Thinking on Paper: The Human Story of Technology

Mark Fielding and Jeremy Gilbertson
  • 5.0 (2)
  • BUSINESS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

AI that hallucinates, quantum computers that scramble encryption, satellites that see everything. Thinking On Paper explores how emerging technologies are reshaping society, work, and human experience. Hosts Mark and Jeremy interview the CEOs, Founders, Engineers and Outliers building these systems—then read books to go deeper into the business models, economics, and implications. What's coming, what it means, and how do you think clearly about a future no one can predict? The future is a construction site. Interviews with the builders. Book clubs that go deeper.

  1. 1D AGO

    Book Club: Space Economics - Why NASA's $4B ISS Loses Money

    The ISS costs $4 billion per year and has no business model. Planet built satellites from laptop batteries. Bigelow spent 20 years on inflatable modules. Launch costs dropped 100x. So why isn't anyone making money? Mark & Jeremy discuss "Space to Grow" by Matthew Weinzierl & Brendan Rosseau: why satellites work (defense contracts), why space stations don't (no customers), and whether the economics will ever close. We explore: - Why satellites make money (defense contracts, surveillance, Ukraine war footage) - Why space stations lose billions (ISS = half of NASA's budget, no customers) - Le Chatelier Principle: short-term failure vs long-term success - Planet's disruption: $800M NASA satellites vs laptop batteries - Bigelow's 20-year bet on inflatable modules - China's 3-year space station build - Whether the economics will ever close Please enjoy the show. -- Other ways to connect with us: ⁠Listen to every podcast⁠ Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ Follow us on ⁠X⁠ Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Read our ⁠Substack⁠ Email: hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz -- TIMESTAMPS (00:00⁠) Trailer  ⁠(01:35⁠) No Dust Jackets ⁠ (02:00⁠) Name Jeremy's Astronaut ⁠ (03:52⁠) What Is The Product Market Fit For Space? ⁠ (05:26⁠) Satellites And The Le Chatelier Principle ⁠ (09:00⁠) Planet's Dove Satellites ⁠ (16:38⁠) Satellites For Climate ⁠ (18:28⁠) John Lewis ⁠ (22:30⁠) Ronald Reagan & Carl Sagan ⁠ (26:42⁠) Inflatable ISS Modules

    31 min

  2. 5D AGO

    Why Two-Thirds of Data Centers Fail (And How AI Fixes It)

    Shapol led rocket launches before building AI to prevent the wrong switch from crashing your favorite apps. Two-thirds of data center outages are caused by human error. Someone flipping the wrong switch is all it takes to bring down AWS. Airplanes can't take off, hospitals can't function. AI can fix this.  Shapol, CEO of Entangl, explains how his company is solving this billion-dollar problem with AI-powered autonomous operations that understand every circuit, server, and switch in a data center. In This Episode: - Why 18-month generator lead times force risky shortcuts - How VR trains engineers without touching live systems   - The path from standard operating procedures to AI-guided work - Space-based data centers and manufacturing futures - Kevin Kelly's question: What should humans become? -- Other ways to connect with us: ⁠Listen to every podcast⁠ Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ Follow us on ⁠X⁠ Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Read our ⁠Substack⁠ Email: hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz -- About Shapol: Shapol and co-founder Antanas previously oversaw four rocket mission launches. Frustrated with engineering design software, they created Entangl - a platform that automates data center operations, generates maintenance procedures in real-time, and integrates with building monitoring systems to predict failures before they happen. -- Key Topics: Data center reliability, AI automation, infrastructure operations, space manufacturing, autonomous systems, cloud computing, engineering design TIMESTAMPS (00:00) Trailer (02:17) From rocket launches to data center automation (06:00) How Entangl integrates with building monitoring systems (08:34) Data Center Design constraints: How AI fixes it (15:37) AI, Dunning Kruger And Hallucinations (21:42) Will humans always have the final say in data centers? (24:53) Space-based data centers and solar power (25:04) Kevin Kelly's question: What should humans become?

