Podcast appearances and mentions of Kim Stanley Robinson

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Kim Stanley Robinson

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Best podcasts about Kim Stanley Robinson

Latest podcast episodes about Kim Stanley Robinson

Everybody Loves Communism
Ministry for the Future (Jamie Goes On Pod Damn America)

Everybody Loves Communism

Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2025 72:21


Greetings, Kim Stanley Robinson heads! This week we are cross-posting Jamie's appearance on Pod Damn America in which she and Jake Flores talk about The Ministry for the Future, which Jake has now read and has thoughts on. We'll be back next week with our regularly scheduled programming. *** SIGN UP NOW at https://patreon.com/partygirls to get all of our bonus content, Discord access, and a shout out on the pod! Follow us on ALL the Socials: Instagram: @party.girls.pod YouTube: @partygirlspod TikTok: @party.girls.pod Twitter: @partygirlspod BlueSky: @partygirls.bsky.social Leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you feel so inclined: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/party-girls/id1577239978 https://open.spotify.com/show/71ESqg33NRlEPmDxjbg4rO

Pod Damn America
Ministry For The Future w/ Jamie Peck

Pod Damn America

Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2025 72:46


Jake and Jamie discuss friend of the show Kim Stanley Robinson's 2020 Climate Fiction masterpiece Ministry For The Future and engage in some COMRADELY criticism (we love you, Stan) JAMIE PECK @jamie_elizabeth https://linktr.ee/jamiepeck PARTY GIRLS https://www.patreon.com/PartyGirls https://www.youtube.com/@partygirlspod MERCH poddamnamerica.bigcartel.com PATREON + DISCORD patreon.com/poddamnamerica

Long Now: Seminars About Long-term Thinking
Stephen Heintz, Kim Stanley Robinson: A Logic For The Future: International Relations in the Age of Turbulence

Long Now: Seminars About Long-term Thinking

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2025 59:55


Stephen Heintz and Kim Stanley Robinson say we live in an “Age of Turbulence.” Looking around our geopolitical situation, it's easy to see what they mean. Faced with the ever-growing threat of climate change, the looming potential breakdown of the post-01945 international order, and the ambiguous prospects of rapid technological changes in fields like AI, biotechnology, and geoengineering, it is clear that we need new answers to new challenges. Stephen Heintz, a Public policy expert and president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF), and Kim Stanley Robinson, one of the most acclaimed science fiction authors writing today, work in very different fields. But each of them in his own way has sketched out a vision of what we must do to face down the intersecting crises of our time: While their methods may differ, they align on their conclusions. In their Long Now Talk, Heintz and Robinson propose what they refer to as “A Logic For The Future” — a new path for international relations in the face of the chaos of our current age. Episode Notes: https://longnow.org/ideas/a-logic-for-the-future/

New Books in Literature
Planetary Boundaries are Non-Negotiable: Kim Stanley Robinson and Elizabeth Carolyn Miller (JP)

New Books in Literature

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 25, 2025 50:52


In Season 9, Novel Dialogue set out to find the Venn diagram intersection of tech and fiction—only to realize that Kim Stanley Robinson had staked his claim on the territory decades ago. With influential series on California, on the terraforming of Mars, and on human civilization as reshaped by rising tides, KSR has established a conceptual space as dedicated to sustainability as his own beloved Village Homes in Davis, California. All of that, though, only prepared the ground for Ministry for the Future (Orbit, 2020), his vision of a sustained governmental and scientific rethinking of humanity's fossil-burning, earth-warming ways. In only five years, it may have become the most influential work of climate fiction ever—perhaps right up there with Uncle Tom's Cabin in its thoroughly shocking ability to jump into the political fray. Flanked by Novel Dialogue's John Plotz, KSR's friend and ally Elizabeth Carolyn Miller (celebrated eco-critic and UC Davis professor) asks him to reflect on the book's impact. He brushes aside the doom and gloom of tech bros forecasting the death of our planet and hence the necessity of a flight to Mars: humans are not one of the species doomed to extinction by our reckless combustion of the biosphere. However, survival is not the same as thriving. The way we are headed now, “the crash of civilization is very bad. And ignoring it…is not going to work.” Mentioned in the Episode: --Pact for the Future --COP 26 (2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference) --COP 30 (where KSR will be a UN rep….) --Planetary boundaries J. Rockstrom (et. al.) --Charles MacKay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds --Paris Agreement --Don't Look Up --Tobias Menely, The Animal Claim: Sensibility and the Creaturely Voice --Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

New Books Network
Planetary Boundaries are Non-Negotiable: Kim Stanley Robinson and Elizabeth Carolyn Miller (JP)

New Books Network

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 24, 2025 50:52


In Season 9, Novel Dialogue set out to find the Venn diagram intersection of tech and fiction—only to realize that Kim Stanley Robinson had staked his claim on the territory decades ago. With influential series on California, on the terraforming of Mars, and on human civilization as reshaped by rising tides, KSR has established a conceptual space as dedicated to sustainability as his own beloved Village Homes in Davis, California. All of that, though, only prepared the ground for Ministry for the Future (Orbit, 2020), his vision of a sustained governmental and scientific rethinking of humanity's fossil-burning, earth-warming ways. In only five years, it may have become the most influential work of climate fiction ever—perhaps right up there with Uncle Tom's Cabin in its thoroughly shocking ability to jump into the political fray. Flanked by Novel Dialogue's John Plotz, KSR's friend and ally Elizabeth Carolyn Miller (celebrated eco-critic and UC Davis professor) asks him to reflect on the book's impact. He brushes aside the doom and gloom of tech bros forecasting the death of our planet and hence the necessity of a flight to Mars: humans are not one of the species doomed to extinction by our reckless combustion of the biosphere. However, survival is not the same as thriving. The way we are headed now, “the crash of civilization is very bad. And ignoring it…is not going to work.” Mentioned in the Episode: --Pact for the Future --COP 26 (2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference) --COP 30 (where KSR will be a UN rep….) --Planetary boundaries J. Rockstrom (et. al.) --Charles MacKay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds --Paris Agreement --Don't Look Up --Tobias Menely, The Animal Claim: Sensibility and the Creaturely Voice --Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

New Books in Science Fiction
Planetary Boundaries are Non-Negotiable: Kim Stanley Robinson and Elizabeth Carolyn Miller (JP)

New Books in Science Fiction

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 24, 2025 50:52


In Season 9, Novel Dialogue set out to find the Venn diagram intersection of tech and fiction—only to realize that Kim Stanley Robinson had staked his claim on the territory decades ago. With influential series on California, on the terraforming of Mars, and on human civilization as reshaped by rising tides, KSR has established a conceptual space as dedicated to sustainability as his own beloved Village Homes in Davis, California. All of that, though, only prepared the ground for Ministry for the Future (Orbit, 2020), his vision of a sustained governmental and scientific rethinking of humanity's fossil-burning, earth-warming ways. In only five years, it may have become the most influential work of climate fiction ever—perhaps right up there with Uncle Tom's Cabin in its thoroughly shocking ability to jump into the political fray. Flanked by Novel Dialogue's John Plotz, KSR's friend and ally Elizabeth Carolyn Miller (celebrated eco-critic and UC Davis professor) asks him to reflect on the book's impact. He brushes aside the doom and gloom of tech bros forecasting the death of our planet and hence the necessity of a flight to Mars: humans are not one of the species doomed to extinction by our reckless combustion of the biosphere. However, survival is not the same as thriving. The way we are headed now, “the crash of civilization is very bad. And ignoring it…is not going to work.” Mentioned in the Episode: --Pact for the Future --COP 26 (2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference) --COP 30 (where KSR will be a UN rep….) --Planetary boundaries J. Rockstrom (et. al.) --Charles MacKay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds --Paris Agreement --Don't Look Up --Tobias Menely, The Animal Claim: Sensibility and the Creaturely Voice --Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-fiction

New Books in Literary Studies
Planetary Boundaries are Non-Negotiable: Kim Stanley Robinson and Elizabeth Carolyn Miller (JP)

New Books in Literary Studies

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 24, 2025 50:52


In Season 9, Novel Dialogue set out to find the Venn diagram intersection of tech and fiction—only to realize that Kim Stanley Robinson had staked his claim on the territory decades ago. With influential series on California, on the terraforming of Mars, and on human civilization as reshaped by rising tides, KSR has established a conceptual space as dedicated to sustainability as his own beloved Village Homes in Davis, California. All of that, though, only prepared the ground for Ministry for the Future (Orbit, 2020), his vision of a sustained governmental and scientific rethinking of humanity's fossil-burning, earth-warming ways. In only five years, it may have become the most influential work of climate fiction ever—perhaps right up there with Uncle Tom's Cabin in its thoroughly shocking ability to jump into the political fray. Flanked by Novel Dialogue's John Plotz, KSR's friend and ally Elizabeth Carolyn Miller (celebrated eco-critic and UC Davis professor) asks him to reflect on the book's impact. He brushes aside the doom and gloom of tech bros forecasting the death of our planet and hence the necessity of a flight to Mars: humans are not one of the species doomed to extinction by our reckless combustion of the biosphere. However, survival is not the same as thriving. The way we are headed now, “the crash of civilization is very bad. And ignoring it…is not going to work.” Mentioned in the Episode: --Pact for the Future --COP 26 (2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference) --COP 30 (where KSR will be a UN rep….) --Planetary boundaries J. Rockstrom (et. al.) --Charles MacKay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds --Paris Agreement --Don't Look Up --Tobias Menely, The Animal Claim: Sensibility and the Creaturely Voice --Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

New Books in Environmental Studies
Planetary Boundaries are Non-Negotiable: Kim Stanley Robinson and Elizabeth Carolyn Miller (JP)

New Books in Environmental Studies

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 24, 2025 50:52


In Season 9, Novel Dialogue set out to find the Venn diagram intersection of tech and fiction—only to realize that Kim Stanley Robinson had staked his claim on the territory decades ago. With influential series on California, on the terraforming of Mars, and on human civilization as reshaped by rising tides, KSR has established a conceptual space as dedicated to sustainability as his own beloved Village Homes in Davis, California. All of that, though, only prepared the ground for Ministry for the Future (Orbit, 2020), his vision of a sustained governmental and scientific rethinking of humanity's fossil-burning, earth-warming ways. In only five years, it may have become the most influential work of climate fiction ever—perhaps right up there with Uncle Tom's Cabin in its thoroughly shocking ability to jump into the political fray. Flanked by Novel Dialogue's John Plotz, KSR's friend and ally Elizabeth Carolyn Miller (celebrated eco-critic and UC Davis professor) asks him to reflect on the book's impact. He brushes aside the doom and gloom of tech bros forecasting the death of our planet and hence the necessity of a flight to Mars: humans are not one of the species doomed to extinction by our reckless combustion of the biosphere. However, survival is not the same as thriving. The way we are headed now, “the crash of civilization is very bad. And ignoring it…is not going to work.” Mentioned in the Episode: --Pact for the Future --COP 26 (2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference) --COP 30 (where KSR will be a UN rep….) --Planetary boundaries J. Rockstrom (et. al.) --Charles MacKay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds --Paris Agreement --Don't Look Up --Tobias Menely, The Animal Claim: Sensibility and the Creaturely Voice --Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/environmental-studies

What The If?
Microgravity MOVIE Making!

