The Times Tech Podcast cover image

The Times Tech Podcast

Latest episodes

undefined
Apr 8, 2022 • 44min

Kraken's Jesse Powell: "Currencies have a finite life"

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Jesse Powell, founder of crypto exchange Kraken, to talk about his first startup selling video game virtual goods (3:00), reading about bitcoin (9:40), why he thinks bitcoin will replace gold (12:00), launching Kraken (12:50), getting a banking license (15:00), selling tens of thousands of bitcoin (17:00), how widespread crypto actually is (20:40), the inherent weakness in the market (26:00), the Mt Gox bankruptcy (27:40), the impending failure of fiat currency (31:40), the power of the current system (34:35), raising just $20 million (36:00), and reaching the masses (40:00). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
undefined
Apr 1, 2022 • 45min

Powerhouse's Emily Kirsch: “Investing in saving our species”

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Emily Kirsch, founder of Powerhouse, to talk about starting the company in 2013 (2:50), launching a pilot venture capital fund (5:50), working as a community organiser and getting funding from Prince (7:00), taking lessons from her parents’ non-profit (10:00), starting in a bear market for green technology (13:20), the talent shift (16:45), getting big corporates to really change (20:00), why the software layer is important (24:30), choosing investors (31:05), creating a female-only firm (34:05), and the green investing wave (38:40). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
undefined
Mar 25, 2022 • 36min

Aeromobil's Patrick Hessel: "This is a car that flies"

The Sunday Times' tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Patrick Hessel, chief executive of Aeromobil, to talk about the company's flying car (4:10), why he thinks the world needs it (9:00), the business model (12:00), fender benders (14:40), trying to raise money (16:10), who they are marketing to (19:25), going from investor to chief executive (25:00), the EVTOL boom (26:35), and what keeps him up at night (32:40). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
undefined
Mar 18, 2022 • 41min

Cana's Matt Mahar: "The world's first beverage 'printer'"

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Matt Mahar, chief executive of Cana, to talk about the problem with the $2 trillion drinks company (5:55), the science of Cana (8:00), how the company started (10:00), where he worked before Cana (16:40), the product (18:15), getting people to buy in (20:00), whether “printed” drinks are good for you (23:30), providing every drink from morning to night (26:00), except for milk and beer (28:40), the specter of Juicero (31:15), and trying to find the right people (34:20).  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
undefined
Mar 11, 2022 • 1h 3min

Genomic Prediction’s Stephen Hsu: “Making superhumans will be possible”

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Stephen Hsu, co-founder of Genomic Prediction, to talk about the plummeting price of genomic sequencing (5:00), predicting height and cancer (9:10), mining biobanks (14:25), scoring embryos (19:00), why investors are staying anonymous (28:00), the need for a society-wide discussion (32:30), when he was accused of being a eugenicist (37:25), how powerful genetic prediction can be (43:15), genetic engineering (49:45), and why Denmark is the future (59:30).See Stephen Hsu's podcast here: https://www.manifold1.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
undefined
Mar 4, 2022 • 56min

Baroness Beeban Kidron: "A generational injustice"

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Baroness Beeban Kidron to talk about the crackdown on Silicon Valley over how they treat children online (4:30), the age-appropriate design code (8:45), creating a window into the child’s experience online (13:10), the regressive effect of social media on girls and young women (18:00), the fallout from Frances Haugen’s whistleblowing (23:15), why she let he career as a film director (26:30), joining the House of Lords (31:30), leaving school at 15 (33:20), starting the 5 Rights Foundation (35:15), getting the Age Appropriate Design Code passed (41:00), and enforcing the code (45:40). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
undefined
Feb 25, 2022 • 40min

Bessmer's David Cowan: A primer on quantum computing

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Bessemer Venture Partners’ David Cowan to talk about the potential end of Moore’s law (4:55), the double slit experiment (6:45), quantum computing (15:30), the traveling salesman problem (22:15), what quantum computers look like (2:30), the problems they will solve (30:35), and the impending quantum heist (35:15). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
undefined
Feb 18, 2022 • 53min

Better Meat's Paul Shapiro: "Where's the beef? In the fermented mushroom roots"

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Paul Shapiro, founder and chief executive of Better Meat, to talk about making meat alternatives, (4:00), the $300,000 burger (11:00), using fungi (12:00), turning mushroom roots into steak (16:35), becoming an ingredient company (18:00), growing up an animal lover (19:45), starting an animal rights NGO (23:00), changing his approach (26:30), writing a book (28:40), starting Better Meat (31:50), experimenting with alternatives (33:45), his first hire (35:20), scaling up (39:20), the slow rate of innovation (43:10), his worst day of work (47:25), and society’s stubborn views on meat (49:05). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
undefined
Feb 11, 2022 • 54min

Kernel's Bryan Johnson: "Measuring the mind and reengineering society"

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Bryan Johnson, founder of Kernel, to talk about creating a new brain-measuring device (4:20), why he did it (7:10), launching a new layer of brain data in society (10:00), bringing the product to market (14:30), taking inspiration from Sir Ernest Shackleton (18:10), selling the Kernel Flow for smartphone price (20:40), creating new markets (24:30), funding it himself (28:00), measuring willpower (30:30), his startup as a reaction to Big Tech (35:3), choosing a Shackleton-type voyage over retiring to a farm (39:40), and Danny's brain results (43:10). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
undefined
Feb 4, 2022 • 42min

Pivot Bio's Karsten Temme: "Microbial factories"

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Karsten Temme, co-founder of Pivot Bio, to talk about engineering microbes (4:30), the problem with fertilizer (7:50), why agriculture needs to be remade (12:00), starting a company (15:15), finding farmers (20:00), tuning their microbes (23:35), the century of biology (30:10), overcoming skeptics (31:40), raising $430 million (36:50), and when birds ruined his day (37:50). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode