Humanity has a deep time problem. Our internal clock simply cannot compute on a time scale that takes into account the rise and fall of civilizations, star systems, and superintelligences. Unable to fathom consequences beyond our chronology, we make decisions and take actions that could snuff out our species in a blinding flash of light that would barely merit mention on the cosmic timeline.

Ross Andersen writes for The Atlantic about the sublime and scary implications  of deep time. In this episode, he speaks with Futurology producer Grant Slater about how our view of time itself dictates what feels urgent now. From our definition of consciousness to our search for life in the cosmos, a wider frame of reference could dictate a new organizing principle for life on our planet and beyond.

SHOW NOTES

Subscribe to Futurology on your favorite listening platform

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Youtube (Futurology Podcast playlist)

Anywhere you get your podcasts 

Episode Resources:

Follow Ross Andersen 

Bluesky / @rossandersen

X/ @andersen

Instagram @rossandersen

www.theatlantic.com/author/ross-andersen/

Articles

The Vanishing Groves – Ross Andersen, Aeon Magazine

The Bristlecone’s Fate – Grant Slater, Aeon Magazine

In the Beginning – Ross Andersen, Aeon Magazine

Are We Disappointed With Space Exploration? – Ross Andersen, The Atlantic

The Search for America’s Atlantis – Ross Andersen, The Atlantic (2021)

Exodus – Ross Andersen, Aeon (2014)

What Happens When AI Has Read Everything? – Ross Andersen, The Atlantic (2023)

The Most Powerful Space Telescope Ever – Video by The Atlantic, Ross Andersen (2016)

Welcome to Pleistocene Park – Ross Andersen, The Atlantic (2017)

A Journey Into the Animal Mind – Ross Andersen, The Atlantic (2019)

The Nuclear Club Might Soon Double – Ross Andersen, The Atlantic (2025)

Books

The Wild Trees – Book by Richard Preston

Is a River Alive? – Robert Macfarlane (2025)

The Three-Body Problem – Novel by Liu Cixin

Other
Timeline of the Far Future – Wikipedia

Will We Run Out of Data? Limits of LLM Scaling Based on Human-Generated Data – Epoch AI (2024)
Want to share suggestions or feedback? 

Email [email protected]

Keep up to Date with the Berggruen Institute at: 

https://www.berggruen.org

Instagram:   / berggrueninst   

Twitter/X:   / berggrueninst   

Facebook:   / berggrueninst  

LinkedIn:   / berggrueninst  

Bluesky /futurologypod

Credits 

Producers: Grant Slater, Alex Gardels, Nathalia Ramos

Associate Producer: Elissa Mardiney

Mixing & Mastering: Aaron Bastinelli

Theme Music: Marcus Bagala

Special Thanks: Heather Mason, Olivia de Rienzo, Carly Migliori, Nick Goddard 

Chapter Headings

0:00 – Introduction

2:12 – Bristlecone Pines and Ancient Trees

6:20 – Trees as Climate Records

9:07 – The Oldest Living Things on Earth

10:47 – The Deep Time Beat

11:38 – The Incomprehensibility of Big Numbers

13:07 – Cosmology and Cyclical Universes

15:52 – Becoming a Journalist

18:50 – Human Migration and Lost Worlds

26:27 – Pleistocene Park and Rewilding the Arctic

33:26 – Long Now Thinking and Tech Optimism

37:01 – Elon Musk, Mars, and Longtermism

42:01 – Searching for Extraterrestrial Life

47:06 – How Creative Is the Universe?

48:19 – First Contact: West and East Perspectives

55:18 – AI’s Rise and Limits

59:05 – What Happens When AI Runs Out of Text

1:05:13 – Consciousness in AI and Animals

1:13:25 – Animism, Gaia, and Personhood

1:17:30 – Nuclear Proliferation and Global Risks

1:23:49 – Linking Geopolitics to Cosmic Futures