Shows
Humans in the LoopZen Master Henry Shukman on tech & what it means to be humanHenry Shukman is a Zen Master, a meditation teacher, and co-founder of The Way meditation app.As AI poses some hard questions about what it means to be human, I thought Henry might help make some sense of things.Chapters00:00 Understanding Zen: A Personal Journey03:52 The Need for Spirituality: A Personal Crisis10:07 Living Zen in the Modern World13:36 Navigating Modern Existence: Technology and Spirituality18:38 The Motivations Behind Meditation23:15 Technology's Role in Meditation: The Way App32:06 Ambition and Spirituality: Finding Balance39:47 AI and the Nature of Consciousness45:04 Optimism for the Future: Meditation's ImpactLinksThe Way App - https://www.thewayapp.com...
2026-03-2447 min
Humans in the LoopThe Creative Process with Fuser Co-Founders Dalena Tran & Hirad SabMy guests today are artists, film makers, educators, technologists and founders of Fuser, a company building an AI workspace for creatives. With so much noise around what AI should or shouldn’t be used for, and where human creativity starts and ends, I wanted to get Dalena and Hirad on to talk more about the creative process in this technological moment.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Fuser and Its Founders03:40 The Vision Behind Fuser06:12 Creative Applications of Fuser08:35 The Role of AI in Creative Processes...
2026-03-1043 min
Humans in the LoopMike Masnick on the decentralised internetMike Masnick wrote the paper that helped inspire Bluesky and now he sits on the Bluesky board.A long-time advocate of decentralised tech, Mike's paper 'Protocols not platforms' outlined how a more open protocol-based system to social media would create a healthier social media ecosystem in which people were free to vote with their feet (or their mouse) and go elsewhere, without losing access to the community they'd built.In this wide ranging conversation, Mike and I discuss the future of social media, the internet's trajectory from an open to a closed ecosystem, whether decentralisation can be a winning...
2026-02-2456 min
Humans in the LoopAlex Komoroske on the hacker ethic and pro-social techAlex Komoroske is one of the smartest voices out there talking about better forms of technology right now.He spent a long chapter of his career at the likes of Google and Stripe and is now the Founder and CEO of Common Tools, working on enabling decentralised technology.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Alex Komoroske's Perspective on Tech03:39 The Hacker Ethic and Disillusionment in Tech06:31 The Slide into Cynicism: A Cultural Shift in Tech09:12 Emergence and Coordination Complexity in Organizations11:40 Slime Molds: A Metaphor for Organizational Dynamics14:24 The Future of Incumbent Organizations17:24...
2026-02-031h 00
Humans in the LoopKevin Kelly on Flounder Mode and OptimismHow to describe Kevin Kelly?Founder of Wired Magazine. Writer of industry defining essays like '1000 true fans' - https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/Co-chair of The Long Now Foundation encouraging people to think on civilisational timescalesPassionate traveller and photographer whose travelled remote parts of Asia for the last 50 years - https://kevin2kelly.myshopify.com/products/colors-of-asia-a-visual-journeyThe subject of the brilliant term, coined by Brie Wolfson - Flounder Mode https://joincolossus.com/article/flounder-mode/And a dream podcast guestKevin is known for many things, not least his optimism, but Kevin's flavour of...
2026-01-1355 min
Humans in the LoopThe Soft Technologies of Democracy with Ed GillespieEd has spent his career thinking systemically about the future and consulting with governments and corporations on topics as varied as the environment, politics, healthcare and education.He's also the co-host of hit podcast 'Jon Richardson and the Futurenauts' alongside comedian Jon Richardson and fellow Futurenaut Mark Stevenson.Given Ed's varied expertise I wasn't quite sure where this conversation would go, but I needn't have worried. What unfolded was a great chat about climate, politics, and the soft technologies of technology that we need to make better use of...
2025-12-1650 min
Humans in the LoopCreative courage in big tech with Ben Lehnert, fmr design leader Microsoft and SAPBenedikt Lehnert is former design leader at Microsoft and Chief Design Officer at SAP. He's had a seat at the top table in big tech and brings his own clear-eyed perspective based on that experience.I really enjoyed the conversation with Ben as we discussed the role of the designer in this current moment, the moral responsibilities of building business and technology, the hype cycles and weird incentives at play with the AI hyperscalers, and Ben's view that we should simply focus on adding more than we take.Chapters00:00 The Evolution of...
