David Volodzko speaks with David Brin about comet dust formation, anti-institutionalism in Hollywood, how science-fiction has saved humanity, the moral philosophy of Star Trek, how tolerance and diversity have metastasized into a cancer, the infantile nihilism of Star Wars, how AI may buttress authoritarianism, the sinister laws of Wall Street AI, the existence of alien life, his recent WIRED article on AI, his Newsweek article on “empathy bots,” and much more.

David Brin (website, X) is an astrophysicist and NASA consultant whose science-fiction novels have won multiple Hugo, Nebula, and other awards. His books include The Postman, which was adapted as a film by Kevin Costner, Earth, Existence, and Foundation’s Triumph, the last in Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series. His nonfiction book The Transparent Society won the Freedom of Speech Award. His new book is Vivid Tomorrows: Science Fiction and Hollywood.

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