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PODCAST

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh

Bringing real experts and forward-thinkers out of the clickbait shadows for greater knowledge, purpose, and performance. The CEO Retort is a thought-provoking podcast that features leading experts, entrepreneurs, authors, journalists, and thinkers scrutinising how science, business, health, politics, technology, and AI influence our lives. Hosted by Tim El-Sheikh — a serial deeptech and AI entrepreneur since 2002, one of the first-generation AI pioneers at Google Campus London, a biomedical

technology

All Episodes

01:18:13

Tech Bubble Expert: Has The AI Bubble Turned into A...

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh ·

2026/10/05

Dr Jeffrey Funk, the world-leading expert on tech bubbles, returns to analyse the financial reality behind Anthropic's latest leaked financials and the potential IPO disaster.We also examine how the tech sector uses the concept of Total Addressable Market (TAM) to justify massive capital injections into companies like Anthropic and OpenAI, despite a lack of significant ROI.Investors are being pushed to bet heavily on an out-of-this-world, lucrative AI future. Still, we need to look past the

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02:38:59

Carl Brown (Internet of Bugs): Silicon Valley's...

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh ·

2026/09/29

Veteran software engineer Carl Brown of Internet of Bugs joins me to expose the fallacy and dodgy claims that superintelligence and AI will kill humans.We discussed how the tech sector reached its current messy situation, starting with social platforms that learned to reward outrage, engagement, and extreme opinions long before today’s AI boom.Join the conversation and tell us whether you think Silicon Valley has any future left.Support our independence and help us keep our content free for all to

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00:34:15

Scott Lucas: Trump 2.0 Fueled The Rise of European...

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh ·

2026/09/24

Professor Scott Lucas joins us to discuss the critical situation facing European Union politics and analyse how Trump 2.0 has emboldened populist factions.The rise of the far right across Europe is not simply a story about voters suddenly embracing extremism. It is a story about frustration with stagnant economies, pressure on public services, immigration, cultural change, and the growing belief that mainstream political parties no longer listen.Scott and I acknowledge the real concerns about jobs,

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01:11:46

Jeffrey Funk: No, AI Will Not "End Humanity" – It's a...

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh ·

2026/09/21

In this conversation, Dr Jeffrey Funk returns to challenge the growing narrative that artificial intelligence will destroy humanity. Spoiler alert: it won’t!Our central argument is not that AI is harmless, but that the loudest “AI will kill everyone” claims often distract from more immediate problems: weak business economics, inflated promises, poor oversight, and the misuse of AI by powerful organisations.Jeff highlights that, instead of accepting vague warnings, audiences should ask a simple

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00:44:18

Scott Lucas: Trump Might Be Making a Deal with the...

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh ·

2026/09/17

Scott Lucas joins us to analyse the latest developments in Middle East politics as the Trump administration pursues unconventional paths with the Houthis.Although Iran supports the Houthis, they are not simply an Iranian proxy. Scott highlights that this group is a Yemeni movement with their own political, religious, and territorial ambitions.The Bab el-Mandeb is a vital passage connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the wider global trade network. Houthi attacks on shipping have already

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00:58:30

Ann Pettifor: The AI Bubble Is A Time Bomb For...

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh ·

2026/09/14

Ann Pettifor, one of the world's most celebrated economists, explains why the imminent AI bubble crash threatens to harm ordinary people, who will pay the highest price – far more than the tech investors.We analyse the parallels between the current hype cycle and past disasters like the dot-com era and the subprime mortgage crisis.By examining how financial instability spreads, we clarify why this latest market volatility is not just a tech problem, but a systemic risk that endangers the

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01:01:26

Trillions of Dollars Spent on Fake AI Hype and...

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh ·

2026/09/07

Dr Jeffrey Funk joins us to analyse the constant stream of corporate announcements that define the current tech market. We look past the noise to understand why the sheer volume of these claims is struggling to translate into sustainable growth or actual profits.By examining the mechanics of the current AI bubble, we expose the disconnect between projected potential and the financial outcomes we are seeing today. Understanding these shifts is essential for anyone trying to navigate the volatility of

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00:55:21

Scott Lucas: The $40 Trillion Debt That's Killing...

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh ·

2026/09/02

Professor Scott Lucas returns to explain why the debt is more than a big headline, revealing warning signs of long-running structural problems, especially since much of the increase has occurred under Trump 2.0 in less than two years.He traces most of the growth to Trump-era tax cuts, the pandemic-era response, and the current Trump 2.0 administration's continued deficit-heavy approach, stating that the government keeps adding debt without a credible long-term plan to reduce it.We examine the

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01:14:19

Scott Lucas: What We Can Learn From Dolly Parton's...

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh ·

2026/08/31

Professor Scott Lucas joins us this week to trace Dolly’s rise from humble beginnings to global fame. See why Dolly Parton and her spontaneous nature stand in direct opposition to modern political figures like Donald Trump. Understand the clash of values.In this discussion, we analyse the specific instance where Dolly Parton sang unexpectedly, illustrating her genuine approach to public life.We also examine how Dolly Parton's actions often diverge from the core platforms of right-wing movements

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01:14:40

The AI Bubble is Collapsing Fast, with Spurious...

