Conversations

By Eclectic SpacewalkSociety & Culture

Conversations episodes

June 01, 2023 Scientific and Fictional Imaginings are Reflections of Ourselves | Jaime Green | Conversations 28
Author of The Possibility of Life: Science, Imagination, and Our Quest for Kinship in the Cosmos, Jaime Green--

Timestamps:
00:00 - Start
01:51 - Jaime's beginnings
04:48 - Jaime's pop culture influences
12:30 - Jaime's Journey to Editing
21:07 - The writing process
30:50 - Jaime's experience as the series editor of Best American Science and Nature Writing
38:07 - Being a former editor at FutureTense
44:48 - The Possibility of Life: Science, Imagination, and Our Quest for Kinship in the Cosmos
58:18 - Is Jaime more excited about scientific knowledge or cultures creating good pieces of art, such as science fiction?
01:00:49 - The Overview Effect

--

Book Website: https://www.jaimegreen.net/book
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaimealyse
Website: jaimegreen.net

--
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⁠⁠ • Conversations ⁠⁠
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1 hr 5 min
April 19, 2023 Epistemology and knowledge manifests through design at different scales | Shannon Mattern | Conversations 27
Author and Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Shannon Mattern—

Timestamps:
00:00 - Start
01:55 - Shannon's Earliest Curiosities
03:49 - How Shannon got started in her academic career
10:13 - How do materiality and other lenses ground your research?
12:49 - The Importance of Archival Studies
18:31 - Green Screens and 8 Channels Project
21:55 - Book Writing
28:28 - Libraries and Ethnography
34:20 - "A City is Not a Computer: Other Urban Intelligence"
42:00 - Redesigning the Academy, Epistemic Activism
47:09 - The Overview Effect, Is there any message Shannon would want to share if she was up at the level of seeing Earth from space?
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More on Shannon Mattern:
Website: https://wordsinspace.net/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/shannonmattern
Book website: https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691208053/a-city-is-not-a-computer

--
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⁠ • Conversations ⁠
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50 min
March 30, 2023 Focus On What You Want To See More Of | Visakan Veerasamy | Conversations 26
The ‘Godfather of Twitter’ and Author of Friendly Ambitious Nerd & Introspect, Visakan Veerasamy—
Substack: https://eclecticspacewalk.substack.com/p/conversations-26-visakan-veerasamy
Timestamps:
00:00 - Start
01:44 Visa's curiosity journey.
06:44 How does Visa deal with the reality of understanding who he is as a person, within society, within history, and with relationships?
10:44 Books that captivated Visa growing up and today.
18:49 How does Visa think about remixing and what is he remixing now?
24:05 How does Visa ground himself?
33:45 Visa's memes
58:57 What are some essential ingredients for supportive and nourishing scenes?
01:04:04 How do you resist bad faith attacks from bad actors when a community is built on maximizing openness?
01:14:07 How does Visa think about the social aspects of science and technology?
01:21:11 What are Visa's thoughts if he were to be in space looking at Earth? The Overview Effect
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More on Visakan Veerasamy:
FRIENDLY AMBITIOUS NERD ebook: http://gum.co/FANbook
INTROSPECT ebook: http://gum.co/introspect
Website: https://visakanv.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/visakanv
YT channel: / visakanv
Substack: https://visakanv.substack.com/
--
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• Conversations
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1 hr 30 min
February 23, 2023 Space Technology's 'Original Sin' and The Politics of Outer Space | Bleddyn Bowen | Conversations 25
A conversation with Author and Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Leicester, Bleddyn Bowen
Bleddyn Bowen is the author of two books: “War in Space: Strategy, Spacepower, Geopolitics” and “Original Sin: Power, Technology, and War in Outer Space.”
He is an associate professor of International Relations at the University of Leicester, specializing in space policy and military uses of outer space. He also consults on space policy for institutions including the UK Parliament, the European Space Agency, and the Pentagon
Timestamps:
00:00 - Start
09:38 What specific publications or topics create the most discussion in Bleddyn's classes?
11:57 What has society as a whole viewed space as?
14:06 What is Astropolitics?
17:08 What is space power?
20:05 What is space policy?
32:25 Bleddyn's books "War in Space, Strategies, Space Power, Geopolitics" and "Original Sin"
01:10:51 Summary of "Original Sin"
01:14:30 How does Bleddyn use his research, academia, writing, etc. for his work in consulting on space policy?
01:16:49 What's next for Bleddyn?
01:18:21 How can we be critical of "The Overview Effect"?

