Long Now

What place is there for art in the 21st century world of technology, business, and science? Everywhere. Award-winning cross-disciplinary artist and current [SETI artist-in-residence](http://air.seti.org/) Scott Kildall discusses collaborating with scientists, technologists, and others. He shared [his work](http://kildall.com/projects/) and explained the vital role for Art Thinking as a tool that offers perspective in a dynamic, fast-moving world. [Scott Kildall](http://kildall.com/ "Scott Kildall") is a cross-disciplinary artist whose work includes writing algorithms that transform datasets into 3D sculptures and installations. His art often invites public participation through direct interaction. He has been an artist in residence with [the SETI Institute](https://www.seti.org/ "SETI AIR") and [Autodesk](https://www.autodesk.com/pier-9/residency/home "The Pier 9 Residency Program"); and his work has been exhibited internationally at venues including the New York Hall of Science, Transmediale, the Venice Biennale and the San Jose Museum of Art. Besides many other fellowships, residencies, and honors.

Genevieve Bell, an Australian anthropologist and leader of the 3A Institute, delves into the intersection of AI and culture. She emphasizes the need for responsible, sustainable AI development, drawing lessons from Indigenous engineering practices. Bell discusses the historical context of the industrial revolutions, urging proactive design for future cyber-physical systems. She highlights the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and the cultural diversity needed in AI, while questioning its impact on our understanding of intelligence and societal structures.

Craig Childs chronicles the last millennia of the Ice Age, the violent oscillations and retreat of glaciers, the clues and traces that document the first encounters of early humans, and the animals whose presence governed the humans chances for survival. With the cadence of his narrative moving from scientific observation to poetry, he reveals how much has changed since the time of mammoth hunters, and how little. Across unexplored landscapes yet to be peopled, readers will see the Ice Age, and their own age, in a whole new light. Craig Childs is a writer, wanderer and contributing editor at _High Country News_ , commentator for NPR's _Morning Edition_ , and teaches writing at University of Alaska and the Mountainview MFA at Southern New Hampshire University. His books include [Atlas of a Lost World: Travels in Ice Age America](https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780345806314 ) (02019), [Apocalyptic Planet](https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780307476814) (02013) and [House of Rain](https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780316067546) (02008).

Peter Calthorpe, urban designer, planner, and architect, discusses the power and potential of cities in addressing long-term challenges such as climate change. He explores urban development and transportation solutions in Vietnam, the impact of urban living on the spread of COVID-19, transforming rooftops into mini parks and gardens, and efforts to change urban development in China while addressing the housing crisis.

"As a forecaster and Afrofuturist who imagines alternative futures from a Black Diaspora perspective, I think about long-term signals that will shape the next 10 to 100 years." ---Dr. Lonny J Avi Brooks Dr. Brooks develops and promotes a wider Afrocentric perspective that champions Black storytelling and imagination, to push beyond the colonial mindset into an expanded vision of possible futures. Through his work with the [Black Speculative Arts Movement](https://www.bsam-art.com/), [The Afrofuturist Podcast](http://www.theafrofuturistpodcast.com/) which he started with Ahmed Best, [Institute for the Future](https://www.iftf.org/home/), [Fathomers](https://www.fathomers.org/), [Dynamicland](https://dynamicland.org/) and others, Brooks aims to diversify and democratize the building of the future. Lonny J Avi Brooks is an associate professor in communication at California State University, East Bay. As the Co-Principal Investigator for the Long Term and Futures Thinking in Education Project, he has piloted the integration of futures thinking into the communication curriculum. As a leading voice of Afrofuturism 2.0, Brooks contributes prolifically to the field through diverse mediums including journals, conferences, anthologies, exhibits and festivals.

