# When a Government Hired the World’s Smartest People… It Worked

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/civic-punks-7565949/when-a-government-hired-the-world-s-smartest-people-it-worked
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/civic-punks-7565949/when-a-government-hired-the-world-s-smartest-people-it-worked.md
Podcast: [Civic Punks](https://stenobird.com/podcast/civic-punks-7565949)
Published: 2026-03-25T04:56:22+00:00
Episode link: https://civicpunk.podbean.com/e/when-a-government-hired-the-world-s-smartest-people%e2%80%a6-it-worked/
Audio file: https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/d3xidcj536yemnwj/riverside_03_19_2026_2_34_57_pm_a_mar_25_2026_001_drak_s_studio79n7x.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/civic-punks-7565949/episodes/when-a-government-hired-the-world-s-smartest-people-it-worked
Duration seconds: 476

## Resource

I’m on a bit of a mission right now: find government projects that actually worked. Not theory but Real impact. And in Adelaide, I think I found one. The Thinkers in Residence program did something pretty unusual… it brought in some of the world’s leading thinkers to work directly with government and help tackle big challenges. I sat down with Brenton Caffin, who saw it up close, to dig into what made it work (and what didn’t). Honestly, this is one of those ideas that sticks with you.

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## Transcript

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