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More on Bleddyn Bowen:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bleddb
Website: https://astropoliticsblog.wordpress.com/
Book Website: https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/original-sin/
Tweet thread about the book: https://twitter.com/bleddb/status/1584507574337998849

--
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1 hr 25 min
February 01, 2023 “Spaces make cultures and cultures make spaces.” | Fred Scharmen | Conversations #24
A conversation with Author, Co-Founder of Brick Moon Space, and Program Director of Graduate Architecture at Morgan State University, Fred Scharmen
Fred Scharmen is a designer and researcher in the history and theory of space architecture.
Timestamps:
00:00 - Start
01:30 - What were you first curious about?
10: 25 - Epistemic Activism
15:15 - Director of Graduate Architecture at a historically black college
25:00 - The Working Group on Adaptive Systems
40:50 - Space Forces: A Critical History of Life in Outer Space
57:10 - ‘Space Codes: The Astronaut and the Architect’
01:01: - Brick Moon Space
01:11:55 - Offering a critical perspective of the Overview Effect
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More on Fred Scharmen:
Twitter - https://twitter.com/sevensixfive
Book - https://www.versobooks.com/books/3889-space-forces
The Working Group on Adaptive Systems: - https://w-as.net/
Brick Moon Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrickMoonSpace
Brick Moon Website - Brickmoonspace.com
--
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1 hr 18 min
October 19, 2022Conversations #23 - Malcolm Ocean
Hello Eclectic Spacewalkers!
This past month I had the pleasure to finally talk with Malcolm Ocean, a long-time Twitter mutual of ours. Malcolm Ocean is a systems designer, a self-described “feral free agent, singer-songwriter, and trust-dancer.” He also runs a software company called Complice - the to-do list that never goes stale.
Malcolm is a unique and eclectic soul whose thinking I have found to be useful and playful in solving problems, building networks, and being curious about all things dealing with the ‘interpersonal.’
Malcolm runs Complice, a software company that “helps people stay in touch with their big-picture goals on a day-to-day basis, and act strategically & improvisationally”
Instead of productivity, we focus on intentionality
choosing & doing, over organizing
aliveness, instead of exhaustiveness
goals as fundamental, rather than tasks
proactive, rather than reactive
We thank Malcolm for their time, research, and eclectic mind. Enjoy the conversation, and until next time - Ad Astra!
Timestamps:
Donella Meadow’s ‘Dancing & Thinking’ with systems (04:30)

Full Fractal Buy-In (11:27)

Key learnings from traveling, working remote, and being in movement (18:00)

‘Trust dancing’ with others (23:00)

Concessions, compromises, and feeling understood (33:00)

Creating & running Complice - “the to-do list that never goes stale” (38:00)

Complice keeps your long-term goals fresh and tied to your feelings (47:15)

“Weirder Questions” from Twitter mutual @SissiPhys (53:40)

What is Malcolm not very good at? (01:01:30)

Malcolm’s response to the “Overview Effect” question (01:07:52)
—
More on Malcolm Ocean:
Website
Twitter
Complice
—
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1 hr 14 min
October 05, 2022 The Power & Peril of Dual-Use Technology: Ammonium Nitrate
#STS #ScienceandTechnology #AmmoniumNitrate #EclecticSpacewalk
A podcast about the dual-use nature of ammonium nitrate.

Interviewees include:
- Dr. Fracesco Amodio, Associate Professor of Economics at McGill University
- Dr. Hans Pasman, Emeritus Professor in Chemical Risk Management at the Technical University of Delft
- Dr. Vyto Babrauskas, Fire Science & Technology, Inc.
- Jonathan Dagher, Investigative Journalist

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AMstUpJPMlNriWf0YRrhM2M2Nqtwy6_p/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104043058832235051025&rtpof=true&sd=true

Presented by Nicholas McCay, Salma Attalla, and Karl Dagher - all STS grad students within the 'Responsibility in Science, Technology, and Society' program at Technical University Munich (TUM): https://www.mcts.tum.de/programs/master-reset/
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25 min
August 03, 2022Conversations #22 - Stephanie Lepp
Hello Eclectic Spacewalkers!
This month, we sat down with Stephanie Lepp. Stephanie is an executive producer at the Center for Humane Technology, where she leads the podcast “Your Undivided Attention” hosted by Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin where they “explore the incredible power that technology has over our lives — and how we can use it to catalyze a humane future.” Some of our favorites are episodes with Daniel Schmactenberger, Tim Wu, and Kate Raworth.
“A producer whose work strives to hold up a mirror - inviting us to grow from what we see.”
The Center for Human Technology produced the documentary “The Social Dilemma” and has a course “Foundations of Humane Technology: An Online Course For Professionals Shaping Tomorrow's Technology.”
We thank Stephanie for their time, research, and eclectic mind. Enjoy the conversation, and until next time - Ad Astra!
Timestamps:
Early influences (03:28)

Studying Science, Technology, and Society or STS (05:43)

“A producer whose work strives to hold up a mirror - inviting us to grow from what we see.” (10:24)

Reckonings project (17:08)

Deep Reckonings (21:14)

