Send us a text

As a filmmaker, Cody is acutely aware of how Hollywood films has shaped his perception of genetic engineering. Ridley Scott’s masterpiece, Blade Runner, was present for him during the entire process of making the documentary Make People Better. During shoots, they often joked that the documentary could have been shot on one of Mr. Scotts film sets. How is it that we so often set out to create the world we see in science fiction? We sit down with the writer and producer of Stargate SG1, one of the longest running Sci-fi franchises in history. Robert Cooper is more than a shaper of where science goes, he also suffers from a rare genetic disease. Who better to be our guide for the future of the genomic revolution?

Episode Guests
Robert Cooper is a Canadian writer and producer best known for his work in the Stargate franchise. He was formerly an executive producer of Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe. He also co-created both Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe with Brad Wright. Cooper has written and produced many episodes of Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe as well as directed a number of episodes.

Reference links for this episode
https://www.forbes.com/sites/arunshastri/2021/08/03/read-before-assembly-the-influence-of-sci-fi-on-technology-and-design/?sh=5d0d3316220b
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Shock
https://www.mgm.com/television/stargate-sg-1

Support the show

This podcast is brought to you by the RandomGood Foundation and was produced by Rhumbline Media, LLC. Add a video of your thoughts on our Filmstacker Project.

Learn more about the podcast at our website.

Leave us a comment on social media:
Instagram
Facebook
Youtube
Twitter
LinkedIn

Credits
Written and Edited by Cody Sheehy
Produced by Samira Kiani
Music By Tyler Strickland
Impact production by Megan Friend
Recorded by Cody Sheehy and Samira Kiani
Additional Recording By Galen McCaw
Sound design and mixing by Kim Christensen
Supporting materials by Cody Sheehy
Social media and marketing by Megan Friend, Amna Vegha, and Marci Fiamengo
Website by Craig Boesewetter
Legal by W. Wilder Knight II
Executive production by Randall Gebhardt and Christopher Gebhardt

Send us a text

The technology companies driving the genomic revolution are modeling themselves after their predecessors in Silicon Valley. Many bioethicists take note that the same value system, often a mix of new age spiritualism mixed with a tech ethic of “go fast and break things,” is being used as a justification to move the technologies of life far past government regulations and what the rest of society is prepared for spiritually. But even as the new genomic revolution is getting started, Silicon Valley is entering into a period of self-reflection. Our guides for this discussion are Gaymon Bennet, a philosopher at Arizona State university and Barry Brown, the founder of Human (ethos) and an advisor to Singularity University.

Episode Guests

Barry Brown has been involved in the field of individual and team transformation for the past 30 years. 

Gaymon Bennet works on the problem of modernity in contemporary religion and biotechnology: its shifting moral economies, contested power relations, and uncertain modes of subjectivity.

Reference links for this episode

https://www.google.com/search?q=gaymon+bennet&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS999US999&oq=gaymon+bennet&aqs=chrome..69i57.2233j0j4&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#ip=1
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/19/dark-side-of-tech-silicon-valley-guardian
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11464826/
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/23/opinion/google-big-tech-work-culture.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Support the show

This podcast is brought to you by the RandomGood Foundation and was produced by Rhumbline Media, LLC. Add a video of your thoughts on our Filmstacker Project.

Learn more about the podcast at our website.

Leave us a comment on social media:
Instagram
Facebook
Youtube
Twitter
LinkedIn

Credits
Written and Edited by Cody Sheehy
Produced by Samira Kiani
Music By Tyler Strickland
Impact production by Megan Friend
Recorded by Cody Sheehy and Samira Kiani
Additional Recording By Galen McCaw
Sound design and mixing by Kim Christensen
Supporting materials by Cody Sheehy
Social media and marketing by Megan Friend, Amna Vegha, and Marci Fiamengo
Website by Craig Boesewetter
Legal by W. Wilder Knight II
Executive production by Randall Gebhardt and Christopher Gebhardt

Send us a text

The last 20 years of history have been bookended by two events. 9/11 and Covid-19. Many security experts believe that as cheap and easy-to-use gene editing tech proliferates, the occurrence of intentional release of publicly available viruses like smallpox or engineered variants of bird flu will be released for ideological reasons. Is there a plan to keep us safe? We start with special agent Edward You, formerly the director for the FBI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate, who is leading the U.S. government’s defense. In this episode we also talk with Richard Carmona, the former United States Surgeon General who was also tasked with this in his tenure, Harvard’s Sam Weiss Evans, and Michael Hopmeier who is a biosecurity expert.

