Boldly Go Podcast

Boldly Go Live with Steven Pinker

Recorded live in front of 3,000 attendees at Axon Week in Nashville, hosts Mike Wagers and Rick Smith sit down with Harvard cognitive psychologist Dr. Steven Pinker — author of The Better Angels of Our Nature and his latest book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows. Pinker has spent decades arguing what the headlines rarely tell you: violence has been declining for centuries, and policing has played a central role in making it happen. He traces the long arc from medieval Europe — where disputes were settled with steel — to the rise of the modern state's "monopoly on the legitimate use of force," and explains why homicide rates in major U.S. cities just hit historic lows in 2025, even as academia resists giving police credit. His message to leaders is simple: build your understanding of crime on data, not headlines. The conversation also turns to technology and accountability. Drawing on his latest book, Pinker explains "common knowledge" — the moment everyone knows that everyone else knows — and how body cameras, doorbell cameras, and bystander video have transformed policing by turning private knowledge into shared, public knowledge. Rick Smith also reflects on how Pinker's research inspired his own book, The End of Killing. A rare, evidence-driven look at why the world is safer than it feels — and the indispensable role policing plays in keeping it that way.

Episode 26 - Every Second Counts, Rebuilding 911

When you call 911, everything depends on what happens next. But behind the scenes, many dispatch centers are still running on decades-old systems—forcing operators to manage life-and-death moments with tools that weren’t built for today’s world. Michael Chime walked away from Yale University as a Thiel Fellowship recipient to build a school safety app. That path led him somewhere unexpected: inside the 911 call center—where he found a critical gap almost no one in tech was solving. What he and his co-founders built became Prepared—a platform now powering dispatch centers across the country with live video, real-time AI translation, and automated call handling that’s already changing outcomes in real emergencies—including translating Mandarin in real time to help coordinate a shooting response. In this episode, Michael shares multiple stories from the field—moments where better information changed decisions when seconds mattered most. Rick Smith explains why Axon acquired Prepared, what set it apart from every other deal, and why real-world adoption—not slideware—sealed it. And yes…why Mike still gets to keep his email address.

Episode 25 - We Changed the World

In this episode of the Boldly Go Podcast, Axon co-founder Tom Smith shares the untold stories behind Taser’s early days. Alongside his brother Rick Smith, Tom reflects on the scrappy startup years—testing prototypes on themselves, chasing their first big break with Sharper Image, surviving near bankruptcy, and being forced to move production to Mexico after regulatory barriers made it impossible to operate as a U.S. company. The conversation dives into the wild risks, unconventional branding, and relentless perseverance that transformed an underdog startup into a global company reshaping modern policing. It’s a candid look at the chaos, grit, and mission-driven passion that fueled Axon’s journey from kitchen-table idea to world-changing technology.

Episode 24 - The High-Stakes Physics of Saving Lives

What does it take to turn a struggling startup into a global force for public safety? For Max Nerheim — Axon’s first electrical engineer — it started with a $20,000 fixed-price contract, a lab in a literal broom closet, and the guts to tell the founders their original design was “a piece of junk.” In this episode of the Boldly Go Podcast, Rick Smith and Mike Wagers sit down with the man who holds more TASER patents than anyone on the planet. Max shares the untold “Wild West” history behind the M26 and X26 — from testing prototypes in his garage to out-innovating PhDs who thought they knew more. You’ll hear the story of a parking-lot confrontation with a patent lawyer trying to shake the company down — and why TASER 7 remains one of Max’s favorite designs. Oh — and since the statute of limitations has passed, you’ll also hear about a roadside encounter with a deer.

Episode 23 - Scaling Axon, Uber Eats, and AI

In this episode of the Boldly Go Podcast, Rick Smith and Mike Wagers sit down with Jason Droege, a key architect behind Axon’s transformation from a hardware-focused weapons company into a leading software, cloud, and AI platform. Jason reflects on the chaotic early days of Evidence.com [http://Evidence.com], the cultural and technical challenges of scaling software inside a legacy organization, and pivotal moments that nearly derailed—or ultimately saved—the company. The conversation spans leadership under pressure, grit versus pedigree, lessons from Uber and founding Uber Eats, and Jason’s current role leading Scale AI, offering an insider’s perspective on where AI is headed, why talent matters more than ever, and how perseverance shapes enduring companies.