Two veteran risk analysts reflect on how scientists, academics, and federal employees (both former and current) are planning for the day agencies can be rebuilt. Adam Finkel, professor at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health and former head of regulation at OSHA, and Vicki Beer, retired faculty from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and former member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, make the case that the worst thing reformers could do is simply restore the status quo. After decades of regulatory running on autopilot, a once-in-a-generation disruption may be the opening we've been waiting for.

Biotechnology is advancing faster than ever before, and the stakes have never been higher. In this episode, Dr. Christopher Cummings, lead for the Center for Health Engineering with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, breaks down why the convergence of biotech and artificial intelligence is creating both unprecedented opportunities and existential risks.

From gene-edited foods that could revolutionize agriculture to AI-designed viruses that could destabilize nations, Dr. Cummings explores the delicate balance between innovation and oversight. He reveals why traditional regulatory frameworks are struggling to keep pace and how "information hazards" are forcing scientists to rethink transparency itself.

We dive into the ethical minefield of black-boxed AI systems, designing biological solutions, the growing trust gap between lab and consumer, and what it means when AI can "de-skill" biotechnology to the point where expertise is no longer required to create dangerous organisms.

Topics covered: CRISPR and gene editing, AI convergence, biosafety and bioweapons, public trust in GMOs, generational attitudes toward biotech, risk communication, international cooperation, and the future of governance in an accelerating technological landscape.

In this episode of Let's Talk Risk, we're diving into a conversation with two leaders in global development: Abhilash Panda from the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction—the team responsible for delivering the Sendai Framework worldwide—and Jordan Schwartz, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Inter-American Development Bank, the largest source of multilateral financing for Latin America and the Caribbean.

We discuss why our institutions aren't built to handle systemic risk, why the term "resilience" means completely different things to different people within the same organization, and what would need to change if we actually wanted to protect the systems we depend on. Listen now!