Sabrina Pasterski is a theoretical physicist at the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, Canada. She built a plane at twelve, graduated top of her class at MIT, earned her PhD at Harvard, and is now leading one of the most ambitious research programs in modern physics. Stephen Hawking cited her work. And people are calling her the next Einstein.

This episode is about her. And honestly it is one of my favourite ones I have done.

Here is the thing about physics that I never really understood until I started researching this episode. It has two languages. One describes the very small. One describes the very large. Both work incredibly well on their own. And they fundamentally don't agree with each other. For a hundred years the smartest people on the planet have been trying to fix that. Sabrina is one of the people working closest to cracking it.

This is the patch:

• The problem: why physics has two languages that don't speak to each other and why that tension is at the heart of everything we don't yet understand about the universe
• The work: what celestial holography actually is and why it might be the bridge physicists have been searching for
• The person: a first generation Cuban-American from Chicago public schools who built a plane before she could drive and put the whole thing on YouTube

In the lifestyle segment I get into why this one felt personal, and what it means to have one of the most important scientific minds in the world working in Waterloo.

All views expressed are my own.

India hosted the AI Impact Summit, bringing together global tech leaders, heads of state, and record-setting commitments around responsible AI. Beyond the headlines, the week signalled a shift in who shapes artificial intelligence and how it is deployed at scale.

India represents roughly one in five people on earth, yet until recently received only a small share of global AI funding. That tension sits at the center of this episode.

I walk through three things that stood out and why they matter.

This is the patch:

• Responsibility: a Guinness World Record for AI responsibility pledges and what governance at scale looks like
• Adoption: 100 million weekly ChatGPT users and how usage shapes product evolution
• Infrastructure: billions invested in GPUs, data centers, and undersea cables to build AI at national scale

Together, these forces position India not just as a consumer of AI, but as a serious participant in defining its future.

In the lifestyle segment, I share a Lunar New Year dinner ritual with friends and the simple rule we created to stay connected in busy seasons of life.

All views expressed are my own.

Welcome to season three of patchperfect! To kick things off, I'm doing something a little different. I sat down with my 93-year-old grandfather, Papa Ben, for a coffee chat about technology, connection, and what actually matters when the world keeps moving faster.

This episode features someone who's lived through almost a century of innovation. We're talking Ford Model Ts with literal hand cranks, telex machines that punched dots into tape, and the moment email changed everything. Papa Ben takes us from a time when his family's first refrigerator was revolutionary (and half the size of what we have today) to his surprisingly nuanced take on AI and why he finds Teslas genuinely overwhelming.

This is the patch:

• what life actually looked like before electricity and running hot water
• how the internet compressed business communication from days into minutes
• why social media never really stuck for him (spoiler: he'd rather just call you)
• his honest thoughts on AI... the promise, the dangers, and what we lose when machines do our thinking

At its core, this is about choosing presence over productivity, staying connected to people not just platforms, and showing up for yourself even when no one else is watching. We close with the lifestyle segment where Papa Ben shares his daily routine (suited up by 10 AM, even working from home), his signature scent (Mr. Burberry), and the book that changed his life at 18: How to Win Friends and Influence People.

This one's special. Cross-generational wisdom, a tech history lesson you won't find in textbooks, and a reminder that attitude matters more than any algorithm.

PS: You probably noticed the rebrand. New cover art, fresh look. Thank you to @sandybrav on the new look, and check out our patch photoshoot playlist :)

All views expressed are my own.