Where Shall We Meet

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Welcome to the Where Shall We Meet podcast. Last year, according to PEN America, nearly 12,000 book bans took place in US public schools. Our guest this week is Marc Levy, who wrote The Bookshop of Forbidden Books. He is the author of twenty-seven other novels published in fifty languages. With more than fifty million copies sold, he is the most-read French author alive. A nationwide poll by Le Figaro ranked him alongside Victor Hugo as France’s favourite writer. He currently lives in New York.

At eighteen ye...

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Welcome to the Where Shall We Meet podcast. Our guest this week is Anne Applebaum, who is a staff writer at The Atlantic and a senior fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. She is a historian of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. She also hosts The Atlantic's podcast Autocracy in America with Peter Pomerantsev. For the past decade she has written about the dismantling of liberal democracy, and about the people inside democracies who help them.

Anne started her career in 1988 as...

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Welcome to the Where Shall We Meet podcast. Our guest this week is Carissa Véliz, who is Associate Professor in Philosophy at the Institute for Ethics in AI and Tutorial Fellow in Philosophy at Hertford College, Oxford University. She works on privacy, digital ethics and the ethics of AI, and her new book argues that AI has become the new Oracle of Delphi.

That book is Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future. It is a history of prediction as much as a book a...

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Welcome to the Where Shall We Meet podcast. Our guest this week is James Manyika, who is Senior Vice President of Research, Labs, Technology and Society at Google and Alphabet. He joined Google in 2022 in a newly created role reporting to Sundar Pichai, and has spent the years since arguing that AI's largest contribution may turn out to be to science itself.

His latest essay in the new volume of Daedalus, the journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is devoted to AI and scientific...

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Welcome to the where shall we meet podcast. Our guest this week is Xavier Collins who is the CEO and Co-founder of Wonder Studios, an AI-native creative studio redefining how film, advertising, and music video content is made. Based in London, Xavier founded Wonder alongside CCO Justin Hackney with a clear thesis: that the most valuable creative work in the AI era lives at the intersection of human taste and intelligent production — what the studio calls “crafting jewelry from AI gold.”

Wonder has raised $15M from investors includ...

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Welcome to the Where Shall We Meet podcast. This is the first time we have a returning guest. We talk about Maria Popova’s new book Traversal, which to be honest defies summary.

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Welcome to the Where Shall We Meet podcast. Our guest this week is Nick Potter, who is a consultant Osteopath at King Edward the VII hospital, in London. He researches “Bendy Bodies, Bendy Brains”: studying the relationship between hypermobility, ADHD, anxiety, and nervous-system regulation

He is the author of The Meaning of Pain: A Radical New Approach to Overcoming Chronic Pain, which has been translated into several languages. His book explores how modern stress, biology, behaviour and breathing can interact with pain.

In the early 2000’s, Nic...

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Welcome to the Where Shall We Meet podcast. Our guest today is Dr Amanda Parkes. Amanda calls herself a fashion scientist - she has a PhD from the MIT Media Lab, where her research bridged computer science and material science, and dual Stanford degrees in mechanical engineering and art history. She has spent fifteen years trying to answer a deceptively simple question: what if we rebuilt the material world around nature's logic instead of against it?

That question has taken her from algae biofuels to 3D printed...

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Welcome to the Where Shall We Meet podcast. Our guest this week is Jimmy Wales. He is an internet entrepreneur best known as the co-founder of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that launched in 2001, creating a radically collaborative model that allows anyone to contribute to and edit what has become the world’s largest free encyclopedia. Born in Huntsville, Alabama, in 1966, Wales studied finance before working in Chicago as a trader.

Beyond Wikipedia itself, Wales also founded the Wikimedia Foundation in 2003, the nonprofit organization that supports Wikipedia an...

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Welcome to the third season of the Where Shall We Meet podcast. Quick housekeeping, in the show notes you will find a link to send us a voice note, should you feel the urge.

Our guest today is Samantha Harvey who is a British novelist and a senior lecturer in creative writing at Bath Spa University. Her Phd centred on writing philosophical fiction. She has published five novels and one work of non-fiction, and her work has been shortlisted for the Women's Prize, the James Tait Black...

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Our guest this week is Joscha Bach. He is a German cognitive scientist, artificial-intelligence researcher and philosopher of mind who consistently bridges the gap between what human intelligence is and what machines could become. He has an MA in computer science and a PhD in cognitive science. Over the course of his career he has held research positions at institutions such as the MIT Media Lab and the Harvard Program for Evolutionary Dynamics.

