On this episode of Vibe Check, Saeed and Zach are joined by computer scientist and AI expert Timnit Gebru to talk about AI and why the future doesn't have to end in human extinction. Plus, they share their latest picks for “the vibes are on” and “the vibes are off.”

You can order Timnit Gebru’s book: Deep Unlearning: The Rise of AI and the Radicalization of a Tech Idealist

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Saeed’s Poem: “The Dress” by Hieu Minh Nguyen 

You can find everything Vibe Check related at our official website, www.vibecheckpod.com

We want to hear from you! Email us at vibecheck@stitcher.com, and keep in touch with us on Instagram @vibecheck_pod.

Get your Vibe Check merch at www.podswag.com/vibecheck.

Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of Vibe Check ad-free.
Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if your AI anxiety isn’t a flaw, but a signal to evolve how you work? In this episode, I sit down with Lee Gonzales, engineering leader and creator of BetterUp’s AI Flight School, to talk about why AI feels existential, why it threatens your craft and identity, and how you can move from fear to agency. We dive into how psychological safety, values, and collective sensemaking help people shift from “AI will replace me” to “AI can expand me.” Tune in if you’re ready to move from avoidance to informed action and become the pilot of your AI future, not the passenger.

Check out our sponsors:

Northwest Registered Agent - Protect your privacy, build your brand and get your complete business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes! Visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/achieverfree

In this Episode, You Will Learn

00:00 Why AI anxiety pushed Lee to reinvent his entire career.

04:45 How AI differs from every prior technological leap.

08:00 What distinguishes an “AI passenger” from an “AI pilot”?

10:00 Is the agency real or a helpful illusion?

14:45 Why psychological safety is the first requirement for AI learning.

18:03 How to reframe anxiety into possibility using values and task design.

22:15 Why AI can weaken your cognitive muscles if you’re not careful.

25:15 The values-based exercise that helps you understand your resistance.

28:45 Why engineers struggle with AI’s impact on the craft they love.30:30 What AlphaGo teaches us about self-learning systems and exponential change. 

32:00 How prompting helps people reflect on values and reclaim agency.

34:15 Lee’s “aha” moment from Flight School participants.

36:00 Why AI can feel like an “infinite agency machine” when used well.

Resources + Links

Get a copy of my book - The Anxious Achiever

Watch the podcast on YouTube 

Find more resources on our website morraam.com

Follow

Follow me: on LinkedIn @morraaronsmele + Instagram @morraam

Follow Lee on LinkedIn: @leegonzales

AI is being used to save Indigenous languages, but is it the right fix? One new project aims to use tech to help keep these languages alive without replacing human connection.

In this episode:

• Danielle Boyer (@danielleboyerr), Robotics Educator

Episode credits: 

This episode was produced by Chloe K. Li, Marcos Bartolomé, and Tamara Khandaker, with Manny Panaritos, Duha Mosaad, Hagir Saleh, Khaled Soltan, Hanah Shokeir, Melanie Marich, Noor Wazwaz and our guest host Kevin Hirten. It was edited by Alexandra Locke. 

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad Al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is the Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio. 

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads and YouTube

How much are you using ChatGPT or Claude or one of the other LLMs in your job? Have you, like the Amys, largely avoided it because you haven’t been impressed with what you’ve seen it do? Or you haven’t thought of a compelling use case? Or maybe you feel professionally threatened?

The Amys have gone from being skeptical dabblers to skeptical enthusiasts. Why? They heard several listeners describe how they’ve gotten surprisingly good results, not to mention mental relief, greater agency at work, and imaginative business leads.

If you haven’t yet tried your hand at GenAI, we hope these power users, along with our guest expert, data journalist Alexandra Samuel, inspire you to finally do that; and if you’re already using the technology, that you come away with new ideas.

Guest expert:

Alexandra Samuel is a tech speaker and data journalist who creates data-driven reports and workshops for companies around the world.

