Metalearn

Steve O’Hear is a leading technology journalist for Techcrunch where he focuses on European startups, companies and products. Steve has written for some of the world’s top publications and has also started a company himself, co-founding the London and Prague-based startup Beepl, In his role as CEO there, Steve helped the company raise its first round and develop and launch its product A man of many talents he also wrote and directed the critically acclaimed documentary 'In Search of the Valley', which was released in back in 2006 spending one month visiting and talking to many of the valley's biggest personalities. In this episode we discuss:  How technology has affected journalism and changed the rules of the game Steve’s tips and tricks for asking good questions to get the types of answers you’re looking for in an interview The current state of the global tech ecosystem and whether we’re in a bubble or not  We also discuss Steve’s experiences as a founder and filmmaker, which makes this episode a wide-r

Venkatesh Rao is an author, consultant and the founder of the hugely popular blogs Ribbon Farm and Breaking Smart. Ribbonfarm is a multidisciplinary blog focused on strategy and decision-making, while Breaking Smart is devoted to in-depth explorations of the emerging digital economy. Venkat is also the author of the highly acclaimed book on decision-making, Tempo, and offers consulting services in organisational development, strategy and executive coaching, working with a number of prestigious clients like famed VC firm Andreesen Horowitz. In this episode we discuss:  - Venkat’s lessons about the creative process from years of writing on his two blogs - The conditions needed to generate insight from conversation and how Venkat works with the likes of Marc Andreesen from Andreesen Horowitz - Why dialectic is the driving force of any good relationship and a healthy society   This conversation was a lot of fun to record and it was great to chat to Venkat while he was visiting here in London! Whether you want t

Azeem Azhar is a strategist, product entrepreneur and analyst, currently working as the Senior Advisor for AI to the CTO of Accenture. He is also the creator of the Exponential View newsletter and podcast, which offer cutting edge insights into technology, business and society. If you’ve been listening to the show for a while, then you’ll have noticed that technology is a topic I’ve covered extensively – and that’s because I believe understanding tech is an essential part of understanding our modern world and operating effectively in it. Azeem is uniquely positioned to offer insight into the space, given his multidisciplinary background He founded and sold PeerIndex, a company which applied machine learning to large-scale social media graphs to make predictions about web users. As an investor he invests in tech startups, particularly in the AI sector and he has the ear of some of the world’s leading entrepreneurs and technologists In this episode we discuss - Azeem’s lessons as a successful entrepreneur and h

Richard Bowdler is the founder of StoryThis, a company that develops bespoke learning solutions for companies who want to maximise their investment in learning & development and he’s also building a technology platform to end unwanted forgetting and make the world a smarter place. Rich is someone I’ve known for a couple of years now and I was really pleased to finally get him on the show – he’s got a fascinating background having experienced life as a Buddhist, Royal Marine Commando & Memory Expert. In his spare time he also runs an exclusive, invitation-only, peak-performance mind-body training programme for executives.  In this episode we discuss - The learning environment in the military and how it differs to school and university - How Rich first came across memory palaces and how we can all use them to improve our learning and manage our knowledge - The skills that Rich believes are essential to thrive in the 21st century, including the art of personal reinvention So whether you want to boost y

Uri Bram is the bestselling author of Thinking Statistically and the CTO of Umuzi, an educational organisation that supports talented young people to develop the skills needed to access high-value careers. For those of you who are long time listeners, you may remember Uri first appeared on the podcast back on episode 62 where we spoke about key statistical principals, music theory and learning skills from experts. Uri like me is someone who is interested in a number of different areas and he’s been up to a lot since we last spoke, joining Umuzi in South Africa as their CTO. Umuzi teach a range of digital skills, including coding, copywriting and design, using real life projects to make the experience as practical as possible. In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including: How the courses are selected and delivered at Umuzi and how they compare to other alternative education programs Whether there is a tradeoff between training skills and teaching people to think How to choose projects when you

Fritjof Capra is a scientist, educator and author, best known for his groundbreaking work in the fields of Physics and Systems Thinking. Capra first became widely known for his book, The Tao of Physics, which explored the ways in which modern physics was changing our worldview from a mechanistic one to a holistic one.  Since then Fritjof has embarked on a multidisciplinary adventure, exploring the connections between the sciences, producing a remarkable body of work and teaching all over the world. His most recent book, The Systems View of Life integrates the biological, cognitive, social, and ecological dimensions of life into one unified vision, which has implications for politics, economics and how we live our lives. Fritjof also spent a decade studying the notebooks of the ultimate Renaissance Man – the artist, scientist and engineer, Leonardo Da Vinci – producing two books on the subject which show that Leonardo himself was a systems thinker long before the term was even invented.  In this conversation

Alex Beard is an author, speaker and the Senior Director of the Global Learning Lab at Teach for All network of independent organizations working to help all children fulfill their potential. After starting out as an English teacher in a London comprehensive, he completed an MA at the Institute of Education before joining Teach For All.  Alex has travelled around the world in search of the practices that will shape the future of learning and these experiences form the basis of his book Natural Born Learners which he describes as a user's guide to transforming learning in the twenty-first century, Alex’s experiences formed the basis of our discussion in this episode we discuss three big issues, concretised in his experiences: The power of education for development and the dangers of exam factories in South Korea The potential of personalised learning and the dangers of over optimisation in Silicon Valley The human centred model of education and celebration of teachers in Finland We also discuss the personal

