Eclectic Spacewalk

A conversation with Executive Producer at the Center for Humane Technology, Stephanie Lepp—

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Hello Eclectic Spacewalkers!

This month, we sat down with Stephanie Lepp. Stephanie is an executive producer at the Center for Humane Technology, where she leads the podcast “Your Undivided Attention” hosted by Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin where they “explore the incredible power that technology has over our lives — and how we can use it to catalyze a humane future.” Some of our favorites are episodes with Daniel Schmactenberger, Tim Wu, and Kate Raworth.

“A producer whose work strives to hold up a mirror - inviting us to grow from what we see.”

The Center for Human Technology produced the documentary “The Social Dilemma” and has a course “Foundations of Humane Technology: An Online Course For Professionals Shaping Tomorrow's Technology.”

“The Social Dilemma is a powerful exploration of the disproportionate impact that a relatively small number of engineers in Silicon Valley have over the way we think, act, and live our lives. The film deftly tackles an underlying cause of our viral conspiracy theories, teenage mental health issues, rampant misinformation and political polarization, and makes these issues visceral, understandable, and urgent.”

Stephanie also runs a few other independent projects:

“Deep Reckonings, a series of explicitly-marked deepfake videos that imagine morally courageous versions of our public figures;

Infinite Lunchbox, a YouTube channel offering integral takes on politics and culture;

Reckonings, a podcast that tells the stories of people who've made all kinds of transformative change; and

Where I'm Coming From, an experience designed to build empathy by speaking other people's perspectives in first person.”

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Our conversation was wide-ranging and it was great fun to talk to someone that is creating transformative impact through storytelling. We will be instituting some of the key learning from our discussion with Stephanie moving forward.

Below are timestamps of the conversation to skip around (or just clear your mind and press play to hear a thoughtful conversation).

We thank Stephanie for their time, research, and eclectic mind. Enjoy the conversation, and until next time - Ad Astra!

Timestamps:

Studying Science, Technology, and Society or STS (04:50)

“A producer whose work strives to hold up a mirror - inviting us to grow from what we see.” (09:31)

Reckonings project (16:15)

Deep Reckonings (20:20)

The Center for Humane Technology (34:00)

Your Undivided Attention podcast (50:40)

“Wormhole through constellations of tribes” (56:45)

Synthetic Strategy (01:00:45)

The power and influence of New Media like Animation/AR/VR/etc. (01:05:00)

Overview Effect question (1:10:14)

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Listen now (64 min) | Creator of the Flâneuse Project

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Listen now | Founder & CEO of Loyal for Dogs

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Listen now (78 min) | Researcher, Speaker, and Writer. Founder of Bismarck Analysis, a Research Fellow at the Long Now Foundation, and a Senior Research Fellow in Political Science at the Foresight Institute.

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Listen now | Environmental sociologist, homesteader, and author. The Co-Founder of Rizoma School and Executive Director at Rizoma Foundation and Loconomy Project

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Listen now (103 min) | Scholar, writer, publisher, editor, integral philosopher, & founder of Nura Learning

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Listen now (101 min) | Independent political sociologist, filmmaker, and the Founder & Executive Director of The Abs-Tract Organization

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A conversation with Historian & Anthropologist of Science, Claire Webb—

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Hey Eclectic Spacewalkers!

Last week we had the pleasure of sitting down with Claire Webb.

Claire is a historian and anthropologist of science and currently a fellow of USC and the Berggruen Institute. Her research considers future-facing technoscientific objects since the postwar era in the United States.

Her dissertation, from MIT’s HASTS program, Technologies of Perception: Searches for Life and Intelligence Beyond Earth is a history of, and current work on, scientific searches for extraterrestrial life.

“It is a historical and ethnographic dissertation whose theoretical orientations are informed by studies in science, technology, and society (STS), as well as feminist traditions that examine sensory apprehension, especially those modes that enlist seeing and hearing.

The central question of this dissertation is: How are sensory phenomenological modes of sensing the world deployed and channeled through material technologies to scout for otherworldly technoscientific objects, lively organisms, and intelligent aliens?