Resources:

• “How the Next Generation of Managers Is Using Gen AI,” by Gabriele Rosani and Elisa Farri
• “Using ChatGPT to Make Better Decisions,” by Thomas Ramge and Viktor Mayer-Schönberger
• “The AI Skills You Should Be Building Now,” from the HBR IdeaCast
• “A Toolkit to Help You Manage Uncertainty Around AI,” by Oguz A. Acar and Bob Bastian
• “Embracing Gen AI at Work,” by H. James Wilson and Paul R. Daugherty

Sign up for the Women at Work newsletter.

Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org

Guest: Campbell Watson, Senior Research Scientist at IBM Research

As artificial intelligence, or AI, continues to become more pervasive in our technology, it’s only natural to wonder what it means for meteorology and climatology. Believe it or not, AI is already revolutionizing how we develop models in the Earth and Space sciences. Joining us today is Campbell Watson, a Senior Research Scientist at IBM Research, to discuss how we are creating these AI models, and the opportunities and advancements we hope to learn from using them.

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction to AI in Meteorology and Climatology
• 01:35 Campbell Watson's Background and Interest in Weather
• 04:18 The Use of AI in Weather Forecasting
• 05:24 The Evolution of AI in Weather Forecasting
• 06:26 Understanding AI at its Core
• 08:09 Difference Between AI and Conventional Weather Model Forecasting
• 10:44 The Difference Between AI and Conventional Weather Model Forecasting
• 13:31 AI Models Learning from Weather Models
• 20:30 Foundation Models and Unsupervised Learning
• 25:12 Verification of AI in Weather Forecasting
• 27:57 The Robustness of AI Models
• 28:24 Learning from Observations
• 29:23 AI Models Learning from Observations
• 30:09 The Importance of Observations
• 30:38 Comparing Deep Learning and AI with Traditional Weather Forecasting Models
• 35:38 Trustworthiness in AI Forecasting
• 36:12 Adopting AI in Weather Forecasting
• 41:46 Nowcasting with AI
• 44:03 AI in Climate Forecasting
• 47:38 The Future of AI in Weather Forecasting

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome to Queued for Thought, my curated podcast playlist designed to satiate your brain with insightful ideas!

I'm Renaissance Woman Sara Kobilka, host of the podcast Connecting the Dots with The Renaissance People.

Queued for Thought is a project I created where we can practice the skill of connecting the dots between conversations happening in different realms.

My latest playlist addition connects the dots and complicates the narrative around AI. It features podcast episodes from Weather Geeks, Win-Win with Liv Boeree, Women at Work, The Take, The Anxious Achiever, and Vibe Check.

Check it out on the Listen Notes website and from there, subscribe to it on your favorite podcast streaming platform.

Queued for Thought will come out sporadically when I’m feeling inspired. If you’d like to know each time a new episode drops, sign up for my Renaissance People Community newsletter.

Promised Show Notes Materials (take a drink):

Syracuse University article about the Types of AI

TIME article which includes video from Joseph Gordon-Levitt's speech about AI and voting

How to find a podcast streaming platform you can subscribe to

Weather podcast episodes related to AI

Off the Radar: The Artificial Forecaster: Innovation or Impersonation? (May 20, 2025)

Weather Geeks: Artificial Intelligence, the New Weather Frontier (Oct 21, 2020)

Weather Geeks: Big Data Solutions & The Weather Business (Nov 18,2020)

Off the Radar: Weather the World of Artificial Intelligence (July 11, AI 2023)

Weather Geeks: Artificial Intelligence & Weather Forecasting (Jan 12, 2022)

Weather Geeks: How AI is Helping Weather Models Make the Grade (Apr 10, 2024)

Weather Geeks: Predicting Severe Weather Using AI (Mar 5, 2025)

Weather Geeks: Artificial Intelligence in Weather & Earth Sciences (May 5, 2021)

Podcast episode on Indigenous perspective of AI

Unreserved: Why Indigenous People are Fighting for Data Sovereignty (Mar 31, 2024)

Podcast episodes on AI, work and mental health

The Anxious Achiever: Using AI for ADHD With Lindsay Scola (Jul 16, 2025)

The Anxious Achiever: AI, Work and Mental Health: Nilay Patel on Tech and the Future (Sep 4, 2024)

The Anxious Achiever: Surfing Through the AI Apocalypse with Jacob Ward (Jun 23, 2026)

Mentioned in this episode:

Free Newsletter

Sign up for my free Newsletter for Renaissance People to stay updated on this show, learn about my expansion experiments, and find opportunities to work with me and engage others in the Renaissance People Community.