Barbara Oakley is an educator and writer who’s empowering people all over the world to learn more effectively. For those of who you who are long time listeners you’ll remember Barb from Episode 46 of the show, where we discussed Barb’s insights from learning skills in the US military and retraining herself as an engineer at the age of 26. She’s best known for her role as the lead instructor on Coursera’s Learning How To Learn, one of the world’s most popular online courses and her bestselling book A Mind for Numbers, which the course was based on. It’s been a year and a half since we last spoke and in that time Barb has released her second MOOC Mindshift and launched a new book, Learning How To Learn, which is a guide at effective learning aimed at kids and teens. In this episode we discuss: Barb’s journey as a thought leader in the learning space Teaching children how to learn effectively Whether the future of online educational content is free This conversation is great as a standalone piece and I’m sure

Andreas M. Antonopoulos is a best-selling author, speaker, educator and one of the world’s top bitcoin and open blockchain experts. You’d have to be living on a planet far, far away to not have heard of Bitcoin and Blockchain technology these days. Whether it’s the daily price movements in Bitcoin or how ICOs are turning some people into millionaires and bankrupting others it’s getting hard to find a signal above the noise. But if you scratch below the surface you’ll realise that Bitcoin and the Blockchain technology it’s built on isn’t a fad – it has the potential to transform the lives of billions of people and transform the world as we know it. If there’s one guy to speak to about all this it’s Andreas. He’s the bestselling author of 4 books, an internationally acclaimed speaker sought all over the world, and he’s even testified in hearings of the Australian and Canadian Senate about cryptocurrencies and their implications for society. In this conversation we dive into a whole range of topics including: -

I recently turned 26 and this summer will be 5 years since I graduated from university, which means I’ve been making my way in the world of work for half a decade. I’ve definitely learned a lot over the last couple of years and while I’ve certainly developed expertise in the field of accelerated learning, I think some of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned have been career related. So in this episode I’m going to share 5 lessons I’ve learned in the last 5 years that will help you level up your career and get you closer to where you want to be. These core lessons are going to sound simple, but I’ll be drawing on my own experience - both good and bad - along with the conversations I’ve had with some remarkable people on the podcast to make them concrete. The purpose of this episode is not to get you to blindly follow what I did – but to get you to reflect on your own experience in a way that gets you to take action that makes sense for your own career ambitions.

Alex Dunsdon is an entrepreneur and investor who thrives on connecting people and ideas. He’s the Co-Founder of the Bakery an innovation agency which transforms big companies by connecting them up to the technology and talent they need to solve their biggest problems. He’s also a partner at Saatchi Invest, where he backs mission drive founders that obsess over product and has invested in business like City Mapper and Dojo In this episode we discuss: - Alex’s career lessons including a light bulb moment that changed everything and why he invests in cult leaders - The challenges of corporate innovation and why corporates should be competing with VCs given their assets - The LinkyBrains community Alex has founded and the importance of multidisciplinary thinking for innovation So whether you’re looking for tips on how to think better and innovate in the modern world of work or are just curious about how a seasoned operator picks his companies and grows a business, this episode has you covered.

Charles Fadel is the founder and chairman of the Center for Curriculum Redesign, an institution focused on making education more relevant and answering the question: “What should we learn in the 21st century?”  Charles is also a respected thought leader and author in the global education space who works with several teams at the OECD and he’s also co-authored the highly regarded 4 Dimensional Education and 21st Century Skills.  Prior to starting the Center for Curriculum Redesign, Charles had a 25-year career in the technology space, which included 13 years as Global Education Lead at Cisco Systems – so it’s safe to say that he has witnessed first hand the disruptive effects of exponential change.  In this conversation we dive into a whole range of topics including:  - The race between technology and education and its implications for your career - The knowledge, skills and character traits needed to thrive in the 21st century - The challenge of measuring soft skills and metalearning CCR's efforts to do so

Aubrey de Grey is a biomedical gerontologist, and the Chief Science Officer of SENS Research Foundation, a California based non-profit charity dedicated to combating the aging process. Through his work at SENS, Aubrey works on the development of medical innovations that promote rejuvenation and can postpone all forms of age-related ill-health including diseases like alzheimers, certain forms of cancer and atherosclerosis. Aubrey started off as a computer scientist and AI Researcher before becoming a self-taught bio gerontologist, which makes him a fascinating example of someone who can pick up new skills and develop deep knowledge in new fields In this conversation we discuss: - The transferability of research as a skill and the multidisciplinary nature of innovation - The core ideas behind Aubrey’s research – and what that means for the future of human aging - How to successfully spread your message to attract interest to your work Aubrey has a love for bold statements and is often a magnet for controversy

