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PODCAST

Possible

What if, in the future, everything breaks humanity"s way? Possible is an award-winning, weekly podcast that sketches out the brightest version of the future—and what it will take to get there. Hosts Reid Hoffman and Aria Finger take that question to the people building the answer: founders, scientists, artists, and deep thinkers working across AI, healthcare, education, and geopolitics. The conversations run deep and specific, testing optimism against hard questions rather than trading hot takes

technology

All Episodes

52:16

Audrey Tang and Divya Siddarth on Outfitting...

Possible ·

2025/08/13

How can we take digitally-empowered democracy straight out of science fiction into reality?This week, Reid and Aria are joined by two digital democracy pioneers, Audrey Tang and Divya Siddarth. Audrey Tang is a cyber ambassador-at-large and former inaugural Minister of Digital Affairs for Taiwan. Their pioneering initiatives like the Sunflower Movement, g0v, and vTaiwan have fought misinformation and influenced policy decisions. Audrey is also a senior research fellow for the Collective

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16:44

Reid riffs on the energy arms race and AI addressing...

Possible ·

2025/08/06

Could the very technology that requires massive amounts of energy to power it also be key to solving the climate crisis? This week, Reid and Aria discuss the global energy arms race and why the U.S. is lagging behind competitors like China. Reid weighs in on the environmental impact and human costs of AI infrastructure, along with mounting tensions between hyperscalers and the communities that host their data centers. For more info on the podcast and transcripts of all the episodes, visit

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51:45

Tony Marx on the Future of Libraries, AI, and Trust

Possible ·

2025/07/30

What can public libraries teach us about finding and sharing trustworthy information in the age of AI? How can—and should—AI build upon the technology that is books? This week, Reid and Aria head to the New York Public Library in Manhattan for a conversation with the storied institution’s president and CEO, Tony Marx. They explore the function of libraries in the age of AI, debate the future of work, and discuss what it looks like for civic institutions to embrace transformative technology without

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24:21

Reid riffs on AI adoption, sensitive data, and...

Possible ·

2025/07/23

On Part II of last week’s Live Riff, co-hosted with Village Global, Reid fields audience member questions about scale product-market fit, license modeling, data sensitivities, and the future of customer service, along with positive use cases for deepfake technology and the making of Reid AI, his digital twin. He also tells a story from his PayPal days, when Peter Thiel gave him five days to come up with a solution to a problem that was putting money and user trust on the line. For more info on

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40:16

Reid riffs on acquihires, agents, and new startup norms

Possible ·

2025/07/16

What’s the deal with hyperscalers’ recent string of acquisitions betting big on AI talent? When will business schools start requiring classes on managing agents? And how is—and isn’t—AI changing the path to scale and the future of work? Aria asks Reid about all of this and more in a special two-part Riff, recorded for a live audience of AI leaders and founders in New York City in partnership with Village Global in June. Special thanks to our friends at Village Global for co-hosting this Live

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26:49

Reid riffs on cryptocurrency, stablecoins and regulation

Possible ·

2025/07/09

Crypto often feels like a microcosm of the broader government–tech relationship. On one extreme, you have true believers who see blockchain as the next frontier of economic empowerment and radical transparency. On the other, skeptics who point to ransomware attacks, illicit finance, and the flipside of anonymity—and call for an outright ban. This week on Possible, Reid and Aria talk crypto –– both the positives and negatives –– and how we can iterate toward better outcomes. Reid discusses

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63:20

David Autor on AI’s impact on jobs, expertise, and...

Possible ·

2025/07/02

What if AI helped people develop and deepen their existing expertise, and better outfitted them for the jobs of the future? This week, Reid and Aria are joined by one of the world’s leading labor economists, David Autor, Ford Professor of Economics at MIT and co-director of its Work of the Future Task Force. He is also a Visiting Fellow in the Google Technology and Society Program. David’s landmark research on the China Shock has become foundational for policymakers grappling with globalization’s

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24:30

Reid riffs on massive AI acquisitions, robotics, and...

Possible ·

2025/06/25

Aria and Reid dive into the recent flurry of multibillion-dollar AI acquisitions—from OpenAI’s $3B Windsurf deal to Meta’s ~$15B stake in Scale AI—and what they reveal about how companies are racing to refactor for an AI-first future. Are acquihires overtaking acquisitions as the new strategic advantage? And how are companies balancing workforce shifts with long-term innovation? Plus, a look at the robotics boom, government investment in AI, and the underrated wisdom of Adam Smith.For more info on

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53:04

Hannah Fry on AI, Algorithms, and Human Nature

Possible ·

2025/06/18

What happens when we take numbers seriously—not just at face value, but in terms of their actual impact on our lives?This week, Reid and Aria are joined by UK-based mathematician and media personality Hannah Fry to explore this deceptively simple question. From cancer diagnoses to dating apps, Hannah makes the case that understanding the math behind our decisions—and the "game" we're really playing—is essential to building a better future. They discuss why regret minimization is often a

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18:11

Reid riffs on if AI can become conscious

Possible ·

2025/06/16

This episode has been re-uploaded to correct an error. If you are a subscriber and/or downloaded it on its release, consider deleting and redownloading it to hear the corrected audio. We apologize for the inconvenience. On this week's Riffs, Reid and Aria unpack last week’s conversation with Yuval Noah Harari, discussing AI's rapid advancements, its potential impacts on humanity, and the meaning of consciousness. Reid and Aria also discuss who will be responsible for making sure AI is aligned

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51:29

Yuval Noah Harari on trust, the dangers of AI, power,...

