The Innovation Civilization Podcast

  In season 2, we kick-off with America's foremost foreign policy scholar, Dr. Joseph Nye , the former Assistant Secretary of Defense and former Dean of Harvard Kennedy School of Government , to talk about how the American Century has shaped our civilization and what lies ahead in the road.   Dr. Nye shares his profound insights on:   - His personal reflections from his latest released book   - Th...

On this African development-focused episode, we're joined by Dr. Pádraig Carmody , a distinguished professor at Trinity College, University of Dublin , and the author of the book " The New Scramble for Africa ."   Professor Carmody guides us through a thought-provoking discussion:   -Unpacking the historical context of African scrambles and their enduring impact on the continent -Defining what a s...

From the technology used to build pyramids by Ancient Egyptians to blockchain & AI today, there's tremendous continuity in how technologies developed. We're joined by Dr. Christian de Vartavan , a distinguished Egyptologist whose contributions include 10 seminal works in Egyptology and an impressive tally of 40 scientific discoveries. Beyond his expertise in Egyptology, Christian is also recog...

In this episode, we sat down with Professor Dr. Salim Ayduz , a distinguished expert in Ottoman science and technology delving into the rich tapestry of technical innovations that helped create the Ottoman Empire's 600+ year tri-continental legacy.   In the episode, we cover:   -the forgotten pioneers of Ottoman science & technology -the social, political, and economic dynamics that influenced...

On this episode, we're joined by serial entrepreneur and CEO of Manna Bobby Healy ( @realBobbyHealy ) who runs one of the Top 5 drone delivery companies in the world. We also welcomed back a friend of the pod Pamir Sevincel, Partner at Blackbird. Join us as we talk about the ins and outs of a fundamental technology that'll terraform the way we live: last-mile drone delivery. In this episode, we co...

We're joined at Empasco by the former Prime Minister of Estonia Taavi Roivas , who ran and built both sets of organizations: leading the highest political office of one of the most technologically advanced EU governments and now also being a technology entrepreneur to a hard tech startup doing mobilities. In the episode, we cover: - the confluence of technology and politics in shaping the future -...

In this episode, we're joined by one of the founding faculties of Stanford 's technology ethics course. Professor Rob Reich is the author of the recently published book " System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong & How We Can Reboot ." In the face of society-altering AI and advancing technologies, we confront pressing ethical and societal challenges. How do we address them effectively without le...

Centuries before the official Renaissance of Europe began as we deem it, there was a part of Europe (i.e. Muslim Spain) which already begun the 'Renaissance' and made the region a powerhouse of innovation and prosperity that would go on to shape the world we live in today. A tale of technical innovations, pluralistic cohabiting of various religions, and translation of ideas that formed our modern...

How to build a digital-native nation? How to use digital-native design to solve voter fraud and corruption? For an action-packed episode with an actual builder of digital governments, our host Waheed Rahman ( @iwaheedo ) takes the seat with one of the world’s most influential people in the field of digital governance, Siim Sikkut. ( @sikkut ) The man who led Estonia’s groundbreaking E-residency pr...

2024 Nobel Prize Winner & Co-author of the best-selling book “ Why Nations Fail ”, James A. Robinson joined us to discuss the role of political and economic institutions in shaping the success or failure of nations. A political scientist and economist, Robinson is currently a professor at the University of Chicago and one of the world’s leading experts on political and economic development. Hi...

Founded by the infamous Genghis Khan in 1206, the Mongol Empire created the 2nd largest kingdom in the history of the planet. What's less well known is that Mongol rule ushered in a plethora of technological innovation and development that shaped the formative years in trade & science infrastructure of a land mass spanning all the way to the East from Korea, through China, Central Asia, Russia...

The defining periods in world history have always come about as a result of successful change management and revolutionary leadership. Reflecting on the last 2 decades of rapid flux coupled with  the ongoing global unrest in trade, politics, and commerce arising from a looming global recession, the Ukraine-Russia War and the after-effects of COVID19 calls for a timely occasion on  navigating throu...

China boasts the largest fintech ecosystem in the world having a penetration rate of 87%  and a total transaction volume of $51.8 trillion via mobile payments only (three times the country’s GDP). The country is setting strong examples for the rest of the world to follow as it continues to develop cashless innovation systems positing road maps and processes for a shared digital currency future.  T...

60 gigatons of Carbon Dioxide (Co2) is discharged into the atmosphere every year. Co2 levels are now higher than they have been in at least 800,000 years making climate change the number 1 threat faced by mankind. What tech to invest in in order to 'unf*** the planet'? For a momentous & thrilling episode on understanding the successful approach of high-risk tech investing in combatting the cli...

Given how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is eating our civilization, it's essential to sketch out its first principles and ethical dimensions. We are joined by one of the world's leading AI/ML experts in former founder and co-lead at Google's AI ethical division, and the founder of Ethical AI LLC Margaret Mitchell ( @mmitchell_ai ) who speaks to our Empasco Co-Founder Waheed Rahman ( @iwaheedo ) on...

One of the world's foremost development economists Professor Sir Paul Collier from Oxford University, Blavatnik School of Government joins our host Waheed Rahman ( @iwaheedo ) for this breathtaking episode on poverty alleviation and turnarounds. Sir Paul has previously written 4 books on the topic of poverty alleviation, governance and sustainable growth including one of the most famous books in t...

We're joined by the Dean of Social Sciences at New York University and Professor of Political Science David Stasavage ( @stasavage ) who wrote the recent book ( The Decline and Rise of Democracy ). We talk about: - the first principles and definitions of what we exactly mean by 'democracy' - a compressed summary of the origins, and pre-17th century non-European early forms of democracy in the Isla...

On the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo moon landings, we welcomed New-York Times Best Selling Author Charles Fishman ( @cfishman ), who wrote the book 'One Giant Leap: The Impossible Mission that flew us to the moon’ ( https://www.amazon.com/One-Giant-Leap-Untold-Story/dp/1501106295/ ). Follow our host Waheed Rahman ( @iwaheedo ) for more updates on tech and civilization. We talk about: - the facto...

CEO at Mattereum , Vinay Gupta ( @leashless ), the man who lead the launch of the world's second-biggest cryptocurrency Ethereum at its outset, joins us for a very special third episode on the Innovation Civilization Podcast. We cover the history of money starting from ancient humans to today, the fundamental tech and thesis of crypto along with what emerging market policymakers & citizens can...

In our second episode, our Co-Founder Waheed Rahman ( @iwaheedo ) is joined by British historian and author Dr. Anton Howes ( @antonhowes )  where we uncover the roots of innovation in the modern world, including how to create innovation ecosystems with a focus on 16th-19th century Britain as a case-study.  Dr. Anton is the Head of Innovation Research at The Entrepreneurs Network and released his...

In this first episode, our host Waheedur Rahman ( @iwaheedo ) is joined by Pamir Sevincel ( @pamirsevincel ) from Up Partners. The first part of the episode covers the history, formulation, and ontological dimensions of ancient cities. The second part covers the latest developments in the urban air mobility space, solutionizing key 21st-century urban transportation problems, venture models for thi...

A brief prologue to explain the baseline thesis behind the series of episodes that are to follow.