The Disruptors - Patron Only: Recent Episodes
The Disruptors
Russell Gold (@russellgold) is an author and award-winning investigative journalist and energy reporter at The Wall Street Journal best known for covering the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. They were awarded the Gerald Loeb Award for best business story of the year and were finalists for the Pulitzer. He's the author of The Boom: How Fracking Ignited the American Energy Revolution and Changed the World and his new book, Superpower: One Man's Quest to Transform Energy tells the story of Michael Skelly, who helped created the wind energy industry in the US in a push for sustainability.In today's episode we discuss: How to speed the transition to renewable energy The pros and cons of fracking and why it has a bad rap Why the energy industry is so fragmented in the US What we need MOST to see renewables replace the grid How batteries are holding back cleantech The pros and cons of monopolies in public infrastructure Why Silicon Valley doesn't invest much in energy How one innovator can change the course of history and energy consumption What we NEED to do to combat climate change Why Andy thinks going public is the way to go Thoughts on Elon, Tesla and the future of transportation What will journalism look like in ten years Are billionaire-owned media corporations a net positive
Imagine Game of Thrones, but Neanderthals never died off: MORE INFORMATION AT: neanderthalking.comIt’s 1107, and the once-great Neanderthal empire is no more, laid waste by the dark Sapien king, Isaac, the same bastard who slaughtered the Thal queen’s young heirs. A brutal reversal of medieval power forged in blood and fueled by Sap ingenuity.But one babe escaped the mad king’s wrath.Raised the son of a simple Thal herder, Maralek’s a rough lad with the ferocious pride and temper of his ruined people, a scorn for rules and rulers, and less than a little creativity in his thick skull. In a word, your average Neanderthal.And life’s livable, until King Isaac resumes his bloodthirsty crusade, and Maralek’s forced into slaving shackles. Then, a rowdy caravan, a mysterious gypsy, a whispered prophecy… A whirlwind of devastation and war as his master is murdered, his fate unwoven, and his world ripped asunder in an epic battle to end all.Neanderthal King is a historic epic YA fantasy by renowned science fiction and fantasy author, Matt Ward, that features savage twists and darker secrets, raging kings and enslaved heirs, and an audaciously ambitious coming of age quest set in an alternative medieval Europe. If you love Brandon Sanderson, Ursula le Guin, or Robin Hobb, or explosive high and low fantasy classics like Lord of the Rings, the Kingkiller Chronicles, and the Earthsea Cycle, you’ll love this heroic historical tale.For more information, to purchase the complete audio adventure or to download the entire technothriller free with a free trial of Audible, visit neanderthalking.com--Want to follow along with Maralek's adventure? For a limited time, grab your FREE illustrated map of Tharkal and the six kingdoms of Sapdom by visiting mattwardwrites.com/map.--
Would you sell your life to save another?Special forces vet, Samantha Jones, is a lowly bodyguard for Ethan Anderson, the biotech billionaire who revolutionized life extension. But at least she’s got a job, unlike most, and won’t have to sell her organs to support her family. Sure, they’re poor, but she’s got death insurance, and a roof over her head. Life is livable...Until her daughter is kidnapped and sold for parts, and the ex-assassin snaps.Someone is going to pay.Grab the rest today FREE with an Audible trial:deathdonor.com
Dr. James Canton (@futureguru) is a renowned global futurist, social scientist, keynote presenter, author, and visionary business advisor. He is the CEO and Chairman of the Institute for Global Futures, a leading think tank he founded in 1990 that advises business, the Global Fortune 1000 (like IBM, GE, HP, Boeing, Intel and more) and many governments on future trends in innovation, financial services, health care, population, life sciences, energy, security, workforce, climate change, and globalization. In addition, James is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Research in Innovation at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, on the advisory board of the Corporate Eco Forum and has advised three White House Administrations, the National Science Foundation and MIT’s Media Lab, Europe. Dr. Canton is the author of the following books: The Extreme Future: The Top Trends That Will Reshape the World in the 21st Century (2006) Future Smart: Managing the Game-Changing Trends That Will Transform Your World (2015) Technofutures: How Leading-Edge Technology Will Transform Business in the 21st Century (2004)And James is no stranger to media. He was named “the Digital Guru” by CNN and “Dr. Future” by Yahoo, is a commentator on CNN and has been featured on/in CNBC, Fox, PBS, ABC, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Bloomberg Report, The New York Times, US News and World Report, CEO, CIO and CFO Magazines. And finally, Dr. Canton serves as Co-chairman of the Futures and Forecasting Track at Singularity University.In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: How the pace of technology acceleration is accelerating The 5 most impactful areas of tech How government surveillance and privacy as balanced in the future Why James is optimistic about the future The future of work, even including AI How humanity needs to reinvent healthcare What it is like working in a governmental think tank Why quantum computing will change the world How James advises government and corporations about change and the future What James learned working at Apple Computer How systems thinking changes can solve most of the world’s problems Why our education system is broken and how to fix it
Eric Ward(@AeroSigma) is the co-founder and CEO of both Odyne Space and Aten Engineering, two space tech startups with a ton of promise for the future. Eric is an experienced systems architect who sees growing the space industry as the next step to progressing humanity beyond the planet.At Odyne, Eric and the team are working on phase one: launch, and run a large scale nano and microsatellite launch program to allow more satellite tech companies easier access to space.Aten Engineering, on the other hand, deals with what to do once we get there and is an asteroid mining company to provide humanity with inexpensive access to the materials we need to become a space-faring civilization.Eric recently received a Master’s degree in Systems Design and Management from MIT, has published multiple technical documents on Systems Architecture and the Space Industry has been featured in Fast Company and co-founded the MIT New Space Age Conference. In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: The main hurdles holding humanity back from becoming a spacefaring civilization Why now is the time for space tech startups How politics and economics must evolve to suit space The reason holds the key to space travel Why we’re still a few years off from a moon or Mars colony The big problem with propulsion for space sustainability How economics will drive our current space race The reason governments won’t play much of a role in space exploration Eric’s thoughts on the ethics of space The unique challenges space tech startups face Political challenges associated with space travel Why the pace of innovation is constantly accelerating How AI will create a new breed of human
Ashwin Seetharaman is molecular genetics and cell/developmental researcher at the University of Toronto focused on understanding life at its most fundamental level. He is currently focused on unraveling genetic interaction networks underlying human disease using the revolutionary CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology, ie examining and fighting rare diseases using gene editing. With over a decade of experience in leading scientific research, publishing research articles and presenting scientific findings at conferences, he has a talent for simplifying and communicating complex scientific data in a way that both experts in the field and a non-scientific audience can appreciate them. Ashwin spends much of his time thinking about the dynamics of the future and how this research will impact humanity, especially those unfamiliar with its profound effects. In addition to his research, Ashwin is also passionate about training people to communicate more powerfully and offers powerful tools and training at the highest quality to empower people to articulate their ideas and vision in a powerful and persuasive manner. In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: The future of CRISPR and genetic engineering Why personalized medicine is closer than you would think How CRISPR and gene drive technology can have a butterfly effect like unintended consequences The problem and solution with causing and treating cancer Why we need to discuss the ethical implications of genetic editing The importance of DNA based edits and therapies to advance humanity How to shift the public perception on future technologies The reason humanity may evolve into multiple species Ashwin’s thoughts on the ethics of great power The reason Ashwin is cautious with CRISPR technology How researchers are fighting and will likely eradicate malaria-carrying mosquitoes Why research is now focused on systems vs individual genes The importance of epigenetics in understanding biological processes Why we may have a “cure” to aging on the horizon
Would you sell your life to save another?Special forces vet, Samantha Jones, is a lowly bodyguard for Ethan Anderson, the biotech billionaire who revolutionized life extension. But at least she’s got a job, unlike most, and won’t have to sell her organs to support her family. Sure, they’re poor, but she’s got death insurance, and a roof over her head. Life is livable…Until her daughter is kidnapped and sold for parts, and the ex-assassin snaps.Someone is going to pay.Grab the rest today FREE with an Audible trial:deathdonor.com
Byron Reese (@byronreese) is the CEO and publisher of Gigaom, an industry-leading technology research company. Byron’s also an award-winning author, speaker and futurist with a strong conviction that technology will help bring about a new golden age of humanity. Byron holds a number of technology patents and hosts two podcasts about artificial intelligence. He gives talks around the world about how technology is changing work, education, and culture to combined audiences well in excess of 100,000. His newest book, The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity tackles the issues of artificial intelligence, robots, automation, and the future of work. Byron is also the author of Infinite Progress: How the Internet and Technology Will End Ignorance, Disease, Poverty, Hunger, and War. Bloomberg Businessweek credits Byron with having “quietly pioneered a new breed of media company.” The Financial Times of London reported that he “is typical of the new wave of internet entrepreneurs out to turn the economics of the media industry on its head.” Byron and his work have been featured in hundreds of news outlets, including New York Times, Washington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, USA Today, Reader’s Digest, NPR, and the LA Times Magazine. “The biggest problems of tomorrow will not be a lack of jobs but a shortage of humans to take advantage of all of the opportunities technology will offer.” – byronreese.com In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: Why the world is fundamentally improving and Byron is an optimistic realist How AI will transform the labor market and economy, leading to better jobs The reason optimism and pessimism are incredibly important to humanity’s survival, and evolution Why forecasting artificial general intelligence is just silly Will AI become conscious Why we’re entering a fourth era of humanity The reason Byron is a little worried about the prospect of bioterrorism How 25 years in the internet industry has evolved Byron’s view of the future Why the news drives fear and separation among us What to say to naysayers about technological progress Why social media will ultimately be a net positive to society
Garry Golden (@garrygolden) is a professionally trained futurist who writes, speaks, and consults on complex issues shaping society and business in the 21st century. He has consulted for Fortune 500 companies, governmental agencies and the US Army on issues related to transportation and mobility, food safety and health, the future of portable power, financial services and much more.Garry teaches an online course on The Future of Energy & Environment through the University of Houston Futures Studies program, and was Founding Editor of The Energy Roadmap.com Garry is co-author of Designing Your Future (2008) a Fast Futures / ASAE publication, and has co-written several business white papers including the Future of the Social Web and the Future of Green as a Business Strategy published by Future Think.In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: The future of energy consumption and the grid Why Garry isn’t sold on electric vehicles and battery technology The 4 types of futures and what they mean for society How we save the planet while still using fuel Why consciousness could be a problem with AI The reason politicians pull progress backward How futurists help society evolve Why Garry is quite enthusiastic about automation and AI Where the US is falling behind the rest of the world
Robin Chase (@rmchase) is the founder and former CEO of Zipcar, the largest carsharing company in the world; Buzzcar, a carsharing marketplace in France; and GoLoco, an online ridesharing community as well as co-founder of Veniam, a company that moves TBs of data between vehicles and cloud. Her recent book is Peers Inc: How People and Platforms are Inventing the Collaborative Economy and Reinventing Capitalism and current passion is working with cities to maximize the transformation possible with the introduction of self-driving cars. Robin is on the Board of the World Resources Institute, the National Advisory Council for Innovation & Entrepreneurship for the US Department of Commerce and the OECD’s International Transport Forum Advisory Board. She also served on the Intelligent Transportations Systems Program Advisory Committee for the US Department of Transportation, the Massachusetts Governor’s Transportation Transition Working Group and Boston Mayor’s Wireless Task Force. She lectures widely, is frequently featured in major media and has received many awards including Time 100 Most Influential People, Fast Company Fast 50 Innovators and BusinessWeek Top 10 Designers. In today’s episode we discuss: How Robin invented the ride-sharing market almost a decade before Uber What does the future of urban transportation look like The important difference between ridesharing and car-sharing, and what that means for climate change Why Europe is so far ahead of the US when it comes to livable cities The reason decentralization is so valuable and why it doesn’t always work How to fix our cities for healthier, happier people What will driverless vehicles mean for the future of car ownership Why electrics bikes and scooters change everything when it comes to transforming cities What Robin thinks about Lyft and Uber’s business models Why Robin is intrigued and worried about blockchain and Bitcoin
Ben Hammersley (@benhammersley) is a technologist, futurist author and Editor-at-Large of UK’s WIRED magazine.Ben explores the effects of the internet and the digital network on the world’s business, political and social atmospheres. His latest book, 64 Things You Need to Know Now For Then gives us the essential guide to the things we need to know for life in the 21st century. He’s the writer, host, and narrator of Netflix and BBC television series Cybercrimes with Ben Hammersley that was shot in over six countries across the globe. As the first specialist correspondent on the internet for The Times and The Guardian, he became the inventor of the popular term, ‘podcast.’Ben’s been called upon to advise three governments and countless tech organizations, including a seat on the European Commission High-Level Group on Media Freedom of the European Union. He has a private pilot’s license, is a Rescue Diver, and is a nationally registered Emergency Medical Technician in the USA, with an additional wilderness medicine diploma, and he holds qualifications in genomic science, disaster response, and advanced cardiac life support In today’s episode we discuss: How societal norms and social media breakdown without problem guidance The future of publishing and media in an age of outreach Why Ben thinks we can change politics and we’re both excited about the future for Millenials What it’s like as a futurist and why most companies are living in the past The effect of GDPR and Europe’s rules and regulations Why internet censorship is important and key to democracy Is democracy or authoritarianism a better model going forward Why Ben isn’t worried about AI and thinks blockchain is overrated What happens when China becomes THE economic powerhouse of the world How Ben accidentally invented the term podcast and why it’s haunted him ever since What it’s like working with Netflix and the future of solo-media companies Why Ben believes digital advertising is an enormous bubble
Charlie Hartwell (@ShiftIt_Inst) is an Operating Partner at the Bridge Builders Collaborative, a consumer health tech investment group that invested early in Pear Therapeutics, Insight Timer and Headspace, in addition to being a “Change Agent” focused on igniting consciousness, mindfulness, and creating a more connected human world.In today’s episode we discuss: Where are headed with consumer health tech and consciousness Why Charlie’s afraid our collective ability to live together How mindfulness and meditation can help us get through this COVID crisis The role of psychedelics in shifting mental health Why meditation may just be the next best medic Which alternative health practices hold the most promise for the future of healthcare What Charlie thinks we should do for a more mentally-sound world Why we’re treating patients and health all wrong How investment dollars drive innovation Why the psychedelic movement of today is much more than a fad What’s the future of wearable tech
Cory Doctorow (@doctorow) is the best selling science fiction author, blogger, and technology activist. He is the co-editor of the popular weblog Boing Boing), a contributor to many magazines, websites, and newspapers and a special consultant to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (eff.org), a non-profit civil liberties group that defends freedom in technology law, policy, standards, and treaties. He holds an honorary doctorate in computer science from the Open University (UK), where he is a Visiting Professor; he is also an MIT Media Lab Research Affiliate. In 2007, he served as the Fulbright Chair at the Annenberg Center for Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California. His novels have been translated into dozens of languages and are published by Tor Books, Head of Zeus (UK), Titan Books (UK) and HarperCollins (UK). He has won the Locus, Prometheus, Copper Cylinder, White Pine and Sunburst Awards, and been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula and British Science Fiction Awards. Several of his award-winning novels include: Little Brother Homeland Pirate CinemaCory also co-founded the open-source peer-to-peer software company OpenCola and serves on the boards and advisory boards of the Participatory Culture Foundation, the Clarion Foundation, the Open Technology Fund and the Metabrainz Foundation. In today’s episode we discuss: Possible geopolitical consequence of the COVID-19 epidemic New ways to consider the role of economics and market forces post Corona Why Cory thinks much of Europe will push further left after the world normalizes The reason Cory isn’t worried about a post-COVID new Patriot Act Why today feels a lot like post-WWII oligarchy capitalism The five new horsemen of the battle for individual privacy How to avoid self-destructive late-stage capitalism Why Coronavirus death and fallout may swing the future of US politics Why the US is WAY more socialized than citizens think How we could fund a successful Green New Deal What were the true impacts of Edward Snowden Are we headed toward a constant location-based tracking and surveillance What worries Cory most about today’s epidemic climate
Tony Parisi (@auradeluxe) is a virtual reality pioneer, serial entrepreneur, and angel investor. He co-created several, 3D graphics standards, is Head of AR/VR Ad Innovation at Unity Technologies, and author several O’Reilly Media books on virtual reality and WebGL.Today, Tony is has a leading spokesman for the immersive industry and was recently named one of Next Reality’s 30 People to Watch in Augmented Reality in 2019.In today’s episode we discuss: Where are we on the AR and VR adoption cycle What the future of AR/VR holds and why they will diverge How COVID-19 is pushing us towards an immersive future The big differences between consumer and enterprise VR adoption Why Facebook and Oculus are well-placed to dominate virtual reality Which sci-fi inspirations are most realistic for augmented and virtual reality What’s the future look like for the entertainment industry Why Tony isn’t all that worried about any future tech How tech life cycles are accelerating and what it all means Why we have reached a tipping point in consumer VR adoption
