Best Math Competition Podcasts (2025)

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Learning to optimize ... and how to bake the BEST cookies 30:47

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6h ago30:47

30:47

In this episode, we're continuing our special relaunch series by welcoming one of this year's INFORMS Annual Meeting plenary speakers – a pioneer in the fusion of machine learning and optimization, and a leader in advancing AI for real-world engineering challenges. Pascal Van Hentenryck is a Fellow of INFORMS and AAAI, and has made groundbreaking c…

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Theoretical Physics With Generative AI – #101 1:12:44

4d ago1:12:44

1:12:44

All but the last 20 minutes of this episode should be comprehensible to non-physicists. Steve explains where frontier AI models are in understanding frontier theoretical physics. The best analogy is to a “brilliant but unreliable genius colleague”! He describes a specific example: the use of AI in recent research in quantum field theory (Tomonaga-S…

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Jeffrey Epstein, Israel, and Elite Power, with Murtaza Hussain – #100 1:03:14

18d ago1:03:14

1:03:14

Murtaza Hussain is a reporter for Drop Site News, which has broken important stories based on recently obtained Epstein emails. Hussain reports that Epstein had an “extensive relationship with Israeli intelligence, U.S. intelligence and the intelligence agencies of other countries, as well... He was a dealmaker and a fixer at a very, very elite lev…

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Finding synergy in AI and OR/MS: Meaningful, measurable and responsible decision-making 56:12

17d ago56:12

56:12

In our latest episode in the Resoundingly Human podcast refresh, Ramayya Krishnan, Carnegie Mellon University, and plenary speaker at the 2025 INFORMS Annual Meeting, shares how today's rapid advances in AI technology create new opportunities for synergy with OR/MS, with broad implications for workforce development, public policy and education.…

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Jian Lian on China's Industrial Policy and Global Strategy – #99 1:12:43

1M ago1:12:43

1:12:43

Jian Lian is an expert on China's political economy, industrial development, and technological development. He graduated from Peking University with a bachelor's and master's degree in economics. Starting out as an industry analyst at a Chinese investment bank, he participated in the "Made in China 2025" initiative as a Chinese venture capitalist, …

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From HIV to the Opioid Epidemic: O.R. at the Heart of Better Public Policy 31:46

24d ago31:46

31:46

Welcome back to Resoundingly Human, the INFORMS podcast! After a short break this summer, we are back with more great content and interviews featuring INFORMS members whose work is helping make Smarter Decisions for a Better World. In this episode, Margaret Brandeau, professor at Stanford University, and the opening plenary speaker at the 2025 INFO…

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Scott Horton on the Russia Hoax and Ukraine War – #98 1:25:35

2M ago1:25:35

1:25:35

Scott Horton is the author of Provoked: How Washington Started the New Cold War with Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine. Horton is a libertarian and anti-war activist. He and Steve discuss the Russia Hoax and its connection to American foreign policy, in light of new evidence that has emerged since the first Trump term. Scott’s book: https://www…

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AIs Win Math Olympiad Gold: Prof. Lin Yang (UCLA) – #97 50:43

2M ago50:43

50:43

Lin Yang is a professor of computer science at UCLA. Recently, he and his collaborator built an AI pipeline using commercial models such as Gemini, ChatGPT, and Grok that performed at the gold medal level on International Mathematics Olympiad problems. Steve and Lin discuss this research, which relies on "verifier-refiner" LLM instances and large t…

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Kreative Convos with Rashad McCants 1:14:24

2M ago1:14:24

1:14:24

Former NBA player and UNC star Rashad McCants joins Jiggy Jones on Kreative Convos for a raw, unapologetic sit-down ahead of the 2025 NBA season. Rashad opens up about his past relationship with Khloe Kardashian, reflects on his journey through the league, and drops some unfiltered takes on today’s game — including rising phenom Cooper Flagg, veter…

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Kreative Convos with Toure 24:46

2M ago24:46

24:46

Philly rapper Toure joins Jiggy Jones on Kreative Convos to break down his new project “Where Should I Start” and the journey that shaped it. From the raw energy of Philadelphia’s rap scene to the survival skills he learned after moving to Los Angeles, Toure opens up about growth, resilience, and the mindset it takes to last in this game. Tap in fo…

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The Global AI Race: Z.ai and the View from Beijing — #96 1:06:35