Bach is best known for his work on computational models of human-like cognition: he...

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Our guest this week is Natalie Batalha. Natalie is professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz where received her PhD. Previously, she was a research astronomer in the Space Sciences Division of NASA Ames Research Center. She held the position of Science Team Lead on the Kepler Mission, the first mission capable of finding Earth-size planets around other stars. This mission revolutionised our understanding of planetary systems.

The Kepler Mission discovered thousands of exoplanets revealing that planets are common in the galaxy, not rare and...

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Our guest this week is Jacinda Ardern. She became the world's youngest female head of government at age 37. Ardern served as Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2017 to 2023, earning global admiration for her empathetic and decisive leadership through crises like the Christchurch attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic. Her trademark “be kind” approach redefined what modern political leadership could look like.

In 2025, she released her memoir A Different Kind of Power, reflecting on how empathy can drive real progress. It’s more than a political memoir, it’s a profou...

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Our guest this week is Kim Stanley Robinson, also know as Stan. He is an American science fiction writer best known for his Mars trilogy of novels. Over his career he has published over 20 books. Many of his novels and stories have ecological, and political themes, featuring scientists as heroes.

Robinson has won numerous awards, including the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award for Best Novel, as well as the World Fantasy Award.

The Atlantic magazine has called Robinson's work "the gold standard of realistic...

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Our guest this week is Alain de Botton. Alain is a London based writer and psychotherapist. His first book, Essays in Love was published when he was 23 years old and went on to sell two million copies. His books emphasise philosophy's relevance to everyday life. Other bestsellers include How Proust Can Change Your Life (1997), Status Anxiety (2004), and The Architecture of Happiness (2006).

He’s written 15 books under his name and many more under The School of Life imprint, which have become bestsellers in 30 countries. He is not just a...

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Our guest this week is Rutger Bregman. Rutger is a Dutch historian and author. His books Humankind: A Hopeful History and Utopia for Realists: And How We Can Get There were both Sunday Times and New York Times Best Sellers and have been translated in 46 languages.

The Guardian described him as 'the Dutch wunderkind of new ideas', while TED named him 'one of Europe's most prominent young thinkers'. His TED Talk, 'Poverty Isn't a Lack of Character; It's a Lack of Cash', was selected by TED curator...

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Our guest this week is Howard Covington. Howard is a Cambridge graduate in physics and maths. He has been a banker, a co-founder and chief executive of New Star Asset Management, and a trustee of the Science Museum. He’s also been and chair of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge, The Alan Turing Institute, ClientEarth, and the Scotia Group.

He is the incoming chair of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford. Howard is a...

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Paul Bennett is a designer. For 23 years he worked at design and innovation powerhouse IDEO, where he was Chief Creative Officer and then co-CEO. There he was responsible for content excellence across the whole firm, and was active in developing and publishing new thinking in the field of human-centered and design-led innovation.

Today, Paul is a Senior Advisor at McKinsey, where he continues to provide creative leadership and cross-pollination of insights and ideas to clients and colleagues on an extended scale by traveling, learning, and working across...

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Dr Carine Minne is Consultant Psychiatrist in Forensic Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis at England’s High Security Hospital, Broadmoor. She was also based at The Portman Clinic, London for three decades - an out-patient psychotherapy clinic for people suffering from problems of violence and sexual paraphilia - both under the NHS public health service.

She chairs the International Psychoanalytic Association Violence Committee and is editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Forensic Psychotherapy. She has published widely and lectures nationally and internationally. Her main focus always remains the rehumanising of th...

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Our guest today is Anil Seth, Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, where he is also Director of the Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science. He was the founding Editor-in-Chief of Neuroscience of Consciousness Oxford University Press.

Anil is a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher (2019-2024), which recognizes the top 0.1% of scientists in the world, by the impact of their publications.

N - In 2023, he was awarded the Royal Society’s Michael Faraday Prize, which is ‘awarded annually to the scientist or engi...

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Our guest today is Laura Clarke. She is the CEO of ClientEarth. She was recognised as one of the most influential climate business leaders globally in Time magazines top 100 climate list. Her background is in diplomacy and environmental advocacy. Laura was British High Commissioner to New Zealand, Governor of the Pitcairn Islands, High Commissioner to Samoa and has an OBE. Laura holds an MA in German and Russian from Cambridge University and a MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics.

