Finding Genius Podcast

Today we connect with Sally Jenkins, a Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Right Call: What Sports Teach Us About Work and Life. She joins us to discuss her writing career – specifically outlining the events and people she encountered that brought her to where she is today.

As a sports columnist and feature writer for The Washington Post, Sally has spent a significant amount of time analyzing and interviewing coaches and athletes. This experience informed the writing of her latest book in an extraordinary way, and led to her realization that there are seven crucial principles behind success.

What could these principles be? Tune in to see for yourself...

Jump into the conversation now to discover:

• The primary focus of Sally’s book.
• Why we tend to appreciate athletes for the wrong things.
• How athletes can teach us how to manage stress.
• The importance of practicing in the environment we’re going to make decisions in.
• What happens to your body when you are under stress.

Want to learn more about Sally and her work? Click here now!

Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/30PvU9C

In this episode, we connect with Francis J. Beckwith, a Professor of Philosophy and Church-State Studies at Baylor University, where he also serves as Associate Director of Graduate Studies in Philosophy and Affiliate Professor of Political Science. Francis is a philosopher who publishes and teaches in the areas of religion, jurisprudence, politics, and ethics.

Francis has authored more than 100 academic articles, book chapters, reference entries, and reviews. With titles such as Politics for Christians: Statecraft as Soulcraft, Never Doubt Thomas: The Catholic Aquinas as Evangelical and Protestant, and Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice, Francis is a highly regarded voice in the academic community.

So, what makes Francis’s philosophical perspective so special? Tune in now to find out...

Join in now to explore:

• What initially interested Francis about philosophy.
• How we build up beliefs to shape our worldview.
• The importance of listening to people that you disagree with.
• The intricacies of co-existing religions.

Want to learn more about Francis J. Beckwith and his work? Click here now!

Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/30PvU9C

Valkyrie has brought together some of the best minds to utilize artificial intelligence in operations management. This podcast presents a fascinating conversation on the latest ways artificial intelligence can impact decision making.

Plug in, listen, and hear:

• Ways this applied-sciences firm uses biologists, chemists, and physicists to deploy deep learning techniques.
• Some application examples, such as utilizing artificial intelligence in healthcare by developing prediction tools for a global ambulance company, and
• Methods they use for financial services, from actuarial to forecasting models and doubling down on quantum-driven hedge funds.

Charlie Burgoyne, Valkyrie’s CEO, educates listeners on the phenomenal potential of artificial intelligence in healthcare, financial services, government applications, and even the entertainment and transportation space. He tells listeners to think of his firm as a modern-day Bell Labs, basically a research institute turned industrial team.

Valkyrie employs biologists, chemists, and physicists to work on different verticals, deploying algorithms and machine learning techniques to dramatically improve operational efficiencies and customer retention. He adds that while they do a degree of consulting, they're predominately scientists solving industrial problems.

He shares some of these challenges that AI easily meets, such as helping the largest ambulance company in the world develop COVID modeling predication tools and resource allocation plans. For example, they can predict what counties are likely to have an outbreak of disease and why, and inform them how to best provide and allocate PPE accordingly.

He adds that their most impactful projects live in the defense sector, identifying different types of behavior that help complex data systems adjust new data and develop supporting algorithms. But a nice vacation is also on their list of services, and they've recently helped a large cruise line identify which systems are creating failures, what can be optimized, and how they can develop operational capabilities to keep the ocean clean and still expand their operation.

He finishes with an interesting discussion of their approach to financial services and where they go against the grain by embracing quantum-driven hedge fund models. Listen in to learn more about how Valkyrie deploys AI for a better future.

For information about the company, see their website at valkyrie.ai.

Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/30PvU9C

Picture it: Ian McKellan in a wizard hat surrounded by a green screen. Is that what artificial intelligence in the entertainment industry looks like? It certainly is a step toward incorporating the powerful modeling tools computers can use to generate scenery like the Mines of Moria. But how much further might AI move beyond today's standard movie-making video vfx? Alexis Kirke and Richard take listeners on a tour of the possibilities. Listen and learn

• Some of the philosophical differences artists might leverage when merging artificial intelligence and human behavior,
• How shows can be broken down into different elements and adjusted by a user's smart control, and
• How might the story line itself modulate with artificial intelligence methods and what are the challenges to this.

Alexis Kirke is a senior research fellow at the School of Humanities and Performing Arts and with the Faculty of Arts at the University of Plymouth, England. He's a screenwriter and quantum/AI programmer and shares intriguing AI ideas with listeners. Examples of AI most familiar to listeners include the blending of artificial and natural scenes in Marvel franchise movies or recreations of film stars no longer with us like Princes Leia in a recent Star Wars film. Alexis Kirke sees the blending of artificial and human intelligence as much more than automation in the film industry. Rather, he sees creative potential in how humans and machines collaborate, making each other more powerful and inspiring.

In addition to contemplating possibilities, he helps listeners understand the practical uses. For example, adapting a TV program for someone with hearing difficulties in a meaningful way is more possible than ever. Creators have broken down all the sound elements in a piece and rated each one with narrative importance—someone could have an intelligent volume control and turn down the sounds in inverse relative importance, emphasizing only the most essential noises for the story. The job of the production team is only to break these elements down. The individualization is up to the device of the viewer. But of course, it goes far beyond this and he and Richard talk about the extent to which a story might be alterable as well as scenery and actors. Listen in for an entertaining discussion about the movies.

For more about his work, see his website at alexiskirke.com.

Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/30PvU9C

What role does soil health play in sustainability and green living? Dr. Sally Brown, a Research Associate Professor at the University of Washington’s School of Forest Resources joins the podcast to explain.

Dr. Brown focuses her research on soil health, climate change mitigation, biosolids recycling, and wastewater treatment. She believes that by making the use and reuse of wastes part of our daily vocabulary, our cities will function greener than ever.

So, how has Dr. Brown’s passion for environmental stewardship informed her research? Click play to see for yourself...

Jump in now to explore:

• How to turn compost into soil amendments.
• Challenges that urban gardeners face.
• How to improve soil health.

To find out more about Dr. Brown and her research, click here now!

Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/30PvU9C