Best Parallel Economy Podcasts (2025)

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172. A New Kind of University 51:58

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1d ago51:58

51:58

Michael Crow is the president of Arizona State University, which U.S. News & World Report has called the most innovative school in the country for 11 years running. He tells Steve about why higher education needs to change, and how A.S.U. is leading the way. Plus: Steve has an announcement about the podcast. SOURCES: Michael Crow, president of Ariz…

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I Went to Bolivia Where Businesses Survive on Stablecoins 11:30

5d ago11:30

11:30

Bolivia is facing a severe economic crisis. The country is literally running out of dollars. Their foreign reserves have collapsed from $15 billion a decade ago to just $50 million today. In June 2024, Bolivia legalized cryptocurrencies, and digital asset transaction volume exploded - growing over 500 percent in the past year. To participate in the…

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A New Era for Christian Nationalism Begins Today 6:56

13d ago6:56

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What happens when a burst of conviction grows into real infrastructure? We open the door to ChristianNationalist.com, a living hub that turns belief into practice with clear definitions, searchable resources, and step-by-step guidance built for homes, churches, and civic life. Instead of chasing debates in a dozen directions, we map the whole lands…

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171. Measuring Pollution on Parallel Earths 56:01

16d ago56:01

56:01

Michael Greenstone knows it’s corny, but he wants to make the world a better place — by tracking the impact of air quality, developing pollution markets in India, and … starting a podcast, which Steve says proves he’s over the hill. SOURCES: Michael Greenstone, professor of economics at the University of Chicago. RESOURCES: "New evidence on the imp…

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The Great Convergence 11:16

16d ago11:16

11:16

A quiet handshake inside an embassy set off alarm bells, but the real story runs deeper than a single meeting. We trace how a convicted spy, a donor class with outsized leverage, and decades of war-time consensus created a brittle status quo—and why people on the populist left and nationalist right are beginning to push against the same walls. The …

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The Reckoning They Didn’t See Coming 9:29

18d ago9:29

9:29

The temperature in the room changed the moment we named what so many felt: managed decline isn’t a law of nature, and humiliation isn’t a civic duty. We trace how years of bans, debanking, and algorithmic throttling didn’t bury dissent—they refined it—turning scattered frustrations into a clear program centered on sovereignty, work, and an honest p…

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Why Sovereignty is the Only Fight That Matters 9:20

20d ago9:20

9:20

What if the most important divide in American life isn’t left or right, but whether we still govern ourselves at all? We pull on a single thread—sovereignty—and watch how it explains the fractures you feel every day: priorities set far from home, speech boundaries drawn by fear, and policies that seem to serve unseen hands. Instead of treating corr…

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Suleika Jaouad’s Survival Mechanisms (Replay) 58:46

23d ago58:46

58:46

Suleika Jaouad was diagnosed with cancer at 22. She made her illness the subject of a New York Times column and a memoir, Between Two Kingdoms. She and Steve talk about what it means to live with a potentially fatal illness, how to talk to people who've gone through a tragedy, and ways to encourage medical donations. SOURCES: Suleika Jaouad, author…

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The End Of Conservatism and Our Nationalist Vision For The Future 13:52

23d ago13:52

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Start with a hard question: if a movement keeps losing the fights that define a nation’s future, is the movement itself the problem? We confront the conservative establishment’s incentives—donor appeasement, media contracts, and social status—and track how those rewards displaced duty. The result, we argue, is a politics that conserved portfolios a…

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Why “Capitalism” Isn’t Working 11:11

25d ago11:11

11:11

The stock chart goes up, but whose life gets better. We open with a blunt question: what is an economy for if not to help people build stable lives. From shuttered factories to soaring rents, we trace how a market unmoored from national obligations turns efficiency into fragility, rewarding cost arbitrage while eroding the foundations families depe…

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How To Reclaim The Republic 10:54

25d ago10:54

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The future won’t arrive on schedule when the past refuses to step aside—so we decided to name the problem and map a path forward. We start with the breach at the heart of public life: a leadership class that treats power like an heirloom and stability like a shrine, even as wages stagnate, debt swells, and young families are told to settle for less…

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170. Finding the God Particle 59:10

