Best David Mendes Podcasts (2025)

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Mental Health, Motivation, and Meaning in the PhD Journey – With Dr. Agnieszka Piotrowska 33:21

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10h ago33:21

33:21

Why do we really pursue a PhD—and what happens when the reason no longer feels valid? In this honest and powerful conversation, host David Mendes is joined by Dr. Agnieszka Piotrowska—founder of The Scholars Mentor—to unpack the psychological and emotional challenges PhD students face, especially those studying abroad. Drawing on her background in …

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Cosmos: The Linux of Blockchains? 55:06

16m ago55:06

55:06

Captured live at Cosmoverse 2025, this episode brings host Sebastian in conversation with Michael (better known as Cryptocito, Cosmos investor via Cito Ventures) and Magnus (@0xMagmar, Co-CEO Cosmos Labs). Against a backdrop of institutional gravitas, central banks mingling alongside Revolut executives, the conversation traces Cosmos' arc across fi…

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34. The subtle art of listening // KERI FACER 59:17

3d ago59:17

59:17

As we are faced with multiplying crises, we often rush into trying to fix the world through words and busy action. What if an adequate response is to simply listen? What new worlds can be made, what wounds can be healed, through listening deeply? In this episode, Keri Facer returns to the podcast to explore the subtle art of listening. Keri is Prof…

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From NASA to Nexus: Turning Science Into Impact with Arnaud Stiepen 34:21

6d ago34:21

34:21

How do you turn a PhD in astrophysics into a career making science accessible to everyone? In this inspiring episode, Arnaud Stiepen - science communicator, TV host, and founder of Nexus by Arnaud Stiepen - joins David Mendes to share his journey from NASA collaborations to building a science-communication business. 💡 Topics include: Building a mea…

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Yield Basis: Disrupting Defi & Bitcoin Yield 1:00:05

10d ago1:00:05

1:00:05

Brian Fabian Crain and Michael Egorov, Curve Finance founder, discuss Curve's origins: solving inefficient DAI/USDC swaps after MakerDAO borrows by creating a DeFi AMM for stablecoins and LSTs. It hit 1M TVL with a bonding curve concentrating liquidity at 1:1, more effective for pegged assets than Uniswap. Features grew to include BTC wrappers, stE…

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L’avenir après les études supérieures – Table ronde d'ouverture J2R 2025 1:20:07

2d ago1:20:07

1:20:07

Dans cet épisode spécial enregistré en direct à l’UQAR lors des Journées de la relève en recherche 2025 de l’ACFAS, David Mendes anime la table ronde d’ouverture intitulée « L’avenir après les études supérieures : parcours inspirants ». Laissez-vous inspirer par les partages de cinq panélistes qui partagent leurs trajectoires professionnelles au-de…

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Positioning yourself for more

5d ago

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By Dave Olson

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Lamina1: Building The Future of The Creator Economy 59:47

17d ago59:47

59:47

Sci-fi titan Neal Stephenson, whose Snow Crash coined the term 'metaverse' and Cryptonomicon, which foreshadowed crypto in 1999, joins Friederike to discuss his "hard sci-fi" method: building immersive, consistent worlds, not prophecy. He's now co-founder of Lamina1, aiming to restore Web1's ethos and give creators IP sovereignty with direct microp…

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33. “Our crisis is an aesthetic crisis” – on art, education and ecology // JAN VAN BOECKEL 56:53

9d ago56:53

56:53

What could art making and aesthetics mean to us in these difficult times? Can we justify going off to paint or to spend time in nature when there is so much destruction going on in the world? Aesthetics is about opening up our senses to the world - but do we even want to stay sensitive when there is so much pain? How do we deal with that paradox? T…

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Living dependent on Light

16d ago

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By Guest speaker

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From Executive to Passionpreneur – Career Reinvention with George Appling 46:24

13d ago46:24

46:24

What happens when a high-powered executive walks away from a billion-dollar corporate role to build a life of passion-driven ventures? In this episode of Beyond the Thesis with Papa PhD, David speaks with George Appling – former McKinsey partner turned “passionpreneur,” festival founder, and author of Don't Settle: A Pick-Your-Path Guide to Intenti…

