The Moonshot Podcast
The Moonshot Podcast chronicles the untold stories of innovation from inside Google's Moonshot Factory. In Season 2, Captain of Moonshots Astro Teller interviews inventors working on projects like energy kites, robotic pants, and digital immune systems. The show explores both the highs and lows of turning ambitious ideas into reality.
Episodes
The Moonshot Mindset with Adam Savage and Sergey Brin
In this final and very special episode of Season Two of The Moonshot Podcast, we're zooming out on what it means to have a Moonshot Mindset, and how The Moonshot Factory has been systematizing radical innovation over the last 16 years.
We turn the tables, with Astro interviewed by TESTED host and king of experimental curiosity, Adam Savage, to talk about what innovation is, how you can really d
Underground Potential
In this episode of The Moonshot Podcast we're diving deep—literally!—below the surface to uncover the ground's immense, untapped potential, which could unlock solutions to some of humanity's greatest challenges.
Astro sits down with Kathy Hannun from Project Dandelion to explore the breakthrough efficiency of geothermal heat pumps for home heating and cooling.
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Hosted by Astro Teller, Captain of
Neurons and Networks
This episode of The Moonshot Podcast explores what the mind can teach us about technology and how technology can help our minds.
First, Astro is joined by Sarah Laszlo from Project Valkyrie to discuss how looking at biological brains, such as that of a fruit fly, might unlock the key to more energy-efficient supercomputing.
Next, Astro speaks with Obi Felton who led project Amber, a moonshot th
The Digital Trail
This episode of The Moonshot Podcast explores two ambitious moonshots focused on bringing "visibility" to the world's most complex and opaque digital and physical systems.
First, Astro is joined by Mike Wiacek, Stephen Gillett, and Shapor Naghibzadeh from Chronicle to discuss how they built a digital immune system for cybersecurity, using Google-scale data analysis to detect anomalous activity an
Silicon Horizons
This episode of The Moonshot Podcast explores how X is reimagining computer chip design to power the next generation of AI.
Computer engineer Tammo Spalink joins host Astro Teller to discuss Project Positron and their radical decision to build "positronic brains" for robots that prioritize real-time response over raw throughput.
Astro then speaks with Raj Apte about Project Bodger, a moonshot
Ocean Fuel, Desert Rain
This episode of The Moonshot Podcast explores two moonshots that investigated very different ways to use water: harvesting it from the air and transforming it into fuel.
Astro Teller first chats with Neil Treat and Claudia Truesdell from Project H2E (“Hydration to Everyone”). The H2E team explored whether it would be possible to improve access to safe drinking water by harvesting water from the
Breaking New Ground
This episode of The Moonshot Podcast explores how X, The Moonshot Factory, is reimagining a better way to plan and make smarter, faster building decisions to address the global housing crisis.
Host Astro Teller is joined by architect Michelle Kaufmann to discuss the quest of making sustainable, high-quality homes accessible to everyone through the power of prefabrication and AI. They look back
Chasing the Wind, Storing the Sun
This episode of The Moonshot Podcast explores X's pursuit of radical solutions to drive energy abundance and resilience for humanity.
Host Astro Teller is joined by Fort Felker to discuss the untold story of the Makani Moonshot, which sought to harvest wind energy in a radically different, lightweight way, using a tethered, kite-like aircraft.
Next, Astro and engineer Raj Apte discusses Project
Coding The Natural World
This episode of The Moonshot Podcast dives into the future of biology, exploring how to harness life's "tiny factories" to solve humanity's biggest challenges.
Host Astro Teller sits down with Brad Zamft, CEO of Heritable Agriculture, to talk about programming plants to dramatically increase yield, pest, and drought resistance for a more sustainable food system.
Next Astro speaks with Relly Bra
Supercharging Human Health
The Moonshot Podcast is back!
In the season 2 premiere, X’s Captain of Moonshots Astro Teller explores how three X projects developed technology to transform the future of healthcare.
He first sits down with Kathryn Zealand and Anna Roumiantseva from Skip to hear about how the world’s first “e-bike for walking” evolved from their team’s mobility moonshot at X. They recount how an early prototyp
Season 2: The Moonshot Podcast Trailer
The Moonshot Podcast is back!
