What If Instead? Podcast
A podcast co-hosted by Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Miriam Plavin-Masterman.
A show about everyday people reimagining the way things work—and tackling the obstacles they face.
We explore adventures in democratizing innovation—how the chance to try one’s hand at something new affects people and even organizations, what “powers” they discover and what challenges they face along the way.
We dig into access: what determines who gets the chance to try and disrupt the way things work? We examine obstacles in specific industries and communities, and go deep with people working to break through them.
We look closely at the role of tech—how it can equip or disempower people to build experiments of their own—and society: what leads us to accept a role as consumers of the way things work, and what it means to discover our powers to ask in practice, “What if instead?”
Producer of the What If Instead? Podcast: Srijan Banik
- Update frequency
- every 16 days
- Average duration
- 52 minutes
- Episodes
- 27
- Years Active
- 2024 - 2025
The Energy Transition: Not if, but When | Susan Hunt Stevens
Key Takeaways/Calls to Action:
- For Individuals: Actively experiment in your career to find genuine fulfillment. Consciously manage your "personal overhead" to maximize your agility and options. Consid…
Beyond “Just Change Your Perspective” | Sage Brody
Suggested Reading & Listening
- https://www.rhythmofregulation.com/polyvagal-theory
- https://leveninstitute.com/who-we-are/
Who Am I to Do This? (And Why I Did Anyway) | Dan Lee
Suggested Reading & Listening
Diseconomies of Scale | Michael Shuman
Key Concepts & Themes:
- Pre-Copernican Economics: The central metaphor for the outdated, pre-Copernican economic models that insist on globalization and scale above all else, despite evidence that loca…
What If Philanthropy Got It Right? Robert Osborne on What if Instead?
Our guest, Robert Osborne, principal of The Osborne Group, brings 25 years of experience working with nonprofits and funders. Together, we explore:
- Why most philanthropic money never reaches grassroot…
Unlocking Potential Through Experiential Learning | A Conversation with Tomás Mora Selva & Huang Wei-Jou | What If Instead? Podcast with Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Miriam Plavin-Masterman
Guests:
Tomás Mora Selva, Cofounder, Youth BCN and Youth HUB; Head of Experiential Learning, RebelBase; Cofounder, Democratizing Innovation Institute; and Board Member, I.D.E.A
Huang Wei-Jou, Student,…
We Have The Skills, We Need The Connection | A Conversation with Ari Luis Halos & Charnylle T. Antiporda | What If Instead? Podcast with Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Miriam Plavin-Masterman
Guests:
Ari Luis Halos, Assistant Professor, University of the Philippines Open University
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/ari-luis-halos-897b2113/
Charnylle T. Antiporda, Founder of Juan Lif…
Mentorship & Collaboration: The Alignment That Changes The World | A Conversation with Evelina Van Mensel and Martin Nedev | What If Instead? Podcast with Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Miriam Plavin-Masterman
Guests:
Evelina Van Mensel
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/evavanmensel
Martin Nedev, CEO of Enthela
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/enthela
Hosts:
Alejandro Juárez Crawford
On IT…
Bio-manufacturing: How It Can Reshape Industries and Our Planet | A Conversation with Edward Shenderovich | What If Instead? Podcast with Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Miriam Plavin-Masterman
Guest: Edward Shenderovich,
Hosts:
Alejandro Juárez Crawford
On ITSPmagazine 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/alejandro-juarez-crawford
Miriam Plavin-Masterman
On ITSPmag…
The Future Life of Heavy Equipment | A Conversation with Tom Christenson | What If Instead? Podcast with Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Miriam Plavin-Masterman
Guest: Tom Christenson, CEO of TBAuctions
Hosts:
Alejandro Juárez Crawford
On ITSPmagazine 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/alejandro-juarez-crawford
Miriam Plavin-Master…
When There’s a Wildfire, It’s Pass or Fail | A Conversation with Alister Watt | What If Instead? Podcast with Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Miriam Plavin-Masterman
Guest: Alister Watt, Chief Product Officer, Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS)
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/alister-watt-32a60b4/recent-activity/all/
Hosts:
Alejandro …
Changing My Understanding Of The World By Just Doing It | A Conversation With Lucas Rockett Gutterman | What If Instead? Podcast with Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Miriam Plavin-Masterman
Guest: Lucas Rockett Gutterman, Designed to Last campaign director, PIRG
At PIRG: https://pirg.org/people/lucas-gutterman/
Hosts:
Alejandro Juárez Crawford
On ITSPmagazine 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.co…
Who Pays Me? How Do I Feel About That? Is it in Service of Life? | A Conversation with B. Lorraine Smith | What If Instead? Podcast with Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Miriam Plavin-Masterman
Guest: B. Lorraine Smith, Writer, Advisor, & Coach
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/b-lorraine-smith-155a875/
Hosts:
Alejandro Juárez Crawford
On ITSPmagazine 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/it…
Using Clean Energy to Level the Economic Playing Field | A conversation with David Cash | What If Instead? Podcast with Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Miriam Plavin-Masterman
Guest: David Cash, Regional Administrator, EPA New England
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-w-cash
Hosts:
Alejandro Juárez Crawford
On ITSPmagazine 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmag…
The Muscles We Build by Bridging | A conversation with Kate O'Neill | What If Instead? Podcast with Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Miriam Plavin-Masterman
Guest: Kate O'Neill, Dean, College of Business, American University of Iraq-Baghdad
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/k-kathleen-oneill-phd-strategicleadership/
Hosts:
Alejandro Juárez Crawford
…
It's a broken system | A conversation with David Benzaquen | What If Instead? Podcast with Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Miriam Plavin-Masterman
Guest: David Benzaquen, Founder and CEO, Mission: Plant LLC
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbenzaquen/
Hosts:
Alejandro Juárez Crawford
On ITSPmagazine 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/its…
A System Where Local Is the Norm – and We Pay What It Really Costs To Drive Something Hundreds of Miles | A conversation with Trevor Vaughn and Hunter Buffington | What If Instead? Podcast with Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Miriam Plavin-Masterman
Guests:
Trevor Vaughn
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-vaughn-2165a661/
Hunter Buffington
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/hunter-buffington-co/
Hosts:
Alejandro Juárez Crawford
O…
Talking To People Who Think Like Us Has Made Us Stagnant | A conversation with Trevor Vaughn and Hunter Buffington | What If Instead? Podcast with Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Miriam Plavin-Masterman
Guests:
Trevor Vaughn
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-vaughn-2165a661/
Hunter Buffington
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/hunter-buffington-co/
Hosts:
Alejandro Juárez Crawford
O…
Bringing Biodiversity to the Innovation Ecosystem | A conversation with Ben Soltoff | What If Instead? Podcast with Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Miriam Plavin-Masterman
Guest: Ben Soltoff, Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) and the Ecosystem-Builder in Residence at the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship [@EshipMIT]
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben…
The Invisible Barriers to Going ‘Green’ | A conversation with Melisa Báez | What If Instead? Podcast with Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Miriam Plavin-Masterman
Guest: Melisa Báez, Co-Founder and CEO at ELUME and Teacher Assistant at Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/melisa-baez
Hosts:
Alejandro Juárez Crawford
O…