Big Questions With Cal Fussman

Cal was 12 years old, bored out of his mind in junior high science class, waiting for the bell to ring. He had no idea his wandering brain was doing exactly what it was built to do – tell stories. We all carry the most extraordinary thing in the known universe around with us every day — and never really stop to look into it. This episode of Big Questions does just that. Cal sits with Claude — Anthropic's AI — for a chat about consciousness, memory, gut intelligence, and what the brain is actually up to when we think it's doing nothing. Along the way, Cal finds out how a boy from Michigan who also wasn't paying attention in class changed the digital world. And how a scientist on the cutting edge is asking the most important performance question of our time. But mostly, this episode is an invitation. To slow down and get acquainted with the blob between your ears that has been with you every moment of your life. You might be surprised by what you find. . .

What do Clint Eastwood, a Montana snowstorm, and a herd of cattle have to do with artificial intelligence? Cal starts with the romance of the old cattle drives and the sound of the old show Rawhide, remembers the pull of the open range and a freezing night that made him question whether he'd even make it to the ranch alive. Then he finds something on the internet that stops him cold. No cowboys. Just cows . . . being guided by AI. The technology inside a cow collar is being called a "Cowgorithm." That discovery leads somewhere unexpected—into a late-night experiment with AI that stretches until sunrise… and opens a door Cal didn't see coming. Step inside.

Cal Fussman walks into a theater expecting to see a documentary about artificial intelligence. He walks out with a new understanding of the future of work. Through a surprising connection to Super Mario, a landlord named Mario Segale, and the power of human serendipity, he uncovers a simple truth: The people who adapt will thrive. The ones who don't may disappear. If you've ever wondered whether AI is something to fear—or something to grow with—this story will change how you see what's coming next.

After watching Project Hail Mary, Cal sees more than a sci-fi story about saving the stars—he sees a blueprint for how humans might survive the age of AI. That insight leads him to a real-life story even more extraordinary. When tech founder Sid Sijbrandij is diagnosed with a rare, aggressive cancer, the traditional medical system eventually runs out of answers. Most people would accept that outcome. Sid does the opposite. He treats his own disease like an open- source problem—gathering data, building a team, and chasing solutions across the globe with the same mindset that helped build GitLab into a billion-dollar company. With the help of AI, Cal translates this complex scientific journey into a human story anyone can follow. One that's filled with pancakes, partnerships, love, and a radical idea: What if the future of survival—against disease, against uncertainty, against AI itself—belongs to those who adapt fastest? This episode is about more than cancer. It's about how humans fight back.

The headlines keep leading us to believe that AI is coming for your job. But Cal Fussman poses a question no one else is asking. If humans stop earning… who's left to buy what AI and the machines produce? As companies race toward automation, Nvidia's Jensen Huang insists new human jobs will be created. Cal believes him. The catch? Many of those jobs may not exist just yet. This episode points to the evolution of Big Questions into something bigger. Big Questions: The Future of Work. A place to step away from the dystopian drumbeat and be excited about what happens next.

Cal plans to go out to the theater to watch the actor save the universe in Project Hail Mary. Cal doesn't know exactly what's going to happen, but he sees the plot as the perfect metaphor for how humans must look at the work in the age of AI. Gosling plays a middle school science teacher who wakes up in a rocket and can't remember, only to use the skills he has to save the universe. We're all going to have to step and find the best in ourselves as we look at work going forward. The movie may be an inspiring way to see humanity's future.

An electric razor is mistaken for a bomb. Security lines explode in Houston, New Orleans and Charlotte. TSA workers are on the job without pay. So Cal flips the script. Show up hours early and turn airport stress into productive work time that can create a bestseller and more. It's not whistling while you work. But in March 2026 . . . it works.

One future says the most human people win. The other says your job costs too much. Gary Vaynerchuk believes that as we become more "AI-ed out," the most human brands and people will dominate. Citrini Research predicts something far colder: Within two years, a Claude agent may do the work of a $180,000 product manager for $200 a month. And when that happens? The top 10% may control over half of all consumer spending. So which future is real? The one where humanity becomes more valuable? Or the one where intelligence becomes a utility? Cal gives you a closer look at both.

One of the richest men in the world quietly became the largest private owner of farmland in America. Why? Is Bill Gates retreating from technology? Or is he making the most important AI bet of all? In this episode, Cal reads from an article that reframes everything. Gates' farmland strategy isn't nostalgia. It's a blueprint for the next economy. AI will build the digital world for free. But every digital system still depends on something finite. Land. If you want to understand where the 21st-century fortunes will be made — and what that means for your future — this episode is for you.

