Sam Webster Harris chronicles the complete history of innovation from the Stone Age to the modern day. Learn how transformative ideas build upon each other to change the world and shape the future of humanity.
Every breakthrough that changes civilization begins with curiosity. From the first controlled fire to artificial intelligence. Follow the journey, step-by-step, tracing the evolution of human progress and society. On the way, uncovering the nerdy stories and fun facts behind world-changing inventions and the mental models that drive systemic change.
Each episode is a deep dive into innovation patterns and the threads that shape our world:
- From Leonardo Da Vinci dissecting human bodies to editing our own DNA
- Maritime Navigation sets the course for Interstellar exploration
- Hammurabi's legal code is relevant in algorithmic governance
Modern revolutions in technology and the future of AI are a continuation of core needs of their human creators. Our desire for leverage shows up time and again in the history of civilization.
Drawing insights from psychology, economics, and anthropology, we explore how change makers in history like Galileo, Newton, and Tesla didn't just discover big ideas. They transformed civilization itself. Their playbooks reveal timeless strategies for anyone seeking to understand how the world works.
This isn't surface-level history. It's intellectual history told through narrative learning—connecting past invention stories to the future of technology, future of society, and patterns of history that will define the Anthropocene.
Whether you're fascinated by the timeline of human history, founder stories, or the psychology of change, each episode delivers actionable mental models wrapped in engaging storytelling. Learn something new about human progress while discovering your own potential to change the world.
For the intellectually curious seeking to understand innovation, drive progress, and glimpse the future of humanity.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sam Webster Harris chronicles the complete history of innovation from the Stone Age to the modern day. Learn how transformative ideas build upon each other to change the world and shape the future of humanity.
Every breakthrough that changes civilization begins with curiosity. From the first controlled fire to artificial intelligence. Follow the journey, step-by-step, tracing the evolution of human progress and society. On the way, uncovering the nerdy stories and fun facts behind world-changing inventions and the mental models that drive systemic change.
Each episode is a deep dive into innovation patterns and the threads that shape our world:
- From Leonardo Da Vinci dissecting human bodies to editing our own DNA
- Maritime Navigation sets the course for Interstellar exploration
- Hammurabi's legal code is relevant in algorithmic governance
Modern revolutions in technology and the future of AI are a continuation of core needs of their human creators. Our desire for leverage shows up time and again in the history of civilization.
Drawing insights from psychology, economics, and anthropology, we explore how change makers in history like Galileo, Newton, and Tesla didn't just discover big ideas. They transformed civilization itself. Their playbooks reveal timeless strategies for anyone seeking to understand how the world works.
This isn't surface-level history. It's intellectual history told through narrative learning—connecting past invention stories to the future of technology, future of society, and patterns of history that will define the Anthropocene.
Whether you're fascinated by the timeline of human history, founder stories, or the psychology of change, each episode delivers actionable mental models wrapped in engaging storytelling. Learn something new about human progress while discovering your own potential to change the world.
For the intellectually curious seeking to understand innovation, drive progress, and glimpse the future of humanity.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The most important innovations are invisible. Yet they are reliable building blocks of creativity that fuel human imagination.
The same 26 letter alphabet lets Shakespeare write a play, a researcher publish science or you can text your mum.
A standardised screw thread lets you build a house, a car or a space station.
This is the story of primitives; the fundamental components that make everything else possible. We explore how Jeff Bezos coining the term "Thinking in Primitives" as he invented AWS to the building blocks of the universe and life in it.
Join our tour through the weird and wonderful ideas of history as we gather ideas for how to build the future of humanity, space technology and anything you can imagine.
You'll learn:
ABOUT
How to Change the World is an independent podcast on a mission to document the entire history of innovation. One world-changing event at a time. In the process we are building out frameworks and mental models to think more coherently about global change.
Learn more - ChangeTheWorldPod.com
Written, edited, recorded, and produced entirely by Sam Webster Harris.
