Matt Ridley, author of multiple books including The Rational Optimist talks about his background, his illustrious family history and how that motivates him. We also talk through why we as a population tend towards pessimism and what to do about it as well as how we as a society can be more innovative.

I really enjoyed talking to Matt and hope you enjoy listening too. Please rate and review us on iTunes and let me have any feedback on Twitter at @_rhoward.

You can follow Matt @mattwridley and check out his new book, How Innovation Works here.