#04 - Charles Fishman - How Apollo Transformed the World : Lessons Beyond America

We spend a lot of time asking what AI can do. Write software. Analyse a company. Design an experiment. A harder question follows: if those capabilities become widely available, where does value move? That was the starting point for our conversation with Omri Amirav-Drory, a scientist, founder, and general partner who leads NFX Bio. Before becoming an investor, he founded Genome Compiler, which was acquired by Twist Bioscience. We connected through his essay, The Case for Venture Capital in the Age of Superintelligence. It asks what investors should fund when AI might eventually outperform the companies—and investors—they back. nfx.com Omri is refreshingly willing to include himself in that question. “Everybody has their own excuse why their job is special.” His answer takes us through robotics, biology, longevity, and the future of work. The thread connecting them is simple: as one capability becomes abundant, the opportunity moves towards whatever still constrains progress. Three ideas to take into the episode: Faster intelligence still has to work through the physical world. Biology could become a much larger frontier for company building. Abundance changes what is valuable—and what gives people meaning.

We're joined by Professor Jacopo Buongiorno, Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT, Director of the Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems, and Director of Science and Technology at the MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory. His research spans reactor safety, advanced nuclear systems, small modular reactors, microreactors, and the future of nuclear energy in a carbon-constrained world. Jacopo’s central argument is clear and balanced: nuclear is not the answer to every energy problem, but it is very likely part of any serious solution. It is low-carbon, extremely reliable, incredibly energy dense, and physically compact. But the challenge is no longer whether nuclear works. The challenge is whether the West still remembers how to build it — on time, on budget, and at scale.

We're joined by David E. Spiro, political scientist and author of The Hidden Hand of American Hegemony: Petrodollar Recycling and International Markets.

We're joined by Ian Morris, British historian, archaeologist, and author of Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels

We’re joined by Professor Tim Minshall, a leading authority on innovation and industrial strategy, and one of the most influential voices shaping how ideas move from labs into the real economy.