Build The Future

In the 1960s, people imagined living and working beneath the ocean. What happened to that ambition—and what would it take to bring it back?

Ulysses co-founder Will O’Brien joins me for a conversation about building underwater robots and making ocean work cheaper. Will traces the company’s beginnings to a surf trip and the painstaking work of restoring seagrass, then explains the engineering behind Mako, Ulysses’ modular underwater vehicle.

We discuss a deployment that went badly wrong, the consumer technologies making ocean robotics possible, and why a future full of robots will need its own charging stations. Audience questions cover navigating without GPS, mapping the seabed, ocean restoration, company red lines and the unexpected appeal of treasure hunting.

This conversation was recorded live at a World's Fair Co gathering in San Francisco on August 19, 2026. If you'd like to attend, please sign up for notifications at www.worldsfair.org.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Welcome to World’s Fair
01:26 The forgotten ocean frontier
08:18 The ocean tax
10:36 A surf trip, seagrass and the start of Ulysses
13:44 A failed deployment and lessons learned
17:40 Meet Mako: modular underwater robots
22:38 Why underwater robotics is possible now
25:13 Ocean stewardship and mapping the seabed
30:05 Audience Q&A: climate, company values and San Francisco
34:52 Restoration, security and treasure hunting
38:12 Navigation, motherships and life at sea
42:25 What to build next—and the next 20 years

Links & references
The 1964–65 World’s Fair Futurama experience — A 7-minute General Motors promotional film follows a visitor through Futurama II, the experience discussed at the opening.
Cousteau’s underwater habitats — Background on the undersea living experiments discussed near the opening.
SEALAB: living and working beneath the sea — The U.S. Navy’s history of its underwater habitat experiments.
Ulysses’ seagrass restoration trial on the Great Barrier Reef — The Great Barrier Reef Foundation’s account of the robot trial, with field footage.
Seabed 2030 and Ulysses — The partnership behind the seabed mapping effort mentioned in the conversation.
Planet Labs and forest monitoring — Background on Will’s comparison with satellite monitoring of forests.
ARIA: Forecasting Tipping Points — Related reading for the audience question about ocean observations and climate models.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Build the Future Podcast. This is a project by World's Fair Co. You can learn more at worldsfair.org.

Aryé Elfenbein is the co-founder of Wildtype -- a San Francisco startup growing real salmon directly from cells. They're pioneers of cellular agriculture and have become the first company in the world to bring cultivated seafood to market.

In this live conversation, we discuss how Wildtype grows salmon from cells. We explore the work behind its texture and flavor, including techniques borrowed from textile manufacturing and changes to the cells’ diet.

Aryé recalls the early failures, the first restaurant tastings, and the practical problems of scaling production. The conversation was recorded at a World’s Fair Co gathering in San Francisco, with questions from an audience that had just tasted their salmon.

EPISODE PAGE + TRANSCRIPT
https://www.worldsfair.org/programs/wildtype

WATCH ON YOUTUBE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmbhsUVr3sM

CHAPTERS
00:00 A personal connection to salmon
02:36 From cardiology to cultivated fish
06:24 Why salmon?
09:46 Growing the cells
13:32 Recreating salmon’s texture
16:26 The first years—and the first taste
20:42 What kept the team going
22:22 When it started to feel like food
23:08 The road through regulation
28:05 What’s stopping the next scale-up?
30:35 Seeing people enjoy the food
32:05 Audience Q&A: what still needs improving?
33:22 Solving the practical problems
36:38 Learning from outside your field
37:30 The search for better flavor
41:58 A ten-year view of food
44:32 How to support Wildtype

CONNECT
Wildtype
Website: https://www.wildtypefoods.com/
X: https://twitter.com/wildtypefoods

World’s Fair Co.
X: https://x.com/WorldsFairCo
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worldsfairco

If you want to learn more about our in-person events, please visit worldsfair.org.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Build the Future Podcast. This is a project by World's Fair Co. You can learn more at worldsfair.org.

Rajat Bhageria is an entrepreneur, investor, and the CEO of Chef Robotics.

What does it actually take to build and deploy generally intelligent robots? Rajat's company is actively scaling robotics in the food industry and is here to tell us all about it.

In this conversation, we talk about what the current food manufacturing process looks like, the challenges and opportunities in robotics, what the coolest AI and robotics companies are on the market today, why the future might look like WALL-E, and much more.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

Links

• Chef Robotics

• Rajat Bhageria

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Build the Future Podcast. This is a project by World's Fair Co. You can learn more at worldsfair.org.

In this conversation, we talk with Don Davis, an artist and illustrator who has spent his career helping us imagine the wonders of space. His work with NASA, Carl Sagan, and the U. S. Geological Survey's branch of Astrogeologic Studies has been seen by millions and helps us bridge the gap between imagination and reality.

