. MIT Media Lab . 4. Distributed Computing , Blockchain . 5. Nature Magazine , Nature Machine Intelligence . 6. Th...

Useful Resources: 1. Deepak Chopra 2. Donald D. Hoffman 3. Awakening: The Path to Freedom and Enlightenment - Deepak Chopra 4. Seymour Reichlin 5. Digital Dharma: How AI Can Elevate Spiritual Intelligence and Personal Wellbeing - Deepak Chopra 6. The Hard Problem Of Consciousness 7. Rosalyn Yalow 8. Neuropeptides 9. Psychoneuroimmunology 10. Candace Pert 11. Molecules of Emotion - Candace Pert 12....

Episode 100 of Brave New World features David Ko, CEO of Calm, a digital health company focused on mental wellness and mindfulness. From experiencing panic attacks as a teenager to being the driving force behind Calm, his journey is an inspiring exploration of resilience, purpose, and the intersection of vulnerability and innovation. Useful Resources: 1. David Ko , CEO of Calm 2. Recharge: Boostin...

Joel Roberts, former host of a prime-time talk show on KABC Radio, Los Angeles, takes over hosting duties to talk Vasant Dhar about his upcoming book and Roberts' own scepticism regarding all things AI. Useful Resources: 1. Joel Roberts . 2. Thinking With Machines, The Brave New World With AI - Vasant Dhar 3. AI and The Paper Clip Problem . 4. Dr. Jules White . 5. Geoffrey Hinton . 6. Yuval Noah H...

Useful Resources: 1. Ben Shneiderman , Professor Emeritus, University Of Maryland . 2. Richard Hamming and Hamming Codes . 3. Human Centered AI - Ben Shneiderman. 4. Allen Newell and Herbert A. Simon . 5. Raj Reddy and the Turing Award . 6. Doug Engelbart . 7. Alan Kay . 8. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems . 9. Software psychology: Human factors in computer and information systems...

Alex Wiltschko, CEO and Founder of Osmo, returns to Brave New World on Episode 97 to discuss the developments in the field of mapping smell and what the future holds for olfactory AI. Useful Resources: 1. Alex Wiltschko , Founder and CEO of OSMO . 2. Brave New World Episode 81: Alex Wiltschko On The Sense Of Smell . 3. StockX . 4. Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry 5. Brave New World Episode 9...

Episode 96 of Brave New World features Deogratias Niyizonkiza in conversation with Vasant Dhar. From surviving the genocide in Burundi to rebuilding lives through healthcare and education, Deo's journey is one of extraordinary resilience and purpose. Useful Resources: 1. Deogratias "Deo" Niyizonkiza , Founder and CEO, Village Health Works . 2. Strength In What Remains - Tracy Kidder. 3. Louis Rwag...

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....

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 Seth 2. Being You: A New Science Of Consciousness – Anil Seth. 3. TED Talk: Your Brain Hallucinates Your Conscious Reality – Anil Seth. 4. Predictive Coding 5. He...

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 No...

All meaningful reform happens when there is one smooth pipeline from research to policy to execution. Angela Hawken 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: Smoo...

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, Over...

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...

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 Pedes...

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 Schola...

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 Brynjolfss...

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...

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 th...

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 Lukia...

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  —...