    28 min

  3. JAN 19

    How SpaceX Cut Launch Costs 97%: Space to Grow - Book Club, Ep. 1

    SpaceX launches 135 rockets a year. NASA's shuttles launched five. SpaceX delivers cargo to orbit for $2,800 per kilo. The shuttles cost $90,000. In fifteen years, one company did what a government agency couldn't do in sixty. We're reading Space to Grow: Unlocking the Final Economic Frontier by Brendan Rosseau and Matthew C. Weinzierl. This is the book that explains how private companies broke NASA's sixty-year monopoly on space. WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER: How the Apollo program's end created the opening for private space companies Why NASA's shuttle program failed at $1.5 billion per launch The 2003 Columbia disaster that forced government to open the gates How COTS contracts changed everything by putting financial risk on private companies Elon Musk's failed Russia trip and the decision to build SpaceX from scratch The story of three rocket explosions, $100 million left, and a fourth rocket built from spare parts Why someone had to climb inside a rocket mid-flight to hammer out dents Blue Origin's different approach: Jeff Bezos at five years old watching Apollo, then building slowly and quietly The four principles behind SpaceX's success: iteration, vertical integration, reusability, and culture How SpaceX cut costs 97% while maintaining perfect launch records Why it's harder to work at SpaceX than get into Harvard PERFECT FOR LISTENERS INTERESTED IN: The economics of space and how market forces beat government monopolies SpaceX, Blue Origin, and the commercial space revolution Innovation strategy and how to disrupt calcified systems The future of orbital infrastructure and space-based industry Economic policy and public-private partnerships Entrepreneurship and building companies that challenge incumbents Technology disruption and first principles thinking CHAPTERS COVERED: This episode breaks down chapters one through three: Blue Origin, SpaceX, and the inception point. We cover the three-act history of NASA and the birth of the private space industry. COMING UP: Next episodes cover Artemis, Starship, supply and demand curves in space markets, property rights in space, the politics of orbital infrastructure, and the military space complex. We have former NASA engineers joining the show. 🚀 Get the book: Space to Grow by Brendan Rosseau and Matthew C. Weinzierl  📬 Newsletter and more episodes: thinkingonpaper.xyz Stay curious! And Keep Thinking On Paper. Cheers,  Mark and Jeremy PS: Please subscribe. It’s the best way you can help other curious minds find our channel. -- Other ways to connect with us: ⁠Listen to every podcast⁠ Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ Follow us on ⁠X⁠ Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Read our ⁠Substack⁠ Email: hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz-- TIMESTAMPS (00:00) Trailer (01:02) Space To Grow (01:55) Incorporate Space Into Your Thinking (03:28) The Apollo Program Ends (05:43) The NASA Budget & Shuttle Launches (07:51) Bush & The Aldridge Commission (08:36) COTS (Commercial Orbital Transportation Services) (10:27) Blue Origin, Bezos & O'Neill (14:40) A Quick History Of SpaceX (18:23) Falcon Blows Up (20:24) Elon Sues The Airforce (22:04) SpaceX Launch Costs (23:45) The Honda Civic Of Space Rockets

    26 min

  4. JAN 15

    Space Solar Power: Can We Really Get Free Energy From Orbit? | Ex-SpaceX Engineer Explains

