SHIFT

Hosted by Jennifer Strong

Technology

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167

Latest episode

Oct 2026

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About the show

Hosted by Jennifer Strong, SHIFT is a weekly podcast taking a closer look at the far-reaching impact of automation on our daily lives. From policy to process, we seek to understand how lives are changing alongside rapid breakthroughs in frontier technologies and artificial intelligence. Join us as we navigate the challenges and opportunities presented by this reshaped reality. ]]>

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October 28, 202625 min

What Religion Can Teach Silicon Valley About AI

If you listen to how technologists talk about the AI they’re building, you might hear some words that sound more religious than technical: transcendence, transformation, a new kind of being..? Meanwhile, multiple religious traditions have developed sophisticated frameworks for thinking about what makes something conscious, so while it’s been easy to assume that religion and technology don’t have much to say to each other, what if they actually do? We Meet: Harvard Berkman Klein Center Fellow DZ Kalman works at the intersection of religion and technology. Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

October 21, 202618 min

The Cows Don’t Read the Forecast

AI is helping turn the dairy supply chain from push to pull, but milk still shows up whether anyone ordered it. Land O’Lakes’ CTO on AI in a business run by animals and weather We Meet: Teddy Bekele is the chief technology officer at Land O'Lakes Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

October 14, 202624 min

Ready for Fish-Free Fish?

What would you say if someone offered you a taste of a salmon filet that doesn’t contain fish? The protein content, carbs, and even the omega 3s are basically the same, but what it doesn’t contain are things like microplastics and mercury. Join us for a factory tour of a startup called New School Foods for a peek at the next-generation of plant-based protein. This episode originally aired in August 2025. We Meet: New School Foods CEO Chris Bryson Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

October 7, 202618 min

Who Owns the Future of Music?

As AI blurs the line between creator and machine, the rules around ownership, value, and originality are all being rewritten. This week, we explore what it means for the music industry. This episode was taped before a live audience in Amsterdam at the tech conference HumanX. We Meet: Ghazi Shami is the Founder and CEO of Empire Andrea Czapary Martin is the CEO of PRS for Music Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

September 30, 202618 min

The Next Interface: Why AI Needs Physical Products

As AI moves beyond the screen and into the physical world, the next generation of intelligent products will be defined less by bigger models than by context, trust, and the ability to act. We caught up with renowned industrial designer Robert Brunner at HumanX Amsterdam. Brunner designed a number of products that have gone on to define the way we live with technology, including Apple’s original PowerBook laptop and Beats by Dre. We Meet: Robert Brunner, Founder & Creative Director of Ammunition Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

September 23, 202617 min

Why the Chatbot Shopping Boom Fizzled

Nasrin Mostafazadeh, co-founder and CEO of Verneek, traces her path from a teenage robotics champion to founding an AI company with a boy at that same robotics competition, who later became her husband. She explains why 2026's wave of generic LLM shopping integrations largely failed, and how Verneek's domain-specific AI cut Nordstrom's product-tagging time by 20x while beating human accuracy by 20%. We meet: Co-founder & CEO of Verneek Nasrin Mostafazadeh Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

September 16, 202623 min

AGI Is the Wrong Question

Neo4j CTO Philip Rathle on why the AI systems reaching production aren't monolithic LLMs, and why "attackers think in graphs" even when defenders don't. Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

September 9, 202618 min

Geography is Everything

From deciding where to build a new business, airport or fire station, to understanding the potential impact of decisions regarding conservation or governance, people make billions of maps everyday using GIS. We explore the history and evolution of this tech with one of its pioneers, in the latest installment of our oral history project. This episode originally aired in November 2024. We Meet: Esri Founder & President Jack Dangermond Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens, and it was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

September 2, 202614 min

Meet MAMA, the Mothers Fighting Against Media Addiction

We know that kids spending time on social media are more likely to experience depression and anxiety. Less clear, and far more contentious, is the role we expect of schools, governments, and tech companies, and some parents are organizing. We Meet: Mothers Against Media Addiction (MAMA) Founder Julie Scelfo This episode of our oral history project originally aired in March 2025. Since then, MAMA has grown to nearly 50 chapters nationwide, and a California court found Meta and YouTube liable for designing addictive products that harm kids - a case Scelfo has called a major win for the movement. Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

August 26, 202617 min

The Hard Part Wasn't Space

Planet co-founder Robbie Schingler argues AI's next leap requires teaching it about the physical world, not just text. Join us as he traces the company's path from university dorm-room satellites to a daily record of the planet, in the latest installment of our oral history project. We Meet: Planet Labs co-founder Robbie Schingler Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.