Possible ·

2025/06/04

What will it take to create AI that is as trustworthy, if not more trustworthy than humans? This week, Reid and Aria sit down with Yuval Noah Harari, historian, philosopher, and best-selling author of several books including Nexus, Sapiens and Homo Deus. When it comes to outlook on AI, Yuval, Reid, and Aria agree on the importance of building both human trust in AI and AI that is genuinely truth-seeking, but they differ on how possible it is to achieve. Together, they dig into their

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20:02

Reid riffs on AI companions, human friends, and age...

Possible ·

2025/05/28

On this week’s Riff, Reid reacts to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s suggestion that AIs can help address the loneliness epidemic and function as friends. He and Aria discuss why AIs can be great companions but not great friends, along with how to protect against agent misuse and deception. For more info on the podcast and transcripts of all the episodes, visit https://www.possible.fm/podcast/

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53:53

Alexis Ohanian on the future of online and offline...

Possible ·

2025/05/21

How do we build products and platforms that support a healthy, prosperous future? What will it take to “make the internet fun again?” Should kids be using AI? This week, serial entrepreneur and investor Alexis Ohanian—who co-founded Reddit two decades ago and is currently working to reinvent the social news aggregator Digg—joins Reid and Aria to talk about (re)building online and offline communities in the age of AI. They hear from Alexis on his recent bid for U.S. TikTok, the startups and women’s

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18:31

Reid riffs on PBCs, jobs and automation, and AI...

Possible ·

2025/05/14

Reid breaks down OpenAI’s shift to a public benefit corporation—what it really means, why it matters, and why some critics are missing the point. Aria asks whether all frontier AI companies should follow suit. Reid and Aria discuss how educators can navigate the “messy middle” of AI in the classroom. They also dig into the future of assessment, what students (and job seekers) should be learning now to prepare for an AI future, and whether AI-intensive fields are worth the bet.For more info on

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59:17

Jane Goodall on Hope, AI, and the Natural World

Possible ·

2025/05/07

What would it look like to keep all living creatures in the loop on the development of new technology?Reid sat down for a wide-ranging solo discussion with Jane Goodall on that very subject – and more. They talked about how to maintain hope and focus on local impact in today’s often chaotic world, how technology – and AI in particular – might be helpful for conservation, and Jane’s global youth program, Roots & Shoots. Plus, the Jane Goodall institute shared audio from a cutting edge acoustic

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22:15

Reid riffs on antitrust, AI coworkers, and Chinese...

Possible ·

2025/04/30

Reid weighs in on the U.S. government’s latest antitrust action against Google and what it could mean for competition, innovation, and America’s tech edge. Aria also asks about the rise of Chinese electric vehicles and why BYD might be “the Tesla of tomorrow;” the geopolitical costs of tariffs; and whether saying “please” and “thank you” to ChatGPT is worth it. For more info on the podcast and transcripts of all the episodes, visit https://www.possible.fm/podcast/

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53:47

Derek Thompson on AI, abundance, and human progress

Possible ·

2025/04/23

Why can the United States government help make a vaccine in a year but not build a high-speed train in a reasonable timeframe? What if our biggest problems—affordable housing shortages, energy limits, and scientific slowdowns—aren’t inevitable, but chosen?This week, Reid and Aria sit down with Derek Thompson—staff writer at The Atlantic and host of the podcast Plain English—to explore how a scarcity mindset is holding American society back. They cover how AI can revolutionize scientific discovery;

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14:53

Reid riffs on Tobi’s memo, AI and play, and the tweet...

Possible ·

2025/04/16

After Tobi Lütke, the CEO of Shopify, put out a memo stating all his employees should be expected to use AI every day, Reid offers his thoughts on AI in the workplace. He also talks about the interplay between AI, social media, mis/disinformation, and the importance of shaping technology instead of restricting technology. Plus, Reid speculates on how AI can be just as groundbreaking in the world of play as it can be in the world of work. For more info on the podcast and transcripts of all the

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56:40

Demis Hassabis on AI, game theory, multimodality, and...

Possible ·

2025/04/09

How can AI help us understand and master deeply complex systems—from the game Go, which has 10 to the power 170 possible positions a player could pursue, or proteins, which, on average, can fold in 10 to the power 300 possible ways? This week, Reid and Aria are joined by Demis Hassabis. Demis is a British artificial intelligence researcher, co-founder, and CEO of the AI company, DeepMind. Under his leadership, DeepMind developed Alpha Go, the first AI to defeat a human world champion in Go and later

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14:47

Reid riffs on Signal, AI for cancer detection, and...

Possible ·

2025/04/02

In the wake of Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg’s accidental inclusion in senior government officials’ Signal group chat discussing war plans, Reid weighs in on how the U.S. government should—and shouldn’t—use encrypted messaging apps. He and Aria also discuss AI-powered breakthroughs in cancer detection and medical diagnostics, along with NVIDIA’s newly announced Superchip and OpenAI’s latest image generation capabilities. For more info on the podcast and transcripts of all the episodes,

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164 results

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