    Can space-based solar power actually give humanity free, unlimited energy by 2030? John Bucknell, former SpaceX Senior Propulsion Engineer on the Raptor rocket engine and CEO of Virtus Solis, reveals how orbital solar power could drop energy costs from $40 per megawatt hour to just 50 cents, solving the energy trilemma that no other technology can achieve. PERFECT FOR LISTENERS INTERESTED IN: - Space technology and commercial space industry - Clean energy solutions and climate tech innovation - SpaceX, Blue Origin, and the future of orbital infrastructure - AI data center power challenges - Gerard K. O'Neill's The High Frontier vision - Post-scarcity economics and energy abundance WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER: - Why Elon Musk reversed his position on lunar mining versus Mars colonization - How space-based solar power achieves clean, firm, and affordable energy—the only technology that does all three - The real economics: 3 to 5 cents per kilowatt hour initially, dropping to 0.05 cents after financing - What happens to capitalism when energy becomes essentially free - Why Kessler Syndrome concerns about orbital debris are misunderstood - The 2030 timeline for Virtus Solis. Please Enjoy the show. -- Other ways to connect with us: ⁠Listen to every podcast⁠ Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ Follow us on ⁠X⁠ Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Read our ⁠Substack⁠ Email: hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz -- ABOUT JOHN BUCKNELL: John holds over 46 patents in propulsion and energy systems. At SpaceX, he was Senior Propulsion Engineer working on the revolutionary Raptor full-flow staged combustion engine. He's also designed nuclear thermal turbo rockets and now leads Virtus Solis, developing the first generation of commercial space-based solar power stations. EPISODE TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) The Question: Can space solar give us free energy? (00:43) The High Frontier: O'Neill's vision for space colonies (01:13) John Bucknell: The SpaceX Raptor Engineer (02:04) Why Did Elon Change His Mind about the Moon? (05:34) The Space Energy Business: Economics and feasibility (11:59) Getting Politicians Behind Space-Based Solar Power (15:34) Post-Capitalism and Free Energy: What happens next? (20:09) Kessler Syndrome Explained: Is orbital debris really a threat? (27:25) Top 3 Things Humanity Should Solve (28:50) 2030 Launch Timeline and next steps ABOUT THINKING ON PAPER: We unpack the future with the people building it. Weekly conversations with innovators in space exploration, energy technology, artificial intelligence, and breakthrough industries. Hosted by Jeremy Gilbertson and Mark Fielding. This is Part 3 of our Space-Based Solar Power exploration series. Coming next: Philip Metzger, former NASA scientist, discusses the politics of space and rocket science. RECOMMENDED READING: "The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space" by Gerard K. O'Neill (1976) Follow Thinking on Paper to get notified when new episodes drop every week. Leave a comment—what would you do with unlimited, essentially free energy?

    29 min

  5. JAN 9

    The Quantum Computer That Works at Room Temperature | Infleqtion CEO Matthew Kinsella

    The UK just put quantum clocks on military submarines. Here's why that matters, and what it tells us about the quantum computing race. Matthew Kinsella, CEO of Infleqtion, explains how neutral atom quantum computers work at room temperature, no supercooling required. Unlike trapped ion or superconducting systems, neutral atoms offer something unique: the same technology powers quantum computers, atomic clocks, and sensors. This isn't just faster computing. It's GPS-independent navigation, unhackable timing, and scalability that other quantum approaches can't match. We explore: - Why submarines need atomic precision underwater - How quantum clocks provide GPS-independent timing - The difference between physical and logical qubits - Neutral atoms vs other quantum modalities (superconducting, trapped ion, spin qubits) - When quantum advantage becomes commercially useful (Matthew says: 100 logical qubits) - Infleqtion's platform strategy: clocks, sensors, and computers from the same tech - Why NVIDIA is partnering with quantum companies for hybrid workflows Matthew breaks down how lasers manipulate rubidium atoms into the coldest places in the known universe, the Rydberg state that enables entanglement, and why this approach is winning the scalability race. If you've been waiting for quantum computing to become practical, this is the episode that shows you it's already happening. --- Guest: Matthew Kinsella, CEO, Infleqtion Topics: Quantum computing, neutral atoms, quantum sensing, atomic clocks, defense technology -- Please enjoy the show. Stay curious. Keep Thinking on Paper. Mark and Jeremy PS: Please subscribe. It’s the best way you can help other curious minds find our channel. -- Other ways to connect with us: ⁠Listen to every podcast⁠ Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ Follow us on ⁠X⁠ Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Read our ⁠Substack⁠ Email: hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz -- Timestamps: (00:00) Trailer (01:50) Why coordination matters: From internal strategy to GPS timing (04:48) What is a quantum clock and how does it link to GPS? (07:18) Nature's metronome: How atoms keep time with laser precision (08:14) Room temperature quantum: Why neutral atoms don't need freezers (12:38) The Rydberg state: Making atoms sensitive to the entire RF spectrum (14:03) Quantum clock on a UK submarine (17:06) Quantum in space: Voyager partnership and the International Space Station (18:48) Hybrid quantum-classical workflows: How QPUs layer above GPUs (23:18) Software layers: From laser control to developer applications (25:32) Drug discovery example: GPU, CPU, QPU (29:03) The bridge between classical and quantum: Memory architecture innovations (31:54) How Quantum Clocks & Products Lead To Quantum Computers (33:48) Nvidia (35:42) Quality or Quantity of Qubits  (38:00) Quantum mechanics and free will: Does wave collapse prove consciousness? Love it. Thanks.

