Episodes
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Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK, and Nicholas Gruen, CEO of Lateral Economics, have both returned to debate the efficacy and limitations of applying systems thinking to complex problems.
Resources and links:
Ogilvy UK website Lateral Economics websiteConnect:
Simplifying Complexity on X Simplifying Complexity on YouTube Sean Brady on X Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information. -
In the last episode, Paul Smaldino, Professor of Cognitive and Information Sciences at the University of California, Merced, and an External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute discussed how human behaviour is shaped by cultural evolution.
In this episode, Paul discusses social learning and identity signalling and how they’re both being affected by rapidly changing technologies.
Connect:
Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information. -
Missing episodes?
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We all know that we are shaped by evolution, but we're also shaped by cultural evolution.
In this episode, we’re joined by Paul Smaldino, Professor of Cognitive and Information Sciences at the University of California, Merced, and an External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, to explain how cultural evolution has shaped human behaviour.
Connect:
Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information. -
Ricardo Hausmann is the Founder and Director of Harvard’s Growth Lab and the Rafik Hariri Professor of the Practice of International Political Economy at Harvard Kennedy School.
In this episode, Ricardo explains how the amount and diversity of knowledge within an economy shapes its current capabilities and influences a country’s possible economic growth.
Resources and links:
The Atlas of Economic Complexity websiteConnect:
Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information. -
In the last episode, Kevin Mitchell, Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin, compared human brains with single-celled organisms to introduce us to the impact of genetics on conscious thought.
In this episode, Kevin discusses metacognition, or how humans think about thinking, and its implications on free will versus determinism.
Connect:
Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information. -
In this episode, Kevin Mitchell, Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin, takes us on a journey from single-celled organisms to human consciousness to explore if we have free will.
Connect:
Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information. -
Today we're joined by Michal Shur-Ofry, Associate Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem law faculty, as she discusses the law and complex systems.
In this episode, you'll hear how traditional legal approaches often take an overly simplistic view of the systems they're trying to regulate, how the patent system could be improved by using network science to measure true innovation, and why understanding exponential growth during events like pandemics challenges our conventional legal principles of proportionality.
Resources and links:
Michal Shur-Ofry’s website
Michal Shur-Ofry on X
Michal Shur-Ofry on Linkedin
Connect:
Simplifying Complexity on Twitter
Sean Brady on Twitter
Sean Brady on LinkedIn
Brady Heywood website
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information. -
In the last episode, Jimmy Soni introduced Dr Claude Shannon, whose work laid the foundation for the technologies we use today.
In this episode, Jimmy dives into the significance of Dr Shannon’s 1948 paper “A Mathematical Theory of Communication” to the creation of information theory.
Resources and links:
Jimmy Soni’s website
Jimmy Soni on X
Jimmy Soni on Instagram
Connect:
Simplifying Complexity on Twitter
Sean Brady on Twitter
Sean Brady on LinkedIn
Brady Heywood website
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information. -
Dr Claude Shannon is one of the most influential scientists you’ve likely never heard of whose work laid the foundations for the information age.
To explain the significance of Dr Shannon’s impact on modern computing, we’re joined by Jimmy Soni, author of “A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age” and “The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley”.
Resources and links:
Jimmy Soni’s website
Jimmy Soni on X
Jimmy Soni on Instagram
Connect:
Simplifying Complexity on Twitter
Sean Brady on Twitter
Sean Brady on LinkedIn
Brady Heywood website
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information. -
Steve Keen is an Economist and Honorary Professor at University College London and is currently lecturing at the University of Amsterdam.
In this episode, Steve explains the differences between neoclassical and post-Keynesian economics before discussing how concepts from complexity science and chaos theory can be used to develop economic models that actually factor in booms and busts.
Resources and links:
Steve Keen on Substack
Steve Keen on Patreon
Ravel on Patreon
Connect:
Simplifying Complexity on Twitter
Sean Brady on Twitter
Sean Brady on LinkedIn
Brady Heywood website
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information. -
How does the brain actually work?