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh ·

2026/08/25

Dr Jeffrey Funk returns to discuss how the current AI boom is driven not by healthy demand or sustainable profits, but by shady circular financing and hype.Jeff argues that AI is a bubble, but not like the dot-com or the 1929 bubble, because the structure centres on a few firms rather than a broad market. Traditional bubble metrics like price-to-earnings ratios are misleading, since most companies in the market aren't actually benefiting from AI.We delved into the broader damage caused by this

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00:46:19

Scott Lucas Calls for the Rise of Younger Democrats...

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh ·

2026/08/20

In the second part of this week's Geopolitics review, Professor Scott Lucas turns our attention to the Democrats and the upcoming US Midterm elections. It quickly becomes clear that the real issue is not a simple battle between "the centre" and "the left" within the party.Instead, Scott argues that too much commentary gets trapped in lazy labels and misses the more important question: which candidates are actually effective, pragmatic, and able to connect with voters on the

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00:40:11

Scott Lucas explains how Trump and Israel have...

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh ·

2026/08/17

Professor Scott Lucas analyses how the Trump administration have run out of viable military options, decentring the Middle East and destabilising the global economy.The episode opens with a wide-ranging update on the escalating instability across the Middle East, centred on the US-Iran confrontation and the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz.Scott explains that the situation has entered a difficult middle phase: a limbo that does not include full-scale war but is also far from peace.This

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01:39:32

Steve Keen Warns The Iran War Will Crash the World’s...

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh ·

2026/08/10

Professor Steve Keen is one of the world’s top economists, an author, and an academic who was among the few economists to accurately predict and warn of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis years before it happened.We dug into why the current AI boom is not just a story about overhyped chatbots, but also a tangled-up mess of bad economics, libertarian ideology, energy constraints, and environmental abuse all at once. Not to mention the cherry on top in the form of the Iran War and the consequential

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01:16:16

Scott Lucas Exposes Trump's Alarming Behavioural...

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh ·

2026/08/03

Donald Trump’s latest political theatrics are fast proving to be less about policy than they are about control of the news cycle and authoritarianism.Scott Lucas explores Trump's recent series of speeches and appearances, in which he once again staged a spectacle of exaggerated claims and culture-war rhetoric to draw attention to himself while avoiding the more difficult realities facing his administration and the future of the Republican Party.This is not about the political drama the media

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01:16:40

Scott Lucas: Trump's Iran War Limbo Catastrophic for...

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh ·

2026/07/27

Professor Scott Lucas examines the economic realities of the Strait of Hormuz and why it remains a central point of tension in global trade.Here we are again, back to square one with the Iran conflict quagmire. Or, as Scott puts it in this episode: an ongoing limbo!Make no mistake, this limbo comes with catastrophic consequences to the global economy and to our cost of living.Thanks to the so-called memorandum of understanding, which Trump has signed, the Iranian regime has been given the key to

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01:30:57

Nicholas McGeehan: FIFA’s Corruption has Reached a...

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh ·

2026/07/20

The leading corruption investigator and founder of FairSquare helps us explore the deep-rooted issues of corruption, governance, and ethics within FIFA and global sports organisations.Our discussion is centred on the growing influence of politics and money in sport, especially through FIFA and the World Cup. The conversation began with a reflection on the England vs Argentina match. Still, it quickly shifted into a broader critique of how football governing bodies can influence outcomes off the

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00:38:13

EMERGENCY: Independent Journalists and NGOs Face...

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh ·

2026/07/18

The UK government is rushing through new laws that could give it sweeping power over speech, reporting, and even what counts as “harmful” information.Folks, I’m genuinely worried about what’s happening in the UK right now, as the Labour government has rushed through the National Security (State Threats) Act, which completed its parliamentary stages and received Royal Assent on July 8, 2026.This bill grants the Home Secretary the power to designate state-backed organisations as “foreign power threat

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01:50:35

Jeltsje Boersma: Engineered Addiction Pioneered by...

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh ·

2026/07/09

If you’re like most people, you’ve probably assumed the tobacco industry is fading into the background. But the reality is alarmingly worse than we thought 😳I had the great pleasure of meeting Jeltsje Boersma, a prominent anti-tobacco advocate and public health policy professional, serving as a Senior Policy Officer at Impact Unfiltered. She delivered her famous “I’m here today to make you angry” speech that went super viral on social media, exposing the shocking tactics of Big Tobacco.While many

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01:24:08

Scott Lucas: 10 Years of Brexit and MAGA Made the...

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh ·

2026/07/02

Scott Lucas delves into the political landscapes of the UK and the US, following 10 years of Brexit and MAGA, respectively, that led to international conflicts.I sat down with Scott Lucas to unpack a conversation that moved quickly from sports to politics to war, but kept returning to the same big idea: narratives shape power. And, arguably, the two biggest narratives that shaped the entire world's political and economic environments are Brexit and the Make America Great (MAGA) movement.We

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01:28:51

Josh Paul: Biden and Trump Administrations Allowed...

The CEO Retort with Tim El-Sheikh ·

2026/06/26

Josh Paul is the former Director of the U.S. Congressional and Public Affairs for the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. He was responsible for overseeing U.S. defence diplomacy and global arms transfers.Today, Josh is one of the world's most avid human rights campaigners, exposing how the US is not just "involved" in the Israel-Palestine conflict, but rather actively shaping the outcome through military support, political cover, and a long habit of avoiding real

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