Long Now

Episodes page 3 of 6

1. Neal Stephenson: Neal Stephenson - Fall, or Dodge in Hell

   14 Aug 2019 · 1 h 04 min

   Neal Stephenson author of _Fall, or Dodge in Hell_ in conversation with Long Now Board Member, Kevin Kelly. Tickets included a signed copy of _Fall, or Dodge in Hell_. [_Fall, or Dodge in…

2. Marcia Bjornerud: Timefulness

   14 Aug 2019 · 1 h 26 min

   We need a poly-temporal worldview to embrace the overlapping rates of change that our world runs on, especially the huge, powerful changes that are mostly invisible to us. Geologist Marcia Bjornerud teaches that kind…

3. Kim Stanley Robinson: Learning From Le Guin

   12 Jul 2019 · 1 h 35 min

   The legacy of [Ursula K Le Guin](http://www.ursulakleguin.com/) lives beyond the page in generations of writers who have learned from her. She used fantastic fiction to imagine ideals for the real world. Kim Stanley…

4. Mariana Mazzucato: Rethinking Value

   12 Jul 2019 · 1 h 30 min

   What happens when we confuse price with value? We end up undervaluing care. We pollute more. And the financial sector is allowed to brag about how productive it is—while often just moving around existing value, created…

5. David Byrne: Good News & Sleeping Beauties

   21 Jun 2019 · 1 h 30 min

   David Byrne has become a scholar and promoter of new good ideas that work in the world. He finds them in health, education, culture, economics, climate, science & technology, transportation, and civic engagement. He…

6. Brian Behlendorf: A Foundation of Trust: Building a Blockchain Future

   7 Jun 2019 · 1 h 11 min

   An Open Source pioneer, [Brian Behlendorf](https://twitter.com/brianbehlendorf) now leads the effort to build the infrastructure for trust as a service. In the past he helped build the foundations of the Web with [the…

7. Judy Wajcman: Time Poverty Amidst Digital Abundance

   21 May 2019 · 1 h 08 min

   Technology’s promise is to “save” time. Its track record in real and psychological terms is often the opposite. A sociologist of science and technology, Judy Wajcman continues her examinations of time pressure and…

8. Ian McEwan: Machines Like Me

   17 May 2019 · 1 h 37 min

   In his new novel, _[_Machines Like Me_](https://smile.amazon.com/Machines-Like-Me-Ian-McEwan/dp/0385545118/ref=sr_1_1)_, Ian McEwan uses science fiction and counter-factual history to speculate about the coming of…

9. Elizabeth Lonsdorf: Growing Up Ape: The Long-term Science of Studying Our Closest Living Relatives

   14 May 2019 · 1 h 04 min

   Studying primates offers insight into human evolution and behavior. Primatologist Elizabeth Lonsdorf shares her ongoing work with wild chimpanzees and gorillas: a unique long-term project that extends the seminal…

10. Maya Tudor: Can Nationalism be a Resource for Democracy?

    6 May 2019 · 1 h 07 min

    A political scientist examines how foundational nationalisms affect democracy globally, using countries like India and Myanmar to illustrate that some kinds of nationalism can be an essential resource for protecting…

11. Alexander Rose, Kevin Kelly, & Stewart Brand: Siberia: A Journey to the Mammoth Steppe

    30 Apr 2019 · 1 h 23 min

    In August of 02018, Long Now founder Stewart Brand, renowned geneticist George Church, and a delegation of observers and scientists traveled to one of Earth's most remote places to witness the ongoing restoration of a…

12. Christopher Bryan: The Evolving Science of Behavior Change

    18 Apr 2019 · 1 h 12 min

    Human civilization is used to being saved by technology. The 20th century was defined by humanity’s ability to invent a pill, vaccine, or device to overcome our biggest challenges. Today, many of the most serious…

13. Hannu Rajaniemi: The Spirit Singularity: Science and the Afterlife at the Turn of the 20th Century

    10 Apr 2019 · 1 h 05 min

    Scifi author, scientist, and entrepreneur Hannu Rajaniemi discusses the real life late Victorian attempts to map the afterlife which inspired _Summerland_ , his latest novel. Rajaniemi introduces us to scientists,…

14. Jeff Goodell: The Water Will Come

    8 Apr 2019 · 1 h 25 min

    The ocean is not just filling up, it’s swelling up. Half of sea-level rise comes just from the warming of the water. No matter what humans do next, we are now doomed to deal with drastically higher flooding of the…

15. James Holland Jones: The Science of Climate Fiction: Can Stories Lead to Social Action?

    4 Apr 2019 · 1 h 18 min

    The warming planet is increasingly the subject of all kinds of fiction. Beyond entertainment or distraction could climate fiction (“Cli-Fi”) actually help us in solving the climate dilemma? Biological anthropologist…

16. Ed Lu: Charting the High Frontier of Space

    26 Mar 2019 · 1 h 06 min

    Throughout human history, mapping has been the key to the opening of new frontiers. Mapping of previously uncharted regions has enabled economic expansion and the development of new markets, science, and defense. For…

