MIT Open Aggregated Podcast Feed

MIT Open Aggregated Podcast Feed

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MIT Open Aggregated Podcast Feed episodes

  • Platform-Enabled Business Transformation at ANZ Institutional
    Ina Sebastian reads MIT CISR's June 2025 research briefing, which she co-authored with Stephanie Woerner and Peter Weill. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2025_0601_ANZInstitutionalPlatformTransformation_SebastianWoernerWeill.
    Abstract: As business models become more AI-enabled, strategically designing, evolving, and reusing platforms that reflect a company’s core capabilities is key to driving growth and innovation. This briefing examines the platform transformation of ANZ Institutional, a division of the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ). By building robust, scalable internal platforms and connecting them to deliver revenue-generating digital services, ANZ Institutional redefined how it creates and delivers value—doubling its return on equity (ROE) between 2016 and 2024.
    14 min
  • Trans Technologies
    How can technology creates new possibilities for transgender people? How do trans experiences, in turn, create new possibilities for technology?
    Trans Technologies, (MIT Press, 2025) by Dr. Oliver L. Haimson, explores how and why mainstream technologies often exclude or marginalize transgender users. Trans Technologies describes what happens when trans people take technology design into their own hands. Dr. Haimson, whose research into gender transition and technology has defined this area of study, draws on transgender studies and his own in-depth interviews with more than 100 creators of technology—including apps, games, health resources, extended reality systems, and supplies designed to address challenges trans people face—to explain what trans technology is and to explore its present possibilities and limitations, as well as its future prospects.Dr. Haimson surveys the landscape of trans technologies to reveal the design processes that brought these technologies to life, and to show how trans people often must rely on community, technology, and the combination of the two to meet their basic needs and challenges. His work not only identifies the role of trans technology in caring for individuals within the trans community but also shows how trans technology creation empowers some trans people to create their own tools for navigating the world. Articulating which trans needs and challenges are currently being addressed by technology and which still need to be addressed; describing how trans technology creators are accomplishing this work; examining how privilege, race, and access to resources impact which trans technologies are built and who may be left out; and highlighting new areas of innovation to be explored, Trans Technologies opens the way to meaningful social change.
    Our guest is: Dr. Oliver Haimson, who is an Assistant Professor at University of Michigan School of Information (UMSI) where he directs the Community Research on Identity and Technology (CRIT) Lab, and is affiliate faculty with the Digital Studies Institute (DSI) and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Applied Transgender Studies (CATS). He is a recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER award, and a Henry Russel Award.
    Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, who is the producer of the Academic Life podcast.
    Playlist for listeners:
    More Than A Glitch
    Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World
    He/She/They: How We Talk About Gender and Why It Matters
    Raising Them
    Public Scholarship and Feminist Communications
    Welcome to Academic Life, the podcast for your academic journey—and beyond! You can support the show by downloading and sharing episodes. Join us again to learn from more experts inside and outside the academy, and around the world. Missed any of the 250+ Academic Life episodes? Find them here. And thank you for listening!
    1 hr 4 min
  • Cleaner air

    Here at TILclimate, we’re often asked about the health and environmental effects of materials in solar panels and batteries. But what if the greatest costs are the ones we’re already bearing—from the fossil fuels those technologies would replace? In this episode, pulmonologist Dr. Mary Rice explains how air pollution from coal, oil, and gas can make us sick, and why a cleaner energy system benefits both the climate and our health.

    For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e7-cleaner-air.

    For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Climate Project, visit tilclimate.mit.edu. 

