Thinking on Paper: Technology, For Disruptors & Curious Minds™

Thinking On Paper
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Stop! No more noise. No more shortcuts. No more ChatGPT summaries. If you're tired of the fanfare and the hype and the billionaires telling you how you should think, take a seat. We've got no budget, no fancy editing, no sponsors. This is us. All of us. Learning in real time about the real impact of technology on work, family, life, thinking, school and the goddamn beautiful human condition. Thinking on Paper is not another feed of headlines. Not another carousel of clickbait, shouting, or echo chambers. Not another one-size-fits-all technology podcast that treats its audience like consumers

  1. Beyond Q-Day: IBM’s Lory Thorpe on Mastering Post-Quantum Cryptography

    6H AGO

    Beyond Q-Day: IBM’s Lory Thorpe on Mastering Post-Quantum Cryptography

    IBM's Lory Thorpe warns that quantum computers could soon crack the encryption protecting our banks, health records, and personal data, enabling "harvest now, decrypt later" attacks that threaten global security. Through IBM's collaboration with NIST and major institutions, she's racing to develop quantum-resistant algorithms before current encryption systems become obsolete. Join hosts Mark Fielding and Jeremy Gilbertson to explore how organizations and individuals can prepare for this looming cryptographic crisis, featuring insights from Apple's quantum-safe iMessage initiative. Please enjoy the show. -- TIMESTAMPS (00:00) Intro: Disruptors and Curious Minds (02:30) Meet Lory Thorpe of IBM Quantum (03:21) Lory’s Journey: From Telecom to Quantum Security (07:01) Why Healthcare Needs Post-Quantum Protection (09:41) "Harvest Now, Decrypt Later": The Quantum Data Risk (12:00) IBM’s Work with Governments and Regulators (16:30) Cryptography 101: What You Need to Know (18:47) The Cost of Quantum and the Threat to Today’s Encryption (21:20) IBM & NIST: Setting Quantum Standards Together (22:08) Inside the 3 Quantum-Resistant Algorithms (25:17) Apple Adopts Post-Quantum Encryption in iMessage (25:52) Crypto Agility Explained: A Key to Future-Proof Security (29:54) The RSA Encryption Debate: Is the Quantum Threat Overblown? (38:45) Thought Experiment: November 1st, 2031 – The Quantum Deadline (42:51) Where Cryptography Touches Everyday Life (46:57) How AI and Quantum Shape IBM’s Strategy (52:35) Carryover Question for Next Episode-- Follow Thinking On Paper: Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/thinkonpaperpod⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠instagram.com/thinkingonpaperpodcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/@thinkingonpaper/videos⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/company/thinkingonpaper⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- Past guests on The Thinking On Paper Show include: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ciaran Murray⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (web3 for journalists), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Torrey Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Robotics For Medicine), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jason Lynch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Quantum Computing), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Joe Fitzsimons⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Quantum Computing), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dana Sydorenko⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Gaming), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Don Norman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Humanity Centered Design), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mercina Tillerman Perez⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Circle & Crypto), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tyler Adams⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Blockchain), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Todd Haselhorst ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Blockchain for Logistics), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Vince Yang⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (ZK Proofs)

    55 min
  2. D-Wave: The €20 Million Quantum Computer Your Business Can Buy Today - Murray Thom, VP Quantum Technology Evangelism

    6H AGO

    D-Wave: The €20 Million Quantum Computer Your Business Can Buy Today - Murray Thom, VP Quantum Technology Evangelism