What The If?

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2025 43:00


What if filmmakers took their cameras to space? Prepare for a world of zero-G cinematography! From weather-sealed cameras designed to handle unexpected astronaut vomit to the perpetual hum of life-support systems ruining your audio, documentary filmmaking in orbit presents unique challenges. Discover why the International Space Station's lighting is "just awful," how playing a guitar in microgravity sends you spinning in unexpected directions, and why the first task in every Mars simulation is fixing the eternally broken toilet. Explore how future space workers will need specialized trade skills—from plumbers to welders—as humanity expands beyond Earth. This thought-provoking "what if" scenario features insights from documentary filmmaker Sam Burbank and Explore Mars CEO Chris Carberry. —— Chris Carberry is the CEO and co-founder of Explore Mars, Inc. (Explore Mars), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit space advocacy organization that was created to advance the goal of sending humans to Mars by the mid-2030s. Carberry is a well-respected expert and influential director of strategic alliances in the space community as well as with non-traditional organizations. Carberry has presented oral (and written) testimony to both the United States Senate as well as the United States House of Representatives and has been active in all levels of policy engagement with both the Executive and Legislative branches of government. In recent years, he has overseen Explore Mars' annual Humans to Mars Summit, the largest annual conference focused on sending humans to Mars. He has also spearheaded dozens of programs including the Mars Innovation Forum, the annual Community Workshops for the Achievability and Sustainability of Human Exploration of Mars series, the AR/VR and Space workshop series, the ISS and Mars Conference in Washington, D.C. and in Strasbourg, France, and the Women and Mars Conference in Washington, D.C. He has also conducted programs overseas, in such countries as the United Arab Emirates, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Carberry is also the creator, and one of the senior editors, of the annual publication known as the Humans to Mars Report that was highlighted in the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017. In 2013, Carberry was awarded a NASA Group Achievement award. Carberry is the author of the 2019 book, Alcohol in Space: Past, Present and Future, and the upcoming book, The Music of Space (to be released in 2022). Both volumes are being adapted into documentary films.Learn more about Chris at https://exploremars.orgCheck out his books at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Chris-Carberry/author/B0CZWN4JNF?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1743558561&sr=8-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true Watch his film at https://www.amazon.com/Alcohol-Space-Movie-Sam-Burbank/dp/B0DJQZGLG2 —— Sam Burbank is a science-writer and science-documentary filmmaker. Mr. Burbank has worked with PBS, Discovery Channel, and has produced and written two dozen programs for the National Geographic, ranging from renewable energy to the X-Prize. Sam studied creative writing at San Francisco State University, and is a long time member of AAAS. He has spent three summers on Devon Island, near the magnetic north pole, and was a member of the founding crew of the Mars Society FMARS station in 2001. In 2002 he joined a crew at the MDRS station for the one-of-a-kind ICoMP experiment Sam loves snowboarding, journal writing, and dancing a fast 1930's swing step, the Balboa. In 1995, he and wife Linda spent their honeymoon riding a motorcycle to the arctic circle. Some notable quotes about Mr. Burbank include the following: "Sam Burbank is elevating the video-journal to an art genre." Kim Stanley Robinson, author Antarctica, Red Mars. "Sam is a true artist, who makes visible to the eye what before could only be seen by the mind." Robert Zubrin, author The Case for Mars, Entering Space. Learn more about Sam at https://www.samburbank.com/

Skylab: Roadtrip to the Future
Garage Scientists: From DNA Analysis to Radio Waves and Beyond (W10 2025)

Skylab: Roadtrip to the Future

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 8, 2025 129:51


Show notes:Bento Lab - Portable DNA analysis lab with centrifuge, gel electrophoresis, and PCR machineBio Bits - Kits for demonstrating protein synthesis with fluorescent indicatorsShannon-Hartley theorem - Information theory concept discussed related to signal transmissionRock climbing for kids - REI resource about climbing with childrenThe Martian - Book referenced during discussion of radio communications from MarsJoule-Thomson effect - Physics concept mentioned regarding gas expansionBlue Ghost lunar lander - Recent moon landing discussedStarship test flights - SpaceX's Starship development programErica DeBenedictis' work - Research on microbial tolerance to Martian environmentsMoving Mars - Science fiction book by Greg BearHabit Chaining - Productivity concept mentionedIKEA Poäng chairs - Mentioned as ideal reading chairsStreet Parking - Modified CrossFit workout program Christine usesThe French Laundry Cookbook - High-end cookbook Christine purchasedAfter Meat - Book about bioreactor technologyAcquired Podcast: Lockheed Martin episode - Podcast Christine is listening toBanff Mountain Film Festival - Film festival they attended with their childrenThe Weirdest People in the World - Book by Joseph HenrichGuns, Germs, and Steel - Book by Jared DiamondThe Machiavellians - Book by James BurnhamHis Majesty's Dragon - Historical fantasy novel with dragonsRed Mars - Book by Kim Stanley Robinson about Mars colonization28C3 Cellular protocol stacks for Internet (Harald Walte) - (Video)How to Set Up a Home Biohacking Lab for Education - Christine's blogpost

Everybody Loves Communism
PREVIEW: Kim Stanley Robinson on Cryptocurrency and Sabotage

Everybody Loves Communism

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 4, 2025 8:37


In this PATREON PREVIEW, Sci-Fi Legend Kim Stanley Robinson explains his true feelings about cryptocurrency, some things would would have done differently in Ministry For the Future if he wrote it today, and the influence of How To Blow Up a Pipeline. Watch the full interview here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/we-need-w-kim-122570852 *** SIGN UP NOW at https://patreon.com/partygirls to get all of our bonus content, Discord access, and a shout out on the pod! Join our YouTube channel as a member to get access to bonus videos (the same one's you'd find on Patreon!): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0T-lzkTsMt1tBSvp958UGQ/join Follow us on ALL the Socials: Instagram: @party.girls.pod YouTube: @partygirlspod TikTok: @party.girls.pod Twitter: @partygirlspod BlueSky: @partygirls.bsky.social Leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you feel so inclined: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/party-girls/id1577239978 https://open.spotify.com/show/71ESqg33NRlEPmDxjbg4rO

Zero: The Climate Race
As COP16 resumes in Rome, biodiversity funding is on the line

Zero: The Climate Race

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 20, 2025 30:04 Transcription Available


Last October, delegates from around the world met in Cali, Colombia to discuss ways to protect the planet’s biodiversity. After a promising breakthrough in Montreal, Canada three years ago, there were high hopes for that summit. But COP16 closed in shambles, with negotiators leaving before a final agreement could be achieved on key issues. Now, the summit is resuming next week in Rome. Will developed and developing countries be able to reach consensus? Reporter Natasha White, who attended part one in Cali, tells Akshat Rathi what she expects to see when COP16 reconvenes next week in Italy. Explore further: Past episode about COP30’s final deal Past episode with sci fi writer Kim Stanley Robinson about the merits of the COP process Past episode with Stripe’s Nan Ransohoff about the carbon removal credit market Bloomberg Green reporting from Natasha White Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Mythili Rao. Special thanks this week to Sharon Chen and Jessica Beck. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everybody Loves Communism
Ending Capitalism To Save The World w/ Kim Stanley Robinson

Everybody Loves Communism

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 18, 2025 74:25


Sci-fi Legend Kim Stanley Robinson joins Jamie Peck and Sam Beard to discuss the end of capitalism, why being a leftist gives him hope, what he thinks of Bill Gates and Obama's takes on Ministry For the Future, and communism. Much is gathered and realized through the readings and this conversation. For example, did reading Ministry for the Future turn Sam into a Statist? Is KSR working on a new book? Can we defeat the death cult fury of the billionaire class? What is the role of utopian fiction in revolution? How did Fredric Jameson's feedback affect Ministry For the Future?? Get Kim Stanley Robinson's takes on Luigi Mangione, Bitcoin, sabotaging fossil fuel infrastructure, what we would add to Ministry For the Future today, and all the plane crashes everywhere.... BEHIND THE PAYWALL: https://patreon.com/partygirls *** SIGN UP NOW at https://patreon.com/partygirls to get all of our bonus content, Discord access, and a shout out on the pod! Join our YouTube channel as a member to get access to bonus videos (the same one's you'd find on Patreon!): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0T-lzkTsMt1tBSvp958UGQ/join Follow us on ALL the Socials: Instagram: @party.girls.pod YouTube: @partygirlspod TikTok: @party.girls.pod Twitter: @partygirlspod BlueSky: @partygirls.bsky.social Leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you feel so inclined: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/party-girls/id1577239978 https://open.spotify.com/show/71ESqg33NRlEPmDxjbg4rO

Zero: The Climate Race
Green growth is expensive. The global economy can afford it.

Zero: The Climate Race

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 13, 2025 31:05 Transcription Available


How do we keep climate action alive in a fracturing world? “Today we live in an age where we actually have the solutions– technologically, economically, financially speaking– but what we are not doing is acting on them,” Achim Steiner, head of the United Nations Development Program tells Akshat Rathi. In a conversation recorded at COP29, Steiner talked about how some countries– including Uruguay, India, Kenya, China, and Bhutan– are moving forward with innovative climate solutions even when international financing isn’t readily available. He also called on the developed world to find better ways to fund sustainable development. Explore further: Past episode with climate finance expert Avinash Persaud about getting money to the places that need it Past episode with Achim Steiner about the role of the UN Development Program Past episode with science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson about the role of the United Nations Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Mythili Rao. Special thanks this week to Sharon Chen and Jessica Beck. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Possible
Anja Manuel on AI, China, and national security

Possible

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 12, 2025 60:51


What role can AI play in international diplomacy and national security? In this episode, Reid and Aria sit down with Anja Manuel, a former diplomat, author, and one of the leading voices in AI and foreign policy. She has the unique ability to bridge the gaps between technology, policy and diplomacy. They discuss international AI governance, China, potential threats of bio-terrorism, and the strategic decisions that the US and its allies must make to navigate this complex landscape of innovation with regulation. For more info on the podcast and transcripts of all the episodes, visit https://www.possible.fm/podcast/  For the referenced Possible episode featuring Kim Stanley Robinson: https://link.chtbl.com/8YMsBlzg Topics: 1:21 - Episode introduction  3:44 - Hellos and intros  4:38 - Where the U.S. and China rank in the Great AI Race 6:09 - Deepseek explainer 7:27 - Which technologies the U.S. should prioritize 9:05 - Why it's important for the U.S. to stay in the lead 10:41 - How to maintain that lead 16:27 - Current examples of AI in national security work  18:30 - Impediments to further integrating AI 20:13 - How to connect national security to cutting edge technology  24:35 - The potential risks to incorporating AI 28:50 - Midroll ad  28:55 - How to stay safe against the risks  32:05 - The helpfulness of AI Safety Institutes 33:25 - International treaties for AI 36:11 - The current U.S.-China relationship 38:50 - How to return to a more positive relationship 41:28 - The economic race  43:25 - Anja's advice for the new administration 45:01 - Key players and swing states 50:24 - How to make a cyber treaty work  52:57 - Rapid-fire questions  Possible is an award-winning podcast that sketches out the brightest version of the future—and what it will take to get there. Most of all, it asks: what if, in the future, everything breaks humanity's way? Tune in for grounded and speculative takes on how technology—and, in particular, AI—is inspiring change and transforming the future. Hosted by Reid Hoffman and Aria Finger, each episode features an interview with an ambitious builder or deep thinker on a topic, from art to geopolitics and from healthcare to education. These conversations also showcase another kind of guest: AI. Whether it's Inflection's Pi, OpenAI's ChatGPT or other AI tools, each episode will use AI to enhance and advance our discussion about what humanity could possibly get right if we leverage technology—and our collective effort—effectively.

For the Life of the World / Yale Center for Faith & Culture
Our One and Only Earth: Environmental Ethics, Climate Change, Biodiversity, and Consumption / Ryan Darr & Ryan McAnnally-Linz

For the Life of the World / Yale Center for Faith & Culture

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2025 46:58


How should we treat our one and only home, Earth? What obligations do we have to other living or non-living things? How should we think about climate change and its denial? How does biodiversity and species extinction impact human beings? And how should we think about environmental justice, the rights of animals, and the ways we consume the natural world?In this episode, Ryan McAnnally-Linz welcomes Ryan Darr (Assistant Professor, Yale Divinity School) to reflect on some of the most pressing issues in environmental ethics and consider them through philosophical, ecological, and theological frameworks.Together they discuss:What and who matters in environmental ethics: Only humans? Only sentient animals? Every life form? The inorganic natural world?The significance and difference between global and individual scale of climate issuesThe ethics of climate change denialEnvironmental justice and moral obligations to the environment—the question of what we owe to animals and the rest of the natural worldThe importance of biodiversity and the impact of species loss and extinctionThe ethics of eating animalsThe problems with human consumption of the natural worldAnd the impact of cultivating a wider moral imagination of our ecological futureAbout Ryan DarrRyan Darr Ryan Darr is Assistant Professor of Religion, Ethics, and Environment at Yale Divinity School. His research interests include environmental ethics, multispecies justice, structural injustice, ethical theory, and the history of religious and philosophical ethics. He is currently writing a book that defends an account of environmental and multispecies justice as a framework for thinking ethically about the crisis of biodiversity loss and mass extinction. He is also developing an ongoing research project exploring the relationship between individual agency and responsibility and structural justice and injustice with a particular focus on environmental and climate issues.His first book, The Best Effect: Theology and the Origins of Consequentialism, was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2023. The book offers a new, robustly theological story of the origin of consequentialism, one of the most influential views in modern moral theory. It uses the new historical account to intervene in contemporary ethical debates about consequentialism and about how ethicists conceive of goods, ends, agency, and causality.Prior to joining the YDS faculty, Ryan held postdoctoral fellowships at the Princeton University Center for Human Values (2019-22) and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music (2022-24).Show NotesGet your copy of Ryan Darr's The Best Effect: Theology and the Origins of ConsequentialismComplex ethical questions about climate changeEnmeshed in environmental systemsA crash course in environmental ethicsWhich entities should we be thinking about ethically?Are human beings the most important morally and ethically speaking?What about animals, plants, or other kinds of life?What about other species of animalsAnthropocentrism: Only humans matter.Sentientism: Only sentient animals matterBiocentrism: Every life form mattersCan we apply justice and rights to animals?The polar bear on melting ice was the poster child for climate change; but this was a mistake because the effects on human beings is massive.“All of us are affected.”“We're all vulnerable to climate change. …. kidding themselves and need to think more about this.”Global southClimate negotiations: Who needs to lower emissions and how? And how do we adapt?Massive overwhelm at the scope of environmental problems: “Only massive changes can make a difference.” But “I have to change my life.”How should we navigate the scale issue?Don't let large scale or small scale issues or changes eclipse the other.Political action is crucial“We need people willing to respond in the ways they can, where they are.”Climate change denial“There's a lot of money flowing here.” Fossil fuel interests and others muddy the waters and create conflicts“If it's the case that millions of lives are at stake … I don't see how some doubtReasons why people might deny climate change“It'd be nice if climate change wasn't real, but …”Environmental justice and injusticeToxicities released into the natural environmentConservation and biodiversity lossApproximately 8 million species on earthIt's standard to lose a handful per million per yearGenerally, you're supposed to get more species on earth, short of a mass extinction eventBut extinction rate is something like 100x to 1000x fasterDefaunation—reduction of fauna on earthMeasuring the biomass of various species (Humans make up 30% of the world's biomass.)Changes linked to colonialism and global capitalismWhy would God have created such a diverse speciesThomas Aquinas on why God created a world full of biodiversity: to reflect God's extensive perfection“On this view, the world is show lessWhat are the ethics ofExample: Wolves were intentionally eradicated in America, because “who wants a wolf in their neighborhood.”Justice-oriented “Rights” and what we owe to each other, versus non-justiceDo we have obligations to animals?Example: Kicking a Cat“The Incredulous Stare”Jainism and “ahiṃsā” (non-injury, no-harm, or non-violence toward all life forms, down to microbes)“I'm inclined to think that I have obligations to almost all animals.”At least “animals who are sentient”—desires, frustration of desires, pain, etc.Is it permissible to eat meat?Factory-farmed meat (effectively tormented)Animal life has become commodity—valuable solely because of its use and with no regard for their well-being.Consumers, Producers, and Wendell Berry: How should social roles relate to each other?“Any question about justice have to begin from concrete social positions.”Maintaining action and creativityPractical recommendation for action to align our lives with our values“I read fiction and short stories that tell stories of human beings in futures drastically affected by climate change as a way to open up my imagination to what's possible.”Dystopian narratives: leading to a sense of futility and hopelessness.“I don't think we know where anything is headed.”“Humans have lived through upheaval so many times, and have found ways. … ‘People kept on baking bread as the Roman Empire fell.'”Yale Divinity School class: “Eco-Futures”—imagining lives lived well in painful situationsIf not hope, a sense of determination to do what can be done with the time that we have.Kim Stanley Robinson's The Ministry for the Future: a technocratic novel about politics and policy solutionsShort fiction on Grist—Imagine 2200: Write the FutureMargaret Atwood, Everything ChangeProduction NotesThis podcast featured Ryan Darr and Ryan McAnnally-LinzEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Macie Bridge, Alexa Rollow, Zoë Halaban, Kacie Barrett, and Emily BrookfieldA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

Everyday Anarchism
142. Green Earth -- Kim Stanley Robinson

Everyday Anarchism

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2025 60:55


Kim Stanley Robinson returns to discuss his novel Green Earth, a technothriller about a near future world in which scientists work to solve the global climate crisis. Stan and I discuss how the book went from a trilogy to a single volume, its similarity to The Ministry for the Future, and its place in the genre of naturalism. Plus Emerson and Thoreau!And yes, I get the title of The Ministry for the Future wrong every time I say it in this episode. Oops.

Does It Fly?
What the BEST Star Trek Movie Gets WRONG About Science!

Does It Fly?