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Is Blockchain Still a Revolution or Becoming Another Upgrade? Ep.621 1:15:34

23d ago1:15:34

1:15:34

As blockchain tech gets co-opted by legacy players for efficiency gains, has the revolution lost its edge? Crypto philosopher Paul Dylan-Ennis and Jito's Head of Governance, Dr. Nick Almond, join Friederike to probe this shift from 2017's visionary DAOs to today's Telegram-negotiated votes and whale capture. Rooted in philosophy and complex systems…

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Mending Broken Wings

23d ago

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By Dave Olson

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Brave: Building the Private User-Friendly Internet - Kyle Den Hartog 1:07:04

30d ago1:07:04

1:07:04

Brave has spent a decade building a privacy-first browser that empowers users with tools like ad-blocking and fingerprinting protection, now serving 100 million monthly active users. Security engineer Kyle Den Hartog joins Friederike to unpack the centralization traps in digital identity from email's spam-driven dominance to one-size-fits-all DeFi …

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Clarity vs Complexity - Branding for Researchers With Michael Dargie 40:05

21d ago40:05

40:05

What if your academic CV is working against you? This week on Beyond the Thesis with Papa PhD, creative strategist and branding expert Michael Dargie joins David Mendes to reframe how researchers can become memorable in non-academic spaces. Drawing from his new book Brandjitsu, Michael shares his unique approach to personal branding, designed for i…

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32. God as the poet of the world – on Whitehead's process philosophy // MATTHEW DAVID SEGALL 53:31

23d ago53:31

53:31

I was born into a world where many of the things that are most important to me, like art, beauty, relationships, embodied experience, love, and the sacred, are not really considered very important to our understanding of the cosmos. They are thought of as ‘extra fluff’ rather than being at the core of our existence and reality. One of the thinkers …

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Noble: Solving Crypto's Liquidity Problem, One Chain at a Time - Jelena Djuric 41:26

1M ago41:26

41:26

In this episode, Sebastien is joined by Jelena Djuric, co-founder of Noble, a generic asset issuance chain built for the Cosmos ecosystem. Jelena shares her journey into crypto, which began with an interest in political science, leading her to discover Bitcoin's potential. She describes the origins of Noble, created to solve a critical need within …

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Sober Spiritual Senses

1M ago

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By Dave Olson

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Débuter en diplomatie scientifique - Sept profils de scientifiques en résidence à l'étranger 30:35

28d ago30:35

30:35

Dans cet épisode spécial d'Horizon PhD, je t’emmène à la rencontre de sept PhDs qui ont choisi une voie peu connue, mais pleine de sens : devenir scientifique en résidence dans une délégation du Québec à l’étranger. À Toronto, New York, Mexico, Rabat, Paris, Rome et à Séoul, ces jeunes scientifiques mettent leurs compétences au service de la diplom…

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An Open Heaven Reality

1M ago

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By Dave Olson

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Benjamin Sarquis Peillard: Cap Labs – Insured Yield & the Future of Stablecoins 58:02

1M ago58:02

58:02

In this episode, Sebastien Couture is joined by Benjamin, the founder of CAP, a stablecoin protocol designed to provide insured yield. The protocol features two main products: CUSD, a digital dollar, and stCUSD, its staked, yield-bearing version. Yield is generated through an "allocation engine" where third-party operators borrow from the protocol'…

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Bending Time, Beating Burnout, and Building a Career You Love with Michelle Niemeyer 56:38

1M ago56:38

56:38

In this episode of Beyond the Thesis with Papa PhD, I talk with Michelle Niemeyer - speaker, coach, and former attorney - about how to stay sharp, productive, and joyful without burning out. After experiencing burnout herself during her legal career and facing a life-changing health diagnosis, Michelle developed The Art of Bending Time: a framework…

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31. On building community – across the divides and beyond the doom // ASHLEY FITZGERALD 1:06:19

2M ago1:06:19

1:06:19

Is it possible to look clear-eyed at the enormous challenges we’re facing today, and still do something practical and creative in the face of that? What happens when we engage with nature and people in an embodied way, rather than through their representations in statistics and media? And how do we stand up for what we believe in without falling in…

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High calling of high praise

2M ago

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By Dave Olson

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From Burnout to Balance – Lexi Reid on Healing and Reinventing Your STEM Career 1:03:16