30d ago59:10

59:10

Physicist and former pop star Brian Cox tells Steve about discovering the Higgs boson, having a number-one hit, and why particle physics research will almost certainly not create a black hole that destroys all life on earth. SOURCES: Brian Cox, physicist at the University of Manchester. RESOURCES: Black Holes: The Key to Understanding the Universe,…

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Inside Argentina's $300 Billion Parallel Economy 16:10

1M ago16:10

16:10

Argentina's decades-long economic crises and hyperinflation has a major impact on how Argentine's participate in the economy. The recent story that's been told about Argentina is that people are adopting stablecoins to protect against inflation and currency devaluation. But that's only part of the story... The real story involves long-standing dist…

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169. Decoding the World’s First Writing 49:35

1M ago49:35

49:35

Irving Finkel is an expert on cuneiform — the oldest known writing system. He tells Steve the amazing story of how an ancient clay tablet unlocked the truth about Noah’s ark (and got Finkel in trouble with some Christians). SOURCES: Irving Finkel, curator in the department of the Middle East at the British Museum. RESOURCES: "How to write cuneiform…

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Is There a Fair Way to Divide Us? (Update) 1:00:06

2M ago1:00:06

1:00:06

Moon Duchin is a math professor at the University of Chicago whose theoretical work has practical applications for voting and democracy. Why is striving for fair elections so difficult? SOURCES: Moon Duchin, professor of mathematics at Cornell University. RESOURCES: "Gerrymandering: The Origin Story," by Neely Tucker (Timeless: Stories from the Lib…

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168. Chemistry, Evolved 56:53

2M ago56:53

56:53

Frances Arnold pioneered the process of directed evolution — mimicking natural selection to create new enzymes that have changed everything from agriculture to laundry. SOURCES: Frances Arnold, professor of chemistry at the California Institute of Technology. RESOURCES: "Innovation by Evolution: Bringing New Chemistry to Life," by Frances Arnold (N…

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167. The Secret of Humanity? It’s Common Knowledge. 58:45

2M ago58:45

58:45

Steven Pinker’s new book argues that all our relationships depend on shared assumptions and “recursive mentalizing” — our constant efforts to understand what other people are thinking. He and Steve talk about the psychology of eye contact, the particular value of Super Bowl ads, and what it’s like to get cancelled. SOURCES: Steven Pinker, professor…

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How to Have Great Conversations (Update) 44:24

3M ago44:24

44:24

The Power of Habit author Charles Duhigg wrote his new book in an attempt to learn how to communicate better. Steve shares how the book helped him understand his own conversational weaknesses. SOURCES: Charles Duhigg, journalist and author. RESOURCES: Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection, by Charles Duhigg (2024). "20…

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What If You Could Send Money Across Borders as Fast as a Text? 11:55

3M ago11:55

11:55

This year, $160 billion in remittance payments will be sent from the US to Latin America. $65 billion will be sent from the US to Mexico, the world's largest remittance corridor. Yet, the majority of payments will be sent via brick-and-mortar stores like Western Union or Moneygram. The future of payments is already here, yet most people are queuing…

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DigitalituM Podcast Episode 23 - Ben Bleiman - Modocs.AI - Capturing Tribal Knowledge with Voice-to-SOP 28:55

3M ago28:55

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Send us a text Episode Summary Ben Bleiman—electrical engineer turned innovation leader—walks us through his journey from Bose (automotive audio tuning) to IBM (7–10 nm semiconductors) and Crane Currency (micro-optics on the $100 note), where years in R&D and production quality led him to MODocs.ai. We dig into why documentation is painful, how tri…

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166. The World’s Most Effective Public Health Intervention Is Under Attack 1:01:47

3M ago1:01:47

1:01:47

Seth Berkley used to run the world's largest vaccine funding organization. He and Steve talk about the incredible value of vaccines, the economics of immunizing the developing world, and the current attacks on public health. SOURCES: Seth Berkley, epidemiologist at Brown University School of Public Health. RESOURCES: "Trump Administration Ends Prog…

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DigitalituM Podcast Episode 22 - Mark Eferdinger - Card Monroe - Cutting Through the Digital Fog: Custom Automation & Digital Twins with Card Monroe 42:56

