Thought and Industry

Join us for episode 15 of The Torch of Progress with Michael Strong Key Discussion Points: - Academy of Thought and Industry and other schools he has founded - How Progress Studies fits into the curriculum - Guest Speaker Michael Strong: Michael Strong is one of the most experienced creators of small, innovative, high-performance schools in the world. His projects include Moreno Valley High School, which was ranked the 36th best public high school in the U.S.; KoSchool, a lab school based on entrepreneurship and intellectual development; Winston Academy, a school at which middle school students passed Advanced Placement courses; and middle school programs for HeadsUp!, a multi-campus Montessori organization. One of Michael’s innovations at his schools is Socratic Practice, a form of text-based intellectual dialogue designed to increase SAT verbal scores and increase intellectual sophistication. He is the author of The Habit of Thought: From Socratic Seminars to Socratic Practice and has consulted for hundreds of schools and universities across world. Michael’s work as an educational entrepreneur led to a partnership with John Mackey, the founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market. John and Michael co-founded a non-profit, Freedom Lights Our World (FLOW, Inc.), dedicated to promoting entrepreneurial solutions to world problems. FLOW gave birth to Conscious Capitalism, Peace through Commerce, Radical Social Entrepreneurs, and the Startup Cities Institute. Michael is the lead author of Be the Solution: How Entrepreneurs and Conscious Capitalism Can Solve All the World’s Problems.

Join us for episode 14 of The Torch of Progress with Manjari Narayan Key Discussion Points: - How statistics evolved through applications in agriculture, medicine, and manufacturing - The “replication crisis” in science today Guest Speaker Manjari Narayan: Manjari Narayan is a statistical data scientist interested in when and how the measurement of human brain function can inform diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric and developmental disorders. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford School of Medicine. Her research broadly focuses on three areas i) interrogating methods for inferring causal mechanisms from imperfect measurements of biological systems, ii) developing methods to evaluate whether brain imaging derived biomarkers are actionable in terms of informing treatment iii) evaluating and mitigating bias in applying statistical machine learning for biomedicine. Previously, she received a Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from Rice University in 2016. Her dissertation work has been recognized by numerous student paper awards including the 2016 ENAR Distinguished Student Paper Award from the International Biometrics Society.

Join us for episode 13 of The Torch of Progress with Adam Wiggins Key Discussion Points: Thomas Edison, Bell Labs, ARPA, and Xerox PARC: what do all of these people and groups have in common? They are all pioneers of the industrial research model. Basic science concerns itself with the search for truth, without any focus on how its findings may impact human existence. Business (even innovation ones like Silicon Valley startups) tend to put existing technology into practice, rather than inventing something new. Industrial research sits in the middle of this spectrum, seeking to find breakthrough ideas that have commercial applications on a five- to ten-year time horizon. Adam walks through this history, which was a big influence for his independent research lab, Ink & Switch (www.inkandswitch.com). Guest Speaker Adam Wiggins: Hi, I’m Adam, and my mission is to improve computers and the internet in the service of human prosperity. Right now I’m building Muse, which turns your iPad into a tool for thought. In the past, I founded the Ink & Switch research lab and Heroku. I design products, build teams, write, podcast, and occasionally invest. I’m from California but have settled in Berlin. Follow me on Twitter: @hirodusk