Connected Conversations

Elena Petrova

We live in the most connected era in history — and one of the loneliest. Connected Conversations, hosted by Elena Petrova, is the show about the art and science of human connection. Each week, Elena sits down with psychologists, technologists, community builders, cultural translators, and frontline practitioners to explore how we reach each other — through language, culture, body language, and human-centered technology — and how we build the communities that give our lives meaning.

  1. 1d ago

    Can Anonymity Actually Build Belonging? | Kyle Venn, CEO of Yik Yak

    When no one knows your name, do you tell the truth, or do you show your worst? In this episode of Connected Conversations, Elena Petrova sits down with Kyle Venn, CEO of Yik Yak, for a serious look at what an anonymous-by-design platform can teach the rest of us about belonging, trust, and the cost of being seen. This is not a founder profile. It is an honest conversation that includes the platform's difficult history and the campus bans it is still working against, alongside what a group of strangers matched on baking reveals about connection you don't have to perform, and the difference between technology built to hold your attention and technology built to help you belong. Plus Kyle answers the question at the heart of the show: what conversation do more people need to be having right now? Hosted by Elena Petrova. Connected Conversations is produced by Ad Astra, Inc.

    Can Anonymity Actually Build Belonging? | Kyle Venn, CEO of Yik Yak

  2. Aug 12

    Why Companies Still Aren't Built to Hire Deaf Talent | Lisa Mae Brunson

    Lisa Mae Brunson was born hard of hearing. For years, she says, it was just a fact of her life, until she started building for her community and saw how many rooms that call themselves accessible aren't. In this clip from Connected Conversations, Lisa tells Elena Petrova what changed when a colleague who is a CODA, a child of deaf adults, opened her eyes to the barriers Deaf and hard-of-hearing people face in tech and the workforce. What started as a town hall in her living room grew into one of the largest Deaf-in-tech communities around, and a hard lesson came with it: most companies simply aren't built to hire Deaf talent, and the people locked out are the ones who pay for it. In this clip: Why it "was just a thing" until she started building for othersHow a colleague who is a CODA reframed the whole problemThe bias Deaf professionals still run into in hiringWhat every room that calls itself "accessible" should ask firstWatch the full episode with Lisa Mae Brunson for the human-first reframe, the free-hugs campaign, and how to tell real inclusion from theater. Hosted by Elena Petrova. Connected Conversations is produced by Ad Astra, Inc.

    Why Companies Still Aren't Built to Hire Deaf Talent | Lisa Mae Brunson

  3. Aug 5

    "Right Now It's All a Show": A Founder's Honest Take on Inclusion | Lisa Mae Brunson

    What if the most inclusive team you could build starts with one reframe: the human first, the role second? Lisa Mae Brunson has spent a decade building Wonder Women Tech, the conferences, hackathons, and STEAM programs for the people the tech industry left out, as someone who knew exactly what being left out felt like. She and Elena get into how belonging actually gets designed, why so much "inclusion" is theater, what designing access for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing taught her about every "accessible" room, and where technology that includes people can quietly begin to surveil them. New episodes of Connected Conversations every week on YouTube and Spotify. Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music also carry the show. Hosted by Elena Petrova. Connected Conversations is produced by Ad Astra, Inc.

    "Right Now It's All a Show": A Founder's Honest Take on Inclusion | Lisa Mae Brunson

  4. Jul 22

    He Grew Up With No Computer. Now He's Building AI for 70 Languages

    Ten languages moved freely through the house Sheriff Issaka grew up in. Then he came to the US and watched the people he loved most be unable to say a word to each other. In this episode, Elena Petrova sits down with Sheriff Issaka, Founder and Head of Research at the African Languages Lab, who turned that gap into his life's work: building the tools to bring African languages into the technology the rest of us already take for granted. It starts as one person's story and opens into a bigger question. Who gets to be understood by the systems we are all about to live inside, and who is actually in the room building them? Along the way: what it really costs to be a "low resource" language, why localization decides whether technology helps a community or harms it, why Sheriff calls Africa the world's next market, and his challenge to everyone building AI, look at who is in the room. Plus Sheriff answers the question we ask every guest: what conversation do more people need to be having right now? Hosted by Elena Petrova. Connected Conversations is produced by Ad Astra, Inc.

