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PODCAST

What"s Your Problem?

iHeartPodcasts and Pushkin Industries

Every week on What"s Your Problem?, former Planet Money host Jacob Goldstein talks withentrepreneurs and engineerstackling the biggest challenges at the forefront of technology. How do you make a trip to space as routine as a plane flight? How do you turn solar energy into clean fuel? How do you use AI to stop deadly infections before they spread? We hear a lot these days about how the world is getting worse. What"s Your Problem? learns from the thinkers and doers trying to make our future

technology entrepreneurship

All Episodes

50:20

Blockers | A Preview of Michael Lewis's New Audiobook

What"s Your Problem? ·

2026/10/06

I'm here with a preview of Blockers, a new audiobook from Michael Lewis, the author of Liars Poker, Moneyball, The Big Short and more. In Blockers, Lewis tells the story of a handful of people who dedicated their careers to public service—until the Department of Government Efficiency decided they were a problem. These were people who believed they had a calling—people who kept American's sensitive tax data out of the wrong hands, made sure that politicians and civil servants played by

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38:45

Can We Defeat Deepfakes?

What"s Your Problem? ·

2026/10/01

We’ve all heard that nothing ever gets deleted from the internet. Luke Arrigoni says that just isn’t true. His company deletes thousands of deepfakes every day. Luke is the founder and CEO of Loti, and his problem is this: How do you turn the Internet into a place where people have more control over their name, image and likeness? Tens of thousands of famous people pay Loti to scour the internet and take down deepfakes and unapproved endorsements. But in Luke's telling, this is just the

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46:33

The Printing Press: The Invention Built on Debt and...

What"s Your Problem? ·

2026/09/24

Before 1450, books were written out by hand. It was slow and expensive. But Johannes Gutenberg borrowed a ton of money to create a printing press that could crank out Bibles and pamphlets and documents in huge numbers. Science, politics and philosophy were all up-ended. For example, the Catholic Church seized on the invention to sell special certificates absolving people of their sins – a move that made money, but caused a permanent schism in Christianity. And Gutenberg too found himself in

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44:12

Should We Pause AI?

What"s Your Problem? ·

2026/09/17

Everybody’s worried about the risks of AI. So we called up one of the most insightful writers we know on the subject: Zvi Mowshowitz. Zvi writes about AI and AI risks at his substack, Don’t Worry About the Vase. Zvi’s problem is this: How do we prevent artificial intelligence from killing everyone? In this episode, Zvi explains: Why it’s often useful to anthropomorphize AI What this summer’s Hugging Face attack tells us about the nature of AI What increasing AI

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10:19

Bonus: Planning for Your Financial Future

What"s Your Problem? ·

2026/09/15

On this bonus episode of What’s Your Problem, Jacob talks to Christine Chase, a Vice President, Financial Consultant at Fidelity Investments. Christine’s problem is this: How do you help clients build a plan to achieve their financial goals? Today’s show is sponsored by Fidelity Investments.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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38:22

Can a Robot Kill Fish Humanely?

What"s Your Problem? ·

2026/09/10

The fish we eat usually die slowly, suffocating after they’re pulled out of the water. Saif Khawaja is the co-founder and CEO of a company called Shinkei. Saif's problem is this: Can he build a machine to efficiently kill fish in a way that is more humane? In this episode, Saif explains: How he came to believe that our current fishing practices are inhumane How he adapted the Japanese technique of ikijime for use at scale Why Shinkei’s process results in better texture and longer shelf

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36:38

Using Satellites to Prevent Famines

What"s Your Problem? ·

2026/09/03

Catherine Nakalembe is an assistant professor at the University of Maryland and the head of the Africa program at NASA Harvest, which uses satellite images to track agriculture around the world. Catherine’s problem is this: How do you predict when a famine is coming – and how do you convince leaders to act in time? In this episode, Catherine explains: How satellite data can predict crop failure months in advance Why phots can convince decision-makers faster than maps or statistics Why

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44:16

The Quantum Shift in Biomedical Discovery from Smart...

What"s Your Problem? ·

2026/08/20

When Dr. Lara Jehi began treating epilepsy patients in the 2000s, critical surgical decisions were driven more by clinician intuition and expertise than data. Today, she is a leader of IBM and Cleveland Clinic’s Discovery Accelerator, using advanced AI and quantum computing to transform how researchers analyze data, simulate molecules, accelerate drug discovery, and develop more precise treatments. Malcolm Gladwell talks with Dr. Jehi about how quantum computing is changing biomedical

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36:38

Can We Slow Down Aging?