Reflexive alienation is a reaching for “an advanced version of ourselves,” in Tarter’s words. It is act in which imagination of the alien object conjures human subjectivity. This referential, analogical dynamism—projecting and returning from human to ET to immortals and back again—is an enactment of reflexive alienation: a mode of meaning-making through attention to both a speculative ET and Earthly desires for peace and a wondering of futuristic technology.”

She has a long personal history of being around telescopes, even working with Breakthrough Listen - UC-Berkeley’s SETI research arm, and collaborating with none other than Jill Tarter. Jodie Foster’s rough characterization in the film Contact should jog your memory of who that is.

Our conversation was far-reaching, thought-provoking, and exactly the type of conversation for us to get back into the podcasting swing of things again. We talked about Claire’s early inspirations, The Overview Effect and Earthrise photo, The Drake Equation/Fermi Paradox, for E.T., and what type of techno futures we can imagine on worlds beyond Earth, amongst a number of other interesting topics. I thank Claire for her time, research, and eclectic mind.

I hope you enjoy the conversation!

Timestamps:

Early influences, wanting to be an astronaut, and The Power of Ten short film (03:15)

Dr. Jill Tarter’s inspiration, founding member of SETI (11:00)

Claire’s academic journey (16:55)

What are history, anthropology, and STS studies and how do they interact? (30:55)

How should a layman think and interact with history unfolding? (42:15)

Claire’s article Worlds Beyond Ours in NOEMA Mag (44:50)

The Overview Effect, Earthrise photo, and how we see ourselves among the cosmos (58:04)

MDRS Mars Analog Missions and “resonance” (1:04:30)

The Drake Equation and The Fermi Paradox (1:14:05)

Claire’s dissertation Technologies of Perception: Searches for Life and Intelligence Beyond Earth (01:24:35)

Moving out to Los Angeles, USC & Berggruen Institute fellowships, and new research into feminist posthumanism. (01:52:15)

That project asks: What are the computational processes scientists have used since the 1950s to configure software and hardware—assemblages that are shifting traditionally perceived thresholds of liveliness—to find novel forms of life beyond Earth?

Claire would quote a poem by Sappho or Rainer Maria Rilke if she was experiencing the Overview Effect with the eyes of the world upon her. (01:58:10)

Watch Full Episode:

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Clip #1: Earthrise photo, Worlds Beyond Ours, and the Overview Effect

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Clip #2: The Drake Equation, the Fermi Paradox, and Claire's dissertation

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Clip #3: USC & Berggruen Institute fellowships, and Feminist Posthumanism

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A conversation with the founder of BlackPact.org, Tara Perry—

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Hey Eclectic Spacewalkers!

After a four-month hiatus due to COVID-19, we were finally able to record a podcast with Tara Perry, founder of BlackPact.org. Tara has been enormously helpful and a trusted friend in navigating the discussion of race in our present society over the last year.

Shortly after the death of Nipsey Hussle in 2019, we reached out to Tara regarding some filming opportunities in order to learn more about the community that just lost a hero. The following months were a humbling journey in thinking and talking about race, privilege, and whiteness that pointed to how entangled those subjects are not just in the United States, but around the world. Unfortunately, we were unable to produce an event/concert in celebrating the life of Nipsey Hussle, but an important conversation had begun.

Here is the event prompt we wrote as a preview to our present discussion:

“The purpose of BlackPact Presents is to “edutain” (Education through Entertainment) the Black community. It is a political education for the public masked as a concert. BlackPact wants to reignite the political flames of the Black Community. Tasking them with the responsibility of getting back involved and facing them with the consequences of what happens when they’re not politically engaged.

Our neighborhoods are being gentrified, our Black men are overly incarcerated, our neighborhoods have been stripped of resources to the point there is nothing left for our children and we aren’t doing anything about it!

We have the responsibility to transform our apathy toward politics and remember what our people have achieved in recent history. We want our message to be conveyed by the heavy hitters of hip-hop to remind the public Black Voices Matters, Black Money Matters & Black Votes Matters. Bringing black people together to commemorate the memory and philosophies of MLK, Malcolm X & Nipsey Hussle.

The purpose of BlackPact is to restore economic/political unity in our community!

