Dr. Vikas Shah MBE DL Interviews the world's leading thinkers, and the people shaping the century.

Philippe Starck, world famous creator with multifaceted inventiveness, is always focused on the essential, his vision: that creation, whatever form it takes, must improve the lives of as many people as possible. This philosophy has made him one of the pioneers and central figures of the concept of “democratic design”.…
Thought Economics

 

Colonel Terry Virts (ret) served in the United States Air Force as a fighter pilot, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and Harvard Business School. On Feb. 8, 2010, he made his first spaceflight as the pilot of…
Thought Economics

 

Ingrid Betancourt's story, her exemplary courage, spirit and resilience, has captured the world's imagination. She is a politician (former Colombian presidential candidate) who is celebrated for her determination to combat the corruption and climate of fear which was endemic in her nation. In 2002 she was taken hostage by FARC,…
Thought Economics

 

In 2020 protest movements across the world revealed the inequalities sewn into the fabric of society. The wildfires that ravaged Australia and California made it clear we are in the middle of a climate catastrophe. The pandemic showed us all just how precarious our economies really are, and the conspiracy…
Thought Economics

 

More than one hundred years ago, the American philosopher William James dubbed the knowledge that we must die “the worm at the core” of the human condition. In 1974, cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker won the Pulitzer Prize for his book The Denial of Death, arguing that the terror of death has a…
Thought Economics

 

Whether it’s CEOs, political leaders and business elites – across the world, key decisions are still made by tiny coteries of people. With enough talent, elan and hard work any of us can join them. So, we are told… Follow key rules: Be transparent. Defer to bosses and clients. Take…
Thought Economics

 

Double Academy Award winner Dr. Mark Sagar is the CEO and co-founder of Soul Machines – the world leader in humanizing AI to create astonishing Digital People. Driven by deep research into neuroscience, psychology and cognitive science- they create autonomous, hyper realistic, digital characters with whom we can interact like…
Thought Economics

 

In her new book THE LONELY CENTURY: How to Restore Human Connection in a World That’s Pulling Apart, renowned thinker and economist Noreena Hertz investigates how radical changes to the workplace, mass migration to cities, technology’s ever greater dominance of our lives, and decades of neoliberal policies that placed self-interest…
Thought Economics

 

Steve Jurvetson is the Co-Founder of Future Ventures. He is an early-stage venture capitalist with a focus on founder-led, mission-driven companies at the cutting edge of disruptive technology and new industry formation. Steve was the early VC investor in SpaceX, Tesla, Planet, Memphis Meats, Hotmail, D-Wave, The Boring Company, Zoox…
Thought Economics

 

Shaquille O'Neal (Shaq) is considered to be one of the most dominant basketball players in NBA history. At 7 ft 1 in tall and weighing 325 pounds, Shaq's larger-than-life personality and powerful athleticism have resulted in worldwide adulation and one of the most passionate fan bases in sports and entertainment.…
Thought Economics

 

Tim Peake is a former Apache pilot, flight instructor, test pilot and current European Space Agency astronaut. A veteran of eighteen years military service, Tim has flown over 3000 hours on operations worldwide. In December 2015, Tim became the first British astronaut to visit the International Space Station and conduct…
Thought Economics

 

All Interviews  (551)
In this interview I speak to Aravind Srinivas, the CEO of Perplexity, an AI powered answer engine that is transforming the world of search by answering questions conversationally. Perplexity extracts data from lakes including the web, images and video, before applying LLM’s to produce incredibly natural answers to questions, with…
In this interview, I speak to Will Storr on the profoundly important role of status in human society. We discuss how we are all driven, and influenced by status, the status-games wired into us and how understanding the psychology of status can change how we see others, and ourselves.
Business & Economics  (330)
In this interview I speak to Aravind Srinivas, the CEO of Perplexity, an AI powered answer engine that is transforming the world of search by answering questions conversationally. Perplexity extracts data from lakes including the web, images and video, before applying LLM’s to produce incredibly natural answers to questions, with…
Culture, Society, Sports & Arts  (226)
In this interview, I speak to Will Storr on the profoundly important role of status in human society. We discuss how we are all driven, and influenced by status, the status-games wired into us and how understanding the psychology of status can change how we see others, and ourselves.
Health & Medicine  (58)
In this interview, I speak to Dr. Lloyd B. Minor, Dean of the Stanford School of Medicine & Co-Lead of Stanford Health, a $13 billion-dollar health enterprise comprising Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford Health Care & Stanford Medicine Children’s Health. We discuss how AI, computing and synthetic biology are transforming…
In this interview, I speak to Robert Sapolsky about the foundational relationship between the idea of free will and human civilisation. We discuss how science demonstrates that free will is nothing more than a cognitive illusion, and how accepting this reality can lead to a more just, and humane world.
Nobel Laureates  (20)
Politics & Policy  (154)
To better understand the laws of war & conflict, I speak to Sir Geoffrey Nice KC (Former Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, who led the prosecution of Slobodan Miloševic) and Professor William A Schabas OC (International Criminal & Human Rights Lawyer, who Served on the Truth & Reconciliation Commission…
Science & Technology  (117)
Lawrence Krauss is a renowned theoretical physicist, bestselling author, and celebrated lecturer who has greatly contributed to various areas of physics and cosmology. Krauss's significant scientific contribution includes the 1995 proposal that most of the Universe's energy resides in empty space, confirmed in 1999 and awarded a Nobel Prize in…
Kevin Kelly, a visionary luminary of our digital age, is renowned as the founding executive editor of Wired magazine, a definitive chronicle of the technological revolution, and the author of groundbreaking books like "Out of Control" and "The Inevitable." Known for his prescient insights into technology and its impact on…
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