The Escaped Sapiens Podcast

Housing regulation is often put in place for good reasons, namely comfort, safety, environmental protection, availability of utilities and services, and more. With each additional regulation, however, restrictions are being placed on what you can build, where you can build, and how quickly you can build it. Professor Bryan Caplan argues that our current mess of regulations dramatically increases the price of housing, by limiting supply. This, he argues, has disastrous effects on fertility, and many social issues that we care about today, including social mobility and financial inequalities. Bryan argues further that inappropriate zoning and regulation creates widespread environmental damage through urban sprawl, congestion, and by limiting the number of people who are able to live in environmentally less damaging areas of the country (e.g. where heating and air condition is not required throughout the year, or where water is not scarce). Bryan's preference would be to lift many, if not all building regulations. My approach would be somewhat more conservative. We discuss the nuances of the debate in this conversation. ►Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Rh1eFIveLfE ►For more information about Bryan's work: http://www.bcaplan.com/ ►For Bryans new book: https://www.cato.org/books/build-baby-build ►Follow Bryan on X: @bryan_caplan These conversations are supported by the Andrea von Braun foundation (http://www.avbstiftung.de/), as an exploration of the rich, exciting, connected, scientifically literate, and (most importantly) sustainable future of humanity. This interview is one of a series of interviews that explores the impact of economics on sustainability and the environment. The Andrea von Braun Foundation has provided me with full creative freedom with their support. The views expressed in these episodes are my own and those of my guests.  

Julia Berezutskaya is one of the worlds leading researchers working in the area of brain computer interfaces. She is part of the brain-computer interface group (dept. Neurology & Neurosurgery) at UMC Utrecht, where she works at the intersection of fundamental and clinical neuroscience research. A key goal of her work on the computational modeling of cognitive and neurobiological processes is to one day allow for the decoding of naturalistic human speech from the brain signals of patients who have lost all motor function. In this conversation we discuss the basics of her work: what do the implants look like? Where do they go in the brain? What does the signal look like? What is being decoded? How are brain signals decoded? Who is getting these implants, and what is the state of the art? ►Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/JrE-Ux7BnHA ►You can find out more about the EU project that Julia is a part of where she will implant individuals with an intracortical BCI here: https://intrecom.eu/ ►You can see one of the mockup implants she uses here:  https://wysscenter.ch/advances/ability/ ►Visit Julias website to find out more about her work: https://www.juliaberezutskaya.com/ These conversations are supported by the Andrea von Braun foundation (http://www.avbstiftung.de/), as an exploration of the rich, exciting, connected, scientifically literate, and (most importantly) sustainable future of humanity. The views expressed in these episodes are my own and those of my guests.

Carl Bender, an applied mathematician and physicist, discusses complex numbers, PT-symmetric quantum systems, and the link between mathematics and reality. He explores the history and practical applications of numbers, the evolution of quantum mechanics, PT symmetry, Lorentz transformations, and collaborative research with Feynman. The conversation also touches on beauty in mathematics, decision-making strategies, dating dilemmas, and partnerships in mathematics and physics.

What role should Nuclear Power play in energy production? This episode of the podcast explores the case for Nuclear Energy. I speak with Rachel Slaybaugh, who was an Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Division Director at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. She also served as a Program Director at the Department of Energy’s ARPA‑E, where she created the nuclear fission program. She is currently a partner at DCVC. We discuss three of the main problems that people have with nuclear power: (i) The risk of plant meltdowns, (ii) the storage of nuclear waste, and (iii) the expense of setting up new nuclear plants. We also cover the environmental benefits of nuclear as a low carbon energy source, as well as some of the exciting new advanced reactor designs that are coming online right now. ►Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/BIMj1-GAE4E ►You can find out more about Rachel Here: https://www.dcvc.com/team/rachel-slaybaugh/ ►Follow rachel on twitter: @RachelSlaybaugh These conversations are supported by the Andrea von Braun foundation (http://www.avbstiftung.de/), as an exploration of the rich, exciting, connected, scientifically literate, and (most importantly) sustainable future of humanity. The views expressed in these episodes are my own and those of my guests.  

Economist Steve Keen challenges modern economic theory, criticizes neoclassical economics, explores China's economic transformation, discusses building a sustainable economy on Mars, contrasts subjective and objective value in economic theory, critiques economists for missing the 2007 crisis, examines the interplay of energy, value, and sustainability, and advocates for Universal Basic Income and valuing human life.