1M ago1:03:16

1:03:16

How do you go from scientist to science-informed coach helping women in STEM manage stress and avoid burnout? In this powerful episode of Beyond the Thesis with Papa PhD, I sit down with Lexi Reid - a former plant biologist and regulatory affairs specialist who found herself emotionally depleted after years in academia, government, and the medical …

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Mento: Onchain FX Markets - Decentralising World Currencies - Markus Franke 1:06:14

2M ago1:06:14

1:06:14

TradFi FX markets are slow, expensive and often lack liquidity for direct swaps between different world currencies, having to route through USD pairs. While crypto could technically solve pairing through AMM pools, those needed to be arbitraged in order to reflect TradFi rates. With 15 fully-backed stablecoins, Mento is building the largest FX infr…

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An awakening marked by love

2M ago

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By Guest speaker

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PhD to Industry – Navigating Career Growth & Mentorship with Katerina Thomas 1:03:27

2M ago1:03:27

1:03:27

What happens after you land your first job post-PhD? For many researchers, the transition from academia is just the beginning. In this episode of Beyond the Thesis with Papa PhD, Katerina Thomas joins David Mendes to explore how mentorship, self-awareness, and internal motivation shape the next stages of a PhD’s career journey. Drawing from her own…

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30. Survival of the beautiful // DAVID ROTHENBERG 53:37

2M ago53:37

53:37

Why is there so much beauty in the natural world? What can we learn from jamming with the more-than-human? Join interspecies musician David Rothenberg and myself as we explore these questions and experience some bird-bug-clarinet collaboration, perched on a hillside outside of LA. David Rothenberg is a musician, composer and professor of philosophy…

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God speaks through dreams

2M ago

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By Guest speaker

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f(x) Protocol: Decentralized Yield-Bearing Stablecoin & 0-Liquidation Perp - Cyrille Brière 1:00:22

2M ago1:00:22

1:00:22

Without a doubt, the introduction of stablecoins has vastly increased overall crypto liquidity, adoption and real-world use cases as they offered a safe haven against the industry’s volatility, especially during bearmarkets. However, despite being extremely efficient, the main stablecoin actors (i.e. Circle & Tether) are centralised entities. Many …

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Euler: The DeFi Super App - Michael Bentley 1:00:01

2M ago1:00:01

1:00:01

Euler is a DeFi lending protocol built around the idea of permissionless modularity, enabling users to lend and borrow almost any crypto asset with flexible, permissionless pools, tailored to individual risk profiles. Moreover, Euler Vault Kit (EVK) and Ethereum Vault Connector (EVC) enable the creation of custom lending vaults which, in turn, can …

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Enseigner au Cégep - Indépendance, rigueur et épanouissement avec Mathieu Bélisle 1:17:31

2M ago1:17:31

1:17:31

Dans cet épisode d’Au-delà de la thèse avec Papa PhD, je reçois l’essayiste et professeur Mathieu Bélisle. Ensemble, nous revisitons son parcours universitaire marqué par des doutes, des abandons et une reconquête progressive du sens à travers l’enseignement collégial. Ce témoignage nuancé aborde la pression académique, la fatigue mentale en doctor…

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Unlocking your side of the door

2M ago

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By Dave Olson

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Finish Your PhD Faster and Healthier – Time Management & Mindset Shifts with Lucia Juarez 1:02:20

2M ago1:02:20

1:02:20

🎙️ This week on Beyond the Thesis with Papa PhD, Lucia Juarez, PhD, academic coach and creator of the SmartPhD system, joins us to talk about how PhD students can reclaim their time, boost academic confidence, and finish faster without sacrificing their wellbeing. Drawing from her own journey through burnout, motherhood, and academic overwhelm, Luc…

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29. Patterns of Meaning // JEREMY LENT 55:56

2M ago55:56

55:56

What are the underlying patterns of thought that have led our civilization into its current crises? And how might we begin to tell a different story, one that would allow both humans and the more-than-human to thrive? In this episode, I speak to author Jeremy Lent. In his wide-ranging book The Patterning Instinct, Jeremy identifies the root metapho…

