Tech Optimism, Breaking Rules and Innovating Bionics
Hello and welcome back to my weekly newsletter where I do my best to curate five pieces of interesting, informative and, hopefully, inspiring content for your weekend pleasure.
Here goes...
PODCAST
"I have always believed that being curious is better than being afraid – for when we are curious, we get inventive whereas when we are afraid, we get destructive."
This week, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Dr. John Maeda and in this wide-ranging conversation, John and I discuss his career including MIT and his work as President at Rhode Island School of Design, his book How to Speak Machine: Computational Thinking for the Rest of Us as well as the leadership lessons he has learned throughout his career through the high times and, more importantly, the bad, how we can create a world of optimism akin to the Obama era and why we should all remain curious creatures.
Listen here.
QUOTE
INTERVIEW
Hugh Herr is an incredible human being. Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at MIT Media Lab, and co-lead of the Yang Center for Bionics at MIT. Hugh is creating bionic limbs that emulate the function of natural limbs. Time Magazine coined Dr. Herr the "Leader of the Bionic Age" because of his revolutionary work in the emerging field of Biomechatronics - technology that marries human physiology with electromechanics. A double amputee himself, he is responsible for breakthrough advances in bionic limbs that provide greater mobility and new hope to those with physical disabilities.
Watch this fantastic interview with Hugh here.
READ
I often talk on the podcast about the challenging times founders have found themselves in and with a global recession and the fallout from war and post pandemic ever-present, it is nice to read about an optimistic future.
Game designer and author Jane McGonigal has written Imaginable. The books' blurb says, "Today it feels more challenging than ever to feel unafraid, hopeful, and equipped to face the future with optimism. How do we map out our lives when it seems impossible to predict what the world will be like next week, let alone next year or next decade? What we need now are strategies to help us recover our confidence and creativity in facing uncertain futures."
Buy the book here.
WATCH
The Playlist is a docu-drama miniseries created for Netflix and inspired by the book, written by Sven Carlsson and Jonas Leijonhufvud. The series tells a somewhat fictionalized story of the birth of the Swedish music streaming company, Spotify along with its early challenges.
Led by Daniel Ek, a group of passionate young entrepreneurs come together in what seems to be the impossible task to change the music industry - and the world. They set out to create a legal streaming service for music.
Watch the trailer here.
-----------------
Hope you enjoyed the newsletter this week, as well as the podcast. As always, thank you for supporting - I greatly appreciate it.
Danielle