2025-12-021h 02
Humans in the LoopTalking to animals with Kate ArmstrongSummaryIn this conversation, I speak to Kate Armstrong, the Executive Director of InterSpecies Internet, about the latest advancements in how we communicate with animals through technology.Kate emphasizes the importance of planetary kinship and the responsibility humans have as advanced toolmakers to create beneficial tools for other species. The discussion also touches on real-world applications of interspecies communication, the complexities of wild animal communication, and the need for legal frameworks to protect animal rights. Throughout the conversation, Kate shares insights into the future of this field...
2025-11-1853 min
EUVCE645 | Seb Agertoft, Evolution & Mike Reiner, 432 Legacy: Venture beyond: Trauma vs PurposeWelcome back to the EUVC Podcast, where we gather Europe’s venture family to share the stories, insights, and lessons that drive our ecosystem forward.Today we zoom in on the inner game with Seb Agertoft, former product leader turned executive coach and Partner at Evolution, a collective of ~80 coaching and leadership-development partners across the US and Europe. Seb works primarily with VC-backed founders, co-founding teams, and leadership teams. Joining me is Mike Reiner (432 Legacy), who’s helping us bring more conversations like this to light. We dig into what real coaching is (and isn’t), how produc...
2025-11-0451 min
The European VCSeb Agertoft, Evolution & Mike Reiner, 432 Legacy: Venture beyond: Trauma vs PurposeWelcome back to the EUVC Podcast, where we gather Europe’s venture family to share the stories, insights, and lessons that drive our ecosystem forward.Today we zoom in on the inner game with Seb Agertoft, former product leader turned executive coach and Partner at Evolution, a collective of ~80 coaching and leadership-development partners across the US and Europe. Seb works primarily with VC-backed founders, co-founding teams, and leadership teams. Joining me is Mike Reiner (432 Legacy), who’s helping us bring more conversations like this to light. We dig into what real coaching is (and isn’t), how produc...
2025-11-0451 min
Humans in the LoopRewiring Democracy with Godfather of Cybersecurity and public interest technologist, Bruce SchneierThis episode features an OG in the world of internet security, the Godfather of Cybersecurity, Bruce Schneier.Bruce describes himself as a public interest technologist, and has done many things under that banner - run companies, lectured at Harvard, testified before Congress, authored over a dozen books, and written a blog for over 20 years that has more than 250k regular readers - to name just a few.Key topics:- The need for better technical minds in policy making- The implications of AI for democracy (not as...
2025-10-2857 min
Humans in the LoopTara Fung, Founder CO:CREATE - Life on the Frontier. Booms, busts & pivotsThis episode features Tara Fung, co-founder of CO:CREATE - a digital platform for tattooing. Tara raised $25m in seed funding from A16z at the height of the NFT hype with a technical vision for how to scale that ecosystem, but ultimately ran into hard times as the market for NFTs collapsed. What followed was a journey into the unknown, seeking ways to successfully pivot the company into something they could build and scale. Tattoos aren’t necessarily the first thing that spring to mind when you think of vc-backed businesses, but Ta...
2025-10-0746 min
Humans in the LoopGranola AI Co-founder Sam Stephenson on designing for AI and Human AgencyThis episode features Sam Stephenson, co-founder of Granola - one of the standout UK success stories in AI product building.Sam and I discussed his background as a designer, his journey to becoming a founder, the trajectory of the company so far, and shares his thoughts on designing for human agency and the future of work. Chapters00:00 Introduction to Granola and Its Purpose 02:33 Sam's Background and Design Journey 05:19 Influences from Communal Living 09:36 The Origin of Granola and Co-founder Dynamics 12:01 The Messy Process of F...
2025-09-0844 min
Humans in the LoopArtist founders and figuring out what AI is really forIn this conversation, I speak to William Morgan and Sylvan Rackham, the Co-Founders of Restless Egg, an incubator for Artist Founders, about the intersection of art, technology, and innovation. They discuss the concept of the 'artist founder', the challenges faced by creative technologists, and the need for a supportive infrastructure to foster their ideas. The conversation explores the role of institutions, funding sources, and the future of technology, particularly in relation to AI. They emphasize the importance of agency in technology and the potential for artist founders to create meaningful experiences that go beyond mere productivity enhancements.
2025-08-051h 04
The Career Coven, with Bec & AnnieS2, E6 The Career Coven: Coaching with Seb AgertoftThis weeks episode is all about coaching. Both Annie and Bec have benefitted from coaching at different points in their career. They’ve also spoken about coaching at various points across season 1 and 2 of the Career Coven. In this weeks episode Bec speaks to Annie’s former coach - Seb Agertoft.This episode is for people who are either thinking about getting a coach or are interested in becoming a coach. By the way - Annie highly recommends working with Seb (the best coach she’s worked with in terms of outcomes).This episode covers: Se...
2025-01-0950 min