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 24, 2025 48:02


Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock are built around one key piece of technology which may or may not have real world implications.“KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!”Admiral James Tiberius Kirk, 2285There are countless reasons why fans love Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Up until that point, it was the most action-packed installment of Star Trek ever put on screen, so that certainly has something to do with it. William Shatner delivers an all-time great career performance in this one as Admiral James T. Kirk, full of downright Shakespearean drama with his old enemy, the diabolical Khan Noonien Singh. It's got at least one of the most memorable, shocking, and poignant moments in franchise history. Or maybe it's just Ricardo Montalban's magnificent chest. Who's to say?But possibly lost amidst all that magnificence is the fact that The Wrath of Khan is built around a truly great piece of science fiction with the Genesis Device. A project designed to help Starfleet terraform barren worlds is also potentially the ultimate weapon in the galaxy, given that in creating new life it first has to wipe out anything else that's there. Of course the wrong people want to get their grubby mitts on it!In this episode we're diving into just what it would take to truly terraform an alien world, and whether the Genesis Device follows its own rules in the Star Trek universe. Check out the latest episode of Does it Fly? right here…SUGGESTED VIEWING Star Trek II: The Wrath of KhanYou mean to tell us you're watching or listening to a Roddenberry podcast and you somehow haven't seen Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan? We sure hope you watched it before this episode spoiled the absolute hell out of it for you! But in all seriousness, there's a reason this is the most critically acclaimed and beloved Star Trek movie of all time and why we chose it for this week's topic. Star Trek III: The Search for SpockBut also, you can't watch The Wrath of Khan (or get a full picture of the scope of the Genesis Device's implications) without also watching Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Forget that even number/odd number nonsense about the Star Trek movies, this one is just as essential!Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1 Episode 22 “Space Seed”And just in case you've never done this, we also highly recommend “Space Seed” which first introduced Ricardo Montalban as Khan Noonien Singh. It doesn't have anything to do with terraforming in space, but it's a classic bit of Star Trek lore, nonetheless!The Evolution of Planet EarthWant a real life taste of what the Genesis Device does…except over the course of millions/billions of years instead of minutes/hours? This video is pretty cool.FURTHER READING Do you want to delve a little deeper into the facts, concepts, and stories Hakeem and Tamara referenced in today's episode? Of course you do! TerraformingWhile still primarily a science fiction concept, the idea of using terraforming to make a planet or moon into something that can support life as we know it is gaining considerable steam as we look to our nearest neighbor, Mars. See also: Bionengineering“Is there life on…Venus?”Wait, that's not how the song goes! But the key here is that while Mars gets all the attention as the planet in our solar system with the most potential to support life, there's also a chance that Venus could, as well. Key to that is the presence of phosphine in the atmosphere, which scientists have gone back and forth on, but recently found new evidence that it may be present.“PIXAAAAAAR!”Read more about that funny connection between a beloved animation studio and these beloved Trek movies here.“Colonized by earth bacteria”It doesn't take long, just to give you an idea of how quickly “life finds a way.”The Mars TrilogyTamara brings up Kim Stanley Robinson's acclaimed trilogy about terraforming our nearest planetary neighbor, Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars. There's also the follow-up The Martians which is a collection of short stories that expands this universe further.Project Hail MaryAnother Tamara recommendation this week is the Hugo Award-nominated Project Hail Mary from sci-fi author Andy Weir. You might also recognize Weir's name as the author of The Martian, which was adapted into a beloved film from director Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon.The Wrath of Khan: The Novel!Even if you've seen Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan dozens of times, Vonda N. McIntyre's superb novelization of the film is full of surprises that will enrich your understanding of the story and your love of Trek in general. For extra credit, follow it up with her equally great (possibly better than the film it's based on!) novelization of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock!WANT MORE FROM DOES IT FLY?Go back to the very beginning with the first ever episode of Does it Fly? which tackled another iconic Star Trek concept: the transporter. Watch it right here!We're not particularly big on the whole Star Trek vs. Star Wars debate around these parts, so for those folks who love ‘em both, check out our episode on lightsabers right here!FOLLOW US!Stay in the loop! Follow DoesItFly? on YouTube and TikTok and let us know what you think! And don't forget to follow Roddenberry Entertainment:Instagram: @RoddenberryOfficial Facebook: RoddenberryBlueky: @Roddenberry  For Advertising Inquiries: doesitfly@roddenberry.comCheck out the official Does it Fly? playlist, too!

Zero: The Climate Race
To understand Trump's climate moves in his second term, look to the Reagan years

Zero: The Climate Race

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 23, 2025 31:06 Transcription Available


As Donald Trump returns to the White House, Akshat Rathi speaks to Yale historian Paul Sabin about whether recent presidential history might hold some lessons on what to expect from the Trump administration’s approach to energy and environmental policy this term. Looking back at the Carter and Reagan years, Sabin explores how present-day Trump priorites– from dismantling government agencies to ramping up oil and gas production–have historical precedent. And Jonathan Lash, who was an environmental lawyer in the Reagan years, explains why he’s feeling déjà vu in these early days of Trump’s second term. Explore further: Past episode with sci-fi writer Kim Stanley Robinson about his visions for climate politics in 2025 Past episode with President Biden’s climate czar Ali Zaidi on the IRA’s legacy Past episode with Congressman Ro Khanna on what Trump’s second term may hold Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Mythili Rao. Special thanks this week to Sharon Chen, Siobhan Wagner, Jessica Beck, and David Fox. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Zero: The Climate Race
Will the LA fires unleash a wave of climate migrants?

Zero: The Climate Race

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 16, 2025 35:09 Transcription Available


As the blazes in Los Angeles continue to burn, those who have lost their homes are contending with the immediate need for shelter– and difficult questions about whether or not to rebuild in the fire zone. Grist reporter Jake Bittle tells Akshat Rathi how California’s housing market and insurance regulations will shape the recovery. And Nomad Century author Gaia Vince says that in this era of climate instability, everyone should think about how prepared they are to become a climate migrant. Explore further: Past episode about the 1.5C warming goal being surpassed Past episode with sci-fi writer Kim Stanley Robinson about imagining the future role of the UN in fighting climate change Past episode about climate change, conflict, and migration Bloomberg Green story about the aircraft used to scoop water to fight fires in LA Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Mythili Rao. Special thanks this week to Michelle Ma, Brian Kahn, Sharon Chen, and Sommer Saadi. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hugonauts: The Best Sci Fi Books of All Time
Ministry for the Future - Heatwaves, Super-Storms, and Cutting-Edge Climate Tech!

Hugonauts: The Best Sci Fi Books of All Time

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 14, 2025 45:04


The book somehow manages to be optimistic at the same time that it realistically portrays horrific climate catastrophes - the opening chapter will stick with you forever. That said, it also suffers from some of KSR's usual writing quirks: weak characters and a pretty loosely defined plot. We talk about it all, the good, the bad, and the terrifyingly hot!As always, no spoilers until the end when we get into the full plot explanation and discussion. This episode is sponsored by The Pythagorean by Alexander Morpheigh, which is available in print or kindle edition here.Join the Hugonauts book club on discord!Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer videoSimilar books we recommend: The Value of Everything by Mariana MazzucatoRed Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson The Great Transition by Nick Fuller Googins

The Coode Street Podcast
Episode 669: On the importance of books and the beginning of a new year

The Coode Street Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 10, 2025 57:22


For our first episode of 2025, we touch upon novels we've been reading for the new year, including Charles Stross's 13th Laundry novel/collection A Conventional Boy and Ray Nayler's Where the Axe is Buried, as well as the frustrations of reading books on deadlines—as opposed to wallowing in them at leisure, and some non-SF writers we like. Gary then mentions how hard it is to gain perspective on novels of the past year, and suggests looking instead at important books of the entire past quarter-century from the perspective of 2025.  We only got partway through his list, which included novels by Alastair Reynolds, Kim Stanley Robinson, Octavia Butler, M. John Harrison, Margaret Atwood, Susanna Clarke, Gene Wolfe, Cixin Liu, and Robert Charles Wilson; collections by Kelly Link, Margo Lanagan, and Jeff Ford; anthologies by Sheree R. Thomas and Gardner Dozois—the last of which leads to a discussion of the durability of space opera as a defining SF theme. Plenty of stuff to argue with this week!

Zero: The Climate Race
If 1.5C is dead, what happens next?

Zero: The Climate Race

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 9, 2025 22:38 Transcription Available


In December, Europe’s Copernicus weather service announced that it was “virtually certain” that 2024 would be the hottest year ever. What’s more, the global average temperature last year appears to have surpassed 1.5C for the first time, blowing past a threshold that’s taken on enormous significance in the fight against climate change. Does that mean governments, corporations, and activists recalibrate their climate goals? Akshat Rathi speaks with reporters Eric Roston and Zahra Hirji about what this new reality means. Explore further: Past episode about sci-fi writer Kim Stanley Robinson’s visions for 2025 Past episode with Eric Roston and Katharine Hayhoe about the extreme weather events brought on by rising temperatures Past episode with the Berghof Foundation’s Andrew Gilmour about conflict and peace-building on a warming planet Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Mythili Rao. Special thanks this week to Sharon Chen, Siobhan Wagner, Ethan Steinberg, and Jessica Beck. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/greenSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How My View Grew
Kim Stanley Robinson: How can humans reverse climate change?

How My View Grew

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 8, 2025 43:28


Kim Stanley ("Stan") Robinson is one of the world's most acclaimed and popular science fiction novelists, first famous for his Mars Trilogy. For the past two decades, Stan has been telling vivid stories in which climate change is catastrophic yet people invent ways of reversing it. What he imagines is so bold it takes your breath away, then fills you with hope and resolve that you didn't know existed within you.In his Science in the Capital trilogy, a Washington DC thriller, National Zoo animals roam the capital after a massive flood. The Gulf Stream shuts down. Then a tiny U.S. government agency with bold leadership funds massive global climate projects. That plus the election of an inspiring everyman new President saves the day. Two decades later, Ministry for the Future tells a very different heroic tale. Here the protagonist is a new international agency based in Zurich led by an Irishwoman. After a massive heat wave in Indian kills millions, she gets kidnapped by one of its survivors and eventually answers her captor's challenge to do more. She persuades central bankers to back a "carbon coin" that changes the rules of the economic game. Companies now earn money by keeping oil in the ground, slowing Antarctica's melting, and investing in other projects on a scale commensurate with the climate catastrophe. What led Robinson to dramatically rethink his bold ideas for reversing climate change? What can we learn from this about climate economics and the financial rules in capitalism? How might this learning shift us into more constructive moods as we face seemingly insurmountable challenges?Join me in exploring these questions in this new episode of How My View Grew.**Key takeaways**4:00 A DC thriller: the Gulf Stream slows down. Washington floods. Science and government save the day12:00 Stan gets criticized about economics and responds by reading more deeply. The virtues and limits of nationalizing banks.18:00 A new view of money and lessons from the 2008 financial crisis23:00 Paying companies to green the planet, changing the economic game28:45 Stop asking "Is it to late?" Focus instead on better versus worse33:30 Telling good stories that our culture ignores35:00 Stan's message to the Left: get over it40:00 Amiel's reflections**Resources**A reference site for Kim Stanley RobinsonAmiel's essay, "Beyond the false choice between despair and hope"**Subscribe to the podcast**To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.**Share the love**Leave me a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

The Coode Street Podcast
Episode 669: On the importance of books and the beginning of a new year

The Coode Street Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 6, 2025 56:30


For our first episode of 2025, we touch upon novels we've been reading for the new year, including Charles Stross's 13th Laundry novel/collection A Conventional Boy and Ray Nayler's Where the Axe is Buried, as well as the frustrations of reading books on deadlines—as opposed to wallowing in them at leisure, and some non-SF writers we like. Gary then mentions how hard it is to gain perspective on novels of the past year, and suggests looking instead at important books of the entire past quarter-century from the perspective of 2025.  We only got partway through his list, which included novels by Alastair Reynolds, Kim Stanley Robinson, Octavia Butler, M. John Harrison, Margaret Atwood, Susanna Clarke, Gene Wolfe, Cixin Liu, and Robert Charles Wilson; collections by Kelly Link, Margo Lanagan, and Jeff Ford; anthologies by Sheree R. Thomas and Gardner Dozois—the last of which leads to a discussion of the durability of space opera as a defining SF theme. Plenty of stuff to argue with this week!

