Mind the Future

It's time for the gut microbiome to become a more central part of our conversation about health. That's why today I’m talking with Dr. Joseph Petrosino about the trillions of bacteria, viruses, and other microbes living in the gut, and why they reach far beyond digestion: into immunity, metabolism, sleep, and even mental health. We talk about how modern diets and antibiotics have reshaped that inner “garden,” when testing is actually useful, and how close we are to more precise ways of keeping people well instead of waiting until they’re sick.We get into what actually helps it, what modern life does to it, and where the science is headed next.Dr. Joseph Petrosino is chair of Molecular Virology and Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, director of the Alkek Center for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research (CMMR), and Baylor’s chief scientific innovation officer.Dr. Petrosino was a principal investigator for the NIH Common Fund Human Microbiome Project, and he established the CMMR in 2011 to develop and implement advanced technologies to understand how the microbiome impacts health and disease and translate this knowledge into new therapeutics and diagnostics.

Chia Lin Simmons is a former executive at Google, Amazon/Audible, Samsung, Harman/JBL and series A to series D startups in Silicon Valley. She's the CEO of LogicMark, one of the leaders in medical alert, health communication, and personal safety technology. The tech helps empower patients and caregivers by providing better monitoring, predictive analytics, and alerts.In this episode, we discuss the future of aging and the role that technologies, including AI, are playing and can play.

This conversation with memory expert Dr. Anthony Metivier explores practical strategies for remembering names, improving focus, and building a sharper memory, while also examining deeper questions about the internet as humanity's external memory, the "vanishing" of online information, and the balance between preserving the past and letting it fade.From ancient memory techniques and memory palaces to the challenges of digital overload, we discuss why we forget, how memories change each time we recall them, and whether technology is strengthening or weakening our minds.Whether you've ever walked into a room and forgotten why, struggled to remember a name, or wondered how our relationship with memory is changing in the digital age, this episode offers both practical insights and thought-provoking ideas about what it means to remember—and what it means to forget.---Anthony Metivier is an author, educator, and memory expert best known for developing the Magnetic Memory Method, a system designed to help people improve memory, learning, and critical thinking. He has written numerous books on memory techniques, language learning, and personal development, and hosts the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, where he interviews experts on learning, cognition, and productivity. His work combines traditional mnemonic techniques with insights from psychology, neuroscience, and lifelong learning to help people remember more and learn more effectively.

Mikael Kågebäck is Chief Technology & Product Officer at Sleep Cycle, a company that uses AI and signal processing to help people sleep better.Kågebäck started out as a software developer, then worked as a software architect, before going back to school to do a PhD in machine learning, with a focus on language and NLP.He joined Sleep Cycle around 2019 as a Research Scientist, initially tasked with building out the AI infrastructure and training models that could work across the app's 180+ countries. About a year later, he became the company's CTO and helped take the company public in 2021.

Olga Titova is an AI product manager at Wargaming with a background in cognitive science who had spent several years working on AI companion apps, Replika (10M+ users) and Blush. She has seen both the technology and the people who use it up close.We talked about why people turn to AI for connection, the appeal of frictionless relationships, the psychological risks of highly agreeable chatbots, and the uncomfortable reality that we are still trying to understand the effects of technologies that are already reshaping how people relate to themselves and each other.

Interview with Uma Valeti of Upside Foods, lab grown meat.

My guest is Colin Wright, an evolutionary biologist, the Founding Editor of Reality's Last Stand, and an academic advisor for the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine.  

In this podcast-style interview, I chat with Colin about one of the topics that probably scares me most to talk about publicly. And that’s exactly why I’m talking about it.  How did we get to a place where it can be so terrifying to speak on certain topics, and especially so when my own point of view isn’t even particularly controversial? What does that mean for society to find ourselves in this place? How does it harm us and the people that this shutting down of discourse purports to be protecting? How do we dig ourselves out of it?  As you may have guessed, in this video, me and Colin discuss the various issues around gender identity. The most dangerous topic on the Internet.   

Colin and I agree on some things, probably disagree on a few too, but are more than willing to have a thoughtful and civil conversation. 

Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @swipewright.  Subscribe: randomminds.substack.com

Sam Sarkisian is a lecturer in the Writing Program at Boston University and author of The Institute, a dystopian thriller about misinformation in the media and political spheres. With the US plagued by disinformation in the media, the answer seems to be a non-partisan Institute for Information Dissemination meant to compile and fact-check the media and political sphere so that citizens will only get the “most accurate” information. Of course, some at the Institute may have their own agenda… The Institute explores the corruption and greed driving many of the biggest institutions, most notably the US Government.

Sam has an eclectic background in communications working as a freelance photojournalist, a multimedia editor, grant/policy writer, and in the Press Office of former Massachusetts Governor, Deval Patrick.

He’s also the Director of Publishing at LaunchTeam Press.

We’ll be talking a bit about his book, the issues we’re currently facing in journalism and, most importantly, how we can move forward.

SOCIALS:

Website: sam-sarkisian.com

My guest today is Jeff Gomez, CEO of Starlight Runner and leading expert in the fields of brand narrative, story world development, creative franchise design, and transmedia storytelling. In this episode we talk about the evolution of transmedia, the use of audio in storytelling, the emergence of virtual production, trends in immersive storytelling and much more.

Gomez has been involved in developing the story worlds of films, TV shows, videogames, toys, books, comics, apps, virtual reality projects, and theme park attractions. His work has impacted blockbuster properties as Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean, James Cameron’s Avatar, Hasbro’s Transformers, Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man and Men in Black, Microsoft’s Halo, and Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

He has also developed highly successful transmedia campaigns and participative brand narratives for Coca-Cola (Happiness Factory), Pepperidge Farm (Goldfish) and Spartan Race. Other current clients include Electronic Arts, Sesame Workshop, Disney Parks & Resorts, and World Vision Canada.

Further, Gomez's transmedia methods have also been applied to educational and geo-political causes, accelerating positive self-organized social movements and increasing resistance to crime, violence, and corruption. Jeff has helped optimize communications for large NGOs, and address crises in Mexico, Colombia, Australia, and the Middle East North Africa region.

My guest today is scientist Ilya Kolmanovsky and we’ll be talking about the evolution of the brain, as well as where we’re heading with the connection between the human mind and AI. Amongst other things, of course.

Born in Moscow, Kolmanovsky trained as a zoologist, earned a PhD in human evolution, and then went on to become the most known Russian language science communicator on TV, radio, through podcasting, lectures, shows, and blogging. He has interviewed five Nobel prize laureates, dived under the ice in the Arctic, and has been detained 3 times by Russian police while protesting oppression. His most recent project is a podcast named Naked Mole-Rat (Goliy Zemlekop in Russian: podcast.ru/1505388337) about scientists and scientific discoveries. It has become the most popular Russian language podcast, outnumbering politics, art and sex podcasts. Recent guests include Garry Kasparov, Alison Gopnik, Svante Paabo and many others.