Best Bridges And Bytes Podcasts (2025)

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Distilling Transformers and Diffusion Models for Robust Edge Use Cases with Fatih Porikli - #738 1:00:29

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13h ago1:00:29

1:00:29

Today, we're joined by Fatih Porikli, senior director of technology at Qualcomm AI Research for an in-depth look at several of Qualcomm's accepted papers and demos featured at this year’s CVPR conference. We start with “DiMA: Distilling Multi-modal Large Language Models for Autonomous Driving,” an end-to-end autonomous driving system that incorpora…

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Beyond Naloxone: Rethinking Overdose Prevention Through Harm Reduction with Dr. Jorge Petit & Leah Harris – Episode 386 44:17

1d ago44:17

44:17

Overdose prevention starts before the crisis, with compassion, planning, and real-world tools that save lives upstream. In this episode, Sharlee Dixon sits down with Dr. Jorge Petit and Leah Harris from Zero Overdose, a national nonprofit dedicated to preventing overdose deaths through education, empowerment, and harm reduction. Dr. Jorge Petit, St…

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The Heart of the Work: Reflecting on the Journey with Dr. Graham Taylor – Episode 385 53:13

8d ago53:13

53:13

The legacy of these 300+ episodes isn’t just insight, it’s connection, courage, and a trail of conversations that mattered. In this special episode, Producer Peter Fenger turns the spotlight toward our very own host of Behavioral Health Today, Dr. Graham Taylor. Over the past five years, Graham has guided listeners through more than 300 episodes, c…

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The Power Struggle: Disruptors, Developers, and the Future of Power 19:30

9d ago19:30

19:30

In this episode of the Power Bytes Podcast, host Ryan Karlin sits down with Brandon Lynn, Caterpillar Electric Power’s Global Director of Business Development, to discuss the growing role of distributed generation and how industries are adapting to enhance operational efficiencies and achieve their goals. Email us: [email protected] LinkedIn: http…

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BHT Bytes – The Cost of the Climb: What Student Loans Are Really Costing Us – Episode 384 29:52

15d ago29:52

29:52

College was once promised as a path to security, but for millions, it became the gateway to lifelong debt. In this episode of BHT Bytes, hosts Sharlee Dixon and Peter Fenger unpack the heavy toll of student loan debt, an issue that now affects nearly 1 in 5 American adults and fuels ongoing political debate. For decades, higher education has been h…

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Building the Internet of Agents with Vijoy Pandey - #737 56:13

15d ago56:13

56:13

Today, we're joined by Vijoy Pandey, SVP and general manager at Outshift by Cisco to discuss a foundational challenge for the enterprise: how do we make specialized agents from different vendors collaborate effectively? As companies like Salesforce, Workday, and Microsoft all develop their own agentic systems, integrating them creates a complex, pr…

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LLMs for Equities Feature Forecasting at Two Sigma with Ben Wellington - #736 59:31

22d ago59:31

59:31

Today, we're joined by Ben Wellington, deputy head of feature forecasting at Two Sigma. We dig into the team’s end-to-end approach to leveraging AI in equities feature forecasting, covering how they identify and create features, collect and quantify historical data, and build predictive models to forecast market behavior and asset prices for tradin…

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Reclaiming Career Confidence: Clarity, Fit, & Fulfillment for the Neurodivergent Mind with Shell Mendelson – Episode 383 41:18

22d ago41:18

41:18

The right career isn’t just about what you can do—it’s about what truly fits. It’s about alignment, energy, and authenticity. In this episode, Sharlee Dixon welcomes career coach and entrepreneur Shell Mendelson, whose mission is to help neurodivergent individuals—especially those with ADHD—find work that sparks joy, plays to their strengths, and s…

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Zero-Shot Auto-Labeling: The End of Annotation for Computer Vision with Jason Corso - #735 56:45

30d ago56:45

56:45

Today, we're joined by Jason Corso, co-founder of Voxel51 and professor at the University of Michigan, to explore automated labeling in computer vision. Jason introduces FiftyOne, an open-source platform for visualizing datasets, analyzing models, and improving data quality. We focus on Voxel51’s recent research report, “Zero-shot auto-labeling riv…

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Autism Fitness: Where Strength Meets Support, and Movement Builds Meaning with Eric Chessen – Episode 382 43:24

29d ago43:24

43:24

This episode goes beyond fitness, it’s about cultivating flexibility, enhancing communication, and showing up fully in life when the world hasn’t always made room for you to succeed. Dr. Graham Taylor sits down with Eric Chessen, founder of Autism Fitness and a trailblazer in adaptive fitness programming for individuals on the autism spectrum. With…

