We live in a world where everything is designed to be faster, easier, and more automated. We order groceries without speaking to a clerk. We message colleagues without ever looking them in the eye. And more and more, we move through our days without noticing the people who hold us up along the way.
Today’s episode is about noticing.
Levi Spires has given over fourteen thousand rides as an Uber driver. But what’s striking isn’t the miles he’s logged—it’s the humanity he’s witnessed. For a few minutes at a time, his car becomes a rare space where people lower their guard. A place where someone can unburden, confess, or simply sit in silence without judgment.
Levi reminds us that in an era obsessed with efficiency, it’s these small, inefficient human moments that matter most.
This conversation is a challenge: to move differently in a world already saturated with automation and disconnection. To choose presence over convenience. To remember that being human isn’t about how quickly we get from A to B—it’s about who we see along the way.
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We live in a world where everything is designed to be faster, easier, and more automated. We order groceries without speaking to a clerk. We message colleagues without ever looking them in the eye. And more and more, we move through our days without noticing the people who hold us up along the way.
Today’s episode is about noticing.
Levi Spires has given over fourteen thousand rides as an Uber driver. But what’s striking isn’t the miles he’s logged—it’s the humanity he’s witnessed. For a few minutes at a time, his car becomes a rare space where people lower their guard. A place where someone can unburden, confess, or simply sit in silence without judgment.
Levi reminds us that in an era obsessed with efficiency, it’s these small, inefficient human moments that matter most.
This conversation is a challenge: to move differently in a world already saturated with automation and disconnection. To choose presence over convenience. To remember that being human isn’t about how quickly we get from A to B—it’s about who we see along the way.
Today’s featured guest is Rafael Zhansultanov. Rafael has over 10 years of experience working at the nexus of global economics, geopolitics, international development and financial markets in emerging and developing countries. Rafael has studied and worked in the U.S., U.K. and Eurasia and possesses a multicultural, multilingual outlook and first hand understanding of business and customs around the world. Rafael is a Chevening Scholar and a U.S. Edmund S. Muskie Scholar having been awarded these prestigious scholarships only given to a small percentage of applicants from around the world. It was an honor to reconnect with Rafael and talk about the importance of words.
Coffee & Change
We live in a world where everything is designed to be faster, easier, and more automated. We order groceries without speaking to a clerk. We message colleagues without ever looking them in the eye. And more and more, we move through our days without noticing the people who hold us up along the way.
Today’s episode is about noticing.
Levi Spires has given over fourteen thousand rides as an Uber driver. But what’s striking isn’t the miles he’s logged—it’s the humanity he’s witnessed. For a few minutes at a time, his car becomes a rare space where people lower their guard. A place where someone can unburden, confess, or simply sit in silence without judgment.
Levi reminds us that in an era obsessed with efficiency, it’s these small, inefficient human moments that matter most.
This conversation is a challenge: to move differently in a world already saturated with automation and disconnection. To choose presence over convenience. To remember that being human isn’t about how quickly we get from A to B—it’s about who we see along the way.