    Credits

    Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Senior Editor

    Aaron Krol, Writer and Executive Producer

    David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

    Madison Goldberg, Associate Producer

    Grace Sawin, Student Production Assistant

    Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

    Music by Blue Dot Sessions

    Artwork by Aaron Krol

    15 min
  • Training AI to Detect Disease: Stand Up To Cancer’s Julian Adams
    Julian Adams tried but didn’t succeed at retirement after a productive career as a medical chemist with several U.S. Food and Drug Association approvals of cancer-related treatments, including cell therapy for bone marrow transplantation. Soon after, his participation in a Stand Up To
    Cancer advisory group led to his appointment as the nonprofit’s president and CEO.
    The research organization raises money to advance the diagnosis of numerous cancers. Given rapid technological advancements, our podcast hosts were eager to invite Julian on the show to share how Stand Up To Cancer uses artificial intelligence to aid in this pursuit. Read the episode transcript here.
    For more information on Stand Up To Cancer and how to donate
    to the organization, please visit this website.
    Guest bio
    Julian Adams, president and CEO of Stand Up To Cancer, is among the world’s foremost oncology researchers. He was previously CEO of biopharmaceutical company Gamida Cell and president of R&D at Infinity Pharmaceuticals, where he oversaw development of small molecule drugs to treat cancer. He has also held roles at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Boehringer Ingelheim, LeukoSite, and ProScript.
    Adams’s recognitions include the 2012 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize for his role in the discovery and development of bortezomib, an anti-cancer drug; the 2012 C. Chester Stock Award Lectureship from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; and the 2001 Ribbon of Hope Award for Velcade from the International Myeloma Foundation. He holds more than 40 patents and has authored more than 130 papers and book chapters. He received his bachelor’s degree and an honorary doctor of science degree from McGill University and his Ph.D. from MIT in synthetic organic chemistry.
    Me, Myself, and AI is a collaborative podcast from MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group and is hosted by Sam Ransbotham and Shervin Khodabandeh. Our engineer is David Lishansky, and the executive producer is Allison Ryder.
    Stay in touch with us by joining our LinkedIn group, AI for Leaders at mitsmr.com/AIforLeaders or by following Me, Myself, and AI on LinkedIn.
    We encourage you to rate and review our show. Your comments may be used in Me, Myself, and AI materials.
    27 min
  • Jean J. Ryoo and Jane Margolis, "Power On!" (MIT Press, 2022)
    An interview with Jean Ryoo and Jane Margolis about Power On!
    A diverse group of teenage friends learn how computing can be personally and politically empowering and why all students need access to computer science education.
    This lively graphic novel follows a diverse group of teenage friends as they discover that computing can be fun, creative, and empowering. Taylor, Christine, Antonio, and Jon seem like typical young teens—they communicate via endless texting, they share jokes, they worry about starting high school, and they have each other's backs. But when a racially-biased artificial intelligence system causes harm in their neighborhood, they suddenly realize that tech isn't as neutral as they thought it was. But can an algorithm be racist? And what is an algorithm, anyway?In school, they decide to explore computing classes, with mixed results. One class is only about typing. The class that Christine wants to join is full, and the school counselor suggests that she take a class in “Tourism and Hospitality” instead. (Really??) But Antonio's class seems legit, Christine finds an after-school program, and they decide to teach the others what they learn. By summer vacation, all four have discovered that computing is both personally and politically empowering.Interspersed through the narrative are text boxes with computer science explainers and inspirational profiles of people of color and women in the field (including Katherine Johnson of Hidden Figures fame). Power On! is an essential read for young adults, general readers, educators, and anyone interested in the power of computing, how computing can do good or cause harm, and why addressing underrepresentation in computing needs to be a top priority.
    Listen to the interview on the New Books Network Spanish here
    57 min
  • Beyond the Hype: How AI is Actually Reshaping Business with Andy Ellis
    Cybersecurity expert and venture capitalist Andy Ellis breaks down why the smartest organizations are using AI to augment their workers, not replace them. Today’s AI systems are best used when they serve as “semi-pro” tools—fast, scalable, surprisingly effective, but still guided by some human oversight. In this conversation, he shares cautionary tales about hallucinations, prompt injections, unintended consequences, and outlines the common pitfalls he already sees companies falling into.
    You’ll hear:
    - How to minimize resistance and bring the workforce onboard when deploying AI tools.
    - Why AI agents should be limited in scope and the advantage of stacking specialized agents which, acting together, enhance productivity and capacity.
    - Why AI is good for generating content for specific purposes but not good at creating writing, art, or materials which will have lasting impact.
    - How productivity “nag bots” can help workers get more done.
    Ellis sees this moment as the next SaaS-level transformation, arguing that the winners of today’s AI arms race will become the trillionaires of tomorrow. Fundamentally, he believes the best way to implement this transformative new technology is to let humans decide and the AIs act.
    Connect with CSAIL Alliances:
    On our site: cap.csail.mit.edu/about-us/meet-our-team
    On X: x.com/csail_alliances
    On LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/mit-csail
    40 min
  • John Horn, "Inside the Competitor's Mindset: How to Predict Their Next Move and Position Yourself for Success" (MIT Press, 2023)
    Inside the Competitor's Mindset: How to Predict Their Next Move and Position Yourself for Success (MIT Press, 2023) offers a roadmap to help leaders predict, understand, and react to their competitors’ moves. It is a valuable tool to help companies stay ahead of their competitors when the competition is intensifying. To make the right choice when a competitor is working hard to prevent it is difficult. This book demystifies the process. For organizations developing systematic tools to effectively predict competitor behavior, this book provides a powerful, fact-based approach to building insight into A must-read for anyone seeking to better understand their competitors. This book shares proven methods for thinking like the competition and understand why they act the way they do. The keys are cognitive empathy and an approach that focuses on why competitors behave as they do. The book presents a systematic approach to competitive intelligence that starts with frameworks that get inside a competitor’s mindset, predict their reactions and assess their actions. The book stresses the importance of collecting forward-looking, predictive data; explains how to use war games, Black Hat exercises, mock negotiations, and premortems to build competitive insight; and makes the case for creating a dedicated competitive insight function within the organization. Reading this book will enable you to anticipate how competitors will react to moves you make. It ingeniously applies lessons from archaeologists, paleontologists, NICU nurses, and homicide detectives to better gather and analyze information when it is not possible to ask direct questions;
    Alfred Marcus, Edson Spencer Professor of Strategy and Technology University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.
    1 hr 41 min
  • Ann McCallum Staats, "Fantastic Flora: The World's Biggest, Baddest, and Smelliest Plants" (MIT Kids Press, 2025)
    In our lovely interview, we celebrate Ann McCallum Staats' brand new book (just launched this week!), Fantastic Flora: The World’s Biggest, Baddest, and Smelliest Plants, wonderfully illustrated by Zoë Ingram, published by MIT Kids Press, an imprint of Candlewick. This is not your run-of-the-mill picture book. It's over 120 pages long and is intended for the 8-12 audience, although younger kids and adults will enjoy it too! Ann is the author of numerous other children’s books, including the Eat Your Homework series, which received two Junior Library Guild Selections and a Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children’s Book of the Year; The Secret Life of Math; and High Flyers: 15 Inspiring Women Aviators and Astronauts. She has a master’s degree in education and lives in Virginia with her family. We talk about her unconventional road to literary success and advice for authors who are on their writing journey.
    50 min
  • Dealing with dead batteries

