The Moonshot Podcast

X, The Moonshot Factory
The Moonshot Podcast

What if the keys to solve the world’s hardest problems – food security, energy resilience, the digital divide – were already within our grasp? Welcome to The Moonshot Podcast, where we go behind the scenes at X, The Moonshot Factory, to celebrate 15 years of Google’s innovation laboratory. Hosted by Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots, this series gives you unprecedented access to the radical ideas and fearless inventors working to build a future we want to live in. Explore real-world moonshots—from self-driving cars to AI-powered disaster prediction—and discover the messy, exhilarating journey of creating breakthrough technologies with the potential to reshape our world.  Some ideas will succeed. Some will fail. But every moonshot moves us forward. Subscribe now to The Moonshot Podcast, a Blanchard House production for X, The Moonshot Factory.

  1. Episode 1: Driving The Future

    EPISODE 1

    Episode 1: Driving The Future

    Fifteen years ago, the world thought self-driving cars were impossible - even the experts doubted it. Today, they’re on the road. In this inaugural episode of The Moonshot Podcast, join Astro Teller inside X, Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory, to discover the early days of Waymo’s self-driving vehicles and Wing’s autonomous drone deliveries. Astro meets Sebastian Thrun, co-founder of X, to revisit the origin story of this innovation lab and, with leaders from Waymo and Wing, explores what’s next for driverless cars and drone delivery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    54 min
  2. Episode 2: Essential Connections

    EPISODE 2

    Episode 2: Essential Connections

    Nearly 3 billion people still don’t have a reliable internet connection. In this episode of The Moonshot Podcast, Astro Teller dives into X’s decade-long mission to bring fast, reliable and affordable connectivity to people everywhere. We uncover the inside story of Loon - the audacious attempt to use high-altitude balloons for internet access - and how its legacy lives on in Taara, a revolutionary way to deliver fast, affordable connectivity over long distances using beams of light. Expect balloons in jail, monkeys causing mischief, and a digital leap over the world’s deepest river. Hosted by Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots, The Moonshot Podcast goes behind the scenes with creators and inventors trying to find radical solutions and breakthrough technologies to the world’s biggest problems. These are the untold stories of innovation from 15 years of Alphabet’s moonshot factory.  Thank you to Mahesh Krishnaswamy, Nick Kohli, Strive Masiyiwa and Sal Candido for featuring in this episode. The Moonshot Podcast is a Blanchard House production for X, the moonshot factory. It’s produced by Ellie Sans and Sophie Eastaugh. Original music by Louis Nanke-Mannell and Daniel Lloyd-Evans. Sound design and mix engineering by Louis Nanke-Mannell and Toby Matimong. The executive producers are Amica Sciortino Nowlan and Rebecca Maxted.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    48 min
  3. Episode 3: Machines That Think – The AI Moonshot

    EPISODE 3

    Episode 3: Machines That Think – The AI Moonshot

    Artificial Intelligence is reshaping everything - but how did we get here? Dive deep with Astro Teller into the origins of Google Brain, meeting Andrew Ng and Jeff Dean, two of AI’s early pioneers. Their innovations helped shatter a decades-long computing block and catapulted deep learning from the academic arena to the commercial prime time. We’ll also explore Codey, an AI system that writes and rewrites software. How do those designing AI’s next generation think about its opportunities and challenges? Could AI revolutionize the process of innovation itself? Hosted by Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots,  The Moonshot Podcast  goes behind the scenes with creators and inventors trying to find radical solutions and breakthrough technologies to the world’s biggest problems. These are the untold stories of innovation from 15 years of Google’s moonshot factory.  Thank you to Andrew Ng, Jeff Dean, Scott Huffman, Benoît Schillings and Olivia Hatalsky for featuring in this episode. The Moonshot Podcast is a Blanchard House production for X, The Moonshot Factory. It’s produced by Ellie Sans and Sophie Eastaugh. Original music by Louis Nanke-Mannell and Daniel Lloyd-Evans. Sound design and mix engineering by Louis Nanke-Mannell and Toby Matimong. The executive producers are Amica Sciortino Nowlan and Rebecca Maxted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    46 min
  4. Episode 4: Feeding The World 

