Microsoft Research Podcast

Trailer: The Shape of Things to Come 

March 3, 2026 | Doug Burger
Microsoft research lead Doug Burger introduces his new podcast series, "The Shape of Things to Come", an exploration into the fundamental truths about AI and how the technology will reshape the future.

Recent Podcasts

  1. Meredith Ringel Morris

    Advancing accessibility with Dr. Meredith Ringel Morris 

    May 23, 2018

    Episode 25, May 23, 2018 - Dr. Morris gives us some fascinating insights into the world of “ability,” talks about how technology is augmenting not only sensory and motor abilities, but cognitive and social abilities as well, and shares how Microsoft, through its AI for…

  2. a man wearing glasses

    Not lost in translation with Arul Menezes 

    May 16, 2018

    Episode 24, May 16, 2018 - Menezes talks about how the advent of deep learning has enabled exciting advances in machine translation, including applications for people with disabilities, and gives us an inside look at the recent “human parity” milestone at Microsoft Research, where machines…

  3. a person posing for the camera

    Machine learning and the incredible flying robot with Dr. Ashish Kapoor 

    May 2, 2018

    Episode 22, May 2, 2018 - Dr. Kapoor talks about how cutting-edge machine learning techniques are empowering a new generation of autonomous vehicles, and tells us all about AirSim, an innovative platform that’s helping bridge the simulator-to-reality gap, paving the way for safer, more robust…

  4. Getting good VIBEs from your computer with Dr. Mary Czerwinski 

    April 18, 2018

    Episode 20, April 18, 2018 - In a world where humans are increasingly interacting with AI systems, Dr. Mary Czerwinski, Principal Researcher and Research Manager at Microsoft Research, believes emotions may be fundamental to our interactions with machines. And through her team’s work in affective…

  5. Kristin Lauter taking a selfie

    Tales from the Crypt(ography) Lab with Dr. Kristin Lauter 

    April 11, 2018

    Episode 19, April 11, 2018 - Dr. Lauter tells us why she feels lucky to do math for a living, explains the singular beauty of elliptic curves and the singular difficulty of supersingular isogeny graphs, talks about how homomorphic encryption allows us to operate on,…

  6. Ranveer Chandra smiling at the camera

    AI for the Developing World with Dr. Ranveer Chandra 

    April 4, 2018

    Episode 18, April 4, 2018 - Dr. Chandra talks about how his research may eventually make your wi-fi signal stronger and your battery life longer, but also shares the story of how spending childhood summers with his grandparents in rural India inspired a line of…

  7. a man wearing glasses and smiling at the camera

    When Psychology Meets Technology with Dr. Daniel McDuff 

    March 28, 2018

    Episode 17, March 28, 2018 - Dr. McDuff talks about why we need computers to understand us, outlines the pros and cons of designing emotionally sentient agents, explains the technology behind CardioLens, a pair of augmented reality glasses that can take your heartrate by looking…

  8. a man wearing glasses and smiling at the camera

    Building Literate Machines with Dr. Adam Trischler 

    March 21, 2018

    Episode 16, March 21, 2018 - Dr. Trischler talks about his dream of making literate machines, his efforts to design meta-learning algorithms that can actually learn to learn, the importance of what he calls “few-shot learning” in that meta-learning process, and how, through a process…

  9. Kate Crawford

    Keeping an Eye on AI with Dr. Kate Crawford 

    February 28, 2018

    Episode 14, February 28, 2018 - Today, Dr. Crawford talks about both the promises and the problems of AI; why— when it comes to data – bigger isn’t necessarily better; and how – even in an era of increasingly complex technological advances – we can…