2M ago1:06:35

1:06:35

Zixuan Li is Director of Product and genAI Strategy at Z.ai. He was educated at Renmin and Tsinghua University in China, and at MIT and Carnegie Mellon. Z.ai has released frontier open source LLMs but is largely unknown in the West except among AI experts. Steve and Zixuan discuss the AI race from the perspective of a startup in Beijing. https://ch…

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Seeking Truth From Facts: Weeks Where Decades Happen — #95 48:49

3M ago48:49

48:49

This episode is a co-release with the Seeking Truth From Facts podcast: https://substack.com/@seekingtruthfromfacts The theme of this episode derives from Lenin: “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks when decades happen.” ― Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Steve and Alf discuss: (00:00) - Introduction (01:32) - China Victory Day Parade…

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Kreative Convos with Jon B 23:29

3M ago23:29

23:29

On this episode of Kreative Convos LIVE!, Jiggy Jones, Tai Marie, and Simone Raquel sit down with R&B legend Jon B for an unforgettable conversation. Jon opens up about his highly anticipated new album Waiting on You, reflects on his iconic collaboration with Tupac Shakur on “Are You Still Down”, and shares what it’s like being on tour nonstop. He …

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Kyle Chan on the Future of US-China Competition — #94 1:10:51

3M ago1:10:51

1:10:51

Kyle Chan is a Postdoctoral Research Associate and Lecturer in Sociology at Princeton University. His research focuses on industrial policy, clean technology, and infrastructure with a regional focus on China and India. He is currently working on a book on Chinese industrial policy that aims to explain how China came to dominate certain industries …

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Kreative Convos With Honey Bxby 20:53

3M ago20:53

20:53

From viral covers to her own soulful lane, rising R&B star Honey Bxby pulls up to Kreative Convos LIVE! for an unfiltered conversation. We dive into her journey, the inspirations behind her sound, collaborations with legends and what’s next as she takes the industry by storm. Plus… she wasn’t ready when Jiggh Jones hit her with a live serenade. Tap…

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Joleen Liang: 40M+ kids educated by adaptive AI — #93 59:07

4M ago59:07

59:07

Dr. Joleen Liang is Co-founder of Squirrel AI, which pioneered adaptive learning at scale, first in China and now in the US. By 2021 its technology had served over 60,000 public schools in 1,200 cities across Asia. Squirrel AI has implemented large knowledge graphs mapping out the main concepts in the K-12 math, science, and language curriculum. Th…

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Max Dama on HFT: Millisecond Algos and Bid/Ask Dynamics — #92 54:46

4M ago54:46

54:46

Max Dama is the co-chairman of Headlands Technologies LLC, a global quantitative proprietary trading firm headquartered in Chicago, with offices in New York, Austin, London, Amsterdam and Singapore. He earned a B.A. in Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, and Business from the University of California, Berkeley. A generation of quants know Ma…

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Andrew Song: Global Cooling with Sulfur Dioxide in the Stratosphere — #91 1:04:37

5M ago1:04:37

1:04:37

Andrew Song is a co-founder of Make Sunsets, a company focused on addressing climate change through solar geoengineering. The company launches balloons filled with sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the stratosphere with the aim of reflecting sunlight to cool the Earth. https://makesunsets.com/ Previous Manifold episodes on climate: https://www.manifold1.co…

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Manifold Discord Channel: Live Q&A with Steve — #90 54:45

5M ago54:45

54:45

Manifold has its own Discord channel! https://discord.gg/dvcHS6NX The purpose of the channel is to create a community of listeners with shared interests. It developed from a series of in-person meetups with Steve in cities like SF, NYC, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai. Chapter markers: (00:00) - Manifold Discord Channel, Live Q&A (02:36) - Genomics an…

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Omar Shams: AI Founder and Google AI Agent Lead — #89 1:05:29

6M ago1:05:29

1:05:29

Shams was trained in theoretical physics before becoming an AI engineer at DeepMind and founding the company Mutable, which was acquired by Google. He is now lead engineer for Google's software agent group. Steve and Omar discuss: (00:00) - Introduction (01:18) - Journey from Physics to AI (10:51) - Elon Tried to Buy DeepMind (16:52) - Building Mut…

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Tariffs, Trade, Turmoil and Rethinking Holiday Shopping 13:13

6M ago13:13

13:13

Retailers are gearing up for their annual "Christmas in July" sales, but this year, the early holiday cheer comes with a warning: escalating tariff whiplash may lead to higher prices, fewer options, and major delays for shoppers come December. Behind the scenes, businesses are scrambling to forecast demand and lock in orders for the back-to-school …

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Patrick McGee: Apple In China — #88 59:33

