Tectonic
Swissnex
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About This Podcast
With recent health, environmental, and economic crises, the capacity of humankind to innovate its way to a better future is, at times, in doubt. How are science and technology confronting our most foundational global challenges? How can we increase public trust in science? And what are the ethical and political challenges to charting a path of human progress in the 21st century? In this podcast, host Brendan Karch interviews thinkers, writers, scientists, policymakers, and researchers who are tackling these seismic questions. Tectonic is a production of Swissnex in Boston and New York, whose aim is to bring the leading ideas from our hub of academic inquiry to Switzerland and the world, in order to inspire new thinking across disciplinary and national boundaries.
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Recent Episodes
S3E2 Beyond Human Exceptionalism with Christine Webb
As humans, we tend to see ourselves at the top of a natural hierarchy — the most intelligent and successful species on Earth. What if that conviction isn't just wrong, but also dangerous?In this…
S3E1 Defining the Planetary with Jonathan Blake
What do we mean when we talk about the planetary? Why not just use familiar terms like global or international? For the first episode of our new season on planetary diplomacy, we sat down with…
S3 Trailer: What is Planetary Diplomacy?
What would it mean to create a new form of diplomacy, one that represents the interests of the more-than-human world? Welcome to Season 3 of Tectonic, where we’ll be exploring an idea we call…
S2E2 The Most Innovative Square Mile on Earth
Massachusetts and Switzerland both often rank near the top of state and country innovation rankings. Key to this success are innovation zones, and none is more influential than Kendall Square – a…
S2E1 The Foundations of Sustainable Construction
Switzerland famously lacks natural resources, especially wood. To build its modern economy, the mountainous country came to rely heavily on concrete – and today has become a world leader in the…
S1E5 Democratizing Innovation in Cities
The problems of the globe are also the problems of our major cities, especially post-industrial ones: environmental damage, economic inequality, public health crises. Can we solve these problems one…
S1E4 Is the Future of Meat in the Lab?
As our global population continues to expand, and developing societies grow wealthier, our food supply is being stretched thin. In particular, global demand for meat continues to rise – and with it…
S1E3 Renewing our Governance Systems
What’s ailing American politics, and can the underlying ideals of US democracy be renewed? How should the US change its role in the world, and are there alternatives to solving global challenges that…
S1E2 Making Science Work for Policy and the Public
We live an era where we need science more than ever to solve our global challenges, from global warming to pandemics. And yet science often feels under attack from multiple directions. How can…
S1E1 Rebuilding Trust in Institutions
"I think Facebook may be one of these broken institutions, where we actually need to replace it with something different," says Ethan Zuckerman, an early internet pioneer and scholar examining the…
Frequently Asked Questions
Tectonic has published 10 episodes since December 2021, covering topics in Nature, Science.
Tectonic is currently highly active with new episodes every 2 weeks. Average episode length is 24m.
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