Podcast
Solutions with Henry Blodget
Hosted by Vox Media Podcast Network · EN
We hear enough about our problems. Let’s solve them. Every Monday, journalist, analyst and entrepreneur Henry Blodget interviews leading thinkers across business, tech, politics and beyond about their big ideas for how to build a better future. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
38episodes
Episodes
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Are Psychedelics on the Verge of Going Mainstream?
5d ago00:40:08Summary readyPresident Trump surprised many people a few weeks ago when he signed an executive order accelerating research into psychedelics. Compounds like psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, ketamine, and others have developed large and enthusiastic followings in the past decade, and some seem quite promising in the treatment of depression, PTSD, addiction and other conditions. Unusually, they are also one of the very few issues that have support across the political spectrum. This week, we discuss why this is a turning point for psychedelics and what might come next with Anne Philippi, a former journalist at Vogue, Vanity Fair, and GQ who now runs The New Health Club, a media organization dedicated to psychedelics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Why AI Will Never Be Conscious, According to a Consciousness Expert
2w ago01:06:40Summary readyAnil Seth is concerned about the “mythology of conscious AI” – the growing argument that LLMs and other AI systems might one day achieve consciousness. Seth is a Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex and a leading expert on consciousness. He’s skeptical that AI will ever achieve true consciousness, and argues there’s danger in perceiving these technical systems as feeling beings. Today, we discuss that danger, and what science even defines as "consciousness." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryAn Extraordinary Gene Editing Treatment Could Mark a Turning Point in Medicine
3w ago00:47:13Summary readyIn the summer of 2024, a baby named KJ was born with a rare disease with a 50% mortality rate. Six months later, he became the first patient to receive personalized gene editing therapy. He is now healthy and thriving. Dr. Jeff Coller, who directs the RNA Innovation Center at Johns Hopkins University, says KJ’s treatment could be the most important medical story of the decade. Today, Dr. Coller explains the ground-breaking science behind KJ’s treatment, and what it will take to bring it mainstream. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryWildfires Are Only Getting Worse. What Can We Do?
4w ago00:33:59Summary readyDr. Kira Hoffman once fought fires as a firefighter. Now she works on starting them - for the sake of wildfire prevention. Dr. Hoffman is a fire ecologist at the University of British Columbia and an expert in why wildfires are getting worse and the solutions that can mitigate their damage. We discuss why she forecasts a “dire” wildfire season this year, how fire policy has transformed over the past century, and what Americans can do across the country to protect their homes now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryIs U.S. Air Travel in Crisis?
Apr 1300:46:12Summary readyRecent high-profile tragedies, FAA understaffing and underinvestment, and ballooning TSA lines during the government shutdown have many questioning whether U.S. air travel is as safe as we've been told — but what's the reality? And how do we make it safer, cheaper, and more comfortable? Darryl Campbell is the aviation-safety correspondent for The Verge. We discuss potentially privatizing the TSA, why we're facing a shortage of air traffic controllers and what we can do about it, and how air travel got needlessly politicized. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryMost Americans Support Legal Immigration. Why Can't We Enact Clear Policy?
Apr 600:40:33Summary readyOne of the biggest issues in the last few elections has been… immigration. And yet: most Americans support legal immigration and a path to citizenship, and aren't worried about immigrants taking their jobs. So why can't the U.S. enact clear policy? Alexander Kustov, professor of migration at the University of Notre Dame, recently wrote a book entirely dedicated to this question and practical solutions, titled In Our Interest: How Democracies Can Make Immigration Popular. Today, we discuss his research, his argument that immigration needs to be more selective, and what the U.S. could learn from other countries' immigration policies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryThe Jagged Frontier: How AI Will Transform Your Job, According to Wharton's Ethan Mollick
Mar 3000:45:54Summary readyEthan Mollick, a Wharton professor and author of the Substack One Useful Thing, describes today’s AI systems as a “jagged frontier," where AI outperforms humans in some tasks but falls short in others. This unevenness means the technology won’t replace all jobs, but it will reshape how we work and which skills matter most. In this episode, we discuss why management and delegation are becoming more valuable, how AI could disrupt the traditional career ladder, and how Mollick is using AI in his classroom to accelerate and deepen learning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryWe Can Live Forever Through Digital Twins. But Should We?
Mar 2300:43:56Summary readyWhat’s it like to talk to a “digital twin” of a relative who died before you were born? How will the increasingly lifelike digital representations of people change how we grieve? Amy Kurzweil deeply considers these questions in her graphic memoir, Artificial: A Love Story. It's about her experience helping to create a chatbot based on her grandfather. Amy’s father, Ray Kurzweil — a technology inventor and futurist — built the bot back in 2018. In this episode, we discuss how AI could change how we grieve, and complicate the very meaning of consciousness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryReasons to be an AI Jobs Optimist
Mar 1601:09:21Summary readyMore than three years into the AI era, the predictions of an AI job apocalypse are still coming fast and furious. Here are reasons to be more optimistic. Harvard economist and researcher David Deming studies technology and the future of work. He’s dug into technological shifts of the past for clues about what might happen to the U.S. labor market now, and he’s even quantified the rapid rate of adoption of generative AI. Deming doubts AI will cause a jobs apocalypse, but he does believe things will change. He tells us his ideas for how we can AI-proof our jobs. Note: this conversation was originally recorded in the summer of 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryWhy AI Robots Shouldn't Look Like Humans
Mar 900:49:57Summary readyElon Musk says humanoid robots represent the biggest business opportunity in the history of the world. But what problems do these robots actually solve? And why do they have to look like humans? We pose those questions and more to Dr. Jonathan Hurst this week, one of the pioneers of modern robotics. He’s the co-founder and Chief Robot Officer at Agility, which makes a humanoid called “Digit," which is actually working in warehouses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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