Episode Summary:

In Part 1 of this two-episode series, Aidan McCullen is joined by futurists Bob Johansen and Jamais Cascio, co-authors of Navigating the Age of Chaos: A Sensemaking Guide to a BANI World That Doesn’t Make Sense. The trio unpacks the BANI Framework — Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear, Incomprehensible — and explores how it helps us make sense of a world where traditional models like VUCA no longer apply.

 

Discover how anxiety, complexity, systemic fragility, and incomprehensible change are reshaping our lives and futures — and what we can do to adapt and thrive in the face of it all.

 

Key Discussion Points:

From VUCA to BANI: Why old models fail

System fragility and the myth of stability

Psychological burnout in the age of anxiety

Non-linear risk and delayed cause-effect dynamics

Incomprehensibility and the collapse of trust in truth

 

Links & Resources:

🌐 Book: Navigating the Age of Chaos – https://ageofbani.com

📘 Bob Johansen – https://www.iftf.org

🧠 Jamais Cascio – https://www.openthefuture.com

🎙️ Sponsored by Kyndryl – https://kyndryl.com

🎓 Host and Irish Keynote Speaker Aidan McCullen and The Innovation Show is the first podcast to be recognised by Thinkers50, the global ranking body for management thinkers.

https://aidanmccullen.com

00:00 Introduction and Sponsor Message

00:21 Reflecting on the Decade: 2015-2025

01:41 Introducing the B.A.N.I. Framework

02:24 Meet the Authors: Bob Johansen and Jamais Cascio

04:29 The Evolution from VUCA to BANI

16:18 Understanding Brittle in BANI

30:14 Exploring Anxious in BANI

37:03 Alan Watts and the Timeless Nature of Anxiety

38:18 Resilience in the Face of Extinction

39:30 The Persistent Relevance of VUCA

39:52 The Unique Challenges of BANI

41:13 Interconnected Crises and Their Compounding Effects

44:30 The Participatory Panopticon and Surveillance

49:28 Non-Linearity and Climate Hysteresis

01:00:23 Stochastic Terrorism and Its Implications

01:02:44 Incomprehensibility in a BANI World

01:10:37 Conclusion and Further Resources

Coming Soon:

👉 Part 2: BANI Plus – Flipping the Framework Positive

On this episode of The Innovation Show, we welcome Chuck House, serial intrapreneur, author of Permission Denied, and former executive at Hewlett-Packard.

Chuck shares hard-won lessons from inside one of the world’s most influential tech companies—revealing what it really takes to innovate from within. From helping pioneer the first commercial computer graphics display to earning HP’s only-ever Medal of Defiance, Chuck’s story is both a cautionary tale and a masterclass in intrapreneurial resilience.

Hosted by Aidan McCullen, Thinkers50 Award recipient for Innovation and keynote speaker based in Ireland.

🎧 Highlights include:

• Surviving and thriving as an intrapreneur

• Navigating organisational resistance

• Why engineers must meet customers

• Leadership in uncertain times

• Insights for today’s innovation leaders

 

📖 Get Chuck’s book: Permission Denied: Odyssey of an Intrapreneur:

https://amzn.to/3Xq2LxC

🌐 More on Aidan: www.aidanmccullen.com

In this thought-provoking episode, Aidan McCullen — Thinkers50 Innovation Award Winner, author of Undisruptable, and host of The Innovation Show — welcomes Samuel Arbesman, scientist, author, and polymath, for the grand finale of their trilogy.

Together, they explore The Magic of Code: How Digital Language Created and Connects Our World, diving deep into how code shapes our understanding of reality — from biology and evolution to artificial intelligence and the simulation hypothesis.

 Discover how code is the new DNA, the universal language linking art, philosophy, and technology, and why rekindling curiosity, humility, and wonder is essential in our age of machines.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction and Sponsor Message

00:18 The Power and Mystery of Code

01:33 Guest Introduction: Samuel Arbesman

02:26 The Magic of Code: Themes and Inspirations

03:53 Rekindling Wonder in Computing

11:01 Biology and Computation: A Deep Dive

14:43 Artificial Life and Evolution in Computing

24:17 Emergent Behavior and Evolutionary Contingency

28:28 Simulation Hypothesis: Reality as a Program

29:30 The Complexity of Digital Simulations

30:35 Weather Prediction and Simplified Models

32:00 The Physicality of Computing

33:17 The Simulation Hypothesis

39:05 The Role of Language in AI

44:09 Humanity and Technology

47:39 The Future of Technology and Society

57:00 Final Thoughts on Humility and Curiosity

In This Episode

• The connection between code, language, and human creativity

• How biology and computation mirror one another

• Artificial life, evolution, and digital ecosystems

• The simulation hypothesis: Are we living in code?

• The importance of humility, restraint, and curiosity in an AI-driven world

Guest: Samuel Arbesman — Author of The Magic of Code, The Half-Life of Facts, and Overcomplicated

🔗 Find Sam: https://arbesman.net

Host: Aidan McCullen — Thinkers50 Innovation Award Winner, international thought leader on change and reinvention, author of Undisruptable, and host of The Innovation Show, a globally acclaimed and Thinkers50-recognised podcast inspiring leaders to thrive through change.

A former international rugby player, Aidan now helps organisations and leaders adapt and evolve in an age of exponential transformation.

 

Get Sam’s Book: https://amzn.to/3Xb8abN

Find the Innovation show: https://thethursdaythought.substack.com