A Political Action Committee or PAC's main focus is to use monied contributions to elect or defeat political individuals, but are capped at $5,000 for individuals and $15,000 for any national committee per year.

Starting first as a PAC, BlackPact.org’s ultimate goal would be to become a Super-PAC - which can give unlimited campaign contributions.

BlackPact.org’s mission statement & goals -

“BLACK PACT is a Political Action Committee (PAC) committed to creating a social contract among Black American Descendants of Slavery (ADOS) to be politically, economically and socially responsible for one another's interests as a cultural collective. We make a pact to organize the masses of our people and allies to push a political agenda that not only represent the members of our organization but to work against policies that adversely affect our communities. We are driven by a single goal; to push a political agenda that addresses the specific ills forced into our communities through slavery, the reconstruction era, Jim Crow, redlining and the prison industrial complex. Our decision-making process is informed by comprehensive empirical studies and high-quality data evaluations. We strive to make a positive impact on all of our pursuits.”

Tara and I discussed her upbringing and her first dealing with the concept of race, the ADOS (American Descendants of Slaves) movement, running as a write-in candidate for District 8 in Los Angeles, founding BlackPact.org, the history of Jim Crow and redlining, and gentrification’s impact on the Black community among other topics. I thank Tara for her time, research, and eclectic mind.

I hope you enjoy the conversation.

Timestamps:

Who were your earliest influences? (01:45)

When was the first time you learned about race? (04:00)

What is ADOS and what is its main goal? (10:48)

Watchmen, Black Wall St., Black Art, Slavery in “the land of the free” (13:45)

How had your concept of race changed after going away to university and coming back to Los Angeles? (19:36)

The Color of Wealth Report (32:29)

Experience running for elected office in LA’s District 8 (41:33)

Homelessness, New LA Rams stadium & failed promise in local jobs, and gentrification’s impact (49:15)

Nipsey Hussle and celebrating black culture in the mainstream (58:22)

Tara moderated a panel called “Resurrecting Malcolm” and the wisdom we can attain from Malcolm X in 2020 (01:06:26)

Eclectic Spacewalk’s influences and Tara’s recommendations of others to research (01:15:21)

What is BlackPact’s mission? (01:21:53)

What can be done about reconciling the harms of slavery? (01:29:56)

The New Jim Crow & the prison industrial complex (01:32:57)

What would you say to the World if you were experiencing “The Overview Effect?” (01:42:58)

Watch on YouTube:

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Clip #1: Race, Black Wall St, the American Descendants of Slavery movement

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Clip #2: Gentrification, Homelessness, and The Color of Wealth Report

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Clip #3: Reparations, the New Jim Crow, and Blackpact.org's mission

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Listen now (50 min) | Filmmaker

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Listen now (123 min) | Professor of Philosophy

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Listen now (76 min) | A conversation with the founder of Idea Markets, Mike Elias— Read & Listen on Substack Read Transcript on Medium Listen on Anchor Watch on YouTube Hey Eclectic Spacewalkers! In January of 2020, I sat down with Mike Elias of Idea Markets. The subject matter we discussed hits close to home with my journalism background and should be deeply important for anyone who values democratic values and access to information. Sadly, this is not a new story,

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Listen now (28 min) | A conversation with the Head of Programming for the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Yorgos Krassakopoulos— Read & Listen on Substack Read Transcript on Medium Listen on Anchor Watch on YouTube Hey Eclectic Spacewalkers! “Γεια σας από την Ελλάδα” - “Hello from Greece”

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Listen now (73 min) | A conversation with Founder & Academic Dean of Campus Co-Evolve, George Por— Read & Listen on Substack Read Transcript on Medium Listen on Anchor Watch on YouTube Hey Eclectic Spacewalkers! In October (19’), after traveling to Copenhagen and then to London

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Listen now (128 min) | A Conversation With CEO of Mattereum, Vinay Gupta— Read & Listen on Substack Read Transcript on Medium Listen on Anchor Watch on YouTube Hey Eclectic Spacewalkers! Last fall (2019), after traveling to Copenhagen, Denmark to speak to Ronni Abergel, Founder & CEO of the Human Library Organization (HLO)

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A Conversation With Founder & CEO of The Human Library Organization, Ronni Abergel—

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Hey Eclectic Spacewalkers!