(He also makes the music...)
Help from:
Francisca Correia does the designs (available to hire)
Jeremy Enns is our incredible podcast mentor (available to hire)
Resources
10 Greatest Mental Models of Jeff Bezos
Sam explains the best mental models of Jeff Bezos on his Growth Mindset Psychology podcast.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Intergalactic Planetary... Lasagna
01:40 A mental models episode about building blocks
03:11 #1 - THINKING IN PRIMITIVES: JEFF BEZOS, AMAZON and AWS
04:03 The API Memo
04:39 What is a Primitive?
04:57 How Amazon launched AWS
05:36 The impact of AWS and cloud servers
06:18 #2 - THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF LIFE
07:18 How are humans built?
08:09 Mitochondria and energy production
09:39 HOX genes and the animal building instruction manual
11:06 How primitives become essential foundations
12:35 #3 - CIVILIZATION AND HIDDEN INVENTIONS
14:02 The Essential Ingredients of Early empires
15:42 Standardisations that make the world work
17:54 #4 - PRIMITIVE LESSONS
19:37 Market timing and innovation mistakes
21:31 Just do stuff
23:00 #5 - FUTURE OF TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
23:19 CRISPR and Casgevy
25:19 Space and Orbital Refuelling
27:14 Wrap up
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From Stone flakes to the Bow and Arrow. How Stone Age weapons innovation shaped humanity and triggered global extinction events. Three million years ago, we were semi-hairless apes hiding from lions. Today we're the apex predator of planet Earth.
This episode traces the entire weapons journey through Ancient History; sharp rocks, hand axes, spears, atlatls, and bows and arrows.
Learn how we became humans we know today as we outsourced biology to technology, trading muscle for tools, brute force for precision. We also changed socially as values of teamwork, trust and intelligence forged the mental models that would build civilization and transformed humanity forever.
Key takeaways:
Discover how ancient innovation patterns still shape the future of technology today.
ABOUT
How to Change the World is an independent podcast on a mission to document the entire history of innovation. One world-changing event at a time. In the process we are building out frameworks and mental models to think more coherently about global change.
Learn more - ChangeTheWorldPod.com
Written, edited, recorded, and produced entirely by Sam Webster Harris.
(He also makes the music...)
Help from:
Francisca Correia does the designs (available to hire)
Jeremy Enns is our incredible podcast mentor (available to hire)
BOOKS
The Human Story - Robin Dunbar
How humans evolved away from apes and developed tools.
Stone Tools in Human Evolution - John J. Shea
How our stone tools evolved over 3 millions years.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Magical Powers
02:10 Introduction to Stone Age Weapons
04:28 1 - THE OLDOWAN FLAKE (~3 MYA)
07:07 Evolution feedback loop
08:18 Human obsession with time saving
09:08 Status flexing
10:01 2 - ACHEULEAN HAND AXE (~1.7MYA)
10:55 Why did we care about beauty?
12:08 Status games
13:00 Brain growth and imagination
14:40 3 - SWEAT AND PERSISTENCE HUNTING (~1.5MYA)
17:59 4 - HAFTED SPEARS (~500,000BC)
20:52 Steps to make a Hafted Spear
22:24 Co evolution of shoulder throwing
23:37 Teamwork and language co-evolution
24:47 Leadership qualities
26:06 5 - ATLATL / SPEAR LAUNCHER (~100,000-50,000BC)
28:40 How an Atlatl works
30:12 Accuracy over strength
30:30 Timeline of Atlatl development
31:15 6 - BOW AND ARROW (~64,000BC)
33:06 How to make a bow and arrow
34:33 The First great invention?
35:50 Yes my sister shot the headmaster...
