MetaLearn Podcast

Venkatesh Rao is an author, consultant and the founder of the hugely popular blogs Ribbon Farm and Breaking Smart. Ribbonfarm is a multidisciplinary blog focused on strategy and decision-making, while Breaking Smart is devoted to in-depth explorations of the emerging digital economy. Venkat is also the author of the highly acclaimed book on decision-making, Tempo, and offers consulting services in organisational development, strategy and executive coaching, working with a number of prestigious clients like famed VC firm Andreesen Horowitz. In this episode we discuss:  - Venkat’s lessons about the creative process from years of writing on his two blogs - The conditions needed to generate insight from conversation and how Venkat works with the likes of Marc Andreesen from Andreesen Horowitz - Why dialectic is the driving force of any good relationship and a healthy society   This conversation was a lot of fun to record and it was great to chat to Venkat while he was visiting here in London! Whether you want to have more insightful conversations or know what it takes to run a hugely popular blog, this episode has you covered.

Azeem Azhar is a strategist, product entrepreneur and analyst, currently working as the Senior Advisor for AI to the CTO of Accenture. He is also the creator of the Exponential View newsletter and podcast, which offer cutting edge insights into technology, business and society. If you’ve been listening to the show for a while, then you’ll have noticed that technology is a topic I’ve covered extensively – and that’s because I believe understanding tech is an essential part of understanding our modern world and operating effectively in it. Azeem is uniquely positioned to offer insight into the space, given his multidisciplinary background He founded and sold PeerIndex, a company which applied machine learning to large-scale social media graphs to make predictions about web users. As an investor he invests in tech startups, particularly in the AI sector and he has the ear of some of the world’s leading entrepreneurs and technologists In this episode we discuss - Azeem’s lessons as a successful entrepreneur and how that affects his investment decisions - The potential impact of AI on the labour market and how to position yourself for the changes to come - How technology changes our understanding of the world and how we act in it This episode was a real pleasure to record and it was great to get inside the head of someone who has thought as deeply about the interactions between technology, business and society as Azeem has.

Richard Bowdler is the founder of StoryThis, a company that develops bespoke learning solutions for companies who want to maximise their investment in learning & development and he’s also building a technology platform to end unwanted forgetting and make the world a smarter place. Rich is someone I’ve known for a couple of years now and I was really pleased to finally get him on the show – he’s got a fascinating background having experienced life as a Buddhist, Royal Marine Commando & Memory Expert. In his spare time he also runs an exclusive, invitation-only, peak-performance mind-body training programme for executives.  In this episode we discuss - The learning environment in the military and how it differs to school and university - How Rich first came across memory palaces and how we can all use them to improve our learning and manage our knowledge - The skills that Rich believes are essential to thrive in the 21st century, including the art of personal reinvention So whether you want to boost your memory, reinvent yourself or you’re just curious about the learning environment in the Royal Marines, this episode will leave you with range of useful insights.

Uri Bram is the bestselling author of Thinking Statistically and the CTO of Umuzi, an educational organisation that supports talented young people to develop the skills needed to access high-value careers. For those of you who are long time listeners, you may remember Uri first appeared on the podcast back on episode 62 where we spoke about key statistical principals, music theory and learning skills from experts. Uri like me is someone who is interested in a number of different areas and he’s been up to a lot since we last spoke, joining Umuzi in South Africa as their CTO. Umuzi teach a range of digital skills, including coding, copywriting and design, using real life projects to make the experience as practical as possible. In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including: How the courses are selected and delivered at Umuzi and how they compare to other alternative education programs Whether there is a tradeoff between training skills and teaching people to think How to choose projects when you have a lot of interests and trouble focusing So whether you’re interested in alternative education or have too many interests and want to find a way to pick your projects better, this episode will leave you with a range of useful insights.

Fritjof Capra is a scientist, educator and author, best known for his groundbreaking work in the fields of Physics and Systems Thinking. Capra first became widely known for his book, The Tao of Physics, which explored the ways in which modern physics was changing our worldview from a mechanistic one to a holistic one.  Since then Fritjof has embarked on a multidisciplinary adventure, exploring the connections between the sciences, producing a remarkable body of work and teaching all over the world. His most recent book, The Systems View of Life integrates the biological, cognitive, social, and ecological dimensions of life into one unified vision, which has implications for politics, economics and how we live our lives. Fritjof also spent a decade studying the notebooks of the ultimate Renaissance Man – the artist, scientist and engineer, Leonardo Da Vinci – producing two books on the subject which show that Leonardo himself was a systems thinker long before the term was even invented.  In this conversation we discuss - How many of the problems in our world from climate change to financial security are just facets of a single crisis in perception - How you can learn systems thinking and teach it to others - The secrets behind Leonardo Da Vinci’s genius This was a fascinating and wide ranging conversation – Fritjof has dedicated his career to these subjects so this episode will definitely challenge you and get you thinking about the world from different perspectives.