What if the rupture of these tumultuous times is not an ending, but an opening? In this episode, Willow speaks with Bayo Akomolafe, philosopher, poet, and thinker whose work challenges us to step beyond binaries and into the fertile, unpredictable space of emergence. They dig into how transformation doesn’t come from rigid certainty or oppositional thinking, but from the cracks—where new possibilities take root. Nature does not resolve tension; it composts it, making way for something unexpected to arise. Bayo invites us to see the turbulence of our moment not as a problem to be solved, but as an invitation to step out of fixed ways of being and embrace the "third way"—the space between and beyond, where new ways of relating, knowing, and becoming can unfold.

For more about Bayo Akomolafe: https://www.bayoakomolafe.net/

On How to Make Sanctuary in Times of Loss: https://atmos.earth/political-landscapes/bayo-akomolafe-on-how-to-make-sanctuary-in-times-of-loss/

On Slowing Down in Urgent Times: https://atmos.earth/ecological-wisdom/dr-bayo-akomolafe-on-slowing-down-in-urgent-times/

To see a transcript of this episode: https://atmos.earth/podcast/bayo-akomolafe-on-the-nature-of-possibility-in-uncertain-times/

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You can follow the show at @DrMayaShankar on Instagram.

Edith Eger was just 16 years old when the Nazis forced her and her Jewish family onto a cattle car to the Auschwitz concentation camp. Today, Edith is 94 years old, and a psychologist who specializes in post-traumatic stress disorder. She shares how learning to control her own mind helped her to survive the Holocaust.

If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts be sure to sign up for our email list at Pushkin.fm.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’re often taught to push away grief, sadness, anxiety, or anger, but what if those emotions aren’t the enemy, but the key to resilience? In this episode, Harvard psychologist and bestselling author Dr. Susan David explains why emotions aren’t good or bad, positive or negative. She breaks down the groundbreaking concept of emotional agility, the skill set that allows us to face our thoughts and feelings with curiosity, compassion, and courage, and then move forward guided by our values. We also talk about why toxic positivity is so damaging, how difficult emotions signpost what matters most, and why learning to “hold anxiety in one hand and courage in the other” changes the way we work, lead, and live. Tune in to learn how to stop letting your emotions dictate your actions and start using them as valuable data.

In this Episode, You Will Learn

00:00 Why emotions are not good or bad.

05:00 How toxic positivity and “forced optimism” hurt leaders and organizations.

09:45 Why suppressing emotions leads to burnout, conflict, and emotional leakage.

13:00 How emotional agility differs from rigidity.

17:00 How anxiety and fear can actually point you to your values.

19:45 Why connecting to your values protects against burnout.

23:00 The cost of sidelining emotions in schools, workplaces, and culture.

27:00 How uncertainty and discomfort are the price of admission to a meaningful life.

31:00 Why grief is “love looking for its home” and how to honor it.

34:00 Listener story about grief, caregiving, and professional identity after loss.

42:00 What organizations can do to support employees navigating caregiving and grief.

Resources + Links

Learn more about Dr. Susan David’s work HERE!

Grab your copy of Dr. Susan David “Emotional Agility” HERE!

Get a copy of my book - The Anxious Achiever

Watch the podcast on YouTube 

Find more resources on our website morraam.com

Follow

Follow me: on LinkedIn @morraaronsmele + Instagram @morraam

Follow Dr. Susan David: on LinkedIn @susanadavidphd

This episode is a family affair! I’m joined by my younger brother Brian Skellenger, the voice and creative spirit behind this podcast’s theme song. I also view him as a Renaissance Person, a label we debate over the course of the episode (in true sibling fashion). In this show, I share how my thoughts around the term “Renaissance Person” and the idea of a “Renaissance Mindset” have been morphing.

We also talk about the pros and cons of having a Renaissance Woman as an older sister, how our parents’ careers influenced our mindset, the power of improv, and being drawn to fellow Renaissance People (and NYC as a hotspot for finding them). Plus, I think you’ll be intrigued by Brian’s thought process as he designed this show’s theme song, at least I was!