    He Grew Up With No Computer. Now He's Building AI for 70 Languages

  5. Jul 8

    "Tell Him He's Right": How a Photographer Learned to Stop Playing God | Rick Smolan Part 2

    The story continues. And it gets stranger. In 1978, Rick Smolan was twenty-eight years old andphotographing an eleven-year-old girl in Korea when her grandmother made an impossible request. Part 1 of this conversation told you what she asked. Part 2 tells you what happened next — including a night in a burning Seoul hotel that neither of them was supposed to survive, and a promise Rick made to God on an eleventh-floor balcony that has shaped the forty-five years since. From there, Elena and Rick go somewhere harder. They talkabout the shyness that quietly shaped a life spent behind a camera. About smartphones giving everyone a camera, and AI taking away our ability to trust any of the images they produce. About Rick's original idea — the "algorithm exchange" — and what it reveals about the invisible systems already deciding what you see, buy, and believe. And about a conversation Rick believes society is still refusing to have. A conversation about truth, trust, human connection, andour responsibility to shape the tools we build before they begin shaping us. Plus Rick answers the question we now ask every guest:what conversation do more people need to be having right now? Hosted by Elena Petrova.Connected Conversations is produced by Ad Astra, Inc.

    "Tell Him He's Right": How a Photographer Learned to Stop Playing God | Rick Smolan Part 2

  6. Jul 1 ·  Bonus

    How Technology Is Changing Storytelling Forever | Rick Smolan

    Rick Smolan has spent more than four decades telling stories that connect people across cultures, generations, and technologies.In this mini episode of Connected Conversations, Rick explains how storytelling has evolved beyond the printed page. From photographing Robyn Davidson's legendary journey across the Australian Outback to creating smartphone-enabled books that instantly unlock TED Talks, videos, and behind-the-scenes moments, he shares why technology should enrich a story—not replace it.Together, Elena and Rick explore:• Why storytelling continues long after a photograph is taken• How technology can deepen human connection instead of distracting from it• The evolution from traditional books to interactive storytelling experiences• Why the best technology helps people experience stories in entirely new waysTechnology changes.Great stories endure.Hosted by Elena Petrova, Founder & CEO of Ad Astra, Inc. and AdAstraConnect.Subscribe for more conversations about communication, storytelling, technology, and the communities we build around them.

    How Technology Is Changing Storytelling Forever | Rick Smolan

  7. Jun 24

    Forty Thousand Children, One Best Friend Met in Line, and a Camera That Crosses Every Language

    Rick Smolan was twenty-eight years old, photographing for Time magazine, when a dying grandmother in a Korean village asked him to take her eleven-year-old granddaughter to America. He said yes — and that yes set the shape of everything that came next. In Part 1 of this conversation, Rick Smolan shares the remarkable story behind Natasha's adoption, the chance encounter that made it possible, and the lessons about human connection, storytelling, and serendipity that have shaped his life's work. In this episode, Elena Petrova talks with Rick about the famous photograph that became the talk seen by over a million people — and about the four-decade arc of work that followed it: the Day in the Life book series, 24 Hours in Cyberspace, The Human Face of Big Data, and the smartphone-enabled books that anticipated AI by years. We talk about why he calls himself the chief cat herder rather than the star. Why an introvert with a camera became one of the world's most prolific crowd-sourced storytellers. What a photograph knows about human connection that words don't. And how a chance meeting in line at an American Express office in Madrid quietly changed a child's life eight years later. A conversation about how we actually reach each other, across language, across distance, across time.Hosted by Elena Petrova, Founder & CEO of Ad Astra, Inc. and AdAstraConnect. Subscribe for more conversations about communication, leadership, technology, and the communities we build around them.

    Forty Thousand Children, One Best Friend Met in Line, and a Camera That Crosses Every Language

  8. Jun 17 ·  Bonus

    How to Spot Fake AI Solutions Before You Buy?

    How do you know whether an AI solution is actually useful — or just good marketing?In this mini episode of Connected Conversations, Elena Petrova sits down with Muhammad Atif, President and CTO of PureLogics, to unpack one of the biggest questions leaders are facing right now:When should you move fast with AI, and when should you slow down?Drawing from decades of experience across social media, mobile, cloud, and now AI, Atif shares practical lessons for leaders and CTOs navigating uncertainty.Together, they explore:• How leaders decide when speed matters — and when security should come first• The questions every company should ask before buying an AI solution• How to distinguish between real, value-adding AI and marketing hype• Why many AI products are being sold before they are truly ready• What leaders risk when they adopt technology without understanding the problem it solvesThis conversation is not about chasing trends.It is about asking better questions before making expensive decisions.Hosted by Elena Petrova, Founder & CEO of Ad Astra, Inc. and AdAstraConnect.Subscribe for more conversations on leadership, communication, technology, and the communities we build around them.#ArtificialIntelligence #Leadership #EnterpriseAI #DigitalTransformation #ConnectedConversations

    How to Spot Fake AI Solutions Before You Buy?
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Ratings & Reviews

4
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

We live in the most connected era in history — and one of the loneliest. Connected Conversations, hosted by Elena Petrova, is the show about the art and science of human connection. Each week, Elena sits down with psychologists, technologists, community builders, cultural translators, and frontline practitioners to explore how we reach each other — through language, culture, body language, and human-centered technology — and how we build the communities that give our lives meaning.

Information

  • Creator
    Elena Petrova
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    68
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Elena Petrova
  • Show Website
    Connected Conversations