    Murray Thom, VP of Quantum Technology Evangelism at D-Wave, joins us to break down how D-Wave’s quantum computing technology (as used by NASA, VW, Lockheed Martin) is tackling complex, high-stakes problems across industries. Learn how D-Wave’s unique use of quantum annealing helps solve real-world challenges, from logistics optimization to drug discovery and traffic management. Murray explains how D-Wave’s hybrid quantum-classical systems maximize computational power by leveraging quantum effects alongside classical computing, enabling optimizations that traditional systems simply can’t match. Discover why D-Wave is trusted by organizations, including NASA, to handle high-dimensional, multi-variable data, delivering immediate benefits in efficiency, productivity, and operational insight. From the development of the first quantum computer to real-world applications, Murray explains how businesses are gaining a competitive edge and solving their toughest challenges with quantum technology. Stay tuned for practical insights, key D-Wave milestones, and a look at what’s next in quantum computing. 🔔And please subscribe. -- TIMESTAMPS(00:00) Introduction to Quantum Innovation(01:22) Meet Murray Thom: Quantum Expert from D-Wave(02:30) How Quantum Incentives Drive Industry Collaboration(05:30) Breaking Down Quantum Complexity for the Real World(07:30) Murray Thom on Joining D-Wave 22 Years Ago(09:02) The Role of Quantum Physics in Real-World Solutions(10:07) Major Milestones in D-Wave’s Quantum Journey(12:36) Understanding Quantum Annealing: A Practical Guide(18:47) Key Benefits of D-Wave’s Quantum Annealing Technology(21:40) D-Wave’s Efficient Power Use: 15kW Explained(23:45) Quantum Computing Through a Pokémon Analogy(25:35) Real-World Impact: Workforce Scheduling with Quantum(31:45) Quantum Systems in Sports Team Optimization(33:02) Tackling Complex Industrial Problems with Quantum(34:48) Portfolio Optimization: Quantum vs. Classical Methods(40:53) What Does a D-Wave Quantum Computer Cost?(42:11) Exploring the D-Wave SDK(44:45) Partnering with D-Wave: What to Expect(45:58) Quantum Collaboration with IBM(49:39) A Question for IBM on Post-Quantum Cryptography -- Follow Thinking On Paper: Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/thinkonpaperpod⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠instagram.com/thinkingonpaperpodcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/@thinkingonpaper/videos⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/company/thinkingonpaper⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- Past guests on The Thinking On Paper Show include: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ciaran Murray⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (web3 for journalists), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Torrey Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Robotics For Medicine), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jason Lynch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Quantum Computing), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Joe Fitzsimons⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Quantum Computing), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dana Sydorenko⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Gaming), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Don Norman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Humanity Centered Design), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mercina Tillerman Perez⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Circle & Crypto), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tyler Adams⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Blockchain), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Todd Haselhorst ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Blockchain for Logistics), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Vince Yang⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (ZK Proofs)