As the world worked on last week, something exploded online. An article about AI by Matt Shumer was posted on X. It has already been downloaded more than 80 million times. The title? Something Big Is Happening. The implications couldn't be more personal. Your job. Your family. Your future. Instead of summarizing it or debating it, Cal does something simple and Old School on Big Questions. He reads it aloud. Not as commentary. But as a marker in time. If you haven't come across Something Big Is Happening, you might want to look up from your work and listen.

Fifteen of the 66 Super Bowl ads this year featured artificial intelligence. Then Mike Tyson appeared on screen. . .and ate an apple. No algorithms. No spectacle. Just a former heavyweight champion telling America to stop consuming what's destroying it. In a culture addicted to speed, processed food, and machine-enhanced everything, Tyson's message was about discipline. Bringing up a Big Question: What if the most disruptive force in 2026 isn't artificial intelligence? What if it's human restraint? Cal looks at why the most impactful ad during the Super Bowl was the simplest one.

What does it really take to reach your peak? The answer lies in the Netflix documentary Skyscraper Live, as climbing legend Alex Honnold scales Taipei 101, the tallest building in Taiwan, one move at a time. Watching him ascend the 1,667-foot glass and steel tower as if he were Spider-Man reveals a deceptively simple formula for mastery: Total focus on making your next best move.

Larry King used to tell me: "Nobody loves a hurricane like the weatherman." I learned exactly what he meant during the last winter storm — when the forecast was certain… and reality had other plans. It's why I've stopped trusting forecasts the way I trust people.

A brief encounter with Buddhist monks on their walk for peace from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., leads Cal to wonder what Martin Luther King Jr. might have thought if he'd seen the large crowd of Americans gathered in gratitude for their journey.

A high school student named Matteo Paz uses old NASA data and new AI to find 1.5 million objects never noticed before in space (including planets in other solar systems). AI can now predict 130 diseases (including heart ailments, kidney failure and strokes) based on studying one night of sleep. And a school called Alpha uses only AI tutors, teaches core academics for only two hours a day and achieves top scores. Don't be late for the future.

In the age of artificial intelligence, it isn't a machine that stops Cal in his tracks—it's a deeply human idea. What if playing a video game could help fight cancer? Thanks to Travis Jennings and a small group of friends, a chain reaction begins—turning gamers with little money of their own into philanthropists. A breakout company called Besitos matches their winnings with donations to the American Cancer Society and bridges the cause to the $60 billion video game industry.

Imagine a mind that can solve a Rubik's Cube in 17 seconds. A mind that contributed to the development of OpenAI. A mind that directed AI for Elon Musk at Tesla. A mind named one of Time Magazine's Top 100 in artificial intelligence. Now imagine that same mind encountering recent, almost "alien" advances in programming—so startling they prompted a public admission: "I have never felt so behind." If someone like that can't keep up, what does it mean for the rest of us? We're entering a world we may not soon recognize. For Cal, that realization leads to a simple conclusion: This New Year isn't about racing machines—it's about reclaiming what they can't replace.

When Cal visits an old mentor, he's struck by two realizations. First: Some of the most profound moments in a young person's life can happen in entry-level jobs, when the right person takes you in, opens a door, and points you on the right path. Second: As artificial intelligence wipes out many of those first jobs, it will also erase those connections and moments. What disappears isn't just work. It's mentorship. It's the quiet bonds that shape confidence, character, and destiny. What will happen to a generation shaped without them? And an even bigger question: How might we be able to preserve them?

There are those believe artificial intelligence will cure cancer, reverse global warming, and unlock human potential. There are others who believe it will end everything we know. For the first time in history, both sides may be right. We are living inside the most consequential argument humanity has ever had — and the clock is ticking.

When Cal returns to Tampa's Ybor City to speak, he keeps a ritual that's become almost sacred: a meal at the legendary 120-year-old Columbia Restaurant, followed by a quiet moment of thanks to the man who first sent him there — Muhammad Ali's doctor, the renowned Ferdie Pacheco. Ferdie wasn't just the "Fight Doctor." He was an artist, a storyteller, and a man with a taste for a good practical joke. After his meal, Cal goes to pay tribute to Ferdie through his painting that hangs near The Columbia's kitchen. Only this time, the painting is gone, and it feels to Cal like an old friend has vanished. What happened next left Cal with a twist he couldn't see coming — and a hint that destiny sometimes whispers through the strangest openings. Listen in to hear the story unfold.