What"s Your Problem? ·

2026/08/13

Nir Barzilai is a physician and a researcher at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, where he runs the Institute for Geroscience. Nir’s problem is this: How can we use lifestyle changes and drugs to slow the process of aging? In this episode, Nir explains: The search for biological markers of aging The existing drugs that might reduce the risk of diseases associated with aging The four key lifestyle factors that every researcher in the field agrees on What he learned by

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41:33

Why Doctors Use Evidence but Managers (Mostly) Don’t

What"s Your Problem? ·

2026/08/06

Helen Pearson is the author of the book “Beyond Belief: How Evidence Shows What Really Works.” Helen's problem is this: How do you get people to make important decisions based on high-quality evidence, instead of on hunches or habits? In this episode, Helen explains: How a doctor's fatal mistake sparked the evidence-based medicine movement Why management is so resistant to evidence-based practices How systematic reviews changed the way she works as a science journalist Why global trust

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39:40

The Job AI Was Supposed to Kill

What"s Your Problem? ·

2026/07/30

In 2016, Geoffrey Hinton, one of the inventors of modern AI, predicted that AI would replace radiologists within years. Ten years later, we have a shortage of radiologists. AI has yet to revolutionize the field. What happened, and what does the story of AI and radiology tell us about AI and the future of work? Saurabh Jha is a radiologist at the University of Pennsylvania. He's written about how he uses AI in his practice, and why radiologists have been slow to adopt AI. Saurabh has also traveled to

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54:03

How China Won the Car Industry

What"s Your Problem? ·

2026/07/23

After spending decades as marginal players in the global auto industry, Chinese carmakers have become the world’s biggest exporters of cars. Chinese cars are some of the best cars on the planet, and they’re available almost everywhere – except in the US. Michael Dunne is the CEO of Dunne Insights, a company that consults on the future of cars. Michael has been working with the Chinese auto industry since 1990. I talked with Michael about how China did it. The problem we discussed

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32:20

Using Viruses to Fight Disease

What"s Your Problem? ·

2026/07/16

Phages are viruses that attack bacteria. People have been using phages to treat infections for over a hundred years, but in most cases they just don't work as well as antibiotics. Paul Garofolo is the co-founder and CEO of Locus Biosciences. His problem is this: How do you genetically engineer phages to be more effective at curing disease? In this episode, Paul explains: Why wild phages never completely wipe out a bacterial infection How to engineer phages with CRISPR to kill bacteria more

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43:43

How AI Could Reduce Inequality

What"s Your Problem? ·

2026/07/09

David Autor is a labor economist at MIT. He has written about how the arrival of personal computers increased inequality among American workers. But when it comes to AI, David thinks there could be a different outcome. Read David’s article about AI in Noema Magazine. In this episode, David explains: How computers increased the wage gap between college and non-college educated workers Why AI’s ability to supplement expertise may open up expert fields to more people How AI could make

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52:22

Racing Wildfires to Warn the Public

What"s Your Problem? ·

2026/07/02

John Mills is the CEO and co-founder of a nonprofit called Watch Duty. His problem is this: How do you build an app to warn people when they are in immediate danger from a natural disaster? Watch Duty has millions of users and played a key role in the Los Angeles fires of 2025. In the show, John talks about how he built his app with the help of an army of volunteers, and why the government hadn’t already built something like Watch Duty. In this episode, John explains: Why one-quarter of Los

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44:15

How AI Could Actually Make the World Better

What"s Your Problem? ·

2026/06/25

Josh Tyrangiel is the author of “AI for Good: How Real People Are Using Artificial Intelligence to Fix Things That Matter.” On today’s show, Josh talks about some of these real people and the problems they’re working on: a professor trying to understand her nonverbal son, a general who delivered millions of Covid vaccines in 2021, and a hospital CEO trying to reduce the rate of deadly infections. In this episode, Josh explains: Where AI is helping to reduce hospital

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48:13

Finding Meaning (and Money) in the AI Age

What"s Your Problem? ·

2026/06/18

Betsey Stevenson is a labor economist at the University of Michigan, and she was an economic adviser to President Obama. Betsey’s problem is this: How can we create a world where the benefits of AI are broadly shared? Betsey draws on history – including how the invention of household appliances created a crisis of meaning for American women – to understand how we should respond to the challenge of AI. And she suggests policies to help spread the wealth AI could bring. In this

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36:29

Using Pokémon Go to Map the World

What"s Your Problem? ·

2026/05/28

Maps have gotten much better over the past few decades. But they're still mostly two dimensional, and they struggle to keep up with a world that is always changing. Brian McClendon is the Chief Technology Officer of Niantic Spatial, a spinout of the company that makes Pokémon Go. Brian's problem is this: How do you build a three-dimensional map of the world that both robots and humans can use to find their way? In this episode, Brian explains: What he learned building Google Earth How

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40:35

The Company Where Everyone Has Their Own AI Agent

What"s Your Problem? ·

2026/05/21

Dan Shipper is the co-founder and CEO of Every, a company that publishes newsletters about AI, develops AI-related software, and helps other companies use AI. Dan has two problems. One, how do you build a company where almost everybody has their own AI agent? And two, how do you use AI as a tool to improve your writing, rather than as a replacement for writing? In this episode, Dan explains: Why managing agents will be a core skill of the future Why AI agents won’t replace you anytime soon

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33:40

Inventing a Better Apple

What"s Your Problem? ·

2026/05/14

The apples you can buy at the grocery store have gotten profoundly better over the past few decades. It’s a kind of everyday, hiding-in-plain sight innovation. Kate Evans is an apple breeder and professor at Washington State University. Kate's problem is this: How do you invent a better apple? With her team, Kate has in fact invented a new kind of apple called the Sunflare. It’s arriving in stores in a few years. She also helped to invent the Cosmic Crisp, which is out already. In this

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