17. Chip Conley: The Modern Elder and the Intergenerational Workplace

    20 Mar 2019 · 1 h 24 min

    What can fifty-somethings bring of value to companies that are mostly twenty-somethings, and vice versa? A needed blending of depth with currency. Chip Conley, a long-time hotelier (Joie de Vivre Hospitality) and…

18. Martin Rees: Prospects for Humanity

    22 Jan 2019 · 1 h 25 min

    To think usefully about humanity’s future, you have to bear everything in mind simultaneously. Nobody has managed that better than Martin Rees in his succinct summing-up book: _ON THE FUTURE: Prospects for Humanity_.…

19. Stewart Brand: Whole Earth Catalog 50th Anniversary Celebration

    14 Dec 2018 · 2 h 00 min

    50 years ago, Stewart Brand launched the Whole Earth Catalog — one of the cornerstones of the American counterculture. The evening program of The Whole Earth Catalog 50th Anniversary Celebration was held on October…

20. Niall Ferguson: Networks and Power

    13 Dec 2018 · 1 h 30 min

    “This time is different.” Historians: “Ha.” “The Net is net beneficial.” Historian Niall Ferguson: “Globalization is in crisis. Populism is on the march. Authoritarian states are ascendant. Technology meanwhile…

21. Mary Lou Jepsen: Toward Practical Telepathy

    5 Nov 2018 · 1 h 30 min

    With her stunning breakthroughs in neural imaging, Mary Lou Jepsen is making the brain readable (and stimulatable) in real time. That will revolutionize brain study and brain medicine, but what about brain…

22. Julia Galef: Soldiers and Scouts: Why our minds weren't built for truth, and how we can change that

    19 Sep 2018 · 1 h 33 min

    An expert on rationality, judgement, and strategy, Julia Galef notes that "our capacity for reason evolved to serve two very different purposes that are often at odds with each other. On the one hand, reason helps us…

23. Juan Benet: Long Term Info-structure

    15 Aug 2018 · 1 h 29 min

    "We live in a spectacular time,” says Juan Benet. "We're a century into our computing phase transition. The latest stages have created astonishing powers for individuals, groups, and our species as a whole. We are also…

24. Shahzeen Attari: Facts, Feelings and Stories: How to Motivate Action on Climate Change

    15 Aug 2018 · 1 h 08 min

    An environmental researcher examines perceptions of energy use & conservation and asks how we can inspire behavioral change and policy support in individuals and the public at large. With a background in environmental…

25. George P. Shultz: Perspective

    2 Aug 2018 · 1 h 03 min

    Perspective? No one has a longer or better-informed view of world affairs and America's role than George Shultz, now 97. (Henry Kissinger is only 95.) Secretary Shultz was a US Marine Captain in World War II. After…

26. Chris D. Thomas: Are We Initiating The Great Anthropocene Speciation Event?

    26 Jun 2018 · 1 h 41 min

    The bad news (not news to most): Many wild species are under severe duress. The good news (total news to most): “Nature is thriving in an age of extinction.” Ecologist and evolutionary biologist Chris Thomas has…

27. Benjamin Grant: Overview: Earth and Civilization in the Macroscope

    30 May 2018 · 1 h 22 min

    Civilization is both astonishing and astonishingly various when viewed from slightly above. Not so far above as to be lost in planetary context, but just high enough to see a fascinating thing whole, entire, intensely…

28. Kishore Mahbubani: Has the West Lost It? Can Asia Save It?

    1 May 2018 · 1 h 31 min

    In Kishore Mahbubani’s view, global power is shifting from the West to the Rest—from Europe and North America to Asia and Africa. He argues that changes will be required both in the West and the Rest to manage the…

29. Margaret Levi: The Organized Pursuit of Knowledge

    18 Apr 2018 · 1 h 09 min

    The human quest to understand our world continues. The Director of Stanford’s [Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS)](http://casbs.stanford.edu/) discusses how academics and researchers have…

30. Steven Pinker: A New Enlightenment

    20 Mar 2018 · 1 h 32 min

    ## Making the world better **Much of Pinker’s talk** was devoted to showing how most of the things than humans care about (except climate) have been getting drastically better over the last few centuries and decades.…

31. Michael Frachetti: Open Source Civilization and the Unexpected Origins of the Silk Road

    9 Mar 2018 · 1:28

    Travel the ancient Silk Road with an archaeologist researching a revolutionary idea. Nomadic pastoralists, far from being irrelevant outliers, may have helped shape civilizations at continental scale. Drawing on his…

32. Mike Kuniavsky: Our Future in Algorithm Farming

    1 Mar 2018 · 1 h 10 min

    Everything will be connected to the network, even things that shouldn’t be. From automobiles to egg timers, Kuniavsky explains all these devices will try to get our attention and prove their value. They’ll also attempt…

33. James Nestor: Humanity and the Deep Ocean

    1 Feb 2018 · 56 min

    In _[DEEP: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells us about Ourselves](https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Freediving-Renegade-Science-Ourselves/dp/0547985525)_ James Nestor follows extreme athletes,…