Miguel Arias Cañete (@mac_europa) was the European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy and led the EU negotiations of the Paris Agreement.He’s now involved with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation which has launched the Prize for Humanity, an annual €1m award for people or organizations from all over the world focused on mitigation of, and adaptation to climate change.Miguel has served the Spanish Government as both the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries and Minister for Agriculture, Food and Environment before being selected to head his Party List in the European Parliamentary elections.In today’s episode we discuss: The unique challenges that went into crafting the Paris Accord What the US’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement means for climate policy How hard it is to ensure collective action on big problems China’s role in addressing the environment Why Miguel thinks the US will rejoin the Paris Accords How the EU is leading the effort on decarbonization What to think about nuclear energy The reason transportation is so hard to go green What happens if we don’t reach climate goals The problems of bureaucracy and why the EU is actually pretty efficient Which agritech areas are most important to reduce global warming How business can be used as a force for good Are we headed for a future of mass migrations Why democracy is a stronger governance system than centralized economies in the long run How China’s policy on coal could crush climate goals
KE Lanning (@kelanningauthor) is an astrophysicist and sci-fi/speculative fiction author of The Melt Trilogy, a series of dystopian fiction novels set in in a world where climate came much faster than anticipated. She also interviews notable science fiction authors and futurists for FUTURISM magazine. In today’s episode we discuss: How sci-fi helps humanity cope and prepare for big societal changes What would happen if climate change happened in a generation Advantages of self-funding startups What would happen if Antarctica became a landgrab Why this will be the century of synthetic biology How sci-fi futurists could help government anticipate unintended consequences What technology is Karen most worried about and why More about Matt’s post-gene-editing dystopian sci-fi (get the 1st five chapters FREE here) Why we need to build towards better harmony with the world fast The enormous potential of fusion power Why science and art are two sides of the same coin Are we headed towards robot riots
Morten Bove (@mbove) is the founder and CEO of Wohn Homes, a Danish startup revolutionizing modular, eco-friendly affordable housing designed with tokenized ownership for students. Morten also runs Block21, a blockchain-focused tech podcast on the future of decentralization. In today’s episode we discuss: How recycled plastic can be used to make sustainable housing Why inequality is the driving factor in almost all social unrest What does the future of cities look like Why Morten is big on blockchain and tokenization What happens now that the ICO bubble burst, and where crypto is headed The big difference between European and US startups Why smaller countries make things simpler How to build better triple-bottom-line businesses (here’s a free guide for founders) How business can be used as a force for good Why it’s so hard for startups to raise funding (ps. here’s a free pitch deck guide!) The scary truth about surveillance and privacy Why Trump pulling out of the Paris accord wasn’t all bad
Carinne Chambers-Saini (@carinnechambers) is the founder and CEO of DivaCup, an eco-tech startup focused on making feminine health more sustainable. She’s been awarded the EY Entrepreneur of The Year for Sustainable Products and Services, been recognized as one of Canada’s 40 under 40, and her company, Diva has ranked 138 on the 2018 GROWTH 500 list and 103 on the 2017 PROFIT 500 list, along with being recognized as one of Waterloo’s Top Employers for 2019. In today’s episode we discuss: How to design more eco-friendly products and businesses Why packaged goods and disposables are ruining our world Advantages of self-funding startups Why funding’s harder for female founders Ways Carinne would improve the education system The benefits of building a certified B Corp Why businesses need to be the ones to drive a better world How to build better triple-bottom-line businesses (here’s a free guide for founders) The reason Carinne’s more-than-worried about screen time for her kids Why social media is such a powerful force for good, and bad How DivaCup is addressing inequality in a big way What does the future of jobs look like Why focus trumps everything for founders and success
Andrew Hessel (@andrewhessel) is the CEO of Humane Genomics Inc., a seed-stage company developing virus-based therapies for cancer, starting with dogs and also co-founded the Genome Project-write, an international scientific effort working to engineer large genomes, including the human genome.Andy has been Singularity University faculty since 2009 and from 2012-2017 was the Distinguished Researcher at Autodesk Life Sciences.Andy’s goal is to help people better understand and use living systems to meet the needs of society and he has written articles on genetic technology for The Atlantic, Wired UK, and Huffington Post and given over 100 invited talks on next-generation biotechnology.In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: How we can use viruses to kill cancer The reason synthetic biology is THE technology of this century Why CRISPR babies we an inevitability and why we didn’t discuss them beforehand How we can prevent biotech from becoming problematic Why Andrew isn’t all that worried about bioterrorism The reason students should study biological systems How healthcare and pharma transform as we edit the code of life The important differences between our ability to read and write genomes What gene drives mean for the future of our species Why viruses are the low hanging fruit of fighting disease What biotech can mean for the sustainability of our planet Why Andrew is fundamentally optimist about our future
Derek Sivers (@sivers) is a serial entrepreneur, blogger, author and musician who revolutionized the music industry pre-Spotify with CDbaby, the largest online distributor of independent music which he founded accidentally sold in 2008 for $22 million. Before that, he donated the company to a charity to fund public music education.Derek also created a viral TED talk called “How to Start a Movement,” blogs on entrepreneurship, life and stoicism at Sivers.org and is the author of Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur.In today’s episode we discuss: Why human beings are a competitive advantage over robotics, software and AI F*&k yes, or No!… and how to apply it to your life Why less is more when it comes to life How bootstrapping a business helped Derek Sivers’ CD Baby succeed Derek’s best advice for all aspects of life Why reading the news and social media is a bad idea How to achieve mastery at anything, and why you should Why Derek doesn’t get excited about new technology Why Derek gave it all away to charity How success can fuel depression and loss of self Tons of strategies to live a healthier, more fulfilled life Why Derek doesn’t ascribe to any -isms
Chip Meakem (@cmeakem) is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Tribeca Venture Partners. Prior to co-founding Tribeca, Chip worked at both Kodiak Venture Partners and DFJ Gotham. Previous notable acquired investments include Appnexus, Ingenio and Q-Link.In today’s episode we discuss: How quantum computing will change the world forever What areas Chip sees as the biggest opportunities to invest in Why companies like Uber and DoorDash are such powerful democratizing forces What is the future of the ad economy Are you in a VC bubble, and what happens next Thoughts on triple bottom businesses and social entrepreneurship Why education inequality is the scariest thing about the US Which tech companies Chip would bet big on Thoughts on the trade war and its impact on startups and tech The unintended consequences of government regulation How technology can transform education for the better Why Chip isn’t a fan of encryption and believes platforms should police themselves How business can be used as a force for good Why Amazon may end up owning healthcare Why cybersecurity is such a big deal
Amy Harder (@AmyAHarder)is one of the top national energy and climate change reporters in the country, distilling complex energy and climate issues to people outside the industry at Axios.Amy has appeared on PBS’ NewsHour, CSPAN, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, and NPR, among many other media outlets, and regularly speaks at events and panel on climate change.In today’s episode we discuss: The importance of journalistic neutrality What the state of climate change today How Trump’s transformed eco policy What carbon capture could do to save our future Why governmental climate policies are unlikely Which areas of cleantech are most promising for future growth Why we need more stories on hopeful climate change The big difference between European and US startups What a more effective Paris Accord could look like How to build better triple-bottom-line businesses (here’s a free guide for founders) Why sustainability needs economic drivers to success The reason Amy’s hopeful about our planet’s future Why a carbon tax won’t work and possible alternatives Why plastics are ruining the world in more ways than one
Moriba Jah (@moribajah) is a space scientist, aerospace engineer and Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin.He previously worked as a spacecraft navigator at the NASA JPL, where he was a navigator for the Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, Mars Exploration Rover, and his last mission was the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.Moriba is a Fellow of multiple organizations: TED, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), American Astronautical Society, International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS), Royal Astronomical Society, and the Air Force Research Lab. He has served on the US delegation to the UN Committee On Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS), is an elected Academician of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), and has testified to congress on his work as related to Space Situational Awareness and Space Traffic Management. Here’s a fun list of satellites we’re tracking.In today's episode we discuss: The problem of space junk and how to police it What EVERYONE needs to know about the risks of geoengineering How space mining could ruin Earth's industries Why a Kessler event isn't likely or inevitable in Moriba's opinion What to do about flat earthers and the anti-science movement New models for a more interconnected education system The value of being a generalist and an outsider What's the future of space travel and why it's so important Why astronauts shouldn't be idolized How space affects climate change and vice versa The biggest problem nobody knows about Why history is biased and detrimental to teach What does interspace commerce look like going forward How aboriginal communities should inform our collective future What does the future hold for space piracy Why the space goldrush will be a collective commons nightmare
Gerald Kutney (@geraldkutney) is a climate scientist, professor, journalist/speaker, author and founder/consultant of 6esm, a C-level consulting firm focused on the bio-economy, renewable energy and the politics of the Kyoto Protocol and others like it.Gerald’s a frequent contributor to the HuffingtonPost, Canada’s National Observer and is the author of the peer-reviewed: Carbon Politics and the Failure of the Kyoto Protocol – in search for an answer to the failure of the international community to act on climate change. In today’s episode we discuss: The main reasons the Kyoto Protocol failed What caused the climate denier movement and how to stop it How a carbon tax credit system is working well in Canada What propaganda is doing to political discourse How everyone can do their part to fighting climate change Did social media break democracy Unique ideas to change public perception of climate science How bad is the state of fake news and propaganda Why we still haven’t solved the collective action problem The importance of arguing against false beliefs Gerald’s thoughts on authoritarianism and inaction How tax breaks could incentivize innovation and investment in green tech The scary truth about geoengineering Why corporate campaign contributions are one of the biggest issues in America
Polina Chebotareva is a co-founder of Cambridge Companies SPG, a social mission-oriented VC firm on fixing nutrition, farming, and health worldwide. Prior to Cambridge, Polina was an Executive VP and Partner at a real estate investment firm with $350M Equity AUM.She is a Board Member for The Laguna Art Museum, helps raise awareness and funding for environmental issues and has devoted her time and resources to The Village of Hope Rescue Mission which helps struggling parents restore stability in their lives and the lives of their children.Filipp Chebotarev is COO and Managing Partner of Cambridge Companies SPG. After working with California Congressman Ed Royce to manage the relationship between business, government, community, and other constituencies, Filipp went on to corporate, later finding impact investingFilipp is a major donor to Harvesters – Food Bank in Orange County, the JNF, and Actively Involved with Shoes That Fit, a 501C3 empowering children in low-income areas.The pair emigrated to the US after the USSR’s collapse, and their fund is now investors in the likes of organic and health food/product companies: Once Upon a Farm, Wild Friends Foods, Matchabar, and dozens of others.In today’s episode we discuss: How health-focused food and beverage companies are creating a better world Why GMOs (specifically the pesticides they enable) are ruining our health The future of foodtech and clean meat Ways to increase access to organic and quality food Why we’re all excited about lab-grown meat How impact investing changes the world and drives returns The challenges and realities of immigrating to the US, without speaking English What tech trends Filipp and Polina are most excited about Why IPOs and acquisitions aren’t necessarily the endgame for consumer companies The importance of founder-investor alignment Why Filipp’s not worried about 23andme or genetic privacy The reason there’s not enough money invested in foodtech Why millennial consumers are driving better company practices What’s the future of e-commerce and it’s relation to retail
Howard Bloom (@howardXbloom) is a bestselling polymath, author, ex-music publicist for Styx, Prince and Billy Joel and the Founder of the Space Development Steering Committee, a group focused on space new deal of colonizing the Moon and space-based solar power, among many other things.Howard is the author of seven books, incl: The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition Into the Forces of History, Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century, The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism, The God Problem: How A Godless Cosmos Creates, The Muhammad Code: How a Desert Prophet Gave You ISIS, al Qaeda, and Boko Haram–or How Muhammad Invented Jihad and others…He has been called “next in a lineage of seminal thinkers that includes Newton, Darwin, Einstein,[and] Freud,” by Britain’s Channel4 TV and “the next Stephen Hawking” by Gear Magazine, appeared on over 510 radio stations, and was formerly on faculty of NYU. Howard is a member of the New York Academy of Sciences, the National Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Psychological Society, the Academy of Political Science, and the Human Behavior and Evolution Society. In today’s episode we discuss: Howard’s unified theory of everything to understand mass movements and the cosmos What Howard learned working with Michael Jackson, Prince, Styx, Billy Joel and dozens of more elite musicians What spending 15 bed-ridden years taught Howard about life Why space holds the key to humanity’s future What we can do to fix music, news, and entertainment Is democracy broken beyond repair The value of being a generalist and an outsider How LSD, psychedelics and the 60’s (which Howard helped kick-off) influenced his views of everything Why loneliness and isolation is the biggest threat to humanity The biggest problem threatening America today How loneliness leads to insanity and depression Thoughts on consciousness, the cosmos and why the Simulation Theory is wrong Is it possible to overcome evolved instincts What’s the future of education and where did it go wrong Will the future be one of cyberspace and VR Why Howard is so anti-Trump and why impeachment is critical, pre-election
John Danaher (@johndanaher) is an author, podcaster and academic and lecturer at the National University of Ireland (NUI) focused on ethical, social and legal implications of emerging technologies, and other philosophical topics.His book, Automation and Utopia: Human Flourishing in a World Without Work cuts through some of the hype and pessimism about automation and work, making a rigorous case for techno-utopianism about the future.On his podcast, he interviews world leaders on the confluence of Society, Ethics and Tech. In today’s episode we discuss: How to think about purpose in a post-work future Why AI automation will lead to a utopia of human flourishing The value of philosophy in today’s modern tech world Why John says we’ll never have fully autonomous vehicles What John thinks about a robot tax How robotics and AI will impact jobs and economy The evolution of ethics and technology changes Why utopia is rarely a top-down system How to change tech and social media for the better What technology is John most worried about and why Why we’ll need a more socialist society to survive automation How to deal with AI failures and tech safety Why we’re headed for a virtual future The importance of space travel and pushing the boundaries
Scott Young is a blogger, traveler, author, self-experimenter and ultra-learner that took MIT's entire 4-year programming curriculum in a year. He's the author of Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career and runs a podcast looking at career advice, learning, growth, productivity, philosophy and more. In today's episode we discuss: How Scott completed a 4-year MIT programming degree in 12 months Secrets to learning smarter, and faster The reasons MOOCs failed and didn't Ways to redesign education for the 21st century How to deal with filter bubbles and bias Scott's thoughts on productivity, purpose, and results Lessons learned from travel Why Scott's not convinced about biohacking and brain augmentation Was Harvard right in their racial discrimination How to increase your comfort zone and creativity What Scott's learned about happiness and internal reflection Where should someone today focus their efforts Why software is eating the world
Sean Gourley (@sgourley) is a physicist, founder and CEO of AI company, Primer, an expert on the mathematics of war, TED Fellow, speaker and political advisor.Before that, he was CTO and co-founder of Quid, an augmented-intelligence company and also worked on self-repairing nano-circuits at NASA. Sean was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford focused on complex systems and the mathematical patterns underlying modern war which was published on the cover of Nature.He has served as a political advisor, briefed USCENTCOM at the Pentagon and addressed the United Nations in Vienna, serves on the Board of Directors at Anadarko (NYSE:APC).Sean is also a two-time New Zealand track and field champion and sits on the Knight Commission focused on reforming collegiate athletics.In today’s episode we discuss: The future of the US-China relationship, and possible war What differentiates AI creativity from humans The automation law that ALWAYS leads to occasional epic consequences Should we develop autonomous weapons? Will we What are the biggest predictors of war and civil strife Why San Francisco is anything but a model city Are cyborgs and genetic superhumans inevitable How long until we have human-level AI Why economic war creates the conditions for actual fighting What works well with mutually assured destruction How to engineer equality into our economy Why Sean is worried about deep fakes breaking democracy How to think about dynamic geopolitical decisions The importance of education and what its future holds
Geoff Colvin is FortuneMagazine’s Senior Editor-at-Large, an award-winning thinker, author, broadcaster, and speaker on the most significant trends and issues impacting business, politics and the economy. Geoff’s work has earned him millions of loyal fans and 7M weekly listeners on CBS Radio NetworkHe’s the author of four books including groundbreaking bestsellers Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else and Humans are Underrated on the future of work and how humans fit into a workplace filled with robots and smart technology.Geoff has appeared on Today, Good Morning America, Squawk Box, CBS This Morning, ABC’s World News Tonight, CNN, PBS’s Nightly Business Report, and dozens of other programs. He also served as anchor of Wall $treet Week with Fortune on PBS and has moderated panels with or interviewed Jack Welch, Henry Kissinger, Richard Branson, the Prince of Wales, Bill Gates, Alan Greenspan, Steve Case, Tony Blair, Michael Dell, Ted Turner, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Henry Paulson, Ben Bernanke, and many others. In today’s episode we discuss: The US relationship with China and why we’re already in the Cold War Geoff’s thoughts on the decentralization and breakup of big tech What we both think about the separatist movements spreading worldwide Why Geoff’s skeptical of long term centralized economies What the business roundtable CEO stakeholders memo means Thoughts on economics and when the trickle-down effect died What does Brexit mean for the economy Why loneliness and isolation is the biggest threat to humanity How to re-engineer the economy to fight inequality Will AI be net positive or negative What’s the future of education and where did it go wrong Where should students look for the careers of the future A public markets debate about incentives and timeframes
