Jim Rutt is the Host of The Jim Rutt Show podcast, former Chair of the Santa Fe Institute, Co-founder of the GameB Social Change Movement, and “Retired Business Dude” after a long career as a businessman in the tech industry. In this episode, Jim outlines how his career as a tech executive intersected with complexity science to contribute to groundbreaking research in genetic algorithms and market simulations. He also discusses the role of AI in programming and the need for multidisciplinary tal...
Jun 23, 2025•49 min•Ep. 71
This is part two of our discussion with Lee Cronin on Assembly Theory. Lee Cronin is Regius Professor of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow and the Founder & CEO of Chemify. In this episode, Lee explains how assembly theory can actually be measured in the laboratory using mass spectrometry and other techniques, reveals the critical threshold of 15 that separates living from non-living systems, and discusses his ambitious vision for using assembly theory to detect life elsewhere in the un...
Jun 09, 2025•40 min•Ep. 70
In 2023, a highly controversial paper titled ‘Assembly theory explains and quantifies selection and evolution’ was released to the world. In today’s episode, we’re chatting to one of the its authors, Lee Cronin, Regius Professor of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow and the Founder & CEO of Chemify, to discuss assembly theory and the motivation behind the paper, as well as key concepts such as the assembly index and the copy number. This episode is part one of our two-part chat with Lee....
May 26, 2025•35 min•Ep. 69
In the last episode, Christopher Lynn, Assistant Professor of Physics at Yale University, discussed how we can better understand brain function and consciousness using statistical mechanics and information theory. In this episode, Christopher expands on the practical applications of statistical mechanics and information theory for modelling neuron firing rates and predicting brain activity patterns. Connect: Simplifying Complexity on X Sean Brady on X Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website...
May 12, 2025•31 min•Ep. 68
We're welcoming back Christopher Lynn, Assistant Professor of Physics at Yale University, to chat about how the brain works. In this episode, Christopher discusses how statistical mechanics and information theory can help us gain a deeper understanding of brain function and consciousness. Connect: Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for mo...
Apr 28, 2025•35 min•Ep. 67
Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK, and Nicholas Gruen, CEO of Lateral Economics, have both returned to debate the efficacy and limitations of applying systems thinking to complex problems. Resources and links: Ogilvy UK website Lateral Economics website Connect: Simplifying Complexity on X Simplifying Complexity on YouTube Sean Brady on X Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more i...
Apr 14, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 66
In the last episode, Paul Smaldino, Professor of Cognitive and Information Sciences at the University of California, Merced, and an External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute discussed how human behaviour is shaped by cultural evolution. In this episode, Paul discusses social learning and identity signalling and how they’re both being affected by rapidly changing technologies. Connect: Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website This sho...
Mar 31, 2025•38 min•Ep. 65
We all know that we are shaped by evolution, but we're also shaped by cultural evolution. In this episode, we’re joined by Paul Smaldino, Professor of Cognitive and Information Sciences at the University of California, Merced, and an External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, to explain how cultural evolution has shaped human behaviour. Connect: Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website This show is produced in collaboration with Wave...
Mar 17, 2025•34 min•Ep. 64
Ricardo Hausmann is the Founder and Director of Harvard’s Growth Lab and the Rafik Hariri Professor of the Practice of International Political Economy at Harvard Kennedy School. In this episode, Ricardo explains how the amount and diversity of knowledge within an economy shapes its current capabilities and influences a country’s possible economic growth. Resources and links: The Atlas of Economic Complexity website Connect: Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on Li...
Mar 03, 2025•51 min•Ep. 63
In the last episode, Kevin Mitchell, Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin, compared human brains with single-celled organisms to introduce us to the impact of genetics on conscious thought. In this episode, Kevin discusses metacognition, or how humans think about thinking, and its implications on free will versus determinism. Connect: Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website This show is produced in...
Feb 17, 2025•53 min•Ep. 62
In this episode, Kevin Mitchell, Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin, takes us on a journey from single-celled organisms to human consciousness to explore if we have free will. Connect: Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information....
Feb 03, 2025•34 min•Ep. 61
Today we're joined by Michal Shur-Ofry, Associate Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem law faculty, as she discusses the law and complex systems. In this episode, you'll hear how traditional legal approaches often take an overly simplistic view of the systems they're trying to regulate, how the patent system could be improved by using network science to measure true innovation, and why understanding exponential growth during events like pandemics challenges our conventional legal prin...
Jan 20, 2025•44 min•Ep. 60
In the last episode, Jimmy Soni introduced Dr Claude Shannon, whose work laid the foundation for the technologies we use today. In this episode, Jimmy dives into the significance of Dr Shannon’s 1948 paper “A Mathematical Theory of Communication” to the creation of information theory. Resources and links: Jimmy Soni’s website Jimmy Soni on X Jimmy Soni on Instagram Connect: Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website This show is produced ...
Jan 06, 2025•38 min•Ep. 59
Dr Claude Shannon is one of the most influential scientists you’ve likely never heard of whose work laid the foundations for the information age. To explain the significance of Dr Shannon’s impact on modern computing, we’re joined by Jimmy Soni, author of “A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age” and “The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley”. Resources and links: Jimmy Soni’s website Jimmy Soni on X Jimmy Soni on Instagram Connect...
Dec 23, 2024•32 min•Ep. 58
Steve Keen is an Economist and Honorary Professor at University College London and is currently lecturing at the University of Amsterdam. In this episode, Steve explains the differences between neoclassical and post-Keynesian economics before discussing how concepts from complexity science and chaos theory can be used to develop economic models that actually factor in booms and busts. Resources and links: Steve Keen on Substack Steve Keen on Patreon Ravel on Patreon Connect: Simplifying Complexi...
