Shows
Big Conversations, Little BarMelanie Blue, Actress & Instructor | Improv Lessons Reveal Courage, Community & Creativity Beyond The StageFrom the coveted corner booth at Skip Paige’ Little Bar, this episode of Big Conversations, Little Bar dives into how improvisation can reshape the way we communicate, create, and connect. The conversation traces a winding artistic path—from Chicago theater roots and a self-directed college experience to global adventures that tested resilience and deepened empathy. Along the way, the Melanie Blue shares with Patrick Evans and Randy Florence how improv and acting strengthen each other: acting adds depth to improvisation, while improv builds trust, listening, and adaptability for scripted work and real life. The hosts reflect on taking beginner impr...
2025-12-221h 03
Discovery Engines – with NabilBuilding Safe AI - MIT AI Alignment's Riya Tyagi and Gatlen CulpRiya and Gatlen are board members of MIT AI Alignment, an organization focused on reducing risks from advanced artificial intelligence. Join us as we map the AI safety landscape, define key risks, examine generational perspectives, and explore how we can work together to build a safer future for humanity.Hosted by Nabil Laoudji. See below for episode links, chapters, and our socials. 🙏🙌Episode Links: MIT AI Alignment Cambridge Boston Alignment Initiative (CBAI) Riya's LinkedIn Gatlen's LinkedIn Gatlen's Projects Slaughterbots x Future of Life Institute Track II Diplomacy Tegmark AI Safety Group "Nexus" by Yuval Noah H...
2025-11-121h 06Discovery Engines – with NabilAI for Physics Discovery - Jesse Thaler of NSF's IAIFI, MIT's Center for Theoretical PhysicsJesse Thaler is Director of the National Science Foundation's AI for Physics "Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions" (IAIFI), and Professor of Physics at MIT's Center for Theoretical Physics. In this episode we explore how AI is reshaping physics, how physics is reshaping AI, and mind-bending implications of theoretical physics. Join us!"See below for episode links, chapters, and our socials. Hosted by Nabil Laoudji.Support the podcast! Subscribe to our newsletter: www.discoveryengines.co. Thanks for watching 🙏🤙Episode Links: Jesse's Website National Science Foundation's IAIFI MIT Department of Physics Jesse's MIT Pa...
2025-08-0658 minDiscovery Engines – with NabilUniversal Lab Automation - Rick Wierenga of PyLabRobotRick Wierenga is creator of PyLabRobot, an open-source, hardware-agnostic Python SDK that's lowering the barriers to lab automation for scientists, startups and hackers.See below for episode links, chapters, and our socials. Hosted by Nabil Laoudji.Support the podcast! Subscribe to our newsletter: www.discoveryengines.co. Thanks for watching 🙏🤙Episode Links: Rick's Twitter Rick's LinkedIn PyLabRobot GitHub PyLabRobot Forum PyLabRobot Twitter Dana Gretton, PyHamilton PyTorch Flow Cytometry Chapters: (00:00) - Preview & Introduction (03:33) - Rick's Serendipitous Foray Into Lab Automation (07:00) - Why AWS for Biology (09:17) - Understanding Liquid Handling Robots (10:49) - Generic Roboti...
2025-06-191h 01Discovery Engines – with NabilBreaking Into AI for Science - Alishba Imran of UC Berkeley BAIR, Arc Institute, CZ Biohub, VoltxAlishba Imran is a deep learning researcher at UC Berkeley's BAIR AI Lab, a Research Fellow at the Arc Institute, a former Research Intern at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, co-founder of battery tech startup Voltx, and co-author of "AI for Robotics: Toward Embodied and General Intelligence in the Physical World"See below for episode links, chapters, and our socials. Hosted by Nabil Laoudji.Support the podcast! Subscribe to our newsletter: www.discoveryengines.co. Thanks for watching 🙏🤙Episode Links: Alishba's LinkedIn Alishba's Twitter "AI for Robotics" book Arc Institute UC Berkeley BAIR AI Lab...
