Jan Jensen is the new head coach for women’s basketball at the University of Iowa. Jensen takes over an elite program that developed generational phenom, Caitlin Clark (WNBA Rookie of the Year with the Indiana Fever), and reached the NCAA Championship game the last two years. Previously named NCAA Assistant Coach of the Year, Jensen has been instrumental in recruiting and developing such athletes as Kate Martin (now with the Las Vegas Aces) and Megan Gustafson (also with the Las Vegas Aces, who recently competed for Spain in the 2024 Paris Olympics, and was NCAA Player of the Year while at Iowa). Our conversation discussed Jensen’s succession path following Lisa Bluder; her vision for the team under her leadership; building and curating a team culture; recruiting the right players to fit the Iowa program; creating the conditions for developing confidence and trust; the changing realities of college athletics with NIL, the portal, and revenue sharing; the Iowa ‘brand’; and a few memories of growing up in Iowa’s small farm communities.

Andrew Jones is one of the foremost experts on the use of simulation modeling to improve decision-making for our most pressing global challenges, including the socio-economic and geopolitical ramifications of climate change. He is Co-Founder and CEO of Climate Interactive, and creator of the En-ROADS simulation model which has been used by an estimated 1.4 million people in over 170 countries, including by global negotiators, U.S. Senators and more than 178 Members of Congress, and multinational corporations. In this episode, filmed in Asheville, North Carolina, following the devastation of Hurricane Helene, we explore how system dynamics modeling, simulations, and synthetic experiences can be used to help policymakers and decision-makers to better conceptualize and understand the myriad dimensions of complex problems. Jones reveals methods and strategies for overcoming the challenges of time and space in order to visual future outcomes within milliseconds, creating non-judgmental environments for exploring alternative options, and avoiding reliance on ‘black box’ modeling to instead use methodologies which transparently reveal the dynamic cross-correlations at play within complex systems.

Tech entrepreneur Eliot Puplett shares his vision for democratizing global finance through blockchain technology. As founder of Medici, he's building a decentralized financial system that could do for money what the internet did for information. Puplett discusses the challenges of disrupting entrenched financial institutions, navigating regulatory hurdles, and building new infrastructure from scratch. He explains how blockchain can dramatically reduce costs and complexity in international investments by eliminating middlemen and creating transparent, immutable transactions. Beyond the technology, Puplett reveals his deeper mission: enabling thousands of people who've been excluded from traditional finance to build wealth, start companies, and access capital markets. It's a raw, candid conversation about fighting the status quo while trying to become part of it – and the messy reality of building a financial revolution from the ground up.