This episode is another special one on equations that changed the world.  Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity is widely known as the world’s most famous equation created by history’s most famous scientist.  In simple terms the equation reads - E = MC² which states that Energy = Mass x Speed of Light² This theory predicts the equivalence of mass and energy and a space-time continuum, which fundamentally changed our understanding of the universe and how it works.  In practical terms, Einstein’s theory ultimately led to the creation of nuclear energy sources – a defining moment in the history of humanity similar to the discovery of fire, because it allowed us to have far greater energy yields than we’d ever had before by splitting the atom… Today’s guest, Kalid Azad, is the founder of Better Explained, one of the world's most popular maths websites that makes hard concepts easy to understand. After studying Computer Science at Princeton, Kalid spent a few years at Microsoft as a program manager, founded

What I've found from experience is that presenting on and off camera is both a science and an art. As an academic tutor and university lecturer I’ve spent plenty of time standing up and presenting to students, and I've now racked up plenty of hours in front of the camera by creating my own online course, Make Me A MetaLearner, and teaching on my YouTube channel. To improve my skills, I've studied some of the best presenters, both past and present, to try and find out what they did differently. What I discovered is that they all followed certain rules, despite having very different individual styles, which have been developed through years of consistent deliberate practice.   These rules apply whether you’re a beginner who’s presenting for the first time, or an experienced pro who’s spoken plenty of times before. In this episode I'm joined by writer videographer and all around MetaLearner Will Reynolds and we discuss: - How to create a consistent presenting style and tone - How to manage your energy levels to

James Bidwell is the owner of Springwise, an innovation portal, which crowd sources innovation ideas from all over the world and publishes the top 3 every day. He is also the co-founder of RE_SET, an innovation consultancy for the disruption economy working with boards to help them thrive in an unpredictable world. James was also formerly a marketing manager at Disney, marketing director at Selfridges and CEO of Visit London.   In this episode we discuss: - How to stay on top of the rapid pace of change in modern society  - How to innovate in the 21st century disruption economy  - How to market effectively in a noisy world, while staying true to values So whether you’re curious about how to stay relevant in a constantly changing world or want to find out how to get your message heard in a world full of noise, this episode has you covered.

The process of authoring and producing my first course, Make Me A MetaLearner, was a great learning experience for me. It taught me a lot about the skills of research and writing and the importance of structuring educational content in a way that's easy to digest and understand for students.  As a university lecturer I’ve spent plenty of time preparing lessons and delivering them to students, but authoring an online course was a completely different ball game for me. Looking back, I can see that a big part of the process could be broken down into a number of key steps, which I had to figure out by trial and error.  This episode is part of my process for reflecting on what I've learned and in it I'm joined by writer, videographer and all around MetaLearner Will Reynolds. We discuss: - How to brainstorm ideas effectively and channel them into a skeleton structure - How to manage the process of a prolonged piece of writing and stay productive - How to build a system that makes your educational content easy

Tom Stafford is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Cognitive Science at the University of Sheffield. He’s also the author of the book Mindhacks, a book featuring 100 DIY mind experiments you can try at home, and he runs the excellent MindHacks blog dedicated to psychology and neuroscience news & views. Tom has done some fascinating research into skill acquisition by studying the process of playing computer games (which can be tracked across the whole learning curve) drawing out some useful general insights that you can apply to any skill you’re learning. In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including:  - What Tom has discovered about the learning process through his research in cognitive science - The tradeoff between trying new things (exploration) and doing what works (exploitation) - The keys to teaching effectively and improving the classroom experience for students So whether you’re looking for some cutting edge insights from cognitive science to apply to your learning or are curiou

Finding great teachers is a big part of learning anything.  But for most people, the top experts are off limits. They’re only available to the few who can afford to fork out for their services, or a select who have spent years working their way up in the industry have the privilege of meeting and working with them.  So what if I told you that in 12-24 months you could be speaking to any teacher or expert you wanted?  That you could create your own education, build your own curriculum and learn from the best in the world.  You’d probably be interested. And you’d probably say I was crazy. But in the last 18 months since launching the MetaLearn Podcast, that’s exactly what I’ve done.  In this episode I'm joined by writer, videographer and all around MetaLearner Will Reynolds and we discuss: - How to choose your niche and build a brand around your podcast - How to reach out to guests, get the gear you need and interview them for your show - How to edit and promote your podcast to share your learning with

Tim Urban is the founder of the blog WaitButWhy and is one of the Internet’s most popular writers. With brilliant stick-figure illustrations and epic analysis on everything from artificial intelligence to the future of the brain, Wait But Why, has gained a huge audience and number of famous fans such as Tesla, Space-X and Solar City CEO, Elon Musk. Musk asked Tim to write about his companies and their surrounding industries, leading to a five-part series of posts discussing the importance of sustainable energy and transport, the future of space exploration and the implications of an AI augmented human brain. In this episode we discuss: - The future of the brain and the difference between human and computer intelligence - How Tim learns from the smartest people in the world, including Elon Musk and his team - What human super-intelligence means for you and the superpowers it could give you So whether you’re curious about the future of the brain and what we humans will be able to do down the road or just wan