Promised Show Notes Materials (take a drink):

1. Sign up for updates on my podcast and what's happening in the Renaissance People Community.
2. Episode 7 Stephanie Castillo
3. Range: Why Generalists Thrive in a Specialized World by David Epstein
4. Review of the play “Vestibular Sense” from Minnesota Public Radio
5. Take it With You newsletter for job seekers
6. Packing Your Skillset Suitcase newsletter issue
7. AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies downloadable list of “the 100 greatest American movies of all time” (released in 1998 and updated with a 10-year anniversary list in 2007, which isn’t actually 10 years so I don’t understand their math)
8. What are Overtones? YouTube Short video by Eric Martin
9. OVERTONES! What are overtones? What do they sound like? Longer YouTube video explaining the science of overtones more deeply by KHensenMusic and all sorts of awesome examples from singing groups
10. Water Whys Spring 2026 Visual SciComm Seminar Series
11. Making Math Inclusive for Everyone with Microsoft 365 blog post by Peter Wu
12. LinkedIn post by Sara Shunkwiler about the new #Microsoft365Math hashtag with link to recording of talk about math accessibility (and the post she’s resharing talks about being a survivor, even more serendipity)
13. LinkedIn post by Ailee Dixon announcing her new role as a Blind Disability & STEM Equity Advocate
14. Magnet Theater in Manhattan, NYC. Performance schedule for Brian’s improv team, Lil’ Spoon.

Follow Brian on Social Media:

Instagram | YouTube

A few things Brian and I discuss:

2:09 Brian’s rejection of my potential terms for his identity, why he feels like a “survivalist”, and he defines the term.

6:22 How my definition of “Renaissance Person” and the “Renaissance Mindset” is morphing

9:02 Big sister Sara embarrasses her little brother

11:44 Living in the shadow of a Renaissance Person older sibling and finding theater

14:52 The impact of our parents’ careers on our mindset

20:55 The power of improv (and why Renaissance People are particularly good at it)

25:20 Rejecting hyper specialization

31:35 Brian’s performance in the show ‘Vestibular Sense” and how his Renaissance Mindset helped him land the lead role’

34:50 The toolkit of skills we bring with us throughout our career

36:05 How connecting the dots means being empathetic in the arts

38:27 Being drawn to fellow Renaissance People

42:06 Brian’s though process in creating the Connecting the Dots with The Renaissance People theme song

48:28 Improv Game with the snarkiest response yet to “You know you’re a Renaissance Person if…”

50:27 Rapidish Fire Questions

52:10 Why our childhood jobs at a movie rental store were great Renaissance Person jobs

56:07 The challenge of math accessibility for blind or visually impaired learners (and Sara’s upcoming free virtual seminar speakers on the topic)

58:07 Why you should go to Magnet Theater if you’re in Manhattan on a Thursday evening to see musical improv (and possibly Brian’s improv team)

Quotes from the episode:

(Brian) Well, of course I couldn't pick anything that you picked for me!

(Sara) Oh, course not! Big sister can't tell you what to do.

(Brian) I have to be an original.

(Brian) At least maybe other people like you would say that I am a Renaissance Person or something. But I picked a word and then I like looked it up and it has a completely different meaning. So I'm changing the meaning of this word...

(Sara) Do it!

(Brian) Like, beware Webster's Dictionary. You're getting a new entry!

(Sara) He's in a fighting mood!

(Brian) Exactly!

(Brian) I do agree that, while I don't necessarily consider myself a Renaissance Person, I do think that I have a well-rounded skillset and mindset. And I think part of that was like, I mean, I'm sure some of that is just genetic or whatever. But I think having you as an older sibling to model sort of like, you can be good at everything if you want to be. If you have the aptitude for it. That set the bar pretty high, which was both daunting, but also freeing in a way

(Sara) Yeah.

(Brian) I didn't feel super self-conscious about like being interested in a wide variety of things when some other kids were sort of hyper specializing.