Episode Guests

Richard Carmona is an American physician, nurse, police officer, public health administrator, and politician. 

Sam Weiss Evans focuses on the governance of security concerns in emerging research technology, especially biology. 

Edward You  is currently on a Joint Duty Assignment at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) serving as the National Counterintelligence Officer for Emerging and Disruptive Technologies.

Michael Hopmeier is the president of Unconventional Concepts, and consult of matters of homeland security.

Reference links for this episode

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/news-blog/is-a-bioterrorism-attack-in-the-us-2008-12-02/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIscOy7o6v_QIVUjmtBh3szw9hEAMYASAAEgIRQvD_BwE

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/world/nightmare-bioterrorism?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=gap_ds&gclid=E

Support the show

This podcast is brought to you by the RandomGood Foundation and was produced by Rhumbline Media, LLC. Add a video of your thoughts on our Filmstacker Project.

Learn more about the podcast at our website.

Leave us a comment on social media:
Instagram
Facebook
Youtube
Twitter
LinkedIn

Credits
Written and Edited by Cody Sheehy
Produced by Samira Kiani
Music By Tyler Strickland
Impact production by Megan Friend
Recorded by Cody Sheehy and Samira Kiani
Additional Recording By Galen McCaw
Sound design and mixing by Kim Christensen
Supporting materials by Cody Sheehy
Social media and marketing by Megan Friend, Amna Vegha, and Marci Fiamengo
Website by Craig Boesewetter
Legal by W. Wilder Knight II
Executive production by Randall Gebhardt and Christopher Gebhardt

Send us a text

Mosquitoes, which have evolved on Earth for more than a hundred million years, could be extinguished by new genetic engineering tools in a matter of years in modern efforts to prevent malaria. The first of these immensely powerful technologies are called “gene drives.” In this episode, we sit down for a mind mending interview with Dr Kevin Esvelt of MIT’s Sculpting Evolution Lab, who is one of the key inventors of gene drives and has been a chief advocate for its current deployments to sterilize invasive rodents and drive disease laden mosquitoes to extinction. We also get a sobering perspective from James Collins, an evolutionary ecologist at Arizona State University. At the end of the day, humans have never been able to modify nature without huge unforeseen consequences, but we usually proceed anyway.

Episode Guests

Kevin Esvelt is director of the Sculpting Evolution group, which invents new ways to study and influence the evolution of ecosystems.

James P. Collins is an evolutionary ecologist whose research group studies the role of host-pathogen interactions in species decline and extinction.

Reference links for this episode
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02087-5
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/first-us-open-air-test-of-genetically-modified-mosquitoes-deemed-a-success-180979960/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41576-021-00386-0
https://www.netflix.com/title/80208910

Support the show

This podcast is brought to you by the RandomGood Foundation and was produced by Rhumbline Media, LLC. Add a video of your thoughts on our Filmstacker Project.

Learn more about the podcast at our website.

Leave us a comment on social media:
Instagram
Facebook
Youtube
Twitter
LinkedIn

Credits
Written and Edited by Cody Sheehy
Produced by Samira Kiani
Music By Tyler Strickland
Impact production by Megan Friend
Recorded by Cody Sheehy and Samira Kiani
Additional Recording By Galen McCaw
Sound design and mixing by Kim Christensen
Supporting materials by Cody Sheehy
Social media and marketing by Megan Friend, Amna Vegha, and Marci Fiamengo
Website by Craig Boesewetter
Legal by W. Wilder Knight II
Executive production by Randall Gebhardt and Christopher Gebhardt

Send us a text

In the United States, many citizens place personal freedom above all other societal values. Combine that with a wave of new gene hacking technologies that are cheap and easy to use, and the biohacking movement is born. It’s fun, you can inject yourself in your own basement, and it can generate a lot of interest on social media. 

