Thinking On Paper
by Mark Fielding and Jeremy Gilbertson
Latest episode
Astroforge mines trillion dollar asteroids, does it own them?
Astroforge mines trillion dollar asteroids, does it own them?
About this podcast
The human story of technology. Are you tired of the algorithm choosing everything for you? In a world increasingly vibe coded by 20-year-olds and run by billionaires, this is where you think about technology for yourself.
I'm a technology writer and snowboarder. Jeremy is a musician who builds data centres. Every week we cross swords with the CEOs, founders and outliers of tech and culture. We’ve talked quantum with IBM, AI with Microsoft and Space tech with NASA.
Under it all? What the hell does it all mean for you, your work and your family.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 146 episodes
- Astroforge mines trillion dollar asteroids, does it own them? · 8 minThere's enough gold, platinum, and rare earths hurtling around our solar system, to sink global economies. Asteroid mining could invalidate the US dollar, says AstroForge CEO…
- Consciousness, the philosophy of mind and how to upload your brain │ Anders Sandberg · 19 minAnders Sandberg expects computers to run human-sized brains within a few decades. In 2008, he and Nick Bostrom wrote Whole Brain Emulation: A Roadmap, which put the most likely…
- Space exploration: Who writes the next space treaty? · 6 minWho writes the next space treaty? We put the question to Harvard economist Matthew Weinzierl and Blue Origin's Brendan Rosseau, co-authors of Space to Grow. Neither wants a…
- Do you lose your creativity if you let AI write for you? · 14 min"AI is a very poor writer," says celebrated author, hip-hop historian, and Bruce Lee biographer Jeff Chang. While large language models can mirror sentence structures or copy…
- Superintelligence demands Yann Lecun's world model - Part 1 · 7 minIf you want superintelligence inside robots and autonomous agents, a Large Language Model (LLM) isn't enough, AI needs a true world model. In this episode of Thinking On Paper…
- The physics of trapped electron quantum computers · 55 minYou don't need a PhD to enjoy learning about quantum computing. This is the proof. Johannes Pollanen, CTO of EeroQ, thinks on paper about quantum computing, electron spin qubits…
- Bruce Lee and the making of Asian America - Jeff Chang · 56 minBruce Lee’s cultural legacy shapes modern world culture like few others. Alongside icons like Bob Marley and Muhammad Ali, his legend continues to influence action cinema…
- Quantum computers needs musicians before they cure cancer · 47 minWhat would a gamer do with a quantum computer? Or a musician? Harry Kumar, co-founder of Moth Quantum, argues that quantum computing needs creativity and art to push the industry…
- AI data centers don't need as much water as you think · 42 minData centers use vast amounts of water primarily to cool air, not chips. Evaporative cooling systems chill the air that gets blown across server racks—and that evaporation is…
- He quit SpaceX to revolutionize the lumber industry · 49 minNathan Silvernail quit SpaceX to make wood from grass. Building the first part of a rocket SpaceX ever reused—the nose cone—wasn’t enough. After a decade working for Elon Musk…
- 1,000 launches a year and a 48-hour clock: America’s new space policy · 22 minA new White House memo wants America able to launch within 48 hours of need. It’s in the National Space Transportation Policy, and it’s why we got held up at the Department of…
- This philosopher has analysed 30,000 questions, here's why you stop asking · 5 minWhy do we stop asking questions as adults? Philosopher and researcher Pia Lauritzen has analyzed over 30,000 questions and discovered a striking reality: our innate curiosity…
- Create your own AI soundtrack, heard by nobody else · 6 minNicholas Ponari says AI music makes live performance more valuable, not less. Mark calls the same future a hellscape. Ponari's scenario: by 2045 his son types a script into a…
- Planet CEO Will Marshall wants nuclear-style rules for AI · 51 minThe U.S. and China are racing to build artificial intelligence systems that could lead to machine superintelligence before anyone fully understands the consequences. The risk?…
- The hidden cost of your AI subscription · 41 minAI companies are splashing billions on more GPUs before they use the ones they already have. Many sit idle, others use a fraction of their potential. For the hyperscalers, cloud…
- Factory farms are killing our antibiotics │Bruce Friedrich, Good Food Institute · 53 minBruce Friedrich, founder of the Good Food Institute and author of Meat, explains why the future of food may depend less on changing human behaviour and more on changing how meat…
- Asteroid mining and the company that could supply the whole planet │ Matt Gialich, Astroforge · 51 minAsteroid mining sounds insane until you speak to AstroForge CEO Matthew Gialich. Matthew’s team at AstroForge builds spacecraft to mine metallic M-type asteroids for platinum…
- Quantum computing is still in its prehistory │ Bob Sutor · 58 minQuantum computers could change medicine, material science and AI. Unfortunately, it's impossible to know how because the industry is buried under hype. Dr. Bob Sutor takes us on…
- SEO to GEO: how to write for AI search · 45 minAwad Sayeed, co-founder and CTO of Parsnipp AI, joins Thinking on Paper to explain generative engine optimisation, or GEO, and how companies can become more visible inside LLMs…
- The UK is a technology backwater, can it compete on the world stage ever again? · 46 minRory Daniels, Head of Emerging Technology and Innovation at techUK, joins Thinking On Paper to discuss whether the United Kingdom can remain globally competitive as quantum…
