The Innovation Civilization Podcast

We're joined by David E. Spiro, political scientist and author of The Hidden Hand of American Hegemony: Petrodollar Recycling and International Markets . The book, published by Cornell University Press, challenged the standard story that petrodollar recycling in the 1970s was simply a market-driven process and instead showed the deeper political role of American power in shaping where oil surpluse...

We're joined by Ian Morris , British historian, archaeologist, and author of Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels Ian’s central argument is both simple and radical: our beliefs about fairness, justice, hierarchy, equality, and even democracy are not timeless moral truths floating above history. They are shaped, constrained, and repeatedly reorganised by the ways societies extract and use energy. Ac...

We’re joined by Professor Tim Minshall, a leading authority on innovation and industrial strategy, and one of the most influential voices shaping how ideas move from labs into the real economy. Tim is a Professor of Innovation at the University of Cambridge and head of the Institute of Manufacturing there, where he has spent decades working at the intersection of research, manufacturing, entrepren...

We kick off 2026 with a special episode with Luc de Leyritz , General Partner at Re7 Social , a first-check crypto fund, and one of the most philosophically grounded investors operating at the frontier of blockchain, DeFi, and AI-driven venture capital. Luc’s journey is anything but conventional. From studying philosophy, to working at France’s DARPA-equivalent on advanced national security resear...

We’re joined by Mehran Gul , author of The New Geography of Innovation , who paints a detailed picture on how innovation power is shifting from Silicon Valley to unexpected places - China, Singapore, Switzerland, and beyond. As a former advisor at the World Economic Forum and World Bank, Mehran has spent years studying the frontier of technological development, institutional evolution, and nationa...

We’re joined by Samuel Kim , the Founder and President of the Center for Asia Leadership , who shares with us the unique challenges and differences of teaching leadership in Asia. Samuel has trained over 50,000 leaders across 90 countries, helping organizations, governments, and family-run businesses navigate complex leadership challenges. From his early career at the UN to military service, start...

We’re joined by Hassan Haider , founder and managing partner at Plus VC , one of the most active early-stage VCs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) , with nearly 100 investments since 2020 and the #1 ranked venture investor in the region (according to Forbes). From pre-seed investing across MENA to the evolution of regional stock markets and secondary exits, Hassan brings a front-row view...

We’re joined by Tomicah Tillemann , former U.S. State Department official and President of Project Liberty , for a conversation on the entrenched problems of the Internet and how to rebuild it from the ground up with digital rights, sovereignty, and decentralization at its core.   Tomicah has spent decades working on governance, blockchain innovation, and digital infrastructure. As a key architect...

We're joined by James Currier who explains how ‘network effects’ shape our economies, tech, civilisation and how to master that to our advantage. James is a five-time Founder , an angel investor in DoorDash, Lyft, and Patreon, and a Founding Partner at NFX. Before becoming an investor, James was the co-founder and CEO of Tickle, one of the internet's first successful user-generated companies. From...

We’re joined by Professor Ravi Ramamurti , founder and director of the Center for Emerging Markets at Northeastern University in Boston , who’s one of the world’s leading experts on innovation in emerging economies.   Professor Ramamurti who along with his co-author coined the term ‘reverse innovation’ — the phenomenon where innovation flows not from West to East, but from developing countries upw...

We’re joined by George Sivulka , Founder and CEO of Hebbia , for a conversation on how does the future of white collar work look like with multi-agents. Hebbia is backed by some of the most legendary technology investors of our generation including Peter Thiel (early investor: Paypal, Facebook), Marc Andreesen (early investor: Airbnb, Github, Coinbase), Eric Schmidt (ex-CEO Google), Jerry Yang (Co...

We’re joined by Dante Disparte , Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy at Circle , one of the biggest issuers of stablecoins (USDC) in the world.   This year marks an important inflexion point for stablecoins as adoption and key regulation kicks in. We’re glad to have some one like Dante who has worked at the intersection of finance, technology, and policy, including his role on the US...

In this episode, we're joined by Professor Jomo Kwame Sundaram , a Malaysian economist and thought leader who served as the Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development at the United Nations (UN) and Assistant Director-General at the FAO. We explore how countries in the Global South can chart their own paths to prosperity.   What makes a country truly developed? Is it just GDP per capita o...