ClientEarth uses the law...

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Our guest today is Sam Harris. Sam is the host of the Making Sense Podcast and an the author of five New York Times best sellers. His books include The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, The Moral Landscape, Free Will, Lying, Waking Up, and Islam and the Future of Tolerance (with Maajid Nawaz). His writing and public lectures cover a wide range of topics—neuroscience, moral philosophy, religion, meditation practice, human violence, rationality—but generally focus on how a growing understanding of ourselves and the world is c...

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Our guest today is Suzanne O'Sullivan, the author of the book The Age of Diagnosis: Sickness, Health and Why Medicine Has Gone Too Far. Suzanne is a neurologist, clinical neurophysiologist, and writer. She has been a consultant since 2004 and has been at The National Hospital for Neurology and The Epilepsy Society since 2011. Her specialist interests are in epilepsy and in improving services for people who suffer with functional neurological disorders.

Suzanne qualified in medicine in 1991 from Trinity College Dublin. In addition to academic publications in her field...

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Our guest today is Nick Lane, who offers fresh insights on the theories of the origins of life. He is a Professor of Evolutionary Biochemistry in the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at University College London.

Nick’s research is on the way that energy flow has shaped evolution over 4 billion years, using a mixture of theoretical and experimental work to address the origin of life, the evolution of complex cells and downright peculiar behaviour such as sex.

He has received many awards for hi...

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Our guest this week is Guy Standing, who is a British labour economist. He is professor of Development Studies at SOAS and co-founder of BIEN, the Basic Income Earth Network.

He is best known as a long-standing and prominent advocate of Basic Income, but he is also responsible for redefining and revitalizing the term ‘precariat’.

Guy has written extensively about capitalism and labour market policy. Among his many books are Basic income: and how we can make it happen, A plunder of the commons, a mani...

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Our guest this week is David Whyte. David is a philosopher poet who, is the author of eight volumes of poetry and four books of prose, as well as a collection of audio recordings. He travels and lectures throughout the world, bringing his own and others' poetry to large audiences. He also works with corporations to teach them about conversational techniques.

He holds a degree in Marine Zoology and has worked as a naturalist guide in the Galapagos Islands. David also holds honorary degrees from Neumann University...

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Our guest this week is William Sargent. He co-founded Framestore in 1986 and led its rise from an award winning commercials production house to world renowned film and digital studio. During three decades the company has worked on all the Harry Potter films (and the JK Rowling 'Fantastic Beasts') , Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity, James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Paul King’s Paddington, Dr Strange, Christopher Robin, Blade Runner 2049 and Marvel’s Avengers Series.

William and his team have won all the major creative awards including 3 Oscars, B...

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Our guest today is Janine Benyus, who is the Co-founder of Biomimicry 3.8. She is a biologist, innovation consultant, and author of six books, including Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. Since the book’s 1997 release, Janine’s work as a global thought leader has evolved the practice of biomimicry from a meme to a movement, inspiring clients and innovators around the world to learn from the genius of nature.

She has personally introduced millions to biomimicry through two TED talks, hundreds of conference keynote presentations, and a dozen docu...

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We are talking about Ancestry today. Our guest is Maya Jasanoff who is the Coolidge Professor of History at Harvard University’s History Department.

Maya’s teaching and research extend from the history of the British Empire to global history. She is the author of three prize-winning books. The Dawn Watch examines the dynamics of modern globalization through the life and times of the novelist Joseph Conrad. Her other books are Liberty’s Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World and her first book,  Edge of Empire explore...

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Today we managed to catch Tim Minchin on his book tour between Brighton and Piccadilly London. He is an Australian actor, writer, musician, poet, composer, and songwriter. Tim is also a piano playing comedian extraordinaire. His recent book “You Don't Have To Have A Dream: Advice for the Incrementally Ambitious” became an instant Sunday Times bestseller.

He has released several albums, comedy specials, and live comedy shows that he has performed internationally. He is the composer and lyricist of the Olivier Award-winning, Tony Award-winning and Grammy Award-nominated show...