    The world’s demand for batteries to power electric vehicles is growing at incredible speed. What will we do with all these batteries when they die? Dr. Linda Gaines of Argonne National Laboratory joins TILclimate to explain what batteries are made of, how we obtain those materials, and how we can get them back when the batteries reach the end of their lives—along with other options to make this industry less wasteful and more productive.

    For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e6-dealing-dead-batteries

    For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Climate Project, visit tilclimate.mit.edu. 

    Credits

    Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Senior Editor

    Aaron Krol, Writer and Executive Producer

    David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

    Madison Goldberg, Associate Producer

    Grace Sawin, Student Production Assistant

    Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

    Music by Blue Dot Sessions

    Artwork by Aaron Krol

    16 min
  • Mitchell Thomashow, "To Know the World: A New Vision for Environmental Learning" (MIT Press, 2020)
    Why we must rethink our residency on the planet to understand the connected challenges of tribalism, inequity, climate justice, and democracy. How can we respond to the current planetary ecological emergency? In To Know the World: A New Vision for Environmental Learning (MIT Press, 2020), Mitchell Thomashow proposes that we revitalize, revisit, and reinvigorate how we think about our residency on Earth. First, we must understand that the major challenges of our time--migration, race, inequity, climate justice, and democracy--connect to the biosphere. Traditional environmental education has accomplished much, but it has not been able to stem the inexorable decline of global ecosystems. Thomashow, the former president of a college dedicated to sustainability, describes instead environmental learning, a term signifying that our relationship to the biosphere must be front and center in all aspects of our daily lives. In this illuminating book, he provides rationales, narratives, and approaches for doing just that.
    Dr. Mitchell Thomashow is a renowned environmental educator with a career that spans decades, and this is his 4th book within this domain… published by MIT press.
    An overarching theme of ‘sense of place’ has permeated this and his other writings, and all have asked people to stop, see and reflect on the changes around them.
    Mitch has a had varied career in academia, from teaching and advising graduate students, to initiating a cohort-based, low residency model, for a PhD in Environmental Studies. He has chaired an Environmental Studies Department at Antioch University and subsequently was appointed as the President of Unity College.
    Mitchell’s expertise is still in demand in the environmental arena. He has been well received through over a hundred of his plenary addresses, workshops, and sustainability consultations.
    37 min

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