What really drives human progress? What is innovation, and why is innovation not just a feature of modern society but a law of life? How do energy, cooperation, and culture shape the way we create new ideas?

These are ideal questions with which to launch our new podcast season on the beauty and burdens of innovation, and I can’t think of anyone better suited to address them than my guest today.

Dr. Michael Muthukrishna is joint Professor of Economic Psychology at the London School of Economics and Professor of Psychology at NYU (from January 2026). At LSE, he is also Affiliate of the Data Science Institute and STICERD Developmental Economics Group. Michael is co-founder and Technical Director of The Database of Religious History (religiondatabase.org), founder of the LSE Culturalytik project (culturalytik.com), London School of Artificial Intelligence (lsai.org.uk), and Center for Human Progress (humanprogress.center), Research Lead of Cities, Culture, and Technology at the African School of Economics’ Africa Urban Lab (aul.city), and Scientific Advisor at the AI startup Electric Twin (electrictwin.com). Michael's research applies an evolutionary framework to understand human cooperation, tackling key topics, including: the barriers to cooperation, particularly how different mechanisms of cooperation (such as family ties versus impartial institutions) can potentially undermine each other; the impact of cultural differences on psychology and behavior; the processes of social learning; and how these learning processes drive innovation and cultural change. His research and interviews have appeared in outlets including CNN, BBC, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Scientific American, PBS, Vice, Newsweek, Time, New York Magazine, Nature News, Science News, The Times, The Telegraph, and The Guardian. Michael’s research is informed by his educational background in engineering and psychology, with graduate training in evolutionary biology, economics, and statistics, and his personal background living in Sri Lanka, Botswana, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Canada, United States, and United Kingdom. He is the author of A Theory of Everyone: The new science of who we are, how we got here, and where we’re going (MIT Press / Basic Books).

In this episode, we talk about:

1. Michael's encounter with beauty in Botswana
2. The impact of culture on bad foreign policy and global problems
3. The “four laws of life” that underlie human progress
4. Difference between cooperation and competition
5. How innovation really happens through the “collective brain”
6. The compass model and the adjacent possible zone
7. How to solve the paradox of diversity
8. Three ingredients of evolution: Variation, transmission, selection
9. The promise and pitfalls of AI - The Second Enlightenment
10. The promise of AI to create abundance
11. How society is structured through religion
12. Innovation in any domain only happens in the free flow of ideas

To learn more about Michael’s work, you can find him at: https://www.michael.muthukrishna.com/

Links Mentioned:
A Theory of Everyone by Michael Muthukrishna - https://www.atheoryofeveryone.com/

This season of the podcast is sponsored by Templeton Religion Trust

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In this clip from the episode of Beauty at Work, host Brandon Vaidyanathan sits down with Brian Mullins, CEO of Mind Foundry, a pioneering responsible AI company spun out of the University of Oxford.

Brian shares how AI can be built differently—safely, ethically, and in partnership with human insight—for high-stakes, real-world applications. From malaria detection in mosquitoes to the myth of superintelligence, the conversation explores the promises and perils of AI, and how beauty—in simplicity, function, and deep understanding—emerges in the process.

Mullins discusses why we’re a long way away from AI transforming into a super-intelligence that truly rivals human intelligence. And, he shares where he finds beauty in his work.

For the full interview see: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2043099/episodes/14500178
For the broader project, visit: https://www.beautyatwork.net
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BeautyatWorkPodcast

#BeautyAtWork #BrandonVaidyanathan #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning #BrianMullins #MindFoundry #Superintelligence #ScienceAndBeauty #UnderstandingAI #AIInnovation #TechForGood #FutureOfAI #EthicalTech #OxfordAI #HumanCenteredAI #ResponsibleAI

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Is classical music “entertainment”? Timothy Myers, conductor and music director of the Austin Opera, argues that it’s an antidote to entertainment. Here, he shares his story of how he became a conductor and discusses what he finds inspiring about orchestral performance.

In this clip from the Beauty at Work podcast, host Brandon Vaidyanathan speaks with Timothy Myers, acclaimed conductor and Music Director of the Austin Opera. Myers shares deeply personal stories—from his early musical memories at a powwow in Oklahoma to the transformative moment of hearing Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade live. He reflects on the collaborative nature of conducting, the aesthetic principles behind orchestral sound, and why live performance is more than entertainment—it's a sacred act of communal enchantment.

For the full interview see: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2043099/episodes/14411268
For the broader project, visit: https://www.beautyatwork.net
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BeautyatWorkPodcast

#TimothyMyers #BeautyAtWork #ClassicalMusic #OrchestralMusic #AustinOpera #LivePerformance #MusicAndBeauty #Conducting #ArtisticLeadership #MusicPodcast #EnchantmentThroughArt #BrandonVaidyanathan #SacredArt #PowerOfSound #MusicalJourney #ModernClassical

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