Best Stanford Engineering Podcasts (2025)

1
#25 Stanford-Trained Electrical Engineer “Reverse Engineering the Brain” - Dr. Louis Scheffer 59:42

8d ago59:42

59:42

Free Neurotech Newsletter: https://neurotechnologynews.beehiiv.com/subscribe Key Moments: 0:00 Introduction 1:12 Journey from Electrical Engineering to Neuroscience 6:45 Initial Interest in Neuroscience 8:16 What is connectomics? 11:45 Parallels Between Microchip Design and Neuroscience 14:22 Probabilistic Reconstruction in Connectomics 19:46 Neuro…

1
Surgery as a window into brain resilience | Martin Angst 37:32

1d ago37:32

37:32

We've all heard stories about someone who went in for surgery and came out...different. A grandmother who struggled with names after hip replacement, or an uncle who seemed foggy for months following cardiac bypass. But why does this happen to some people while others bounce right back? This week, we explore this question with Dr. Martin Angst, a p…

1
Moments of Impact: How to Design Strategic Conversations That Accelerate Change 1:05:44

1d ago1:05:44

1:05:44

In our fast-changing world, leaders are increasingly confronted by messy, multifaceted challenges that require collaboration to resolve. But the standard methods for tackling these challenges—meetings packed with data-drenched presentations or brainstorming sessions that circle back to nowhere—just don’t deliver. Great strategic conversations gener…

1
Charles A. O'Reilly, III and Michael L. Tushman, "Lead and Disrupt: How to Solve the Innovator's Dilemma, Second Edition" (Stanford Business Books, 2021) 1:06:23

3d ago1:06:23

1:06:23

Lead and Disrupt: How to Solve the Innovator's Dilemma Second Edition 2nd Edition by Charles A. O’Reilly III and Michael L. Tushman The second edition of this classic analyzes why mature organizations find it so difficult to innovate. This question has become ever more important as organizations face continuous disruptive changes. O’Reilly and Tush…

1
#305 RAG 2.0 and The New Era of RAG Agents with Douwe Kiela, CEO at Contextual AI, Adjunct Professor at Stanford University, Inventor of RAG 42:42

4d ago42:42

42:42

Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) continues to be a foundational approach in AI despite claims of its demise. While some marketing narratives suggest RAG is being replaced by fine-tuning or long context windows, these technologies are actually complementary rather than competitive. But how do you build a truly effective RAG system that delivers …

1
Best of: Training the next generation of entrepreneurs 28:30

7d ago28:30

28:30

It’s graduation season here at Stanford and students are getting ready to collect their diplomas and take their education out into the real world. A couple years ago, we sat down with Tina Seelig, a professor in our Management Science and Engineering department who’s done a lot of research on how we can teach skills including imagination, creativit…

1
Corporate Memory, Curated 1:08:00

8d ago1:08:00

1:08:00

Stephen Chambers of the historical consulting firm The Winthrop Group earned his BA, MA, and PhD in history. Throughout graduate school, he pursued interests in applied history—often doing the opposite (his words!) of what he was supposed to be doing as a future academic. He also wrote historical fiction and science fiction as a way to reflect on t…

1
221. Generational Discovery & The New Age of Computer Vision 18:39

10d ago18:39

18:39

(3:08) - A new way of seeing, a new way of computing This episode was brought to you by Mouser, our favorite place to get electronics parts for any project, whether it be a hobby at home or a prototype for work. Click HERE to learn more about the role of optical sensors in the tech that makes our daily lives seamless and accessible! Become a foundi…

1
#304 Accelerating Data Science with Nick Becker, Technical Product Manager at NVIDIA & Dan Hannah, Associate Director at SES AI 1:06:46

11d ago1:06:46

1:06:46

GPU acceleration is transforming how data scientists tackle computationally intensive problems in the AI and materials science fields. When dealing with billions of potential molecular combinations or massive datasets requiring dimensionality reduction, traditional CPU approaches often become prohibitively slow and expensive. How can data professio…

1
Amit Ron and Abraham A. Singer, "Everyone's Business: What Companies Owe Society" (U Chicago Press, 2024) 54:35

12d ago54:35

54:35

The ethics of the company in a highly politicized time. Businesses are increasingly social actors. They fund political campaigns, take stances on social issues, and wave the flags of identity groups. As a highly polarized public demands political alignment from the businesses where they spend their money, what's a company to do? Everyone's Business…

1
John Horn, "Inside the Competitor's Mindset: How to Predict Their Next Move and Position Yourself for Success" (MIT Press, 2023) 1:45:13