“Hej fra København!” translates to “Hello from Copenhagen” in English.

Last fall we traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark to speak to Ronni Abergel, Founder and CEO of the Human Library Organization (HLO), and also to document one of their events during Copenhagen’s Culture Night on October 11th, 2019.

“Menneskebiblioteket” as it is called in Danish, was created in Copenhagen in the spring of 2000 by Ronni and a few others. HLO has grown significantly since their humble beginnings and now operate events in over 80 countries.

“The Human Library® is a global innovative & hands-on learning platform helping create more inclusive and cohesive communities across cultural, religious, social and ethnic differences.”

HLO meets its goals by, “creating a special dialogue room, where taboo topics can be discussed openly and without condemnation. A place where people who would otherwise never talk find room for conversation…a place where difficult questions are expected, appreciated, and answered.”

“The Human Library® is, in the true sense of the word, a library of people. We host events where readers can borrow human beings serving as open books and have conversations they would not normally have access to. Every human book from our bookshelf, represent a group in our society that is often subjected to prejudice, stigmatization or discrimination because of their lifestyle, diagnosis, belief, disability, social status, ethnic origin etc.”

Dialogue can be fruitful when a safe framework is a central tenet for these quite personal conversations. The conversations help to challenge prejudice, aim to help rid of discrimination, prevent conflicts, and contribute to greater human cohesion when both parties come to the dialogue genuinely wanting to learn from one another. All of the human books are volunteers with personal experience with their topics.

“Un-judge Someone!” is upgraded from “Don’t judge a book by its cover”

The improved statement honestly presupposes our biological judgments (based on evolution & survival techniques) of others, but - critically - allows us to consciously rise above them consciously. Companies can also utilize these unique experience stories to create a more progressive cooperative culture that is more humanistic in nature.

“The Human Library offers diversity, equity, and inclusion training for companies that wish to better incorporate social understanding within their workforce, as well as grow their cultural awareness for deeper partnerships with clients.”

Ronni and I had a fantastic conversation about the journey of HLO, growing-pain learnings, as well as future plans of expansion. Our conversation also got into the natural mechanics of judgment, identity, and community. I thank Ronni for his time, and the wonderful discussion we had.

I hope you enjoy the conversation.

Timestamps

Growing up with a French Moroccan family heritage in Copenhagen (00:01:39)

Different influences & role models (00:07:22)

“I don't know if it's about seeing myself in them. It's more about understanding the world and their understanding of the world, and maybe will help me better my understanding of the world.” (00:12:12)

After spending a year in the US, the reverse culture shock of going back to Copenhagen was indeed “weird” (00:15:11)

Judging is an integral part of humanity’s biological repertoire of defense mechanisms, but HLO is saying: “Become a NON-Judge because we know you already judged.” (00:23:12)

BEGINNING OF PART TWO (28:31)

What is The Human Library? (00:28:55)

“All of us have unconscious bias and all of us judge.” (00:30:05)

The non-religious epiphany or insight that started it all. (00:33:21)

“Unjudge someone” is an upgrade from “Don’t judge a book by its cover” (00:37:28)

The content of conversations depend on your courage to have them (00:39:59)

Human Library’s corporate model (00:43:26)

Watch on YouTube:

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Clip #1 - Judgment, reverse culture shock, and being an exchange student

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Clip #2 - What is The Human Library Organization? and Unconscious Bias

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Clip #3 - “Unjudge someone” comes from “Don’t judge a book by its cover”

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Listen now (81 min) | A Conversation With Entrepreneur, Productivity Coach, and Writer Tiago Forte— Read & Listen on Substack Read Transcript on Medium Listen on Anchor Watch on YouTube Hey Eclectic Spacewalkers! Last fall (2019), I sat down with coach, entrepreneur, and writer Tiago Forte. He is the creator of

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A Conversation With Author & Poet Millicent Ally—

First Episode Disclaimer - Please excuse the dogs, audio/video recording issues, and jitters of over talking, caffeine, & excitement. We will continue to improve! ;)

—

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Hey Eclectic Spacewalk subscribers!