(Brian) I figured out that I could sort of turn something that was an insecurity into something that made people laugh, which is, 'cause I was cast as this really nerdy character. And I was a dork, as a kid and I still am. I was so nervous that the other kids were gonna laugh at me in a "make fun of me" sort of way.

(Sara) Yeah.

(Brian) But then, when I was able to like, oh, I'm entertaining these people. They're laughing with me in a way.

(Sara) And you have control over the laughter. I'm making it happen.

(Brian) I think improv has a lot of good applications outside of just being entertaining because improv theaters do workshops and stuff for businesses and it's a great tool to just learn how to “Yes, and...” somebody else's idea that might be completely different than what you had in mind.

Follow me, Renaissance Woman Sara Kobilka, on LinkedIn, where I put most of my social media energy and Facebook.

If you're extra curious, check out Renaissance Woman Consulting to learn more about some of the many types of work I do.

And should you care to support the production of this podcast, I'd love it if you'd buy me an oat milk cappuccino, the caffeinated beverage of my choice.

This podcast is hosted and edited by Sara Kobilka.

Theme music is by Brian Skellenger

Podcast distribution support provided by K.O. Myers of Particular Media

Welcome to Queued for Thought, my curated podcast playlist designed to satiate your brain with insightful ideas!

I'm Renaissance Woman Sara Kobilka, host of the podcast Connecting the Dots with The Renaissance People.

Queued for Thought is a project I created where we can practice the skill of connecting the dots between conversations happening in different realms.

My latest playlist addition connects the dots between conversations around being a “survivalist” and cultivating “survivalist skills”. It features podcast episodes from Connecting the Dots with The Renaissance People, The Anxious Achiever, A Slight Change of Plans and The Nature Of with Willow Defebaugh.

Check it out on the Listen Notes website. From there, subscribe to listen to all episodes on your favorite podcast streaming platform.

Instructions for how to find a podcast streaming platform.

Queued for Thought comes out sporadically when I’m feeling inspired. If you’d like to know each time a new episode drops, sign up for my Renaissance People Community listserv.

Resources

How to find a podcast streaming platform you can subscribe to

Grief can paralyze us. Most of us aren't given a manual about how to comfort someone grieving or how to ask for help with our own pain. 

That's why I wanted to revisit one of my favorite conversations, with Rabbi Sharon Brous. I talked with her about being present to someone else's pain and what it means to heal together in the loneliness epidemic. 

Considered one of the most influential rabbis in the U.S., she founded her own congregation and has led multiple White House faith events. In her book, The Amen Effect, Sharon explores how grief and heartbreak can be gateways to truly seeing each other.

This...is A Bit of Optimism.

For more on Sharon and her work, check out:

her book The Amen Effect

her congregation iKAR

Peace is a process, not an outcome. It's a process that must begin with understanding the other side.

Few people on this planet have as much experience making peace as William Ury. William spent decades as a peace negotiator, resolving the world's most intractable conflicts — from avoiding nuclear catastrophe in the Cold War to mediating ethnic tensions and civil wars. Considered one of the world's pre-eminent negotiation experts, he's written several books on the subject, including the best-selling Getting To Yes. His latest book is titled Possible. 

I sat down with William to discuss the possibility of peace in an increasingly conflicted world. He shares some great stories with me from his career and what he's learned about the right way to influence others.

This...is A Bit of Optimism.

For more on William and his work, check out:

his books, Possible: How We Survive (and Thrive) in an Age of Conflict 

and Getting To Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In

williamury.com

Welcome to Queued for Thought, a curated podcast playlist!

I'm Renaissance Woman Sara Kobilka, host of the podcast Connecting the Dots with The Renaissance People.

Queued for Thought is a project I've created where I get to practice that skill of connecting the dots between conversations happening in different realms.

In this episode, I explain how these playlists will work and my personal philosophy on populating my podcast queue.

This first playlist connects the dots between conversations around loneliness, healing and connecting. It features podcast episodes from A Bit of Optimism with Simon Sinek and Inquiring Minds.

Check it out on the Listen Notes website and from there, subscribe to it on your favorite podcast streaming platform.

Queued for Thought will come out sporadically when I’m feeling inspired. If you’d like to know each time a new episode drops, sign up for my Renaissance People Community listserv.