3M ago42:56

42:56

Send us a text In this episode, I sit down with my longtime friend and partner, Mark Eferdinger (Sales, Card Monroe Automation). We discuss the very real pressures U.S. manufacturers face—labor shortages, reshoring, tariffs, and the need to automate more quickly—and how a hands-on, customer-driven approach outperforms one-size-fits-all “modularity”…

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165. The Economist Who (Gasp!) Asks People What They Think 53:14

3M ago53:14

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Stefanie Stantcheva’s approach seemed like career suicide. In fact, it won her the John Bates Clark Medal. She talks to fellow winner Steve Levitt about why she uses methods that most of the profession dismisses — and what she’s found that can’t be learned any other way. SOURCES: Stefanie Stantcheva, professor of political economy at Harvard Univer…

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DigitalituM Podcast Episode 21 - Karen Escobedo - Tri-Sphyre - From Accounting to Automation: Dredge Simulators, Drives & Women in Manufacturing 28:53

3M ago28:53

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Send us a text From Accounting to Automation: Dredge Simulators, Drives & Women in Manufacturing with Karen Escobedo (Tri-Sphyre) Episode Summary Karen Escobedo shares her unconventional path from accounting student and fresh MBA grad to business development in industrial automation. We explore Tri-Sphyre’s work in PLC/HMI/drive integration, their …

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Rick Rubin on How to Make Something Great (Update) 53:24

4M ago53:24

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From recording some of the first rap hits to revitalizing Johnny Cash's career, the legendary producer has had an extraordinary creative life. In this episode he talks about his new book and his art-making process — and helps Steve get in touch with his own artistic side. SOURCES: Rick Rubin, music producer and record executive. RESOURCES: The Crea…

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164. Unravelling the Universe, Again 1:02:14

4M ago1:02:14

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More than two decades ago, Adam Riess’s Nobel Prize-winning work fundamentally changed our understanding of the universe. His new work is reshaping cosmology for a second time. RESOURCES: Adam Riess, astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University. SOURCES: "The Nobel Prize Winner Who Thinks We Have the Universe All Wrong," by Ross Andersen (The Atlanti…

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DigitalituM Podcast Episode 20 - Dr.Ing Eike Wolfram Schaeffer- Robotop - Hybrid Selling with 3D Content 44:23

4M ago44:23

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Send us a text DigitalituM Podcast – Episode 20 Guest: Dr.-Ing. Eike Wolfram Schäffer, Co-Founder & CEO of RoboTop Host: Markus Rimmele, Managing Principal of DigitalituM Theme: Hybrid Selling, Digital Tools, and the Future of Manufacturing Sales In this episode of the DigitalituM Podcast – Manufacturing at the Intersection of Digital Transformatio…

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163. The Data Sleuth Taking on Shoddy Science 56:25

4M ago56:25

56:25

Uri Simonsohn is a behavioral science professor who wants to improve standards in his field — so he’s made a sideline of investigating fraudulent academic research. He tells Steve Levitt, who's spent plenty of time rooting out cheaters in other fields, how he does it. SOURCES: Uri Simonsohn, professor of behavioral science at Esade Business School.…

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DigitalituM Podcast Episode 19 - Holger Schlaps - Steve Forrest - The Future of Manufacturing with AI 1:03:01

4M ago1:03:01

1:03:01

Send us a text 🎙️ DigitalituM Podcast Episode At the Intersection of Manufacturing and Digital Transformation Topic: The Future of Manufacturing with AI Guests: 👤 Holger Schlaps, Head of R&D at SULZER GmbH 🔗 Connect with Holger on LinkedIn 👤 Steve Forrest, VP of Operations at AutoTool Inc. 🔗 Connect with Steve on LinkedIn 🎧 In this episode, host Ma…

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Arne Duncan Says All Kids Deserve a Chance — and Criminals Deserve a Second One (Update) 46:11

4M ago46:11

46:11

Former U.S. Secretary of Education, 3x3 basketball champion, and leader of an anti-gun violence organization are all on Arne’s resume. He’s also Steve’s neighbor. The two talk about teachers caught cheating in Chicago public schools and Steve shares a story he’s never told Arne, about a defining moment in the educator’s life. SOURCES: Arne Duncan, …

