Where the Internet Lives

Mapping New Medicines

Traditional drug discovery is a gamble where 90% of trials fail. But Recursion CEO Chris Gibson is using AI to shift the odds in humanity's favor. In this episode, Gibson explains how his Salt Lake City-based company combines massive wet-lab experiments with one of the world's most powerful supercomputers to create a "Google Maps" of human biology. We explore how this hybrid approach is decoding complex biological relationships to dramatically shrink the timelines and cost of bringing new medicines to market. And Chris offers us a glimpse into a future where life-saving treatments are mapped out by algorithms before they even touch a patient.Watch our complementary documentary in which we go inside Recursion’s Salt Lake City headquarters to see how the company is using cloud computing and high-tech robotics to change the trajectory of drug discovery.

The Era of AI Innovation

AI’s meteoric rise can feel unprecedented, but it follows a familiar story. Just as the steam engine and electric motor rewired entire economies in the 1800s, today’s AI boom is setting off another society-wide transformation.In this episode, MIT professor and author Andrew McAfee draws the throughline from those earlier industrial revolutions to the one unfolding now. He explains how past breakthroughs reshaped manufacturing, reorganized work, and unleashed massive gains in productivity — and why those patterns offer a roadmap for navigating what he calls the “Second Machine Age.”McAfee shows us why the real impact of this AI revolution is still ahead of us, and what history reveals about what comes next. 

Season 5: the dawn of a new era

Artificial intelligence is reshaping every corner of the global economy — and none of it is possible without the invisible infrastructure powering it: data centers.In Season 5 of Where the Internet Lives, host Stephanie Wong returns to guide listeners through the places, people, and breakthroughs defining this new era. From drug discovery and food security to manufacturing and creative expression, AI is accelerating innovation at a pace the world has never seen.Subscribe to Where the Internet Lives on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you get your shows. And this season, we’ll have more film documentaries to complement our audio stories on YouTube. The new season drops in January. We can’t wait to welcome you back.

Chasing Arrows

Plastics production has doubled in the last two decades, clogging up our oceans and showing up in our organs. The massive growth in plastics production is also increasing CO2 output and driving up fossil fuel demand. Meanwhile, only 8% of plastic actually gets recycled, challenging our trust in the waste management system.But a new set of tools driven by AI, robotics, and material science are helping recycle plastics, steel, textiles, and just about everything else. And a new generation of entrepreneurs, scientists, and engineers are devoting themselves to launching those tools.In this episode, we examine technology advances that are helping recyclers convert hard-to-recycle waste into a valuable feedstock – and what it means for building a circular economy with a singular goal of radically reducing global waste.Guests:Kate Brandt, chief sustainability officer at GoogleAstro Teller, captain of moonshots, at X, the moonshot factoryRey Banatao, project lead at X, the moonshot factoryJulia Mangin, head of sustainability, RecologyEmma Lingle, project manager at X, the moonshot factory Watch our complementary documentary about how scientists and entrepreneurs at X, Alphabet’s moonshot factory, are inventing tools driven by AI, robotics, and material science to recycle plastics, steel, textiles, and just about everything else. It's all part of their vision to build a circular economy that will radically reduce global waste.

Invisible Threats

Last March, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket into space from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. It carried more than 40 payloads on board, including a satellite called MethaneSAT, which was designed to track methane emissions around the globe. Cutting methane emissions is a critical step toward reducing the rise of global temperatures that climate change is spreading to communities.In this episode, we have two stories about how data centers – and the AI they enable – are helping to mitigate the invisible threats of heat and air pollution around the world, particularly for vulnerable populations.From satellites to tree canopies, we ask how AI can help protect human health, reduce air pollution, and temper the urban heat island effect in our cities.Guests: Mansi Kansal, Cool Roofs product manager at GoogleDr. Monica Bharel, clinical lead for public sector health at GoogleKarin Tuxen-Bettman, Google Earth outreach managerMillie Chu Baird, VP, Office of Chief Scientist, Environmental Defense FundFatima Luna, chief resilience officer, City of TucsonWatch our complementary documentary about how Google’s data centers are helping make the invisible threats of air pollution and methane emissions visible.