    52 min
  3. The NASA Blueprint for Leaving Earth: Humanity’s Exit Plan

    5D AGO

    The NASA Blueprint for Leaving Earth: Humanity’s Exit Plan

    Bootstrapping a space civilization starts with 12 metric tons on the Moon. With a handful of robots, lunar regolith, and a shipping-container’s worth of machinery, you can seed industry that grows across the solar system. Forever.  That might sound like Blade Runner or Aliens, but it’s a serious NASA plan authored by physicists Philip T. Metzger and James Mantovani, chemist Anthony Muscatello, and aerospace engineer Robert Mueller at Kennedy Space Center. Their thesis: a modest payload, scaled through generations of teleoperated and then autonomous robots, could create factories that print the future. Asteroid mining, self-replicating humanoids, and a real shot at industry - and life - beyond Earth. In this Pocket Edition of Thinking on Paper, Mark and Jeremy break down the paper. From the economics and power struggles, to moon-excavator jokes, they push the plan through both curiosity and skepticism. Look inside: • The existential fork: stay tethered to Earth, or carry our culture into the stars • How to bootstrap lunar industry: swarms of diggers, 3D printing, and factories that evolve step by step • The economics: falling launch costs that make exponential growth plausible • The human role: what it means to teleoperate robots across a two-second lag, and when autonomy takes over • Mission control as metaverse: virtual twins, VR, and the limits of remote industry • The ledger of ambition: corporate incentives, monopolies, and whether human nature derails the plan The larger conversation: every frontier technology looks clean on paper, then collides with power. AI, quantum, robotics, or space, the pattern is the same.  Technical progress is exponential. Human governance is slow. This episode asks the real question: are we leaving Earth for survival, or ambition? No utopian hand-waving, no PR spin. Just a sharp, playful conversation about what it would take to become a spacefaring species, and what might break us along the way. Stay curious. Stay disruptive. Keep Thinking on Paper. Subscribe if you think the hardest part of leaving Earth isn’t the tech. It’s us. -- TIMESTAMPS (00:00) Trailer (02:05) The Vision for Humanity's Future in Space (03:22) Affordable Rapid Bootstrapping of Space Industry (04:58) The Role of Resources in Space Expansion (05:06) Technological Advancements and Robotics (08:12) Generational Development of Lunar Industry (09:42) The Evolution of AI and Automation in Space (10:47) The Future of Humanity Beyond Earth (14:25) Exploring Space-Based Solar Power (15:23) The Future of Robotics and AI in Space (17:21) Challenges of Teleoperation in Lunar Environments (18:05) The Ambitious Vision for Space Manufacturing (20:25) Terraforming Mars vs. Space-Based Manufacturing (22:32) Human Nature and the Future of Space Exploration 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

    26 min
  4. Prompting Won’t Save You. Storytelling Will | Rajeev Kapur | ChatGPT Prompting, AI for mental health & Parenting with AI

    SEP 24

    Prompting Won’t Save You. Storytelling Will | Rajeev Kapur | ChatGPT Prompting, AI for mental health & Parenting with AI

    A teenager with ChatGPT built a $2M business. Another took his own life. Same tool. AI and Big Tech won’t decide the winners, people will. The future belongs to those who can still tell stories, frame ideas, and think critically. Access isn’t the differentiator anymore. How you use it is. In this episode, Rajeev Kapur, named by Forbes as the leading voice in democratizing AI, joins Thinking on Paper to map what true AI access could mean for the world. From favelas in Brazil to classrooms in the U.S., a smartphone is now a portal to mentorship, education, and entrepreneurship once locked inside Silicon Valley. Mark and Jeremy Think On Paper with Rajeev about: - Why prompting is about storytelling, not shortcuts - Real-world stories: a student launching a million-dollar venture, a chef retooling her restaurant, a CEO finding a lifeline - The Surface-Area Test of deepfakes, mental health, and empathy manipulation - What regulation, education, and intentional leadership must do to avoid dystopia Rajeev argues we’re standing at the threshold of a new age of enlightenment; if we build the skills to match the access. Technology is reorganising power faster than institutions can adapt. Here we separate signal from slop. If you got the signal, pass it on. And remember: Stay curious. Stay disruptive. Keep Thinking On Paper. -- 🕓 TIMESTAMPS Trailer: (00:00) How Do We Democratize AI: (02:30) Case Studies: How AI Is Being Used By Business Today: (05:44) Outsourcing and AI Transform Businesses: (06:31)  How To Prompt Better: (08:08) Using ChatGPT For Mental Health: (09:25) AIs Manipulation Of Empathy: (13:44)  AI Advice For Parents: (14:49) Deepfakes & Guardrails: (19:45) Entrepreneur Spikes (26:19) What Should Humans Be? (28:28)  -- 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 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWEuQmPcqJ8

    30 min
  5. Kevin Kelly: WIRED Founder On A Clearer Way to Think About AI and Technology