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162. Will We Solve the Climate Problem? 57:56

5M ago57:56

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Kate Marvel spends her days playing with climate models, which she says are “like a very expensive version of The Sims.” As a physicist she gets tired of being asked to weigh in on economics, geopolitics, and despair — but she still defends the right of scientists to have strong feelings about the planet. SOURCES: Kate Marvel, climate scientist and…

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161. How to Captivate an Audience 48:48

5M ago48:48

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Twenty years ago, before the Freakonomics book tour, Bill McGowan taught Steve Levitt to speak in public. In his new book he tries to teach everyone else. SOURCES: Bill McGowan, founder and C.E.O. of Clarity Media Group. RESOURCES: Speak, Memorably: The Art of Captivating an Audience, by Bill McGowan (2025). "Sheryl Sandberg Gives UC Berkeley Comme…

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Annie Duke Thinks You Should Quit (Update) 48:25

5M ago48:25

48:25

Former professional poker player Annie Duke wrote a book about Steve’s favorite subject: quitting. They talk about why quitting is so hard, how to do it sooner, and why we feel shame when we do something that’s good for us. SOURCES: Annie Duke, author and former professional poker player. RESOURCES: Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away, by …

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NBA Africa's Biggest Success | The Khaman Maluach Story 3:45

5M ago3:45

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Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qoA105xnIpU Khaman Maluach was just drafted 10th overall in the NBA Draft. He’s a South Sudanese refugee who grew up in Uganda and only started playing basketball when he was 13 years old. After first playing the game at Luol Deng’s basketball camp, Maluach played at the NBA Academy in Senegal, and pl…

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160. How to Help Kids Succeed 1:00:09

6M ago1:00:09

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Psychologist David Yeager thinks the conventional wisdom for how to motivate young people is all wrong. His model for helping kids cope with stress is required reading at Steve’s new high school. SOURCES: David Yeager, professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. RESOURCES: 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People: A Ground…

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159. Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Manifesto for a Gift Economy 57:16

6M ago57:16

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She’s a botanist, a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and the author of the bestselling Braiding Sweetgrass. In her new book she criticizes the market economy — but she and Steve find a surprising amount of common ground. SOURCES: Robin Wall Kimmerer, botanist and founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. RES…

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Does Death Have to Be a Death Sentence? (Update) 42:22

6M ago42:22

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Palliative physician B.J. Miller asks: Is there a better way to think about dying? And can death be beautiful? SOURCES: B.J. Miller, palliative-care physician and President at Mettle Health. RESOURCES: A Beginner’s Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death, by Shoshana Berger and B.J. Miller and (2019). “After A Freak Acci…

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The Real Reason People Are Using Stablecoins 9:02

6M ago9:02

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Watch this episode on YouTube. 2025 is the year of stablecoins. Transaction volumes have grown to over $33 trillion in the past 12 months. The top Dollar-denominated stablecoins are the 17th largest holder of US treasuries globally. Tether, issuer the largest stablecoin by volume, USDT, announced $13 billion in net profit in 2024. Circle, the USDC …

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158. Why Did Rome Fall — and Are We Next? 55:24

7M ago55:24

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Historian Tom Holland narrowly escaped a career writing vampire novels to become the co-host of the wildly popular podcast The Rest Is History. At Steve’s request, he compares President Trump and Julius Caesar and explains why the culture wars are arguments about Christian theology. SOURCES: Tom Holland, historian and host of The Rest is History. R…

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157. The Deadliest Disease in Human History 1:05:19

7M ago1:05:19

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John Green returns to the show to talk about tuberculosis — a disease that kills more than a million people a year. Steve has an idea for a new way to get treatment to those in need. SOURCES: John Green, best-selling author and YouTube creator. RESOURCES: Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection, by John Gr…

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DigitalituM Podcast Episode 18 - Martin Lääts - Evocon - Production Visualization and OEE with Evocon 32:29

