Welcome to Season 3 of WHERE WHAT IF BECOMES WHAT’S NEXT. As Carnegie Mellon University celebrates its 125th anniversary, we’re spotlighting 15 CMU inventions that changed the world. From the origins of AI and robotics to innovations in the arts and sciences, join us as we trace the journey from “what if” to “what’s next.” With host Randy Scott, every other Thursday we’re going behind the scenes with CMU makers and visionaries to bring you the stories you may know and the ones you won't believe. Subscribe so you’ll never miss an episode. For more info: cmu.edu/whatsnextpodcast.
Where What If Becomes What's Next
Claim This Podcastby Carnegie Mellon University
4.6(22 reviews)
46 episodes
Updated Bi-weekly
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Podcast Overview
Welcome to Season 3 of WHERE WHAT IF BECOMES WHAT’S NEXT. As Carnegie Mellon University celebrates its 125th anniversary, we’re spotlighting 15 CMU inventions that changed the world. From the origins of AI and robotics to innovations in the arts and sciences, join us as we trace the journey from “what if” to “what’s next.” With host Randy Scott, every other Thursday we’re going behind the scenes with CMU makers and visionaries to bring you the stories you may know and the ones you won't believe. Subscribe so you’ll never miss an episode. For more info: cmu.edu/whatsnextpodcast.
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2/13/2024
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Recent Episodes
July 22, 2026
A New Equation: Teaching Math for an AI World
<p>What is the purpose of learning math in a world where AI can solve any equation in seconds? </p><p>Carnegie Mellon mathematician Po-Shen Loh has spent his career arguing that math was never really about memorizing formulas — it's about learning how to think. In this episode, part of CMU's series spotlighting 15 inventions from its 125th anniversary, Loh traces his path from solving childhood math puzzles to leading the U.S. International Mathematical Olympiad team to four world championships, not by fostering competition, but by building friendship and community among the world's most talented young mathematicians.</p><p>Loh discusses how his research in graph theory and network science — the mathematics of how people connect and trust one another — led him to build Novid, an exposure-notification app used during the pandemic. He also explains how lessons from improv comedy reshaped his teaching philosophy, and how watching kids struggle with online learning during COVID inspired LIVE, his streaming platform. LIVE uses the engagement tools of Twitch, social media and gaming to make math class feel like something students actually want to do.</p><p>The conversation turns to AI's role in education, where Loh argues that math remains one of the few "sandboxes" where students can safely generate and test their own ideas without real-world consequences. He introduces his philosophy of being "Thought Full" — using thinking to delight and connect with others — and warns that without it, society risks drifting toward the isolated, AI-dependent future, as depicted in the movie “Wall-E.”</p><p>Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. For more, info visit: <a href="http://cmu.edu/whatsnextpodcast"><u>cmu.edu/whatsnextpodcast</u></a>.</p><p><strong>Explore more</strong><a href="http://cmu.edu/125"> </a></p><ul><li><p><a href="https://poshenloh.com/thought-full"><u>Thought Full</u></a>, Po-Shen Loh’s website for developing a better way to learn math</p></li><li><p><a href="https://live.poshenloh.com/"><u>LIVE</u></a>, a revolutionary way to learn math</p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.expii.com/"><u>XPii</u></a>, a crowdsourced online learning course platform</p></li></ul>
July 9, 2026
Tech for Good: Rescuing Food to Fight Hunger and Climate Change
<p>What if the surplus food restaurants and grocery stores throw away every day could instead feed the millions of people who don't know where their next meal is coming from? That question sent Leah Lizarondo down a path that reshaped how communities think about hunger, waste, and climate change.</p><p>In this episode, we sit down with Lizarondo, a Heinz College graduate and entrepreneur in residence at CMU's Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship. She's the co-founder of 412 Food Rescue and founder of Food Rescue Hero, the technology platform that grew out of it.</p><p>Lizarondo traces the idea back to a jarring statistic: roughly 40 percent of the food supply was going to waste, with major consequences for land use, water resources, and greenhouse gas emissions — food waste alone rivals entire countries in its climate impact. Inspired by the rise of on-demand delivery apps like Uber, she asked what if that same logistics model could redirect good food to people who need it, instead of the landfill.</p><p>Launched in Pittsburgh in 2015, 412 Food Rescue built its volunteer network and donor relationships first, then layered in the Food Rescue Hero app to scale the matching process. Today the platform has around 65,000 volunteer drivers, has recovered an estimated 350 million pounds of food, and is closing in on its one-millionth rescue. It now operates in about 30 cities across the U.S. and Canada, licensing its technology to nonprofit partners rather than expanding directly. Since then, food recovery programs along with Food Rescue Hero have helped reduce food waste to 35 percent.</p><p>Lizarondo also discusses her current work with Vital Voices Global Partnership, her advice for student entrepreneurs, and how she sees AI reshaping philanthropy and social enterprise in the years ahead.</p><p>Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. For more, info visit: <a href="http://cmu.edu/whatsnextpodcast"><u>cmu.edu/whatsnextpodcast</u></a>.</p><p><strong>Explore more</strong><a href="http://cmu.edu/125"> </a></p><ul><li><p><a href="https://foodrescuehero.org/"><u>Food Rescue Hero</u></a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://412foodrescue.org/"><u>412 Food Rescue</u></a></p></li></ul>
June 24, 2026
Down the Rabbit Hole: How Alice Turned Computer Coding Into a Wonderland
<p>Thirty years ago, Carnegie Mellon University professor Randy Pausch asked a simple question: What if anyone could learn to program a computer? </p><p>Not just computer scientists, not just engineers. What if kids could learn coding the same way they learned to tell stories, build worlds, and play games?</p><p>In this episode we explore one of Carnegie Mellon's most enduring innovations: Alice, the drag-and-drop program that has introduced millions of students to coding through storytelling. As CMU marks its 125th anniversary and Alice turns 30, guest Melanie Lam — Director of the Alice Project at CMU's Entertainment Technology Center — traces the software's remarkable journey.</p><p>Created by legendary professor Randy Pausch, Alice began in 1995 as a Virtual Reality prototyping tool created for Pausch’s famed Building Virtual Worlds course. Lam shares how she first encountered Alice at CMU as a journalism graduate with no coding background, used it to tell a moving story in her very first week, and went on to design games at Activision and Electronic Arts before returning to steward Pausch's legacy back at CMU with the Alice Project.</p><p>The conversation follows Alice's evolution from CD-ROMs to free online access to Sims 2 character integration for better storytelling. Currently, Lam is leading a major interface update and exploring ways AI can make Alice even more accessible for students.</p><p>Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. For more, info visit: <a href="http://cmu.edu/whatsnextpodcast"><u>cmu.edu/whatsnextpodcast</u></a>.</p><p><strong>Explore more</strong></p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.alice.org/"><u>Alice</u></a></p></li><li><p>Randy Pausch’s <a href="https://etc.cmu.edu/about/last-lecture"><u>The Last Lecture</u></a></p></li></ul>
46 total episodes available
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