    SEP 20

    Kevin Kelly: WIRED Founder On A Clearer Way to Think About AI and Technology

    Kevin Kelly has spent 40 years asking one question: what is technology really? He is the founding editor of Wired. His books have shaped how we think about innovation, the future of technology, and what works. His voice has been present at every major technological shift, from the early internet to AI today. His influence has reached all the way to this podcast. His essays and ideas are often places we return to for deep thought and reflection. Kevin Kelly is the ultimate curiosity machine, and it was a pleasure to speak with him at length about his ideas, philosophies, and even his jokes. In this conversation, Kevin thinks on paper with Mark and Jeremy about technology as the 7th kingdom of life, as real and alive as plants, animals, and fungi. We get into: Why technology is not separate from us. Kevin argues that tools, machines, and AI are part of the same evolutionary process as biology. Technology is “nature accelerated.” The limits of top-down control. From DAOs to Wikipedia, Kevin explains why bottom-up systems thrive, but also why some hierarchy is unavoidable. AI as creativity, not imitation. He sees large language models as collaborators, capable of surprising outputs that extend human imagination. Artificial aliens. Rather than replicas of us, Kevin believes AIs will become their own kind of consciousness, different and alien but no less real. How tools shape thought. From writing to photography to AI, Kevin shows why every medium changes how we think, and why skill matters as much as the tool itself. The practice of wonder. He shares how noticing, gratitude, and “thinking like a Martian” keep curiosity alive in a world saturated with tech. Kevin Kelly is more than a futurist. He is a thinker who helps us see clearly, reminding us that technology is not a threat from outside but a living system we are already part of. This is a must-watch for anyone who wants to see AI and technology not as hype or fear, but as part of life itself, the 7th kingdom of nature. Please enjoy the show. And remember: stay curious, be disruptive, keep thinking on paper.  -- 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 -- Chapters (00:00) Kevin Kelly On Nature And Technology (02:59) Why Decentralized Systems Still Need Some Hierarchy (09:03) Why DAOs Failed: Immutability Was a Bug (16:46) Is AI Creative? (Yes) & The Coming Emotional Bonds (21:39) AI Consciousness: A Spectrum of Artificial Aliens (29:16) "Write to Discover What You Think" (32:48) Balancing AI Tools & Human Thinking (33:50) AI as a Skill & Powerful Thinking Partner (37:50) Hot Buttons: Future, Bitcoin, Jurassic Park, Aliens? (41:10) How to Cultivate Wonder (Hint: Be a Martian) (49:10) The Power of Saying "I Don't Know" (53:54) Kevin Kelly's Question: What Do We Want Humans To Be?

    38 min
  6. Space-Based Solar Power Explained in 5 Minutes │ Former Solar Lead and Space Energy Insights CEO Sanjay Vijendran

    SEP 18

    Space-Based Solar Power Explained in 5 Minutes │ Former Solar Lead and Space Energy Insights CEO Sanjay Vijendran

    Space-based solar power: what it is, why it wasn’t viable for decades, and what’s changed? ESA’s Former Solar Lead and Space Energy Insights CEO Sanjay Vijendran explains how power beaming works, what’s been proven, and the engineering still to solve. What you’ll learn (in 5 minutes) 🛰️ Why the idea stalled for 50+ years and why falling launch/assembly costs now matter.  🛰️ How wireless power transmission actually works (no cable, no new physics) and what’s been demonstrated since the 1960s.  🛰️ A real test: 2 kW beamed across 36 m in 2022, used to light a model city, run electrolysis, and even cool beers, within safety limits.  🛰️ Near-term vs. long-term uses: megawatt delivery to remote sites vs. gigawatt-scale plants that could power cities.  🛰️ The big hurdle: scaling antennas/rectennas and building kilometer-scale modular arrays assembled by robots in orbit.  Please enjoy the show. And share with a curious friend.  Stay disruptive, be curious, keep Thinking On Paper. 📺 Watch the full show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53c08ygOFyc&t=1074s -- Timestamps (00:00) Why Energy Poverty Still Matters (01:26) How Beaming Power Actually Works (04:09) The Big Problem: Scaling It Up (04:56) Can It Ever Be Affordable? (07:19) Building Solar Farms in Space -- 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

