Episode 110: Calestous Juma

Calestous Juma is a prolific author who focuses on the intersection of society, science and international development. He is a professor and director of the Science, Technology and Globalization project at the Belfer Center for Science and International affairs at Harvard.

Credit: Martha Stewart/Harvard Kennedy School.

Calestous grew up in flood prone village on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya and in this episode he describes how his upbringing inspired his interest in understanding the relationship between nature, economic development, and technological change. We kick off discussing his forthcoming book, out in July, titled Innovation and Its Enemies: Why People Resist New Technologies which includes, among other things, a fascinating discussion about what this history of margarine can teach us about the future of global development.

This conversation was a delight, Calestous tells some great stories and offers some intriguing insights about trends in global development. And if y…