SophieCo. Visionaries

Robert Sapolsky: We’re uniquely violent and compassionate

Humans are on the one hand capable of mass genocide, and on the other hand, great self-sacrifice. Why are we capable of such extremes? We talked about this with Robert Sapolsky, professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University and recipient of a MacArthur Foundation genius grant.

Bernard Werber: Our generation is lucky but bad students

Crises like the one we’re going through right now are good at revealing who we really are. We discussed humankind’s revelations with Bernard Werber, best-selling science fiction author and philosopher.

Too early to ease up on lockdowns – Yale microbiologist

The world is gradually rolling back lockdown measures, as the coronavirus pandemic shows a faint sign of easing off. We talked about this with Paul Turner, the Rachel Carson professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Yale University, and professor of microbiology at Yale School of Medicine.

Werner Herzog: As long as I breathe I will not let fascism happen again

75 years ago one of the darkest episodes in human history ended. How have humanity and our collective psychology changed since then? To consider this, and much more, we met the legendary, Oscar-nominated director, screenwriter and producer, Werner Herzog.

Globalization was like a bring-your-own-booze party that’s now halted – Swedish economist

As coronavirus rages across the planet, keeping billions on lockdown and putting countries’ economies under immense pressure, Sweden has gone with a pretty unique approach to it – keeping society open and businesses running. We talked about this with Kjell Nordstroem, Swedish economist, futurist, innovative speaker and best-selling author.

Labs suffer virus breakouts – pathologist

Viruses, one of the most ancient inhabitants of our planet, have once again proven that we must take them seriously. What is the nature of viruses, and why are they there to mess with us? We asked John Nicholls, clinical professor of pathology at the University of Hong Kong, who’s been studying coronaviruses for 25 years.