Famous former black hat, Hector Monsegur, gives us the lowdown on how secure we really are (or aren’t). A troubling conversation with a very cool dude. Hector Xavier Monsegur is a security researcher and Director of Assessment Services at Rhino Security Labs. He was also once a notorious hacker and hacktivist. We don’t get much into … Continue reading "Episode 103: Hector Monsegur on Staying Safe Online and IRL"

Please welcome GiveDirectly’s Joe Huston to the program. You won’t regret it. Joe Huston is the CFO of GiveDirectly (Twitter), this podcast’s favorite charity (or mine, at least). You’ll notice that, despite the rambling questions and non-questions I pitched his way, Joe is expert at clearly explaining the details of cash transfers, basic income, and GiveDirectly’s various … Continue reading "Episode 102: Joe Huston on Cash Transfers and Basic Income"

Evolutionary psychologist Diana Fleischman talks about what we find disgusting and why. Also, cannibalism and how great it is. Zach and I had a great time speaking with psychologist and lecturer Diana Fleischman. Originally we planned to discuss transhuman and nonhuman ethics, but, as you’ll hear, we cover quite a bit more territory than that. … Continue reading "Episode 101: Diana Fleischman on Disgusting Stuff"

Our very first guest—and one of our favorites—James Hughes returns to keep it 100. James Hughes, Executive Director of the IEET, and the first guest we ever had, is back. He’s the best. Prepare for a transhumanist delight. Notes What’s that you say? Nicotine is a cognitive enhancer? Our buddy Jesse Lawler has the scoop … Continue reading "Episode 100: James Hughes and the Transhumanist Zeitgeist"

Amazon is taking over; so what? Plus: thoughts on power drills. Look, drills are technology. So they are fair game for this podcast. Also, according to some jerks, nearly everything is technology. So everything is fair game. Thanks, jerks. Take that, other jerks. Notes When we refer to “the minimalists,” we mean the guys from … Continue reading "Episode 099: You Know the Drill"

Helicopter parenting, VR prison pods, and more. Oh my. This one’s all over the place. Thanks again for the interesting feedback, superheroic listeners. Notes Here’s what you really came here for: military commercials from our collective memory. Army of one. Marine vs. lava monster. Bobby’s World (don’t question it). So, a lot of the things … Continue reading "Episode 098: Helicoptration"

One day he’s in Uzbekistan, the next he’s on our podcast. There’s no predicting the inimitable Kevin Kelly. Kevin Kelly. Where to start? Whole Earth Review. Wired. A slew of dope books, including The Inevitable (now available in paperback). He’s a man of deep interests, and a deeply interesting man. I dare you—I fucking dare you—to not … Continue reading "Episode 097: Kevin Kelly on Virtual Worlds and Raising the Global Teenager"

Is eternal bliss desirable? Possible? Intelligible? We discuss, you decide. The singularity gets a bad rap, I think. It’s often mocked as the rapture of the nerds, and part of that is deserved. There are, admittedly, some singularity-enthusiasts whose picture of the future looks a bit too much like classical heaven to us. But whatever … Continue reading "Episode 095: No Pain? Insane!"

Sebastian Brosche has black belts in jiu jitsu, judo, and futurism. Respect. Confession: I’m a huge fan of Sebastian and Yoga for BJJ. I knew I wanted to pick his brain, and the podcast is my catchall pretense for doing that, picking the brains of those I admire. Still, I wasn’t sure how I was going to spin … Continue reading "Episode 094: Sebastian Brosche on Yoga, BJJ, and Finding Meaning in a World Run by Robots"

Is the next great era one of whole brain emulations? Robin Hanson makes the case. The inimitable Robin Hanson regales us with a startling picture of the future—one in which human emulations, or ems, are the dominant form of mind. Hmm. I suppose he’s only inimitable for now. Once brain scanning is mature, he’ll be v imitable. And yeah, … Continue reading "Episode 093: Robin Hanson on the Age of Emulation"