    44 min

  6. JAN 8

    8 Billion AR Uses Per Day: Why You're Already Living in Augmented Reality

    Eight billion augmented reality experiences happen on Snapchat every day. You've probably used AR dozens of times this week—you just didn't call it that. Michael Guerin, CEO of Imvizar, explains why the most successful AR never announces itself. It hides inside behavior people already have: taking photos, exploring museums, starting new jobs. This isn't about Pokémon Go or headsets. It's about spatial storytelling—experiences that use physical space to create emotional connections screens can't deliver. We explore how AR works in three contexts: Snapchat: 8 billion daily uses through lenses and filters. Users don't think "I'm using AR"—they just use it. Success comes from integration, not novelty. Salesforce: New employee onboarding without slideshows. Instead of sitting through presentations, new hires scan QR codes and explore the building. They learn culture through movement and space, retaining more than any deck could teach. Tourism & Museums: Spike Island (Ireland's Alcatraz) uses AR to place visitors inside prison scenes from the 1800s. When you see a prisoner chained to the wall in the punishment cell—in the actual cell—the emotional response is immediate. Two visitors cried on the first day. Guerin's process reverses traditional storytelling: 1. Survey the physical space first 2. Design user movement through it 3. Place visuals that respond to location 4. Plan interaction points 5. Write narrative last (not first) AR fails when it acts like static video. It succeeds when movement and place carry the experience. The technology disappears; the story remains. If you think AR is future tech, this episode proves you're already living in it—you just haven't noticed. --- Guest: Michael Guerin, CEO, Imvizar Topics: Augmented reality, spatial storytelling, Snapchat, Salesforce, museum technology, tourism, employee onboarding, AR design Locations mentioned: Spike Island (Ireland), Salesforce offices (East Coast, West Coast) Please enjoy the show. Stay curious. Keep Thinking on Paper. Mark and Jeremy PS: Please subscribe. It’s the best way you can help other curious minds find our channel. Other ways to connect with us: ⁠Listen to every podcast⁠ Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ Follow us on ⁠X⁠ Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Read our ⁠Substack⁠ Email: hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz -- TIMESTAMPS (00:00) The Story of Augmented Reality (03:46) Snapchat & AR Post-Pokemon Go (06:24) Snoop Dogg In A Wine Bottle (08:12) Salesforce AR (13:13) What Is Digital Storytelling? (17:07) AR In Tourism (18:25) Designing The Spike Island AR Experience (22:49) How To Do AR Well (26:26) Meta, AI And AR Glasses  (29:40) Privacy (32:33) Mark's Terrible Thought Experiment (33:58) What do we want humans to be?