The Center for Humane Technology (34:53)

Your Undivided Attention podcast (51:34)

“Wormhole through constellations of tribes” & Synthetic Strategy (56:08)

The power and influence of New Media like Animation/AR/VR/etc. (01:05:53)

Overview Effect question (1:11:07)
—
More on Stephanie Lepp:
Your Undivided Attention podcast: https://www.humanetech.com/podcast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/stephlepp
Infinite Lunchbox website: https://www.infinitelunchbox.com/
Deep Reckonings website: https://www.deepreckonings.com/
—
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1 hr 19 min
February 23, 2022Conversations #21 - Paul Millerd
A conversation with Writer, Coach, and Consultant, Paul Millerd—
Hey Eclectic Spacewalkers!
This month, we sat down with Paul Millerd. Paul is a writer, coach, and consultant and who I would describe as the epitome of a digital nomad. He is also a freelancer and digital creator. Paul is “Trying to carve my own path. Sharing what I learn along the way” and he recently released a new book called:
The Pathless Path: Imagining a New Story for Work and Life
Paul’s book is a fantastic read and goes deep into his personal journey through the “default path” of business school, working at McKinsey, and chasing prestige as a “world-class hoop jumper.” After a bout with Lyme disease and reassessing what is important in life, Paul realized that “wonder tips the scales” and that he was somewhat fearful in pursuing what he really wanted.
Summarizing (not absolutely) to finding and walking your “own pathless path.”
- Question the Default
- Reflect
- Figure out what you have to offer
- Pause & Disconnect
- Go make a friend
- Go make something
- Give generously
- Experiment
- Commit
- Be Patient
We thank Paul for their time, research, and eclectic mind. Enjoy the conversation, and until next time - Ad Astra!
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Timestamps:
Being a “world-class hoop jumper” (04:44)

Strategy consulting and creating StrategyU (10:48)

Being a digital nomad and moving to Taipei, Taiwan (15:44)

The power of Twitter networking (22:44)

Paul’s writing journey, influences, and self-publishing (28:13)

The Pathless Path: Imagining a New Story for Work and Life (38:39)

Dealing with fears that inevitably come up (42:54)

Some aspects of being on “The Pathless Path” (46:27)

This is not a business or self-help book (55:24)

Paul’s answer to the “Overview Effect” question (1:00:42)
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More on Paul Millerd:
(BOOK) The Pathless Path: Imagining a New Story for Work and Life: https://think-boundless.com/the-pathless-path/
Website: https://lu.ma/paulm
Twitter: https://twitter.com/p_millerd
Newsletter: https://boundless.substack.com/
StrategyU website: https://strategyu.co/
--
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1 hr 3 min
December 20, 2021Conversations #20 - Patricia Hurducaș
A conversation with the creator of the Flâneuse Project, Patricia Hurducaș—
Hey Eclectic Spacewalkers!
A few weeks ago we traveled to Zürich, Switzerland to speak with Patricia Hurducaș. Patricia is the creator of The Flâneuse Project an online repository for interviews, essays, and a digital gallery.
“The Flâneuse Project (F) is the place where I follow my curiosity, share my writings and questions, curation of visual art, and maps with the places I stumble upon on my walks. Currently working on a digital magazine, a collection of slow interviews, and researching material for my upcoming online and offline exhibitions.”
Zürich is wonderfully beautiful with incredible architecture, warm glühwein, and of course tasty chocolate. It is a fantastic city to practice as Patricia describes it: Peripatetic Flânerie - “A Philosophy of Walking (Aimlessly).”
Patricia is also an Interintellect salon host. Salons are 3-4 hour moderated conversations. Eclectic Spacewalk became a member this past summer and has thoroughly enjoyed the format, discussion, and ultimately, COMMUNITY it provides. Patricia runs a few continuous salons on writing and has hosted more than 20 salons across a wide variety of topics.
We thank Patricia for her time, research, and eclectic mind. Enjoy the conversation, and until next time - Ad Astra!
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Timestamps:
Who or what influenced Patricia’s curiosity growing up? (03:28)

Flâneur, Flâneuse, & Flânerie (11:41)

CyberFlânerie (24:14)

The Flâneuse Project (28:42)

Upcoming e-book: A field guide to flânerie (32:54)

Interintellect and hosting salons (41:41)

Host your own salon! (46:14)

On the Art of Conversation (49:44)

Writing, time travel, and having to make choices (55:04)

Patricia’s answer to the Overview Effect question (01:02:49)
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More on Patricia Hurducaș:
Twitter: @PHurducas
The Flâneuse Project: https://flaneuseproject.com/
Interintellect Host Page: https://interintellect.com/patricia/
--
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1 hr 5 min

About Conversations

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Eclectic Spacewalk presents "Conversations" : a podcast about the uniqueness of the human condition & value systems construction - through conversation.

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