What If Instead? Podcast

Alejandro Juárez Crawford, Miriam Plavin-Masterman, ITSPmagazine, Srijan Banik
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A podcast co-hosted by Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Mim Plavin-Masterman. A show about everyday people reimagining the way things work—and tackling the obstacles they face. We explore adventures in democratizing innovation—how the chance to try one’s hand at something new affects people and even organizations, what “powers” they discover and what challenges they face along the way. We dig into access: what determines who gets the chance to try and disrupt the way things work? We examine obstacles in specific industries and communities, and go deep with people working to break through them. We look closely at the role of tech—how it can equip or disempower people to build experiments of their own—and society: what leads us to accept a role as consumers of the way things work, and what it means to discover our powers to ask in practice, “What if instead?” Producer of the What If Instead? Podcast: Srijan Banik

  1. The Invisible Bridge Between Two Worlds | Antonio Castillo

    MAR 16

    The Invisible Bridge Between Two Worlds | Antonio Castillo

    What if Instead? is produced with generous support from: The Democratizing Innovation Institute Ever look around you and ask what if instead things worked differently? The institute takes what we used to think only innovators and entrepreneurs did, and makes it normal.   We're on a mission to provide the tools, the space, and the connections to ask the question in practice—by taking part in an experiment in how things could work. Social Impact Lab BRACU   Learn More About: TEDx: The Problem with Your Cup of Coffee | Antonio Castillo Finca La Lechuza Coffee Roasters 7 Jaguars Coffee Ceiba Coffee Solutions Youtube Instagram Lead the Change: The Bard MBA in Sustainability Instagram Facebook One Size Fits None: Time for an Entrepreneurial Revolution   Key Themes & Insights: The Invisible Bridge Between Worlds — Making the unseen connection between consumer and farmer visible as the foundation for structural change. Efficiency at Whose Cost? — Reframing the industry's optimization logic by asking who actually captures the gains and who bears the hidden costs. Storytelling as an Economic Tool — Treating narrative not as marketing but as a structural lever that shifts bargaining power back to producers. Courage as a Collective Practice — Showing that courage is built incrementally through community and iteration, not something you start with. The Value of Artisan Process — Arguing that craft and provenance aren't lifestyle preferences but the architecture of a different kind of economy.   More From What If Instead?   Diseconomies of Scale | Michael Shuman Mentorship & Collaboration: The Alignment That Changes The World | Evelina Van Mensel and Martin Nedev Talking To People Who Think Like Us Has Made Us Stagnant | Trevor Vaughn and Hunter Buffington A System for Unexpected Connections | David Garrison           Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    58 min

  2. JAN 15

    A System for Unexpected Connections | David Garrison

    Learn More About: Connect Networks One Size Fits None: Time for an Entrepreneurial Revolution Climate & Capital Connect Climate & Capital Media   Sponsors: Democratizing Innovation Social Impact Lab   Key Themes & Insights: The Power of Intentional Networking: How treating connections as systems — not byproducts — changes the way people, ideas, and opportunities intersect. Mutual Value Over Transactions: Why thinking long-term and reciprocity-first can create more resilient and unexpected collaborations. Practical Frameworks for Connection: Actionable ideas for structuring your own Rolodex, calendar, or network flows to support discovery and innovation. Overcoming Scarcity Mindsets: Reframing the fear of “giving away your contacts” toward seeing shared connections as generative.   More From What If Instead? Mentorship & Collaboration: The Alignment That Changes The World — Evelina Van Mensel & Martin Nedev Unlocking Potential Through Experiential Learning — Tomas Mora Selva & Huang Wei-Jou What If Philanthropy Got It Right? — Robert Osborne  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    58 min

  3. 07/29/2025

    The Energy Transition: Not if, but When | Susan Hunt Stevens

    Key Takeaways/Calls to Action: For Individuals: Actively experiment in your career to find genuine fulfillment. Consciously manage your "personal overhead" to maximize your agility and options. Consider how your time, talent, and resources can be directed toward solving pressing global challenges.For Innovators & Entrepreneurs: Beyond celebrating disruption, take full accountability for the "second-order effects" and broader societal impacts of your innovations.For Society & Policy Leaders: Proactively implement "hospice care" strategies to support individuals and communities affected by systemic transitions. Structure incentives and "bounties" to accelerate vital innovations, outcompeting entrenched, inferior old systems. Critically, understand that the energy transition is an inevitable "when," and global leadership will fall to those who embrace and invest in this future now.Suggested Resources CIBO Technologies – Scaling regenerative incentivesXPRIZE (for Carbon Removal) – Innovation through competitionSpark Global – Climate innovation with a systems lens Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    45 min

  4. 07/10/2025

    Beyond “Just Change Your Perspective” | Sage Brody

    Suggested Reading & Listeninghttps://www.rhythmofregulation.com/polyvagal-theoryhttps://leveninstitute.com/who-we-are/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    46 min