    EPISODE 4

    Episode 4: Feeding The World 

    Agriculture is the world’s oldest industry – and it’s racing to meet one of the newest and biggest challenges of our time: how to feed a growing global population that will soon hit 10 billion people. In this episode, Astro Teller explores how two moonshot teams set out to reinvent the way we grow food, using cutting-edge technology in some unexpected places. We follow the team behind Mineral, who began their journey with a pair of bicycles and a radical idea for rethinking farming from the ground up. And we head underwater with Tidal, where the team is using computer vision to transform ocean aquaculture. Hosted by Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots, The Moonshot Podcast goes behind the scenes with the engineers and inventors using breakthrough technologies to try to find radical solutions to the world’s biggest problems. These are the untold stories of innovation from 15 years of Google’s moonshot factory.  Thank you to Elliott Grant, David Guerena, Evan Rapoport, Rajesh Jadhav, Joe Sargent, Paul Nnko, Elifura Nassari and Elinansha Nanyaro for featuring in this episode.  The Moonshot Podcast is a Blanchard House production for X, the moonshot factory. It’s produced by Ellie Sans and Sophie Eastaugh. Original music by Louis Nanke-Mannell and Daniel Lloyd-Evans. Sound design and mix engineering by Louis Nanke-Mannell and Toby Matimong. The executive producers are Amica Sciortino Nowlan and Rebecca Maxted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    47 min
  5. Episode 5: Living With Robots

    EPISODE 5

    Episode 5: Living With Robots

    Robots are at the heart of sci-fi, visions of the future, but what if that future is now? And what if those robots, helping us at work and at home, are simply an extension of the tools we’ve used for millions of years? That’s what artist and engineer Catie Cuan thinks, and it’s part of the reason she teaches robots to dance. In this episode we meet the people at the frontiers of the future of robotics and Astro Teller introduces two groundbreaking projects, Everyday Robots and Intrinsic, that have advanced how robots could work not just for us but with us. Hosted by Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots, The Moonshot Podcast goes behind the scenes with the engineers and inventors using breakthrough technologies to try to find radical solutions to the world’s biggest problems. These are the untold stories from 15 years of Google’s innovation lab. Thank you to Catie Cuan, Hans Peter Brondmo, James Manyika and Wendy Tan White for featuring in this episode.  The Moonshot Podcast is a Blanchard House production for X, the moonshot factory. It’s produced by Ellie Sans and Sophie Eastaugh. Original music by Louis Nanke-Mannell and Daniel Lloyd-Evans. Sound design and mix engineering by Toby Matimong. The executive producers are Amica Sciortino Nowlan and Rebecca Maxted.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    59 min
  6. Episode 6: Trash to Treasure

    EPISODE 6

    Episode 6: Trash to Treasure

    What if waste wasn’t the end of the story – but the start of something new? In this episode of The Moonshot Podcast, we explore Delta, a Moonshot to help feed the millions of Americans facing food insecurity, and X’s Moonshot for Circularity which is working to design waste systems that are more resilient, more adaptable, and more intelligent from the outset. This isn’t just about cleaning up – it’s about building a world where nothing useful gets thrown away. Hosted by Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots, The Moonshot Podcast goes behind the scenes with the engineers and inventors using breakthrough technologies to try to find radical solutions to the world’s biggest problems. These are the untold stories from 15 years of Google’s innovation lab. Thank you to Emily Ma, Mark Mollenkopf, Rey Banatao, Emma Lingle and Chef Monet for featuring in this episode.  The Moonshot Podcast is a Blanchard House production for X, the moonshot factory. It’s produced by Ellie Sans and Sophie Eastaugh. Original music by Louis Nanke-Mannell and Daniel Lloyd-Evans. Sound design and mix engineering by Toby Matimong. The executive producers are Amica Sciortino Nowlan and Rebecca Maxted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    54 min
See All Season 1 (6)

Trailer

4.8
out of 5
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About

What if the keys to solve the world’s hardest problems – food security, energy resilience, the digital divide – were already within our grasp? Welcome to The Moonshot Podcast, where we go behind the scenes at X, The Moonshot Factory, to celebrate 15 years of Google’s innovation laboratory. Hosted by Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots, this series gives you unprecedented access to the radical ideas and fearless inventors working to build a future we want to live in. Explore real-world moonshots—from self-driving cars to AI-powered disaster prediction—and discover the messy, exhilarating journey of creating breakthrough technologies with the potential to reshape our world.  Some ideas will succeed. Some will fail. But every moonshot moves us forward. Subscribe now to The Moonshot Podcast, a Blanchard House production for X, The Moonshot Factory.

Information

  • Creator
    X, The Moonshot Factory
  • Episodes
    7
  • Seasons
    1
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    2025 X, The Moonshot Factory ©
  • Show Website
    The Moonshot Podcast

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