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Tash Willcocks (TPX Impact) on navigating uncertainty, intellectual humility, leadership in turbulent times, why zebras don't get ulcers, the importance of structure in enabling agility, how to actually ... 56:03

1M ago56:03

56:03

A wide-ranging chat with Tash Willcocks (Head of Learning Design at TPX Impact) on organisational culture, leadership, and how to deal with change and uncertainty. Tash mentioned a whole load of ideas, articles, books, and thinkers - a few of which I've linked to below: Tash's Medium lives here: https://medium.com/@tash-willcocks This is the first …

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Grokking, Generalization Collapse, and the Dynamics of Training Deep Neural Networks with Charles Martin - #734 1:25:21

1M ago1:25:21

1:25:21

Today, we're joined by Charles Martin, founder of Calculation Consulting, to discuss Weight Watcher, an open-source tool for analyzing and improving Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) based on principles from theoretical physics. We explore the foundations of the Heavy-Tailed Self-Regularization (HTSR) theory that underpins it, which combines random matri…

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BHT Bytes – Cutting Care: How Federal Cuts Threaten Mental Health Across America – Episode 381 24:14

1M ago24:14

24:14

Federal funding cuts aren’t just trimming budgets, they’re dismantling the lifelines millions depend on. In this episode of BHT Bytes, hosts Peter Fenger and Sharlee Dixon unpack the sweeping rollback of public health funding led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump administration. With a proposed $12 billion in cuts, i…

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Google I/O 2025 Special Edition - #733 26:21

1M ago26:21

26:21

Today, I’m excited to share a special crossover edition of the podcast recorded live from Google I/O 2025! In this episode, I join Shawn Wang aka Swyx from the Latent Space Podcast, to interview Logan Kilpatrick and Shrestha Basu Mallick, PMs at Google DeepMind working on AI Studio and the Gemini API, along with Kwindla Kramer, CEO of Daily and cre…

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Brushstrokes of Resilience: How Free Arts Heals Through Creativity & Connection with Matt Sandoval – Episode 380 40:38

1M ago40:38

40:38

Art is the doorway, mentorship is the key, and together, they unlock resilience. In this episode, Sharlee Dixon is joined by Matt Sandoval, CEO of Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona, an organization transforming trauma into resilience through the healing power of art and mentoring relationships. With more than 15 years of experience in nonpro…

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RAG Risks: Why Retrieval-Augmented LLMs are Not Safer with Sebastian Gehrmann - #732 57:09

2M ago57:09

57:09

Today, we're joined by Sebastian Gehrmann, head of responsible AI in the Office of the CTO at Bloomberg, to discuss AI safety in retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems and generative AI in high-stakes domains like financial services. We explore how RAG, contrary to some expectations, can inadvertently degrade model safety. We cover examples o…

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The Hunger Beneath: Food, Trauma & the Journey Back to Wholeness with Jillian Acosta, RD, LDN – Episode 379 36:50

2M ago36:50

36:50

We don’t just eat to nourish our bodies—we eat to soothe, to cope, to connect. True healing begins when we ask: what is the hunger really for? In this episode, Sharlee Dixon sits down with Jillian Acosta, a registered dietitian who specializes in functional medicine, the psychology of eating, and trauma-informed care. Jillian is the founder of The …

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From Prompts to Policies: How RL Builds Better AI Agents with Mahesh Sathiamoorthy - #731 1:01:25

2M ago1:01:25

1:01:25

Today, we're joined by Mahesh Sathiamoorthy, co-founder and CEO of Bespoke Labs, to discuss how reinforcement learning (RL) is reshaping the way we build custom agents on top of foundation models. Mahesh highlights the crucial role of data curation, evaluation, and error analysis in model performance, and explains why RL offers a more robust altern…

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From Burnout to Breakthrough: Rethinking Mental Health in Education with Brandy Samuell – Episode 378 38:55

2M ago38:55

38:55

Every educator is a first responder to student behavior, let’s make sure they’re equipped to respond with confidence. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Brandy Samuell, a seasoned educator with over 30 years of experience spanning the classroom, district leadership, and crisis response. From teacher to assistant superintendent, Brandy h…

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The Question Is the Bridge: How Curiosity Connects Us with Topaz Adizes – Episode 377 40:42

2M ago40:42

40:42

The quality of your life is shaped by the quality of your questions. In this episode, Sharlee Dixon sits down with Topaz Adizes, an Emmy Award-winning writer, director, and experience design architect. Topaz is the founder and executive director of The Skin Deep, a studio known for its powerful explorations of human connection. A Sundance and Skoll…

