The CGD Podcast

In this episode of Sounds Robotic, host Charles Kenny talks with Amolo Ngweno, CEO and East Africa Regional Director for BFA, about her recent paper on what technological advance might mean for the informal sector. 

Canadian Senator Ratna Omidvar on how the Frozen Assets Repurposing Act would work, what it could mean for Canada, and why it resonates with her personally.

In this episode of Sounds Robotic, host Charles Kenny talks with Bright Simons, founder of the mPedigree Network and VP at the IMANI Center for Policy and Education, about the problems with the “leapfrogging” narrative of innovation in frontier markets, especially in Africa.

CGD's Ian Mitchell on why looking beyond aid is important for development, how the Commitment to Development Index measures and weighs various development factors, and what’s ahead for the Index. 

Gyude Moore, former Minister of Public Works in Liberia and current visiting fellow at CGD, on aid branding, what China does differently, and what innovation could help developing countries save big on infrastructure.

In this episode of Sounds Robotic, host Charles Kenny talks with Tom Standage, Deputy Editor of the Economist, about the potential upsides of AI and automation as well as the "lump of labor" fallacy as applied to robots.

In this episode of Sounds Robotic, host Charles Kenny talks with Shahid Yusuf, who argues that the old path to rapid growth—manufacturing export goods—is less and less of an option for poorer countries, and there isn’t a clear new path to replace it.

Yuen Yuen Ang on how to make your data more meaningful, the dangers of big data in cases of oppression, and whether political freedom is really a requirement for technological development.

Economist Stephany Griffith-Jones on the role development banks can play in innovation, how they should interact with private actors and governments, and what new institutions can learn from their predecessors.

In this episode of CGD podcast miniseries Sounds Robotic, host Charles Kenny talks with Susan Liautaud about the ethical responsibilities of technology firms in an age of algorithmic control, the weaponization of social media, and the responsibilities of technology-using firms towards workers whose jobs evolve or disappear in the face of AI and robotics.