We welcome Faisal Ali Rashid, Sr. Director at the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, to learn from Dubai's ambitious drive toward achieving net zero by 2050. Faisal, a leader in energy strategy and sustainability, oversees programs transforming Dubai’s approach to energy, water, and waste management, setting a new standard for urban sustainability in…

We're joined by Dr. Denis Noble, Professor Emeritus of Cardiovascular Physiology at the University of Oxford, and the father of 'systems biology'. He is known for his groundbreaking creation of the first mathematical model of the heart's electrical activity in the 1960s which radically transformed our understanding of the heart. Dr. Noble’s contrib…

We welcome Bryan Johnson, multi-millionaire visionary entrepreneur and founder of "Don't Die." Known as the most measured man in human history, Bryan is pushing the boundaries of human longevity by meticulously tracking his body's biomarkers in pursuit of an extended health span, not just lifespan. His 'Blueprint' protocols can be found here. Bryan…

We welcome Mark Boggett, CEO and co-founder of Seraphim Space, Europe's biggest Space tech fund and the world's first space-focused investment fund Mark's journey from a career in technology investment to pioneering space venture capital reveals the transformative potential of space tech for our civilization. Mark's expertise is rooted in his caref…

We're joined by Toby Coppel, Founder and General Partner at Mosaic Ventures, who has been investing in the last multiple waves of AI. Toby's extensive career spans iconic firms like Netscape, AOL, & Yahoo, leading up to his current role at Mosaic Ventures, a prominent venture capital firm. He has been instrumental in significant investments, includ…

We're joined by Ash Arora, a Partner at LocalGlobe leading their Web3 practice, to discuss the intricacies of venture capital, blockchain, AI investments, and market dynamics. LocalGlobe, one of the leading early-stage venture capital firms in Europe, ranked #1 early stage fund in EMEA and #3 globally with highest number of unicorns in portfolio, w…

We're joined by tech billionaire and investor Christian Angermayer to discuss the 'Next Human Agenda,' i.e., the technological bets he's taking and how they will shape the future of humanity (in terms of computing, health, society, and governments). Over the past 20 years, Christian has been involved in directly building a lot of unicorns and decac…

We welcomed the author of the new book "The Levelling", Mike O'Sullivan, who's spent 20 years thinking and writing on macro economy and politics. He also served as the Chief Investment Officer at Credit Suisse and is the CEO of Harvest Innovation Advisory. We cover the end of globalisation, the future of democracy, economics, finance, geopolitics, …

In season 2, we kick-off with America's foremost foreign policy scholar, Dr. Joseph Nye, the former Assistant Secretary of Defense and former Dean of Harvard Kennedy School of Government, to talk about how the American Century has shaped our civilization and what lies ahead in the road. Dr. Nye shares his profound insights on: - His personal reflec…

On this African development-focused episode, we're joined by Dr. Pádraig Carmody, a distinguished professor at Trinity College, University of Dublin, and the author of the book "The New Scramble for Africa." Professor Carmody guides us through a thought-provoking discussion: -Unpacking the historical context of African scrambles and their enduring …

From the technology used to build pyramids by Ancient Egyptians to blockchain & AI today, there's tremendous continuity in how technologies developed. We're joined by Dr. Christian de Vartavan, a distinguished Egyptologist whose contributions include 10 seminal works in Egyptology and an impressive tally of 40 scientific discoveries. Beyond his exp…

In this episode, we sat down with Professor Dr. Salim Ayduz, a distinguished expert in Ottoman science and technology delving into the rich tapestry of technical innovations that helped create the Ottoman Empire's 600+ year tri-continental legacy. In the episode, we cover: -the forgotten pioneers of Ottoman science & technology -the social, politic…

On this episode, we're joined by serial entrepreneur and CEO of Manna Bobby Healy (@realBobbyHealy) who runs one of the Top 5 drone delivery companies in the world. We also welcomed back a friend of the pod Pamir Sevincel, Partner at Blackbird. Join us as we talk about the ins and outs of a fundamental technology that'll terraform the way we live: …

We're joined at Empasco by the former Prime Minister of Estonia Taavi Roivas, who ran and built both sets of organizations: leading the highest political office of one of the most technologically advanced EU governments and now also being a technology entrepreneur to a hard tech startup doing mobilities. In the episode, we cover: - the confluence o…

