Team Futurism

Matt Johnson is the author of How Hitchens Can Save the Left: Rediscovering Fearless Liberalism in an Age of Counter-Enlightenment. His writing has appeared in Quillette, the Bulwark, the Daily Beast, and many other places. Follow Matt on X @mattjj89.

In this conversation, we discuss the current state of liberalism, the craziness on the left vs. the craziness of the right, the fall of the IDW, the gaslighting done by the establishment media, and other topics. We also discuss the ongoing influence of Christopher Hitchens and whether or not it's useful to ask, "What would Hitchens think about this?"

Watch the latest episode on YouTube or listen to the podcast on Spotify or Apple.

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit teamfuturism.substack.com

What have liberals done to the West Coast? This is the question asked by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times recently.

Having lived in multiple liberal cities up and down the coast, we have a lot of thoughts on this topic. The conversation covers: homelessness, drug abuse, crime statistics, liberals "losing their minds" on certain social issues, implications for the upcoming presidential election, and more.

Watch the latest episode on YouTube or listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple, or Stitcher.

Thanks for reading Team Futurism! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit teamfuturism.substack.com

It's a strange time to be a writer. AI-powered writing tools have become so ubiquitous and so powerful, it sometimes feels like a lost cause to struggle through writing a short story or novel the old fashioned way (without AI).

How should writers move forward? What will the writer life look like in the near future?

In this episode of the Team Futurism podcast, Yves Stevens helps me understanding this landscape.

Yves Stevens is an author of several books and host of the YouTube channel Yves the Poet, which offers reviews of writing tech. In this interview, we discuss technophobia in the writing community, the benefits of writing tools such as Novelpad and reMarkable, how ChatGPT will impact writers, how writers can use NFTs, and other topics.

Watch the latest episode on YouTube or listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple, or Stitcher.

Follow Yves on Substack and on X @eat_sats. Also check out her book Chain Mail: Newsletter Correspondence on Bitcoin and Blockchain Tech.

Thanks for reading Team Futurism! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit teamfuturism.substack.com

Author Ben Murnane just released the biography of Zoltan Istvan, Transhuman Citizen. In this episode, we discuss Zoltan's rise to prominence as a transhumanist, a libertarian, a world-traveler, and a journalist. We also discuss Ben Murnane's expertise on the convergence of futurist issues and libertarian philosophy.

Ben Murnane earned a PhD in English from Trinity College Dublin. He's the author several books and has written for the Irish Times, the Irish Independent, the Evening Herald, the Irish Daily Mail.

Watch the latest episode on YouTube or Listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple, or Stitcher.

Also check out Peter’s review of Transhuman Citizen for Merion West: “Chasing Immortality, Living on the Edge: A Review of “Transhuman Citizen,” the Biography of Zoltan Istvan”

Thanks for reading Team Futurism! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit teamfuturism.substack.com

Journalist Sam Forster, a former guest on Team Futurism, went viral when he announced the publication of his new book, Seven Shoulders. This book documents his attempt to expose racism in America through the particularly taboo act of...dressing in blackface.

We don't typically talk about subjects like this Team Futurism, but since we've had Sam on the podcast we felt it warranted some commentary.

Watch the latest episode on YouTube or Listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple, or Stitcher.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit teamfuturism.substack.com

For the first time, a former American president has been convicted of felony crimes. We discuss the legitimacy of the case and what the implications are for our culture and for the upcoming election.

Watch the latest episode on YouTube or Listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple, or Stitcher.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit teamfuturism.substack.com

The founder of Bumble recently said that, in the future, we might all have an AI "concierge" that goes on "dates" (with other bots) for us. This could help everyone be more successful at finding real partners. But is this totally dystopian? We discuss.

Watch the latest episode on YouTube or Listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple, or Stitcher.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit teamfuturism.substack.com

We couldn't resist talking about RFK Jr's brain worm. But this turned out to be a wide-ranging conversation about the pros and cons of RFK as a presidential candidate and third-party candidates generally. We also discuss the role of fear in politics, our frustration with both mainstream media and people like Joe Rogan, and other topics.

Watch the latest episode on YouTube or Listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple, or Stitcher.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit teamfuturism.substack.com

This episode offers an overview of Guillaume Verdon (aka Beff Jezos), the effective acceleration movement (e/acc), and Verdon's company Extropic.

Despite our initial impressions, we have come around to Verdon and we're genuinely exciting about his "thermodynamic computing" company. But we do give time to his critics and discuss the comparisons being made between him and Elizabeth Holmes.

Watch the latest episode on YouTube or Listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple, or Stitcher.

Thanks for reading Team Futurism! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit teamfuturism.substack.com

This interview was conducted in affiliation with Atheists for Liberty, of which Ron Lindsay is a member of the Board of Advisors and Peter Clarke serves as editor-in-chief.

Ronald Lindsay is a philosopher, lawyer, and has served as the president and CEO of the Center for Inquiry. He’s the author of several books including Future Bioethics and The Necessity of Secularism.

In this conversation, we focus on his most recent book, Against the New Politics of Identity.

Watch the latest episode on YouTube or Listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple, or Stitcher.

Thanks for reading Team Futurism! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit teamfuturism.substack.com