Zero: The Climate Race
Kim Stanley Robinson imagines utopia in 2025

Zero: The Climate Race

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 2, 2025 31:37 Transcription Available


Science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson imagines the future for a living. And the future is very much upon us. Robinson’s seminal 2020 novel Ministry of the Future opens in the year 2025. Robinson tells Akshat Rathi about how our real-life climate politics stack up against what he imagined for this era. They also discuss the dangers of science-fiction thinking in politics and why, for all his admiration of science and technology, Robinson remains so enamored with the unglamorous workings of a body like the United Nations. Explore further: Past episode with Kim Stanley Robinson about climate utopias and optopias Past episode with outgoing White House Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi about what the next four years will hold Past episode with Colombia’s environment minister Susana Muhamad about the country’s commitment to fossil fuels nonproliferation Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Mythili Rao. Special thanks this week to Sharon Chen, Siobhan Wagner, Ethan Steinberg, and Jessica Beck. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Economist Podcasts
Tomes will tell: books that predict the future

Economist Podcasts

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 26, 2024 36:05


Some people read books to escape. Others turn to them for instruction. As the new year looms, our correspondents – and listeners – consider which titles can help forecast what's coming next. Picks include “Rainbows End” by Vernor Vinge, “Nuclear War” by Annie Jacobsen, “Not the End of the World” by Hannah Richie and “Orbital” by Samantha Harvey. This is a full list of the books mentioned in the show:“Rainbow's End, A Deepness in the Sky and A Fire upon the Deep” by Vernor Vinge“Ageless” by Andrew Steele“War” by Bob Woodward“Nuclear War: A Scenario” by Annie Jackobson“1984” by George Orwell“On Freedom and On Tyranny” by Timothy Snyder“A Psalm for the Wild-Built” by Becky Chambers“Qualityland” from Marc-Uwe Kling“Ministry of the Future” by Kim Stanley Robinson“Severance” by Ling Ma“Land of Milk and Money” by C Pam Zhang“The Broken Earth Trilogy” by NK Jemisin“Not the End of the World" by Hannah Ritchie“Orbital” by Samantha Harvey“The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” by Carson McCullers“Ancillary Justice” (The Imperial Rasch Series) by Ann Leckie“The Battle of Dorking” by Sir George Chesney“War of the Worlds" by HG WellsListen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Intelligence
Tomes will tell: books that predict the future

The Intelligence

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 26, 2024 36:05


Some people read books to escape. Others turn to them for instruction. As the new year looms, our correspondents – and listeners – consider which titles can help forecast what's coming next. Picks include “Rainbows End” by Vernor Vinge, “Nuclear War” by Annie Jacobsen, “Not the End of the World” by Hannah Richie and “Orbital” by Samantha Harvey. This is a full list of the books mentioned in the show:“Rainbow's End, A Deepness in the Sky and A Fire upon the Deep” by Vernor Vinge“Ageless” by Andrew Steele“War” by Bob Woodward“Nuclear War: A Scenario” by Annie Jackobson“1984” by George Orwell“On Freedom and On Tyranny” by Timothy Snyder“A Psalm for the Wild-Built” by Becky Chambers“Qualityland” from Marc-Uwe Kling“Ministry of the Future” by Kim Stanley Robinson“Severance” by Ling Ma“Land of Milk and Money” by C Pam Zhang“The Broken Earth Trilogy” by NK Jemisin“Not the End of the World" by Hannah Ritchie“Orbital” by Samantha Harvey“The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” by Carson McCullers“Ancillary Justice” (The Imperial Rasch Series) by Ann Leckie“The Battle of Dorking” by Sir George Chesney“War of the Worlds" by HG WellsListen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. 

Sustainability Now! on KSQD.org
Eco-utopia or eco-catastrophe?

Sustainability Now! on KSQD.org

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 23, 2024 56:27


As California looks forward (!) to the beginning of a new Presidential Administration, there is growing trepidation about what it might mean for the state.  Is it time to secede and join with other West Coast states to create a new country? Fifty years ago, Ernest Callenbach published Ecotopia, a vision of a new country dedicated to protecting people and the environment. In 2015, on the 40th anniversary of Ecotopia, UCSC held a conference called “Utopian Dreaming: 50 years of imagined futures in California and at UCSC.”  Speakers included a number of academics, critics and dreamers. None of us, of course, imagined that Donald Trump might be the next President of the United States. Listen to three talks from the conference: a keynote by Kim Stanley Robinson, best-known today for The Ministry of the Future;  a critique by UC San Diego Professor of Latin American Literature and Chicano Literature Rosaura Sanchez; and an account of how Silicon Valley has become the generator of utopian and dystopian futures, by Fred Turner, Harry and Norman Chandler Professor of Communication at Stanford University. You can find videos of the complete conference at https://www.youtube.com/@ronnielipschutz8900.  And you can read an article on California eco-utopias at: https://ksqd.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Ecotopia-or-ecocatastrophe.pdf.

Seldon Crisis – The Podcast
Beyond Asimov's Humanism with Jamie Woodhouse

Seldon Crisis – The Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 15, 2024 95:41


Ethicist Jamie Woodhouse has some challenging questions for humanity: should we care about the suffering of all sentient beings, or just the ones who run the show at the moment? What about when we're no longer running the show? Why should a superintelligent and possibly sentient machine intelligence care about us? Might there be other practical reasons to widen our circle of compassion beyond humans?Active Transcript by Fanfare (read/listen).Introduction: Revisiting Asimov's HumanismJoel reflects on Asimov's humanist philosophy, rooted in evidence, reason, and concern for humanity's progress. However, this anthropocentric focus leads to an important question: can humanism evolve to include all sentient beings?The Core of SentientismJamie Woodhouse introduces Sentientism as a naturalistic worldview advocating evidence, reason, and compassion for all sentient beings. He discusses how this broader ethical scope addresses humanism's anthropocentric blind spots and extends moral consideration to non-human animals and even potential artificial intelligences.The Role of Sentientism in Modern CrisesThe conversation highlights the intersection of Sentientism with critical global challenges like:Climate Change: The role of animal agriculture in exacerbating climate issues and the potential for Sentientism to influence more sustainable practices.AI Ethics: Speculating on the alignment of artificial intelligence with ethical frameworks, including the intriguing notion that future superintelligences might force humans to adopt more compassionate practices.Sentientism in ActionJamie explores practical applications, from rethinking agricultural systems to extending compassion beyond humanity. He suggests rewriting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to encompass "Sentient Rights" as a bold step forward.Science Fiction and Ethical FrontiersThe discussion pivots to the portrayal of sentience in science fiction. From Asimov's Gaia to Kim Stanley Robinson's Aurora and Iain M. Banks' Culture series, sci-fi offers fertile ground for exploring ethical questions about sentient beings, human or otherwise.Key Quotes:Jamie Woodhouse on Sentientism:"Sentientism says, in a line, we should commit to evidence, reason, and compassion for all sentient beings."On AI and Ethics:Joel McKinnon: "Maybe someday advanced AI will tell us, ‘We won't kill you, but you can't eat meat anymore.'"Jamie Woodhouse: "That's an interesting thought. It flips the script—an intelligence with a broader ethical framework imposing limits on us for the benefit of others."Expanding Morality:"The reason I might care about you isn't because we share DNA but because you have the capacity to suffer and flourish. That's what truly matters."Referenced Works and Further Reading:Humanism and Asimov:Wikipedia: HumanismThe Gaia Hypothesis: James Lovelock's work on Earth as a sentient system.Sentientism Resources:Jamie Woodhouse's Sentientism WebsiteRelated podcasts on Sentientism.Ethics and AI:Books mentioned:Aurora by Kim Stanley RobinsonIain M. Banks' Culture SeriesAI Ethics OverviewAdvocacy for Climate and Sentient Beings:Effective AltruismCitizens' Climate Lobby

Resources Radio
Facing Fears and Imagining Innovation for Climate Change, with Kim Stanley Robinson (Rebroadcast)

Resources Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 9, 2024 35:34


In this week's episode rerun, host Daniel Raimi talks with Kim Stanley Robinson, acclaimed author of many books, most recently “The Ministry for the Future.” Robinson's books vividly illustrate some of the most devastating potential consequences of climate change, but that's not all they do—the books also offer innovation and optimism, imagining the ways in which we can prevent some of the worst impacts of climate change and adapt to the impacts that are unavoidable. Robinson discusses his recent visit to COP26 and his views on climate economics, modern monetary theory, space opera, and more. We're rebroadcasting this episode from the Resources Radio archive while the podcast team is on a break through the rest of December. We'll be back with new episodes in the new year; in the meantime, enjoy this throwback and poke around the archive at Resources.org for more topics you might be interested in. References and recommendations: “The Ministry for the Future” by Kim Stanley Robinson; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kim-stanley-robinson/the-ministry-for-the-future/9780316300162/ “The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes” by Zachary D. Carter; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/563378/the-price-of-peace-by-zachary-d-carter/ “Improving Discounting in the Social Cost of Carbon” by Brian Prest, William Pizer, and Richard Newell; https://www.resources.org/archives/improving-discounting-in-the-social-cost-of-carbon/ “Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist” by Kate Raworth; https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/doughnut-economics-paperback/ The concept of “carbon currency” by Delton Chen; https://globalcarbonreward.org/carbon-currency/ “Hypothesis for a Risk Cost of Carbon: Revising the Externalities and Ethics of Climate Change” by Delton B. Chen, Joel van der Beek, and Jonathan Cloud; https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-03152-7_8 “Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet” by David Attenborough and Johan Rockström; https://www.netflix.com/title/81336476

Startup Dad
Dads and Moms Answer Questions about The Best Books for 2024, Holiday Recipes and More!