You are getting this podcast episode two weeks before it goes out live on Anchor.com. Yes, you should feel special! :)

Last month, I sat down and had a conversation with author & poet Millicent Ally. She self-published a collection of poems called Tales of the Human Condition in 2012. I found Millicent’s poems in a roundabout way, but they will be on my bookshelf for a long, long time. The first half of the podcast is about getting to know Millicent, and her journey until now. The second half is Millicent reading her poetry, and then us discussing it.

I was immediately enamored with her honesty, personal themes, and ability to make a legitimate attempt of encapsulating the human condition. (I don’t think any human could ever begin to do that, but the effort is appreciated!) She breaks up her collection into four pillars of her/your human condition: Life, Love, Introspection, and God.

“LIFE” tells you that you are a “compendium of variety and varying states of awareness, existence is both a personal matter and one which encompasses the entirety of mankind.”

“LOVE” speaks of “its basis of life and creation, the foundation of man and the universe. It is the truth hidden in each individual.”

“INTROSPECTION” is the “hard-won knowledge of the self, and can tap into limitless possibilities. With a self intact, we can become a vessel of brilliant light to illuminate the world.”

“God” is not the big G up in the clouds, but perfection. “It exists in everything said and unsaid because all exists in God—the duality exists simultaneously with that which is complete, perfect, and whole.”

Tales of the Human Condition concludes with this heartfelt passage:

“I dedicate this book to the universal consciousness, the infinite wisdom, the eternal presence known as God. This presence, which is glorified throughout every religion and race of man, has many names by which we praise Him for the creation of our magnificent world. In this process, despite my ups and downs, I have become more loving, empathetic and thoughtful. I regret nothing, not a single step along the path, for I needed Life's complexities to formulate my life and journey. And then lastly, What life is, I do not know for sure, except that it is what you make of it. On these pages, I have shared my perspectives in my personal struggles. I hope reading this book was as healing for you, as writing it was for me.”

Reading Millicent’s collection of poems was indeed healing for me. I hope more people can discover her poetry. Please share with anyone that could use a subjective tale of the human condition to finding their own.

Below are timestamps of the conversation to skip around (or just clear your mind and press play to hear a thoughtful conversation), more info on Millicent, and where you can purchase her book & audio book.

Enjoy & until next time Ad Astra!

Timestamps

Where are you from originally? (0:25)

What influences did you get from LA/”the south?” (1:10)

What age range? (2:35)

What were your writing influences? (05:19)

Millicent reads her poem “Fourteen.” (08:25)

“It's like we're more of a spiritual creature inside of a biological.” (11:28)

"So by acknowledging my character flaws and accepting my own shortcomings with love, forgiveness and a willing to change, I improve my humanity.” (13:50)

“I am more forgiving with other people than I am with myself.” (15:00)

What were the internal & external factors when you wrote Tales of the Human Condition? (19:35)

“I self-published and it was really interesting.” (28:00)

Would you in 2019 keep those same four pillars of Life, Love, Introspection, and God? (35:45)

Imagine yourself at International Space Station or the moon, and the world is looking at you. - What would you say? (38:00)

END OF PART ONE (41:32)

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BEGINNING OF PART TWO (41:36)

Millicent reads her poem “Sunday” (41.52)

Millicent reads her poem “Masked Morality” (45:59)

Millicent reads her poem “Ascension” (58:50)

Millicent reads her poem “World’s End”(01:00:47)

Millicent reads her poem “Profession” (01:07:30)

Millicent reads her poem “Apology” (01:10:06)

Millicent reads her poem “The Lifelong Process” (01:13:16)

Millicent reads her poem “Lazarus” (01:17:17)

Millicent reads her poem “The Distant Beyond” (01:18:44)

Millicent reads her poem “Immortal” (01:20:04)

Millicent reads her poem “Eternal Hymn in God” (01:22:07)

Nicholas reads Millicent’s Tales of the Human Condition “Conclusion” (01:25:45)

Watch on YouTube:

Full- length

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Clip #1 - "I am more forgiving with other people than I am with myself.”

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Clip #2 - Poems "Masked Morality" & "Ascension"

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Clip #3 - Poems "The Distant Beyond” "Immortal" "Eternal Hymn in God"

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