36:40 Hunting with archery
38:55 Evolution compared to Neanderthals
41:30 HUMANITY - THE GREAT FILTER
42:18 Australian Extinction event
43:34 Europe - Neanderthal Extinction
44:46 The Conquest of America - Pleistocene Blitzkrieg
46:11 The Rise of Human Conflict
47:58 MODERN LESSONS AND FUTURE WEAPONS
49:07 Algorithms
51:58 Supply Chains
52:55 Cognitive Warfare
54:13 Teamwork
56:02 ROUNDUP
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This episode explores Systems Thinking, it's impact on innovation across history and how to use it as we build the future of technology. Most problems in the world aren't random accidents, they're built into the systems we live in. They drive the currents that change the world.
Systems Thinking is a key idea in science, politics and business, but it knows no boundaries as systems show up everywhere.
In every era of humanity we created new systems in politics, law, technology and economics to deal with the problems of the day. As new challenges arise in the 21st century, from the future of AI to global politics, it is up to humanity to build new systems to overcome them.
Systems thinking invites us to discover the threads that bind our actions, cultures, and destinies into unexpected tapestries:
Fun fact - It's the UN's 80th birthday. Look out for other podcasters talking about sources of hope today.
ABOUT
How to Change the World is an independent podcast on a mission to document the entire history of innovation. One world-changing event at a time. In the process we are building out frameworks and mental models to think more coherently about global change.
Learn more - ChangeTheWorldPod.com
Written, edited, recorded, and produced entirely by Sam Webster Harris.
(He also makes the music...)
Help from:
Francisca Correia does the designs (available to hire)
Jeremy Enns is our incredible podcast mentor (available to hire)
BOOKS
Thinking in Systems: A primer - Donella Meadows
A masterclass on all things systems. (Many graphs, don't get the audiobook)
Systems Thinking Made Simple: New hope for solving wicked problems - Derek and Laura Cabrera
Simple rules for understanding and solving the most difficult problems in society.
The Change World Order: Why nations succeed and fail - Ray Dalio
Study of the cycles of world power over the last 500 years.
Antifragile: Things that gain from disorder - Nassim N. Taleb
How to think beyond resilience to build systems (and portfolios) that benefit from difficulty
CHAPTERS
00:00 Systems and Families
01:43 Welcome
03:47 What is a System?
07:03 ACT 1 - 4 ELEMENTS OF A SYSTEM
07:03 #1 Stocks and Flows
08:32 #2 Feedback Loops
10:21 #3 Delays
11:32 #4 Boundaries
13:02 ACT 2 - MANAGING SYSTEMS
13:10 Leverage Points
16:17 Butterfly Effect
19:42 ACT 3 - PREVENTING COLLAPSE
20:07 Resilience in systems
21:52 Self-Organisation
23:08 Hierarchies
25:42 ACT 4 - LOOKING AT TODAY
26:32 Beyond GDP
29:11 Modern Political Systems
30:45 Can the UN Change the World?
32:12 Rewriting the Rules of a New Era
33:59 Take Homes and References
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How complex language evolved during the cognitive revolution, changing humanity and the world.
Discover how language transformed from simple grunts and hand signals to complex communication, enabling us to cooperate, create cultures, invent stuff and build civilizations. We explore the evolution of human imagination, the role of gossip, the development of societal morals, and the paradoxical nature of human violence and compassion.
Additionally, we discuss the future of communication technology and the potential mind-blowing implications of brain-computer interfaces. Packed with insights from anthropology, psychology, and neuroscience, this episode provides a comprehensive understanding of our past and a glimpse into our possible future.
ABOUT
How to Change the World is an independent podcast documenting the entire history of innovation. One world-changing event at a time. In the process we are building out frameworks and mental models to think more coherently about global change and the future of technology.
Written, edited, recorded, and produced by Sam Webster Harris.
