The Mishal Husain Show

Lynsey Addario’s life work means taking great risks to tell other people’s stories. She is a Pulitzer Prize winning war photographer who has been abducted twice while documenting conflicts from Afghanistan to Ukraine and Sudan. There aren’t many women in her field. In a new National Geographic documentary called “Love+War,” currently streaming on Disney+, she lets us into that world, one she’s made her profession for three decades. Addario shows how she adjusts from a work environment of grave danger and high-adrenaline to being a mother making the school run and spending time with her sons. In this conversation, she tells Mishal Husain, why she believes her job is to “bear witness” and how she came to it. She remembers the first time she used a camera and shares how her childhood prepared her to walk into any situation and connect with anyone, from soldiers to refugees and civilians living through extreme times.This interview contains descriptions of abduction, violence and sexual assault which some listeners/viewers may find distressing.02:27 - Love+War03:34 - The turning point 06:00 - Learning about the risks07:00 “I don’t want to do this for a living”09:19 - Being held in Fallujah11:20 - On embed in Afghanistan 14:31 - Operation Rock Avalanche15:43 - Dealing with the emotion16:50 - The daughter of hairdressers in Connecticut17:44 - Getting her first camera19:30 - Planning a “shoot-list” 21:51 - Russian strike on Ukraine17:30 - Being held hostage in Libya31:02 - Survivor’s guilt33:30 Life at home36:30 - Social media and fake images 40:18 - Switching offWatch this podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe4PRejZgr0Ns_wjGlmjlPz0cded0nTYS You can find the written version of this interview with Mishal’s notes on Bloomberg Weekend: https://www.bloomberg.com/latest/weekend-interviewSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mustafa Suleyman co-founded AI lab DeepMind when he was just 26 years old. Four years later, it was acquired by Google for a reported $400 million. He is now head of Microsoft’s AI unit, where he just unveiled a new superintelligence team tasked with creating an AI that can outperform humans at all tasks.In this conversation with Mishal Husain, Suleyman talks about the decisions society has to make about AI, the white-hot war over tech talent and the competition with other tech bros. 00:00 - Introduction from Mishal Husain02:20 - Suleyman’s daily use of AI04:52 - Stoicism and the magic of AI05:50 - Defining superintelligence07:35 - The AI Wild West09:20 - Humans misusing technology11:43 - Promise of abundance, universal basic income14:30 - Suleyman’s family and decision to drop out of Oxford19:37 - "Decisions we make may have very lasting consequences”21:04 - Exploring the ‘broligarchy’22:28 - His view of Sam Altman and Open AI24:11 - Conversations with Demis Hassabis about Gemini 326:15 - “I’m sort of a centrist these days”28:09 - AI containment and the role of government 29:58 - Microsoft’s revised deal with OpenAI: “It is a shift for us”31:42 -The talent war and ‘Zuck’s’ pay packages34:12 - Circular deals in AI: “Watching it carefully”36:22 - “I really want to nail medical superintelligence”37:36 - Suleyman on using AI for emotional support40:21 - The UK lacks the “hustle culture” of Silicon Valley42:13 - AI news reporters: “We’re exploring everything” Watch this podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe4PRejZgr0Ns_wjGlmjlPz0cded0nTYS You can find the written version of this interview with Mishal’s notes on Bloomberg Weekend: https://www.bloomberg.com/latest/weekend-interview Contact The Mishal Husain Show [email protected] Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Salman Rushdie was nearly killed when he was stabbed 15 times on stage in upstate New York in 2022. His injuries were so severe that he lost an eye. It was an attack that came decades after he was first subjected to death threats over his novel, The Satanic Verses.Once he had recovered, he found he was unable to write fiction. However, after publishing an account of what happened to him, the stories returned, with five brought together in his latest book, The Eleventh Hour.In this conversation with Mishal Husain, Rushdie talks about free speech, the family connection they both share and the places he’s called home, from India to Britain and the US. 02:30 - “Don’t waste your time”04:40 - Writing as a form