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Beyond Backup: Financing the Future of Data Centers 22:03

2M ago22:03

22:03

In this episode, host Ryan Karlin engages in a compelling conversation with Adam Brown, Senior Manager of Sales at Caterpillar Financial. They delve into the financial intricacies of the data center industry, highlighting key challenges such as extended lead times for grid connectivity and significant capital investments. Email us: [email protected]…

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How OpenAI Builds AI Agents That Think and Act with Josh Tobin - #730 1:07:27

2M ago1:07:27

1:07:27

Today, we're joined by Josh Tobin, member of technical staff at OpenAI, to discuss the company’s approach to building AI agents. We cover OpenAI's three agentic offerings—Deep Research for comprehensive web research, Operator for website navigation, and Codex CLI for local code execution. We explore OpenAI’s shift from simple LLM workflows to reaso…

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Anniversary Special: Navigating the Roots of Suppressed Emotions with Bronwyn Schweigerdt, LMFT – Episode 376 45:23

2M ago45:23

45:23

In celebration of our fifth anniversary, we’re re-releasing one of our favorite episodes from the past year. Anger isn't the enemy—it's a warning light, signaling that something deeper needs attention. When we validate and express it constructively, we unlock empathy, self-awareness, and stronger relationships. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor sp…

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Anniversary Special: Improvising Healing—Psychotherapy as Jazz, Not Jargon with Ross Ellenhorn – Episode 375 45:15

2M ago45:15

45:15

We don’t need more treatment manuals—we need more musicians. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor is joined by Ross Ellenhorn, a pioneering voice in mental health and addiction recovery. As the founder and CEO of Ellenhorn—the nation's most comprehensive community integration program—Ross has spent his career helping individuals heal and thrive withi…

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Anniversary Special: Bridging Ancient Wisdom with Modern Mental Health Solutions with Dr. Ishan Shivanand – Episode 374 40:58

2M ago40:58

40:58

In celebration of our fifth anniversary, we’re re-releasing one of our favorite episodes from the past year. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor sits down with Dr. Ishan Shivanand. Ishan is a distinguished mental health researcher and professor specializing in non-pharmaceutical, non-invasive meditative modalities. As the Founder of Yoga of Immortal…

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CTIBench: Evaluating LLMs in Cyber Threat Intelligence with Nidhi Rastogi - #729 56:18

2M ago56:18

56:18

Today, we're joined by Nidhi Rastogi, assistant professor at Rochester Institute of Technology to discuss Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI), focusing on her recent project CTIBench—a benchmark for evaluating LLMs on real-world CTI tasks. Nidhi explains the evolution of AI in cybersecurity, from rule-based systems to LLMs that accelerate analysis by p…

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Anniversary Special: The Joy-Success Cycle with Kevin Surace – Episode 373 45:08

2M ago45:08

45:08

Joy isn’t found — it’s built, one choice at a time. In this episode, Sharlee Dixon sits down with Kevin Surace. Kevin is a Silicon Valley innovator, serial entrepreneur, and CEO, known as the father of the Virtual Assistant. With 94 worldwide patents, Kevin has led pioneering work in technology, including the first cellular data smartphone and huma…

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Anniversary Special: Grandiose vs. Vulnerable Narcissism with Keith Campbell, PhD – Episode 372 37:55

2M ago37:55

37:55

In celebration of our fifth anniversary, we’re re-releasing one of our favorite episodes from the past year. In this episode, we dive into the intricate world of narcissism, examining how both grandiose and vulnerable traits influence self-esteem, relationships, and the impact of social media on these behaviors. Dr. Graham Taylor is joined by Dr. K…

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Generative Benchmarking with Kelly Hong - #728 54:17

3M ago54:17

54:17

In this episode, Kelly Hong, a researcher at Chroma, joins us to discuss "Generative Benchmarking," a novel approach to evaluating retrieval systems, like RAG applications, using synthetic data. Kelly explains how traditional benchmarks like MTEB fail to represent real-world query patterns and how embedding models that perform well on public benchm…

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BHT Bytes – Between the Headline & the Heart: How We Respond to the News – Episode 371 20:11

3M ago20:11

20:11

The news shapes our feelings more than our opinions—don’t let it choose your mood. In this episode of BHT Bytes, hosts Peter Fenger and Sharlee Dixon unpack something we all wrestle with: our relationship with the news. In a world flooded with headlines designed to spark outrage and steal our focus, it’s easy to feel emotionally hijacked without ev…

