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What's Your Problem?

What's Your Problem?

By: iHeartPodcasts and Pushkin Industries
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Every week on What's Your Problem?, former Planet Money host Jacob Goldstein talks with entrepreneurs and engineers tackling the biggest challenges at the forefront of technology. How do you make a trip to space as routine as a plane flight? How do you turn solar energy into clean fuel? How do you use AI to stop deadly infections before they spread? We hear a lot these days about how the world is getting worse. What's Your Problem? learns from the thinkers and doers trying to make our future better.

iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.

2026 Pushkin Industries 2025
Economics Leadership Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • Finding Meaning (and Money) in the AI Age
    Jun 18 2026

    Betsey Stevenson is a labor economist at the University of Michigan, and she was an economic adviser to President Obama. Betsey’s problem is this: How can we create a world where the benefits of AI are broadly shared?

    Betsey draws on history – including how the invention of household appliances created a crisis of meaning for American women – to understand how we should respond to the challenge of AI. And she suggests policies to help spread the wealth AI could bring.

    In this episode, Betsey explains:

    • How Engels’ Pause serves as a warning for workers
    • How 20th century women adapted to automation
    • How AI has changed life for college students
    • The argument for taxing AI firms and distributing the proceeds to the public

    Connect with us:

    • Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram
    • Email us at problem@pushkin.fm
    • Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X
    • Listen to Jacob’s other show, Business History
    • To listen to the show early and ad free, sign up for Pushkin+

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Show More Show Less
    48 mins
  • Using Pokémon Go to Map the World
    May 28 2026

    Maps have gotten much better over the past few decades. But they're still mostly two dimensional, and they struggle to keep up with a world that is always changing. Brian McClendon is the Chief Technology Officer of Niantic Spatial, a spinout of the company that makes Pokémon Go. Brian's problem is this: How do you build a three-dimensional map of the world that both robots and humans can use to find their way?

    In this episode, Brian explains:

    • What he learned building Google Earth
    • How Pokémon Go players helped build the foundation for robot navigation
    • What it will take to teach AI to understand the physical world.
    • Why GPS is so bad in cities
    •  Why trees are such a big problem for digital mapmakers

    Connect with us:

    • Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram
    • Email us at problem@pushkin.fm
    • Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X
    • Listen to Jacob’s other show, Business History
    • To listen to the show early and ad free, sign up for Pushkin+

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Show More Show Less
    36 mins
  • The Company Where Everyone Has Their Own AI Agent
    May 21 2026

    Dan Shipper is the co-founder and CEO of Every, a company that publishes newsletters about AI, develops AI-related software, and helps other companies use AI. Dan has two problems. One, how do you build a company where almost everybody has their own AI agent? And two, how do you use AI as a tool to improve your writing, rather than as a replacement for writing?

    In this episode, Dan explains:

    • Why managing agents will be a core skill of the future
    • Why AI agents won’t replace you anytime soon
    • How writers learn faster than AI models
    • How to give AI the social skills to work in group settings
    • How AI can help you better understand yourself

    Check out Every at their website: https://every.to/

    Connect with us:

    • Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram
    • Email us at problem@pushkin.fm
    • Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X
    • Listen to Jacob’s other show, Business History
    • To listen to the show early and ad free, sign up for Pushkin+

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Show More Show Less
    41 mins
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