On this episode of the Podcast I speak with economist and public policy analyst Jeffrey Sachs. Jeffrey is Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. He served as Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General for almost two decades, and is co-founder and chief strategist of the Millennium Promise Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending extreme poverty and hunger. In this conversation we cover the question: "Is Capitalism Responsible For the Environmental Destruction We are Seeing Today?" These conversations are supported by the Andrea von Braun foundation (http://www.avbstiftung.de/), as an exploration of the rich, exciting, connected, scientifically literate, and (most importantly) sustainable future of humanity. The views expressed in these episodes are my own and those of my guests. ►Watch on YouTube:  https://youtu.be/kNv94Ggf9YI   ►Find out more about Jeffery's work:  https://www.jeffsachs.org/ https://sdgs.un.org/panelists/mr-jeffrey-d-sachs-29781 https://www.sipa.columbia.edu/communities-connections/faculty/jeffrey-sachs https://csd.columbia.edu/sachs   ►Watch more of Jeffery on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@JeffreySachsOfficial2023    

In this episode of the podcast I speak with David Shapiro about some of the threats associated with AI development. We discuss the impact that generative AI will have on truth, trust in evidence, and divisive narratives. Who will pay for AI, and how will that determine the path of its development? Will artificial relationships and generated adult content lead to new forms of sexual addiction and social isolation? What impact will AI have on cyber security, and what will weaponized AI look like? How will AI eventually escape our control?  We close with a brief discussion of UBI, and why humans matter. ►Watch on YouTube:  https://youtu.be/pCtbdYQm16s ►Visit David's Youtube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@DavidShapiroAutomator ►Join David's Discord:  https://discord.com/invite/32kNMc2Pqt ►Support David's work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/daveshap  These conversations are supported by the Andrea von Braun foundation (http://www.avbstiftung.de/), as an exploration of the rich, exciting, connected, scientifically literate, and (most importantly) sustainable future of humanity. The views expressed in these episodes are my own and those of my guests.  

What is narcissism, and why do so many successful people seem to be narcissists? In this conversation I speak with Professor Mitja Back from the university of Muenster, who is one of the worlds leading experts on the topic of Narcissism. We discuss narcissism as a personality trait, how narcissistic traits develop (nature vs nurture), relationship breakdown, narcissism on social media, and the link between narcissism and success. ►Watch On YouTube: https://youtu.be/JXDs3TbIiEk   ►For more information about Mitja's work see: https://www.uni-muenster.de/PsyIFP/AEBack/members/mitja-back.html https://www.mitjaback.de/buecher/ https://www.instagram.com/dr.mitjaback/ https://www.youtube.com/@MitjaBack   These conversations are supported by the Andrea von Braun Foundation (http://www.avbstiftung.de/), as an exploration of the rich, exciting, connected, scientifically literate, and (most importantly) sustainable future of humanity. The views expressed in these episodes are my own and/or those of my guests. 

In this conversation I speak with Professor Kerstin Göpfrich, who works at Heidelberg University at the Center for Molecular Biology (ZMBH), and who is also leading the Max Planck Research Group for the Biophysical Engineering of Life. Kerstin is attempting to construct living cells from scratch, piece by piece from non-living materials. So far she has created cell membranes, cytoskeletons, linkers for connecting cytoskeletons to the cell membrane, a mechanism for cell division, microscopic channels for ion transport in and out of cell membranes, an artificial 'mitochondria' analog, and more. The goal is eventually to put together all of these elements into a self replicating, and autonomous model 'cell'. We discuss her progress, and what it teaches us about the origins of life on earth. We also touch on the ethics of bringing an entirely new branch of life into existence.   ►Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/JBnlKY-9f5c   ►For more information about Kerstin's work see: https://goepfrichgroup.de/kerstin-gopfrich/ https://www.mr.mpg.de/person/53539/14181493   These conversations are supported by the Andrea von Braun Foundation (http://www.avbstiftung.de/), as an exploration of the rich, exciting, connected, scientifically literate, and (most importantly) sustainable future of humanity. The views expressed in these episodes are my own and those of my guests.    

Evolutionary biologist Olivia Judson discusses the history of life on Earth, exploring the transformation of life forms over time and the 5 energy epochs. Topics include the influence of organisms on Earth, the formation of eukaryotes, the origins of predation and multicellularity, and the benefits and consequences of sexual reproduction. The speakers also touch on DNA structure and evolution, debunk the oxygen holocaust theory, consider the possibility of life on Mars and the Moon, and discuss the Fermi Paradox and the search for intelligent life.