Jarrett Walker (@humantransit) is an international public transit network design and policy consultant and the author of popular public transit blog HumanTransit.org, and the book Human Transit: How Clearer Thinking about Public Transit Can Enrich Our Communities and Our Lives. This book is a friendly, non-technical introduction to transit’s underlying geometry and the real value judgments that must be explored to make both transit and development policy.His background integrates an arts and humanities Ph.D. with long technical experience in all aspects of transit and its role in city-building. He is a frequent keynote speaker, teacher, and facilitator of decision-making processes. In today’s episode we discuss: How to engineer cities so ALMOST everyone wins What does the future of urban transit look like Why autonomous vehicles actually lead to more traffic The reason Uber and Lyft are part of the problem The geometric test to any transportation claim Why the Boring Company is bogus The law of induced demand and its implications How tech marketing twists issues and creates bigger problems What Jarrett thinks about electric scooters and micro-mobility Where we’re at in the IoT hype cycle Thoughts on regulating and market distortions Why cars are a dead-end future
Cindy Cohn is the Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (@eff) and was the Outside Lead Attorney in Bernstein v. Dept. of Justice, the successful First Amendment challenge to the US export restrictions on cryptography.The National Law Journal named Cohn one of 100 most influential lawyers in America in 2013, noting: “If Big Brother is watching, he better look out for Cindy Cohn.” She was also named in 2006 for “rushing to the barricades wherever freedom and civil liberties are at stake online.” In 2007 the National Law Journal named her one of the 50 most influential women lawyers in America. In 2018 Forbes included her as one of America’s Top 50 Women in Tech.In today’s episode we discuss: How censorship leads to authoritarianism Why freedom of speech is such a tricky tight rope What Apple’s doing to help China crackdown on Hong Kong protesters How algorithms and content curation are ruining our lives, and society Why tech monopolies and failing markets make privacy so pathetic The realistic issues with breaking up big tech and better solutions to tech monopolies Why encryption is critical to the future of democracy The impossible problem of backdoors and security How the US government seeks to Chinese surveillance What to do about the Trump Twitter problem Why privacy is the big issue going forward Which tech giants worry Cindy most What to do about the collective action problem Why the implications of brain-machine interfaces terrify Cindy
Russell Gold (@russellgold) is an author and award-winning investigative journalist and energy reporter at The Wall Street Journal best known for covering the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. They were awarded the Gerald Loeb Award for best business story of the year and were finalists for the Pulitzer.He’s the author of The Boom: How Fracking Ignited the American Energy Revolution and Changed the World and his new book, Superpower: One Man’s Quest to Transform Energy tells the story of Michael Skelly, who helped created the wind energy industry in the US in a push for sustainability. In today’s episode we discuss: How to speed the transition to renewable energy The pros and cons of fracking and why it has a bad rap Why the energy industry is so fragmented in the US What we need MOST to see renewables replace the grid How batteries are holding back cleantech The pros and cons of monopolies in public infrastructure Why Silicon Valley doesn’t invest much in energy How one innovator can change the course of history and energy consumption What we NEED to do to combat climate change Why Andy thinks going public is the way to go Thoughts on Elon, Tesla and the future of transportation What will journalism look like in ten years Are billionaire-owned media corporations a net positive
Andy Rachleff (@arachleff) is the co-founder and Executive Chairman (prev CEO) of Wealthfront, an automated investment service startup to provide wealth advisor-like management to everyday folks. Andy co-founded Benchmark Capital in 1995 (one of the most successful venture capital firms of all time) and was a general partner until 2004. Prior to Benchmark, he was a GP with Merrill, Pickard, Anderson & Eyre. He has frequently been named to Forbes’ Midas List as a top tech venture investor.He teaches courses on technology entrepreneurship at Stanford Graduate School of Business and is a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, chairman of the board of overseers for its School of Engineering and Applied Science and vice chairman of its endowment investment committee.He is also a board member of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. In today’s episode we discuss: How to win at investing despite all the contradictory advice What makes for an investible landmark business Why Matt uses Wealthfront to manage his finances Where automation is headed in regards to jobs How the finance industry screws you sideways and rigs the game The problem with science and biotech research and how Andy’s solving it Why data and AI is the biggest thing happening today How the venture capital landscape is changing with the rise of SoftBank What does the future of blockchain look like Why Andy thinks going public is the way to go Thoughts on regulating tech monopolies and industries cycles What index investing does for average consumers
Alex Spinelli (@liveperson) is an AI expert, the former head of Alexa OS for Amazon and current CTO of LivePerson and Maven, an AI-powered conversational commerce company, helping brands like Delta, HSBC, and Home Depot leverage AI botsBefore joining Amazon, Alex served as CTO of McCann Worldgroup — one of the world’s largest marketing organizations with 24,000 employees across more than 100 countries — and CTO for North America and Asia-Pacific at AXA Technologies, where he built large-scale grid computing for predictive modeling. At Thomson Reuters, he oversaw product and technology for news and media, including real-time, AI-driven news curation for financial professionals. He has also held executive technology leadership positions at TheStreet.com and MTV Networks as CTO of Comedy Central. In today’s episode we discuss: How Alex and his team built Alexa into a juggernaut What the future of voice computing holds Why Alex is more worried about Facebook and Google than Amazon What automation will do to jobs and the economy How Amazon wins in the markets they attack and why Alex says they aren’t a monopoly The issue with IoT and huge security risks Why educating consumers/citizens is the MOST important Is privacy dead and what do we do about it? What do we do about big tech and regulation Why Alex is worried about privacy and data transparency Thoughts on corporate responsibility When will we have a post-money world What’s the status of autonomous vehicles in 10 years
Anne Madden (@AnneAMadden) is a microbiologist, inventor, science communicator and CSO and founder of Lachancea, an innovative foodtech company focused on the science of microorganisms.Anne’s a public speaker (three-time TED/TEDx speaker), frequently consults as an innovation and engagement strategist for various industries and has been mentioned by various media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, National Geographic, PBS News Hour, Newsweek, and Scientific American. She’s also a brain trust member of the Helena Group Foundation.Her research focuses on understanding microbial communities–in the diverse habitats of food, insects, and built environments–and deciphering the human applications of these microbes and has led to the discovery of a new fungal species, novel antibiotics, patented brewing technology, commercially produced beer, new DNA based methods for detecting arthropod communities, licensed technology for the manufacturing of improved breeds, and a greater understanding of the microbial life around us. In today’s episode we discuss: How microbes will solve humanity’s biggest challenges in the 21st-century What bacteria could do to drastically impact climate change The issue Anne has with probiotic and biotech marketing Why the anti-bacterial movement has been so harmful to human health Why not all germs are good germs How microbes make the flavors and smells we love What we can (and can’t) do about drug-resistant bacteria, like MERSA How bioterrorism may evolve and why Anne’s not that worried What Anne thinks about agriculture and possible unintended consequences The reason we need to bring science to light How industry can partner better with academia to improve our world Why nature holds the key to a hundred billion-dollar businesses Why data privacy’s more dangerous than ever Do we need regulations to protect health data
Winston (@andrewwinston) is the founder of Winston Eco-Strategies, author of The Big Pivot and Green Recovery, and coauthored Green to Gold, the best-selling guide to what works — and what doesn’t — when companies go green.He’s a globally recognized expert on green business and has appeared in WSJ, Time, BusinessWeek, NYTimes, and CNBC. His clients have included Bank of America, Bayer, HP, Pepsi, Boeing, and IKEA.He’s a respected speaker, served as the Director of Corporate Environmental Strategy Project at Yale’s renowned School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and has a weekly column for Harvard Business Online. He was recently named a “Planet Defender” by Rock the Earth.In today’s episode we discuss: How to redesign the economy and stock market to incentivize a better future What are the biggest megatrends affecting our future Why eating less/clean meat is the biggest thing you can do to fight climate change Fixing the shareholder value incentive ruining our world Why short-termism is the route of the most evil What you should know about the Green New Deal Why the US doesn’t do enough for infrastructure The reason the US doesn’t solve the election turnout issues How close are we to point of no return on environment Andrew’s thoughts on the future of renewable energy and why it’s inevitable Why Andrew’s optimistic about fighting climate change What’s the role of government going forward Why we need circular economics and to tackle climate change now The danger of the devices and social media
Dr. Tessa Lau (@tessalau) is the founder and CEO of Dusty Robotics, a startup whose mission is to address construction industry labor shortages by introducing robotic automation on the jobsite. Prior to Dusty, she was CTO/co-founder at Savioke, where she orchestrated the deployment of 75+ delivery robots into hotels and high-rises and she’s spent an impressive career (including 11 years at IBM) focused on automation and giving people superpowers. In today’s episode we discuss: What makes scaling a robot fleet so hard Why Tessa is a big proponent of universal basic income How far are we from human-level intelligence Why we’ll have full self-driving in ten years The risk of building robots that look human Why construction is prime for disruption The unique challenges of building a hardware robotics company What automation will do towards affordable housing The state of drone delivery and more Why we’re headed towards a future with no privacy Where to focus on a career for the future The big problem with robot anthropomorphism
Paul Shapiro (@paulhshapiro) is the bestselling author of Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World, the CEO and co-founder of The Better Meat Co., a four-time TEDx speaker, the co-host of the Business for Good Podcast, and a long-time leader in food sustainability.He’s been interviewed by hundreds of news outlets from CNN to StarTalk Radio with Neil deGrasse Tyson as an authority on food sustainability issues, and also published hundreds of articles in publications ranging from daily newspapers like the Washington Post to magazines like FORTUNE to academic journals. Prior to co-founding a plant protein company, he spent his career lobbying for better agricultural sustainability policies. Paul’s also the VP of the Humane Society in the USIn today’s episode we discuss: How soon you’ll see plant-based meat in stores The sad truth about animal agriculture and emissions Why Paul thinks we’ll have multiple forms of clean meat The food spoilage problem and how to solve it Why the Amazon fires are caused by cow herding What the daily-free milk movements tells us about the future of food How to use business for good Lessons learned from Whole Foods What’s the future of biotech and GMOs The economic incentives that will end animal farming Ways Paul organizes his life and focus How to feed 10 billion people Which runaway climate effects scare Paul most Why Paul thinks we’ll have a mix of large and small scale agriculture Why business is the best way to change the world
Sara Seager (@profsaraseager) is an astronomer, planetary scientist and professor at the MIT best known for her work on extrasolar planets and their atmospheres.Seager was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2013 citing her theoretical work on detecting chemical signatures on exoplanet atmospheres and developing low-cost space observatories to observe planetary transits and developed a parallel version of the Drake equation to estimate the number of habitable planets in galaxy to focus on the presence of any alien life detectable from Earth.In 2012, Sara was named to Time Magazine’s 25 Most Influential in Space. She is the author of two textbooks on these topics and has been recognized for her research by Popular Science, Discover Magazine, Nature and TIME Magazine. She was also on the board of asteroid mining company, Planetary Resources before the company folded. In today’s episode we discuss: Why private space entreprise is our path to the stars What is the state of the art in our search for intelligent life How to increase public funding and excitement for space and science Why asteroid mining is so hard and what’s holding us back Ways to fix our broken education system Sara’s adaptation of the Drake equation in the search for alien life The challenges of finding ET Why Mars wouldn’t be such a nice place to live but matters anyways How to combat smartphone and social media addiction What nano and cube sats mean for future of astronomy Why even MIT isn’t immune from education’s woes The scary truth about privacy and why Sara’s worried What was that deal with that UFO sighting
Neal Gorenflo (@gorenflo) is the co-founder of Shareable, an award-winning news, action, connection hub for the grassroots sharing transformation.Neal’s worked with startups like P2P asset sharing platform Moogul.com, an online DVD exchange, a spinout of Cisco’s corporate asset sharing platform, and Divvy.com. He co-organized The Abundance League monthly salons in SF between 2005 and 2010, consulted with Institute for the Future, Stanford, Lowe’s, and has been featured by The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, CBS Sunday Morning, Wired and Fast Company and appeared at SXSW, Sustainable Brands, and SOCAP.He is co-editor of the books Share or Die: Voices of The Get Lost Generation in the Age of Crisis and Policies for Shareable Cities, the first sharing economy policy guide and is an adviser to governments and NGO initiatives. In today’s episode we discuss: How US zoning policies institutionalized racism What participatory budgeting can do for revitalizing civic life Why the capitalism experiment of the free market failed The power of local networks and connections How we should rethink cities and urban planning Why Neal isn’t that excited about driverless cars The huge problem with America’s suburbs system Why the gig economy is eroding our future How Neal views the future of government Why blockchain isn’t the answer to our problems What libertarianism gets massively wrong Why big tech is the most dangerous force today How hundreds of cities are saving the world through sharing Why Airbnb and Uber aren’t sharing companies at all
Jim Pugh (@dr_pugh) is a co-founder of the Universal Income Project, a fiscally sponsored organization focused on raising awareness and support for UBI.Jim’s also the founder and CEO of ShareProgress, a social-good startup that helps progressive organizations use the power of data and technology to grow their base and win their campaigns.He previously served as the Director of Analytics and Development for President Obama’s Organizing for America (OFA) and the Democratic National Committee and was the founding Chief Technology Officer at Rebuild the Dream. In today’s episode we discuss: Why we NEED universal basic income before the robots come The true impact of giving people free money How to pay for UBI The problems and possibilities of universal basic income How we should rethink immigration, especially if we enact UBI Why America’s two-party system is fundamentally flawed The surprising truth about working in politics Why Jim thinks we need to fix antitrust How grassroots movements and decentralization go forward from here Why universal healthcare is so connected to universal income The reason governments need to run more pilot programs Why Trump broke (and fixed) politics in the US What’s the future of capitalism in America
Robin Chase (@rmchase) is the founder and former CEO of Zipcar, the largest carsharing company in the world; Buzzcar, a carsharing marketplace in France; and GoLoco, an online ridesharing community as well as co-founder of Veniam, a company that moves TBs of data between vehicles and cloud. Her recent book is Peers Inc: How People and Platforms are Inventing the Collaborative Economy and Reinventing Capitalism and current passion is working with cities to maximize the transformation possible with the introduction of self-driving cars.Robin is on the Board of the World Resources Institute, the National Advisory Council for Innovation & Entrepreneurship for the US Department of Commerce and the OECD’s International Transport Forum Advisory Board. She also served on the Intelligent Transportations Systems Program Advisory Committee for the US Department of Transportation, the Massachusetts Governor’s Transportation Transition Working Group and Boston Mayor’s Wireless Task Force.She lectures widely, is frequently featured in major media and has received many awards including Time 100 Most Influential People, Fast Company Fast 50 Innovators and BusinessWeek Top 10 Designers.In today’s episode we discuss: How Robin invented the ride-sharing market almost a decade before Uber What does the future of urban transportation look like The important difference between ridesharing and car-sharing, and what that means for climate change Why Europe is so far ahead of the US when it comes to livable cities The reason decentralization is so valuable and why it doesn’t always work How to fix our cities for healthier, happier people What will driverless vehicles mean for the future of car ownership Why electrics bikes and scooters change everything when it comes to transforming cities What Robin thinks about Lyft and Uber’s business models Why Robin is intrigued and worried about blockchain and Bitcoin
Jonathan Levi (@entreprenewer) is an experienced entrepreneur, angel investor, superlearner and lifehacker from Silicon Valley.He runs the SuperHuman Academy Podcast (3M+ downloads) and since 2014, has was one of the top instructors (over 60k students) on Udemy, with his course Become a SuperLearner® (now retired), in addition to his Masterclass course.In addition to his own bestselling book, Becoming a SuperLearner, Jonathan’s been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Inc. Magazine, TEDx, Entrepreneur On Fire, Mixergy, Dream. Think. Do and many more.In today’s episode we discuss: The science of memory and speed learning What’s wrong with the education system and how to fix it How LSD transformed Jonathan’s life for the better Where we’re headed with brain-machine interfaces and cyborg citizens Why we’re headed towards a jobless future How to increase creativity and productivity The scary future of American democracy Why Jonathan is terrified about AI How blockchain threats governments and the status quo Which life hacks Jonathan’s implemented from his incredible guests Why depression and mental health issues are common amongst high performers How online education and courses plays into our future
John Stossel (@johnstossel) is an American consumer television personality, author, and libertarian pundit, known for his career on both ABC News on 20/20 and a weekly news show on Fox for almost a decade. He now runs StosselTV, a Youtube channel to reach younger audiences on his views about liberty and freedom.John’s been a reporter for 50 years, received 19 Emmy Awards and five awards from the National Press Club and written three bestselling books: Give Me a Break, Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity, and No They Can’t! Why Government Fails but Individuals Succeed.John also started and runs the non-profit Center For Independent Thought to educate young people about free-market ideas, which reaches ~10M students per year.In today’s episode we discuss: How John went from government supporter to staunch libertarian The sad truth about America’s healthcare system and why it’s so expensive Why John says free enterprise is always the answer The problems and possibilities of universal basic income How we should rethink immigration Why the American government could implode due to rising debt The reason John’s big on blockchain and bought into Bitcoin earlyish What we can (and can’t) do about America’s gun problem, and why John thinks it isn’t a huge problem How John’s view on climate change have changed since first being skeptical Why John says we need less government regulation Pros and cons of European and American systems Why John doesn’t think we should fund efforts to fight climate change What’s the future of news and media The danger of the algorithm