Dec 09, 2024•48 min•Ep. 57
How does the brain actually work? In this episode, Christopher Lynn, Assistant Professor of Physics at Yale University, explains how network science can help us understand how our brains work. Connect: Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information....
Nov 25, 2024•49 min•Ep. 56
In our last two episodes with Professor Jennifer Dunne, the Vice President for Science at the Santa Fe Institute, she explained food webs with a focus on her work in the Gulf of Alaska. In this episode, Jennifer discusses how fossil records are helping researchers reconstruct food webs from half a billion years ago and the insights we can glean from comparing ancient food webs to modern ones. Connect: Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood we...
Nov 11, 2024•42 min•Ep. 55
Today we're joined again by Dmitri Tymoczko, Professor of Music at Princeton University. Last time, Dmitri discussed the underlying principles that make music sound ‘good’. In this episode, Dmitri explores the integration of music theory into improvisational and algorithmic music. He discusses how modern technology allows musicians to blend traditional and improvisational elements with algorithms to create something completely different from the music of the past. Resources and links: Dmitri Tym...
Oct 28, 2024•49 min•Ep. 54
Today we’re joined by Dani S. Bassett, J. Peter Skirkanich Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, and Perry Zurn, Visiting Associate Professor of Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Cornell University and Provost Associate Professor of Philosophy at American University. In today’s episode, Dani and Perry explore the concept of curiosity. Connect: Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heyw...
Oct 14, 2024•44 min•Ep. 53
In our last episode, Professor Michael Batty from The Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis at University College London explained the evolution of city planning and the fundamentals needed to understand city structures and models. In today’s episode, Michael delves into various theories and laws for explaining urban systems, the role of different models in understanding and predicting city development, and the need to refine these models to facilitate better management of increasingly c...
Sep 30, 2024•38 min•Ep. 52
In this episode, we’re joined by Michael Batty, Bartlett Professor of Planning at University College London and Chair of the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, to discuss the evolution of city planning and the shift away from traditional mechanical views. In today’s episode, Michael lays the groundwork for understanding cities that will be essential for part two of this conversation. Connect: Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website ...
Sep 16, 2024•29 min•Ep. 51
Jason Fried is the Co-founder and CEO of 37signals, the software development firm behind Basecamp (a project management app), and HEY (an inbox and calendar app). In this episode, Jason dives into what 25 years of business has taught him. He shares his advice for hiring staff, getting meaningful insight from reference checks, and why you should always hire a candidate who is the better writer. Resources and links: 37signals website Basecamp website HEY website Jason Fried’s website Connect: Simp...
Sep 02, 2024•46 min•Ep. 50
In this episode, we continue our conversation with Professor Jennifer Dunne, the Vice President for Science at the Santa Fe Institute. In this episode, Jennifer discusses her work to understand ‘human-centred interaction networks’ - how humans interact with non-human species in a range of ways, including for food - by examining Indigenous cultures around the world and historical migration to Polynesian islands. Connect: Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on Linked...
Aug 19, 2024•41 min•Ep. 49
In this episode, Professor Jennifer Dunne, the Vice President for Science at the Santa Fe Institute, explains how you build a food web, focusing on her ecological work in the Gulf of Alaska. Connect: Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information....
Aug 05, 2024•35 min•Ep. 48
We're joined again by Rajiv Sethi, Professor of Economics at Barnard College at Columbia University and External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute to explore the intersection between stereotyping, crime, and the justice system to understand criminal behaviour beyond simplistic explanations. Connect: Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com fo...
Jul 22, 2024•41 min•Ep. 47
What will the city of the future be like? To explore the future of our cities, we’re joined once more by Luis Bettencourt, Professor at the University of Chicago and External Faculty at the Santa Fe Institute, as he explains how urban areas will need to evolve in terms of infrastructure and sustainability to match pace with growing populations around the world. Connect: Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website This show is produced in c...
Jul 08, 2024•38 min•Ep. 46
In today’s episode, we’re once again joined by Seth Blumsack, Professor of Energy Policy and Economics and International Affairs in the Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, to talk about the power grid. In the past, we’ve spoken to Seth about the history of the power grid and how the power grid fails. In today’s conversation, we discuss how it is governed. Connect: Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywo...
Jun 24, 2024•33 min•Ep. 45
Today we're once again joined by Dmitri Tymoczko, Professor of Music at Princeton University. Last time, Dmitri talked about the geometry and patterns we hear in music and its history, particularly from the 1900s onwards. In this episode, Dmitri delves into some underlying principles that make music sound ‘good’. Resources and links: Dmitri Tymoczko’s website ‘ Long As You Know You’re Living Yours’ by Keith Jarrett on Spotify Connect: Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean ...
Jun 10, 2024•41 min•Ep. 44
Gerald Ashley is the Co-founder and Managing Director of St Mawgan & Co, a London-based strategy and risk consulting agency. In today’s episode, Gerald explores the difference between risk and uncertainty, the challenges of managing them in the financial world, and how it can be powerful to split issues into either puzzles, problems, or messes. Connect: Simplifying Complexity on Twitter Sean Brady on Twitter Sean Brady on LinkedIn Brady Heywood website This show is produced in collaboration ...
May 27, 2024•42 min•Ep. 43
Nicholas Gruen is the CEO of Lateral Economics, Patron of the Australian Digital Alliance, and a Visiting Professor at Kings College London. In this episode, Nicholas discusses the limitations of traditional economic models and emphasises the importance of nuanced problem-solving. He advocates for critical thinking and an interdisciplinary approach to decision-making within complex economic systems, and asks if embracing another paradigm, in this case, complexity economics, is really the answer....
May 13, 2024•48 min•Ep. 42
