#152 – Building the Impossible: Moonshots, AI, and Zero to One | Sebastian Thrun

What separates founders who dream from founders who build category-defining companies? How do you take something considered science fiction and make it inevitable?

Dr. Sebastian Thrun is the founder of Google X, Waymo, and Udacity—the architect behind self-driving cars, democratized education, and Google’s moonshot culture. He’s turned the impossible into reality repeatedly. From winning the DARPA Grand Challenge with a robot that drove 140 miles through the desert autonomously, to building flying cars at Kitty Hawk, Sebastian operates at the intersection of audacious ambition and rigorous execution. Now focused on enterprise AI with Cresta and Sage AI Labs, he brings decades of experience turning zero-to-one ideas into billion-dollar realities.

#151 – The Education System Isn’t Broken—It’s Obsolete | Sugata Mitra

What if everything we believe about teaching and learning is based on a system designed for empires that no longer exist—and children can teach themselves advanced biochemistry without a single qualified teacher?

In 1999, Professor Sugata Mitra carved a hole in a wall in a Delhi slum, installed a computer, and walked away. What unfolded over the next decade would challenge everything we believe about teaching and learning. Children across different experiments taught themselves to use computers, learned English, and explored complex topics from DNA to advanced mathematics. This “Hole in the Wall” experiment sparked a global movement, inspiring over 36,000 educators across 110 countries and earning him a $1 million TED Prize in 2013 and the Brock Prize in 2022. Now Professor Emeritus at NIIT University, Sugata’s work challenges the very foundation of modern education—arguing that in an age of AI and infinite information, our schools aren’t broken, they’re beautifully constructed for a world that no longer exists.

#150 – Your Future Self Is a Stranger | Hal Hershfield

What if you procrastinate, avoid saving money, and make decisions you later regret not because of willpower—but because your brain treats your future self as a different person?

Professor Hal Hershfield from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management has uncovered a profound insight in psychology: on a neural level, when we think about our future selves, our brains light up the same way they do when we think about strangers. This finding sheds light on why we often struggle with everything from retirement savings to health decisions to career choices. He’s been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, and Harvard Business Review. His book “Your Future Self: How to Make Tomorrow Better Today” translates rigorous research into practical strategies for bridging the gap between who we are now and who we’re becoming.

#149 – The Case Against AI Consciousness | Anil Seth

In a world racing toward artificial general intelligence, one of the world’s leading consciousness researchers argues we’re chasing the wrong goal entirely. What if the brain isn’t a computer at all—and consciousness requires something silicon can never replicate?

Professor Anil Seth is a cognitive and computational neuroscientist at the University of Sussex, editor-in-chief of Neuroscience of Consciousness, and bestselling author of “Being You: A New Science of Consciousness.” His TED talk has been viewed over 15 million times. Rather than getting swept up in AI hype, Anil has become one of the most compelling voices challenging the assumption that advanced AI will—or even could—become conscious, advocating instead for “biological naturalism”: the idea that consciousness is intimately tied to being alive.

#148 – Why We Stop Noticing Joy (And How to Get It Back) | Tali Sharot

What if the secret to happiness isn’t finding more pleasure, but learning how to keep feeling the pleasure you already have? Neuroscientist Tali Sharot reveals why our brains are wired to stop noticing the good things in life—and what we can do about it.

Tali Sharot is a professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London and author of influential books including “The Optimism Bias,” “The Influential Mind,” and “Look Again” (co-written with Cass Sunstein). Her groundbreaking research on decision-making, belief, and emotion has reshaped how we understand why we believe what we believe and how we can design better lives in an age of AI and algorithmic influence.

#147 – The Paradox of Choice in the AI Age | Barry Schwartz Returns

In this episode I sit down with psychologist Barry Schwartz whose groundbreaking work continues to shape how we understand choice, freedom, and human flourishing in our rapidly evolving world.

Eight years after our first conversation, Barry returns to explore how his seminal ideas from “The Paradox of Choice” have become even more relevant—and challenging—in our AI-driven era. With over 35 million views on his TED Talks, Barry’s insights have influenced millions, yet as he candidly admits, the problems he identified in 2004 have only grown worse.

#146 – Carl Honoré returns

Today I’ve got a friend back on the show for round 2, Carl Honoré. Carl is the author of the international bestseller, ‘In Praise of Slow’ which dissects our speed-obsessed society and celebrates those who have gotten in touch with their “inner tortoise”, as well as the books: ‘Under Pressure’, ‘The Slow Fix’ and his latest book, ‘Bolder’. Carl’s TED Talks have been viewed million times and he’s been described as “The unofficial godfather of a growing cultural shift toward slowing down”.

#145 – Dr. Michael Shermer returns

Today I have the pleasure of having Dr. Michael Shermer back on the show for round 2! Dr. Shermer is the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, the host of the Science Salon podcast, and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University where he teaches Skepticism 101. For 18 years he was a monthly columnist for Scientific American. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers; Why People Believe Weird Things and The Believing Brain, Why Darwin Matters, The Science of Good and Evil, The Moral Arc, and Heavens on Earth. His new book is Giving the Devil His Due. He’s appeared on Oprah, The Colbert Report, Larry King Live and his two TED talks have been viewed by millions. Neil deGrasse Tyson described Michael as “a beacon of reason in an ocean of irrationality.”

#144 – Mark Wolynn

Today’s guest is Mark Wolynn. Director and founder of The Family Constellation Institute in San Francisco, Mark is a world leader in the field of inherited family trauma. A bestselling author and sought-after lecturer, he teaches at hospitals, clinics and universities around the world including: the University of Pittsburgh, JFK University and the Western Psychiatric Institute. His book: ‘IT DIDN’T START WITH YOU: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle’ is the winner of the 2016 Silver Nautilus Book Award in psychology and has been translated into 19 languages.

Marci Shimoff – My Favourite Forgiveness Tool

Marci Shimoff is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a world-renowned transformational teacher and an expert on happiness, success, and unconditional love. Her books include the international bestsellers ‘Love for No Reason’ and ‘Happy for No Reason’. Marci is also the woman’s face of the biggest self-help book phenomenon in history as co-author of six books in the ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ series. With total book sales of more than 15 million copies worldwide in 33 languages, she is one of the bestselling female nonfiction authors of all time. She is also a featured teacher in the international film and book sensation, ‘The Secret’ and the host of the national PBS TV show called ‘Happy for No Reason’.