Innovation is great…but hype is bad. Not only has all this talk of innovation not increased innovation, but it also creates a bad environment in which leaders can make reasoned judgments about where to devote resources. So says Lee Vinsel in my latest podcast episode.

ALSO: We want proactive regulations before the sh!t hits the fan, right? Not so fast, says Lee. Proactive regulations presuppose we’re good at predicting how technologies will be applied, and we have a terrible track record on that front. Perhaps reactive regs are appropriate (and we need to focus on making a more agile government).

Super interesting conversation that will push you to think differently about innovation and what appropriate regulation looks like.

Lee Vinsel is an Associate Professor of Science, Technology, and Society at Virginia Tech and host of Peoples & Things, a podcast about human life with technology. His work examines the social dimensions of technology with particular focus on the relationship between government and technological change. He is the author of Moving Violations: Automobiles, Experts, and Regulations in the United States and, with Andrew L. Russell, The Innovation Delusion: How Our Obsession with the New Has Disrupted the Work That Matters Most.