In this episode, Christopher Lynn, Assistant Professor of Physics at Yale University, explains how network science can help us understand how our brains work.
Connect:
Simplifying Complexity on Twitter
Sean Brady on Twitter
Sean Brady on LinkedIn
Brady Heywood website
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information. -
In our last two episodes with Professor Jennifer Dunne, the Vice President for Science at the Santa Fe Institute, she explained food webs with a focus on her work in the Gulf of Alaska.
In this episode, Jennifer discusses how fossil records are helping researchers reconstruct food webs from half a billion years ago and the insights we can glean from comparing ancient food webs to modern ones.
Connect:
Simplifying Complexity on Twitter
Sean Brady on Twitter
Sean Brady on LinkedIn
Brady Heywood website
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information. -
Today we're joined again by Dmitri Tymoczko, Professor of Music at Princeton University. Last time, Dmitri discussed the underlying principles that make music sound ‘good’.
In this episode, Dmitri explores the integration of music theory into improvisational and algorithmic music. He discusses how modern technology allows musicians to blend traditional and improvisational elements with algorithms to create something completely different from the music of the past.
Resources and links:
Dmitri Tymoczko’s website
Mad Musical Science website
Connect:
Simplifying Complexity on Twitter
Sean Brady on Twitter
Sean Brady on LinkedIn
Brady Heywood website
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information. -
Today we’re joined by Dani S. Bassett, J. Peter Skirkanich Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, and Perry Zurn, Visiting Associate Professor of Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Cornell University and Provost Associate Professor of Philosophy at American University.
In today’s episode, Dani and Perry explore the concept of curiosity.
Connect:
Simplifying Complexity on Twitter
Sean Brady on Twitter
Sean Brady on LinkedIn
Brady Heywood website
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information. -
In our last episode, Professor Michael Batty from The Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis at University College London explained the evolution of city planning and the fundamentals needed to understand city structures and models.
In today’s episode, Michael delves into various theories and laws for explaining urban systems, the role of different models in understanding and predicting city development, and the need to refine these models to facilitate better management of increasingly complex urban environments.
Connect:
Simplifying Complexity on Twitter
Sean Brady on Twitter
Sean Brady on LinkedIn
Brady Heywood website
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information. -
In this episode, we’re joined by Michael Batty, Bartlett Professor of Planning at University College London and Chair of the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, to discuss the evolution of city planning and the shift away from traditional mechanical views.
In today’s episode, Michael lays the groundwork for understanding cities that will be essential for part two of this conversation.
Connect:
Simplifying Complexity on Twitter
Sean Brady on Twitter
Sean Brady on LinkedIn
Brady Heywood website
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information. -
Jason Fried is the Co-founder and CEO of 37signals, the software development firm behind Basecamp (a project management app), and HEY (an inbox and calendar app).
In this episode, Jason dives into what 25 years of business has taught him. He shares his advice for hiring staff, getting meaningful insight from reference checks, and why you should always hire a candidate who is the better writer.
Resources and links:
37signals website Basecamp website HEY website Jason Fried’s websiteConnect:
Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information. -
In this episode, we continue our conversation with Professor Jennifer Dunne, the Vice President for Science at the Santa Fe Institute.
In this episode, Jennifer discusses her work to understand ‘human-centred interaction networks’ - how humans interact with non-human species in a range of ways, including for food - by examining Indigenous cultures around the world and historical migration to Polynesian islands.
Connect:
Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information. -
In this episode, Professor Jennifer Dunne, the Vice President for Science at the Santa Fe Institute, explains how you build a food web, focusing on her ecological work in the Gulf of Alaska.
Connect:
Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information. -
We're joined again by Rajiv Sethi, Professor of Economics at Barnard College at Columbia University and External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute to explore the intersection between stereotyping, crime, and the justice system to understand criminal behaviour beyond simplistic explanations.
Connect:
Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information. - Show more
