🎙️ Choosing to Matter: Cocktails with Chris

The Serendipity of Science with Zina Cinker
Episode 6

In this episode, Chris sits down with Dr. Zina Cinker, physicist, global platform creator, and Director General of MATTER. From a childhood shaped by both art and science, to a chance discovery of graphene, to launching PuzzleX and Xpanse as platforms that translate deep science into human stories and explore how Quantum connects to everything, Zina's journey is driven by curiosity, serendipity, and a fearless embrace of the unknown. Her love of Isaac Asimov, the Sufi wisdom passed down through her family, and her refusal to fit into any one box make her path as unconventional as it is inspiring.

What drives Zina is the belief that science is not just discovery, but translation, the ability to bring the awe of new knowledge into forms that move people. Together, we explore the power of serendipity, the role of creativity in science, and why embracing complexity can spark entirely new ways of seeing the future. This is an inspiring conversation about risk, intuition, and the courage to create what doesn't yet exist.

🍸 Cocktail of the episode: Whisky (Laphroaig) + Tea

🎧 A thought to leave you with:

How do we harness exponential technologies with enough imagination - and responsibility - to serve humanity?

Episode Resources:
Zina Cinker
PuzzleX
Xpanse
MATTER

Connect with Choosing to Matter

Instagram: @choosingtomatter

LinkedIn: @choosingtomatter

Explore all our platforms

Credits:
Host: Chris Luebkeman
Executive Producer: Jonelle Simunich
Guest Relations: Taline Frantz
Editors: Viktoria Bacheva and Asmita Mehta
Sound Designer: Taline Frantz
Design and Manager: Kinny Tran-Marazza
Graphic Designer: Nazaré Sarabúa

Presented by: [Y]our 2040
Website: your2040.com/podcast

🎙️ Choosing to Matter: Cocktails with Chris

Nature, Cities, and Endurance with Russell Galt
Episode 5

In this episode, Chris sits down with Russell Galt, ecologist, strategist, and lifelong advocate for the natural world.

From growing up in the Scottish Highlands to tracking hyenas in South Africa, cycling across Continents, and now working at the intersection of conservation, cities, and carbon markets, Russell's journey is one of curiosity, courage, and commitment. Along the way, his love for whisky and bagpipes, and his stories of wilderness encounters, bring a deeply personal dimension to his path.

What drives Russell's work is a conviction that nothing is too broken to be repaired. Not bicycles, not communities, not even our relationship with nature.

Together, we explore the lessons of resilience, the urgent need to reimagine cities as ecosystems, and the power of individual choices to ripple outward. This is a hopeful conversation about endurance, generosity, and building futures where people and nature thrive together.

🍸 Cocktail of the episode: Whisky [Talisker]

🎧 A thought to leave you with:

What if every city was designed as an ecosystem: resilient, alive, and deeply connected to nature?

Episode Resources:
Russell Galt
Nature Broking

Connect with Choosing to Matter

Instagram: @choosingtomatter

LinkedIn: @choosingtomatter

Explore all our platforms

Credits:
Host: Chris Luebkeman
Executive Producer: Jonelle Simunich
Guest Relations: Taline Frantz
Editors: Viktoria Bacheva and Asmita Mehta
Sound Designer: Taline Frantz
Design and Manager: Kinny Tran-Marazza
Graphic Designer: Nazaré Sarabúa

Presented by: [Y]our 2040
Website: your2040.com/podcast
Subscribe & Listen: Wherever you get your podcasts.

🎙️ Choosing to Matter: Cocktails with Chris

From Snowy Slopes to Climate Science with Reto Knutti

Episode 3

In this episode, Chris sits down with Dr. Reto Knutti, climate scientist, professor at ETH Zurich, and a trusted voice on climate science in Switzerland. Here we explore Reto's personal journey from a ski village in the Bernese Alps to becoming a leading figure in global climate modeling and science communication.

Through stories of mountaineering, margaritas in Colorado, and early inspirations in physics, Reto shares what drives his work: not just understanding climate change, but helping society make meaningful, informed decisions. Together, we discuss the complexity of climate modeling, the tensions between science and advocacy, and what it means to "choose to matter" in a world that urgently needs collective action.

This is a deeply thoughtful and hopeful conversation about science, trust, and finding clarity in a time of global uncertainty.

🍸 Cocktail of the episode: Margarita

📍 The ingredients:
00:30 Welcome and favorite drink
00:59 Memories of Colorado and cultural connection
02:11 Growing up in the Swiss Alps
03:16 Early academic interests and discovering physics
04:43 Entry into climate science and working with Thomas Stocker
11:58 Modeling climate change: from box models to complex systems
15:10 What we've learned—and still don't know—about climate impacts
22:56 Science, politics, and the limits of advocacy
25:45 The fine line between scientific facts and opinion
28:00 The challenge of communicating complexity in a simplified world
29:35 What inspires hope, and what does not in today's climate landscape
33:26 The role of individual vs. political action in driving change
36:16 Why net zero demands more than technology
39:20 We can't afford to stay in the sleeping bag: on taking action
43:04 What it means to matter as a scientist in society
50:58 Reflections on choosing to make a difference

🎧 A thought to leave you with:
What role will trust in science play as we experience a warming world?

Episode Resources:

• Reto Knutti
• ETH Zürich

Connect with Choosing to Matter
Instagram: @choosingtomatter

LinkedIn: @choosingtomatter

Explore all our platforms

Credits:
Host: Chris Luebkeman
Executive Producer: Jonelle Simunich
Guest Relations: Taline Frantz
Editors: Viktoria Bacheva and Asmita Mehta
Sound Designer: Taline Frantz
Design and Manager: Kinny Tran-Marazza
Graphic Designer: Nazaré Sarabúa

Recorded at the Schweizerhof Hotel Zürich

Presented by: [Y]our 2040
Website: your2040.com/podcast