Open Transcripts

The Conversation #15 — Cameron Whitten

presented by Aengus Anderson, Cameron Whitten, Micah Saul

Any time that you lessen levels of disparity you’re going to have more progress. And you can’t look at it as an own individual term. Progress in your own life, progress in technology. But I believe that you have to look at progress through the connection of everything. That’s what sustainability is really about. It’s about the relationship of our economy, of social justice, the quality of life of people, and then the last part is the environment.

The Conversation #14 — John Zerzan

presented by Aengus Anderson, John Zerzan, Micah Saul

I always wonder about people that are very pro-tech on the Left, for example. “Oh, we’ve got to keep all this. Of course. That’d be crazy.” You know, you want to preserve all of the level of technology. The question that occurs to me is, oh so you want to keep how many hundreds of millions of people in the mines, in the smelters, in the foundries, in the assembly lines? I would like to see them be able to do something else. But you’re going to have to keep them there one way or another if you want to have all this stuff.

The Conversation #13 — Ariel Waldman

presented by Aengus Anderson, Ariel Waldman, Micah Saul

I think the saddest thing is if you ever stop wanting to learn new things. And it can be about anything. That’s just really heartbreaking. I don’t know. It’s just so much part of like who you are as a human to learn new things constantly. And so to not be curious, not want to learn new things and not create new patterns and connections…you’re pretty much giving up your human self.

The Conversation #12 — Gabriel Stempinski

presented by Aengus Anderson, Gabriel Stempinski, Micah Saul

In the future, we have to change the way we look at consumption. That’s why I’m such a big proponent of the sharing economy. Because it’s not an issue of if it’s going to happen, it’s when it’s going to happen. And I’d rather people voluntarily adopt it now and start realizing the benefit of it now while we’re still in this kind of relative land of plenty, than be forced into it later when all of a sudden there’s not enough water to cover Phoenix anymore because it’s a huge city in the middle of a desert and they have to go on water rationing.

The Conversation #11 — Lisa Petrides

presented by Aengus Anderson, Lisa Petrides, Micah Saul

Obviously there’s human rights that have to do with water and air and safety and shelter, but I think education is right there with it because it really is a public good. I have such a hard time with people who say, for example, who don’t have children and say, “Well why should I pay those taxes. I don’t have anybody in the schools. It’s not benefitting me.” And I think how can you possibly say that? Those are the people that are servicing you, whether they’re servicing your roads or your supermarket or your medical offices.

A Brief History of Industrial Revolutions: Ian Goldin

presented by Ian Goldin

Our connectivity not only spreads good ideas, it spreads bad ones too. Our connectivity not only allows us to make finance travel around the world and help people, it means that a cascading risk that originates in the South of the US can be everywhere within a matter of hours. And this hyperconnectivity, this butterfly defect of globalization, requires new management.

A Brief History of Industrial Revolutions: Hannah Dawson

presented by Hannah Dawson

The question that philosophers have asked since antiquity is how should you live? What is the good life for a human being? And the two answers that have repeatedly come back time and time again are that there are two things that matter. One is agency. That’s to say being in control of your life, actively, creatively engaging with the world. And the other is community.

AI Policy, Is It Possible? Is It Necessary?

presented by Min Li Marti

When we talk about technologies such as AI, and policy, one of the main problems is that technological advancement is fast, and policy and democracy is a very very slow process. And that could be potentially a very big problem if we think that AI could be potentially dangerous.

The Conversation #10 — Timothy Morton

presented by Aengus Anderson, Micah Saul, Timothy Morton

I don’t think ecological awareness is a sort of “happy happy joy joy, we are all earthlings” thing. I think it’s actually a kind of uncanny realization. On the one hand there’s no away, on the other hand what the hell is this? “This is not my beautiful waste. This is not my beautiful toilet. This is not my beautiful Pacific Ocean.” You know, all of a sudden these things become somehow not exactly what we thought they were.

The Conversation #9 — A Brief Status Update

presented by Aengus Anderson, Micah Saul

We want to sort of bring you all up to speed on some of the things that we’ve been thinking about, some of the conversations we’ve been having that I’ve had to edit out of the tail ends of episodes, link a few concepts and also be… Well, first because we think it’s really important to be sort of transparent about where we’re going with the series and the conversations we’re having.