Breaking The Fever
The Coronavirus pandemic is the biggest crisis many of us have experienced in our lifetime, so far. And, as Arundhati Roy said, it is "a portal, a gateway from one world to the next." In any crisis, impossible ideas suddenly become possible, and precedents are set that can transform society over the long term. How can we identify, harness and shape these precedents so that we emerge into a better future? Join Jérōme Tagger of Preventable Surprises and Alison Taylor of Ethical Systems in this lively series of discussions exploring the social, political, environmental, economic and governance consequences of the pandemic. We bring together experts from a range of disciplines and a highly engaged audience to challenge and push their thinking. We hope our conversations spark ideas, connections, and solutions.
Episodes
December 18, 2021 • 57 mins
This episode of Breaking the Fever features a podcast takeover by interdisciplinary researcher Nithya Iyer, who has been investigating existential risks and systemic change. The theme of the takeover is AFTERMATH, which starts from a fictional aftermath of systemic and ideological collapse, and seeks to interview thinkers acting at the apex of present and future technologies, mainstream and alternative philosophies, factual and fic...
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November 4, 2021 • 54 mins
In this episode of the podcast, we speak with Ian McCarthy about the many faces of bullshit — how it’s different from lies, the harmless and harmful forms it can take, and what organizations can do to measure and mitigate its effects.
We discuss:
- How McCarthy's background as an engineer, particularly engineering’s focus on authenticity and risk management, have shaped his approach to bullshit
- Why reading the seminal essay “On Bu...
We discuss:
- How McCarthy's background as an engineer, particularly engineering’s focus on authenticity and risk management, have shaped his approach to bullshit
- Why reading the seminal essay “On Bu...
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October 2, 2021 • 64 mins
In this episode of the podcast, we speak with David Sloan Wilson about cooperation—how it evolved in social beings, how culture and norms can support and disrupt it, and how to sustain it across different levels (community, industry, nation, etc).
We discuss:
- How David got interested in the evolution of positive or prosocial cultural change
- The intellectual tradition of individualism
- The idea of society as an organism
- Why nat...
We discuss:
- How David got interested in the evolution of positive or prosocial cultural change
- The intellectual tradition of individualism
- The idea of society as an organism
- Why nat...
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In this episode of the podcast, we speak with Alison Goldsworthy, Laura Osborne, and Alexandra Chesterfield about the manifestations of political polarization in our personal and professional lives and how we might best go about coping with it and mitigating it where possible.
We discuss:
- Signs of increasing polarization
- How polarization affects decision-making—who to marry, live with, and hire
- Whether business helps to bring peo...
We discuss:
- Signs of increasing polarization
- How polarization affects decision-making—who to marry, live with, and hire
- Whether business helps to bring peo...
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July 15, 2021 • 37 mins
This episode of Breaking the Fever features a podcast takeover by Nithya Iyer — a Preventable Surprises Research Fellow investigating existential risks and systemic change.
This takeover episode features biophysicist and meta geneticist Dr Christopher Mason. He is a professor of physiology and biophysics at Weill Cornell Medicine, the director of the World Quantitative Initiative, was the lead researcher on the NASA Twin Study, and...
This takeover episode features biophysicist and meta geneticist Dr Christopher Mason. He is a professor of physiology and biophysics at Weill Cornell Medicine, the director of the World Quantitative Initiative, was the lead researcher on the NASA Twin Study, and...
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June 18, 2021 • 58 mins
This episode of Breaking the Fever features a podcast takeover by Nithya Iyer - a Preventable Surprises Research Fellow investigating existential risks and systemic change.
Over the course of three episodes, the takeover focuses on the AFTERMATH, starting from a fictional aftermath of systemic and ideological collapse to interview thinkers acting at the apex of present and future technologies, mainstream and alternative philosophie...
Over the course of three episodes, the takeover focuses on the AFTERMATH, starting from a fictional aftermath of systemic and ideological collapse to interview thinkers acting at the apex of present and future technologies, mainstream and alternative philosophie...
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June 1, 2021 • 50 mins
In this episode of the podcast, we speak with Debra Mashek about how true collaboration emerges within and between groups, why it breaks down, and what companies can do to foster it.
We discuss:
- The stages leading to collaboration: separation, networking, coordination, cooperation, and, finally, collaboration
- How romantic relationship dynamics ground the psychology of effective group collaboration
- The impact of a communal orient...
We discuss:
- The stages leading to collaboration: separation, networking, coordination, cooperation, and, finally, collaboration
- How romantic relationship dynamics ground the psychology of effective group collaboration
- The impact of a communal orient...
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April 16, 2021 • 57 mins
In this episode of the podcast, we speak with Denise Hearn about the most significant opportunities and concerns with capitalism, the need for ESG and corporate governance to evolve, and the ideas behind her new project, Embodied Economics.
We discuss:
- How monopoly, competition dynamics, and instrumentalist thinking affect ESG investing
- Ways ESG investing has been shaped by the pandemic
- The problem with the idealized, abstract, s...
We discuss:
- How monopoly, competition dynamics, and instrumentalist thinking affect ESG investing
- Ways ESG investing has been shaped by the pandemic
- The problem with the idealized, abstract, s...