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When Words Don’t Work: Art, Access, & the Fight Against Stigma with Manami Yamamoto, LMFT – Episode 370 32:14

3M ago32:14

32:14

Healing doesn’t start with a diagnosis—it starts with feeling safe enough to be seen. In this episode, Sharlee Dixon sits down with Manami Yamamoto, MA, LMFT, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and the Founder of Blue Humming Therapy—a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting holistic mental health within diverse communities. With a comp…

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Exploring the Biology of LLMs with Circuit Tracing with Emmanuel Ameisen - #727 1:34:06

3M ago1:34:06

1:34:06

In this episode, Emmanuel Ameisen, a research engineer at Anthropic, returns to discuss two recent papers: "Circuit Tracing: Revealing Language Model Computational Graphs" and "On the Biology of a Large Language Model." Emmanuel explains how his team developed mechanistic interpretability methods to understand the internal workings of Claude by rep…

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Clinicians Series: Practicing Curiosity Without Judgment – The Gentle Power Behind Growth with Jon Steele, LMFT – Episode 369 44:36

3M ago44:36

44:36

Curiosity calms what judgment clenches. In this episode of the Clinicians Series, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Jon Steele, LMFT—a licensed marriage and family therapist who specializes in working with high performers, including athletes and professionals navigating intense pressure. Drawing from his own experience as a former collegiate athlete, J…

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Teaching LLMs to Self-Reflect with Reinforcement Learning with Maohao Shen - #726 51:45

3M ago51:45

51:45

Today, we're joined by Maohao Shen, PhD student at MIT to discuss his paper, “Satori: Reinforcement Learning with Chain-of-Action-Thought Enhances LLM Reasoning via Autoregressive Search.” We dig into how Satori leverages reinforcement learning to improve language model reasoning—enabling model self-reflection, self-correction, and exploration of a…

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Emma Keith (National Theatre) on NT Live, remote audiences, experimentation, learning, thinking about value, leadership, and the importance of pilots 56:27

3M ago56:27

56:27

A great chat with the National Theatre's outgoing Managing Director - Digital, Emma Keith. We talked about how digital practice has developed at the NT and how that differs from other performing arts organisations. The history of the NT Live programme, and the importance of pilots and testing ideas. The hidden value of digital infrastructure, remot…

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Clinicians Series: Daoism & Ancient Wisdom – Reproductive Health, Vitality & Balance with Michelle Oravitz – Episode 368 36:43

3M ago36:43

36:43

Nature holds the key to balance—when we align with it, vitality follows. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor sits down with Michelle Oravitz, founder of The Wholesome Lotus. Michelle began her career as an architect but found her true calling in alternative medicine after acupuncture transformed her health and well-being. Inspired by this personal s…

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Waymo's Foundation Model for Autonomous Driving with Drago Anguelov - #725 1:09:07

3M ago1:09:07

1:09:07

Today, we're joined by Drago Anguelov, head of AI foundations at Waymo, for a deep dive into the role of foundation models in autonomous driving. Drago shares how Waymo is leveraging large-scale machine learning, including vision-language models and generative AI techniques to improve perception, planning, and simulation for its self-driving vehicl…

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Aging, Mood & Memory: The Powerful Role of Neuropeptides with Dr. Jennifer Garrison – Episode 367 35:05

4M ago35:05

35:05

Your brain isn’t just wired—it’s mapped biochemically, and those signals may hold the key to longevity. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor sits down with Dr. Jennifer Garrison, a leading researcher at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and an adjunct assistant professor of gerontology. Dr. Garrison’s groundbreaking work focuses on neuropeptid…

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Dynamic Token Merging for Efficient Byte-level Language Models with Julie Kallini - #724 50:32

4M ago50:32

50:32

Today, we're joined by Julie Kallini, PhD student at Stanford University to discuss her recent papers, “MrT5: Dynamic Token Merging for Efficient Byte-level Language Models” and “Mission: Impossible Language Models.” For the MrT5 paper, we explore the importance and failings of tokenization in large language models—including inefficient compression…

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BHT Bytes – The Rise of Charter Schools: Who Wins and Who Loses? – Episode 366 25:52

4M ago25:52

25:52

Innovation or Inequality? Charter schools bring fresh ideas—but at what cost to public education? In this episode of BHT Bytes, hosts Sharlee Dixon and Peter Fenger dive into a topic that impacts millions of families: the ongoing debate between public and charter schools. As charter schools rise in popularity, they spark critical questions about fu…