In this episode, we had the pleasure of speaking with Benji Leibowitz , Chief Operating Officer at Molecule and Co-Founder of Pump. Science . Benji is at the forefront of the Decentralized Science (DeSci) movement, which utilizes blockchain technology to democratize research funding and empower scientific communities.   Benji Leibowitz has a diverse background in academic research, investment bank...

In this episode, part of our brand new Emerging Market Innovation Series, we sat down with Soumitra Dutta , Dean of the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. He's an expert on global innovation and the author of the Global Innovation Index, which is used by governments and institutions worldwide to shape innovation policy.  We're also joined by a friend of the pod, Hafidzi Razali who's...

In this episode, we sat down with Daniel Eriksson , former CEO of Transparency International , to explore how corruption operates globally and what can be done to combat it. Corruption is one of the most pervasive challenges facing the world today. But how do we dismantle it, especially when it's deeply entrenched in political systems?  Daniel has spearheaded anti-corruption initiatives across mor...

We're joined by the US Science Envoy for AI , Dr. Rumman Chowdhury , who's a leading expert in responsible AI. We uncover the ethical, technical, and societal implications of artificial intelligence. As AI rapidly eats up the world, the question is what happens when it doesn’t align with human values? How do we navigate the risks of bias, misinformation, and hallucination in AI systems? Dr. Chowdh...

We welcome Faisal Ali Rashid, Sr. Director at the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy , to learn from Dubai's ambitious drive toward achieving net zero by 2050 . Faisal, a leader in energy strategy and sustainability, oversees programs transforming Dubai’s approach to energy, water, and waste management, setting a new standard for urban sustainability in the region. We were also joined by our friend o...

We're joined by Dr. Denis Noble , Professor Emeritus of Cardiovascular Physiology at the University of Oxford , and the father of 'systems biology'. He is known for his groundbreaking creation of the first mathematical model of the heart's electrical activity in the 1960s which radically transformed our understanding of the heart. Dr. Noble’s contributions have revolutionized our understanding of...

We welcome Bryan Johnson , multi-millionaire visionary entrepreneur and founder of "Don't Die." Known as the most measured man in human history, Bryan is pushing the boundaries of human longevity by meticulously tracking his body's biomarkers in pursuit of an extended health span, not just lifespan. His 'Blueprint' protocols can be found  here . Bryan's journey from revolutionizing digital payment...

We welcome Mark Boggett , CEO and co-founder of Seraphim Space , Europe's biggest Space tech fund and the world's first space-focused investment fund   Mark's journey from a career in technology investment to pioneering space venture capital reveals the transformative potential of space tech for our civilization.   Mark's expertise is rooted in his careful monitoring of SpaceX's revolutionary impa...

We're joined by Toby Coppel , Founder and General Partner at Mosaic Ventures , who has been investing in the last multiple waves of AI. Toby's extensive career spans iconic firms like Netscape , AOL , & Yahoo , leading up to his current role at Mosaic Ventures , a prominent venture capital firm. He has been instrumental in significant investments, including a billion-dollar investment in Aliba...

We're joined by Ash Arora , a Partner at LocalGlobe , to discuss the intricacies of venture capital, blockchain, AI investments, and market dynamics. LocalGlobe , one of the leading early-stage venture capital firms in Europe, ranked #1 early stage fund in EMEA and #3 globally with highest number of unicorns in portfolio, with companies like SoRare , Copper , Robinhood , Wise , Figma, Twitter and...

We're joined by tech billionaire and investor Christian Angermayer to discuss the ' Next Human Agenda ,' i.e., the technological bets he's taking and how they will shape the future of humanity (in terms of computing, health, society, and governments). Over the past 20 years, Christian has been involved in directly building a lot of unicorns and decacorns and has been involved in more than 50 IPOs...

We welcomed the author of the new book " The Levelling ", Mike O'Sullivan , who's spent 20 years thinking and writing on macro economy and politics. He also served as the Chief Investment Officer at Credit Suisse and is the CEO of Harvest Innovation Advisor y. We cover the end of globalisation, the future of democracy, economics, finance, geopolitics, and nation-building in the post-globalisation...