Help from:
REFERENCES
CHAPTERS
00:00 The magic of co-operation
02:26 Welcome
05:09 The Compression problem
08:50 ACT 1 - COGNITIVE BASIS OF LANGUAGE
08:50 Biological history of languages
13:46 The Interconnected Brain
17:24 Complex words and stuff
21:11 Teamwork
22:08 ACT 2 - GOSSIP, MYTHS & RELIGION
22:08 Gossip and the glue of society
25:46 Myths and shared delusions
30:40 Early Religions - Animism, art and penises
33:37 ACT 3 - SELF-DOMESTICATION
33:43 Shame and Blushing
38:30 The Execution Hypothesis
43:21 Reactive vs Proactive Violence
46:55 Mealtimes Sharing and small town thinking
52:12 ACT 4 - EVOLUTIONS OF LANGUAGE
52:12 Language shifts
55:59 Shame and Society
58:49 ACT 5 - FUTURE OF COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
01:01:33 Brain Computer Interfaces
01:07:38 Predicting the future
01:09:47 WRAP UP
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Why do some ideas and technologies proliferate across history, whilst others die painfully?
Innovations aren't just bound by the laws of Physics, but also the powerful laws of Nature and Biology.
In the "Lessons of History", Will and Ariel Durant propose the 3 Laws of Biology. Extending on the work of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution with a lens of human history. They explain the rules that govern life on earth and how it applies to humanity. In this episode, Sam extends the concept whilst also explaining a brief history of life on Earth whilst he's at it.
In it, you'll learn the fundamental rules of competition, selection and reproduction that govern the success of any organism, idea or technology.
We'll explore
Come away with key mental models for understanding the future of innovation, technology and humanity.
ABOUT
How to Change the World is an independent podcast on a mission to document the entire history of innovation. One world-changing event at a time. In the process we are building out frameworks and mental models to think more coherently about global change and the future of technology.
Learn more and contact us - ChangeTheWorldPod.com
Written, edited, recorded, and produced entirely by Sam Webster Harris.
(He also makes the music...)
Help from:
REFERENCES
The Lessons of History - Will and Ariel Durant
An epic overview of the lessons these authors learnt in the process of writing their series, covering every era of humanity.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humanity - Yuval Noah Harari
This episode only used the first paragraph... But some of the topics of the history of life are also in the first chapter.
Home Deus: A History of Tomorrow - Yuval Noah Harari
The first chapter has a great section about Famine, Disease, and War.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Is a hot dog a sandwich?
00:28 The Beginning of the Universe
01:10 The Story of Life on Earth
01:34 Three Rules of Biology
05:03 FIRST LAW: Life is Competition
09:54 SECOND LAW: Life is Selection
11:59 Inequality in Nature and Society
13:47 Balancing Freedom and Equality
16:48 THIRD LAW: Life Must Breed
18:34 Human Progress, Fire and Agriculture
19:10 Agricultural Revolution and Civilization
19:48 Fertility and Population Dynamics: Japan vs. Nigeria
21:12 Ideas and Religions: Survival of the Fittest
22:49 Horsemen of Apocalypse: Famine, Disease, and War
28:13 Modern Challenges and Fertility Trends
30:20 Conclusion and Future Episodes
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Do we really control fire?
While you're patting yourself on the back for lighting that barbecue, fire has been pulling the strings for 2 million years, reshaping our anatomy, rewiring our brains, and dictating our social structures.
It transformed us from ape-like creatures that had a neat standing trick into the cunning apex predator of the world. Along the way, it upended both ecosystems and gender roles but most importantly, made us human.
The lesser-known of fire is that an individual human is completely dependent on it to survive. Furthermore, Society itself is built on fire and would collapse totally without it
Today, as we face the dawn of AI, we're seeing the same pattern. Fire marked a huge leverage of energy that freed us up to think. AI promises to do our thinking for us, which frees us up for who knows what.
aren't tools we use; they're partners that reshape us from the inside out.
Three takeaways:
Ready to understand how fire forged the human mind?
ABOUT
How to Change the World is an independent podcast on a mission.