In this episode, we're joined by one of the founding faculties of Stanford's technology ethics course. Professor Rob Reich is the author of the recently published book "System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong & How We Can Reboot." In the face of society-altering AI and advancing technologies, we confront pressing ethical and societal challenges. Ho…

Centuries before the official Renaissance of Europe began as we deem it, there was a part of Europe (i.e. Muslim Spain) which already begun the 'Renaissance' and made the region a powerhouse of innovation and prosperity that would go on to shape the world we live in today. A tale of technical innovations, pluralistic cohabiting of various religions…

How to build a digital-native nation? How to use digital-native design to solve voter fraud and corruption? For an action-packed episode with an actual builder of digital governments, our host Waheed Rahman (@iwaheedo) takes the seat with one of the world’s most influential people in the field of digital governance, Siim Sikkut. (@sikkut) The man w…

Why are some nations rich whilst others are poor? Why is Mexico much poorer than the United States? Why is Latin America so fundamentally different from North America? How is it possible that an average American is 40 times richer than an average Sierra Leonean? Is it climate, geography, culture, or could it be the ignorance of domestic leaders? Ou…

Founded by the infamous Genghis Khan in 1206, the Mongol Empire created the 2nd largest kingdom in the history of the planet. What's less well known is that Mongol rule ushered in a plethora of technological innovation and development that shaped the formative years in trade & science infrastructure of a land mass spanning all the way to the East f…

The defining periods in world history have always come about as a result of successful change management and revolutionary leadership. Reflecting on the last 2 decades of rapid flux coupled with the ongoing global unrest in trade, politics, and commerce arising from a looming global recession, the Ukraine-Russia War and the after-effects of COVID19…

China boasts the largest fintech ecosystem in the world having a penetration rate of 87% and a total transaction volume of $51.8 trillion via mobile payments only (three times the country’s GDP). The country is setting strong examples for the rest of the world to follow as it continues to develop cashless innovation systems positing road maps and p…

60 gigatons of Carbon Dioxide (Co2) is discharged into the atmosphere every year. Co2 levels are now higher than they have been in at least 800,000 years making climate change the number 1 threat faced by mankind. What tech to invest in in order to 'unf*** the planet'? For a momentous & thrilling episode on understanding the successful approach of …

Given how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is eating our civilization, it's essential to sketch out its first principles and ethical dimensions. We are joined by one of the world's leading AI/ML experts in former founder and co-lead at Google's AI ethical division, and the founder of Ethical AI LLC Margaret Mitchell (@mmitchell_ai) who speaks to our Em…

One of the world's foremost development economists Professor Sir Paul Collier from Oxford University, Blavatnik School of Government joins our host Waheed Rahman (@iwaheedo) for this breathtaking episode on poverty alleviation and turnarounds. Sir Paul has previously written 4 books on the topic of poverty alleviation, governance and sustainable gr…

We're joined by the Dean of Social Sciences at New York University and Professor of Political Science David Stasavage (@stasavage) who wrote the recent book (The Decline and Rise of Democracy). We talk about: - the first principles and definitions of what we exactly mean by 'democracy' - a compressed summary of the origins, and pre-17th century non…

On the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo moon landings, we welcomed New-York Times Best Selling Author Charles Fishman (@cfishman), who wrote the book 'One Giant Leap: The Impossible Mission that flew us to the moon’ (https://www.amazon.com/One-Giant-Leap-Untold-Story/dp/1501106295/). Follow our host Waheed Rahman (@iwaheedo) for more updates on tech …

CEO at Mattereum, Vinay Gupta (@leashless), the man who lead the launch of the world's second-biggest cryptocurrency Ethereum at its outset, joins us for a very special third episode on the Innovation Civilization Podcast. We cover the history of money starting from ancient humans to today, the fundamental tech and thesis of crypto along with what …

In our second episode, our Co-Founder Waheed Rahman (@iwaheedo) is joined by British historian and author Dr. Anton Howes (@antonhowes) where we uncover the roots of innovation in the modern world, including how to create innovation ecosystems with a focus on 16th-19th century Britain as a case-study. Dr. Anton is the Head of Innovation Research at…

In this first episode, our host Waheedur Rahman (@iwaheedo) is joined by Pamir Sevincel (@pamirsevincel) from Up Partners. The first part of the episode covers the history, formulation, and ontological dimensions of ancient cities. The second part covers the latest developments in the urban air mobility space, solutionizing key 21st-century urban t…

A brief prologue to explain the baseline thesis behind the series of episodes that are to follow.Par Empasco