Too often in our fierce and narrow political debates, we suffer from a poverty of imagination. Seeing a crisis through a narrow lens of "us versus them" is a barrier to creative solutions and vital changes needed to save lives, protect the planet, and grow prosperity.
In this episode we discuss the enormous power and potential of framing: mental models that enable us to see patterns, predict how things will unfold, and understand new situations.
Our guests are Kenneth Cukier, a senior editor at The Economist in London, and Francis de Véricourt, professor of management science at the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin. They are two of the co-authors of the new book, "Framers. Human Advantage in an Age of Technology and Turmoil."
Read moreOur lives depend on it and most of us don't give it a moment's thought. But when the electricity goes off we feel frustrated— powerless.
America's grid was an engineering triumph of the twentieth century, but as the recent sudden freeze and severe power outages in Texas have shown, our electricity infrastructure is fragile and in need of basic repair, especially as the world faces the growing reality of extreme weather events and climate change. On their own solar and wind power are not enough to meet rapidly growing electricity demand. What are other viable, carbon-free alternatives?
We discuss strengthening the grid, re-imaging it according to modern values, and our relationship with electricity with cultural anthropologist, Gretchen Bakke, author of "The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future."
Read moreWhen social media burst on the scene, many of us were in awe of its great potential. For the first ten years of Facebook, public reaction to this new form of communication was overwhelmingly positive, but now that we have a better understanding of how social media is shaping our world, there are growing calls for fundamental reform.
Should tech monopolies be cut down to size and broken apart? Or is a much more careful, nuanced approach needed from Congress?
MIT Management Professor Sinan Aral has spent two decades studying how social media changed American politics, the economy, and even our personal health. He is the author of the recent book, "The Hype Machine". As an entrepreneur and investor, he has a deep understanding of the perils and promise of social media. We publish extracts from his interview with the podcast, "Democracy Works".
Read moreElon Musk is an entrepreneur and out-of-this-world thinker, who has shaken up two vital industries that were dominated by giant multinational corporations with companies that began life as startups. Tesla's breakthrough with electric cars is well-known, but many of Musk's most stunning innovations have come with SpaceX, which pioneered reusable rockets— slashing the cost of space launches— flew astronauts into space, and landed rockets on boats.
Next is the development of Starship. Musk also wants to send hundreds if not thousands of humans to Mars.
Our guest, Eric Berger, is a senior editor at space and technology news website, Ars Technica, and author of the new book, "Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days that Launched Space X." He takes us on a fascinating journey, as we look at the remarkable changes in the space race, and what may be coming in the next few years.
Read more