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Made for spiritual life

3M ago

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By Dave Olson

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Zama: FHE and The Holy Grail of Blockchain Privacy 56:12

3M ago56:12

56:12

Blockchains operate as a public ledger, ‘disclosing’ the entire transaction history and associated data to everyone. While verifiability and traceability are key traits, as blockchains gain global adoption, those very features hinder the process. Self custody, on-chain identities, corporate strategies, transaction history, private deals, all repres…

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Être déléguée générale du Québec à Munich avec Geneviève Rolland 40:22

2M ago40:22

40:22

Bienvenue dans ce nouvel épisode d’Horizon PhD! Dans cet épisode, nous partons à la rencontre de Geneviève Rolland, déléguée générale du Québec à Munich, pour mieux comprendre le rôle des scientifiques en résidence au sein des délégations du Québec à l’étranger. Au fil de l’entretien, Geneviève partage son expérience au sein du programme, explique …

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Season 7 Trailer - Beyond the Thesis With Papa PhD 1:28

2M ago1:28

1:28

🎓 Beyond the Thesis with Papa PhD is the podcast that helps researchers, graduate students, and PhDs explore career possibilities beyond academia. Hosted by David Mendes, each episode shares real stories of PhDs who have successfully transitioned into diverse roles across industry, government, communication, and entrepreneurship. With over 300 inte…

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Pareto: Customizable On-Chain Private Credit Marketplace - Matteo Pandolfi 1:08:21

3M ago1:08:21

1:08:21

Built primarily for institutional-grade clients, Pareto delivers customizable on-chain credit markets designed to expand DeFi liquidity and TradFi tokenization through structured yield strategies tailored to diverse risk profiles. Pareto allows its users to construct individualized credit lines in specific risk-ajusted tranches, with custom: intere…

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Communion cultivates your character

3M ago

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By Dave Olson

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Daring to Go Astray: Jillian Reilly Shares the Power of Self-Permission After Graduate School 59:19

3M ago59:19

59:19

Welcome back to Beyond the Thesis with Papa PhD! In this episode, host David Mendes sits down with Jillian Rilley – founder, writer, keynote speaker, and consultant whose decades of work focus on helping people navigate change and accelerate learning, especially in disruptive times. Drawing on her experiences across Africa, Asia, and Central Europe…

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Assignment For Usefulness

3M ago

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By Dave Olson

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Lagrange: ZK-Proving AI Alignment - Ismael Hishon-Rezaizadeh 56:51

3M ago56:51

56:51

In an age when AI models are becoming exponentially more sophisticated and powerful, how does one ensure that proper results are being generated and that the AI model functions in desired parameters? This pressing concern of AI alignment could be solved through cryptographic verification, using zero knowledge proofs. ZKPs not only allow for verifyi…

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From Research to Financial Freedom – Al Zdenek on Money Strategies for PhDs 1:12:40

3M ago1:12:40

1:12:40

Welcome back to Beyond the Thesis with Papa PhD! In this week’s episode, host David Mendes is joined by Al Zdenek—a seasoned entrepreneur in the wealth management industry, acclaimed author, and passionate advocate for financial literacy. With over 40 years of experience as a CPA, personal financial specialist, and now co-founder of K Club, Al brin…

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A Life Emotionally Untwisted

3M ago

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By Guest speaker

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Zorp: Nockchain's ZK Proof-of-Useful-Work Consensus - Logan Allen 1:12:47

3M ago1:12:47

1:12:47

Inspired by Urbit’s minimal assembly language, Nockchain fuses Urbit’s vision of sovereign computing with a novel proof-of-useful-work consensus mechanism, creating a blockchain where every computation fuels progress and scaling. The crypto-economics behind Nockchain’s zkVM incentivise competition between zero knowledge provers, ultimately bootstra…

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Being a Young Scientist in the Global South with Karina Machado 51:32

3M ago51:32

51:32

In this episode of Beyond the Thesis with Papa PhD, host David Mendes sits down with Dr. Karina do Santos Machado, a trailblazing young scientist from Brazil whose journey exemplifies the power of collaboration and open science in the global South. Karina shares her path from a childhood fascination with computers to becoming a principal investigat…

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Gems for the Gentiles

3M ago

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By Dave Olson