In this conversation, we talk about Don's childhood fascination with space, the influence of science fiction on his work, and how the ideas around space colonization evolved.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

Links

• Don Davis — Space Art

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Build the Future Podcast. This is a project by World's Fair Co. You can learn more at worldsfair.org.

In this conversation, we talk with Isaiah Taylor the founder of Valar Atomics — a new energy startup using nuclear fission to create oil & gas from thin air. At Valar, their goal is to bring the cost of energy down 10-100x and unlock a new era of superabundance.

Enjoy!

Chapters

00:00 Welcome to Build the Future

Links

• Valar Atomics

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Build the Future Podcast. This is a project by World's Fair Co. You can learn more at worldsfair.org.

In this conversation, we talk with Rick Guidice, an artist and illustrator renowned for his visionary depictions of space habitats and futuristic concepts, which have significantly contributed to NASA's Ames Research Center's visual explorations. His iconic work has played a pivotal role in shaping public perception of space exploration and human settlement beyond Earth.

In this conversation, we talk about the impact of Rick's space-themed artwork on envisioning future possibilities; his artistic process, inspirations, and the cultural influence; and the evolution of space exploration imagery and its role in shaping public perception and enthusiasm for space endeavors.

Enjoy!

Mentioned in this conversation

• The Mandalorian
• Space Settlements: A Design Study
• Emerging Ecologies Exhibit
• "Megastructures" by Neil Blevins

Chapters

00:00 Welcome to Build the Future

Links

• Rick Guidice
• The Mandalorian
• Space Settlements: A Design Study
• Emerging Ecologies — exhibition archive (2023–24)
• Megastructures by Neil Blevins — original book project

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Build the Future Podcast. This is a project by World's Fair Co. You can learn more at worldsfair.org.

In this conversation, we talk with Jim Pethokoukis, the author of "The Conservative Futurist" and the newsletter "Faster, Please!" where he writes about innovation, economics, and the potential of future technologies.

In this conversation, we talk about the optimistic cultural zeitgeist of the 1960s space race, the unfulfilled promises of that era, such as nuclear-powered space exploration, the role media plays in shaping societal attitudes towards the future, and much more!

Enjoy!

Mentioned in this conversation

• "Faster, Please!" on Substack
• The Conservative Futurist: How We Get the Science Fiction Future We Were Promised
• "For All Mankind" TV series
• SpaceX Mars colonization video
• "The Peripheral" by William Gibson
• "The High Frontier" by Gerard K. O'Neill

Chapters

00:00 Welcome to Build the Future

Links

• Faster, Please!
• The Conservative Futurist
• For All Mankind
• Starship Mission to Mars — original video
• The Peripheral by William Gibson
• The High Frontier by Gerard K. O’Neill

• Jim Pethokoukis

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Build the Future Podcast. This is a project by World's Fair Co. You can learn more at worldsfair.org.

Isaac Arthur is a physicist turned YouTuber and science educator.

Join us as we discuss the roots of progress and its potential into post-scarcity futures, the challenges of building in practice, Isaac's favorite science fiction media and his vision for his channel, his personal journey studying physics to becoming a YouTuber, and what innovation and future utopian scenarios may be possible, including space colonization and virtual reality.

Isaac's story is proof that passion and optimism can blossom into a lasting career. We hope you find inspiration in his story to go build your own visions for a positive future!

Chapters

00:00 Long-form conversation and the changing media landscape

Links

• Science & Futurism with Isaac Arthur
• Isaac Arthur on YouTube

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Build the Future Podcast. This is a project by World's Fair Co. You can learn more at worldsfair.org.

In this conversation, we talk with Don Clark, the incredible artist behind Invisible Creature.

Mentioned in this conversation

• David Klein Art
• Stan Galli
• Syd Mead
• Phantom City Creative

Chapters

00:00 Introducing Don Clark and Invisible Creature

Links

• Invisible Creature
• David Klein posters
• Stan Galli posters
• Phantom City Creative

• Syd Mead

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Build the Future Podcast. This is a project by World's Fair Co. You can learn more at worldsfair.org.

In this conversation, we talk with Eliot Peper the novelist behind great science fiction books like Reap3r, Veil, Cumulus, and Bandwidth.

Mentioned in this conversation

• Our World in Data
• Nadia Asparouhova's tweet
• Man in Space
• Oliver Morton's The Moon

Chapters

00:00 Introducing Eliot Peper

Links

• Eliot Peper — books and newsletter
• Our World in Data
• The Moon — Oliver Morton

• twitter
• Nadia Asparouhova's tweet
• Man in Space

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Build the Future Podcast. This is a project by World's Fair Co. You can learn more at worldsfair.org.