The Solve Effect – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Kumi Naidoo once helped lead a funeral for an iceberg.

Several hundred people gathered in Iceland to mourn something precious that had been with us for centuries and was never coming back. That single act of mourning generated more powerful coverage than almost any campaign from his six years leading Greenpeace. It taught him a lesson he’s carried ever since: facts aim at the brain, but movements are built by speaking to the heart, the body, and the soul. 

On this episode of The Solve Effect, Hala Hanna sits down with Kumi Naidoo: human rights and climate justice activist, former head of Greenpeace International and Amnesty International, and now president of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. From organizing against apartheid as a teenager to building a global “artivism” movement inspired by his late son, the rapper Ricky Rick, Kumi shares what four decades of struggle have taught him about grief, purpose, and refusing to give up.

Tune in for a conversation all about:

Turning off the tap: Fossil fuels drive 86% of climate change, yet for 30 years we’ve mopped the floor without touching the faucet. Kumi makes the case for a binding global treaty to phase them out—in terms your auntie would understand.

Artivism in action: Why “Save Santa Claus” might have been a better banner than “Stop Arctic Destruction,” and how harnessing arts and culture can supply the thing our movements are missing most: imagination.

Participation as the antidote to despair: Whatever the question, the answer is community. Kumi explains why everyone—from single moms to art teachers—has a pathway into this fight, and how his sister Kay proved that the most invisible people often make the biggest contributions.

Joy as resistance: How do you tell the truth about a crisis without immobilizing people? And why is keeping your sense of humor a political act?

Full transcript available here. 

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What if we treated democracy the way Silicon Valley treats software—a flexible tool that we can control and iterate on together until we get it right, knowing that it’s a project with no real end? 

In this episode of The Solve Effect, Hala Hanna sits down with Audrey Tang—Taiwan’s first digital minister, the world’s first openly non-binary cabinet minister, and now Taiwan’s cyber ambassador. Audrey grew up with a heart condition that forced her to be radically calm; she channeled that stillness into one of the most remarkable careers in public life, pushing government trust from single digits to 70%, nearly eliminating deepfake scams on social media, and deploying a COVID response studied around the world.

Tune in for a conversation all about:

Democracy as a technology: Why our current system’s “bandwidth” is too narrow for the challenges we face, and how Taiwan’s tools for broad listening—sortition, deliberation, and civic AI—are expanding it.

AI in the loop of humanity, not the other way around: Audrey’s poem-turned-manifesto flips Silicon Valley’s favorite buzzwords on their head: internet of beings, shared reality, collaborative learning, human experience.

Campfire vs. wildfire: How do you design platforms that illuminate our differences instead of burning us? And what happens when you change the economic incentives so social media companies actually benefit from pro-social behavior?

Peak slop and the path forward: Audrey believes we’re living through peak doom-scrolling—and that the shift toward conversational AI may be the off-ramp we’ve been waiting for.

Full transcript available here.

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What does it mean to design for life beyond Earth without losing our humanity?

In this episode of The Solve Effect, we sit down with Dr. Ariel Ekblaw, founder and CEO of the Aurelia Institute and General Partner of the Aurelia Foundry Fund, to explore how space innovation can make life on Earth more sustainable.

From leading MIT’s Space Exploration Initiative to advising NASA on the next decade of lunar activity, Ariel has dedicated her career to shaping humanity’s future in space. But her vision isn’t about escape—it’s about expanding what’s possible for all of us.

Together, Hala and Ariel explore:

• How space research can protect and restore Earth’s ecosystems

• Why beauty and belonging matter—even in orbit

• What it takes to build bridges between science fiction and sustainable reality

Ariel’s story reminds us that exploration isn’t about leaving home, it’s about learning how to care for it better.

Full transcript available here. 

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What does it mean to innovate when lives depend on it?

In this episode of The Solve Effect, host Hala Hanna sits down with Dr. Mohamed Aburawi, a Harvard-trained surgeon and founder of Speetar, a cloud-based telehealth platform born in the midst of Libya’s civil war that went on to serve millions across five countries. Today, through Atarona Ventures, Mohamed is scaling that impact across health, education, finance, and climate.

