In an era when civic literacy is at concerning lows, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate’s Senate Immersion Module (SIM) is revolutionizing civic education by transforming students into senators for a day, complete with an innovative AI policy simulation. What can experiential learning reveal about students’ capacity to engage with complex policy issues? And how does incorporating emerging topics like AI regulation into civic education help students conceptualize real-world policy challenges?

Joining us from the SIM are Adam Hinds, Michael Champigny, and Will Foster-Nolan. Adam is the CEO of the Kennedy Institute. He served as a Massachusetts state senator from 2017 to 2022, chairing the Joint Committee on Revenue and leading post-COVID rebuilding efforts. Michael is the senior associate for curriculum and content at the Kennedy Institute, and Will is the senior manager of education programs at the Kennedy Institute.

What separates the companies that successfully pivot from those that become cautionary tales in business history? How do government regulations either foster or hinder innovation in today’s tech landscape? And what can business leaders learn from the countless pivots that shaped America’s tech dominance?

Joining me to address these questions, which he unpacked in his new book, Pivot or Die: How Leaders Thrive When Everything Changes, is Gary Shapiro. Gary is an author, a lobbyist, and the CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, which represents over 1,300 consumer technology companies.

How is technology revolutionizing access to capital for small businesses? What challenges do these businesses face in securing funding? And what broader role does technology play in improving their access to capital?

On the latest episode of Explain to Shane, Shane interviews Anthony Matos, CEO and cofounder of Shubox, a platform designed to help small businesses access capital through the innovative use of data and AI. They discuss how innovative platforms like Shubox leverage AI and alternative data to streamline the lending process, provide valuable insights into business health, and ultimately help small businesses access the capital they need to grow.