Nick Thompson (@nxthompson) is the editor-in-chief of WIRED, the 5th since its founding. Under his leadership, WIRED has broken massive stories about Facebook, cyber-warfare, the Robert Mueller investigation, and numerous other topics. Prior to WIRED, he was the editor of newyorker.com. Nick is also a co-founder of The Atavist, a software company and National Magazine Award-winning digital publication that was acquired by WordPress in 2018. He’s the author of The Hawk and the Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War and has appeared multiple times on every major cable and broadcast news network. He has given public speeches on the most important issues facing the tech industry, the future of narrative journalism, how computers are changing our minds, the role of tech in political revolutions, and the way that Silicon Valley thinks about circular economics. Nick’s also testified in front of the Mexican Senate about fake news and moderated/spoken at events hosted by WIRED, The New Yorker, the World Economic Forum, CES, Google Zeitgeist, Google I/O, and many more… In today’s episode we discuss: The future of media and state of fake news A deeper dive into the issues of social media and how to address them Why Nick’s optimistic Facebook can become a force for good An insider’s perspective on the Huawei debate and China trade war Possible ways to redesign democracy Nick’s thoughts on AI and its potential to upend existing power structures Why Nick is very concerned with the prospect of nuclear war How Nick thinks about privacy, convenience, and future of the internet Why there’s no impeachment coming from Mueller’s investigation An in-depth examination of existential risk What the government should do about big tech The reason Nick’s not worried about AGI How AI can empower individuals or inspire tyranny Why climate change is still the biggest problem to tackle Can we save journalism
jkm,mmmm77Carson Bruns (@BrunsenBurner) is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he directs the Emergent Nanomaterials Lab, inventing nanomaterials, tech-enabled tattoos and more that Sci-Fi authors have forever dreamed of. Carson’s has co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed scientific publications, including the celebrated book The Nature of the Mechanical Bond: From Molecules to Machines and his work has been featured in Inked Magazine, Chemical and Engineering News, Colorado Public Radio and TEDx. In today’s episode we discuss: The future of implantable computing How molecular machinery works and what it means for our future Why Carson’s so bullish on tech-enabled tattoos The pros and cons of embeddable vs wearable tech Augmented reality and wearables How far off are we from a Star Trek replicator The key difference between nanotech and synthetic biology Why Carson went on a 3-day silent Buddhism retreat and studied philosophy What Japan taught Carson about life The value of being well-rounded in today’s world Why diverse teams actually leads to better outcomes How Carson thinks about the research funding landscape today What technologies most worry and excite Carson most, and why
Bruce Friedrich (@BruceGFriedrich) is co-founder and executive director of The Good Food Institute(@GoodFoodInst), a nonprofit that promotes plant, dairy, and eggs-based meats as well as clean meat (also known as cultured meat and cell-based meat), as alternatives to the products of conventional animal agriculture.Bruce is a TED Fellow (whose TED Talk has been viewed over 1M times), Y Combinator alum, and popular speaker on food innovation. He has also been featured in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Wired, and many other publications and appeared on The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, CBS Evening News, TED Radio Hour, and a variety of programs on MSNBC, Fox News, and CNN In today’s episode we discuss: The pros and cons of the various types of clean meat alternatives How market dynamics will determine the adoption of plant and cell-based meats Why animal agriculture is one of THE BIGGEST contributors to climate change Why Bruce believes lab-grown meat will ultimately be the biggest alternative meat The reason Bruce started a non-profit rather than a benefit corp How effective altruism makes non-profits more impactful What YCombinator startups taught Bruce about successful charity organizations How to engineering healthier meat What does the future of agriculture really look like Bruce’s thoughts on GMOs and their future Why plastic straws aren’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things Why individuals should evaluate their efforts and possible effect before choosing careers
Dan Faggella (@danfaggella) is the Founder and CEO of Emerj Artificial Intelligence Research that helps world-leading organizations like the World Bank, the United Nations, INTERPOL, CERN, Harvard and more navigate the competitive landscape of AI capabilities, and build strategies that win. He’s also the host of AI in Industry podcast and grown and sold two previous companies. In today’s episode we discuss: How human-machine augmentation could help humanity last longer The reason humanity’s future is bleak at best Is conflict between China and the US inevitable Why the question of consciousness is the most important one we SHOULD be solving How AI will impact the future of power, nations and life Why Dan thinks we’re all headed to a VR powered matrix of bliss The reason Dan’s not too optimistic about our future Why building AI is creating our successors What happens when we automate more and more jobs Why Chinese dominance is almost inevitable Is breaking up big tech more dangerous than it’s worth Why driverless cars are anything but the most exciting aspects of AI How close we are to real-time translation Why Dan’s not so sure about UBI
James Maskell (@mrjamesmaskell) is the founder of Functional Forum, the world’s largest integrative medicine conference and KNEW Health, a transformation alternative health-sharing insurance model. He’s health advocate and entrepreneur, that’s spent a decade encouraging a shift from conventional western medicine toward a wellness-centered, functional medicine model—starting with the doctors themselves. He’s also the founder of the Evolution≠ of Medicine, a community e-commerce platform for highly customized , tools, products, and services, to embark on a new way of managing healthcare. His book of the same name is available now.James lectures internationally and has been featured on TEDMED, Huffpost Live, TEDx, the HuffingtonPost and more. In today’s episode we discuss: What Western healthcare got wrong with medicine and health Ways to fix the healthcare incentive problem, which actually work How growing up on a commune influenced James’ life The problem with pharma’s quick-fix silver bullet Why James decided to reinvent the healthcare system How community and belonging can beat out any medicine What James thinks about wearables and genetic testing The one constant among Blue Zone societies Why functional medicine is the solution to health How to design health into our societies Why we need direct democracy The surefire way to avoid regret Why AI and brain-machine interfaces worry James The scary truth about soil quality What you NEED to know about Obamacare and insurance Why regenerative agriculture needs more focus now
Nir Eyal (@nireyal) is a writer, entrepreneur, teacher and investor focused on the intersection of psychology, technology, and business MIT’s Technology Review dubbed “The Prophet of Habit-Forming Technology.” Nir founded two tech companies since 2003 and has taught at the Stanford Grad School of Business and Institute of Design and is the author of the bestselling book, Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products and Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life. In addition to blogging at NirAndFar.com, his writing has been featured in The Harvard Business Review, TechCrunch, and Psychology Today. Nir is an active investor in habit-forming technologies and his past investments include Eventbrite, Product Hunt, Anchor.fm and a series of other very successful companies. In today’s episode we discuss: Why the anti-tech trend is wrong about the big picture The ways to incentivize productivity and happiness How to overcome habit-forming products and be indistractable Why liberals overemphasize tech’s role in electing Trump What Nir thinks about surveillance, corporations and government The destructive–and constructive–power of social media Why regulation isn’t the answer to tech addiction Nir’s thoughts on pros and cons of privacy The important distinction between regrets and results Why Facebook and Google are inherently good and what we can do about it Are algorithms to blame for increasing radicalization Simple smartphone hacks to make you happier Why tech is more like cannabis than cocaine
Bob Metcalfe (@bobmetcalfe) is an MIT-Harvard-trained engineer/entrepreneur Internet pioneer who invented Ethernet in 1973 at Xerox Park, and founded 3Com Corporation in 1979. About 1.2B Ethernet ports were shipped last year — 400M wired and 800M wireless (Wi-Fi). His company went public in 1984, peaked at $5.7B in annual sales in 1999, and after 30 years became part of HP in 2010. Bob was a publisher-pundit for IDG-InfoWorld for 10 years and a venture capitalist for 10 years with Polaris Venture Partners, where he is still a Venture Partner. Bob’s also the Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Texas A&M.In today’s episode we discuss: How Xerox Parc pioneered so much of the early internet Why we need to build an energy “internet” now How to deal with black swan risks and rewards Why Bob believes free enterprise is always the answer The prospect of biotech in health and healthcare What to think about technology pathologies and progress Why Bob quit Twitter and is skeptical of social media The reason education is the future of research Why fake new influences your thoughts more than you think Arguments for libertarianism Why income inequality is a good thing What to do to save the world from climate change driven disaster
Galit Ariel (@galitariel) is a transdisciplinary creative and strategic thinker and self-defined Digital Hippie, very focused on augmented reality and experiential tech. Her book Augmenting Alice – The Future of Identity, Experience and Reality explores the manner in which Augmented Reality’s diffusion will shift cultural and functional paradigms and redefine core concepts related to culture, space, experience and ethics. Her agency, Wondarlands, helps clients and brands shape their augmented futures, exploring immersive narratives, interaction tools, brand touch-points, and experience creation. She’s an international speaker and mentor that’s been featured at TED, The Next Web, SXSW, Fifteen Seconds, Slush Tokyo, IVRPA and many more. She is also a member and co-founder of a UK based think-and-do-tank connected to the Ravensbourne University Architecture research center, looking at the future of urban environments and how they might influence the human experience. In today’s episode we discuss: Life beyond move fast and break things How augmented reality will connect us in unexpected ways What Galit thinks about automation, jobs and more… Why Galit’s worried about the lack of humanity in tech How to tackles society’s biggest challenges through collective action When can you expect AR epicness and where will it come from The reason the attention economy is so destructive Why AR will trump VR and be the next major paradigm What Apple means for the future of AR Why holograms and AR are already here The reason Google Glass failed and visual AR isn’t ready yet Why Galit’s worried about privacy and rights going forward
Abe Cambridge (@abecambridge) is a serial energy entrepreneur who establishes businesses and projects around the world that use solar energy to bring about out major socio-economic shifts. In 2010, he pioneered utility-scale solar in Britain and in 2012 one of his businesses, The Renewable Energy Co-operative, was nominated ‘International Co-operative of The Year’ in the United Nations Year of Co-operatives.In 2014, Abe launched Sun Exchange—a global solar micro-leasing marketplace that closes the funding gap for commercial- and community-scale solar projects in emerging markets, while streaming monetized sunshine all over the world. Sun Exchange has been named Best Bitcoin & Blockchain Business in Africa two years in a row and Abe delivers keynote speeches around the world.In today’s episode we discuss: How to speed the transition to renewables and why it’s inevitable What blockchain and Bitcoin means for governments and commerce Why cryptocurrency is the future but the ownership is up for grabs What Facebook’s Libra coin means for the rest of the world The reason decentralization is so valuable and needed in our world Why Africa has a more sophisticated payments system than America What crowdfunding infrastructure means for emerging markets What areas are most ripe for blockchain-based disruption Pros and cons of decentralization Why climate change is 100% real regardless of global warming What distributed solar really means for the world
Richard Brion (@richardbrion) is the founder of Revolution Agriculture—a patent-pending solution to the food security challenge—and an ex-US Navy officer focused on making farming more adaptable to a climate change-driven world with less resource 60% less water, faster production, and higher yields. He’s the winner of the USAID & Humanity United Tech Challenge to Prevent Mass Atrocity, has lived in 66 countries and has a wealth of experience in every corner of the business. In today’s episode we discuss: The future of agriculture: both big and small How humanity can solve our food shortage going forward Politics and realities of eating organic How Richard’s deployment in Afghanistan shaped his world outlook Why Richard’s worried about GMOs and unintended consequences The aquaponics and reinventing the future of food Why GMOs have faced such harsh criticism What Richard likes about the Swiss system of forced military service Why political leaders need more military perspective to govern effectively What happened with the Drug War and the law of unintended consequences The reason isolationism isn’t a good policy for the US or anyone Why AI is more dangerous than we think The scary truth about Trump’s rhetoric on Europe and NATO
Mark Sackler (@marksackler) is a futurist/foresight analyst, the North American Correspondent of The Age of Robots Magazine and the host of the Seeking Delphi podcast where he talks space, sustainable energy, the future of transport and biotech with the innovators creating the world we’re all racing towards. In today’s episode we discuss: Why Mark became a futurist at the age of 66 Mark’s initial forays in the longevity space, in the 70s How the space race galvanized Mark’s initial interest in the future Ways to change the way we all think about the future The big problems with linear thinking and other traps that cause massive harm Why horse manure is a great example of a simply stupid philosophy we all fall for Which areas of biotech have Mark more excited and why Thought on existential risk and the importance of optimism The news paradigm and how to shift the story What anti-aging technology will mean for society The under-discussed importance of clean meat Why diversity is so lacking in tech and futurism Ways to change your perspective for better
Donald Hoffman (@donaldhoffman) is a cognitive scientist, popular author, and Professor of Cognitive Science at UC Irvine. He studies how our visual perception, guided by millions of years of natural selection, authors every aspect of our everyday reality. If you missed our last episode with Don, be sure to check that out here. In today’s episode we discuss: Why physics need to replace spacetime to go further as a domain What Don’s work’s uncovered about the nature of reality Why AI may be impossible given our current struggles to solve consciousness Are we living in a simulation What to think about the multiverse How quantum dynamic properties may play in consciousness The way Don’s trying to unify neuroscience and physics in a grand unifying theory Why we’re headed for either apocalypse of utopia and Don’s not sure which Is free will a choice or an illusion Why synthetic biology is the most dangerous technology ever invented How the Large Hadron Collider contributes to science while breaking old paradigms The reason the US is poorly positioned to combat AI-driven unemployment Why consciousness is unsolvable given our current assumptions and how to rewrite them How science and religion merge into a mathematically provable model Are psychedelics a path to an alternative reality
Jaya Rao (@molekulair) is the co-founder of Molekule, a transformative SF based startup that’s raised $38M+ to tackle the clean air problem worldwide, starting in people’s homes to promote a healthier future. Prior to Molekule, Jaya focused with Stanford’s Public Sector InnovationLabs to work with citizens to redesign public transit. In today’s episode we discuss: The epidemic of air pollution worldwide How mold, toxins, and allergies lead to shortened lifespans and disease Why we need more women and diversity in tech and government Public transit from a public policy perspective Why the indoors is often many times more polluted than outside Which tech trends most worry Jaya and why The power and problems of the smart home movement What science-focused startups need to do differently to raise money Why competitive entrepreneurs and innovators are the answer to most problems The reason hardware is so hard to fund Why diversity leads to much better outcomes The importance of commercializing university innovations The state of health tech today
Pierre Barreau (@aivatechnology) is an entrepreneur, computer scientist, composer and director and the CEO of AIVA, an artificial intelligence that composes incredibly emotional and beautiful music and soundtracks. He was nominated for a Gold Panda Award in the “Best Director” category when he was 15 years old for a four-film documentary series, One Night in the Cosmos and gave a very popular TED Talk in 2018.In today’s episode we discuss: The future of AI composed music How creativity and art evolve with AI inspiration and automation Is AGI achievable and what about timelines Will automation lead to more or less jobs on net The double-edged sword of tech and artificial intelligence What to do about deep fakes and fake news Why social media and surveillance capitalism are so dangerous What Mozart did better than anyone else Thoughts about Asimov’s three laws and AI containment What it takes to create Hans Zimmer quality compositions The truth about AI personality Is conscious AI inevitable Thoughts on the uncanny valley and human values
Nikola Danalyov (@singularityblog) is a keynote speaker and futurist, tech philosopher, vegan and the host of Singularity.FM, one of the top tech futurism and ethics podcasts where he’s interviewed 200+ of the best scientists, writers, entrepreneurs, film-makers, philosophers and artists, debating the most important issues. Nikola’s the bestselling author of Conversations with the Future and also published over 1000 articles on AI, the singularity and the future of all of us. He’s been featured in BBC, the Huffington Post, WIRED, TV Japan, io9, ZDNet, BoingBoing and others and is regarded by many as the Socrates of Today. In today’s episode we discuss: The importance of ethics in today’s exponential tech world Nikola’s fight with Singularity University and organizations that don’t live out their values Why the singularity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be Will capitalism survive our coming economic upheaval The reason philosophy is more important now than ever Nikola’s thoughts on the war machine and military manufacturers Which countries present the best fundamental frameworks going forward The technologies and trends that most worry this accomplished thinker How to balance incentives and ethics to create a better world The reason the US is poorly positioned to combat AI driven unemployment Why humanity always has and will always struggle with the same existential issues The reasons Nikola’s soured on the techno-optimism movement
Paul Root Wolpe (@parowol) is the Raymond F. Schinazi Distinguished Research Chair in Jewish Bioethics, a Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Neuroscience, and Biological Behavior, and Sociology, and the Director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University and spent 15 years as Senior Bioethicist at NASA and is now their first Chief of Bioethics. Paul sits on a number of national and international non-profit organizational boards, has testified twice to the President’s Commission on the Study of Bioethical Issues in DC. He’s a popular speaker internationally, has won the World Technology Network Award in Ethics, has been featured in a TED talk, and was profiled in the November 2011 Atlantic Magazine as a “Brave Thinker of 2011.” He is also been featured on 60 Minutes and profiled in the Science Times of the New York Times. In today’s episode we discuss: The most important biotech ethics issues of our day How China’s CRISPR babies change the game for genetic engineering Why synthetic biology is so promising and problematic from an ethics perspective How to deal with black swan bioterror risks and rewards When we will start to see more in terms of gene therapy The prospect of superhumans Ways gene therapies can avoid issues of conventional pharma Why Ray Kurzweil’s wrong about the singularity The reason biology and AI will merge into one Why AI is more dangerous and uncontrollable than biotech The arguments against cloning How AI can empower individuals or inspire tyranny What to do about reincarnating wholly mammoth and T-Rex