In this episode we start with visionary biochemist, genetic designer, and biohacker Jo Zayner. An ex-NASA biochemist, turned underground biohacker, Jo first gained notoriety by publicly injecting themself with CRISPR at a live event. Although their claims that it would enhance their muscles did not pan out, it did inspire a wave of copycat hackers who started dubious enterprises that publicly injected themselves and sold untested cures to Herpes and other ailments. Samira and Cody traveled with Jo to the Dominican Republic, which has no medical regulations, to meet with patients suffering from muscular dystrophy, and who are desperate to meet Zayner and try any DIY cure.

Episode Guests

Jo Zayner (formerly Josiah Zayner) is a biohacker, artist, and scientist best known for their self-experimentation and work making hands-on genetic engineering accessible to a lay audience, including CRISPR.

Ynti Eusebio is the medical director of Prometheus Regenerative Lab located in the Dominican Republic. Ynti provides plastic surgery and Stem Cell Therapies to his patients.

Henry Thompson, a resident of the Dominican Republic suffering from muscular dystrophy.

Resources

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/02/biohacking-stunts-crispr/553511/
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/5/19/18629771/biohacking-josiah-zayner-genetic-engineering-crispr
http://www.josiahzayner.com/p/about.html
https://www.nyt

Support the show

This podcast is brought to you by the RandomGood Foundation and was produced by Rhumbline Media, LLC. Add a video of your thoughts on our Filmstacker Project.

Learn more about the podcast at our website.

Leave us a comment on social media:
Instagram
Facebook
Youtube
Twitter
LinkedIn

Credits
Written and Edited by Cody Sheehy
Produced by Samira Kiani
Music By Tyler Strickland
Impact production by Megan Friend
Recorded by Cody Sheehy and Samira Kiani
Additional Recording By Galen McCaw
Sound design and mixing by Kim Christensen
Supporting materials by Cody Sheehy
Social media and marketing by Megan Friend, Amna Vegha, and Marci Fiamengo
Website by Craig Boesewetter
Legal by W. Wilder Knight II
Executive production by Randall Gebhardt and Christopher Gebhardt

Send us a text

As far back as we have recorded history, from ancient cave paintings to the pyramids, humans have quested for immortality. It is the ultimate prize for a species that can imagine the future and their own eventual death. In recent years, science has transformed that quest into a technological one. This episode starts with Max More, the former president of ALCOR Life Extension Foundation. Next stop is to meet with Dr. George Church, the legendary genomics pioneer, and take a trip to the forefront of age reversal. He has recently started a new company, Rejuvenate Bio, with his protegee Noah Davidsohn. The logic is that if people see the safety of radically increasing the lifespans of their pets, they will become much more comfortable trying the same therapy on themselves.

Andrew Hessel is a micro-biologist and geneticist and entrepreneur. 

Max More is a philosopher and futurist who writes, speaks, and consults on advanced decision-making about emerging technologies. 

George Church is an American geneticist, molecular engineer, chemist, and a serial entrepreneur who is widely regarded as the "Founding Father of Genomics", and a pioneer in personal genomics and synthetic biology. 

Noah Davidsohn is the CSO & Co-Founder at Rejuvenate Bio. Previously, Noah was Research Scientist at Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. 

Daniel Oliver is Founder and CEO of Rejuvenate Bio. He holds a business degree from Harvard Business School.

Reference links for this episode

Transcript https://diyhpl.us/wiki/transcripts/makepeoplebetter/episode-002-longevity/

https://www.alcor.org

Support the show

This podcast is brought to you by the RandomGood Foundation and was produced by Rhumbline Media, LLC. Add a video of your thoughts on our Filmstacker Project.

Learn more about the podcast at our website.

