37:16 minutes
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September 11, 2026
#46 Innovation Myths
What History Reveals About Breakthrough Ideas
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About The Speaker
Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury, and Federal Member for Fenner in the ACT. Prior to being elected in 2010, Andrew was a professor of economics at the Australian National University. He holds a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard, having graduated from the University of Sydney with first class honours in Arts and Law. Andrew is a past recipient of the Economic Society of Australia’s Young Economist Award and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences.
His books include Disconnected (2010), Battlers and Billionaires: The Story of Inequality in Australia (2013), The Economics of Just About Everything (2014), The Luck of Politics (2015), Choosing Openness: Why Global Engagement is Best for Australia (2017), Randomistas: How Radical Researchers Changed Our World (2018), Innovation + Equality: How to Create a Future That Is More Star Trek Than Terminator (with Joshua Gans) (2019), Reconnected: A Community Builder’s Handbook (with Nick Terrell) (2020), What’s the Worst That Could Happen? Existential Risk and Extreme Politics (2021), Fair Game: Lessons From Sport for a Fairer Society and a Stronger Economy (2022), The Shortest History of Economics (2024), Battlers and Billionaires: The Updated Story of Inequality in Australia (2024) and The Shortest History of Innovation (2026).
Andrew is a keen Ironman triathlete and marathon runner, and hosts a podcast called The Good Life: Andrew Leigh in Conversation, about living a happier, healthier and more ethical life. Andrew is the father of three sons – Sebastian, Theodore and Zachary, and lives with his wife Gweneth in Canberra. He has been a member of the Australian Labor Party since 1991.
Episode Description
In this episode, Senthil sits down with Dr. Andrew Lee MP, Australia’s Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities, and Treasury, to explore how innovation actually happens—and why the stories we tell about it are often wrong. Drawing from his book The Shortest History of Innovation, Andrew challenges popular myths: the lone genius, the eureka moment, and the innovation cluster. Instead, he reveals what history really teaches us about breakthrough ideas: they emerge through tinkering, collaborative teams, and the cross-pollination of diverse ideas. The conversation also tackles artificial intelligence—both its transformative potential and the real risks we need to manage—and explores what true leadership looks like in an age of rapid technological change.
Additional inspirations from Andrew Leigh
Link to the book: The Shortest History of Innovation