Erika Hamden (@erikahamden) is an astrophysicist at the University of Arizona and Steward Observatory and leads the team building FIREBall, a telescope that hangs from a giant balloon at the very edge of space and looks for clues about how stars are created. She’s a 2019 TED fellow and her research focuses on developing ultraviolet (UV) detector technology, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV/VIS) instrumentation and spectroscopy, and galaxy evolution. In today’s episode we discuss: The evolution of astrophysics How space exploration advances in today’s booming business world Why fundamental science and research is so critical to humanity’s future Which technologies scare Erika the most and why The value of astronauts and off-Earth habitats What to do about data privacy and our ads-based economy Why Erika believes there’s intelligent extraterrestrial life out there What to think about Trump and the impacts on science and tech How do stars form and accidental discoveries occur Physics role in military action The importance of putting yourself and life first and foremost Why we are both more than a little worried about social media What most people don’t know about funding scientific research
Karen Lloyd (@archaearama) is an associate professor at the University of Tennessee and lead of the Lloyd Lab. She’s a deep subsurface microbiologist investigating novel types of microbes in Earth’s deep surface biosphere, collecting them from remote places such as Arctic fjords, volcanoes in Costa Rica and even deep in a mud near the Mariana Trench to explore how these little critters affect the environments on a micro and macro scale. I’m guessing this research will have major impacts on our knowledge of life in extreme conditions and implications for humanity living off Earth, fighting climate change and much more… In today’s episode we discuss: Life under the sea and what we’re learning about the tree of life How some organisms and microbes slow down life and seem to live forever Why the deep sea is an untapped, unexplored goldmine What you should know about climate change, ocean currents, and catastrophe The reason the seas may hold the secret to extraterrestrial life What Karen thinks about climate change and sustainability Why CRISPR was in some ways enabled by oceanic research What it’s like to dive deep in a submarine and experience warp drive The troubling trends of anti-science movement in the US government Why we know less about our oceans than we do about space The importance of fundamental research and science
Arthur Holland Michel (@writeauthor) is a writer and researcher focused on drones, surveillance, artificial intelligence, robots, the arts, immigration, and movies for topnotch publications like Wired, Vice, The Verge, Fast Company, Motherboard, Al Jazeera America, U.S. News and more. Arthur’s the author of EYES IN THE SKY, about the rise of advanced aerial surveillance technology and is the founder and co-director of the Center for the Study of the Drone, a research institute at Bard College in New York State. In today’s episode we discuss: Where we are at with the cutting edge of drones The pros and cons of drone development How militaries are deploying drones and unmanned aircraft today Why lethal autonomous weapons are so dangerous but not just around the corner Which aspects of surveillance and privacy Arthur is most worried about and why The power of the press to keep governments honest What to think about consumer drone delivery and Amazon Which under-discussed industries will actually be most impacted by drones Why China’s expertise on facial recognition and surveillance is so troubling The formula for a perfect dictatorship Is Minority Report inevitable Where do our personal freedoms and privacy lie How someone shut down one of the world’s busiest airports with a little kid’s toy What Arthur thinks about social media surveillance
Charles Mann (@CharlesCMann) is a science-focused journalist and award-winning author. He’s the author of 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus which won the National Academies Communication Award for best book of the year which he followed up with 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created. Charles has co-authored four books, is contributing editor for Science, The Atlantic Monthly, and Wired and has also written for Fortune, NYTimes, Smithsonian, Vanity Fair, and The Washington Post. He is a three-time National Magazine Award finalist and a recipient of writing awards from the American Bar Association, the American Institute of Physics, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Lannan Foundation. In 2018, Mann published The Wizard and the Prophet, which details two competing theories about the future of agriculture, population, and the environment. In today’s episode we discuss: The important distinctions between today’s wizards and prophets on the future What are the biggest risks of geoengineering Why the future of agriculture is inevitably GMOs, and why that’s a good thing How we can design a better, more 21st-century government Ways to change the incentives and structures governing society to automatically attack climate change The reason social media is a cesspool and what to do about it What are the biggest myths about the history of the Americas Thoughts on clean meat, mass agriculture and more… How do we handle growing inequality Why the West was never won The reason libertarianism and communism are two sides of the same coin Why there’s such a distrust of science to the detriment of all What is there to be hopeful about emissions and the environment
Mark Diesendorf (@markdiesendorf) teaches, researches and consults in the interdisciplinary fields of sustainability & energy, energy policy, urban transport, ecological economics, and practical sustainability Prior to joining the Institute of Environmental Studies, UNSW Australia, he’s been a Principal Researcher and lecturer at various higher institutions.Mark’s work with organisations including AusAID, Australian Conservation Foundation, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, Hydrocool Pty Ltd, Minister for Minerals & Energy (Western Australia), StateRail (NSW), Sustainable Energy Development Authority of New South Wales, Sustainable Energy Authority of Victoria, WWF Australia, and various municipal and local governments in Australia and China.He has been at various times secretary of the Society for Social Responsibility in Science (Canberra), co-founder and vice-president of the Sustainable Energy Industries Council of Australia, co-founder and president of the original Australasian Wind Energy Association, president of the Australia New Zealand Society for Ecological Economics (ANZSEE) and vice-president of Appropriate Technology for Community and Environment (APACE). Mark is co-editor of the interdisciplinary book Human Ecology, Human Economy: Ideas for an Ecologically Sustainable Future and the author of Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy and Climate Action: A Campaign Manual for Greenhouse Solutions and Sustainable Energy Solutions for Climate Change. In today’s episode we discuss: What the truth of climate change looks like now Why we’re probably headed for at least a 6-8 deg F increase in global temperatures How we can design a better world from the ground up Why governments are so incompetent when it comes to handling climate change The reason renewables have already won and where we’ll be 10 years Why AI and automation will displace a ton of jobs and necessitate a totally new economic and societal system How nuclear power makes our world less stable and more dangerous Where Mark sees the most innovative climate solutions being enacted Why we’ll still need hydrogen fuel in a green world What systems design teaches us about sustainability and economics Why the world is as risky as it has ever been with respect to nuclear war
Michele Romanow (@micheleromanow) is a serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, the youngest Dragon on Canada’s famed Dragon’s Den and one of the most badass women in tech. Before that, she co-founded SnapSaves (acquired by Groupon in 11 months), Buytopia.ca and Clearbanc (a transformational funding company to help startups avoid giving up equity). Michele is ranked on WXN’s “100 Most Powerful in Canada” and listed as the only Canadian on Forbes magazine’s “Millennial on a Mission” list. Michele is a prolific angel investor and the winner of Angel Investor of the Year award. She co-founded the Canadian Entrepreneurship Initiative with Richard Branson to encourage entrepreneurship and is a director of Shad International, a transformational program that develops the entrepreneurial potential of exceptional Canadian youth. In today’s episode we discuss: What it was like as world’s youngest Dragon’s Den investor The future of ecommerce and entrepreneurship Why venture capital is so messed up and how to fix it How to get more women in tech and more female-led businesses The reason today’s startup landscape is unsustainable How to redesign education for the future Why all monopolies eventually fall What Michele thinks about the reason crop of tech IPOs and economic future How to rethink ride sharing and what it may mean What’s off with universal basic income Why San Francisco isn’t necessarily the best place to build a startup What Facebook and Google’s advertising economy has done to all of us The risks of social media and cell phones Why Michele is worried about the risk of AI
Richard Whitt (@richardswhitt) is an 11-year vet of Google, corporate strategist, technology policy attorney and founder of GLIAnet, an organization, and foundation looking to upend existing surveillance capitalism paradigm with a user-owned and controlled data system. Richard is Fellow in Residence with the Mozilla Foundation, a Senior Fellow with Georgetown Institute for Technology Law and Policy and advises companies on the complex governance challenges at the intersection of the market, technology, and policy systems. As Google’s corporate director for strategic initiatives, he worked on policy and ethical issues related to IoT, machine learning, broadband connectivity, net neutrality, digital preservation, and other emerging technologies and negotiated with the Cuban government to build the country’s first free public WiFi hotspot for Internet access. From 2012 to 2014, Richard was chosen by Google management as the Corporate Vice President and Global Head of Public Policy at newly-acquired Motorola Mobility.In particular, he headed up Google’s open Internet policy on a global basis, guided the Company’s participation in the FCC’s 700 MHz auction, helped secure TV White Spaces spectrum allocation, and collaborated on the nationwide launch of Google Fiber. In today’s episode we discuss: The most important internet ethics issues of our day How regulation helps and hurts our privacy future Why net neutrality is such a landmark issue and what it means for all of us Which tech monopolies Richard is most worried about and why The power and promise of 5G What do we do about online advertising and data brokering Why on-device computing can be a privacy saver, or screwer What to think about Huawei, China and Trump’s trade war Thoughts on breaking up Google and Facebook Why diversity actually leads to better outcomes The effects of IoT on our collective freedoms How AI can empower individuals or inspire tyranny What technologies most worry Richard most
Dan Gartenberg (@dangartenberg) aka Dr. Snooze, is a sleep scientist, TED resident and the co-founder and CEO of Sonic Sleep and also an adjunct assistant professor at Penn State University. With an expertise in psychology, AI, sleep and health, he’s dedicated his life to improving the quality (and quantity of sleep) for the billions of individuals worldwide interesting in feeling and performing better. In today’s episode we discuss: How wearable and quantified self movement will change what it means to be human The science of sleep, longevity and disease Why Dan’s dedicated his life to optimizing sleep and life The truth about sleeping hacking and biphasic sleep Why your lights and life may be killing you How phones and social media are screwing up our kids What’s the cutting edge of personalized health How to live longer and healthier The reason we’re all going to be cyborgs anyway Why it’s hard to build a wearable tech company The importance of the 90-minute sleep cycle What elite biohackers are doing to win
Jack Horner (@dustydino) is one of the best-known paleontologists in the world, the inspiration for (and advisor of the Jurassic Park films and Dr. Alan Grant and discovered and named Maiasaura, providing the first clear evidence that some dinosaurs cared for their young. His research is now focused on reactivating dormant dinosaur DNA in birds to hatch modern-day dinosaurs. Horner’s face is familiar to millions from his appearances in many television documentaries about dinosaurs. In today’s episode we discuss: Why Steven Spielberg just had to have his Jurassic monsters What is was like as the advisor to Jurassic Park The little known truths about dinosaurs and our their extinction Why Jack is working on creating a dino-chicken How to use dormant DNA to rebirth extinct creatures The value of sci-fi in forecasting and forewarning the future Why the public isn’t always so interested in science How we shifted our entire understanding of dinosaurs What are the big risks of biotech and why Jack’s not worried Why dinos were probably much more intelligent than we thought The actual way radioactive and carbon dating works What areas is Jack most excited about and why The truth and misconceptions about evolution
Zack Abbott (@ZBioticsCompany) is the CEO and co-founder of ZBiotics, a company developing bioengineered probiotics for optimum human performance. He holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Michigan and developed ZBiotics’ core technology: probiotic bacteria genetically engineered to express targeted protein therapies directly inside the body. By building genetically engineered products that solve real human needs, he hopes to reverse the misinformation and lack of understanding that has contributed to the negative public perception of GMOs. In a past life, he worked with Rhesus monkeys to develop potential vaccines or cures for HIV and other infectious diseases. In today’s episode we discuss: Why GMOs are critical to humanity’s future The reason GMOs (and vaccines) have such a public image problem Why probiotics and the gut microbiome are actually are a really big deal The secret cause of nearly all chronic and neurological diseases Why the best solutions to climate change are almost inevitably GMOs How to think about startups and IP in the biotech realm The future of personalized medicine Why LeBron’s poop could help you lose weight The real risk of bioterrorism What fields of synthetic biology are the most promising
Geoff Cook (@geoffcook) is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder and CEO of The Meet Group (NASDAQ: MEET), a social dating and livestreaming company with a $400+ million market cap. He started his first company from a Harvard dorm and sold it for millions of dollars at age 24. He sold his second company for $100 million and is the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award Winner for the Philadelphia Region.On the side, Geoff’s also a children’s book author and a mentor at Princeton University’s Keller Center and leads Podcoin, the podcast player that pays you for listening. In today’s episode we discuss: How Facebook and social media have screwed up and what they could have done to avoid the problem The future of dating, and online dating Why Geoff is worried about screentime and constant notifications clashing with our humanity How to build a $100M company with your brother and sister… The reason Geoff’s excited about livestreaming, 5G, and future of video Why podcasting may be the biggest growth platform of immediate future How to reimagine social media for a better future While existential AI is worth worrying about The brain drain going to advertising and attention economy What the commoditization of sex is doing to our species
Nancy Giordano (@nancygiordano) is an entrepreneur, futurist, consultant and techno-optimist committed to building societal structures and behaviors that keep up with tech to ensure a safe and thriving future for us all…Nancy’s been recognized as one of the world’s top female futurists, she has spent her career building, shaping and guiding a portfolio of $50 billion worth of major global brands through her work with PlayBigInc.She’s also frequent panelist at South by Southwest (where she produced the first Career Fair For the Future to help college + high schools more actively design the future of their work), is global keynote speaker, Singularity University guest lecturer and world’s first TEDx licensee.In today’s episode we discuss: How Nancy thinks about the future of work Why the mental health epidemic is a bigger deal than we think The power of system thinking Why GDP’s an awful measure of progress and how to replace it What can we do to fix politics The ways we can redesign education for the 21st century Why diversity actually leads to better outcomes The UBI question and how to reframe it What will be AI’s actual impact How organizations like Singularity University inspire change What technologies most worry Nancy Why we can engineer the future of our choosing The pesky problems of incentives ruining our world What to think about social media and blockchain
Dr. Fatma Kaplan (@KaplanSchiller) is the co-founder and CEO/CSO of Pheronym, a company trying to help solve world food crisis and feed the growing world population, farmers need for a non-toxic way to control pests.Fatma’s an accomplished scientist with experience in both biology and chemistry focused on isolating biologically active compounds. She discovered the first sex pheromone of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and published in Nature and discovered that pheromones regulate other behaviors in both parasitic and beneficial nematodes.She’s been published in numerous high impact publications, her dissertation was cited in textbooks and Fatma’s worked as a scientist at NASA, the National Magnetic Field Laboratory and the US Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service.In today’s episode we discuss: How sex hormones can save us from soil microbiome depletion and why that matters The secret to pesticide-free agriculture How to use agritech to combat climate change What we need to do to combat global hunger The trouble with biotech fundraising What risks Fatma’s most worried about from a biotech perspective How to improve education for the better and make science cool Why Fatma’s working with NASA and the ISS to grow veggies in space The future of clean meat and why it still requires plants How to go about getting a grant to commercialize IP Ways to fight the anti-science movement Why GMOs will play an increasingly large role in humanity’s future
Isy Goldwasser (@isythync) is the founder of Thync, a startup creating breakthrough bioelectronic therapies to advance a frontier and create a consumer category that will impact billions of people. Prior to founding Thync, Isy was CEO and on the founding team of Symyx Technologies, a company he’d help take public. Isy’s named as an inventor on more than 40 US, European and Canadian patents and currently serves on the Board of Directors for The Scripps Research Institute and The California Institute for Biomedical Research and was a Entrepreneur in Residence at Khosla Ventures in 2010. In today’s episode we discuss: The future of self-enhancement and why much of it will be mechatronic Why humanity will NEVER be able to keep up with AI What happens as we automate away jobs and why Isy’s not worried Why we have so many issues adjusting to technology and societal change The neuroscience of performance and optimization Why AI is a really good thing for the human race How social media and AI can lead to a dictatorial state The importance of emotion in our daily lives and future Possible alternatives to the pharmaceutical industry Why Isy doesn’t think AI will ever be conscious The reason AI will be a distributed technology which makes it safer Why venture capital can become a major hassle How to improve healthcare and bring down costs What Isy thinks about gene editing
Steve Brown (@baldfuturist) is a speaker, author, strategist, advisor with over 30 years of experience in high tech and is the former futurist and chief evangelist at Intel Corporation. Steve’s been featured on BBC, CNN, Bloomberg TV, ABC News, Wired, WSJ:Digits, CBS, and many other media outlets and is passionate about helping people to imagine and build a better future; whether talking about the future of work in a post-automation world, doing a deep dive on artificial intelligence, or discussing the future of flying cars. In today’s episode we discuss: Which jobs computers are not suited to handle What happens as automation automates away a ton of jobs How we can design a better, more 21st century government Why is 5G so important The reason Steve is bullish on blockchain, but not cryptocurrencies Why AI will be the biggest technology transformation of all time How do we restructure society as jobs disappear What technologies Steve is most excited about and how they’ll transform our world The less talked about but equal important impacts of driverless cars Why wearables haven’t quite taken off as expected Why Sci-Fi sometimes holds back tech innovation How should we deal with bias and failure in AI