The Moonshot Podcast chronicles the untold stories of innovation - both highs and lows - from inside Google’s Moonshot Factory. In Season 2, Captain of Moonshots Astro Teller sits down with a new crop of moonshot takers exploring the next frontiers in health, biology, computing and more.
From energy kites and robotic pants, to sea fuel and digital immune systems,
Moonshot Podcast Deep Dive: Emily Ma on Solving Food Waste
In the ninth installment of the Moonshot Podcast Deep Dive series, Astro Teller and Emily Ma explore how to solve humanity’s food waste and hunger problems.
They discuss how Project Delta built an “air traffic control” system for the world’s surplus food. They also discuss the origins of Chorus, X’s moonshot to give every object a voice which is now focused on optimizing global supply chains usin
The Moonshot Podcast Deep Dive: Jason Rugolo on iyO and the Future of Audio Wearables
In the eighth installment of the Moonshot Podcast Deep Dive series, Astro Teller discusses the future of audio wearables with iyO Founder Jason Rugolo.
They discuss the many unexpected use cases for machine-mediated hearing, what it was like to build the world’s first audio computer and how to make audio wearables “cool.”
For more on the origins of iyO and the next generation of audio wearable
Deep Dive: Ivy Ross & Isabelle Olsson on the Early Days of Google Glass
In this installment of the Moonshot Podcast Deep Dive series, Astro Teller explores the origins of Google Glass with designers Ivy Ross and Isabelle Olsson.
They discuss the unexpected design and tech challenges the team faced creating such a bold new form factor, the surprising ways people ended up wanting to use Glass, how their backgrounds in art influenced their approach, and the importance
Deep Dive: David Guerena on the Future of Agriculture
In the sixth installment of our Moonshot Podcast Deep Dive series, X’s Captain of Moonshots, Astro Teller, discusses plant breeding and the future of agriculture with Agricultural Scientist, David Guerena. David works with The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) — a partner of Mineral, X’s moonshot for computational agriculture. They discuss plant breeding, the challenges facing
Deep Dive: Jeff Dean on Google Brain’s Early Days
In the fifth installment of our Moonshot Podcast Deep Dive video interview series, X’s Captain of Moonshots Astro Teller sits down with Google DeepMind’s Chief Scientist Jeff Dean for a conversation about the origin of Jeff’s pioneering work scaling neural networks.
They discuss the first time AI captured Jeff’s imagination, the earliest Google Brain framework, the team’s stratospheric advancemen
The Moonshot Podcast Deep Dive: Andrew Ng on Deep Learning and Google Brain
In the fourth installment of our Moonshot Podcast Deep Dive video interview series, X’s Captain of Moonshots Astro Teller sits down with Andrew Ng, the founder of Google Brain and DeepLearning.AI, for a conversation about the history of neural network research and how Andrew’s pioneering ideas led to some of the biggest breakthroughs in modern-day AI.
Hear about the origins of Google’s deep learn
Deep Dive: Catie Cuan on Dancing and Living With Robots
In the third installment of our Moonshot Podcast Deep Dive video interview series, X’s Captain of Moonshots Astro Teller sits down with Dr. Catie Cuan, robot choreographer and former artist in residence at Everyday Robots, for a conversation about how dance can be used to build beautiful and useful robots that people want to be around.
Watch the video to hear how Catie and the Everyday Robots tea
Deep Dive: André Prager on Prototyping at Wing
In the second installment of our Moonshot Podcast Deep Dive video interview series, X’s Captain of Moonshots Astro Teller sits down with André Prager, former Chief Engineer at Wing, for a conversation about the early days of Wing and how the team solved some of their toughest engineering challenges to develop simple, lightweight, inexpensive delivery drones that are now being used every day across
Deep Dive: Sebastian Thrun on Waymo’s Early Days
n the first installment of our Moonshot Podcast Deep Dive video interview series, X’s Captain of Moonshots Astro Teller sits down with Sebastian Thrun, co-founder of the Moonshot Factory, for a conversation about the history of Waymo and Google X, the ethics of innovation, the future of AI, and more.