2025-05-071h 05Discovery Engines – with NabilUnleashing Scientific Data - Nicholas Larus-Stone of Sphinx Bio, Bits in BioNicholas Larus-Stone is the Founder & CEO of Sphinx Bio, a startup helping life science labs unlock the full potential of their data to accelerate discovery. He’s also the Founder of Bits in Bio, a global community advancing science through software.See below for episode links, chapters, and our socials. Hosted by Nabil Laoudji.Support the podcast! Subscribe to our newsletter: www.discoveryengines.co. Thanks for watching 🙏🤙Episode Links: Nicholas' LinkedIn Sphinx Bio Bits in Bio Folding Playground Google Co-Scientist Paper Recursion Defining TechBio Chapters: (00:00) - Preview & Introduction (04:34) - Why Biotech...
2025-04-231h 06Discovery Engines – with NabilInside the DOE's Autonomous Lab for Materials Discovery - David Milsted, Lab Systems EngineerDavid Milsted is a postdoctoral researcher at the “A-Lab” for autonomous materials discovery, located at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Please note: The views expressed in this video by David are his own and not those of his colleagues.See below for episode links, chapters, and our socials. Hosted by Nabil Laoudji.Support the podcast! Subscribe to our newsletter: www.discoveryengines.co. Thanks for watching 🙏🤙Episode Links: David's LinkedIn Lawrence Berkeley National Lab A-Lab Ceder Group UC Berkeley Mississippi State University Wood Science Chapters: (00:00) - Preview & Introduction...
2025-04-021h 29Discovery Engines – with NabilUnlocking Cancer Priming Therapies (& Lab Tour) - Transon Nguyen of Eigen TherapeuticsTranson Nguyen is the CEO and Co-Founder of Eigen Therapeutics, a biotech startup leveraging AI and lab automation to develop priming therapies that make cancer easier to find and eliminate. Hosted by Nabil Laoudji. My guest co-host is Jimmy Sastra! This episode is sponsored by Monomer Bio. See below for episode links, chapters, and how to connect with us.Thanks for watching 🙏🤙Episode Links: Eigen Therapeutics Transon Nguyen's LinkedIn Monomer Bio Jimmy Sastra's LinkedIn Radioligand Therapy Antibody–Drug Conjugates (ADCs) Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) Chapters: (00:00) - Teaser (00:36) - Introducing My Guest...
2025-03-191h 15Discovery Engines – with NabilUnlocking Lab Automation - Sudha Gollapudi & Madeline Wolf of The Automated LabSudha Gollapudi & Madeline Wolf (ex Genentech, Ginkgo Bioworks, Calico/Alphabet) are lab automation experts and co-founders of The Automated Lab: an open resource and contract engineering service for building automated labs. See below for episode links and chapters.Support the podcast! Subscribe to our newsletter.Thanks for watching 🙏🤙Episode Links: The Automated Lab Open Source Resource Page Vivo Hamilton Liquid Handler Chatbot Automated Lab Patreon Sudha's LinkedIn Madeline's LinkedIn ELISA Biochemistry Assay Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) Chapters: (00:00) - Teaser (00:54) - Episode Introduction & Preview (05:38) - Sudha and Madeline’s Academ...
2025-03-051h 10Discovery Engines – with NabilAccelerating Cancer Research - Hani Goodarzi of Arc Institute, UCSF, Exai BioHani Goodarzi is Quantitative and Computational Biologist, Core Investigator at the Arc Institute, Associate Professor at UCSF, and co-founder of Exai Bio and Vevo Therapeutics. Episode links and chapters below.Hosted by Nabil Laoudji. Support the podcast! Subscribe to our newsletter. Thanks for watching 🙏🤙Episode Links:Arc InstituteGoodarzi LabExai BioVevo TherapeuticsUCSF Cancer CenterHani's LinkedInGreg Brockman's PostNCI Cancer StatsChapters: (00:00) - Teaser (02:12) - Episode Introduction & Preview (07:35) - Hani’s Path Into Quantitative and Computational Biology (11:55) - The Emerging Promise of Foundation Models Such as Evo 2 (15:53) - Dry Side vs. Wet Side of Biology (22:23) - Pivoti...
