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Artificial Intelligence
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Solar Power
Gene Therapy
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China
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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 ... more

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes200Founded4 years ago
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Artwork for What's Your Problem?

Latest Episodes

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 – incl... more

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 ... more

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 ... more

The apples you can buy at the grocery store have gotten profoundly better over the past few decades. It’s a kind of everyday, hiding-in-plain sight innovation.  Kate Evans is an apple breeder and professor at Washington State University. Kate's probl... more

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Recent Guests

Brian McClendon
Chief Technology Officer at Niantic Spatial
Niantic Spatial
Episode: Using Pokémon Go to Map the World
Dan Shipper
Co-founder and CEO of Every
Every
Episode: The Company Where Everyone Has Their Own AI Agent
Kate Evans
Professor in the Department of Horticulture at Washington State University
Washington State University
Episode: Inventing a Better Apple
Rob Meyerson
Co-founder and CEO of Interlune
Interlune
Episode: Building a Business on the Moon
Aaron Edsinger
Co-founder and CEO of Hello Robot
Hello Robot
Episode: Building a Robot People Actually Want
Ben Christensen
Co-founder and CEO of Cambium
Cambium
Episode: Turning Waste Wood Into Buildings
Melanie Windridge
Founder of Fusion Energy Insights; co-founder of Fusion X Invest Conferences; founder of Fusion Advisory Services
Fusion Energy Insights / Fusion X Invest / Fusion Advisory Services
Episode: The Great Fusion Debate: How Far Away Are We Really?
Mark Barrocas
CEO of SharkNinja
SharkNinja
Episode: How SharkNinja Keeps Going Viral
Jacob Goldstein
Journalist and host of What's Your Problem? and Business History; author
What's Your Problem?/Planet Money alumni
Episode: From Here We Go Again With Kal Penn: Will Technology Replace Us? with Jacob Goldstein

Host

Jacob Goldstein
Host of What's Your Problem?, Pushkin Industries / What's Your Problem?

Reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars from 595 ratings
  • Delete the Process, Crash the Car

    The advertisements are annoying, frequent and blaring.

    Interesting topic but turned off when it was revealed the guest was an Elon Musk fan. Sure it’s possible to work faster but when it comes to public safety this can result in cars that crash and kill people, rockets that crash land in areas where rockets shouldn’t crash. Then there is what was done to Twitter and to democracy and government. Very broken and toxic. Delete the process, demolish the rose garden.

    Musk is also a liar who said he ... more

    Apple Podcasts
    1
    acuteangle
    Australia8 months ago
  • Good, but...

    You have really good content. BUT, you like, can't speak an entire like sentence without like using really distracting like language. Like grow up and learn how to like speak. Your language is like way too like distracting

    Apple Podcasts
    3
    disappointed 206
    United States8 months ago
  • Love the podcast...... Jacob covers lots of interesting topics and the length of the episodes are perfect for when I'm out walking. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is the amount of commercials. I get it, you have to generate income to finance the podcast, but a recent episode i listened to had almost 10 minutes of commercials in the 28 minute length.

    Podcast Addict
    4
    kathyaj
    9 months ago
  • Fantastic

    Jacob, come on, Nan kept explaining that their climate capture strategy is the opposite of a marginal investor (they are a first mover investor at much higher than marginal cost ) and you kept repeating marginal several times!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Charly358
    United Kingdom10 months ago
  • Knowledge and Hope

    This might be my favorite podcast. So many interesting solutions to important current problems. It gives me hope for the future. Jacob has become a great interface between the science, scientist and the listener.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    🌻Jocelyn🌻
    United States10 months ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Listeners value the mix of deep tech topics with practical business insight, and appreciate the guest diversity.
Some reviews note improved interview style over time and praise the host's curiosity.
A recurring critique mentions ads and occasional interruptions impacting listening experience.
Positive feedback often highlights inspiring conversations and broad coverage of innovative solutions.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts
#127
United States/Technology
Apple Podcasts
#145
Canada/Technology
Apple Podcasts
#196
United Kingdom/Technology
Apple Podcasts
#141
Australia/Technology
Apple Podcasts
#14
Indonesia/Technology
Apple Podcasts
#57
Argentina/Technology

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Using Pokémon Go to Map the World
Q: What are the core challenges in creating 3D world models for robotics and AR?
Three-dimensional data must be rich enough to support precise localization even when obstructions like trees and dynamic environments exist; AI must infer structure behind occlusions, leverage multiple data sources (ground imagery, drone, satellite), and maintain city-scale coverage without prohibitive cost.
Using Pokémon Go to Map the World
Q: What sparked the shift toward using consumer-generated content like Pokemon Go for mapping?
Pokemon Go players generated massive amounts of spatial data; the idea was to convert that gameplay-driven data into a conscious mapping effort, collecting videos and locations to build more accurate 3D representations of real-world spaces for AR and robotics.
Using Pokémon Go to Map the World
Q: How did the early map data landscape evolve from 2D maps to Street View and beyond?
The insight was that existing 2D data and third-party map providers were insufficient; driving a fleet of cars to capture street-level imagery created a data-rich input that, when aligned with map data, dramatically improved accuracy and revealed where maps were wrong, leading to Google Maps and Street View becoming foundational.
Inventing a Better Apple
Q: What's next after Sunflair?
It depends on identifying a stable, robust trait blend that can survive environmental variation; breeders are cautious and aim to avoid a fatal flaw that could derail commercialization.
Inventing a Better Apple
Q: How has technology changed your work over the years?
Advances in genomics and molecular tools help us understand polygenic traits and gene expression, but the complexity remains high, so progress is incremental and requires long-term evaluation across many years and environments.

Audience Metrics

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Frequently Asked Questions About What's Your Problem?

What is What's Your Problem? about and what kind of topics does it cover?

A tech-leaning interview show where a seasoned journalist speaks with founders, engineers, and researchers about high-impact problems at the intersection of technology, policy, and society. Guests range from AI practitioners and space entrepreneurs to agricultural biotechnologists and consumer hardware leaders, yielding conversations that mix practical product insights with broader implications for work, safety, and public policy. Notable throughlines include how AI augments work and creativity, practical near-term applications of advanced tech, and the social and economic dynamics surrounding emerging technologies. The host's style has evolved to feature more attentive, topic-driven dialogue with a diverse slate of guests, making the serie... more

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1. Business History
2. Planet Money
3. Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford
4. The Economics of Everyday Things
5. The Indicator from Planet Money

How many episodes of What's Your Problem? are there?

What's Your Problem? launched 4 years ago and published 200 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on What's Your Problem??

Recent guests on What's Your Problem? include:

1. Brian McClendon
2. Dan Shipper
3. Kate Evans
4. Rob Meyerson
5. Aaron Edsinger
6. Ben Christensen
7. Melanie Windridge
8. Mark Barrocas

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