Brave New World -- hosted by Vasant Dhar

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 , Twitt er ,  LinkedIn  and  Google Scholar . Check out  Vasant  Dhar's newsletter...

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 Mit...

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  -...

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'...

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 liberati...

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. ...

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 Maye...

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 ,  DigiLo cker  and  United Pay...

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 Stat...

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  --...

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 Me...

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...

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...

Perhaps the greatest human sin is how we treat animals. Maneka Gandhi joins  Vasant  Dhar in episode 44 of Brave New World to share her learnings from decades as an animal activist. Useful resources : 1. Maneka Gandhi on  Instagram ,  Twitter  and  Wikipedia . 2.  Animal Liberation  -- Peter Singer. 3.  Animal Farming and Protein  --  Vasant  Dhar. 4.  Slaughterhouses and Increased Crime Rates  --...

How is the relationship between Islam and the West evolving? Is there is a clash of civilizations or a clash within Islam? Bernard Haykel joins  Vasant  Dhar in episode 43 of Brave New World to share his insights. Useful resources : 1. Bernard Haykel at  Princeton ,  Project Syndicate ,  Amazon  and  Google Scholar . 2.  The Quran . 3.  Brave New World  -- Aldous Huxley. 4.  'Tell me about your dr...

Will cryptocurrencies save the world or create a new can of worms? Antoinette Schoar joins  Vasant  Dhar in episode 42 of Brave New World to take us on a dispassionate tour through the world of Bitcoin, blockchains and DeFi. Useful resources : 1. Antoinette Schoar At  MIT Sloan School of Management  and  Google Scholar . 2.  Cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance (DeFi)  -- Igor Makarov and An...

What are the philosophical implications of virtual reality? Do we exist "physically" or "virtually" and does it matter? Is virtual reality real? How is reality different from consciousness? David Chalmers joins  Vasant  Dhar in episode 41 of Brave New World to talk about the big questions at the intersection of philosophy and AI that are are being driven by advances in neuroscience and virtual rea...

'We need narrative theory,' says Ben Hunt, to understand the alien beings called Narratives that inhabit our Metaverse. Hunt joins  Vasant  Dhar in episode 40 of Brave New World to describe how Big Tech is changing the way we think -- and how we need to fight it. Useful resources : 1. Ben Hunt on  Twitter ,  LinkedIn  and  Epsilon Theory , 2.  Epsilon Theory , 3.  Narrative and Metaverse, Pt. 1: T...

Hooking up ain't like it used to be. Marie Bergstrom joins  Vasant  Dhar in episode 39 of Brave New World to discuss her research on how the internet has changed the world of love -- and lust. Useful resources : 1. Marie Bergstrom on  Google Scholar .  2.  The New Laws of Love  -- Marie Bergstrom. 3.  Ruth Westheimer on Wikipedia . 4. A modern manifesto against sex positivity --  Michelle Goldberg...

These are exciting times for wine lovers. Joel Peterson, the Godfather of Zinfandel, joins  Vasant Dhar in episode 38 of Brave New World to raise a toast to the innovators who continue to transform the world of wine. Useful resources : 1.  Once and Future Wine  and  Ravenswood . 2.  Zinfandel on Wikipedia . 3.  The parentage of a classic wine grape, Cabernet Sauvignon  -- JE Bowers and CP Meredith...

Education empowers people, but education debt can cripple them and they families financially. Caitlin Zaloom joins  Vasant  Dhar in episode 37 of Brave New World to describe the depth of the problem, and what can be done about it. Useful resources : 1. Caitlin Zaloom at  NYU ,  Google Scholar  and  Twitter . 2.  Indebted: How Families Make College Work at Any Cost  -- Caitlin Zaloom. 3. Law and Ed...

Big tech is in the spotlight these days, but Microsoft keeps a low profile. It has escaped the flak while shaping the post-Covid world. Company veteran Jeff Teper joins  Vasant Dhar in episode 36 of Brave New World to explain their vision for the future, and to share his views on Web 3.0. And oh, by the way -- Teams is the nascent Metaverse. Useful resources : 1. Jeff Teper at  Stern  and  Twitter...

The brain is a complex machine, but some of us study its circuits and figure out its secrets. Anthony Zador joins  Vasant Dhar in episode 35 of Brave New World to reveal what the cutting edge of neuroscience looks like. Useful resources : 1. Anthony Zador at  Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory ,  Google Scholar  and  Twitter . 2.  Christof Koch on Amazon . 3.  A critique of pure learning and what artif...

Social media is tearing us apart by feeding into our need for status. Can we mitigate its effects? Chris Bail joins  Vasant  Dhar in episode 34 of Brave New World to share his research on how social media affects us -- and how we can fight back. Useful resources 1. Chris Bail at  Duke ,  Sanford School of Public Policy ,  Google Scholar ,  Amazon ,  Twitter  and  his own website . 2.  Breaking the...

The value of a company has a lot to do with the stories it tells about itself. Aswath Damodaran joins  Vasant  Dhar in episode 33 of Brave New World to discuss how narratives and numbers are related. Useful Resources: 1. Aswath Damodaran on  YouTube ,  Blogspot ,  Twitter ,  Amazon  and  NYU Stern . 2.  Narrative and Numbers: The Value of Stories in Business  -- Aswath Damodaran. 3.  The Innovator...