Startup Dad

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 28, 2024 41:04


Welcome to a special episode of Startup Dad! It's the holiday time again when the list of responsibilities, performances, potlucks and gifts goes through the roof for already busy parents. To help you navigate the chaos I've asked many of my past guests to share with me their favorite books from the past year – those they'd gift to another person and those they'd tell parents to get for their kids. I've also highlighted parent's favorite meals to make with and for their kids.I'm joined by Alex Cohen, Andrew Capland, Brian Balfour, Adam Nash, Adam Grenier, Will Rocklin, Rob Schutz, Casey Handmer, Tye DeGrange, Josh Herzig-Marx, Carla Naumburg, and Michael Perry.In this episode we discuss:- Top book recommendations from 2024 for adults- Their top book recommendations for kids of all ages- A favorite recipe to make with your kidsWhere to find Adam Fishman- Newsletter: FishmanAFNewsletter.com- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfishman/- X: https://twitter.com/fishmanaf- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startupdadpod/Timestamps:[00:41] Favorite book to gift this holiday season?[14:27] Favorite book that you'd recommend to another parent for their kids?[28:52] What recipe do you like to get your kids involved in at the holiday time?_Show ReferencesA full list of ALL references in this show can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17eDnhGaRWvCqBl0RmM746Je7Ovpt7qL-14TNzQS4DUg/edit?tab=t.0Nick Soman's Episode: https://startupdadpod.substack.com/p/building-a-company-and-family-nick-soman-decentFounding Sales, The Founder Led Sales & Early Stage Go-to-Market Handbook by Pete Kazanjy: https://www.foundingsales.com/Decent: https://www.decent.com/Casey Handmer's Episode: https://startupdadpod.substack.com/p/astrophysics-saving-the-planet-and-three-kidsPoor Charlie's Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Mungerby Charles T. Munger: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/poor-charlies-almanack-charles-t-munger/1142619102Eric Bahn's Episode: https://startupdadpod.substack.com/p/integration-over-balance-and-hustling-with-kidsNever Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It by Chris Voss: https://www.amazon.com/Never-Split-Difference-audiobook/dp/B01COR1GM2/Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/demon-copperhead-barbara-kingsolver/1140860121Eric Mauskopf Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOkHqWbJI1cWill Rocklin Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnPwKjSosyMA Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-swim-in-a-pond-in-the-rain-george-saunders/1137150630Michael Perry's Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP6JJhiFfK4Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman:https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/four-thousand-weeks-oliver-burkeman/1137427241Tye DeGrange Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVs8FnMNIQILonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lonesome-dove-larry-mcmurtry/1001920809Adam Nash's Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaOCL5WSzhcWhen the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reachby Ashlee Vance: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/when-the-heavens-went-on-sale-ashlee-vance/1142161472Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX by Eric Berger: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/liftoff-eric-berger/1137428010Reentry: SpaceX, Elon Musk, and the Reusable Rockets that Launched a Second Space Ageby Eric Berger: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/reentry-eric-berger/1144620800Brian Balfour's Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiQ_wAwfv5s100% Unofficial AB to Jay-Z by Jessica Chiha: https://www.amazon.com/100-Unofficial-Jay-Z-Jessica-Chiha/dp/0648073912/Andrew Capland's Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p-4ir53gZcThe Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level by Gay Hendricks:https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-big-leap-gay-hendricks/1102667522Rob Schutz's Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g611gCs4g0AThe Ferryman by Justin Cronin: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-ferryman-justin-cronin/1141941765Carla Naumburg's Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcrzFhbeIVsCase Histories (Jackson Brodie Series #1) by Kate Atkinson: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/case-histories-kate-atkinson/1100163888Josh Herzig-Marx's Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiaE6ZmaOIQGnomon by Nick Harkaway: https://www.amazon.com/Gnomon-Nick-Harkaway/dp/0525432930The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway: https://www.amazon.com/Gone-Away-World-Nick-Harkaway-ebook/dp/B001EL6R9W/Adam Grenier's Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoOXR_3dnLUFaster Than Normal: Turbocharge Your Focus, Productivity, and Success with the Secrets of the ADHD Brain by Peter Shankman:https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/faster-than-normal-peter-shankman/1125456961Alex Cohen's Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOa9mS-CIuQOutlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia: https://www.amazon.com/Outlive-Longevity-Peter-Attia-MD/dp/0593236599Lloyed Lobo's Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRuVbAHaUb0Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters: https://www.amazon.com/Zero-One-Notes-Startups-Future/dp/0804139296Masters of Scale: Surprising Truths from the World's Most Successful Entrepreneurs by Reid Hoffman: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/masters-of-scale-reid-hoffman/1138865531Penguin Problems by Jory John: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/penguin-problems-jory-john/1123199367Red Mars (Book #1) by Kim Stanley Robinson: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/red-mars-kim-stanley-robinson/1100623050The Cat Kid Comic Club Collection: From the Creator of Dog Man (Cat Kid Comic Club #1-3 Boxed Set) by Dav Pilkey: https://www.amazon.com/Cat-Kid-Comic-Club-Collection/dp/1338864394/Pig the Pug (Pig the Pug Series) by Aaron Blabey: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pig-the-pug-aaron-blabey/1123894006?Du Iz Tak? by Carson Ellis: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/du-iz-tak-carson-ellis/1123161884How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Full Color Edition by Dr. Seuss: https://www.amazon.com/How-Grinch-Stole-Christmas-Jacketed/dp/0593434382The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-polar-express-chris-van-allsburg/1100303321The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-pout-pout-fish-deborah-diesen/1100935993Tickle Monster by Josie Bissett: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tickle-monster-josie-bissett/1009267028The Hunger Games (Hunger Games Series #1) by Suzanne Collins: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-hunger-games-suzanne-collins/1100171585Teach Your Giraffe to Ski by Viviane Elbee: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/teach-your-giraffe-to-ski-viviane-elbee/1128007314Little Blue Truck Makes a Friend: A Friendship Book for Kids by Alice Schertle: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/little-blue-truck-makes-a-friend-alice-schertle/1142263535The Book with No Pictures by B. J. Novak: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-book-with-no-pictures-b-j-novak/1118663264How to Stop Freaking Out: The Ultimate Guide to Keeping Cool When Life Feels Chaoticby Carla Naumburg: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-to-stop-freaking-out-carla-naumburg/1145065982Someday a Bird Will Poop on You: A Life Lesson by Sue Salvi: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/someday-a-bird-will-poop-on-you-sue-salvi/1128829321The Spooky Wheels on the Bus: (A Holiday Wheels on the Bus Book) by J. Elizabeth Mills: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-spooky-wheels-on-the-bus-j-elizabeth-mills/1019165966From Grassroots to Greatness: 13 Rules to Build Iconic Brands with Community Led Growthby Lloyed Lobo: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/from-grassroots-to-greatness-lloyed-lobo/1143861087Ninja Life Hacks Mindsets 8 Book Box Set (Books 65-72: Accountable, Respectful, Flexible Thinking, Consent, Entrepreneur, Healthy, Negative, Adaptable) by Mary Nhin: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637316976Improvise. Scene from the Inside Out by Mick Napier: https://www.amazon.com/Improvise-Scene-Inside-Mick-Napier/dp/156608198X---For sponsorship inquiries email: podcast@fishmana.com.For Startup Dad Merch: www.startupdadshop.comProduction support for Startup Dad is provided by Tommy Harron at http://www.armaziproductions.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit startupdadpod.substack.com

C'est plus que de la SF
Le Déluge ou comment raconter la catastrophe climatique - Stephen Markley #225

C'est plus que de la SF

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 18, 2024 36:13


Découvrez Le Déluge de Stephen Markley, un des meilleurs romans de climate fiction disponible chez Albin Michel. Le grand roman 2024 sur l'effondrement climatique Plus fort que Le Ministère du Futur de Kim Stanley Robinson, Le Déluge de Stephen Markley est clairement un des romans incontournables de l'année. Très inspiré par la narration du Fléau de Stephen King, l'auteur d'Ohio narre avec précision la catastrophe de notre société sur deux décennies. Ce roman choral, très réaliste, convainc surtout par la force de son récit et de ses personnages. Évitant de tomber dans le piège du texte militant, Markley utilise la fiction pour percuter le spectateur devant l'ampleur de la catastrophe à venir. Une nouvelle fois la collection Terre d'Amérique d'Albin Michel prouve qu'elle est une des meilleures pour dénicher des textes incontournables.Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

The CS Primer Show
E22: Building HR software for dying on Mars?

The CS Primer Show

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 14, 2024 61:35


Ammar Mian is a software engineer and the co-founder of startup health tech company Malla - and another former student of Oz's and Bradfield School of Computer Science! Many software engineers daydream about starting their own company one day, so we've got Ammar on the show this week to give us the goods. Is it still fun? Can you still get into flow? Are you still coding? Does Oz want to die on Mars? All this and more!Shownotes:MallaThe WigglesThe Six Levels of Interaction with a SystemZone of proximal developmentRed-bellied black snakeReentry [book] - more recent history of SpaceXRed Mars [book] - Kim Stanley Robinson

City Arts & Lectures
Richard Powers with Kim Stanley Robertson

City Arts & Lectures

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 10, 2024 82:37


Across his life, Richard Powers has been driven by an insatiable curiosity for humans and the world around us. This has led him from budding scientist to award-winning author, from Bangkok to the Netherlands, and has helped him win a Pulitzer Prize and a Macarthur Genius Grant. Powers is best known for his novels, including The Gold Bug Variations, named a Time Book of the Year, The Echo Maker, which received a National Book Award, and The Overstory, which received a Pulitzer Prize. Powers' fourteenth novel, Playground delves into the lives of artists, scientists, and teachers who choose to start seastedding, living on floating cities. On October 30, 2024, Richard Powers came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco for an onstage conversation with fellow novelist Kim Stanley Robinson, author of The Ministry for the Future.