of optimism05:00 - Starting out as a writer 08:00 - Meeting E.M. Forster as a teenager10:00 - “You write the story to find out what story you’re writing”11:15 - Writing Midnight’s Children 12:46 - The family connection between Salman Rushdie and Mishal Husain14:35 - The women in the family16:00 - Getting together as a family17:55 - Returning to India to write about childhood20:30 - Reclaiming India 22:55 - India today and Prime Minister Modi24:24 - “If you’re paying attention you see things coming”24:50 - The family reacts to Midnight’s Children26:44 - A farewell to India?28:45 - Before and after the fatwa31:30 - Defending free speech32:25 - Banning books in the US34:30 - Zohran Mamdani’s campaign38:50 - The next novel40:25 - “I’m a bit clumsier”Watch this podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe4PRejZgr0Ns_wjGlmjlPz0cded0nTYS You can find the written version of this interview with Mishal’s notes on Bloomberg Weekend: https://www.bloomberg.com/latest/weekend-interview Contact The Mishal Husain Show [email protected] Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ken Burns has been telling stories about America for almost 50 years. The lauded documentary filmmaker has a new series on PBS, The American Revolution, which charts the period before and after 1776. It will air internationally ahead of the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence. Mishal Husain asked Burns to join the show to mark Thanksgiving, looking at today’s America through the lens of its past and the characters who made history. 02:15 - The complexity of the American Revolution 04:00 - The underdog story 07:15 - The global significance of the American Revolution 13:43 - Mishal Husain’s connection to Lexington Green 16:15 - Why Ken Burns became a filmmaker 17:55 - “My mother’s gift in a funny way was dying” 19:20 - The Ken Burns Effect 20:15 - Hollywood actors as first person narrators 21:25 - Directing Josh Brolin as George Washington 22:00 - Why Tom Hanks didn’t want to be the voice of George Washington 23:00 - Filming reenactments 24:50 - The American Revolution is not over 29:10 Working for PBS, American Public Broadcasting 32:20 What is Ken Burns grateful for on Thanksgiving? Watch this podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe4PRejZgr0Ns_wjGlmjlPz0cded0nTYS You can find the written version of this interview with Mishal’s notes on Bloomberg Weekend: https://www.bloomberg.com/latest/weekend-interview Contact The Mishal Husain Show [email protected] Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stanford University Professor Fei-Fei Li has been at the forefront of artificial intelligence research for 25 years, which is why she’s been called the “godmother of AI.” In this conversation she tells Mishal Husain how she arrived in the US as a teenager after her parents decided to emigrate from China. She also talks about the high school teacher who inspired her and a deep love of physics, leading her to ask what she calls “audacious” questions. These days, amid her excitement about AI and its potential, she also is focused on what humans must do to build safeguards, and has a message for parents, too. 02:50 - AI is a “civilizational technology”04:15 - “Technology is a double-edged sword”05:45 - Being a tech CEO and an academic06:45 - Falling in love with physics08:00 - What is intelligence?08:40 - Finding my first North Star 09:45 - Fei-Fei Li’s two key breakthroughs14:52 - Moving from China to the US at 1515:48 - Running the family shop taught me resilience17:30 - “I wasn’t curious about nightclubs”18:20 - My inspirational teacher 22:20 - “China is a powerhouse in AI”23:00 - Creating 3D worlds with AI27:20 - AI and the jobs market28:40 - Are humans going to be replaced? 31:00 - “The machine overlord”32:45 - What should parents tell their children? 34:40 - The AI bubble36:00 - Powering the big data centres AI needs37:20 - “I’m not a tech utopian or a dystopian”38:00 - “My one worry is our teachers”39:20 - “I’m conscious of my responsibility”41:28 - Fei-Fei Li believes in timeless human values42:00 - “My favourite book these days is Harry Potter” Watch this podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe4PRejZgr0Ns_wjGlmjlPz0cded0nTYSYou can find the written version of this interview with Mishal’s notes on Bloomberg Weekend: https://www.bloomberg.com/latest/weekend-interviewSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.