Legendary science fiction author [Kim Stanley Robinson](http://www.kimstanleyrobinson.info/) returns to The Interval to discuss his just released novel New York 2140. Robinson discussed how starting from the most up to date climate science available to him, he derived a portrait of New York City as "super-Venice" and the resilient civilization that inhabits it in his novel. In 02016 Robinson spoke at The Interval about [the economic ideas that inform _New York 2140_](http://theinterval.org/salon-talks/02017/may/10/adapting-sea-level-rise-science-new-york-2140). He was joined by futurist [Peter Schwartz](https://longnow.org/people/board/schwartz11/) in conversation after his talk. [Kim Stanley Robinson](http://www.kimstanleyrobinson.info/) is an American novelist, widely recognized as one of the foremost living writers of science fiction. His work has been described as "humanist science fiction" and "literary science fiction." He has published more than 20 novels including his much honored "[Mars trilogy](http://www.kimstanleyrobinson.info/content/mars-trilogy)", [_New York 2140_](https://www.amazon.com/New-York-2140-Stanley-Robinson/dp/031626234X) (02017), and [_Red Moon_](https://www.amazon.com/Red-Moon-Kim-Stanley-Robinson/dp/0316262374/) due out in October 02018. Robinson has a B.A. in Literature from UC San Diego and an M.A. in English from Boston University. He earned a Ph.D. in literature from UCSD with a dissertation on the works of Philip K. Dick.

At the intersection of climate change, biodiversity loss, and food scarcity lies an unexpected and abundant resource: insects. [Brian Fisher](https://www.fisherlab.org/) has spent three decades documenting biodiversity in Madagascar, a nation off East Africa that's estimated to contain 5% of the world's total plant and animal life. Across the island, harsh economic realities force local people to choose between preserving their unique ecological heritage and clearing the landscape to make way for sustenance farming. To address the twin issues of malnutrition and habitat loss, Fisher with the [_California Academy of Sciences_](https://www.calacademy.org/) founded a Malagasy-based organization that manufactures protein-packed cricket powder. The edible insects alleviate pressure on endangered habitat while supplementing local diets, providing a model that can be replicated in other food-stressed areas around the world. Fisher is an unparalleled storyteller with updates from the cutting edge of conservation science — and the future of food. Dr. Brian Fisher is curator of entomology at the [California Academy of Sciences](https://www.calacademy.org/) and a world-renowned ant expert. Nicknamed the "Ant Man," Fisher has spent three decades documenting the island of Madagascar's beautiful biodiversity. Along the way, he's discovered over 1,000 new ant species. As he witnessed the biodiversity crisis unfold in Madagascar, Fisher began researching traditional insect-eating practices.

Science fiction does more than predict future inventions. Stories are a testbed for exploring the unexpected ways people could incorporate technology into their cultures. Science journalist and novelist [Annalee Newitz](http://techsploitation.com) discusses how scientists, innovators, and the rest of us benefit from the crucible of imaginative fictions. Annalee is the author of the bestselling novel _[Autonomous](https://www.amazon.com/Autonomous-Novel-Annalee-Newitz/dp/0765392070)_. Her nonfiction book _[Scatter, Adapt and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction](https://www.amazon.com/Scatter-Adapt-Remember-Survive-Extinction/dp/0307949427/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8)_ was a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize in science. She is the founding editor of io9.com, and formerly the editor-in-chief of Gizmodo. Currently she is editor-at-large for Ars Technica. Her work has appeared in New York Times, The New Yorker, Atlantic, Wired, Washington Post, Technology Review, 2600, and many other publications. Formerly she was a policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation and a lecturer in American Studies at UC Berkeley. She received a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship from MIT, and has a Ph.D. in English and American Studies from UC Berkeley.

After sitting at the feet of Martin Luther King at the University of Michigan in 1962, Larry Brilliant was swept up into the civil rights movement, marching and protesting across America and Europe. As a radical young doctor he followed the hippie trail from London over the Khyber Pass with his wife Girija, Wavy Gravy and the Hog Farm commune to India. Then one of India’s greatest spiritual teachers, Neem Karoli Baba, told him his destiny was to work for the World Health Organization to help eradicate smallpox. He became a key player in eliminating that 10,000-year-old disease that killed half a billion people in the 20th century alone. Larry and Stewart have a freewheeling conversation and bring the audience in as well, including Wavy Gravy and his wife Jahanara who are on the front row. A really special night where the past is present, and a reminder that we will all make the future.

Laurance Doyle, an astrophysicist at SETI, dives into the fascinating realm of interspecies communication and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. He discusses the use of Earth’s animal communication, like dolphins' syntax and bees' waggle dance, as models for detecting intelligent signals. Doyle explains how analyzing patterns can distinguish between natural sounds and intentional communication. From examining humpback whales' complex social acoustics to exploring the implications of Zipf's law in language, the conversation reveals the intricate connections between life on Earth and the cosmos.