From ironing his white coat on his first night in the U.S. to building hospitals in the cloud, Mohamed shares how scarcity shaped his vision for resilient, community-driven solutions. Together, Hala and Mohamed explore:

• Why the “adversity advantage” can produce more durable innovations than abundance

• How trust—not just technology—determines whether solutions scale

• The untapped power of diaspora capital and participatory investing

• Why invisible data may hold the key to more equitable AI

Mohamed’s story proves that the future of innovation will be built not only in centers of abundance, but also in growth markets where failure is not an option.

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Full episode transcript: https://solve.mit.edu/articles/a-visionary-healthcare-innovator-dr-mohamed-aburawi-on-tech-healthcare-and-impact-investing

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What happens when a childhood experience becomes the seed for a global movement?

In this episode of The Solve Effect, host Hala Hanna sits down with Atif Javed, co-founder and Executive Director of Tarjimly, a nonprofit that connects tens of thousands of volunteer translators with refugees and displaced people worldwide.

From interpreting for his grandmother as a child immigrant to building a tech-enabled platform that ensures refugees are heard in moments of crisis, Atif shares how personal experience shaped his mission. Together, Hala and Atif explore:

• Why Tarjimly chooses humans over algorithms in an AI-driven age

• How nonprofits can build financial sustainability amid political and philanthropic headwinds

• What it takes to transform lived experience into scalable impact

• Why Atif believes each of us should find “the one problem we can wake up every day determined to solve”

Tarjimly is proving that the most powerful technology amplifies human connection rather than replacing it.

A full transcript for this episode is available here.

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How does a painful accident turn into a startup pushing the needle on male fertility?

On the latest episode of The Solve Effect, Khaled Kteily, founder of Legacy, opens up about turning personal panic into a global mission: destigmatizing male fertility and making family planning more accessible. Tune in for an unforgettable conversation about startup grit, love, legacy, and why the future of family includes everyone.

A transcript of this episode is available here.

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Over 260 million children are out of school, but what if the answer isn’t more classrooms, but more connection?

In this episode of The Solve Effect, Hala is joined by Katrin McMillan, founder of Hello World, to discuss her bold approach to digital education access. From solar-powered internet hubs to co-creating with communities in Uganda and Nepal, Katrin shares how Hello World is changing the game for global learning—and why true impact starts with listening.

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What does a 72-year-old textile titan have to do with saving our water supply?

Host Hala Hanna talks with long-time Solve advisor Margie Yang, Chairman of the Esquel Group, about generational leadership, navigating crisis, and finding innovation in unlikely spaces. Tune in now wherever you listen, and don’t forget to subscribe, download, and like to support the show! 

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Find a transcript with links from this episode here.

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Make sure to follow us on ⁠LinkedIn⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠, and ⁠Facebook⁠.  

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Conversations with leaders, visionaries, and barrier-breakers, intent on using technology for good. Each episode explores the journeys of people rewriting the rules for global problem-solving, from questioning the ethics of data to tackling bias in AI to applying traditional knowledge in the modern world. First episode airs on June 4, 2025. 

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Join our CrowdSolve mailing list for more updates: https://solve.mit.edu/newsletters 

Make sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook. 
Email us at thesolveeffect@solve.mit.edu

What does it take to rewire a public health system from the inside out?

In this episode of The Solve Effect, guest host Alexander Dale, Director of Global Programs at MIT Solve, sits down with Ruchit Nagar, co-founder of Khushi Baby. What began as a Yale classroom project—designing a NFC-enabled pendant to carry children's health records in rural India—has grown into CHIP, one of India's largest community-based digital health platforms. Used by over 85,000 community health workers across 48,000 villages, CHIP has tracked the health of more than 60 million people and identified over 10 million individuals with vulnerable health conditions.

Tune in for a conversation all about:

Starting with the community: The pendant wasn't designed in a classroom—it emerged from fieldwork, where Ruchit noticed the cultural significance of the black thread pendant worn to protect children. Learn how human-centered design shaped every stage of Khushi Baby's evolution.

Scaling with and through government: Going from a 200-person study to a statewide platform in Rajasthan required more than good technology. Hear Ruchit's hard-won advice on earning a seat at the table with complex institutional stakeholders.

Choosing hope: After more than a decade of navigating funding gaps, setbacks, and deferred salaries, Ruchit reflects on what keeps him going—and why manifesting your vision while staying flexible is the only way through.

Full transcript available here.