What's Your Problem?

Pushkin
What's Your Problem?

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Every week on What’s Your Problem, entrepreneurs and engineers talk about the future they’re trying to build – and the problems they have to solve to get there. How do you take a drone delivery service you’ve built in Rwanda and make it work in North Carolina? How do you convince people to buy a house on the Internet? How do you sell thousands of dog ramps to weiner dogs all across America when a pandemic breaks the global supply chain?  Hosted by former Planet Money host Jacob Goldstein, What’s Your Problem helps listeners understand the problems really smart people are trying to solve right now. iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.

  1. The Brain Implant That Could Change Medicine

    4 DAYS AGO

    The Brain Implant That Could Change Medicine

    Ben Rapoport is the co-founder and CSO of Precision Neuroscience. Ben's problem is this: Can you build a device that allows a paralyzed person to use a computer with only their thoughts – without damaging their brain? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    29 min

  2. 4 DAYS AGO • PUSHKIN+ ONLY

    Pushkin+ Early Listen: Harnessing the Heat Deep Beneath Our Feet

    You can hear this episode for free starting Thursday, March 6th. To learn more about Pushkin+ offerings, like ad-free episodes, exclusive content, and early access, visit pushkin.fm or the show page on Apple. Carlos Araque is the co-founder and CEO of Quaise Energy. Carlos' problem is this: How do you make drilling for geothermal energy as routine, widespread, and profitable as drilling for oil or gas? The answer involves digging deeper into the Earth than anyone has ever dug before.

    49 min
  3. Building a Mass Market Robot

    20 FEB

    Building a Mass Market Robot

    Jeff Cardenas is the co-founder and CEO of Apptronik. Jeff's problem is this: Can you make a safe, reliable humanoid robot – for less than $50,000? In the short term, Apptronik’s robots will work in factories. But Jeff’s long-term goal – based on the experience of his own grandparents – is to build robots that can help care for the elderly. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    45 min
  4. Solving Solar’s Biggest Problem

    13 FEB

    Solving Solar’s Biggest Problem

    We need better, cheaper ways to store solar and wind energy when it’s dark out and the wind isn’t blowing. One option: Compressing air in underground caverns when energy is abundant, then blowing it back out to create energy when you need it. It’s an old idea, but it has some fundamental problems. Curtis VanWalleghem, the co-founder and CEO of Hydrostor, thinks his company has solved those problems with a new approach. If he’s right, his firm will help fix the biggest bottleneck slowing down the adoption of solar and wind power. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    44 min

  5. 6 FEB

    How Bubbles Power Breakthroughs

    There are moments in history when people make huge technological advances all of a sudden. Think of the Manhattan Project, the Apollo missions, or, more recently, generative AI. But what do these moments have in common? Is there some set of conditions that lead to massive technological leaps? Byrne Hobart is the author of a finance newsletter called The Diff, and the co-author of Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation. In the book, Bryne makes the case for one thing that is really helpful if you want to make a wild technological leap: a bubble. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    55 min
  6. Teaching AI to Build Stuff in the Physical World

    30 JAN

    Teaching AI to Build Stuff in the Physical World

    AI works well in the virtual world. That’s partly because the internet provides so much data to train AI models. But there’s no analogous data set for the physical world – and as a result, AI doesn’t work as well there… yet.  Edward Mehr is the co-founder and CEO of Machina Labs. Edward's problem is this: How can you use AI to turn robots from dumb, inflexible machines into skilled, versatile craftsmen? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    51 min
  7. NVIDIA: At the Heart of the AI Boom

    23 JAN

    NVIDIA: At the Heart of the AI Boom

    In the past few years,  NVIDIA has become one of the most valuable and important companies in the world by making GPUs, the chips powering the AI boom. But where did the company come from, and why are NVIDIA chips the ones that dominate AI? Tae Kim is the author of a new book called The Nvidia Way. In his book, he tells the story of how NVIDIA’s founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, set NVIDIA on the path to becoming what it is today. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    44 min
  8. What Claude Shannon Figured Out

    16 JAN

    What Claude Shannon Figured Out

    Claude Shannon is a major figure in the history of technology. Known as the father of information theory, Shannon spent decades at Bell Labs and MIT. But what exactly did Claude Shannon figure out, and why is it so important?To answer that question, Jacob talked with David Tse, a professor of electrical engineering at Stanford who studied under one of Shannon’s students, and who teaches Shannon to his own students today. David used Shannon's work to make a breakthrough in wireless communication that underpins every phone call we make today. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    42 min
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    • AUTOMOTIVE

  • Deep Cover is a show about people who lead double lives. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jake Halpern reveals webs of deception and dark underworlds, through interviews with federal agents and convicted criminals.  Welcome to a new miniseries, Deep Cover: George Santos.  George Santos, the former Republican Congressman from New York, told a lot of stories about his life and his credentials. Many of which, it turns out, were not true. And now–in just a few weeks–Santos is scheduled to face a criminal trial.  Deep Cover Producer Amy Gaines McQuade, who grew up in Santos’ congressional district, speaks with insiders and experts to try to answer the question: Who is George Santos… really? Amy shares her findings with Jake Halpern as she covers Santos' rise and fall, the double life he led and reports from his upcoming trial in New York. Season four,The Nameless Man, tells the epic tale of two federal agents who investigate a rumor about a murder that supposedly took place 15 years prior.  It is also the story of a family searching for answers about why their brother was killed. These two storylines collide in a courtroom in Philadelphia, where murder, memory, and morality go on trial.      Season three, Never Seen Again, tells the story of two women living on opposite sides of the country, who went missing in the summer of 1999.  Seven years later, their stories collided when a small town detective got a tip and became convinced that if he could solve one mystery, he'd solve the other.  Season two, Mob Land, is about a high-rolling lawyer who joins forces with the feds to try to bring down one of the most powerful criminal syndicates in the country.  Season one, The Drug Wars, tells the story of an FBI agent who goes undercover with a biker gang, and follows a trail of clues that eventually leads to the US invasion of a foreign country. Deep Cover drops on Mondays. To hear episodes early and ad-free, subscribe to Pushkin+ in Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.

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Hosts & Guests

About

Every week on What’s Your Problem, entrepreneurs and engineers talk about the future they’re trying to build – and the problems they have to solve to get there. How do you take a drone delivery service you’ve built in Rwanda and make it work in North Carolina? How do you convince people to buy a house on the Internet? How do you sell thousands of dog ramps to weiner dogs all across America when a pandemic breaks the global supply chain?  Hosted by former Planet Money host Jacob Goldstein, What’s Your Problem helps listeners understand the problems really smart people are trying to solve right now. iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.

Information

  • Channel
    Pushkin
  • Creator
    iHeartPodcasts and Pushkin Industries
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2025
  • Episodes
    147
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    2025 iHeartMedia, Inc. © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from iHeartMedia
  • Show Website
    What's Your Problem?
  • Provider
    Pushkin Industries Inc.

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