Zero: The Climate Race
Best of: 2C or not 2C? That is the question. Climate summits as Shakespeare would see them.

Zero: The Climate Race

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2024 27:38 Transcription Available


In fractured times, what does it take to reach agreement? That's the question writers Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson set out to explore in a play about the drama of climate negotiations. Kyoto, which ran at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Swan Theater in Stratford-upon-Avon this summer, tells the story of the 1997 Kyoto Summit as seen through the eyes of Don Pearlman, a notorious fossil fuel lobbyist and chain-smoking lawyer dubbed “the high priest of the Carbon Club” by der Speigel. Actor Stephen Kunken, who plays Pearlman, tells Akshat Rathi why he was drawn to the character, and what Kyoto can teach us about how agreement is achieved.  This episode first ran in July 2024.  Explore further: Past episode with Al Gore about breaking the petrostates stranglehold on climate progress Past episode about climate change storytelling with Kim Stanley Robinson, author of Ministry for the Future Past episode with Extrapolations writer and executive producer Dorothy Fortenberry about the growing demand for climate stories Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Mythili Rao. Special thanks this week to Kira Bindrim, Alicia Clanton, Anna Mazarakis, and Jessica Beck. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Burning Man LIVE
Burning Curiosity - The Study of Burning Man

Burning Man LIVE

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2024 58:01


Academics from everywhere experiment, collaborate, and even interpret our stories of "This one time at Burning Man."In this episode, Stuart talks with people from Burning Nerds, an annual gathering of academics in Black Rock City. They keep it light, though; not too many unnecessarily fancy words. Dr Jukka-Pekka Heikkilä shares about the Open Strategy management technique used by Burning Man Project that gives more power to the people. Bryan Yazell and Patricia Wolf of University of Southern Denmark report on using Flash Fiction in BRC to develop a new subgenre of sci-fi called climate fiction (‘cli-fi'), stories that are less dystopian, even less utopian, more protopian (fancy word) about society that improves over time, rather than transcending all it's problems or descending into dysfunction.Professor Matt Zook of University of Kentucky extols the unique aspects of Black Rock City, from materiality to temporality, to being a place apart. He and Stuart explore the interplay between digital and physical spaces, and what about community actually makes it good.Then Jukka-Pekka Heikkilä returns to reveal how the Burning Stories project, now in its 6th year of tracking tales, is now a cultural repository, and is training a gifted AI on how Burners be Burning.jukkapekka.comsdu.dk/en/persons/yazellsdu.dk/en/persons/pawogeography.as.uky.edu/users/zookburningman.org/programs/philosophical-center/academicsregionals.burningman.org/european-leadership-summitburning-stories.comkk.org/thetechnium/protopiasdu.dk/en/paca-at-burning-man-festival-2024 LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Everybody Loves Communism
The Life & Work Of Fredric Jameson w/ Jasper Bernes

Everybody Loves Communism

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2024 80:35


Writer, theorist, and UC Berkeley professor (and communist) Jasper Bernes joins us for a discussion of the life and work of Fredric Jameson, an absolute beast of Marxist philosophy and cultural critique who passed away last month following a long and illustrious life. Following a summary of Jameson's career and a discussion of his epistemological approach, the crew digs into some of his ideas. What is it about the postmodern/neoliberal era that simultaneously creates amnesia and nostalgia? How are humans more atomized than ever, yet losing any real sense of individuality? What purpose can utopian science fiction, like that of Jameson protege Kim Stanley Robinson, serve as we try to find a way out of this exhausted system called capitalism? And, in this era in which nothing is shocking, can there be such a thing as truly radical art? "Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism," Fredric Jameson: https://web.education.wisc.edu/halverson/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2012/12/jameson.pdf The Work of Art in the Age of Deindustrialization, Jasper Bernes: https://www.sup.org/books/literary-studies-and-literature/work-art-age-deindustrialization Sign up as a supporter at Patreon.com/partygirls to get access to our Discord, a shout out on the pod, and all bonus content. Follow us on Instagram: @party.girls.pod Leave us a nice review on Apple podcasts if you feel so inclined :)

Hello, Dear with Pedro and Charles
022: Throwing Together

Hello, Dear with Pedro and Charles

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 16, 2024 50:44


Another solo ep. Wasn't at my best here. Feeling tired and mushy-headed but the masses need their content. Readings from RED MARS and BLUE MARS by Kim Stanley Robinson and "Mirrors" by Jorge Luis Borges.

Macrodose
The Break Down: On Utopia and Crisis w/ Kim Stanley Robinson

Macrodose

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 26, 2024 54:55


Today's episode of The Break Down explores the idea and the power of utopian fiction with guest Kim Stanley Robinson, the acclaimed science fiction author whose most recent novel, The Ministry for the Future, offers a harrowing and detailed vision of how we might respond to the climate crisis.  Among other things, Adrienne and Stan discuss the politics of science and technology; the place of speculative fiction in an era dominated by nostalgia and the importance of utopia at a time when our political imaginations are so constrained.  Like The Ministry for the Future itself, this episode is dedicated to the late Fredric Jameson. You can find many of Jameson's incredible works here: https://shorturl.at/fYDNJ Find more about the Break Down at break-down.org and be sure to follow us across social media to stay up-to-date with upcoming episodes, essay launches and more.

The Science in The Fiction
Ep 38: Mark Milne on Geoengineering in 'The Ministry for the Future'

The Science in The Fiction

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 12, 2024 68:03


In this episode we talk to Mark Milne as a follow-up on our interviews with science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson and glaciologist Heidi Sevestre in episodes 21 and 22, on the topic of Geoengineering as portrayed in Kim Stanley Robinson's book 'The Ministry for the Future'.  Mark speaks about a number of strategies for mitigating climate change by cooling the planet through increasing its albedo, or reflectivity.  The overarching strategy that we discuss is Solar Radiation Management (SRM), and we tackle a number of different possibilities under this umbrella: stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI), marine cloud brightening, high albedo crops, reforestation, white paint, terrestrial mirrors and the Goliath that everyone likes to slay - space mirrors.  Mark makes the case that terrestrial mirrors are our best hope for immediate implementation, with little or no dangerous side effects, especially in the context of canopies over agricultural land which can be created with current materials from landfill; if 10% of all agricultural land were covered with these semi-transparent mirrors it would provide enough global reflectivity to adequately offset our warming trend and avoid climate disaster.  Marty proposes a sci-fi idea about adding engineered enzymes to create the materials we need, and Mark claims that if we don't solve the climate crisis within a few decades it won't be the heat that kills us, it'll be people – due to the degradation of our social and economic systems.  We also talk about governance and consent, what motivates scientists and determines the science we pursue, termination shock, carbon sequestration, engineering efficiency and economic policy initiatives related to modern monetary theory.  Buzzsprout (podcast host):https://thescienceinthefiction.buzzsprout.comEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/Twitter:https://twitter.com/MartyK5463

Wetwired
Episode 60: Utopian Worlds of Kim Stanley Robinson feat Hilary Strang and Matt Hauske

Wetwired

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2024 96:15


We're talking Kim Stanley Robinson today! And that means we're talking about a lot of the things Kim Stanley Robinson talks about. Joining us are some KSR experts, Matt Hauske and Hilary Strang, the hosts of Marooned! On Mars. We get into some fan love of his writing, ingredients to make a utopia, and forcefully separating billionaires from their money! Support us on Patreon and get extra premium only episodes for $5 a month. patreon.com/wetwired Marooned! on Mars: https://x.com/podcastonmars https://pod.link/1372460930 Music: Airglow - Spliff and Wesson (CC BY 4.0) creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Catch up with us on the Wetwired Discord. discord.gg/fr62mpUy5c Follow us: Twitter at twitter.com/wetwiredpod Instagram at instagram.com/wetwiredpod Bluesky at bsky.app/profile/wetwired.bsky.social Support us on Patreon and get extra premium only episodes for $5 a month. patreon.com/wetwired

EU Scream
Ep.109: Ministry for the Future IRL

EU Scream

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2024 38:04


There's a lot of talk right now about future generations. Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission says she'll create a portfolio with responsibilities for intergenerational fairness. A Summit of the Future to be held in September at the United Nations also helps explain the buzz. In this, the first of two episodes, a conversation with Elizabeth Dirth, member of a real-life network for the future described in Kim Stanley Robinson's bestselling novel The Ministry for the Future. In the book the Ministry helps to push nations beyond a series of dystopian events to bring climate change under control. Elizabeth says it's time to move that approach to the real world, and to give future generations a voice in reshaping the economy, curbing disease outbreaks, and sustaining action on climate change. The ZOE Institute, a German economics think tank where Elizabeth is managing director, is among the organisations pushing the UN Secretary General to appoint a Special Envoy for Future Generations, a role Elizabeth describes as "a potential minister for the future at the UN level." Elizabeth says her ideas are markedly different from that of tech titans like Elon Musk who have a penchant for the future. For Musk and his acolytes, protecting future generations means putting resources into highly speculative technologies that could be highly profitable. They also seem to be betting on colonising Mars — ahead of preserving life on Earth. Listen out for Part Two of this series: a conversation with author and philosopher Roman Krznaric on how far into the future we should plan for, and on whether controversial concepts like Longtermism and Effective altruism have a role to play. Music this episode by Maarten Lichtert. Support the Show.

