482. Is Venture Capital the Secret Sauce of t...

New York City’s mayor called them “public enemy number one.” History books say they caused the Black Death — although recent scientific evidence disputes that claim. In an updated episode from 2025, we ask: Is the rat a scapegoat? And what does our rat hatred say about us? SOURCE ...  Show more

One possibility: a leading hypothesis pursued by researchers (and funders) was built on science that now appears to be fraudulent. Stephen Dubner speaks with the scientist and the journalist who blew the whistle. SOURCES: Charles Piller, investigative journalist for Science, auth ...  Show more

Will Quist is a Partner @ Slow Ventures. Over the last decade, the team at Slow Ventures have invested in the earliest rounds of over 500 companies including Ro ...

Are you confused by venture capital? Do you wonder if it's right for your business? (Spoiler: It's not for everyone.) In this episode Anu Duggal and Sutian Dong break down the complex world (and acronyms!) of venture capital, and explain how the Female Founders Fund is differ ...  Show more

How are loans and grants distributed? And how high are the returns?According to the IMF, Africa’s growth prospect will be amongst the highest in the world and sectors such as fintech and telecoms are the drivers of the current economic growth, offering huge investment opportuniti ...  Show more

Steve Blank is one of the leading luminaries of Silicon Valley, credited with being foundational to the creation of The Lean Startup movement and having spent the last 9 years at Stanford University as a pr ...