The Times Tech Podcast
The Sunday Times
From Silicon Valley to The City, tech journalists Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott bring you the inside track on the new industrial revolution.Co-hosted from San Francisco and London, this weekly podcast delivers the latest news and freshest interviews with the people creating the future.As West Coast Correspondent for The Sunday Times, Danny is on the ground to witness the technological whirlwind that first roared out Silicon Valley. From London, working as The Times' Technology Business Editor, Katie has seen the waves of boom and bust rolling through one of the world's financial capitals. Together they explore this strange new world of high finance and tech giants, explaining how we got here and what is just around the corner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Apr 22, 2022 • 49min
Second Life's Philip Rosedale: "Metaverse millionaires"
The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Philip Rosedale, founder of Second Life, to talk about why he has returned as an advisor and investing the virtual world years after having left (4:30), how many people are on Second Life today (10:05), the $650m Second Life economy (12:05), digital goods millionaires (14:20), the dangers of an ad-driven model (16:40), how you govern a metaverse with 1 billion people (24:40), moderating (28:30), the future of the metaverse (36:00), whether Mark Zuckerberg can pull it off (40:40), and the concept of race in virtual worlds (43:30). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Apr 15, 2022 • 38min
Bimble’s Francesca Howland and Julia Mallaby: “We launched a travel startup in Covid”
The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent brings on Francesca Howland and Julia Mallaby, co-founders of Bimble, to talk about what they did before launching their travel startup (3:50), when they decided to team up (8:10), starting a company mid-career (10:20), raising money (15:05), launching the app (18:35), their worst day (19:40), setting up their tech team in Ukraine (22:20), building up a social network (28:35), coming up with the name (32:15), and influencer marketing (33:00). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