  5. 06/22/2025

    Who Am I to Do This? (And Why I Did Anyway) | Dan Lee

    Suggested Reading & ListeningDan Lee's Congressional Campaign YURA HealthRun For SomethingThe Arena PAC Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    39 min

  6. 06/04/2025

    Diseconomies of Scale | Michael Shuman

    Key Concepts & Themes: Pre-Copernican Economics: The central metaphor for the outdated, pre-Copernican economic models that insist on globalization and scale above all else, despite evidence that localized systems are often more resilient and competitive.The "Scale" Fallacy: The conversation challenges the common wisdom that to "scale" a business means to make it as big as possible. Instead, Moose argues for finding the right scale for the right mission.Investment Crowdfunding: A revolutionary shift in securities law that now allows everyday people to invest small amounts of money in the local businesses they love, historically a prohibitively expensive process. In just eight years, it has directed $2 billion to 7,000 companies.The Service Economy: The observation that modern economies have flipped from being goods-dominant to service-dominant (70% of expenditures). This inherently favors local, relationship-based businesses over distant corporations.Comparative Advantage Re-examined: The hosts and Shuman break down David Ricardo's foundational economic theory, pointing out its critical flaws in a world where capital, but not labor, is mobile.BIMBY ("Begin In My Backyard"): A positive reframing of the NIMBY concept, suggesting that global change and innovation are most powerful when they start with local action and problem-solving.Suggested Reading & ListeningPut Your Money Where Your Life Is – Michael H. ShumanThe Local Economy Solution – Michael H. ShumanThe Main Street JournalCommunity Economics at Post Carbon InstituteMichael Shuman’s Blog Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    52 min

  7. 05/12/2025

    What If Philanthropy Got It Right? Robert Osborne on What if Instead?

    Our guest, Robert Osborne, principal of The Osborne Group, brings 25 years of experience working with nonprofits and funders. Together, we explore: Why most philanthropic money never reaches grassroots, community-led organizationsHow donor-advised funds and endowments lock away billions while urgent needs go unmetThe limits of “charity” and the need to center justice insteadWhether measuring impact helps or distracts from real changeAnd yes… how toile curtains and a fictional band called The Goody Two-Shoes Subversives tie it all togetherFrom critique to creativity, we imagine what a more democratic, community-centered, and accountable philanthropic system could look like — and what would need to shift to make it real.  Editorial Producer: Kyriaki (Claire) Lampidou Producer: Srijan Banik Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    37 min

  8. 03/27/2025

    Unlocking Potential Through Experiential Learning | A Conversation with Tomás Mora Selva & Huang Wei-Jou | What If Instead? Podcast with Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Miriam Plavin-Masterman

    Guests:  Tomás Mora Selva, Cofounder, Youth BCN and Youth HUB; Head of Experiential Learning, RebelBase; Cofounder, Democratizing Innovation Institute; and Board Member, I.D.E.A Huang Wei-Jou, Student, Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University Hosts:  Alejandro Juárez Crawford On ITSPmagazine  👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/alejandro-juarez-crawford Miriam Plavin-Masterman On ITSPmagazine  👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/miriam-plavin-masterman ______________________ Episode Introduction Tomás Mora Selva and Huang Wei-Jou share their insights on how non-formal education fosters creativity, collaboration, and personal growth. Tomás and Wei-Jou’s discussion explores the dynamics of experiential learning, mentorship, and the impact of cultural differences in education.The guests highlight the importance of enabling students to take ownership of their learning and the transformative power of project-based experiences. Join us and learn more about the challenges and rewards of working in diverse teams and the potential for scaling these educational approaches globally. ______________________ Resources Greenies: https://app.rebelbase.co/project/3611 Repurpose (BRACU): https://app.rebelbase.co/project/4371 Youth BCN: https://youthbcn.com/, https://www.instagram.com/youthbcn_official/?hl=es Youth HUB: https://youthhubnet.com/ ______________________ Episode Sponsors Are you interested in sponsoring an ITSPmagazine Channel? 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/sponsor-the-itspmagazine-podcast-network ______________________ For more podcast stories from What If Instead? Podcast with Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Miriam Plavin-Masterman, visit: https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/alejandro-juarez-crawford and https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/miriam-plavin-masterman Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    1h 15m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

A podcast co-hosted by Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Mim Plavin-Masterman. A show about everyday people reimagining the way things work—and tackling the obstacles they face. We explore adventures in democratizing innovation—how the chance to try one’s hand at something new affects people and even organizations, what “powers” they discover and what challenges they face along the way. We dig into access: what determines who gets the chance to try and disrupt the way things work? We examine obstacles in specific industries and communities, and go deep with people working to break through them. We look closely at the role of tech—how it can equip or disempower people to build experiments of their own—and society: what leads us to accept a role as consumers of the way things work, and what it means to discover our powers to ask in practice, “What if instead?” Producer of the What If Instead? Podcast: Srijan Banik

Information

  • Creator
    Alejandro Juárez Crawford, Miriam Plavin-Masterman, ITSPmagazine, Srijan Banik
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    29
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2015 - 2024 ITSPmagazine
  • Show Website
    What If Instead? Podcast