6M ago59:33

59:33

Patrick McGee is a longtime FT business reporter with extensive experience reporting on China. He is the author of the highly acclaimed Apple in China: the capture of the world's greatest company. Steve and Patrick discuss the history of Apple and its impact on technology development in China. “The best book about Apple ever written, one of the bes…

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Property Values Soar as Wanaka Defies Traditional May Slowdown 6:36

6M ago6:36

6:36

The Wanaka real estate market is defying traditional seasonal expectations with remarkable resilience. May 2024 recorded 41 house sales—the highest turnover since March—during what's typically considered a quiet "shoulder season" before winter visitors arrive. With median house prices holding steady at $1,440,000 and 21 land sales completing at a m…

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Analytics+, volunteer opportunities, the power of collaboration, and other presidential updates 17:42

7M ago17:42

17:42

As we are well into the first half of the year – and here at INFORMS we have packed a lot into these first few months – now is a terrific time to circle back and check in with the 2025 INFORMS President Dave Hunt. We kicked off a brand-new year of Resoundingly Human podcasts back in January with a special double header featuring Dave where we discu…

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GODZILLA DOWN! India-Pakistan Clash and Chinese Military Technology with TP Huang — #87 1:02:24

7M ago1:02:24

1:02:24

Steve and TP discuss the implications of the recent air battle between India and Pakistan, which involved over 100 fighter jets and took place entirely beyond visual range (BVR). What is sensor fusion, and have the Pakistanis achieved it with Chinese technology? Does the PL-15 outrange and outperform Western air-to-air missiles? What are the implic…

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Robots, Small Models, and RL with DeepSeek Alumnus Zihan Wang — #86 1:07:22

7M ago1:07:22

1:07:22

Zihan Wang is an AI researcher at Northwestern University, where he works on vision-language models, robotics, and reinforcement learning. Previously, he interned at DeepSeek, contributing to projects like DeepSeek-V2. Zihan's homepage: https://zihanwang314.github.io/ (00:00) - Introduction (01:13) - Zihan's Background, CS and AI Research in China …

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Reflecting on the 2025 Franz Edelman Competition with Flipkart 17:22

7M ago17:22

17:22

Welcome to the final episode in our special series of Resoundingly Human podcasts highlighting the finalist teams for the 2025 Franz Edelman Award, the Nobel Prize of Analytics. These finalist projects represent teams from around the world who have leveraged advanced analytics to transform their organizations, address their most significant challen…

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Math Hoffa, Ray Daniels & Obi Omile Talk Off The Top Freestyle Competition for $10K 32:41

7M ago32:41

32:41

Math Hoffa, Ray Daniels, and The Cut App founder Obi Omile chop it up about their “Off the Top” freestyle competition hitting New York City, Atlanta, or Washington D.C. Which rappers from NYC, DC, or ATL will take home the grand prize of $10,000? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

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April Surge: How Wanaka Real Estate is Defying Seasonal Trends 7:58

7M ago7:58

7:58

The Wanaka property market is showing impressive signs of revival, with April delivering the highest number of house sales since March last year. This surprising surge comes at a typically quieter seasonal period, suggesting deeper market dynamics are at play beyond the usual patterns. Duncan Good unpacks the numbers behind April's performance: a s…

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Dan Collins: Tariffs and the Future of US Manufacturing — #85 1:18:03

8M ago1:18:03

1:18:03

Dan Collins is Founder of Tyrell Chemical. He studied at Tsinghua University and spent 20 years working for companies like General Motors in China, helping to localize automotive manufacturing. Dan and Steve discuss tariffs, deindustrialization in America, the Go-Go days of rapid economic growth in PRC, and the future of the US-China relationship. …

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Guiding students through life's tough decisions 10:37

8M ago10:37

10:37

Looking back, when you were younger, do you wish you had some guidance when it came to making the really important decisions for your future? What college should I attend? Should I buy the reliable hatchback or the fire engine red mustang? Is this job offer right for me and my future? My guest today has created a tool that can do just that, by leve…

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Seeking Truth From Facts: AI, China, Tariffs, Geopolitics — #84 45:42

8M ago45:42

45:42

This episode is a co-release with the podcast Seeking Truth From Facts: https://seekingtruthfromfacts.substack.com/ (00:00) - Introduction (01:11) - China AI (02:30) - DeepSeek (04:21) - Redirecting Human Capital from finance (08:42) - US Policy and Financial Incentives (12:54) - China Meritocracy (24:24) - Trump's Tariffs and China (37:12) - Europ…