FUTURES Podcast

Evolutionary biologists Bret Weinstein & Heather Heying share their thoughts on what happens when human evolution collides with an increasingly 'hyper-novel' modern world, how a greater understanding of biology can help us develop technologies that benefit humanity, and how the ability to adapt is our species' best tool for creating a sustainable and abundant future. Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein are evolutionary biologists who have been invited to address the US Congress, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Education, and have spoken before audiences across the globe. They both earned PhDs in Biology from the University of Michigan, where their research on evolution and adaptation earned awards for its quality and innovation. They have been visiting fellows at Princeton University, and before that were professors at the Evergreen State College for fifteen years. They resigned from Evergreen in the wake of 2017 campus riots that focused in part on their opposition to a day of racial segregation and other college "equity" proposals. They cohost weekly livestreams of the DarkHorse podcast. Find out more: futurespodcast.net CREDITS Produced by FUTURES Podcast Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason FOLLOW Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast

Founder of NEO.LIFE Jane Metcalfe shares her thoughts on the possibilities offered by the neobiological revolution, how digital technology is changing how we understand and engineer biology, and the important role bio-artists play in helping to navigate the ethical implications of new innovations. Jane Metcalfe is an entrepreneur, publisher, speaker, advisor, manager, and investor. In 2017, she founded NEO.LIFE, a media and events company exploring the radical changes taking place in humans as we harness the tools of engineering and computer science to alter our own biology. Her new book, Neo.Life: 25 Visions for the Future of Our Species, co-edited with Brian Bergstein, was just selected for the AIGA's 50 Books/50 Covers list. She is best known as the co-founder and former president of Wired Ventures, whose businesses included Wired Magazine (US, UK, and Japanese editions), Wired News, the search engine HotBot, and Wired Books. She is also the former president of TCHO Chocolate. Find out more: futurespodcast.net CREDITS Produced by FUTURES Podcast Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason FOLLOW Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast

Author Michael Bhaskar shares his thoughts on how the history of humanity is characterised by big ideas, why the perceived stagnation of economic growth and technological progress may mark the end of breakthrough innovation, and what new tools might help us to develop shocking, sensational or paradigm shifting new ways to see the world. Michael Bhaskar is a writer, publisher, researcher and entrepreneur. He is Co-Founder of Canelo, a new kind of publishing company. Between 2017 and 2019 he was a consultant Writer in Residence at DeepMind, the world's leading AI research lab. He has written and talked extensively about the future of media and technology around the world. He has been featured in and written for the Guardian, the FT and Wired and on BBC 2, the BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4 and NPR among others. Michael has been a British Council Young Creative Entrepreneur, a Frankfurt Book Fair Fellow and a Visiting Researcher at Oxford Brookes University. He has written a prize-winning monograph, The Content Machine, and Curation: The Power of Selection in a World of Excess. He is also the lead author of the Literature in the 21st Century report and is co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Publishing. Find out more: futurespodcast.net CREDITS Produced by FUTURES Podcast Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason FOLLOW Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast

Author Jeremy Lent shares his insights into the importance of developing alternatives to the modern western worldview, how recognising our deep interconnectedness to all life could lead towards a new ecological civilisation, and how integrating science and traditional wisdom might help us avoid the global crises threatening humanity. Jeremy Lent is the award-winning author of The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity's Search for Meaning. A former internet company CEO, he is founder of the non-profit Liology Institute dedicated to fostering an integrated, life-affirming worldview. He lives in Berkeley, California. Find out more: futurespodcast.net CREDITS Produced by FUTURES Podcast Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason FOLLOW Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast

Philip Goff, a philosopher at Durham University and expert on consciousness, discusses his intriguing views on panpsychism, a theory proposing that consciousness is a fundamental aspect of the universe. He challenges traditional scientific views on consciousness, emphasizing the importance of subjective experience. Goff delves into the historical relationship between science and consciousness, and the alienation felt when emotions are simplified to chemical reactions. He also explores the philosophical implications of consciousness in relation to AI and encourages a synthesis of scientific and philosophical perspectives.