Martin Ford (@MFordFuture) is a futurist and the author of the bestselling, award-winning Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future, Architects of Intelligence: The Truth About AI from the People Building It and The Lights in the Tunnel, as well as the founder of a Silicon Valley-based software development firm.Martin’s written about the implications for future tech for publications including The New York Times, Fortune, Forbes, Harvard Business Review and dozens more and has appeared on shows like NPR, CNBC, CNN, Fox Business and PBS. He’s a frequent keynote speaker on the subject of accelerating progress in robotics and artificial intelligence—and what these advances mean for the economy, job market and society of the future. In today’s episode we discuss: How will automation affect capitalism, the economy, and society as a whole Is UBI the answer or a NEEDED solution to an increasingly automated world Why AI has the possibility to solve so many of the world’s largest problems Will AI create or destroy more jobs in the long run Why a universal basic income necessitates a more isolationist world Could climate change and automation be the recipe for disaster How do people find meaning in a jobless world Is China’s social credit system an inevitable future for us all How should we think about lethal autonomous weapons which save lives Is AI bias actually a big deal Which technologies is Martin most worried about
Bryan Alexander (@bryanalexander) is a futurist, researcher, writer, speaker, consultant, and teacher with an unconventional background in English and Romantic-era literature working in the field of how technology transforms education and blogging at bryanalexander.org. He’s worked with the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education (NITLE), a non-profit working to help small colleges and universities best integrate digital technologies. Bryan’s been featured in the Washington Post, MSNBC, US News and World Report and is frequently called on as a speaker on the future of education. He’s also the author of Academia Next: The Futures of Higher Education, Gearing Up For Learning Beyond K-12 and The New Digital Storytelling. In today’s episode we discuss: Bryan’s thoughts on the future and flaws of higher education The big problem with GDP and measuring the economy to track prosperity Why Bryan’s incredibly worried about climate change and inequality Which bubble pops first: higher education or healthcare The problem with too many kids going to college and the possibility of an apprentice model Why we may have reached peak higher education in America How we can better align incentives to create a fairer, more sustainable society going forward What is the future of jobs, work, and continued education Why teaching truck drivers to code isn’t feasible or effective What is the future of surveillance capitalism Why we may be entering a new era of aristocratic titans Why Europe is better positioned than the US to handle automation The danger of celebrity and worshipping success
George Church (@geochurch) is a professor of genetics at Harvard & MIT, director of the Personal Genome Project, co-author of 509 papers, 143 patent publications and developed methods used for the first genome sequence (1994) & million-fold cost reductions since.It is NO exaggeration to say George’s innovations have contributed to nearly all “next generation” DNA sequencing methods and companies; plus his lab’s work on chip-DNA-synthesis, gene editing, and stem cell engineering resulted in founding additional application-based companies spanning fields of medical diagnostics and synthetic biology/therapeutics (all of which has led to the creation of over 14 biotech companies he’s helped co-foundGeorge is the director of the IARPA BRAIN Project and NIH Center for Excellence in Genomic Science and his many honors include election to NAS and NAE and Franklin Bower Laureate for Achievement in Science.George is the author of Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves and now spends his free time trying to revive the Wholly Mammoth to combat climate change and save the world while remaining the foremost pioneer in the future of synthetic biology and genetic engineering. In today’s episode we discuss: The beginnings of the Human Genome Project and why in a lot of ways George thinks it was a waste of money The future of genome sequencing and writing and where it’s headed Why George isn’t hugely worried about genetic engineering leading to greater inequality What scares George most in a world of synthetic biology Why the best solutions to climate change are inevitably bio-based How George’s team is working to revive mammoths to combat climate change The importance of being guinea pig number one Why we should be inspired but not limited by nature The real risk of bioterrorism How to get benefits from your DNA without exposing your results The importance of gene editing on getting humanity to space
Tom Cheesewright (@bookofthefuture) is a futurist, speaker, engineer and founder of applied futurism practice, Book of the Future and creator of the Futurist’s Toolkit, a suite of tools for agile organizations. He has a degree in mechatronic engineering that led to 14 years working in technology for global brands such as BT, EE, and IBM and for digital start-ups, co-founded venture-backed big data analytics CANDDi and acts as an advisor to a number of technology-driven start-ups.Tom is a frequent presence on TV and radio on the BBC, Newsround and World Business Report, and as a regular contributor to BBC Radio 5 Live and Radio 4. He’s also shared his thoughts on the future with Channel 4?s Sunday Brunch, Sky News, The Guardian, London Evening Standard, Entrepreneur, Stuff, and MSN. Tom’s also the author of High Frequency Change: Why We Feel Like Change Happens Faster Now, and What to Do About It In today’s episode we discuss: Why we’re all cyborgs and what it means for humanity The future of climate change and why the answer is probably local Why Tom is only remotely worried about automation and unemployment What technologies Tom’s most scared of and why The future of television, entertainment and Apple’s role How Amazon and monopolies of the future evolve and the role of voice What the future of education needs to be to save humanity How big corporations can adapt and evolve without dying The difference between a smart city and a living city and where we’re headed Why economics and incentives create almost all the problems How to revalue work in a post-GDP world
Steve Sammartino (@sammartino) is an entrepreneur, futurist, author and public speaker focused on finding the truth and creating the future.He has had multiple tech startups and launched one of the first sharing-economy startups Rentoid.com, before Uber or Airbnb, and sold the company to a public company. Steve now invests in emerging technologies and has multiple advisory board positions. He is heavily involved in the startup scene in Shanghai, a passion for the culture and even speaks Mandarin.Steve collaborated with Raul Oiada to launch the world’s first Lego Space Shuttle into space to an altitude of about 35,000 meters and developed the world’s first life-sized, drive-able Lego car with a compressed air-powered Lego engine. He’s also the author of The Lessons School Forgot and The Great Transition, both books which examine the future of technology, work and jobs., both books which examine the future of technology and work.In today’s episode we discuss: How Steve sent a LEGO space shuttle into space on a shoestring budget with help from a random Skype connection The power of problem-solving and learning on the fly to disrupt education Why Steve is incredibly bullish on blockchain What technologies Steve is most excited about and how they’ll transform our world The importance of Amara’s Law and understanding technological adoption Why social media is pushing our farther and farther apart and probably the biggest threat of all Is AI good, bad or indifferent to humanity’s goals Why space is the next frontier and the proliferation of smartphones makes new things possible Why venture capital is such a negative and destructive force on the world How Steve started the first sharing-economy startup and why it ultimately wasn’t a huge success What Steve’s daughter learned growing a pizza Which investment will pay the biggest dividends in the long run
Robin Hanson (@robinhanson) is an associate professor of economics at George Mason University, and research associate at the Future of Humanity Institute of Oxford University with a doctorate in social science from CalTech, master’s degrees in physics and philosophy from the University of Chicago. He has spent nine years as a research programmer, at Lockheed and NASA, has 3500 citations, 60 publications, 700 media mentions, and he blogs at OvercomingBias. Robin is also the author of The Elephant in the Brain – Hidden Motives in Everyday Life and co-authored The Age of Em – Work, Love and Life when Robots Own the World. Hanson is credited with originating the concept of the Policy Analysis Market, a DARPA project to implement a market for betting on future developments in the Middle East. Hanson also created and supports a proposed system of government called futarchy, where policies would be determined by prediction markets. Hanson is a man willing to challenge conventional wisdom/norms and has lately drawn criticism for his unconventional economics positions on sex, gender dynamics and problems with today’s society. In today’s episode we discuss: Unconventional approaches to legal reform which just might work How Robin proposes we fix America’s immigration problem The sadistic yet serious future where your insurance company enforces the law Ways to use prediction markets to create better outcomes Why governments are outdated and often need a reset switch The reason social signaling is one of the biggest problems in society Separating facts and values and why it’s almost impossible How true libertarianism could lead to Soviet like surveillance and oppression The truth about isolationism and innovation Why governmental structure is making society more ineffective An interesting approach to end the prison system
Jarl Jensen (@jarljensen) is an inventor, entrepreneur and best selling author. He served as President and CEO of EuroMed, Inc. from 2004 to 2009, has nine issued patents, with many more pending for medical devices which have grossed over $500 million dollars. Jarl’s the author of Optimizing America where he applied his out of the box thinking to America’s economy in the book and he’s also written various other non-fiction books examining the origins of power, wealth and democracy in the American political system. He’s now the CEO of Inventagon, an outsourced R&D company working to partner with tech players to license and development intellectual property and help bring them to market. Today we discuss: The big problem with a Fed-controlled interest rate and economy How to incentivize solutions to climate change while increasing the cost of pollution as well Why debt-based banking is such a damaging and unsustainable model for our future The cause of economic recessions and how we can engineer our economy to avoid it Why the US wins with today’s debt-based USD banking system What Jarl thinks about the future of healthcare and how to fix it How banks have come to create a self-destructing model where they always win Jarl’s unconventional approach to universal basic income and why it just might work Why Jarl isn’t optimistic about blockchain How automation will affect jobs and economic growth Why greed is a result of the system and not an inherent human quality The probable causes of the impending recession if we don’t change things fast
Gabriel Licina (@glimsd) is a Molecular Biologist, Research Consultant, hardcore biohacker and the Chief Research Officer of Scihouse, a research-focused makerspace working to make science and technology accessible for everyone with a variety of classes on topics from programming and computer skills, to botany, chemistry, 3d printing and more.In 2015 Gabriel chemically induced night vision in his eyes with a controversial, yet successful experiment and is very active in the self-DIY movement. He’s also been very involved in the ecology and sustainable development spaces, serving as Biologist in Residence at Exosphere HQ.Today we discuss: Why CRISPR’s overhyped and still has a long way to go The reason genetic engineering is so hard and yet so promising Why Gabriel is hopeful, respectful and somewhat scared of gene drives Where we are headed with gene editing and designer babies How Gabriel and his team chemically induced night vision by studying deep sea fish A CRISPR solution to climate change and why all the tech in the world may not be enough What Gabriel thinks about bioterrorism and its risks How venture capital pollutes hobbyists and innovation The problem with open-source biology and funding What the future of healthcare looks like and where the power will rest Why the FDA helps and hurts innovation and progress How biohackers drive biotech and health science The problem with the university route to fundamental science
Eric Cole (@drericcole) is arguably the #1 cyber security expert in the US with a resume including the Obama administration, the CIA, the Gates Foundation and CTO of McAfee and was inducted into the 2014 InfoSecurity Hall of Fame.Eric is an expert in information technology, with a focus on secure network design, perimeter defense, penetration testing, vulnerability discovery, and intrusion detection systems. He has also authored many books, including Online Danger, Advanced Persistent Threat and many more, an inventor with more than 20 patents and the founder of Secure Anchor, an elite cybersecurity consulting firmToday we discuss: The importance of cybersecurity and why hacking always gets easier What the CIA does when it comes to cyberwarfare Why the US is actually one of the biggest perpetrators of hacking worldwide What is the future of politics in a post-Trump world Which monopoly scares Eric the most and why How Alexa and smart home devices drive even greater surveillance and tyranny Why Eric is terrified of autonomous vehicles and thinks they’re overhyped How Eric views social media and our future Why politicians probably can’t fix the cybersecurity threat How to think about increased polarization What Russia taught us about social media and influence Is Huawei actually a threat to US infrastructure
John Doran(@awaytowellbeing) has been a teacher and guidance counselor for over 24 years and is the author Ways to Wellbeing,. a book about creating a positive educational experience in the 21st century which taught in over 140 schools worldwide.John’s passionate about the transformative power of education to disrupt poverty, and help young people succeed. He’s a board member of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a TEDx speaker and frequently called on to speak all levels of organizations, government, and educational institutions.Listen and Learn:-The performance-enhancing drugs available to anyone with no negative side effects– Ways to recreate the school system to lead to happier, healthier adults– How John became a Board Member of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and what you can learn from his experience– The effects of social media and connectedness on depression and mental health– Why we’re living longer, more miserable lives than ever– How debate could create a class of critical thinkers– The importance of mindfulness and positive self talk on health and happiness– What John would overhaul with existing schools power of a purposeful teacher in transforming kids lives– How to solve hate on social media– Why purpose and passion is the most important force there is– The way parents, schools and society limit kids creativity and optimism– How to become an opportunistic optimist– Strategies to reunify our isolated, polarized world
Rohit Bhargava (@rohitbhargava) is an innovation and marketing expert and the Wall Street Journal best-selling author of five books on topics as wide-ranging as the future of business and building a brand with personality. His signature book Non-Obvious is updated annually with 15 new trend predictions and has been read by more than 1 million readers.He has delivered sold-out keynote presentations and workshops to business leaders in 32 countries. Rohit has been invited to share his insights at some of the most forward-looking organizations in the world including Intel, NASA, Disney, JP Morgan Chase, LinkedIn, Microsoft, American Express, BP, the World Bank, Coca-Cola and hundreds of others.Outside of his consulting work, Rohit also teaches a popular course on storytelling and marketing at Georgetown. For the past 14 years, Rohit has written his personal “Influential Marketing Blog” and he has been featured in publications including Harvard Business Review, The Guardian, and NPR.Today we discuss: The importance of likeability and why it actually trump competence What are the non-obvious technologies and trends of 2019 Why Rohit thinks Facebook will be broken up and likely fall Ways to fight fake news and why it may be impossible Which monopoly scares Rohit the most today How marketing and commerce change in an age of Alexa Why Trump may have changed politics forever How Rohit thinks about the future of social media Why the future and the past are both right and wrong How to think about and remedy increased polarization in our world Why Rohit is most worried about facial recognition and AI
Rahaf Harfoush (@rahafharfoush) is a digital anthropologist, bestselling author and speaker researching the impacts of emerging technologies on our society and is focused on deep (and often hidden) behavioral shifts that are taking place within organizations and individuals in this digital era. She also teach Innovation and Disruptive Business Models at SciencePo’s Masters of Finance and Economics Program in Paris and is the author of Hustle & Float, The Decoded Company and Yes We Did! (an inside look at how Obama used social media to win in 2008. Rahaf’s also the Executive Director of the Red Thread Institute of Digital Culture, a thinktank and special projects agency focused on intersection of technology and culture. Today we discuss: The polarizing problem of social media and sharing Why inequality is such a big deal What Obama and Trump did effectively in their campaigns The reason ADD is killing creativity Why social media’s perfect for information warfare How billionaires are breaking the world Why protesting and media mobs may be the new norm How to think about worker rights What’s wrong with the gig economy and where it heads How privacy is eroding faster that we realize Why AI and automation could ruin society
Mark Stevenson (@optimistontour) is a reluctant futurist, bestselling author, frequent speaker and occasional comedian. He’s one of the world’s most respected thinkers on the connection between technology and society, helping governments, NGOs and corporates adapt to the future for sustainable success.He is the author of An Optimist’s Tour of the Futureand We Do Things Differently, is an occasional comedy writer and his first play, the farce Octopus Soup (co-authored with Jack Milner) tours the UK in Spring 2019. He is also one half of The Futurenauts. His parents still have no idea what he does.In today’s episode we discuss: A better way to think about and tackle climate change Ways Mark and I would like to reform the education system Richard Branson and Al Gore’s profitable plan to save the world The reason we’re becoming more politicized and possible solutions Why we’re already saving the world but just don’t know it yet How Mark thinks we can redesign government for the 21st century The effect of comedy on fixing societal issues How the arts impacts and often drives innovation and progress The problem with optimism and bigger issue of cynism Why Brazil may be beating the US when it comes to governmental innovation The reason future literacy and systems thinking is the most important skill for the future
Ramez Naam (@ramez) is a computer scientist, futurist, angel investor and award-winning author best known for his Nexus Trilogy: Nexus, Crux and ApexHis other (non-fiction) books include: The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet and More than Human: Embracing the Promises of Biological Enhancement.He’s currently co-chair of energy and the environment at Singularity University and earlier in his career led teams at Microsoft working on Outlook, Internet Explorer and Bing where he co-patented 20 inventions, many alongside Bill Gates.Ramez has appeared on Sunday morning MSNBC, Yahoo! Finance, The New York Times, WSJ, PopSci, Wired, and many more. Ramez holds more than 20 patents, and many of those are as a co-inventor with Bill Gates.In today’s episode we discuss: Why we’re at a tipping point for carbon-emitting cars sold What it was like working directly with Bill Gates What is Ramez predicted about renewable energy and why it’s better than even he thought How technologists are solving global problems by fixing incentives and driving down costs What it’s like to be both a bestselling fiction and non-fiction author Why Ramez is no longer a big believer in radical life extension The brain2.0 movement and why we’re becoming cyborgs What Ramez thinks about CRISPR and genetically engineering people The importance of sci-fi to shift societal attitudes How to think about technological trends when tackling big problems Why innovation often leaves behind a lot bodies The reason Ramez is fundamentally optimist despite all the challenges we face Why the secret to a better future is to create it
Ben Hammersley (@benhammersley) is a technologist, futurist author and Editor-at-Large of UK’s WIRED magazine.Ben explores the effects of the internet and the digital network on the world’s business, political and social atmospheres. His latest book, 64 Things You Need to Know Now For Then gives us the essential guide to the things we need to know for life in the 21st century. He’s the writer, host and narrator of Netflix and BBC television series Cybercrimes with Ben Hammersley that was shot in over six countries across the globe. As the first specialist correspondent on the internet for The Times and The Guardian, he became the inventor of the popular term, ‘podcast.’Ben’s been called upon to advise three governments and countless tech organizations, including a seat on the European Commission High Level Group on Media Freedom of the European Union. He has a private pilot’s license, is a Rescue Diver, and is a nationally registered Emergency Medical Technician in the USA, with an additional wilderness medicine diploma, and he holds qualifications in genomic science, disaster response, and advanced cardiac life support.In today’s episode we discuss: How societal norms and social media breakdown without problem guidance The future of publishing and media in an age of outreach Why Ben thinks we can change politics and we’re both excited about the future for millenials What it’s like as a futurist and why most companies are living in the past The effect of GDPR and Europe’s rules and regulations Why internet censorship is important and key to democracy Is democracy or authoritarianism a better model going forward Why Ben isn’t worried about AI and thinks blockchain is overrated What happens when China becomes THE economic powerhouse of the world How Ben accidentally invented the term podcast and why it’s haunted him ever since What it’s like working with Netflix and the future of solo-media companies Why Ben believes digital advertising is an enormous bubble
Karen Dillon (@kardillon) is the former editor of Harvard Business Review magazine and co-author of the three books with Clayton Christensen, including the forthcoming The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty and bestsellers Competing Against Luck: the Story of Innovation and Customer Choice and How Will You Measure Your Life? She is also the author of The Harvard Business Review Guide to Office Politics. Karen previously served as deputy editor of Inc magazine and was editor and publisher of the critically-acclaimed American Lawyer magazine and London-based Legal Business and was named by Ashoka as one of the world’s most influential and inspiring women. She is currently a contributing editor to Harvard Business Review and Editorial Director of BanyanGlobal Family Business Advisors. In today’s episode we discuss: How innovation and entrepreneurship both alleviate and income inequality and abject poverty The three types of innovation and how they impact our economy and world Why we’re not living in a new age of robber barons The reason Karen thinks today’s top tech giants will ultimately be disrupted How to combat the growing education crisis The dangers of increasing isolationism and why sometimes it is actually beneficial. Why individuals need to be thinking about their goals and futures now more than ever What’s the real future of publishing and media Why Karen thinks we’ll all be working more, not less, in 20 years time
Nikolas Badminton (@nikolasfuturist) is a world-respected futurist speaker, author, and researcher. He wows audiences with keynote speeches on the impact of exponential technologies including: Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality; Work Productivity; The Sharing Economy; Autonomous Transportation; Smart Cities; Education; The Future of AI integrated with Life and Business; and Predictions for humanity from 2017 to 2030, and beyond.Nikolas regularly appears on the BBC, CBC, CTV, Global News, Fast Company, VICE, and writes for the Techcrunch, Huffington Post, Forbes, Venturebeat, Betakit, TechVibes, Business.com, and other media. In today’s episode we discuss: The reason the world’s most valuable company has yet to be created Why we need to start taking climate change seriously and saying screw you to lobbyists The biggest problems with the traditional education and a few creative ways to solve them Why China is making such fast technological and economic progress and what it means for the future of the West The future of energy and why it is renewables all the way What Amazon Alexa and voice assistants mean for the future of work and parenting How agritech and AI will change the future of cities and supply chains Why the singularity is and isn’t almost here The reason some companies and kids dominate the world while others die out Why genetic engineering and CRISPR based designer babies aren’t something that worries Nikolas How to address the issues social media Why the future is never really knowable and rarely predictable
Dr. Ayesha Khanna is Co-Founder and CEO of ADDO AI, an artificial intelligence (AI) solutions firm and incubator that was named one of 4 top AI companies in Asia. She has been a strategic advisor on artificial intelligence, smart cities and fintech to leading corporations and governments and serves on the Board of Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), the Singapore government’s agency that develops its world-class technology sector to drive the country’s digital economy and power its Smart Nation vision.Her clients have included SMRT, Singapore’s largest public transport company; Singtel, Singapore’s largest telco; SOMPO, Japan’s largest insurance firm; Habib Bank, Pakistan’s largest bank; and Smart Dubai, the government agency tasked to transform Dubai into a leading smart city.Prior to founding ADDO AI, Ayesha spent more than a decade on Wall Street developing large scale trading, risk management and data analytics systems and was co-founder of the Hybrid Reality Institute, a research advisory group established to analyze the social and economic impact of accelerating technologies.Ayesha is the co-author of Hybrid Reality: Thriving in the Emerging Human-Technology Civilization. She has been published or quoted in most major publications and presented at major financial, technology and other industry conferences, provided high level government briefings, chaired symposiums such as AI Asia, and spoken at TEDx events.Ayesha is also the Founder of 21C GIRLS, a charity that delivers free coding and artificial intelligence classes to girls in Singapore, a Fellow at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies and on the Board of Advisors for Humanity+ and directed the Future Cities Group at the London School of Economics, and has been a Faculty Advisor at Singularity University. In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: How Singapore’s government operates like a startup to promote innovation What the future of smart cities holds and why it should be citizen-centric Why data privacy and governmental policies are so important to the future of all of us The ways changing transportation systems will affect our physical cities, beyond what’s normally discussed How to design the cities, city-states and nations of the future The reason Ayesha is working to overhaul education and how we should structure it instead Why the future will increasingly be defined by the East What the jobs of the future look like and how governments can cope Why Ayesha is optimist and a little worried about AI and society
Douglas Rushkoff (@rushkoff) is an author, teacher and documentarian who studies human autonomy in a digital age. He has been named one of the “world’s ten most influential intellectuals” by MIT.Douglas’ work explores how different technological environments change our relationship to narrative, money, power, and one another. He coined such concepts as “viral media” and “social currency,” and has been a leading voice for applying digital media toward social and economic justice.Douglas is the author twenty books including bestsellers Present Shock, Throwing Rocks and the Google Bus, Program or Be Programmed, Life Inc, and Media Virus and is releasing his new book Team Human based off his podcast.He has written and hosted three award-winning PBS Frontline documentaries – The Merchants of Cool looked at the influence of corporations on youth culture, The Persuaders, about the cluttered landscape of marketing, and new efforts to overcome consumer resistance, and Digital Nation, about life on the virtual frontier. Most recently, he made Generation Like, an exploration of teens, marketers, and social media.Douglas is also a research fellow of the Institute for the Future, and founder of the Laboratory for Digital Humanism at CUNY/Queens, where he is a Professor of Media Theory and Digital Economics. His novels and comics, Ecstasy Club, A.D.D, and Aleister & Adolf, are all being developed for the screen. Douglas also served as an Advisor to the United Nations Commission on World Culture and regularly appears on TV shows from NBC Nightly News and Larry King to the Colbert Report and Bill Maher. In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: The reason billionaires are planning for the “inevitable” apocalypse and why that’s a big problem How broken the US political system is and how we can fix it The big issue with the stock market and venture capital and how we can reinvent business for the 21st century Why our future is in our hands and what we can do about it Which tech giants will get broken up and which will reign The problems with social media and plans to fight back How regulations affect business and monopolies and where we are headed Why people are pushing back against tech and how it impacts our world What Google’s walkout means for the future of tech Why Douglas thinks companies are the key to changing our world The reason Douglas is very worried about growing inequality Why capital is the only thing that counts today How to redesign our education system for the modern era
PZ Myers (@pzmyers) is a well-known atheist blogger, science popularizer and an associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota Morris.His primary blog, Pharyngula went on to be acquired by National Geographic and he currently blogs at FreeThoughtBlogs.com where he criticizes creationism, supports feminism and writes about topics and trends important to the future of all of us. In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: The problem with religion and creationism clouding public discord Why evolution is so important to understand and how conservatives have created fake doubt How embryos evolve and why understanding the stages is actually quite important Why PZ’s more than a little worried about CRISPR and genetic engineering The truth about Gattica and designer babies Why Buddhism’s not much better than other religions in PZ’s book How religion came to be and why we’re still a long way off from eradicating it Why fake news mirrors religious beliefs and is caused by many of the same human flaws What scientists should learn from preachers and priests How to think about education and reforming communitiies Why the world is so divided and what we can do about it The science of gene testing and why we know a lot less than we think we do
Rebecca D Costa is an American sociobiologist and futurist and a recipient of the prestigious Edward O. Wilson Biodiversity Technology Award. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, The Guardian, and other leading publications and here weekly column, THE FIX, is presently featured on Newsmax and on her site: rebeccacosta.comCosta was the founder and CEO of one of the largest technology marketing firms in California, where she developed an extensive track record of introducing disruptive, bleeding edge technologies for industry leaders like HP, Apple Computer, Oracle, Siebel Systems, General Electric, 3M, and others.Rebecca spent six years researching and writing the international bestseller The Watchman’s Rattle: A Radical New Theory of Collapse and her follow-on book On the Verge shot to the top of Amazon’s #1 New Business Releases. The success of The Watchman’s Rattle led to a popular weekly news program called The Costa Report which was syndicated throughout the United States until 2018. In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: How AI and predictive analytics shifts the balance of power Why the future is becoming increasingly knowable The truth about complexity and what it means for all of us How evolution has primed people to fail today’s challenges The big problems facing society and how to solve them Why terrorism inevitably leads to Minority Report The effect of CRISPR on human nature How nano-bots will impact the future of healthcare and pharma The reason Rebecca isn’t that worried about the existential risk How to think about the future of politics and governments Why we basically bonobos monkeys with better tech
Charles Eisenstein (@ceisenstein) is a author, podcaster and public speaker focusing on themes of civilization, consciousness, money, and human cultural evolution.His online writings have built a tremendous following; he speaks frequently at conferences and other events, and gives numerous interviews on radio and podcasts. He has been called “one of the up-and-coming great minds of our time” in Ode magazine’s “25 Intelligent Optimists” issue.He is the author of several books including: The Ascent of Humanity: Civilization and the Human Sense of Self Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible Climate Change: A New StoryOn his podcast: A New and Ancient Story, Charles interviews a series of extraordinary guests: activists and healers, scientists and spiritual teachers, artists and entrepreneurs, indigenous people and those from the elite. Topics revolve around concepts of interbeing and “technologies of reunion”In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: The myth of separation and of self Why our existing stories are destroying our planet How consciousness and Eastern medicine can teach us about the nature of reality Which technologies Charles is most worried about The problem with the stories society tells itself Why past technologies and practices are needed for future progress How psychedelics can shift the human consciousness forward Why we are likely headed to a new structure for civilization How to make miracles happen Why Charles is worried about soil health and the future of our planet The reason science is sometimes wrong and often late Why we need to reimagine climate change now The power of individual actions
Daniel Burrus (@danielburrus) is considered one of the world’s leading futurist speakers on global trends and innovation and The New York Times has referred to him as one of the top three business gurus in the highest demand as a speaker.Daniel is a strategic advisor to executives from Fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft, GE, American Express, Google, Deloitte, Procter & Gamble, Honda, and IBM etc…, helping them to develop game-changing strategies based on his proven methodologies for capitalizing on technology innovations and their future impact. He is the author of seven books, including The New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-seller Flash Foresight, as well as the international best-seller Technotrends. His latest book, The Anticipatory Organization: Turn Disruption and Change Into Opportunity and Advantage is an Amazon #1 Hot New Release for BusinessDaniel has been the featured subject of several PBS television specials and has appeared on programs such as CNN, Fox Business, and Bloomberg, and is quoted in a variety of publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Fortune, and Forbes and is a featured writer with millions of monthly readers on the topics of innovation, change and the future. His work has appeared in Harvard Business Review, Wired, CNBC, and Huffington Post to name a few.Daniel has founded six businesses, four of which were national leaders in the United States in the first year. He is the CEO of Burrus Research, a research and consulting firm that monitors global advancements in technology driven trends to help clients profit from technological, social and business forces that are converging to create enormous, untapped opportunities.In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: How hard and soft trends change the world Why Daniel was able to predict major consumer tech breakthroughs decades before they happened What areas of technology Daniel is most excited about and why The reason Daniel is somewhat worried about CRISPR How to think about disruption and positive disruption specifically The reason some companies die and others thrive How to spot big tech trends Why Daniel avoids competition to crush it Why not all trends pan out The biggest mistake big companies make Why Daniel thinks Apple has something big planned soon
Deborah Gordon is a Professor of Biology at Stanford University studying the evolution of collective behavior using ant colonies as a model. Her research focuses on how ant colonies regulate their behavior in response to environmental changes, and how collective behavior is related to ecology. This work is highly relevant given the nature of swarms/emergent behavior and possibly holds valuable insights into other species or humanity relating to current changes in climate.She is also a partner in the “Ants in Space” project designed to learn more about how ants search and coordinate, information that may be useful in designing robot search algorithms and possibly colonizing extraterrestrial bodies like Mars, the Moon or other planetary objects.Deborah’s the author of Ants at Work and has given two well-received talks at TED in 2003 and 2014 on the ingenious intelligence of ants and swarms which each received 1M+ views to dateIn our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: The emergent intelligence of ants and what humanity can learn from it Why intelligence isn’t always clean and is usually simple How ant colonies help AI researchers program robots What we can learn from ants about expansion into space Why ants’ utilitarian society is so effective yet also inefficient The system of task allocation that allows all ants to contribute How to solve complex problems with simple incentives Deborah’s thoughts on blockchain and decentralization How researchers use ants to think about neuroscience and the brain The we’re headed towards a utilitarian system and why it may not work Why we’re probably going about building AGI all wrong
Lolly Daskal is one of the most sought-after executive leadership coaches in the world with extensive cross-cultural expertise spans 14 countries, six languages and hundreds of companies.Of her many awards and accolades, Lolly was designated aTop-50 Leadership and Management Expert by Inc.com, 100 Great Leadership Speakers for Your Next by Inc. magazine and Huffington Post’s The Most Inspiring Woman in the World.Lolly’s writing has appeared in HBR, Inc.com, Fast Company (Ask The Expert), Huffington Post, Psychology Today, and others.She is the author of the Wall Street Journal Bestseller: The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness and previous bestseller Thoughts Spoken From the Heart. In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: How some leaders achieve exponentially more results The dichotomy of productivity and creativity, and how to game it Why self-development and actualization are the keys to productivity and happiness How and why Lolly reads a book a day, without skimming Why education is broken and how to fix it The reason Lolly thinks automation won’t negatively impact jobs How organizations and leaders can prepare for the world of tomorrow The exciting potential of AI and why Lolly’s clients are worried How social media separates us and cause negative comparisons Why we’re both scared about the state of politics and politicians What we need to consider to create a sustainable society Why there is no right answer and who trumps how
David Orban (@davidorban) is an entrepreneur, author, keynote speaker and the Founder and Managing Partner of Network Society Ventures, a seed stage global investment firm focused on innovative startups at the intersection of exponential technologies and decentralized networks.An early adopter of blockchain and an active Bitcoin investor since 2010, he was the first to own Ether during the Ethereum launch in 2014. He also led the adoption of Bitcoin and blockchain in start-ups and is an advisor and investor in numerous blockchain companies and funds, such as Blockchain Capital, Bancor, Swarm Fund, and others. David was the keynote speaker at the first Ethereal Summit in May 2017 in New York and is the Founder and a Trustee of Network Society Research, a London-based global think tank present in over 40 countries focused on decentralized exponential technologies disrupting governments and corporations.He is a mentor for the Thiel Fellowship, a Scientific Advisory Board Member for the Lifeboat Foundation on the Faculty of and an advisor to the Singularity University, an investor in the Singularity University Labs Accelerator Fund (now SU Ventures), President of SingularityU Italy Summit and an advisor to Humanity+.David is a sought-after speaker, he has given over 100 keynote addresses and speeches around the world for organizations including Abbvie, Cisco, Oracle, Roche, Ernst & Young, Accenture, Gilead, TEDx Academy, Alphabet and others and blogs at davidorban.com In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: The future of blockchains and cryptocurrency Why David invested in Bitcoin when it was under $10 Which industries blockchain has the biggest potential to disrupt The reason government and governance will be radically changed in the coming years How regulations affect the blockchain industry and are primarily protectionist Why David thinks on a 1000 year time horizon and might just live to see it happen How David thinks about isolationism and the future of nation-states The future of micro-payments and money How robots will interact with economy and colonize galaxy The model for a sustainable Mars colony and what needs to happen Why David is bullish on clean meat and hydroponics for the future of food How to forecast the future and predict timing What you need to know about China and cryptocurrency
