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The Times Tech Podcast

Latest episodes

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Jan 20, 2023 • 44min

Formic’s Saman Farid: “A robot arm can do the work of eight humans”

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Saman Farid, founder of Formic, to tlak about why we need more robots (3:40), the labour shortage (7:20), the growing universe of jobs that are automatable (10:00), the latest AI bubble (13:45), growing up in China (21:20), being inspired by China’s rapid industrialization (23:30), how AMerica is losing 10,000 factory workers each day (25:20), starting his first couple companies in China (29:30), the deep learning revolution (31:15), convincing factory owners to install their robots (36:40), why he thinks more robots is better for society (40:00). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Jan 13, 2023 • 52min

TrueMed’s Calley Means: “Sugar, kids, and the crime of the century”

The Sunday Times tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Callery Means, founder of TrueMed, to talk about his early days in politics (4:20), how the food industry avoided sugar taxes (7:45), the links between industry and institutions of trust (12:00), the “food compass” and why it says Lucky Charms is better than chicken breast (18:00), why we consume 100 times more sugar than we used to (23:45), what TrueMed is (29:45), how he aims to rebalance incentives in the healthcare industry (35:10), food as medicine (39:00), and trying to spark a movement (43:00). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Jan 6, 2023 • 48min

Frore's Seshu Madhavapeddy: "Centuries-old tech and the tyranny of heat"

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Seshu Madhavapeddy co-founder and chief executive of Frore Systems, to talk about why our devices underperform and we don;t know it (4:20), the problem with fans (8:00), inventing a new chip (13:00), how it works (17:30), why he started the company (20:30), getting into an IIT in India (21:40), leaving Nortel at the peak of the dotcom boom (26:00), startup lessons (28:10), raising $116 million (33:00), getting Frore’s chips into computers (34:50), the recruiting challenge (41:40), and his worst day (44:00). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Dec 16, 2022 • 51min

Akili's Eddie Martucci: "The world's first prescription video game"

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Eddie Martucci, co-founder and chief executive of Akili Interactive, to talk about making the first prescription video game (3:40), the original pitch (6:10), sweeping the floors of his parents’ pharmacy (13:20), how he landed on video games as medicine (16:40), why ADHD is more present that it used to be (19:00), targeting a “weak link” in the brain (24:00), how the game algorithmically hones it treatment to each player (27:55), targeting conditions like depression and MS (29:40), getting insurance and health systems to pay for it (33:00), looking abroad (43:30), and running a public company (46:40). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Dec 9, 2022 • 47min

Benedict Evans: “What Chat GPT is - and isn’t”

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on analyst Benedict Evans to talk about Chat GPT and machine learning (5:00), how it gets things wrong (10:00), the “fluent bullshit” problem (12:00), whether this is a genuine breakthrough moment (15:20), what this means for humans (18:25), “prompt engineering” (23:00), humans as curators rather than creators (26:40), tech’s mid-life crisis (27:45), the future of “search” (32:10), using AI do make “no-code” software (35:00), where we go from here (39:00), and the illusion of creativity (42:45). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Dec 2, 2022 • 1h 3min

Kernel's Bryan Johnson: “Dinner at 11:00 am and reversing age”

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent brings on Bryan Johnson, tech entrepreneur and Kernel founder, to talk about reversing his biological age with “the blueprint” (4:50), eating dinner at 11:00 am (12:15), pleasure through pain (15:45), rethinking what it means to be human (17:30), changing society (23:00), how this philosophy dovetails with his startup Kernel (24:50), the “cognitive crisis" (26:45), living outside the norm (30:45), the autonomous self (33:15), assembling a team of 25 people to create the blueprint (36:50), being a “rejuvenation athlete” (38:40), firing himself (43:50), creating a community of rejuvenation enthusiasts (47:15), how long he wants to live (50:50), the rise of the machines (52:50), and automating away willpower (57:50).Bryan Johnson's Blueprint: https://blueprint.bryanjohnson.co/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Nov 25, 2022 • 44min

SciFi Foods' Joshua March: "Brewing a $1 lab-grown burger”

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Joshua March, founder of SciFi Foods to talk about why he is trying to brew burgers (3:30), mixing meat and plants (6:00), the cost challenge (8:00), growing up in small town England and his first startup (11:50), launching a social media software company (15:00), finding a technical co-founder and starting a meat company (17:20), leaning into the science with its branding (25:20), the cost challenge (30:30), the road to regulatory approval (37:40), winning hearts and minds (40:15), and the vegan mafia (41:10). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Nov 18, 2022 • 52min

Neoplants' Lio Mora & Partick Torbey: "A houseplant that eats carcinogens"

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Patrick Torbey and Lio Mora about engineering plants (3:45), the age of biology (6:15), their $180 houseplant (11:25), indoor pollution (13:45), meeting at a startup incubator (17:30), founder dating (20:55), raising money (24:30), spending four years developing the first plant (27:25), the market education problem (33:00), why certifications is more difficult than it seems (39:30), the maintenance challenge (41:45), and their worst day (47:05). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Nov 11, 2022 • 44min

Obvious Ventures’ Andrew Beebe: “Do stuff that matters”

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Andrew Beebe, to talk about “world positive” investing (4:00), the dotcom boom (5:30), zeroing in on climate years ago (10:10), how a cold call to Google worked (12:10), how he met Twitter founder Ev Williams (16:00), investing in the downturn (19:10), screening for world positive companies (23:45), how he coaches founders (28:20), climate tech whiplash and why this time is different (32:000), and his worst day of work (40:30). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Nov 4, 2022 • 60min

Mayfield's Navin Chaddha: “The best companies get bought, not sold”

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Navin Chaddha of Mayfield Fund, to talk about the future of work (3:10), and Silicon Valley (9:50), managing $2bn with seven people (13:55), his first startup in the dotcom boom (18:00), the importance of timing (22:50), holding his nerve at the recent peak (28:10), the other two companies he started (33:10), the lessons from he took from them (38:10), the current downturn (42:05), how he made it here from India (46:50), going through the IIT system (50:00), and what he’s excited to back (55:05). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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