{"podcast":{"title":"TechSurge: Deep Tech Podcast","slug":"techsurge-deep-tech-podcast-6954051","podcast_index_feed_id":6954051,"rss_url":"https://feeds.transistor.fm/techsurge-deep-tech-podcast","website_url":"https://techsurgepodcast.com","image_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/pBnVDltF0omG8iKpEGNrLrvUVGBDneSk8A5WKXJYwkc/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9kOGI1/OGFhMjdjOWMzMDhj/MGY4MGFiMDMyMmIx/Y2M4ZS5qcGc.jpg","author":"Celesta Capital | Deep Tech Venture Capital Firm","episode_count":35,"summary":"The TechSurge: Deep Tech VC Podcast explores the frontiers of emerging tech, geopolitics, and business, with conversations tailored for entrepreneurs, technologists, and investment professionals. Presented by Celesta Capital, and hosted by Founding Partners Nic Brathwaite, Michael Marks, and Sriram Viswanathan. Send feedback and show ideas to techsurge@celesta.vc. Each discussion delves into the intersection of technology advancement, market dynamics, and the founder journey, offering insights into the vast opportunities and complex challenges ahead. Episode topics include AI, data center transformation, blockchain, cyber security, healthcare innovation, VC investment trends, tips for first-time founders, and more. Tune in to hear directly from Silicon Valley leaders, daring new founders, and visionary thinkers. Past guests include investor Vinod Khosla, former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, the Global Head of McKinsey, and executive leaders from Microsoft, OpenAI, and other leading tech companies. New episodes release every two weeks. Visit techsurgepodcast.com for more details and to sign up for our newsletter and other content!","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/techsurge-deep-tech-podcast-6954051"},"episode":{"title":"Rare Earth Rush: Strategic Minerals and Tech's New Resource Wars","slug":"rare-earth-rush-strategic-minerals-and-tech-s-new-resource-wars","published_at":"2026-05-07T09:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/techsurge-deep-tech-podcast-6954051/rare-earth-rush-strategic-minerals-and-tech-s-new-resource-wars","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/techsurge-deep-tech-podcast-6954051","url":"https://share.transistor.fm/s/3881329a","audio_url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/media.transistor.fm/3881329a/ba8c8ca9.mp3","summary":"For thirty years, the United States largely ignored critical minerals. We mined less, processed less, and stockpiled less — while China quietly built the most dominant mineral supply chain in modern history. When China imposed rare earth export restrictions in 2024, manufacturers from Detroit to Tokyo scrambled. The invisible inputs powering electric vehicles, semiconductors, AI data centers, and defense systems had suddenly become visible — and vulnerable. In this episode of TechSurge, host Sriram Viswanathan speaks with Dr. Gracelin Baskaran, Director of the Critical Mineral Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A mining economist with over a decade of field experience across Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East, Gracelin is one of the sharpest minds working on how the world secures the raw materials that make advanced technology possible. Gracelin brings a clarifying perspective to a topic that is often framed as a geopolitical contest: the real challenge, she argues, is economic. Until mining in allied countries is genuinely profitable — until the capital, energy infrastructure, processing technology, and policy stability are all in place — supply chain security remains aspirational, regardless of how many executive orders get signed. Sriram and Gracelin work through the full landscape: what critical minerals actually are and why the term matters, how China built its dominance not just through geology but through industrial strategy and foreign policy, and why the 29-year average timeline from mineral discovery to production creates a fundamental tension with the pace of technology investment. They examine the gap the CHIPS Act left unfilled, the case for aggregating allied demand to change the economics of new mines, a…","meta_description":"For thirty years, the United States largely ignored critical minerals. We mined less, processed less, and stockpiled less — while China quietly built the…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3420,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/techsurge-deep-tech-podcast-6954051/episodes/rare-earth-rush-strategic-minerals-and-tech-s-new-resource-wars/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/techsurge-deep-tech-podcast-6954051/rare-earth-rush-strategic-minerals-and-tech-s-new-resource-wars.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}