13d ago1:45:13

1:45:13

Inside the Competitor's Mindset: How to Predict Their Next Move and Position Yourself for Success (MIT Press, 2023) offers a roadmap to help leaders predict, understand, and react to their competitors’ moves. It is a valuable tool to help companies stay ahead of their competitors when the competition is intensifying. To make the right choice when a…

1
The future of learning to read 38:31

14d ago38:31

38:31

Jason Yeatman is an expert in the neurobiology of literacy whose lab is fostering a virtuous research cycle between academia and school communities, aligning scientific inquiry with real-world needs of students, parents, and educators. His lab has developed ROAR – the Rapid Online Assessment of Reading—a gamified, web-based dyslexia screening tool.…

1
Best of: How neural prosthetics could free minds trapped by brain injury | Jaimie Henderson 22:20

15d ago22:20

22:20

Imagine being trapped in your own body, unable to move or communicate effectively. This may seem like a nightmare, but it is a reality for many people living with brain or spinal cord injuries. We're re-releasing one of our favorite episodes from the archives: our 2024 conversation with Jaimie Henderson, a Stanford neurosurgeon leading groundbreaki…

1
Gennifer Weisenfeld, "The Fine Art of Persuasion: Corporate Advertising Design, Nation, and Empire in Modern Japan" (Duke UP, 2025) 44:44

16d ago44:44

44:44

Commercial art is more than just mass-produced publicity; it constructs social and political ideologies that impact the public’s everyday life. In The Fine Art of Persuasion: Corporate Advertising Design, Nation, and Empire in Modern Japan (Duke University Press, 2025), Gennifer Weisenfeld examines the evolution of Japanese advertising graphic desi…

1
#303 Increasing Your Organization's AI Maturity with Iwo Szapar & Eryn Peters, Founders at AI Maturity Index 51:23

18d ago51:23

51:23

AI maturity isn't achieved through technology alone—it requires organizational alignment, cultural readiness, and strategic implementation. Companies across industries are working to move beyond experimental AI use toward systematic integration that delivers measurable business value. How do you assess where your organization stands on the AI matur…

1
The future of sleep 38:13

21d ago38:13

38:13

Neurobiologist Jamie Zeitzer is an expert on sleep – or, more accurately, an expert on why so many can’t sleep. He notes that, ironically, it’s often anxiety about sleep that prevents good sleep. In short, we lose sleep over lost sleep. Wearables and other tools can help but only to a point, and medications do not induce natural sleep. Instead, he …

1
Lizhi Liu, "From Click to Boom: The Political Economy of E-Commerce in China" (Princeton UP, 2024) 59:37

22d ago59:37

59:37

Alibaba. Tencent. JD. Pinduoduo. Run down the list of China’s most valuable companies and you’ll find, for the most part, that they’re all e-commerce companies—or at least facilitate e-commerce. The sector created giants: Alibaba grew from just 5.5 billion renminbi of revenue in 2010 to 280 billion last year. But how did Chinese e-commerce firms sh…

1
#24 Decoding Brain Signals, Neuromorphic Computing, MEMS w/ NeuroEngineer Dr. Akshay Ananthakrishnan 54:53

23d ago54:53

54:53

Free Neurotech Newsletter: https://neurotechnologynews.beehiiv.com/subscribe Key Moments: 0:00 Introduction 4:36 Initial Interest in Neurotechnology 7:34 Exploring Diverse Fields of Interest: Neuromorphic Computing, Brain-Machine Interface, Heliostat Fields, Military Applications 10:51 MEMS 14:52 Bio-compatiblity and Bio-mimetic Systems in Neurotec…

1
#92 – What's the REAL purpose of science research? Knowledge? Training opportunity? Intellectual property? 58:03

24d ago58:03

58:03

My down-the-hall colleague Marc Porosoff and I sit down to discuss the public perception of scientific research done in universities and its value to society. Want more of Marc? He is the co-host of PodCAT, available on your favorite podcast apphttps://open.spotify.com/show/0tzTnMlZNcgBQfVUbvgchA

1
220. How Popcorn Popped an Idea for Sustainable Manufacturing 15:00

24d ago15:00

15:00

(2:05) - What do popcorn and sustainable synthesis have in common? This episode was brought to you by Mouser, our favorite place to get electronics parts for any project, whether it be a hobby at home or a prototype for work. Click HERE to learn more about the importance of PTC thermistors and their critical role in the automotive industry! Become …

1
#302 Making AI Applications like Greased Lightning with William Falcon, CEO at Lightning AI 45:19

25d ago45:19

45:19

AI tooling continues to expand with specialized solutions for every step of the development process. For data scientists and engineers, this creates a paradox: more options but potentially more complexity and integration challenges. How do you determine which tools actually improve productivity versus adding unnecessary overhead? Should you priorit…

1
The future of geriatric care 34:49

28d ago34:49

34:49

Deborah Kado is a geriatrician who believes her field is misunderstood. Her interest in the science of aging began with a childhood encounter in a nursing home but recently resulted in intriguing work in which Kado linked microbes in the gut to vitamin D metabolism and poor sleep. Kado refuses to blame aging alone for health problems, advocating fo…

1
The secrets of resilient aging | Beth Mormino & Anthony Wagner 36:30

29d ago36:30

36:30

This week on the show, we're have our sights set on healthy aging. What would it mean to be able to live to 80, 90 or 100 with our cognitive abilities intact and able to maintain an independent lifestyle right to the end of our days? We're joined by Beth Mormino and Anthony Wagner who lead the Stanford Aging and Memory Study, which recruits cogniti…

1
#301 What the Like Button Tells You About Your Customers with Bob Goodson, Inventor of the Like Button 46:18

1M ago46:18

46:18

The like button has transformed how we interact online, becoming a cornerstone of digital engagement with over 7 billion clicks daily. What started as a simple user interface solution has evolved into a powerful data collection tool that companies use to understand customer preferences, predict trends, and build sophisticated recommendation systems…

1
#91 – Health and wellness for grad students (panel discussion) 49:47

1M ago49:47

49:47

I was invited by the School of Medicine and Dentistry to participate in a panel discussion on Health and Wellness for Graduate Students. The panel was organized by Jeff Koslofsky, who has a large catalogue of excellent resources for graduate students in the sciences, engineering, and medicine.Original postings here so you can subscribe/follow: http…

1
Abolish AI!!: Decomputing with Dan McQuillan 1:20:29

1M ago1:20:29

1:20:29

On this episode of the Anti-Dystopians, Alina Utrata talks to Dan McQuillan, a senior lecturer in Critical AI at Goldsmiths University and the author of "Resisting AI: An Anti-Fascist Approach to Artificial Intelligence.” They talk about the state of AI adoption in the UK since our last conversation (spoiler alert: it’s bad), why the Starmer govern…

1
Best of: The future of educational technology 29:44

1M ago29:44

29:44

It's teacher appreciation week and along with schools across the country, we here at The Future of Everything want to send out a heartfelt thank you to the teachers who make a difference every day in the lives of our children and in society as a whole. In light of this, we’re re-running an education related episode, and more specifically one on the…

1
Darryl Campbell, "Fatal Abstraction: Why the Managerial Class Loses Control of Software" (W. W. Norton, 2025) 1:09:28

1M ago1:09:28

1:09:28

A tech insider explains how capitalism and software development make for such a dangerous mix. Software was supposed to radically improve society. Outdated mechanical systems would be easily replaced; programs like PowerPoint would make information flow more freely; social media platforms like Facebook would bring people together; and generative AI…

1
#90 – When a scientist gets an award from the White House: Personal reflections 21:52

1M ago21:52

21:52

The story behind my trip to Washington DC in 2019 to get an award from the White House (PECASE, class of 2017). Intersection of science, politics, and personal beliefs. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

1
#23 Neurotech Startup Writing Algos to Track Biomarkers- Connectome's Dr Rufus Mitchell-Heggs 36:29

1M ago36:29

36:29

Free Neurotech Newsletter: https://neurotechnologynews.beehiiv.com/subscribe Key Moments: 0:00 Introduction 3:02 Founding Story: Connectome Health 6:15 Inspiration for Company Name: Connectome Health 8:12 fNIRS Overview and Connectome’s Modality Agnostic Strategy 10:23 Hardware 11:26 Key Brain Metrics 13:16 Goal to Move into NeuroDiagnostics 13:59 …

1
Industry Roundup #4: O3 & O4-mini, LLama 4’s Rocky Release & Google’s Agent Ecosystem 44:14

1M ago44:14

44:14

Welcome to DataFramed Industry Roundups! In this series of episodes, Adel & Richie sit down to discuss the latest and greatest in data & AI. In this episode, we touch upon the launch of OpenAI’s O3 and O4-mini models, Meta’s rocky release of Llama 4, Google’s new agent tooling ecosystem, the growing arms race in AI, the latest from the Stanford AI …

1
Sandra Matz, "Mindmasters: The Data-Driven Science of Predicting and Changing Human Behavior" (HBRP, 2025) 41:31

1M ago41:31

41:31

A fascinating exploration of how algorithms penetrate the most intimate aspects of our psychology—from the pioneering expert on psychological targeting. There are more pieces of digital data than there are stars in the universe. This data helps us monitor our planet, decipher our genetic code, and take a deep dive into our psychology. As algorithms…

1
219. Edible Robots Bring Tech to the Dessert Table 14:41

1M ago14:41

14:41

(3:00) - Robotics meets the culinary arts This episode was brought to you by Mouser, our favorite place to get electronics parts for any project, whether it be a hobby at home or a prototype for work. Click HERE to learn more about the rise of soft robotics in applications like 3D printing, rescue missions, and more! Become a founding reader of our…

1
#300 End to End AI Application Development with Maxime Labonne, Head of Post-training at Liquid AI & Paul-Emil Iusztin, Founder at Decoding ML 1:00:15

1M ago1:00:15

1:00:15

The roles within AI engineering are as diverse as the challenges they tackle. From integrating models into larger systems to ensuring data quality, the day-to-day work of AI professionals is anything but routine. How do you navigate the complexities of deploying AI applications? What are the key steps from prototype to production? For those looking…

1
Jessica Smith on Engineering and Public Accountability in Energy Industries 1:15:56

1M ago1:15:56

1:15:56

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks to Jessica Smith, Professor in the Engineering, Design, and Society Department and Dean’s Fellow for Earth and Society Programs of the Colorado School of Mines, about her work on engineering and public accountability in energy and mining industries. The pair discuss Smith’s long-held interests in mining and …

1
#89 – How to get RICH with a PhD 18:19

1M ago18:19

18:19

There are no get rich quick schemes, but if you have a PhD or are getting one, you knew that already. However, there are some ways of developing financial security that are open to PhDs that may not be so available to others, even though you spent most of your 20s earning very little income. In this quick monologue, I say some things that may be co…

1
The future of children’s health 31:47

1M ago31:47

31:47

Lisa Patel is a pediatrician and an expert in environmental health who says that pollution is taking an increasing toll on children’s health. Pollution from wildfires, fossil fuels, and plastics can cause asthma, pneumonia, and risks dementia in the long-term. But, she says, all hope is not lost. Solutions range from DIY air filters to choosing ind…

1
Ipek A. Celik Rappas, "Filming in European Cities: The Labor of Location" (Cornell UP, 2025) 44:59

1M ago44:59

44:59

Filming in European Cities: The Labor of Location (Cornell University Press, 2025) explores the effort behind creating screen production locations. Dr. Ipek A. Celik Rappas accounts the rising demand for original and affordable locations for screen projects due to the growth of streaming platforms. As a result, screen professionals are repeatedly t…

1
#22 YC Startup Building a Foundation Model for the Brain - Piramidal AI Co-Founder Kris Pahuja 19:21

1M ago19:21

19:21

Free Neurotech Newsletter: https://neurotechnologynews.beehiiv.com/subscribe Key Moments: 0:00 Introduction: University, First Startup, Corporate Experience 2:44 Initial Interest in AI and Neuroscience 4:24 Founding Story of Piramidal 5:49 Y Combinator: Learnings and Experiences 7:35 Product: Foundation Model for the Brain 9:47 Competitive Landscap…

1
Building AI simulations of the human brain | Dan Yamins 32:56

1M ago32:56

32:56

This week on the show: Are we ready to create digital models of the human brain? Last month, Stanford researcher Andreas Tolias and colleagues created a "digital twin" of the mouse visual cortex. The researchers used the same foundation model approach that powers ChatGPT, but instead of training the model on text, the team trained in on brain activ…

1
"Brand Strategy, Diet Culture and Cultural Histories of Desire" with Jessica Hamel-Akré 53:17

1M ago53:17

53:17

I spoke with Jessica Hamel-Akré about her journey from literary scholar to historian to director of qualitative research at the consulting firm LoveBrands, and her work at the intersection of academia and industry. We discussed her fascinating 2024 book, The Art of Not Eating: A Doubtful History of Appetite and Desire (Atlantic Books), and how her …

1
#299 From Panic to Profit, Via Data with Bill Canady, CEO at Arrowhead Engineered Products 46:53

2M ago46:53

46:53

Data-driven turnarounds are transforming how struggling businesses find their path back to profitability. When companies falter, the key to recovery can often lies in understanding which 20% of customers and products generate 80% of profits. But how do you quickly identify these critical assets when time is running out? What metrics should you prio…

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