2025-02-201h 07Discovery Engines – with NabilAccelerating Scientist Founders - Hemai Parthasarathy of Google X, Thiel Foundation, Nature, MITHemai Parthasarathy is a neuroscientist (Johns Hopkins, MIT), Editor (Nature, PLOS), and expert at helping deep tech startups build and scale (Thiel Foundation, Google X, MIT The Engine). See below for episode links, chapters, our socials, and how to send us feedback. Want to dig deeper? Check out our newsletter. Thanks for hanging with us 🙏🤙Episode Links:Hemai's LinkedinGoogle XBreakout VenturesThiel FoundationMIT The EngineNaturePLOS BiologyCenter for Open ScienceChapters:(00:00) - Preview & Introduction(04:36) - Hemai’s Experience: Google X, Breakout Labs, PLOS, Nature(05:40) - Starting As A Scientist(07:02) - How Science Actually Happens(10:02) - Why Science C...
2025-02-061h 02Discovery Engines – with NabilInside Biotech Lab Automation - Luis Villa of Bay Area Lab AutomatorsLuis Villa co-founded Bay Area Lab Automators, and is a Senior Automation engineer at cell therapy manufacturing startup Cellares. See below for episode links, chapters, our socials, and how to send us feedback. Want to dig deeper? Check out our newsletter. Thanks for watching 🙏🤙Episode Links:Bay Area Lab AutomatorsLuis' LinkedInLuis' BlueSkySF Hardware MeetupCellaresCarnegie Mellon MS in Automated SciencePyLabRobotDrug Development Process (Draft)Chapters:(00:00) - Preview & Introduction(04:28) - Choosing Lab Automation Engineering as a Career(08:19) - Day in the Life of an Automation Engineer(13:41) - Where Automation Engineers Sit Within an Org(15:28) - Culture of Lab Aut...
2025-01-161h 13Discovery Engines – with NabilAI-Powered Animal Research - Michael Kaca of Olden LabsMichael Kaca is Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of Olden Labs, a startup bringing animal research into the modern age through a suite of custom hardware and ML algorithms. See below for episode links, chapters, our socials, and how to send us feedback. Want to dig in deeper?Check out our newsletter. Thanks for hanging with us 🙏Episode Links:Olden LabsMichael's LinkedInOrgans On a Chip (OOC)FDA Drug Review ProcessWhy Animal ResearchChapters:(00:00) - Preview & Introduction(03:07) - Why Animal Studies?(06:24) - Artificial Organs and Modeling Complexity(08:19) - Ethics of Animal Testing(12:52) - Olden Labs’ Origi...
2025-01-0257 minDiscovery Engines – with NabilThe Startup Building AI Scientists - Cristian Ponce & Théo Schäfer of TetsuwanCristian Ponce and Théo Schäfer are the co-founders of Tetsuwan, a startup building AI scientists to accelerate life science research. See below for episode links, chapters, our socials, and how to send us feedback. Want to dig deeper? Check out our newsletter. Thanks for hanging with us 🙏🤙Episode Links:Tetsuwan ScientificCristian's LinkedInThéo's LinkedInAccelerate ConferenceSymbolic AI ExplainerChapters:(00:00) - Introduction(02:44) - Why AI Scientists(06:48) - Founding Story(13:50) - First Customer Delivery(22:06) - Building in EU or US(24:43) - State Of Life Science Robots(29:50) - Emerging Technological Enablers(41:44) - Rules-Based vs ML-Based AI(49:40) - Lab Auto...
2024-12-111h 09