Why I’m obsessed with quantum computing...
Subscribe to HELLO FUTURE: iHeart | iTunes | Spotify | Amazon | Pandora Read my latest coverage of quantum computing here:
Decoding America’s Quantum Readiness, via mtf.tv.
Quantum IPO Boom, via mtf.tv.
Will Quantum Computing kill cryptocurrency, via mtf.tv.
Why should I care about quantum computing, via mtf.tv.
There’s always a Penn State connection. We Are…
I graduated from the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State — my alma mater, the place that gave me my start in journalism and still feels like home every time I walk back onto campus. And yeah, that same Donald P. Bellisario? The guy who created Quantum Leap (and JAG… and NCIS… and many more) — the show that made a whole generation of kids (including this one) fall in love with the wild idea that physics could bend time, rewrite history, and solve problems we didn’t even know we had.
I watched Sam Beckett leap from life to life, fixing what once went wrong, and I was hooked. Quantum wasn’t just sci-fi to me. It felt like the future calling. Fast forward three decades, and that future isn’t fiction anymore. It’s here — in labs, in boardrooms, in the national security briefings I used to cover as a political reporter. And I can’t stop thinking about it.
That’s why I’m obsessed with quantum computing.
Not because it’s cool (though it absolutely is). But because it’s going to rewrite the rules of everything: medicine, materials science, finance, logistics, and — most critically — the balance of global power. Classical computers choke on problems that would take longer than the age of the universe to solve. Quantum machines? They chew through them in minutes. We’re talking new drugs discovered in days instead of decades. Supply chains optimized at a level we’ve never imagined. And yes, encryption that could either protect us or leave us wide open if we fall behind.
What frustrates me is how our media infrastructure has largely failed us in explaining this revolution. Too often, quantum computing is either sensationalized with vague “it’ll change everything” headlines or buried in overly technical jargon that makes most people’s eyes glaze over. The result is that the average person — and even many policymakers — still don’t fully grasp how high the stakes are or how quickly this race is unfolding. That’s one of the biggest reasons I left daily political reporting to launch meet the future (mtf.tv): to have honest, accessible and optimistic hopeful conversations about the future that will actually shape our future.
I’ve been saying for years that the next industrial revolution isn’t just about AI or space — it’s about compute at the quantum level. And right now, America is in the fight of our lives to lead it.
That’s exactly why I sat down with Leslie A. Beavers — former Acting Pentagon Chief Information Officer, retired Air Force Reserve Brigadier General, and one of the sharpest minds on this topic — for a no-fluff conversation on HELLO FUTURE. She told me straight: America is on track to be quantum-ready… but only if we keep our foot on the gas. We talked hybrid systems already in use, the ticking clock on “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks from adversaries like China, post-quantum cryptography that needs to be deployed yesterday, and the incredible U.S. companies (IBM, Google Quantum AI, IonQ, Rigetti, PsiQuantum, Quantinuum) pushing the frontier.
The episode is live right now. I can’t recommend it enough.
Watch (or listen) here: Decoding America’s Quantum Future
Because here’s the thing I keep coming back to: Earth is finite. Demand is not. Quantum changes the constraint set the same way space does. It breaks bottlenecks. It creates abundance. It turns “impossible” into infrastructure.
And just like I told you in my piece on why I’m obsessed with space — this isn’t a hobby story. It’s a market story. It’s a national security story. It’s the story of whether the United States intends to lead the fifth industrial revolution or watch someone else write the rules.
I left the daily political grind because I got tired of reacting to the present. I wanted to report on what’s actually being built. Quantum computing is being built right now. And the kids growing up today — the ones who will inherit whatever we leave them — deserve to inherit leadership, not lag.
So yeah. I’m obsessed.
Because Quantum Leap was right all along: sometimes you have to take a leap to fix what once went wrong. Only this time, we’re not leaping through time. We’re leaping through physics itself — and the stakes are the future of American innovation, security, and freedom.
Put down your phone for a second and think about it. Then come watch the conversation with Leslie. The future isn’t coming. It’s being computed.
Clear skies + gratitude,
Kevin N. Cirilli
Founder, meet the future (mtf.tv)
Host, HELLO FUTURE (iHeartMedia)
P.S. If you’re working on quantum tech, building the next big thing in compute, or just geeking out on what comes next — I want to hear from you. The future is being built right now. Let’s make sure America leads it.