Written, edited, recorded, and produced entirely by Sam Webster Harris.
(He also makes the music...)
Help from:
References
Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human - Richard Wrangham
A great overview of fire and human anthropology (apes etc...). I can highly recommend listening/watching some of interviews Richard Wrangham on other podcasts (Lex Friedman, Modern Wisdom, Jordan Peterson)
The Pyrocene: How We Created An Age Of Fire - Stephen Pyne
Some good ideas on the different eras of human fire use: Cooking food -> Cooking land -> Cooking the planet.
Fire: The Spark That Ignited Human Evolution - Frances Burton
The insights on the importance of light helped.
00:00 Intro: The Role of Fire in Civilization
04:32 First Fire - 500 million years ago
07:56 Humans and fire - ~2 million years ago
10:08 The Discovery of Fire
12:21 Stadium of Grandmothers
13:24 Fire's Influence on Human Biology
15:55 Fire and Human Digestion
18:15 Light and Campfires
20:25 Mealtimes
21:32 Human Birth Woes
23:23 Why Only Humans Mastered Fire
25:55 Fire, Social Structures & Gender Roles
31:15 Adapting to the Information Age
33:17 Fire's Role in Human Expansion - 70,000 years ago
35:09 Terraforming with Fire
38:27 The Industrial Revolution and Fossil Fuel
42:00 The Race for Renewable Energy
43:11 Today - Reflecting on our lessons
44:28 AI: The Next Transformative Force
48:04 Reflections on Fire and the Future
49:06 Premium and Book resources
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How to rank the impact of innovations on humanity and how much they really changed the world.
Everything seems so important these days:
Learn to rationally understand what matters to humanity and what is just noise.
It's easy to tell that the invention of Writing itself is more important than Velcro. But...
History has opinions.
So it's time to build a scale that lets us rationally measure global impact.
Introducing the Innovation Richter Scale - a 1 to 10 rating system that lets you rank absolutely anything you can think of.
NOTE - This episode expands on the Technological Richter Scale proposed by Nate Silver. (see references)
ABOUT
How to Change the World is an independent podcast on a mission.
It is written, edited, and recorded entirely by Sam Webster Harris. (He also makes the music)
Designs were crafted by Francisca Correia.
References
Nate Silver - One The Edge (2024)
Nate's book is about risk analysis and the future of AI. The final chapter proposes a Technological Richter Scale, with a page on how to use it.
Zvi Mowshowitz - AI and the Technological Richter Scale (2025)
A good summary of Nate's ideas, on how the scale applies to AI. Also quotes Nate's page guide for each level and argues a few changes.
Grant Lichtman - Innovation: Are We Overlooking "Magnitude" With "Frequency" (2013)
A short blog that suggests it might be nice to use a logarithmic Richter scale or a Madonna curve to measure innovation.
Chapters:
00:00 Innovation Richeter Scale
01:47 Why create a Scale?
03:47 Earthquake Metaphor
06:16 Invention, Innovation, Technology
06:56 Ranking Magnitude not Morality
08:08 The Innovation Richter Scale - Level 1 - 10
08:11 Level 1 - Shower thoughts
08:29 Level 2 - Actioned Idea (In private)
08:49 Level 3 - Public ideas (Not popular)
10:17 Level 4 - Popular and commercial ideas
11:08 Level 5 - Defining Brand
12:38 Level 6 - Innovation of the year
15:59 Level 7 - Innovation of the Decade
18:19 Level 8 - Innovation of the Century
21:29 Level 9 - Innovation of the Era
23:53 Level 10 - Species Epoch
28:31 Part 2 - Using the scale
29:45 Weapons & Tools of Death - Brands, Categories and Concepts
33:58 Politics & Population Impact - Local, Continental and Global
38:00 Questions without answers
38:38 Sports & Religion - Emotional Impact and Purpose
41:01 Peter Thiel and Chess
41:47 Religion and Personal Beliefs in interpreting the scale
43:33 Roundup conclusions
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What lies at the core of human progress?
