Taha Rashid and Gina Washington

The Spin Podcast

Education EN ↓ 4 episodes

Is AI a creativity multiplier or an optimization trap? Why do markets act like they’re pricing in emotion rather than rationality? If our decisions are shaped by invisible cognitive biases, can we ever truly call them our own? And when nations invoke a “rules-based order,” whose rules are they really enforcing? Each week, we chase the questions that sit just beneath the obvious, exploring where technology, policy, and culture collide—with depth, curiosity, and a sly wink. Because big ideas deserve both rigor and mischief.

Author

Taha Rashid and Gina Washington

Episodes

How To Think About Entrepreneurship And Economic Development 02.02.2026 57:15

Samir Mayekar has built a battery startup, helped run Chicago’s economic development strategy, and now leads innovation at the University of Chicago. We talk about what startups teach you about the limits of policy, what city hall reveals about power and implementation, and why the Midwest keeps getting innovation wrong — and right.

Unforgiving Places: The Geography of Violence in Urban America 11.01.2026 59:31

Violence feels inevitable. Cities seem increasingly dangerous, moments spiral, and we assume it’s all rational. Planned, organized, premeditated. Jens Ludwig’s research shows that’s not the case. Most crime is fast, emotional, and hyper-local. We talk about why some blocks turn deadly while others stay calm, what actually reduces violence, and the hidden costs of gunfire in America. This is a conv...

Make America Poor Again? Rethinking Growth, Debt, and the Fed 03.12.2025 38:56

The data looks good. Growth is steady. Markets are high. Yet beneath the headline numbers, Professor Thomas Coleman sees an economy drifting toward deeper structural risk. We talk tariffs, immigration, fiscal credibility, and policies that Make America Poor Again (MAPA). This is a conversation about the policies we see, the risks we don’t, and the economic future we may be drifting toward.

Apparently, We Like to Talk. 02.11.2025 6:49

We said we’d start in June. It’s November. Close enough.