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February 24, 2021 • 60 mins
In this episode, the third (and final) in our miniseries on climate finance, we speak with Colleen Orr and Graham Steele about how regulators in the United States can wield financial tools and soft power to set public- and private-sector organizations on a more climate-smart path.
We discuss:
- Theories of change for regulators in climate finance
- How the private and public sector can work together
- How the SEC, Treasury Dept, and ot...
We discuss:
- Theories of change for regulators in climate finance
- How the private and public sector can work together
- How the SEC, Treasury Dept, and ot...
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February 11, 2021 • 59 mins
In this episode, the second in our miniseries on climate finance, we speak with Peter Bosshard and Elana Sulakshana about the insurance sector’s role in maintaining status-quo climate policies, and what insurers can do to halt the development of more fossil-fuel infrastructure.
We discuss:
- What might happen if insurers didn’t provide insurance for new gas and oil pipelines
- The near-absolute confidentiality of who is insuring what
-...
We discuss:
- What might happen if insurers didn’t provide insurance for new gas and oil pipelines
- The near-absolute confidentiality of who is insuring what
-...
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In this episode, the first in our miniseries on climate finance, we speak with Ivan Frishberg, James Vaccaro, and Marilyn Waite about the banking sector and what it would take to scale its ambition and impact on helping to stem climate change.
We discuss:
· Incentives for banks to keep financing fossil fuels industry
· How banks can motivate their clients to improve climate performance
· The existential crisis the sector faces over ...
We discuss:
· Incentives for banks to keep financing fossil fuels industry
· How banks can motivate their clients to improve climate performance
· The existential crisis the sector faces over ...
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December 16, 2020 • 58 mins
In this episode, Charles Hecker and Michele Wucker revisit their risk assessments from early 2020 and share their perspective for the year ahead. From political division to rising inequalities, from climate to debt:
- 2020 avoided the worst
- 2021 will be very challenging on all these fronts
- not every society is rising to the occasion and showcasing resilience; trust in institutions and personal agency are both needed for success.
-...
- 2020 avoided the worst
- 2021 will be very challenging on all these fronts
- not every society is rising to the occasion and showcasing resilience; trust in institutions and personal agency are both needed for success.
-...
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November 24, 2020 • 50 mins
In this episode of the podcast, we speak with Jessica Long about the global imperative to eliminate waste in the economy, and the progress people have made on this front—in companies, industries, cities, and nations.
We discuss:
- Sustainable growth
- Changing a “take, make, waste” linear economy to a “take, make” circular economy
- Modifying products to allow consumption to grow sustainably
- How sustainability will permeate organizati...
We discuss:
- Sustainable growth
- Changing a “take, make, waste” linear economy to a “take, make” circular economy
- Modifying products to allow consumption to grow sustainably
- How sustainability will permeate organizati...
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November 16, 2020 • 57 mins
As Chair of the CFTC’s Climate-related Market Risk Sub-Committee, Bob Litterman led the publication of a critical report that framed climate as a systemic risk to the US economy and reaffirmed the necessity of putting a price on carbon. We discuss Bob's trajectory from risk pricing guru to climate advocate, the growing consensus for climate action among US financial leaders, and how to break the political deadlock with US policyma...
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October 27, 2020 • 57 mins
In this episode of the podcast, we speak with Marsha Ershaghi Hames about how COVID-19 has shaped and continues to shape, the way corporate leaders respond to challenges not only to their business models but also how they are evolving their dialogue with their own workforces in a new era of employee activism.
We discuss:
Supply chain changes
Good leadership over a remote workforce
The adaptability of leadership
Activating robust DEI eff...
We discuss:
Supply chain changes
Good leadership over a remote workforce
The adaptability of leadership
Activating robust DEI eff...
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October 8, 2020 • 59 mins
Uzodinma Iweala is the CEO of the Africa Center, a cultural institution in New York City that serves as an intellectual hub for ideas about culture, business, and policy related to the continent. A physician and the author of two novels, most recently Speak No Evil, about sexuality, race, and cultural dislocation, and Beasts of No Nation, about an African child forced to become a soldier (which became a feature film released on Net...
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September 15, 2020 • 58 mins
In this episode, Breaking the Fever hears from Carlos Nobre, a climate scientist recognized for his work on biosphere-atmosphere interactions and climate impacts of Amazon deforestation. We speak about Covid-19, about the Brazilian people, the rainforest, biodiversity and climate, cattle and deforestation, and about changing global attitudes and the solutions investors, governments, companies and consumers from Sweden to China can ...
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September 1, 2020 • 52 mins
What does it take for people and organizations to navigate uncertain times? Margaret Heffernan https://www.mheffernan.com/ took Breaking the Fever on a wild ride on the occasion of the US September release of her latest book, Uncharted. A timely, astute, energizing. much needed conversation.
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July 30, 2020 • 61 mins
Ayin Jambulingam, a culture and leadership consultant based in Malaysia, explores the historical, political and cultural factors driving the Covid-19 response across Asia. We explore how political leadership and structures have affected the trajectory of the virus, whether lessons from Sars have helped drive a more robust response, and the strengths and weaknesses of collectivist and individualist cultures in managing systemic risk...
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July 7, 2020 • 61 mins
In episode 15, Rob Brotherton, a psychologist and science journalist, discussed the pandemic and conspiracy theories.
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