What's Your Problem?

Phages are viruses that attack bacteria. People have been using phages to treat infections for over a hundred years, but in most cases they just don't work as well as antibiotics.
Paul Garofolo is the co-founder and CEO of Locus Biosciences. His problem is this: How do you genetically engineer phages to be more effective at curing disease?
In this episode, Paul explains:
Why wild phages never completely wipe out a bacterial infection
How to engineer phages with CRISPR to kill bacteria more effectively
The clinical trial testing phage therapy for chronic, recurrent UTIs
Why persistent bacteria may contribute to autoimmune conditions like Crohn's disease
How to use robots and AI to create phage cocktails from wastewater
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Email us at problem@pushkin.fm
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David Autor is a labor economist at MIT. He has written about how the arrival of personal computers increased inequality among American workers. But when it comes to AI, David thinks there could be a different outcome.
Read David’s article about AI in Noema Magazine.
In this episode, David explains:
How computers increased the wage gap between college and non-college educated workers
Why AI’s ability to supplement expertise may open up expert fields to more people
How AI could make healthcare and legal services cheaper
What fields will still experience rapid devaluation of skills due to AI
The “no regrets” policies that the US could enact to help ease the impact of AI
Connect with us:
Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram
Email us at problem@pushkin.fm
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Listen to Jacob’s other show, Business History
To listen to the show early and ad free, sign up for Pushkin+
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Mills is the CEO and co-founder of a nonprofit called Watch Duty. His problem is this: How do you build an app to warn people when they are in immediate danger from a natural disaster? Watch Duty has millions of users and played a key role in the Los Angeles fires of 2025. In the show, John talks about how he built his app with the help of an army of volunteers, and why the government hadn’t already built something like Watch Duty.
In this episode, John explains:
Why one-quarter of Los Angeles residents downloaded Watch Duty during the 2025 fires
Why the all-clear message matters almost as much as the initial warning
How they are expanding into flood warnings
How to decode firefighter’s radio chatter, and his favorite bit of jargon
Connect with us:
Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram
Email us at problem@pushkin.fm
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Listen to Jacob’s other show, Business History
To listen to the show early and ad free, sign up for Pushkin+
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Josh Tyrangiel is the author of “AI for Good: How Real People Are Using Artificial Intelligence to Fix Things That Matter.” On today’s show, Josh talks about some of these real people and the problems they’re working on: a professor trying to understand her nonverbal son, a general who delivered millions of Covid vaccines in 2021, and a hospital CEO trying to reduce the rate of deadly infections.
In this episode, Josh explains:
Where AI is helping to reduce hospital infections (and where it’s struggling)
Why distributing the Covid vaccine was almost as hard as creating it
Why convincing people to use AI is often the hardest problem to solve
Why we should use nuclear weapons as a model for regulating AI
Connect with us:
Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram
Email us at problem@pushkin.fm
Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X
Listen to Jacob’s other show, Business History
To listen to the show early and ad free, sign up for Pushkin+
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Betsey Stevenson is a labor economist at the University of Michigan, and she was an economic adviser to President Obama. Betsey’s problem is this: How can we create a world where the benefits of AI are broadly shared?
Betsey draws on history – including how the invention of household appliances created a crisis of meaning for American women – to understand how we should respond to the challenge of AI. And she suggests policies to help spread the wealth AI could bring.
In this episode, Betsey explains:
How Engels’ Pause serves as a warning for workers
How 20th century women adapted to automation
How AI has changed life for college students
The argument for taxing AI firms and distributing the proceeds to the public
Connect with us:
Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram
Email us at problem@pushkin.fm
Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X
Listen to Jacob’s other show, Business History
To listen to the show early and ad free, sign up for Pushkin+
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.