What's Your Problem?

Today, we’re sharing an episode of the Rapid Response podcast. Rapid Response features candid conversations with today’s top business leaders navigating real-time challenges. In this episode, Logitech may be known for keyboards, webcams, and gaming gear—but CEO Hanneke Faber is pushing the company to go AI-first. She joins Bob Safian to talk about leading a global hardware brand through a major technological shift, including experimenting with an AI “board member” to help prepare for company meetings.

To hear more episodes like this, follow Rapid Response wherever you get your podcasts.

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Rare earth elements are inside pretty much everything with an on-off switch: Phones, laptops, cars. Even missiles. And China controls the world’s supply of components made from rare earths.

David Abraham is the author of the book “The Elements of Power: Gadgets, Guns, and the Struggle for a Sustainable Future in the Rare Metal Age.” David’s problem is this: What should the US do about China's chokehold on the rare earth supply chain?

According to Abraham, the current US strategy could wind up costing billions of dollars without solving the problem. And he has a big idea for what we should do instead.

In this episode, David explains:

• How China quietly built a monopoly on rare earth materials
• Why the 2010 Japan crisis was a preview of today's trade war
• China’s export restriction strategy 
• Why the problem goes deeper than billions in spending can solve
• Why electric vehicles are the key to reinvigorating the U.S. rare earth industry

Learn more: 

• Find David at his website 
• Buy the Elements of Power
• Check out David’s article in the new Republic

Connect with us:

• Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram
• Email us at [email protected] 
• Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X 
• Listen to Jacob’s other show, Business History 

To listen to the show early and ad free, sign up for Pushkin+

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Ben Bloom is the co-founder and CEO of Atom Computing, a company building quantum computers out of individual atoms. Ben’s problem is this: How do you build a quantum computer that is actually useful for everything from discovering new medicines to building better batteries? 

In this episode, Ben explains: 

• The practical applications of quantum computers 
• Atom Computing’s approach using individual neutral atoms as qubits 
• The key engineering challenge of scaling while maintaining accuracy 
• The playbook for commercializing quantum computing

Connect with us:

• Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram
• Email us at [email protected] 
• Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X 
• Listen to Jacob’s other show, (00:21:23) Business History
• To listen to the show early and ad free, sign up for Pushkin+

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jonny Dyer is the founder and CEO of a satellite company called Muon Space. The company’s first big project is a satellite constellation called FireSat.

Jonny’s problem is this: How do you  capture data from space to help manage wildfires around the world in near-real time? 

In this episode, Jonny explains:

• How smartphone tech inspired smaller, cheaper satellites.
• Why fighting wildfires is still shockingly primitive.
• Why China does not distinguish between commercial and military satellites. 
• Why data centers in space might arrive by 2035.

Connect with us:

• Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram
• Email us at [email protected] 
• Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X 
• Listen to Jacob’s other show, Business History 
• To listen to the show early and ad free, sign up for Pushkin+

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After bacteria were discovered, it took scientists 200 years to figure out that they cause disease. If scientists had made the link sooner, hundreds of millions of lives could have been saved. 

In his recent book So Very Small, Tom Levenson, a professor of science writing at MIT, tells the amazing story of germ theory, and argues that our worldview can prevent us from seeing what is right in front of us – even when lives are at stake.

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Evan Ratliff co-founded a publishing startup in 2011. Now he hosts a podcast called Shell Game. In the latest season of the show, Evan creates a company run by AI agents. The project is absurdly funny – Evan calls it an office satire – but it also illuminates the power and limits of AI agents.

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Patrick Hsu is the co-founder of Arc Institute, which is integrating AI models and biological research. Patrick’s problem is this: How can you use AI to make biological research more efficient – and ultimately to find cures for Alzheimer’s and other complex diseases?

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In recent decades, medical research has fundamentally changed how we think about heart disease. This fresh understanding has opened up new ways to prevent heart attacks. Eric Topol is a cardiologist and the founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in San Diego. Eric’s problem is this: How can doctors use recent technological developments to do a better job at preventing heart attacks?

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Samir Ibrahim is the co-founder and CEO of SunCulture. When he started the company, he thought he was solving a simple problem: How do you sell solar-powered pumps to help poor farmers irrigate their land? It turned out, he was working on something much bigger: How do you help poor farmers get richer, and create a giant new market from scratch?

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Nabiha Saklayen is the co-founder and CEO of Cellino. Nabiha’s problem is this: How can you make personalized stem cell therapies quickly and cheaply?

 Induced pluripotent stem cells, or IPSCs, have shown tremendous promise as treatments for illnesses like Parkinson’s, leukemia, and heart disease.

On today’s show, Nabiha explains why IPSC manufacturing is still mostly done by hand, how her background in physics and lasers led her into biology, and what it takes to try and build tiny, automated cell factories.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.