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Scaling Up Test-Time Compute with Latent Reasoning with Jonas Geiping - #723 58:38

4M ago58:38

58:38

Today, we're joined by Jonas Geiping, research group leader at Ellis Institute and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems to discuss his recent paper, “Scaling up Test-Time Compute with Latent Reasoning: A Recurrent Depth Approach.” This paper proposes a novel language model architecture which uses recurrent depth to enable “thinking in l…

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Beks Leary (National Gallery) on the challenges & opportunities of working in larger vs smaller teams, different ways of thinking about audiences, and the value of building meaningful relationships with ... 31:35

4M ago31:35

31:35

A chat with Beks Leary, Senior Social Media and Content Lead at the National Gallery in London. We talked about Beks's career, which has encompassed working at a diverse range of organisations including the Bush Theatre, BBC, and National Theatre before Beks's current role at the National Gallery. Beks explained the opportunities and challenges tha…

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Beyond Betrayal: Male Infidelity, Vulnerability & The Courage to Heal with Dr. Jeanne Michele– Episode 365 40:58

4M ago40:58

40:58

Infidelity isn’t the end—it’s a reckoning. True healing begins when blame gives way to understanding. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor sits down with Dr. Jeanne Michele, a trailblazer in personal development with over two decades of experience in teaching, modern philosophy, and coaching. Dr. Michele specializes in helping individuals, couples, a…

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Imagine while Reasoning in Space: Multimodal Visualization-of-Thought with Chengzu Li - #722 42:11

4M ago42:11

42:11

Today, we're joined by Chengzu Li, PhD student at the University of Cambridge to discuss his recent paper, “Imagine while Reasoning in Space: Multimodal Visualization-of-Thought.” We explore the motivations behind MVoT, its connection to prior work like TopViewRS, and its relation to cognitive science principles such as dual coding theory. We dig i…

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From Ending to Evolution: Transforming Divorce into Growth with Meghan Freed – Episode 364 38:58

4M ago38:58

38:58

Divorce isn’t just an ending—it’s an opportunity to redefine your future with clarity and strength. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor sits down with Meghan Freed, Managing Co-Partner of Freed Marcroft, a Connecticut law firm dedicated exclusively to divorce and family law. A nationally recognized thought leader in relationship dynamics and divorce…

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Inside s1: An o1-Style Reasoning Model That Cost Under $50 to Train with Niklas Muennighoff - #721 49:29

4M ago49:29

49:29

Today, we're joined by Niklas Muennighoff, a PhD student at Stanford University, to discuss his paper, “S1: Simple Test-Time Scaling.” We explore the motivations behind S1, as well as how it compares to OpenAI's O1 and DeepSeek's R1 models. We dig into the different approaches to test-time scaling, including parallel and sequential scaling, as well…

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BHT Bytes: From Connection to Crisis – How Social Media Shapes Youth Mental Health – Episode 363 24:43

4M ago24:43

24:43

Social media connects us, but at what cost? Depression, anxiety, and isolation are on the rise—especially for kids. In this episode of BHT Bytes, hosts Sharlee Dixon and Dr. Graham Taylor explore the profound impact of social media and technology on mental health, particularly among young people. With rising rates of depression, anxiety, and isolat…

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Accelerating AI Training and Inference with AWS Trainium2 with Ron Diamant - #720 1:07:05

5M ago1:07:05

1:07:05

Today, we're joined by Ron Diamant, chief architect for Trainium at Amazon Web Services, to discuss hardware acceleration for generative AI and the design and role of the recently released Trainium2 chip. We explore the architectural differences between Trainium and GPUs, highlighting its systolic array-based compute design, and how it balances per…

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Clinicians Series: Unlocking Anger & Shame—From Suppression to Strength with Bronwyn Schweigerdt, LMFT – Episode 362 40:11

5M ago40:11

40:11

Your emotions aren’t the enemy—shame distorts, anger signals, and healing begins when you listen. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Bronwyn Schweigerdt, LMFT, a licensed psychotherapist, public speaker, author, and host of Angry at the Right Things. Known for her evocative therapeutic approach, Bronwyn specializes in helping clients ex…

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π0: A Foundation Model for Robotics with Sergey Levine - #719 52:30

5M ago52:30

52:30

Today, we're joined by Sergey Levine, associate professor at UC Berkeley and co-founder of Physical Intelligence, to discuss π0 (pi-zero), a general-purpose robotic foundation model. We dig into the model architecture, which pairs a vision language model (VLM) with a diffusion-based action expert, and the model training "recipe," emphasizing the ro…