Comedian Robin Ince shares his thoughts on the fascinating role science plays in our everyday lives, how we can avoid becoming too dogmatic about our belief systems, and the incredible importance of being interested. Robin Ince is co-presenter of the award-winning BBC Radio 4 show, The Infinite Monkey Cage. He has won the Time Out Outstanding Achievement in Comedy, was nominated for a British Comedy Award for Best Live show, and has won three Chortle Awards. He has toured his stand up across the world from Oslo to LA to Sydney, both solo and with his radio double act partner, Professor Brian Cox. Find out more: futurespodcast.net CREDITS Produced by FUTURES Podcast Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason FOLLOW Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast

Philosopher Patricia MacCormack shares her insights into how the 'ahuman' might provide a solution to the growing ecological crisis, why self-extinction should be considered a compassionate act, and why antinatalism, abolitionist veganism, and occultism might be our best strategies for combatting human exceptionalism. Patricia MacCormack is Professor of Continental Philosophy at Anglia Ruskin University Cambridge. She has published extensively on feminism, the philosophies of Deleuze, Guattari, Lyotard, Serres and Bataille, posthuman theory, teratology, animal rights, European horror films, chaos magick, Lovecraft and other trajectories of alterity. She is the author of Cinesexuality (2008), Posthuman Ethics (2012), The Ahuman Manifesto: Activism for the End of the Anthropocenethe (2020), co-editor of Deleuze and the Schizoanalysis of Cinema (2008), The Animal Catalyst: Toward Ahuman Theory (2014). Find out more: futurespodcast.net CREDITS Produced by FUTURES Podcast Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason FOLLOW Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast

Designer Dani Clode and researcher Paulina Kieliba share their insights into designing a robotic Third Thumb, how the human brain supports and integrates augmentation devices, and how we can begin to use advanced prosthetics to extend our abilities in new and unexpected ways. Dani Clode is an upper-limb prosthetic, augmentation and product designer, the founder of Dani Clode Design and a Senior Research Technician at the Plasticity Lab. Dani has a multi-disciplinary approach to her work that investigates the future architecture and perception of our bodies. Incorporating new materials and design processes, the mechanics of the human body and robotics, Dani works to challenge the perception and boundaries of prosthetic design and extend the human form. Alongside neuroscience research with the Plasticity Lab, Dani's Third Thumb augmentation and prosthetic work has been exhibited world-wide, including four permanent museum displays – in the German Museum of Technology, Museum of Applied Arts Vienna, Futurium Berlin and the National Museum of Scotland. Paulina Kieliba is a neuroscientist and engineer working in the Plasticity Lab at UCL. She is interested in combining the strengths of technology and neuroscientific research to best help individuals suffering from motor deficits. In particular, she explores opportunities for improving the usability and design of artificial limbs. In her research, she is looking at the extra robotic fingers as an alternative to traditional prosthetic devices and studies the changes in the sensorimotor systems associated with hand augmentation. Find out more: futurespodcast.net CREDITS Produced by FUTURES Podcast Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason FOLLOW Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast

Neuroscientist Dr. Dave Rabin shares his insights on how to hack our biology to cope with the demands of modern life, the importance of heart-rate-variability (HRV) in managing our stress response, and the role biofeedback will play in the design of the next-generation of wearable devices. Dr. David Rabin is a Board-Certified Psychiatrist, Neuroscientist, and inventor who studies resilience and the impact of chronic stress in our day-to-day lives. Dr. Rabin and his extraordinary care team at the Apollo Clinic collaborates with clients, empowering them to take control of their mental and physical health by tapping into our conserved abilities to adapt and heal ourselves. In addition to focusing on integration therapy, plant and natural medicines, couples therapy and medicine-assisted psychotherapy, Dr. Rabin specializes in treatment-resistant mental illnesses including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), psychosomatic disorders, personality disorders, chronic pain disorders, insomnia, and substance use disorders using minimal and non-invasive treatment strategies. Find out more: futurespodcast.net CREDITS Produced by FUTURES Podcast Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason FOLLOW Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast

BioViva CEO Liz Parrish shares her insights into developing gene therapies to end ageing, the ethics of taking a proactionary approach to experimental treatments, and the growing importance of preventative healthcare. Elizabeth is the Founder and CEO of BioViva, is a humanitarian, entrepreneur, innovator, author, and a leading voice for genetic cures. As a strong proponent of progress and education for the advancement of regenerative medicine modalities, she serves as a motivational speaker to the public at large for the life sciences. She is actively involved in international educational media outreach. BioViva is currently working on the development of tools to help people monitor their health over time, and is funding a research project at Rutgers University to develop a therapy to address time-incurred cell damage. Find out more: futurespodcast.net CREDITS Produced by FUTURES Podcast Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason FOLLOW Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast