Episodes

  • (Preview) China's Growing Risk Data Moat and the US Brain Drain With Hui Su
    Mar 25 2026

    A conversation with Dr. Hui Su, a professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and one of the leading researchers working at the intersection of satellite data, artificial intelligence, and extreme weather forecasting.
    Become a member of Risk Market News for access to the full member episode.

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    6 mins
  • Confidence as a Service With Eric Winsberg
    Mar 18 2026

    We speak with Eric Winsberg: a philosopher of science at Cambridge and the University of South Florida, who has thought hard about what happens when models move from the lab into the world and into policy and markets.


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    1 hr and 1 min
  • (Preview) The $232 Billion Storm No One Is Pricing With Moody's Chris Lafakis
    Mar 11 2026

    Chris Lafakis and his team did the first analysis to combine Moody's catastrophe modeling infrastructure with a full macroeconomic model. The results are eye opening.

    This is a preview of the Risky Science Podcast Member Edtion.

    To get access to the full episode sign up to become a free member of Risk Market News.

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    10 mins
  • How Hurricane Risk Really Gets Priced with Dr. Ben Collier
    Mar 4 2026

    Dr. Ben Collier, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his fellow researchers published a recent paper that uses twenty years of Florida data to trace a direct line from cat model revisions to the premiums homeowners actually pay. The finding? A one-dollar increase in modeled expected loss translates to roughly five dollars in higher premiums. That multiplier — and what's driving it — is what we're unpacking today.
    In the episode we dive deep into the findings.
    The paper: Pricing Climate Risk: Hurricane Models and Home Insurance Over the Last Two Decades
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    56 mins
  • Black Box Problems, Machine Judgment and the Rules Nobody's Written Yet With Daniel Schwarcz
    Feb 18 2026

    A conversation with Daniel Schwarcz, professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, where he teaches insurance law, contract law, tort law, and financial regulation and his academic work sits at the intersection of AI governance and insurance regulation.

    • (00:00) - Introduction
    • (00:17) - Guest background: From P&C attorney to insurance law professor
    • (02:13) - AI in insurance today: back-office efficiency vs. underwriting and claims
    • (10:06) - Is AI "locked and loaded" for underwriters and claims departments?
    • (12:24) - The 50-state regulatory problem and its compounding complexity
    • (22:05) - Catastrophe modeling and AI in property underwriting
    • (30:19) - Why disclosure usually forestalls regulation rather than protecting consumers
    • (38:40) - Schwarcz's proposed fix for shadow insurance
    • (43:40) - "Obamacare for Homeowners Insurance": the case for insurance exchanges
    • (48:56) - Five-year outlook: where is the insurance industry headed?
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    53 mins
  • AI Risk, Markets and Modeling the Unknown With Daniel Reti
    Feb 11 2026

    In this episode of the Risky Science Podcast we are joined by Danie Retil, co-founder of Exona Labs, a startup building AI risk modeling and quantification tools.

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    42 mins
  • Prediction Markets, Parametrics and Rethinking Weather Risk With Dr. Partick Brown
    Feb 4 2026

    For decades, insurers, reinsurers and energy companies have relied on models, parametrics, and traditional hedges to manage hurricane and weather exposure. But what if markets could continuously price those risks — in real time — and let anyone transfer or hedge them instantly?


    In this episode I’m joined by Dr. Patrick Brown, Head of Climate Analytics Interactive Brokers

    to talk about modeling the models, forecast contracts, and whether prediction markets could become the next tool in the risk-transfer stack for the institutional market.


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    54 mins
  • Greenland, Venezuela and the New Political Risk Model Reality with WTW’s Sam Wilkin
    Jan 21 2026

    In this episode of the podcast, we speak with geopolitical risk expert Samuel Wilkin of Willis Towers Watson about why political risk is moving from a background concern to a front-line business problem. Sam breaks down the rise of “gray zone” attacks in the space between war and peace—from covert sabotage to infrastructure disruption—and explains why these threats are so difficult to model and insure. He also argues that the future of political risk management is less about perfect forecasts and more about scenario discipline, exposure mapping, and governance structures that can keep up with a faster, messier geopolitical cycle.


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    47 mins