34. Charles C. Mann: The Wizard and the Prophet

    29 Jan 2018 · 1 h 28 min

    ## Two ways to save humanity **Mann titled his talk “The Edge of the Petri Dish.”** He explained, “If you drop a couple protozoa in a Petri dish filled with nutrient goo, they will multiply until they run out of…

35. Louis Hyman: The New Deal You Don't Know

    2 Jan 2018 · 1 h 01 min

    Historian Louis Hyman's work focuses on the history of American capitalism. In his book _[Borrow: The American Way of Debt](https://www.amazon.com/Borrow-American-Debt-Vintage-Original/dp/0307741680/)_ , he examines in…

36. Elena Bennett: Seeds of a Good Anthropocene

    29 Dec 2017 · 1 h 19 min

    As humans increasingly dominate Earth’s natural systems over the coming centuries (“the Anthropocene”), how can we ensure that it becomes a “good Anthopocene”—a world in which nature and humanity prosper together?…

37. Nathaniel Persily: Can Democracy Survive the Internet?

    7 Dec 2017 · 1 h 07 min

    The Internet was once seen as a democratizing force, but today social media platforms have become exploitable intermediaries of political discourse. How should governments, institutions and tech companies respond? In…

38. Rose McDermott: Ideology in our Genes: The Biological Basis for Political Traits

    1 Dec 2017 · 1 h 01 min

    While traditionally social factors have been considered to have primary influence on political behaviors and preferences, more recent research shows that there's also a strong heritable component to ideological…

39. Renee Wegrzyn: Engineering Gene Safety

    20 Nov 2017 · 1 h 21 min

    Genome editing technologies provide the unprecedented ability to modify genetic material in a manner that is targeted, rapid, adaptable, and broadly accessible. Advances in genome editing form the foundation for new…

40. Jason Scott: The Web In An Eye Blink

    1 Nov 2017 · 1 h 01 min

    Jason Scott is an activist archiver who preserves artifacts of digital culture for the future. Users today have many ways to create content online, but they often lack the skills, tools or guidance to preserve the…

41. The Refugee Reality: Thinking Long-term About the Evolving Global Challenge

    1 Oct 2017 · 1 h 19 min

    With a complex and truly global problem like this, we can only scratch the surface in an hour. But we hoped to reframe some aspects and include perspectives not always heard. What's certain is this is a long-term…

42. David Grinspoon: Earth in Human Hands

    20 Sep 2017 · 1 h 32 min

    ## Cognitive planet **Thanks to the growing human domination** of natural systems on Earth, people say we are entering an Anthropocene Epoch, Grinspoon began, but what if the term “epoch” understates the consequence…

43. Nicky Case: Seeing Whole Systems

    17 Aug 2017 · 1 h 19 min

    ### How to finesse complexity **HE BEGAN, “Hi, I’m Nicky Case, and I explain complex systems in a visual, tangible, and playful way.”** He did exactly that with 207 brilliant slides and clear terminology. What system…

44. Carolyn Porco: Searching for Life in the Solar System

    10 Aug 2017 · 1 h 25 min

    ## Life nearby **If we find, anywhere in the universe, one more instance of life** besides what evolved on Earth, then we are bound to conclude that life is common throughout the vastness of this galaxy and the 200…

45. Kim Stanley Robinson: How Climate Will Evolve Government and Society

    1 Aug 2017 · 1 h 03 min

    Humanity’s adaptation to climate change will require novel, global cooperation and societal evolution. The award-winning science fiction author of _2312_ , the _Mars_ Trilogy, and _Aurora_ shares his vision for how the…

46. Kara Platoni: Transforming Perception, One Sense at a Time

    3 Jul 2017 · 58 min

    Kara Platoni, author and journalism professor at UC-Berkeley, set out to find the sensory pioneers who are changing the way we experience the world. Her boot-strapped and crowd-sourced quest led her to laboratories and…

47. James Gleick: Time Travel

    26 Jun 2017 · 1 h 21 min

    ## Time travel is time research **Gleick began with H.G. Wells’s 1895 book _The Time Machine_** , which created the idea of time travel. It soon became a hugely popular genre that shows no sign of abating more than a…

48. Jeffrey McGrew: Talking with Robots about Architecture

    9 Jun 2017 · 57 min

    The co-founder of Because We Can, the architecture/design firm that designed The Interval at Long Now, discusses the future of building: automation, communication, and whether "robots" will change everything. An…

49. Adam Rogers: Proof: The Science of Booze

    9 Jun 2017 · 1 h 00 min

    The first salon talk took place before The Interval was officially opened, when the back bar and much of our signature decor weren’t fully installed. It was an opportunity that couldn’t be missed: the launch of the…

50. Andy Weir: The Red Planet for Real

    9 Jun 2017 · 1 h 10 min

    Before Andy Weir's self-published novel _The Martian_ became a _New York Times_ bestseller and a blockbuster film, it began as a series of blog posts. Those posts, and the online conversation they sparked, reflect…