Alex Beard is an author, speaker and the Senior Director of the Global Learning Lab at Teach for All network of independent organizations working to help all children fulfill their potential. After starting out as an English teacher in a London comprehensive, he completed an MA at the Institute of Education before joining Teach For All.  Alex has travelled around the world in search of the practices that will shape the future of learning and these experiences form the basis of his book Natural Born Learners which he describes as a user's guide to transforming learning in the twenty-first century, Alex’s experiences formed the basis of our discussion in this episode we discuss three big issues, concretised in his experiences: The power of education for development and the dangers of exam factories in South Korea The potential of personalised learning and the dangers of over optimisation in Silicon Valley The human centred model of education and celebration of teachers in Finland We also discuss the personal takeaways Alex got from his trip around the world that you can apply to your learning on an individual basis – so whether you’re a parent, teacher or learner this episode has you covered.

Barbara Oakley is an educator and writer who’s empowering people all over the world to learn more effectively. For those of who you who are long time listeners you’ll remember Barb from Episode 46 of the show, where we discussed Barb’s insights from learning skills in the US military and retraining herself as an engineer at the age of 26. She’s best known for her role as the lead instructor on Coursera’s Learning How To Learn, one of the world’s most popular online courses and her bestselling book A Mind for Numbers, which the course was based on. It’s been a year and a half since we last spoke and in that time Barb has released her second MOOC Mindshift and launched a new book, Learning How To Learn, which is a guide at effective learning aimed at kids and teens. In this episode we discuss: Barb’s journey as a thought leader in the learning space Teaching children how to learn effectively Whether the future of online educational content is free This conversation is great as a standalone piece and I’m sure you’ll get a lot from it, whether you’re a parent who wants to be more proactive in your child’s education or an aspiring thought leader who wants to reach a big audience without compromising on your principles.

Andreas M. Antonopoulos is a best-selling author, speaker, educator and one of the world’s top bitcoin and open blockchain experts. You’d have to be living on a planet far, far away to not have heard of Bitcoin and Blockchain technology these days. Whether it’s the daily price movements in Bitcoin or how ICOs are turning some people into millionaires and bankrupting others it’s getting hard to find a signal above the noise. But if you scratch below the surface you’ll realise that Bitcoin and the Blockchain technology it’s built on isn’t a fad – it has the potential to transform the lives of billions of people and transform the world as we know it. If there’s one guy to speak to about all this it’s Andreas. He’s the bestselling author of 4 books, an internationally acclaimed speaker sought all over the world, and he’s even testified in hearings of the Australian and Canadian Senate about cryptocurrencies and their implications for society. In this conversation we dive into a whole range of topics including: - The 6 career epiphanies Andreas had that led him into the crypto space - The core principles behind cryptocurrencies and how Bitcoin and Ethereum can coexist in the same ecosystem - The implications of the technology for our lives as individuals and for society Andreas is both a specialist and a generalist and he approaches the subject by drawing on multiple fields including history, economics and psychology. He’s also a very engaging speaker as you’ll discover in this episode and you’ll get a lot out of this conversation regardless of how much you know about Bitcoin or Blockchain.

I recently turned 26 and this summer will be 5 years since I graduated from university, which means I’ve been making my way in the world of work for half a decade. I’ve definitely learned a lot over the last couple of years and while I’ve certainly developed expertise in the field of accelerated learning, I think some of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned have been career related. So in this episode I’m going to share 5 lessons I’ve learned in the last 5 years that will help you level up your career and get you closer to where you want to be. These core lessons are going to sound simple, but I’ll be drawing on my own experience - both good and bad - along with the conversations I’ve had with some remarkable people on the podcast to make them concrete. The purpose of this episode is not to get you to blindly follow what I did – but to get you to reflect on your own experience in a way that gets you to take action that makes sense for your own career ambitions.

Alex Dunsdon is an entrepreneur and investor who thrives on connecting people and ideas. He’s the Co-Founder of the Bakery an innovation agency which transforms big companies by connecting them up to the technology and talent they need to solve their biggest problems. He’s also a partner at Saatchi Invest, where he backs mission drive founders that obsess over product and has invested in business like City Mapper and Dojo In this episode we discuss: - Alex’s career lessons including a light bulb moment that changed everything and why he invests in cult leaders - The challenges of corporate innovation and why corporates should be competing with VCs given their assets - The LinkyBrains community Alex has founded and the importance of multidisciplinary thinking for innovation So whether you’re looking for tips on how to think better and innovate in the modern world of work or are just curious about how a seasoned operator picks his companies and grows a business, this episode has you covered.