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Our guest today is Tessa Clarke. She the is Co-Founder & CEO of Olio, the anti-waste app tackling the climate crisis by solving the problem of waste in our homes & local communities. Olio does this by connecting people with their neighbours so they can give away rather than throw away their spare food and other household items. It is powered by volunteers who collect unsold food from local businesses such as Tesco, Sainsburys, Asda and Holland & Barrett, and redistribute it to the community via the Olio app. Its impact has...

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Our guest today is Maria Popova, who thinks and writes about our search for meaning — sometimes through science and philosophy, sometimes through poetry and children's books, always through the lens of wonder. She is the creator of The Marginalian (born in 2006 under the name Brain Pickings), an online publication, which she has fought to keep free and advertisement free. It features her writing on books, art, science, philosophy and poetry. It is included in the Library of Congress permanent digital archive of culturally valuable materials. She’s also the auth...

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In this episode we talk to Ben Macintyre. He is a columnist and Associate Editor on The Times. He is also an award winning authour and one of the most acclaimed writers of espionage history. His books Agent Zigzag A Spy Among Friends, The Spy and the Traitor, Agent Sonya: Lover, Mother, Soldier, Spy, Operation Mincemeat, Double Cross and SAS: Rogue Heroes have reached bestseller status and many have been adapted for the screen.

Ben’s latest book Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle tells the astonishing true st...

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In this episode we speak to Dr. Roslind Watts. Dr Watts is a clinical psychologist, and a nature lover. Her work as the Clinical Lead for Imperial College London’s psilocybin trial has made her one of the most prominent voices and minds in the field of psychedelic research.

Dr Watts has been named as one of the 50 Most Influential People in Psychedelics. She builds tools and structures to foster connectedness after psychedelic experiences, finding inspiration for their design from nature. She co-founded the UK's first psychedelic in...

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In this episode we talk to Ali Eslami, who is a Principal Research Scientist at Google DeepMind studying artificial intelligence. He's currently also Director of Research Strategy for Google Gemini. Prior to this, he led a team at DeepMind working on generative models, self-supervised learning, multi-modal large language models. He also led the Quantum Chemistry and Materials team in Science.

Prior to DeepMind, he was a post-doctoral researcher at Microsoft Research Cambridge. He did his PhD at the University of Edinburgh, where he was a Carnegie scholar...

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In this episode we talk to Erling Kagge who is an explorer, author, publisher, art collector, and the first person to have completed the Three Poles Challenge on foot—the North Pole, the South Pole, and the summit of Mount Everest. He has written eight books on exploration, philosophy, and art collecting. They have been published in 42 different languages. His next book is 'The North Pole - The History of an Obsession', which out later this year.

In this episode we talk about:

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In this episode we are speaking to Nitin Sawhney, who is a multifaceted artist whose career spans music, film, theatre and dance. Nitin is a world-renowned composer, producer, and musician, celebrated for his ability to blend a wide array of musical styles, including classical, jazz, electronica, and traditional Indian music. He also produces other artists work, offering stewardship to many talented young musicians. His work has earned him over 20 international awards, a CBE, a Mercury Prize nomination and an Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement Award.

Beyond his albums...

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In this episode we'll talk to Tugce Bulut. She recently launched Luna, a GenAI dating coach that aims to transform the dating market. She is committed about providing a solution to what she believes is a loneliness crisis. Previously, Tugce was a strategy consultant at EY Parthenon advising Private Equity houses on M&A. Tugce is a published author and a Cambridge economist, specialising in the use of technology to bolster economic development. She is passionate about the power of AI and the positive change it can bring to...

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In this episode we speak to Roy Greenslade, a renowned journalist with a career spanning over 40 years. He was the media commentator for the Guardian newspaper for 28 years and ex-editor of the Daily Mirror newspaper. He is also an author, historian and former professor of journalism at City University London where he has had an influence on the next generation of journalists. Despite his frequent criticism of the press, Roy continues to hold a sympathy for the values of traditional media and a concern for what its loss of...

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In this episode we talk to Sophie Hackford about technology. Sophie is a futurist, and has given 220+ provocative talks to boards and exec teams on novel science and tech. Sophie is an advisor to John Deere & Co, on the future of food, climate, and agriculture. Sophie is also an advisor to New Lab in Brooklyn. Sophie co-founded and chaired 1715Labs: a spinout from Oxford University’s Astrophysics Department, labelling data to train algorithms. She previously worked at WIRED Magazine, Singularity University on the NASA Research Park in Silicon Valley, and...