Leave us a comment on social media:
Instagram
Facebook
Youtube
Twitter
LinkedIn

Credits
Written and Edited by Cody Sheehy
Produced by Samira Kiani
Music By Tyler Strickland
Impact production by Megan Friend
Recorded by Cody Sheehy and Samira Kiani
Additional Recording By Galen McCaw
Sound design and mixing by Kim Christensen
Supporting materials by Cody Sheehy
Social media and marketing by Megan Friend, Amna Vegha, and Marci Fiamengo
Website by Craig Boesewetter
Legal by W. Wilder Knight II
Executive production by Randall Gebhardt and Christopher Gebhardt

Send us a text

Let’s start our journey into the genomic revolution where the documentary film, Make People Better left off. First, we will speak with Dr. Jiankui He (nicknamed “JK”), the Chinese scientist who secretly created the first designer babies, named Lulu and Nana. As a result of the controversy that followed, JK spent the next three years in prison. We also speak with Dr. Ben Hurlbut. Ben is an ethics expert from Arizona State University. We will dive deep into why JK did what he did, the top U.S. scientist and communist party officials who supported him, what happened to the twin girls Lulu and Nana, and what lies ahead for humanity now that this door to human enhancement has been opened.

Join our live discussion on Twitter Spaces.

Episode Guests

J. Benjamin Hurlbut, PhD is Associate Professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University.  He studies the governance of biomedical research and innovation, examining the interplay of science and technology with democracy, religious and moral pluralism, and public reason.

Jiankui He is a Chinese researcher who created the first human genetically designed babies, the twin girls known by their pseudonyms, Lulu and Nana. The twins were enhanced to be immune to HIV, the virus that AIDS.  

Reference links for this episode

Transcript (thanks B Bishop) https://diyhpl.us/wiki/transcripts/makepeoplebetter/episode-001/

https://www.science.org/content/article/untold-story-circle-trust-behind-world-s-first-gene-edited-babies
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/feb/04/scientist-edited-babies-genes-acted-too-quickly-he-jiankui
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/04

Support the show

This podcast is brought to you by the RandomGood Foundation and was produced by Rhumbline Media, LLC. Add a video of your thoughts on our Filmstacker Project.

Learn more about the podcast at our website.

Leave us a comment on social media:
Instagram
Facebook
Youtube
Twitter
LinkedIn

Credits
Written and Edited by Cody Sheehy
Produced by Samira Kiani
Music By Tyler Strickland
Impact production by Megan Friend
Recorded by Cody Sheehy and Samira Kiani
Additional Recording By Galen McCaw
Sound design and mixing by Kim Christensen
Supporting materials by Cody Sheehy
Social media and marketing by Megan Friend, Amna Vegha, and Marci Fiamengo
Website by Craig Boesewetter
Legal by W. Wilder Knight II
Executive production by Randall Gebhardt and Christopher Gebhardt

Send us a text

Science fiction is becoming science fact. In 2018, the team behind this podcast uncovered that a Chinese scientist, Jiankui He (nicknamed “JK”), was creating the world’s first genetically enhanced babies. The experiment opened the door to what may become a commercial market for designer babies and for governments to enhance entire populations. In the controversy that followed, the Chinese government disappeared JK and later sentenced him to three years in prison. Dr. He is now out of prison and has started a new genetic engineering company. He sits down with us in our first episode to discuss his plans. But the story does not stop there. In recent years, gene editing has exploded into a technological revolution that is poised to transform society and redefine what it means to be human. In this 7-part podcast series, we investigate the race to unlock age reversal and immortality in humans, new tools that can re-engineer entire species of animals and plants in nature, the inevitability of bioterrorists creating synthetic viruses, an underground movement of do-it-yourself biohackers who are setting up labs in their garages, how pop culture has informed the genomic revolution, and much more.

Support the show

This podcast is brought to you by the RandomGood Foundation and was produced by Rhumbline Media, LLC. Add a video of your thoughts on our Filmstacker Project.

Learn more about the podcast at our website.

Leave us a comment on social media:
Instagram
Facebook
Youtube
Twitter
LinkedIn

Credits
Written and Edited by Cody Sheehy
Produced by Samira Kiani
Music By Tyler Strickland
Impact production by Megan Friend
Recorded by Cody Sheehy and Samira Kiani
Additional Recording By Galen McCaw
Sound design and mixing by Kim Christensen
Supporting materials by Cody Sheehy
Social media and marketing by Megan Friend, Amna Vegha, and Marci Fiamengo
Website by Craig Boesewetter
Legal by W. Wilder Knight II
Executive production by Randall Gebhardt and Christopher Gebhardt