7M ago32:29

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Send us a text 🎙️ DigitalituM Podcast – Episode 18 Guest: Martin Lääts, Co-Founder & Head of Product at Evocon Topic: Making OEE Simple – Scalable Production Monitoring with Evocon Markus Rimmele talks with Martin Lääts, Co-Founder and Head of Product at Evocon, about how manufacturers can improve performance using one of the most practical KPIs in…

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Abraham Verghese Thinks Medicine Can Do Better (Update) 46:59

7M ago46:59

46:59

Abraham Verghese is a physician and a best-selling author — in that order, he says. He explains the difference between curing and healing, and tells Steve why doctors should spend more time with patients and less with electronic health records. SOURCES: Abraham Verghese, professor of medicine at Stanford University and best-selling novelist. RESOUR…

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DigitalituM Podcast Episode 17 -Gerd Bart - Transaction Network - Digital Services Platform for OEMs 36:14

7M ago36:14

36:14

Send us a text 🎙️ DigitalituM Podcast – At the Intersection of Manufacturing & Digital Transformation Episode Title: Rethinking Aftermarket Services In this episode of the DigitalituM Podcast, host Markus Rimmele welcomes Gerd Bart, Founder and CEO of Transaction Network, a pioneering provider of digital service platforms for machine builders and m…

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156. A Solution to America’s Gun Problem 59:24

8M ago59:24

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Jens Ludwig has an idea for how to fix America’s gun violence problem — and it starts by rejecting conventional wisdom from both sides of the political aisle. SOURCES: Jens Ludwig, professor of economics at the University of Chicago and director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab. RESOURCES: Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of America…

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Why the NFL is Bringing American Football to Africa 6:37

8M ago6:37

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There are 1,696 active players in the NFL. Just 138 are African. But if it were up to Osi Umenyiora, 11-year veteran and 2-time Super Bowl Champion, there would be many more. Osi is the Founder of The Uprise, the NFL's lead in Africa, and he's pioneering American football on the African continent. At the NFL's camp in Lagos, Nigeria, young athletes…

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DigitalituM Podcast Episode 16 - Ed Marsh - Ed Marsh Consulting - Rethinking B2B Sales in Manufacturing with Ed Marsh 39:04

8M ago39:04

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Send us a text Beyond Specs: Rethinking B2B Sales in Manufacturing with Ed Marsh 🔧 Episode Summary: In this episode of the DigitalituM Podcast – at the intersection of Manufacturing and Digital Transformation, host Markus Rimmele welcomes Ed Marsh, an expert in B2B industrial sales and global market strategy. Together, they explore how traditional …

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155. Helping People Die 54:57

8M ago54:57

54:57

Ellen Wiebe is a physician who helps seriously ill patients end their lives in Canada, where assisted suicide is legal. Is death a human right? SOURCES: Ellen Wiebe, clinical professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia. RESOURCES: "The Last Decision by the World’s Leading Thinker on Decisions," by Jason Zweig (The Wall Street Journa…

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DigitalituM Podcast Episode 15 - Mark Winker - replique - Additive Manufacturing as a Service 44:15

8M ago44:15

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Send us a text Manufacturing Without Warehouses – Additive Manufacturing as a Service with Replique’s Mark Winker 🔧 Episode Summary: In this episode of the DigitalituM Podcast – At the Intersection of Manufacturing and Digital Transformation, host Markus Rimmele speaks with Mark Winker, business leader at Replique, a German startup revolutionizing …

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Yul Kwon: “Don't Try to Change Yourself All at Once.” (Update) 44:49

8M ago44:49

44:49

He has been a lawyer, an instructor at the F.B.I. Academy, the owner of a frozen-yogurt chain, and a winner of the TV show Survivor. Today, Kwon works at Google, but things haven’t always come easily for him. Steve Levitt talks to Kwon about his debilitating childhood anxieties, his compulsion to choose the hardest path in life, and how Kwon used g…

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154. Can Robots Get a Grip? 57:52

8M ago57:52

57:52

Ken Goldberg is at the forefront of robotics — which means he tries to teach machines to do things humans find trivial. SOURCES: Ken Goldberg, professor of industrial engineering and operations research at U.C. Berkeley. RESOURCES: "The Bitter Lesson," by Rich Sutton (UT Austin, 2019). R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama in Th…