    8 min
  7. Don Norman: The Last Warning - Design Built This Mess. Can It Save Us? │ REMASTERED

    SEP 18

    Don Norman: The Last Warning - Design Built This Mess. Can It Save Us? │ REMASTERED

    At 88, Don Norman, the godfather of design, issues his final warning: the same mindset that gave us convenience also gave us climate collapse, inequality, and fragile institutions. Design isn’t decoration. It’s power. It built the products we use, the systems we depend on, and the crises that now threaten us. “Human-centered” design sounds good, but it isn’t enough. Norman argues it has blinded us to bigger responsibilities , ecosystems, culture, and the generations who will inherit our mistakes. We need Humanity Centered Design. In this conversation Don Norman Thinks on Paper with Mark and Jeremy about: Has human-centered design failed? Why are climate summits designed to fail before they begin? How did STEM education strip out wisdom? Can empathy ever be built into systems at scale? Can humanity centered design help us survive, or will it keep driving us toward collapse?Please enjoy the interview with Don Norman. -- Timestamps (00:09) Why Design Shapes the World We Live In (00:37) How Design Shapes Human Behavior (Often Without Us Noticing) (06:00) Why Most Solutions Don’t Matter — and What Real Design Should Do (09:10) Humanity-Centered Design: What It Really Means (22:16) Can Design Help Us Avoid Collapse? (26:51) Why Communities Hold the Answers, Not Just Experts (28:49) The Spark That Starts Humanity-Centered Design (30:18) How Young Designers Can Change the Future (33:16) Working Together Across Borders (35:39) Measuring What Matters, Not Just What’s Easy (37:06) Why Empathy Can’t Be an Afterthought (42:05) Thinking Beyond the Next Quarter — Business for the Long Term (45:02) Rethinking Education for the Next Generation (46:43) The Hard Questions We Still Need to Answer -- 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

    47 min
  8. Tired of AI Billionaires Screwing Up the World? You Won’t Like This - Empire of AI, Karen Hao: Book Review, Part 2

    SEP 16

    Tired of AI Billionaires Screwing Up the World? You Won’t Like This - Empire of AI, Karen Hao: Book Review, Part 2

    Empire of AI by Karen Hao exposes the hidden workers behind ChatGPT. Content moderators in Kenya, Venezuela, and Colombia paid pennies to train OpenAI’s models. In this episode, Mark gets spicy, Jeremy gets angry and the world wakes up to the human cost of training ChatGPT. It's an Empire of AI book review, but not as you know it. 📖 The hidden labor that trains ChatGPT and other large language models 📖 How Big Tech silences critical voices while racing ahead with AI 📖 Why “ethical AI” often ignores the people actually building it 📖 What Empire of AI reveals about the future of humanity and power     And please, stay disruptive, stay curious, keep thinking on paper. Peace and love. Forever. 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 (02:00) Introduction to Empire of AI & Karen Hao (03:41)Shifting power dynamics in Silicon Valley (03:59) Karen Hao’s warnings in Empire of AI (04:56) Humanity V the relentless race for scale (06:32) The environmental impact of AI systems (07:38) Stochastic parrots: Silencing Critics (09:48) Sam Altman Loves A Military Quote (10:53) What Cost Humanity? (15:14) The global race for AI advancement (18:32) The hidden labor behind ChatGPT (25:07) The ethical dilemma at the heart of AI development

    26 min
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Stop! No more noise. No more shortcuts. No more ChatGPT summaries. If you're tired of the fanfare and the hype and the billionaires telling you how you should think, take a seat. We've got no budget, no fancy editing, no sponsors. This is us. All of us. Learning in real time about the real impact of technology on work, family, life, thinking, school and the goddamn beautiful human condition. Thinking on Paper is not another feed of headlines. Not another carousel of clickbait, shouting, or echo chambers. Not another one-size-fits-all technology podcast that treats its audience like consumers

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