Sunday Pick: Tech Solutions (#3): How one of China's biggest tech companies is tackling carbon removal (with Xu Hao)
Host Sherelle Dorsey talks with Dr. Xu Hao, Vice President of Sustainable Social Value at Tencent, about how the company is investing in and accelerating carbon removal and decarbonization technologies, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors like steel, cement, and chemicals. They examine the cost and scaling challenges these technologies face, the role of digital tools such as AI, data, and virtual power plants in improving efficiency and cutting emissions, and Tencent's own path toward carbon neutrality and net zero. The conversation also covers Tencent's use of video games for climate education and the need to pursue multiple climate solutions in the face of uncertainty about which technologies will ultimately dominate.
Hydro Flask: Travis Rosbach. How a thirsty surfer changed the water bottle industry
Travis Rosbach explains how dissatisfaction with existing reusable bottles led him to create Hydro Flask, a double-wall vacuum-insulated stainless steel water bottle. He describes his path through earlier businesses in fencing and sign-making, the technical and logistical challenges of developing manufacturing in China, and the scrappy early days selling bottles at markets and into retailers. The episode follows the company's rapid growth, financing crises, the arrival of an outside investor, and Travis's eventual decision to leave Hydro Flask.
Gymshark: Ben Francis. From pizza delivery to billion-dollar fitness brand.
Ben Francis tells the story of how he went from a student delivering pizzas and building websites to founding Gymshark, a global gymwear brand. He explains how Gymshark began as a dropship supplement site before pivoting into apparel, leveraged early YouTube fitness influencers, and grew rapidly while remaining bootstrapped. Ben also describes bringing in experienced operators, learning each function of the business, navigating a co-founder split, and eventually returning as CEO to lead Gymshark as a multi-hundred-million pound company with global reach.
#835: Ben Patrick (KneesOverToesGuy) - 20-Minute Workouts That Produce Wild Results, From Chronic Knee Pain to Dunking Basketballs, Lessons from Charles Poliquin, Bulletproofing the Lower Body, and More
Tim Ferriss interviews strength coach Ben Patrick, also known as Knees Over Toes Guy, about his journey from debilitating knee pain and multiple surgeries to pain‑free athletic performance. Ben explains the origins of his knees‑over‑toes approach, the key exercises and minimalist programming he uses for joint health and performance, and how he applies this with clients and family, including his 71‑year‑old mother. They also discuss equipment innovations, American manufacturing, and Tim's philosophy on integrity, long‑term thinking, and resisting audience capture in media and business.
Advice Line with John Zimmer of Lyft
Host Guy Raz speaks with Lyft co-founder John Zimmer about his transition out of day-to-day leadership, the emotional and mental health challenges of stepping away, and his interest in building new, mission-driven consumer businesses. Together they take calls from three founders: a UK inventor of a soap-mixing showerhead seeking to scale to the U.S., a rucking gear entrepreneur struggling with inventory financing and tariffs, and a craft chocolate maker wrestling with work-life balance and long-term employee ownership. The episode focuses on practical advice around focus, financing, go-to-market tests, and personal sustainability for founders.
BOARD GAMES 1: We're making a game
Planet Money goes inside the modern board game industry as they embark on creating their own economics-themed tabletop game. They follow the journey of first-time designer and publisher Leonie Grundler, whose game Biome became a Kickstarter hit, and then meet Exploding Kittens co-creator Alon Lee to explore whether their game should be a complex Eurogame or a mass-market party game. Along the way, they unpack crowdfunding, manufacturing, tariffs, and the importance of core game mechanics while setting up a partnership to develop a smart but broadly appealing party game.
Poppi: Allison and Stephen Ellsworth. From Farmers Market Vinegar Drink to $2B Soda Sensation
Allison and Stephen Ellsworth describe how a homemade apple cider vinegar drink that helped Allison's health issues evolved into Mother Beverage and ultimately the prebiotic soda brand Poppy. They walk through bootstrapping production in their house, early traction at farmers markets and Whole Foods, a pivotal Shark Tank deal with investor Rohan Oza, a complete rebrand and shift to cans, and rapid growth fueled by Amazon, Shark Tank exposure, and TikTok. The episode concludes with their creation of a new "modern soda" category, Poppy's sale to Pepsi for nearly $2 billion, and reflections on building a generational brand as a married co‑founder team.
647. China Is Run by Engineers. America Is Run by Lawyers.
Host Stephen Dubner speaks with analyst and author Dan Wong about his framework for understanding the U.S. and China as, respectively, a "lawyerly society" and an "engineering state." Wong explains how China's engineer-dominated leadership prioritizes rapid infrastructure building, technological capacity, and even social engineering, while the U.S. legal culture emphasizes procedure, litigation, and blocking harmful as well as beneficial projects. Drawing on his years living in China, his family's history, and his book "Breakneck," Wong discusses zero-COVID, the one-child policy, manufacturing and process knowledge, China's global ambitions, and what each country could learn from the other.