How to Change the World: The History & Future of Innovation

If you want to change the world, you need to dissect the past to build a blueprint for tomorrow.

Reviews

Smart and Fun

"Great concept, and even better execution. I love how this podcast gets me thinking at a meta level."

Innovation Student | Nov. 20, 2025

Sam’s podcast is going to change the world

"I believe, more than ever, that Sam Harris is on a mission to make all of our lives better. How to Change the World connects historical dots in a way that’s hard to see without someone doing the deep…"

thinkandexecute | Aug. 9, 2025

My New Favorite Podcast

"Harris has a gift for taking what could be a super long, boring, complex history lecture and turning it into a fast-paced audio story that actually sticks in your mind. I learned so much from just on…"

Mom is old | May 30, 2025

Fascinating!

"I'm officially obsessed with this podcast. Even if it takes 10-15 years to cover everything, I'm in."

_tinabinabobina_ | Nov. 8, 2025
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Episodes

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How to Change the World in 2 minutes
May 19, 2025

How to Change the World in 2 minutes

About How to change the world where we explore the history and future of invention, innovation, and era defining technology
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Introduction to How to Change the World - Dissecting the History & Future of Innovation
1
May 20, 2025

Introduction to How to Change the World - Dissecting the History & Future of Innovation

About the show How to change the world where we explore the history and future of invention, innovation, and era defining technology
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[Stone Age] - Innovation Locks: The 5 Progress Blockers for 97% of Human History
2
May 21, 2025

[Stone Age] - Innovation Locks: The 5 Progress Blockers for 97% of Human History

Timeless lessons on what really creates human progress
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Innovation Richter Scale: How Much Do Technology and Ideas Change World History?
3
June 4, 2025

Innovation Richter Scale: How Much Do Technology and Ideas Change World History?

What really matters to humanity and what is just noise? How to rank the impact of a given invention, innovation or technology on humanity and the wider world.
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[~1.8 Mya] - Fire: The Innovation that Forged Humanity and Sparked World Domination
4
June 27, 2025

[~1.8 Mya] - Fire: The Innovation that Forged Humanity and Sparked World Domination

How fire changed our species, let us take over the world and drove the industrial revolution
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The Laws of Nature: 3 Rules Governing the Success of Any Organism, Idea & Technology
5
July 9, 2025

The Laws of Nature: 3 Rules Governing the Success of Any Organism, Idea & Technology

The three laws of biology presented in the lessons of history that determine the survival of inventions, movements and populations
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Recent Blog Posts

The Innovation Richter Scale: A Framework for Ranking Human Breakthroughs
March 4, 2026

The Innovation Richter Scale: A Framework for Ranking Human Breakthroughs

The Innovation Richter Scale: A Framework for Ranking Human Breakthroughs Everything Is Legendary Until It Isn't We live in an age of superlatives. Every new app is revolutionary. Every startup disrupts. Every technology reshapes civilizatio…
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About the Host

sam