This episode sets the scene for all human innovation. For 3.5 million years, humans and our ancestors were stuck in the Stone Age.
We cover:
From personal pressures to global forces, we trace the blocks on human development. The answers hold many insights for today when we think about innovation and how to make progress..
This episode is ground zero as we begin our expedition through history and the creation of our modern world.
ABOUT
This show is an independent podcast on a mission.
It is written, recorded, re-recorded, rewritten and re-re-recorded entirely by Sam Webster Harris.
He also makes the music.
Designs were crafted by Francisca Correia.
Chapters:
00:00 The Hand Axe Conundrum
01:53 Episode Goals
03:45 #1 - SURVIVAL
04:21 Energy requirements
06:30 Time Scarcity
08:59 Risk and Psychological Safety
11:17 #2 - Culture
12:41 Why people hate new ideas
15:25 The Grandmother Hypothesis
16:21 Widowhood statistics
17:46 Kaulong Tribe Widow killing
19:27 Catalhayuk - 1000 years of stasis
20:36 #3 - Knowledge
22:42 Losing knowledge
24:04 Maths
24:52 Communication and Language
25:53 Ice Age Picasso Paradox
27:06 #4 - Mobility Constraints
28:05 Nomadism
30:22 Racism, war, and travel complications
32:07 Trade Issues
34:02 Feasting examples
35:39 Eurasia vs America Development
37:45 #5 - Population Density
39:20 Evolution of Multicellular Life
41:48 Dunbars Number
43:43 Mortality Rates
46:37 Historical demographics
48:18 Lessons - How we beat the 5 locks
51:47 Conclusion - Innovation isn't about Geniuses
54:36 REFLECTIONS - Innovation cycles
57:43 Modern Innovation Blockers
01:06:01 What can you do
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"The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it" - Alan Watts
This opening episode invites you on a journey, not just through time, but through perspective.
From fire-starting hominids to spacefaring technologists, we are going to trace the ripples of human imagination that turned tools into empires, and sparks into systems.
In this introduction episode:
Change is rarely neat or obvious, but this podcast is here to help us understand it. You'll start to connect the dots that are all around you.
History isn't just a study of the past, it is also our present. As we live through unprecedented innovation, it's a perfect time to study the forces of tectonic shifts and how to guide them.
If you're curious, optimistic, and even a little lost. You're in the right place.
ABOUT
This show is an independent podcast on a mission.
It is written, recorded, re-recorded, rewritten and re-re-recorded entirely by Sam Webster Harris.
Designs were crafted by Francisca Correia.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Introduction: The Dawn of Human Influence
02:22 A Journey Through Time
05:10 The Plan for the Podcast
07:08 What counts as an innovation
08:31 Release Schedule
09:40 Beyond a history podcast
10:54 Why this point in history
12:34 A map is not a blueprint
14:24 Why is Sam doing this?
17:19 Why should you listen?
18:29 Psychology and Innovation
19:01 Bias and Hindsight
19:37 Illusion of obviousness
20:32 Gratitude - Understanding - Curiosity
20:34 The Myth of Stability
21:42 7 Core Principles of the Show
21:51 1 - Interdisciplinary Thinking
22:34 2 - Systems Thinking
23:21 3 - Understanding of knowledge
25:01 4 - Context
26:06 5 - No current affairs and politics
27:14 6 - Side Quests
28:23 7 - Optimism
29:26 Mission and sign off
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What is the best way to tackle the question "How to change the world"? Learn about our plan to dissect the history and future of innovation.
This show will dissect how the world really works and the impact of the biggest inventions that lead to a step change. We'll also tell the stories of the greatest innovators from history and understand their mental models, mindsets and habits.
In this promo, Host Sam Webster Harris explains in 2 minutes what he'll be doing for the next 10 years.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
