Last time Matt Ridley was on, Jonah was left with so many questions that he knew he had to get him on again in short order. So he’s here again to answer more questions on the themes of his new book, How Innovation Works. Matt talks about how bureaucracy gets in the way of innovation, not by saying no to innovators, but “by saying yes too slowly,” and presents the one bit of scientific wisdom he would pass on to a future civilization. Come for the enlightenment, stay for the LED lightbulb.

Show Notes:

-Matt’s new book, How Innovation Works; tell us on social media if you buy it!

-John Nestor’s wild ride

-Matt Ridley: speed up bureaucratic decision making

-Thomas Young, The Last Man Who Knew Everything

-Britain’s proud history of… water abstraction reform?

-Innocentive: an innovation crowdsourcing platform

-Pill cameras

-Anton Howes’ blog

-Jonah’s piece on the RadioLab debacle

-Lucretius: De Rerum Natura

-Steven Pinker: what scientific concept ought to be more widely known?

-Jevons Paradox

-The 1890 Russian Flu pandemic

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