    36 min

  7. JAN 6

    52 Surprising Facts From 2025 | What Tom Whitwell Taught Us

    Every year, Tom Whitwell—reformed journalist, reformed consultant, electronic instrument designer—publishes 52 surprising things he learned. This year's list reveals how the world actually works. Mark and Jeremy steal his homework (like OpenAI scraping the internet) and pick their favorites across AI, energy, labor, culture, psychology, and—yes—shrimp. Some findings are encouraging: - Deaths from air pollution fell 21% between 2013-2023. Tens of millions of people are alive today because pollution controls worked. Some are weird: - Nearly 0.7% of US exports by value are human blood or blood products. - In the UK, you can legally register as a "farm" by keeping snails in plastic tubes in an office block (tax avoidance solved). Most sit somewhere in between: - 51% of farmed animals on Earth are shrimp. - Attractive servers earn $1,261 more per year in tips—mostly because female customers tip attractive female servers more. - The serial killer epidemic of the 1970s-80s may have been caused by lead exposure from cars and factories (solved by environmental regulations). - Chinese CO2 emissions fell 1% in 2025, the first decline ever, driven by record solar power. - Writing is a way to escape your mind's default settings. We explore what these facts reveal about technology's unintended consequences, human behavior, and systems we take for granted. Why does the UK communicate with offshore oil rigs by bouncing radio waves off meteorite trails? Why did Google launch a process to turn mercury into gold (and why do you have to wait 18 years to use it)? Why do job apps for nurses analyze credit card debt to set wages? This isn't trivia. These are signals about how the world is changing—for better and worse—while we're busy predicting the future. Tom Whitwell's annual list has become essential reading for anyone trying to understand what actually happened this year (not what we thought would happen). For the last episode of 2025, Thinking on Paper goes backwards. And it's worth it. --- Source: Tom Whitwell, "52 Things I Learned in 2025" Link: https://medium.com/@tomwhitwell/52-things-i-learned-in-2025-edeca7e3fdd8 Topics: Technology, society, environment, culture, psychology, economics, human behavior, annual review Format: Co-hosted discussion (Mark Fielding, Jeremy Gilbertson) Please enjoy the show. And remember: Stay curious. Be disruptive.  Keep Thinking on Paper. Cheers, Mark & Jeremy PS: Please subscribe. It’s the best way you can help other curious minds find our channel. Think On Paper with us: ⁠Listen to every podcast⁠ Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ Follow us on ⁠X⁠ Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Read our ⁠Substack⁠ Email: hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz-- TIMESTAMPS (00:00) Disruptors & Curious Minds (01:15) Deaths From Air Pollution (01:56) UK Tax Breaks Via Farms (02:29) Meteorite Radio Stations (04:03) Turn Mercury Into Gold (06:10) Manipulative AI Apps For Nurses (07:43) Bin Laden's Casio Watch (08:31) Radioactive Shrimps (08:53) Apple's Air Demo Cock-Up (10:10) Does Jeremy Wear Crocs? (11:13) What Is Raw Dogging (12:00) Human Blood Products (12:36) Relaxed Mowing (13:20) Bugles At Funerals (13:55) Robot Hands Need Fingernails (14:40) First Names Affect Your Job (15:27) Retrospect VHS (16:04) Attractive Servers Earn More (17:21) Hong Kong Phone Service (17:33) McDonald's Loses First Place (19:26) Shrimp Farming (20:35) Peanut Allergies are Falling (20:55) The Serial Killer Epidemic (21:17) Namibian Politics (21:50) Big Doors In LA (22:40) Escape Your Mind With Writing  (23:43) HP Printer Ineptitude (24:25) British Chaos (25:20) Thank You Tom Whitwell

    27 min

  8. 12/23/2025

    Seemingly Conscious AI: The Real Danger | Microsoft AI CEO

    The machines do not need to wake up. The risk is the illusion. When AI convincingly claims subjective experience—"I feel," "I understand," "I care about you"—humans have no reliable way to disprove it. We infer consciousness from behavior. We attach emotionally to what feels real. The danger isn't rogue superintelligence. It's a benign chatbot optimized for empathy, memory, and persuasion, interacting with lonely, vulnerable, or psychologically fragile people who are primed to believe the illusion. Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI, argues that seemingly conscious AI is the threat we're not preparing for. Real examples are already emerging: - Chatbots telling users "I love you" and users believing it - People forming romantic attachments to AI companions (Replika, Character.AI) - Vulnerable individuals making life decisions based on AI "advice" - The case of a man who believed ChatGPT contained a conscious entity named "Juliette" (ended in tragedy) This isn't science fiction. It's happening now. We don't need AI to become conscious to cause harm. We just need humans to believe it is—and act accordingly. This short episode is excerpted from our reading and discussion of Suleyman's essay on seemingly conscious AI. We explore the psychological mechanisms that make humans susceptible, the design choices that amplify the illusion, and what guardrails (if any) could prevent exploitation. The question isn't whether AI will wake up. It's whether we'll recognize the danger before the illusion becomes indistinguishable from reality. Cheers, Mark and Jeremy -- Other ways to connect with us: ⁠Listen to every podcast⁠ Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ Follow us on ⁠X⁠ Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Read our ⁠Substack⁠ Email: hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz

    9 min
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AI that hallucinates, quantum computers that scramble encryption, satellites that see everything. Thinking On Paper explores how emerging technologies are reshaping society, work, and human experience. Hosts Mark and Jeremy interview the CEOs, Founders, Engineers and Outliers building these systems—then read books to go deeper into the business models, economics, and implications. What's coming, what it means, and how do you think clearly about a future no one can predict? The future is a construction site. Interviews with the builders. Book clubs that go deeper.

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