Slate Culture
Culture Gabfest: Blake Lively Brings Melodrama Back

Slate Culture

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 14, 2024 63:15


On this week's show, June Thomas (author of A Place of Our Own: Six Spaces That Shaped Queer Women's Culture) and Dan Kois (author of Hampton Heights) fill in for Dana and Stephen. First, the panel tackles It Ends With Us starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni (the latter also directed and produced the film.) It's a big, glossy melodrama laced with a domestic violence plot, and is the first film adaptation of BookTok star author Colleen Hoover. Then, the three explore Time Bandits, a new television show from Jermaine Clement, Iain Morris, and Taika Watiti starring, among others, a sublime Lisa Kudrow. The Apple TV+ series is based on Terry Gilliam's 1981 film of the same name and follows a ragtag bunch of bandits as they thieve and travel through time. Finally, in light of its 20-year anniversary, the trio considers Yelp – does the crowd-sourcing review platform still hold power in 2024? This conversation was inspired by Jaya Saxena's Eater piece, “Everybody Gets a Star.” On this week's exclusive Slate Plus bonus episode, the panel goes on the hunt for the wonderful, elusive “perfect cracker.” Email us at culturefest@slate.com.  Endorsements: JUNE: A very well-reviewed book from two years ago: Katheine Rundell's Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne. DAN: The Ministry for the Future: A Novel by Kim Stanley Robinson. JULIA: First Class Tailors on Wilshire Blvd., which boasts a 4.7 Star rating on Yelp. Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong.  Hosts June Thomas, Dan Kois, Julia Turner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Slate Daily Feed
Culture Gabfest: Blake Lively Brings Melodrama Back

Slate Daily Feed

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 14, 2024 63:15


On this week's show, June Thomas (author of A Place of Our Own: Six Spaces That Shaped Queer Women's Culture) and Dan Kois (author of Hampton Heights) fill in for Dana and Stephen. First, the panel tackles It Ends With Us starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni (the latter also directed and produced the film.) It's a big, glossy melodrama laced with a domestic violence plot, and is the first film adaptation of BookTok star author Colleen Hoover. Then, the three explore Time Bandits, a new television show from Jermaine Clement, Iain Morris, and Taika Watiti starring, among others, a sublime Lisa Kudrow. The Apple TV+ series is based on Terry Gilliam's 1981 film of the same name and follows a ragtag bunch of bandits as they thieve and travel through time. Finally, in light of its 20-year anniversary, the trio considers Yelp – does the crowd-sourcing review platform still hold power in 2024? This conversation was inspired by Jaya Saxena's Eater piece, “Everybody Gets a Star.” On this week's exclusive Slate Plus bonus episode, the panel goes on the hunt for the wonderful, elusive “perfect cracker.” Email us at culturefest@slate.com.  Endorsements: JUNE: A very well-reviewed book from two years ago: Katheine Rundell's Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne. DAN: The Ministry for the Future: A Novel by Kim Stanley Robinson. JULIA: First Class Tailors on Wilshire Blvd., which boasts a 4.7 Star rating on Yelp. Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong.  Hosts June Thomas, Dan Kois, Julia Turner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyday Anarchism
129. The Everyday Anarchy of Colin Ward -- Roman Krznaric

Everyday Anarchism

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 14, 2024 56:16


This episode publishes on the hundredth anniversary of Colin Ward! Colin was one of the popularizers of many of the ideas featured in this podcast, and I've stayed away from covering him for fear of copying him. But my guest today, Roman Krznaric, convinced me to do an episode on Colin's thought, and we had a thrilling conversation about anarchy, city planning, protest, and Kim Stanley Robinson.I highly recommend Colin's book Anarchy in Action from PM Press: https://www.pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=814Here's Roman's website for more from him: https://www.romankrznaric.com/

Management Blueprint
231: How to Let AI do the Work with Ajay Malik

Management Blueprint

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 5, 2024 29:42


https://youtu.be/WQlt_qyIzBQ Ajay Malik, CEO of Secomind.AI, is driven by his passion for leveraging AI to improve efficiency and productivity. Letting AI do the Work is the guiding principle at Secomind.AI, which helps incorporate AI into products, workflows, and customer support using their Enterprise AI platform, StudioX. We delve into Ajay's journey into AI, from his college days to his deep involvement at Google, and now leading Secomind.AI. He shares his AI Culture Framework, which has dramatically boosted productivity in his company: establishing an AI policy to mandate AI usage company-wide, leading by example, encouraging shameless and open use of AI, and continuously improving AI skills and applications.  He also emphasizes the importance of curiosity and the ability to distinguish quality as key skills for effectively using AI. He recommends using multiple AI tools, including ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and others, to get diverse perspectives and improve problem-solving abilities. --- Let AI do the Work with Ajay Malik Good day, dear listeners, Steve Preda here with the Management Blueprint podcast. And my guest today is Ajay Malik, the CEO of Secomind.AI, a company that is helping you incorporate AI into your products, workflows, and customer support using StudioX, the Enterprise AI platform. Ajay, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me here. Very excited to be here. Well, I'm excited too because you had a really good pre-call and I learned a lot about AI and plus I had a lot of fun. I expect we can transmit that fun to the listeners as well. I look forward to that. So let's start with your personal Why. So what is your personal Why and how is your business connected to it? Personal Why? Okay, so I have always believed that use automation or augmentation or whatever you can do to do things which can be done better. It's almost like, you know what, I wear my glasses because I can see better. Humans have been always doing that. I'm talking like whatever the history we know, okay, we have always done that. And we're wearing our shoes or using a stick when going up mountain, everything. We always augmented and to me, AI is a tool, AI is something which helps us do things better. That is my thing and I want everybody to use it. Yeah, I love it. I'm actually right now listening to the Mars trilogy. And it was written, the third book, I think it's Kim Stanley Robinson, it's a man, his trilogy, it's fascinating, it's about conquering Mars and it was written in 1996 and these protagonists, they are using AI all the time and they explain how they are using AI and they're using it very similarly to what we have started doing in the 2020s. So this book was really 25 years ahead of its time.  I have to interrupt you. I have to tell you something so cool, okay, because you like to read and I want you to read one paper. It's called the Computer of the 21st Century. Computer for the 21st Century by a man called Mark Weiser. I think it's a paper from 1991 and the guy, I think we'd call him father of modern computing and something like that. I don't know. It's my inspiration paper and this paper has been talking about like this. Okay, what if you wake up you are tossing and turning in your bed in the morning because you are about to wake up, and then there is an alarm clock right there which can see that you are tossing and turning. So it slightly whispers, hey, time to wake up is coming okay and so it tells you and then it tells the coffee machine which is somewhere else, hey, you should start brewing the coffee so that he will wake up and he will get his day started. This is before Siri. This is before iPhone. Okay, this is before anything that was designed, which is doing computer image recognition and doing it. And the guy's talking like, yes, this is how computer will help us in day-to-day life. He did not use the term artificial intelligence or AI or models or the thought process that AI,

The Climate Question
Can Science Fiction help us fight climate change?

The Climate Question

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 29, 2024 26:28


The acclaimed US sci-fi author Kim Stanley Robinson is also a star in the world of climate activism because his work often features climate change - on Earth and beyond. Robinson has been a guest speaker at the COP climate summit, and novels such as The Ministry For The Future and The Mars Trilogy are admired by everyone from Barack Obama to former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres. Robinson's books are not just imaginative but scientifically accurate, and some of their ideas have even inspired new thinking about climate-proofing technology. Kim Stanley Robinson has been talking to the Climate Question team.Presenters: Jordan Dunbar and Graihagh Jackson Producer: Ben Cooper Editor: Simon Watts Sound Mix: Tom BrignellGot a question for The Climate Question? Email us: theclimatequestion@bbc.com

Zero: The Climate Race
An oil lobbyist gets the Shakespearean treatment in ‘Kyoto'

Zero: The Climate Race

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 9, 2024 26:05 Transcription Available


In fractured times, what does it take to reach agreement? That's the question writers Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson set out to explore in a new play about the drama of climate negotiations. Kyoto, now running at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Swan Theater in Stratford-upon-Avon, tells the story of the 1997 Kyoto Summit as seen through the eyes of Don Pearlman, a notorious fossil fuel lobbyist and chain-smoking lawyer dubbed “the high priest of the Carbon Club” by der Speigel. Actor Stephen Kunken, who plays Pearlman, tells Akshat Rathi why he was drawn to the character, and what Kyoto can teach us about how agreement is achieved.    Explore further: Past episode with Al Gore about breaking the petrostates stranglehold on climate progress Past episode about climate change storytelling with Kim Stanley Robinson, author of Ministry for the Future Past episode with Extrapolations writer and executive producer Dorothy Fortenberry about the growing demand for climate stories Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Mythili Rao. Special thanks this week to Kira Bindrim, Alicia Clanton, Anna Mazarakis, and Jessica Beck. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Homebrewed Christianity Podcast
Brian McLaren: Faith After Doom

Homebrewed Christianity Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 10, 2024 91:03


Brian McLaren joins me in this episode to discuss his new book Life After Doom. In it, we wrestle with redefining faith, civilization, and ecological consciousness. We delve into theological reflections, reinterpreting religious practices to align with Jesus's teachings, advocating for a paradigm shift in societal structures, and emphasizing the urgent need for sustainable living. Moreover, we discuss creating inclusive spaces for spiritual growth and action.  Here's Brian's new book, Life After Doom: Wisdom & Courage for a World Falling Apart In the conversation, we discuss Kim Stanley Robinson's provocative book Ministry for the Future. WATCH THE PODCAST HERE Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. He is a faculty member of  The Living School and podcaster with Learning How to See, which are part of the Center for Action and Contemplation. He is also an Auburn Senior Fellow and works closely with the Wild Goose Festival, the Fair Food Program, Vote Common Good, and Progressive Christianity. His recent projects include an illustrated children's book (for all ages) called Cory and the Seventh Story and The Galapagos Islands: A Spiritual Journey, and Faith After Doubt. His newest book is Do I Stay Christian? and we are going to read it together. Previous Episodes with Brian Should I Stay Christian if I Don't Believe? a God Worthy of Love Saying Yes to Christianity Questioning Christianity Do I Stay Christian? God – Pray – Driscoll Faith Beyond Fear in an Age of Terror 20 Years of Religious Decline A New Kind of Road Trip Parenting for the Common Good We need a new story! Avoiding spiritual and planetary collapse Brian McLaren & Pando Populus   Join our upcoming class, FAITH & POLITICS FOR THE REST OF US! Come to THEOLOGY BEER CAMP. Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices