Rational Optimist Podcast

Stephen McBride

Join host Stephen McBride every Wednesday for the Rational Optimist Podcast. You'll discover incredible things happening that everyone should know but most people don't... from the revival of supersonic flight and nuclear power, to the revolution in biotech now underway.

  1. Look Inside the Startup Making Homes Affordable Again | Cuby

    -3 j ·  Vidéo

    Look Inside the Startup Making Homes Affordable Again | Cuby

    What if we've been trying to fix housing the wrong way all along? Most companies are trying to build better houses. Cuby is trying to reinvent the entire process of construction. In this episode, Cuby co-founder Aleks explains why modular housing, prefab construction, and even 3D-printed homes have struggled to scale, and why his team believes the real breakthrough isn't a better house, but a new operating system for building. Instead of giant factories, Cuby is building mobile microfactories that can manufacture homes close to where they're needed. Behind that idea is more than a million engineering hours, thousands of mapped construction processes, and a vision that extends far beyond housing. We discuss: • Why construction hasn't fundamentally changed in centuries • Why labor accounts for most of the cost of building a home • Why modular housing and 3D printing continue to fall short • How Cuby's mobile microfactories work • The software behind a completely new construction process • Why the company mapped over 10,000 individual construction steps • How automation and AI could reshape one of the world's largest industries • What happens to housing affordability if this approach succeeds • Why Cuby ultimately wants to become "the building company" Whether you're a founder, engineer, investor, or simply curious about the future of the built world, this conversation offers a fascinating look at how one startup is rethinking an industry that touches everyone. Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders and engineers building the future. Become a member of the Rational Optimist Society: https://rationaloptimistsociety.substack.com

    50 min
  2. 17 juin ·  Vidéo

    The Startup Lifting Cities out of Flood Zones | Laurence Allen of Terraform

    Laurence Allen, founder and CEO of Terranova, explains why flooding and land subsidence are unsolvable with seawalls alone — and how his company is using underground robotics and woodchip injection to physically lift sinking land back up.  We explore the scale of the global subsidence crisis, why cities from Jakarta to Miami to San Francisco are running out of options, and what it would take to deploy this technology at city scale. If you're interested in climate resilience, infrastructure, real estate, defense technology, or the future of human engineering, this episode maps out a solution most people assumed was impossible. In this episode: Why seawalls fail against permanent sea level rise — and the coastal cities most at risk How Terranova's robots inject woodchip slurry 60 feet underground to lift an acre of land by a foot in a single day Why woodchips are cheaper than dirt and available at massive scale in flood-prone regions How AI and machine learning are being used to map underground soil conditions and predict injection outcomes The permitting landscape, groundwater safety, and why regulators have been surprisingly supportive Terranova's current deployments, customer pipeline, and path to lifting entire cities Defense applications: levee reinforcement, military base preservation, and the Army Corps of Engineers Why this technology could unlock billions in stranded coastal real estate and solve California's water infrastructure crisis

    1 h 3 min

À propos

Join host Stephen McBride every Wednesday for the Rational Optimist Podcast. You'll discover incredible things happening that everyone should know but most people don't... from the revival of supersonic flight and nuclear power, to the revolution in biotech now underway.

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