Byron Reese (@byronreese) is the CEO and publisher of Gigaom, an industry-leading technology research company. Byron’s also an award-winning author, speaker and futurist with a strong conviction that technology will help bring about a new golden age of humanity.Byron holds a number of technology patents and hosts two podcasts about artificial intelligence. He gives talks around the world about how technology is changing work, education, and culture to combined audiences well in excess of 100,000.His newest book, The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity tackles the issues of artificial intelligence, robots, automation, and the future of work. Byron is also the author of Infinite Progress: How the Internet and Technology Will End Ignorance, Disease, Poverty, Hunger, and War.Bloomberg Businessweek credits Byron with having “quietly pioneered a new breed of media company.” The Financial Times of London reported that he “is typical of the new wave of internet entrepreneurs out to turn the economics of the media industry on its head.”Byron and his work have been featured in hundreds of news outlets, including New York Times, Washington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, USA Today, Reader’s Digest, NPR, and the LA Times Magazine.“The biggest problems of tomorrow will not be a lack of jobs but a shortage of humans to take advantage of all of the opportunities technology will offer.” – byronreese.comIn our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: Why the world is fundamentally improving and Byron is an optimistic realist How AI will transform the labor market and economy, leading to better jobs The reason optimism and pessimism are incredibly important to humanity’s survival, and evolution Why forecasting artificial general intelligence is just silly Will AI become conscious Why we’re entering a fourth era of humanity The reason Byron is a little worried about the prospect of bioterrorism How 25 years in the internet industry has evolved Byron’s view of the future Why the news drives fear and separation among us What to say to naysayers about technological progress Why social media will ultimately be a net positive to society
Dr. Brynn Winegard (@drbrynnwinegard) is a neuroscience, psychology and marketing expert, award-winning professor, speaker, and expert. She speaks frequently on the topics of persuasion, productivity, the neuroscience of leadership, motivation and preventing age-related cognitive decline.Coupled with over a decade in corporate marketing working for Pfizer Inc., Nestle Inc., and Johnson & Johnson Inc., she brings an interesting real-world perspective to high-performance brain science.Brynn is on the faculty at Schulich School of Business, DeGroote School of Business, and University of Guelph but is now more focused on helping others through speaking about ‘Building Better Business Brains’ to clients ranging from the Alberta Canadian government, the largest Canadian telecoms, Coca-Cola, Crayola, Deloitte and dozens more.In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: The science of brain aging and expertise Why your brain loses neurons but gain skills The advances in sensor technology driving neuroscience What Brynn has learned about differences and brain shape and function The actual percentage your conscious brain use What myths most folks have about the brain How nutrition and epigenetics affect brain performance and health The science behind the five closest friends phenomenon The reason meditation and mindfulness are so valuable Why it is so hard to change a habit or break an addiction The 6 types of brain aging and what to know Why you are what you think
Eric O’Neill (@eoneill) is an accomplished speaker, security expert and author that presents keynotes about espionage and national security, cybersecurity, fraud, corporate diligence and defense, hacking, pursuing one’s dreams and surviving Hollywood.Eric has worked as an FBI counterterrorism and counterintelligence operative, a national security attorney, as a corporate security consultant and founded The Georgetown Group, a premier investigative and security services firm.In February 2001 Eric helped capture the most notorious spy in United States history, Robert Phillip Hanssen. In the three months preceding Hanssen’s arrest, Eric was selected to work with the spy, charged with gaining Hanssen’s trust and slowly drawing the traitor out of deep cover. They caught the traitor, thanks to Eric’s James Bond-esque skill which we’ll of course discuss. In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: How espionage has evolved since the Cold War Why cyber warfare is the spying of today How Eric and his team were able to catch the most notorious spy in US history The reason terrorism has such an outsized effect on public policy and society How to prevent the US from becoming a surveillance state The effects of Edward Snowden Why IoT means security will become even more vital What’s really going on between the US and China Why Hollywood isn’t exactly ghost hunting spies The truth about Huawei
Dr. David Perlmutter (@davidperlmutter) is a Board-Certified Neurologist, four-time New York Times bestselling author and serves on the Board of Directors at the American College of Nutrition.David serves as a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and has published in numerous peer-reviewed scientific journals including Archives of Neurology, Neurosurgery and The Journal of Applied Nutrition. He is also a frequent symposium lecturer at institutions like the World Bank and IMF, Columbia University, Scripps Institute, New York University, and Harvard University and serves as an Associate Professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.David books have been published in 34 languages and include the #1 New York Times bestseller Grain Brain, The Surprising Truth About Wheat, Carbs and Sugar which sold over 1 million copies. Other New York Times bestsellers include Brain Maker, The Grain Brain Cookbook and The Grain Brain Whole Life Plan.He is also the editor of the upcoming collection The Microbiome and the Brain that will be authored by top experts in the field and will be published in late 2019 by CRC Press and has been frequently interviewed on programs such as 20/20, Larry King Live, CNN, Fox News, The Today Show, Oprah, Dr. Oz and The CBS Early Show.Dr. Perlmutter is also the recipient of numerous awards, including: the Linus Pauling Award for his innovative approaches to neurological disorders; the National Nutritional Foods Association Clinician of the Year Award and the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the American College of Nutrition. In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: How what you eat affects how you feel and perform Why air pollution lowers your IQ What is wrong with our global food supply and why it may be a ticking time bomb How climate change is affecting our culture and where it will get worse Strategies to save yourself and future from degenerative diseases Why David is worried about GMOs and the future of farming The brain-bacteria connection and how your gut gets the last word What David says about clean meat and lab grown food Why we need to own up to our pollution problem before destroying the planet How genetic diversity drives resisiliency and abundance Why antibiotics may actually be killing you in the long term The reason Alzheimer’s drugs actually speed mental decline
Peter Brannen (@peterbrannen1) is an award-winning science journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Wired, Aeon, The Boston Globe, Slate and The Guardian among other publications. His book, The Ends of the World, about the five major mass extinctions in Earth’s history.Peter is a 2018 Scripps Fellow at the University of Colorado Boulder, was a 2015 journalist-in-residence at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center at Duke University, and a 2011 Ocean Science Journalism Fellow at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, MA. Peter got his start as a reporter for the Vineyard Gazette in Edgartown, MA.Peter is particularly interested in ocean science, deep time, astrobiology and the carbon cycle.In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: Why climate change isn’t new but is accelerating The history of mass extinctions on Earth When 90% of species on the planet died off and what caused it The problem with public perception of climate change How species evolve and climate shifts cause adaptations What life was like during the Ice Ages Why we may be headed towards a mass extinction Would humanity survive another Ice Age Why whales are so darn big The reason we need to all act now Why global warming is a likely Fermi Paradox solution The truth about evolution and it’s origins Why the dinosaurs were the dominant lifeform for 135M years What happens to the Earth without humans
Rob Thomas (@robdthomas) is the General Manager of IBM Analytics and the author of The End of Tech Companies and Big Data Revolution: What farmers, doctors and insurance agents teach us about discovering big data patterns.He has spent over 17 years in technology, with a focus on high tech and software and has some unique insights as an exec at a top tier tech/data science company like IBM. In The End of Tech Companies, Rob argues that the era of calling a company a “tech company” is over and that technology will become more and more pervasive throughout business/society in the coming years.Prior to his career in technology, Rob had short assignments on Wall Street, which cultivated his interest in financial markets. Today he is most interested in the intersection of technology and economics, as the two disciplines create a new set of market leaders and competitive disruption. In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: How the semi-conductor space has changed over the past 20 years and transformed our world The most important and least discussed aspect of Moore’s Law What areas AI is most poised to transform The reason IBM isn’t like other tech companies How Rob thinks about the Fortune 500 going forward The difference between companies that live and die in an era of AI Why we aren’t even close to AGI What Robt thinks about quantum computing and possible timelines Why we’re moving towards a world of individual power The real impacts of GDPR, beyond what you already know
Prosanta Chakrabarty (@preaux_fish) is a systematist and an ichthyologist studying the evolution and biogeography of both freshwater and marine fishes. His work includes studies of Neotropical (Central and South America, Caribbean) and Indo-West Pacific (Indian and Western Pacific Ocean) fishes.Prosanta is an Associate Professor and Curator of Fishes at the Museum of Natural Science and Department of Biological Science at Louisiana State University and is also a Research Associate at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.He has gone on research trips to Japan, Australia, Taiwan, Madagascar, Panama, Kuwait, and many other countries and discovered over a dozen new species including new anglerfishes and cavefishes in the process.His latest books include A Guide to Academia: Getting into and surviving grad school, postdocs and a research job and Making a Big Splash with Louisiana Fishes. He is also a former Program Director at the National Science Foundation and was named a TED Fellow in 2016, and a TED Senior Fellow in 2018.In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: How the attitude towards science and scientific research has changed in DC since Trump What happens when science discover completely new species Why Prosanta is optimistic about the direction the world is headed What happens if and when we revive the Neanderthals How a fisherman found humanity’s closing living fish relative thought extinction 65 million years ago Why biology is shifting away from the organismal view and towards biotech The reason Prosanta is pretty terrified about CRISPR How soon until we start to see newly engineered species of human The problems with containing CRISPR and gene editing Ways to redesign education for a more well-rounded individual What we can learn from fundamental scientific research why it needs more money When should we consider genetically editing humans and why it’s probably inevitable Why evolution might be more complex than we think
Gerd Leonhard (@gleonhard) is a futurist, keynote speaker and author and listed by Wired Magazine as one of the top 100 most influential people in Europe (2015). Gerd’s work focuses on the future of humanity, technology and digital transformation; including big disruptors like artificial intelligence, robotics, the future of content and media and much more.Gerd addresses topics such as what it means to be human in a world of machines and algorithms, the coming redefinition of human-machine relationships, the future of work and jobs and much more. He is a much sought-after speaker, having presented at more than 1700 events in 60+ countries since 2004. His clients include Google, Sony, UBS, Mastercard, Unilever, Lloyds Bank, WWF, Nokia, The Guardian, Siemens, BBC, France Telecom, Orange, Deutsche Telekom, MTN, The Financial Times, , The EU Commission, VISA, and many others.Gerd is a member of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA, London), an advisory board member of the Indian and Canadian research institutes and the author of Technology vs. Humanity: The Coming Clash Between Man and Machine.In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: The evolution of AI and dangers of AGI Why Europe has to lead the way on privacy, data and consumer rights Why Gerd believes we need a moratorium on the future of artificial general intelligence The problem with capitalism and creating a better future How tech giants may end up owning our future Why Facebook and Zuckerberg didn’t really do anything wrong, at least according to the rules How Gerd thinks about megashifts and the future of humanity Why we may all be living a lot longer thanks to biotech The reason technology isn’t the the answer or means to an end Why the future is more unknowable than ever The reason Gerd isn’t that excited about space travel What you need to know robotics and future of work
Peter Bowes (@peterbowes) is BBC Correspondent, biohacker and hosting of the Live Long and Master Aging Podcast where he explores the science and stories behind human longevity.On the podcast Peter interviews world-renowned scientists, future thinkers and biohackers focused on how we can live longer and healthier lives and talks a great deal about food, fasting, exercise, brain science and human performance.As a reporter, Peter has interviewed many Hollywood celebrities, including Cher, Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman and Harrison Ford and he has covered every Oscars ceremony since 1996.Peter has produced and presented radio and TV documentaries and special features on a wide range of topics including: Religion in Silicon Valley, Michael Jackson and Living Longer in Lovely Hill, which explores the links between a meat-free diet, exercise and faith. In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: How Peter became interested in aging and increased longevity The reason Peter fasts to live a longer, healthier life How the media industry is transforming and where it goes from here Why community is key to health and happiness How Peter plans to live to at least 100 Why the world is better than ever but appears to be worse Lessons learned from the world’s oldest, healthiest populations How lifespan and healthspan differ and where healthcare goes wrong What the rise of podcasts and personal media outlets means for society The purpose of purpose and why it leads to longer lives How the BBC maintains such a high standard of excellence Why learning is something you never stop doing
Seth Shostak (@sethshostak) is a Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute and host of the popular weekly science radio show Big Picture Science which connect the latest research to identify emerging trends – and why they matter.Seth has degrees in physics and astronomy from Princeton University and Caltech and a long history of research in radio astronomy and in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, or SETI. He has written more than 500 popular articles on science and technology and has authored four books including: Life in the Universe and Confessions of an Alien Hunter.Seth is a frequent guest and commentator on radio and television. His TV appearances include Larry King Live, Colbert Report, Nightline, and countless Discovery, History Channel, and National Geographic Channel programs.In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: Why Seth first fell in love with astronomy The history of SETI and how Seth got involved Which answers to Fermi’s Paradox Seth finds most probable The problem with public support for space research How the race for space and ET has evolved over the years What happened when SETI detected an alien signal, only to be wrong Why artificial intelligence is a bad idea to create Would the government actually hide proof of alien contact Why the search for ET is more exciting and promising than ever The reason Seth thinks space exploration will mainly be a robotic endeavor Why Seth is somewhat worried about weaponized biotech The sad truth about a sociey on Mars Where life may have originated, and is panspermia credible
Donald Hoffman (@donaldhoffman) is a cognitive scientist, popular author and Professor of Cognitive Science at UC Irvine. He studies how our visual perception, guided by millions of years of natural selection, authors every aspect of our everyday reality.Don has co-authored two technical books: Observer Mechanics: A Formal Theory of Perception which offers a theory of consciousness and its relationship to physics and Automotive Lighting and Human Vision which applies vision science to vehicle lighting.His newest book Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We See presents the modern science of visual perception to a broad audience. His new book, tentatively titled Do We See Reality?, to appear at the end of 2017, expands on his 2015 TED Talk and explains how our perceptions have evolved to hide reality from us.Hoffman has won the Distinguished Scientific Award from the American Psychological Association, the Troland Research Award of the National Academy of Sciences and the Rustum Roy Award of the Chopra Foundation.In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: How our perception differs from reality, big time The nature of consciousness Why we are what we see and believe How your brain constructs an alternate universe Possible problems with Darwin’s Theory of Evolution Don’s mathematical definition of god Why evolution doesn’t optimize for intelligence How psychedelics actually impact our subjective reality The hard problem and how to maybe solve it Understanding the inner workings of science Why physics is probably wrong and confused What we can learn from VR about real life Why Don believed humans were just machines, and what he thinks now
Dr. Kirk Borne (@kirkdborne) is a data scientist and an astrophysicist and one of the foremost thinkers on fields of big data and data science. He is also Principal Data Scientist in the Strategic Innovation Group at Booz-Allen Hamilton since 2015.Prior to Booz-Allen he was Professor of Astrophysics and Computational Science in the George Mason University School of Physics, Astronomy, and Computational Sciences during 2003-2015 and served as undergraduate advisor for the GMU Data Science program and graduate advisor to students in the Computational Science and Informatics PhD program.Before that Kirk spent nearly 20 years supporting NASA projects, including NASA's Hubble Space Telescope as Data Archive Project Scientist, NASA's Astronomy Data Center, and NASA's Space Science Data Operations Office. He was also contributor to the design and development of the new Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), for which he contributed in the areas of science data management, informatics and statistical science research, galaxies research, and education and public outreach and he blogs at rocketdatascience.org.In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: NASA in the 80s and how the space industry has changed Why SpaceX's reusable rockets are such a gamechanger When we can expect afford space tourism options The importance of cubesats and decreasing launch costs How to make kids more interested in science and space Why autonomous vehicles are so important and safer than they seem How Kirk thinks about data and the future of smart cities Why 2% was an acceptable rocket failure rate How decreasing costs are democratizing access to space Why putting a man on the Moon seems so impossible without today's technology The importance of monitoring and feedback to combat climate change
Anu Acharya (@anuacharya) is the CEO of Mapmygenome, an Indian Genomics company that provides a range of prognostics, diagnostics and brain wellness solutions for optimal health.Before that, Anu co-founded and was the CEO of Ocimum Biosolutions, a global genomics outsourcing partner for discovery, development and diagnostics. In 2011 Anu was named a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum and the British High Commission named her part of the “Young Leaders Forum” in 2013. She was selected by Red Herring Magazine to the “25 Tech Titans under 35″ in 2006, has been named Biospectrum “Entrepreneur of the Year” for 2008 and was awarded the Astia Life Science Innovators Award in the same year. Anu currently serves as a governing board member at CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research), the premier government R&D Organization in India with 39 labs and 50 field stations across India, is a governing board member at the NIBMG (National Institute for Biomedical Genomics) and also serves as the Vice Chair of the Global Agenda Council on Genetics for the World Economic ForumIn our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: Why personalized genetic testing will greatly reduce healthcare costs The differences between China, India and the US when it comes to genomics and biotech Where we are headed with personalized medicine How differences in genetics affect us Why Anu is excited about the combination of wearables and DNA information What happens to humanity as we understand our genetic code How biotech regulation will affect the future Why Anu is so passionate about preventing genome abuse What safety guidelines are needed for gene editing Why you are what you eat Why biotech companies many replace their legacy pharma counterparts How to think about designer babies and their inevitability