Watch the video to hear how the self-driving car project got its start, Sebastian’s philosophy f
Prototyping The Future, live from SXSW 2025
Astro joins an all-star cast of inventors, futurists and creatives for a live conversation about radical innovation on-stage at SXSW 2025. These pioneers and problem-solvers pull together the threads of our series, revealing how imagination and prototyping can come together to tackle global challenges like transportation, energy, food security and human health. Recorded in front of a live audience
Supersenses
What if, rather than making you distracted, your smart device helped you be more present?
In this episode, we revisit the early days of Google Glass: a bold Moonshot that opened up new ways of seeing and being in the world. We go behind the scenes with the designers and engineers who shaped it – and hear how their insights helped inspire IyO, a next-generation audio wearable designed to integrate
Powering Up
Energy might just be the ultimate moonshot – because if we can make it affordable, abundant and dependable long-term, it could improve life for all 8.2 billion people on Earth. In this episode, we follow two bold projects from X: Blixt, a fusion Moonshot that took a high-risk bet on a decades-old scientific mystery, and Tapestry, a new set of AI powered tools that are helping grid operators manage
Fires, Floods and Future-Proofing
Natural disasters will keep coming — but what if we could stay one step ahead? That’s the mission of Bellwether, a moonshot working to build a “crystal ball” for the natural world. Their team is uniting the talents and expertise of firefighters and physicians to turn messy geospatial data into real-time forecasts for fire, flood and beyond, helping communities prepare for the unpredictable. We als
Trash to Treasure
What if waste wasn’t the end of the story – but the start of something new? In this episode of The Moonshot Podcast, we explore Delta, a Moonshot to help feed the millions of Americans facing food insecurity, and X’s Moonshot for Circularity which is working to design waste systems that are more resilient, more adaptable, and more intelligent from the outset. This isn’t just about cleaning up – it
Living With Robots
Robots are at the heart of sci-fi, visions of the future, but what if that future is now? And what if those robots, helping us at work and at home, are simply an extension of the tools we’ve used for millions of years? That’s what artist and engineer Catie Cuan thinks, and it’s part of the reason she teaches robots to dance. In this episode we meet the people at the frontiers of the future of robo
Feeding The World
Agriculture is the world’s oldest industry – and it’s racing to meet one of the newest and biggest challenges of our time: how to feed a growing global population that will soon hit 10 billion people. In this episode, Astro Teller explores how two moonshot teams set out to reinvent the way we grow food, using cutting-edge technology in some unexpected places. We follow the team behind Mineral, who
Machines That Think – The AI Moonshot
Artificial Intelligence is reshaping everything - but how did we get here? Dive deep with Astro Teller into the origins of Google Brain, meeting Andrew Ng and Jeff Dean, two of AI’s early pioneers. Their innovations helped shatter a decades-long computing block and catapulted deep learning from the academic arena to the commercial prime time. We’ll also explore Codey, an AI system that writes and
Essential Connections
Nearly 3 billion people still don’t have a reliable internet connection. In this episode of The Moonshot Podcast, Astro Teller dives into X’s decade-long mission to bring fast, reliable and affordable connectivity to people everywhere. We uncover the inside story of Loon - the audacious attempt to use high-altitude balloons for internet access - and how its legacy lives on in Taara, a revolutionar
Driving The Future
Fifteen years ago, the world thought self-driving cars were impossible - even the experts doubted it. Today, they’re on the road. In this inaugural episode of The Moonshot Podcast, join Astro Teller inside X, Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory, to discover the early days of Waymo’s self-driving vehicles and Wing’s autonomous drone deliveries. Astro meets Sebastian Thrun, co-founder of X, to revisit the o
The Moonshot Podcast Season 1 Trailer
Premiering March 10th!
The Moonshot Podcast chronicles the untold stories of innovation - both highs and lows - from 15 years inside Google’s Moonshot Factory. Go behind the scenes with the inventors and creators exploring the huge problems, radical solutions and breakthrough technologies that have the potential to reshape our world. Self-driving cars, superhuman hearing, robots, drone delivery,
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