TechNation Radio Podcast

On this week’s Tech Nation, Moira speaks with Dr. Tim Schnabel, Founder & CEO of Switch Bioworks, about a step forward in biotech that could revolutionize the global fertilizer industry, and impact the way food is grown around the world. Then, Dr. Ijeoma Uchegbu, President of Wolfson College at the University of Cambridge, joins to talk about her book, “Chain Reaction: How Chemistry Shapes Us and Our World”.

On this week’s Tech Nation, we look back at a 2005 interview with Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. Now, as the former CEO serves prison time for fraud, what can her earliest on-record interview tell us about where things went wrong? Then, do you have a narcissist in your life? Dr. Ramani Durvasula joins to tell us how to recognize them, and keep them from bringing you down.

On this week’s Tech Nation, Frontline Stories from Ukraine’s International Legion with Military Historian Dr. Shannon Monaghan. Then, for Type I diabetics, the New England Journal of Medicine publishes early success with Sana Biotechnology's engineered insulin-producing cells without immunosuppressant drugs, and Daniel Kraft reviews the BioTech Nation session from NextMed Health 2025  .

On this week’s Tech Nation, Moira speaks with Author Dan Roam about creativity in the AI age, and what generative AI can really do (and not do!). Then, Dan tells us about his latest visual storytelling project, a poster titled “The Blueprint: How SpaceX Plans to Colonize the Cosmos in the next 100 Years.”

On this week’s Tech Nation, Moira speaks with Stanford Professor of Epidemiology & Population Health, Dr. Michelle Williams, about the history of public health in the United States and how it’s shaped modern society. She says public health is all of our business, and shares more from her book, “The Cure for Everything: The Epic Struggle for Public Health and a Radical Vision for Human Thriving”. Then, Heather Turner of LB Pharmaceuticals joins to discuss a drug that’s in trials in the US, but already used by several million patients in Europe for Schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric conditions. We delve into why the drug couldn’t go straight to approval here, and how they’re working on it.   

On this week’s Tech Nation, Moira speaks with Dr Shana Kelley, President of Bioengineering and Head of Biohub Chicago,  about AI-Powered Biology - what is it? And what could it mean for the future of research? Then, Dr Harry Selker and Dr Atul Deshpande of Immediate Therapeutics tell us how they’ve come up with a speedy intervention for heart attacks. And, what exactly differentiates the NIH, the FDA, and the CDC? We take a closer look at that, and what they have in common.

On this week’s Tech Nation, Moira speaks with Pediatric surgeon Dr. Dana Suskind about her book, “Human Raised: Nurturing Connection, Curiosity & Lifelong Learning in the Age of AI”, and navigating the unique challenge AI presents for parents. Then, FUJIFILM Biotechnologies Chairman Toshi Iida joins to share how the company has gone way beyond film into the biotech landscape. And, do you ever feel like a virtual meeting isn’t going quite how you expected? Dr. Andrew Brodsky breaks down the science behind virtual communication.

On this week’s Tech Nation, Moira speaks with Dr. Richard Elwes about his book, “Huge Numbers: A Story of Counting Ambitiously, from 4 ½ to Fish 7”. They discuss what really makes a number “huge,” and how the way we count numbers is intertwined with the way we make sense of the world around us. Then, Founder, President, & CEO Lew Bender shares how Intensity Therapeutics is working to change how chemotherapy is administered to patients, with the hopes of reducing the toll it takes on the body.

On this week’s Tech Nation, Moira speaks with Journalist and author Barry Werth about how the United States’ pharmaceutical industry came to be. His book, “The Age of Cures: How American Scientists Saved Your Life”, tells the stories of several individuals who managed to revolutionize drug research and development, which gave way to major breakthroughs in medicine. Then, Jeff Liter of Luminary Therapeutics shares how his team is working to make advanced cell therapy easier to access and more affordable.

On this week’s Tech Nation, it’s always nice to have the answers, right?Well… maybe that’s not true! Moira speaks with Columbia Professor Stuart Firestein about his new book, “It Could Be Otherwise: Science in the Age of Uncertainty,” and how we can embrace the not-always-knowing. Then, a potential biotech breakthrough for the treatment of gout - a disease that affects over 13 million people around the United States alone. Dr. James Mackay of Crystalys Therapeutics tells us about their new approach as they enter Phase III trials.