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.

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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:

• Set the tone for the podcast
• Explain what the show is and isn't
• Learn how we are going to navigate this journey
• Answer who the hell is this 'Sam Harris' (the host)
• Explain our 7 principles for exploring history and innovation

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 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:

• What were we busy with for 97% of our existence?
• Why were we so slow at innovating?
• How did we eventually overcome these fundamental forces?

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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How to rank the impact of innovations on humanity and how much they really changed the world.

Everything seems so important these days:

• A new iPhone update changes EVERYTHING
• This war will BREAK the economy
• If you feed your toddler THIS, you don't deserve to be a parent...

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...

• Is Netflix more important than Baseball?
• Has TikTok changed the world as much as the Longbow?
• Was Steve Jobs more impactful than Henry VIII?

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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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:

• Transformative technologies change what we are, not just what we do
• Dependency often disguises itself as control and mastery
• The biggest innovations create irreversible psychological and social shifts

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:

• Francisca Correia does the designs (available to hire)
• Jeremy Enns is our incredible podcast mentor (available to hire)

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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