Singularity.FM

Yesterday I interviewed science comedian Brian Malow for Singularity 1 on 1. Brian is one of those unique comedians who is capable to not only make you laugh but also make you think. During our conversation we discuss topics such as: the name science comedian and the potential tension between science and comedy; serious comedy, mixing humor with scientific truth and making people think; how Brian...

It is only fair that every once-in-a-while Socrates – i.e. “the man with the questions,” ought to get the table turned on him, take the other side of the microphone and answer a few questions himself. So, when Cameron Reilly asked me to be the next guest on his popular and long-running No Illusions Podcast I was honored and agreed without hesitation. In 2004 Cameron co-founded the Podcast Network...

A couple of days ago I interviewed David Simpson for Singularity 1 on 1. David Simpson is a young up-and-coming science fiction writer from Vancouver. He is the author of the sci-fi novels Post-Human – his 2009 debut, as well as Trans-Human – the sequel. During our conversation we discuss issues such as: David’s early interest in writing; the motivation and goals behind his work; the relationship...

This Thursday I interviewed David Orban for Singularity 1 on 1. I have to admit that David is one of my favorite singularitarians and I enjoyed talking to him immensely. During our conversation we discuss issues such as: David’s personal background and early interest in science and technology; the motivation and goals behind his work; his involvement in Singularity University; his take on the tech...

This week I interviewed Greg Wientjes for Singularity 1 on 1. I met Greg at Singularity University and picked up a copy of his book Creative Genius in Technology: Mentor Principles from Life Stories of Geniuses and Visionaries of the Singularity. The book is very well researched and examines the question: “How do you mentor, educate and cultivate the development of individuals with high potential...

I have to admit that, despite the fact that he is a very well known and successful best-selling science fiction writer, I only recently stumbled onto Robert’s work. I was taking a ride on the Toronto subway and couldn’t help it but notice the posters for his novel WWW: Wake. The idea of a blind girl seeing the internet and connecting with an emerging virtual intelligence peaked my curiosity so I h...

Last week I interviewed Sonia Arrison for Singularity 1 on 1. I met Sonia at the Singularity University, where she is a founder and a trustee, and there I picked up a copy of her seminal book 100 Plus: How the Coming Age of Longevity Will Change Everything, from Careers and Relationships to Family and Faith. The book is very well researched and deals with the most profound implications of life-ext...

Yesterday I interviewed Spencer Greenberg for Singularity 1 on 1. Spencer is the Chief Executive Officer of Rebellion Research, the quantitative hedge fund that he co-founded in 2005 at the age of 22. During our conversation with Spencer we discuss issues such as: the unique approach that Rebellion Research takes in investing; artificial intelligence and machine learning; the Black Swan factor and...

During my 10 weeks at Singularity University I was able to ambush Dan Barry for a 20 min interview for Singularity 1 on 1. Former NASA astronaut and veteran of 3 space missions, Dan is currently the head of faculty at Singularity University and the co-chair for AI, Robotics, Space and Physical Sciences. For me Dan Barry was an inspiration from the very beginning of the program: His inaugural lectu...

During my time at Singularity University I was privileged to get a 30 min interview with Salim Ismail for Singularity 1 on 1. During our conversation we discuss issues such as: Salim’s personal background and early childhood in India; his motivation, goals and aspirations for Singularity University; the term “exponential organisation”; his take on the technological singularity and the surprising f...

Last week I was privileged to get a 30 min interview with Peter Diamandis for Singularity 1 on 1. Peter is not a very tall man but I have to say that he has the energy of a giant because interviewing him is like plugging into a nuclear power plant – afterwords I felt as if I got 10 gigawatts worth of energy straight into my batteries. During our conversation we discuss issues such as: his personal...

Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is award winning science fiction author Charles Stross. It was his seminal singularity book Accelerando that not only won the 2006 Locus Award (in addition to being a finalist for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award and on the final ballot for the Hugo Award) but was also at least in part responsible for my launching of SingularitySymposium.com and SingularityW...

Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is Jaron Lanier. Jaron lives in Berkeley, California and, like John Horgan, is one of the better known critics of both Ray Kurzweil and the technological singularity. Unlike many other critics, however, Lanier is neither a technophobe nor a Luddite. In fact, he is known as the father of virtual reality technology. In addition, Jaron has worked on the interface...

Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is digital culture and cyberpunk icon R.U. Sirius. During our conversation we discuss issues such as: R.U.’s early life and Yippie years; his multiple identities and personal motivation; his views on cyberpunk, counter-culture, psychedelic drugs, transhumanism and the technological singularity; the importance of questioning everything, and especially The Author...

Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is Vernor Vinge — the very person who coined the technological singularity as a term. Despite his busy schedule Prof. Vinge still managed to give us over an hour of his time and during our conversation I ask him to discuss issues such as: his childhood and early interest in science fiction; his desire to make sense of the universe; his definition of the technol...

Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is transhumanist strategic philosopher Max More. As the CEO of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation Dr. More has a full schedule. Never-the-less he generously managed to squeeze in two 30 min interview sessions in his busy day. During our conversation we discuss issues such as: Max’s early life and childhood heroes; his interest in economics, political science a...

This is my second interview with Prof. Kevin Warwick. Last time I had him on Singularity 1 on 1 – "You Have to Take Risks to be Part of the Future," he shared his views on a wide variety of topics such as human and artificial intelligence, robotics, the technological singularity, God, the beginning of the universe and so on. This time around Kevin discusses issues such as: the difference between g...

Last time I had Dr. Aubrey de Grey on Singularity 1 on 1 the interview turned out to be a hit. In fact it is still by far the most popular podcast that I have done and the audio file has been listened to or downloaded over 30,000 times. Given Aubrey’s popular appeal and the importance of his work, it is no surprise that I am very happy to have him back for a second interview. However, please have...

Yesterday I was privileged to have an hour long Skype interview with James Martin for my Singularity 1 on 1 podcast. James Martin is Andrew Crofts‘ archetype Change Agent in addition to being a world-renowned computer scientist, author, lecturer, teacher, philanthropist, futurist and film-maker. During our conversation we cover a whole spectrum of interesting topics such as: James’ interest in com...

A couple of months ago I saw Roman Polanski’s film the Ghost Writer based on the titular bestselling book by Robert Harris. At the time, I could hardly imagine that only a couple of months after the movie premiere I will be communicating with Andrew Crofts – the archetype ghostwriter on whom Ewan McGregor’s character was most probably based upon. Andrew wrote a popular guest article for Singularit...

Yesterday I was privileged to have an hour long phone interview with Dr. Stephen Wolfram for my Singularity 1 on 1 podcast. We started our conversation on how Stephen got interested in exploring science in general and eventually focused on computation in particular. Then we moved on to a number of other interesting topics such as his work on Mathematica, his monumental book A New Kind of Science,...

Today I am very happy to have Andrew Hessel as my guest on Singularity 1 on 1. During the interview Andrew shares his truly infectious passion about synthetic biology and the unique opportunities that lie ahead of the budding first generation of DIY bio-hackers. We also discuss a variety of other interesting issues such as the singularity, religion, the promise of personalized medicine as cancer t...

Want to find out who, according to the NY Times, is “the first female philosopher of transhumanism”? Today’s episode of Singularity 1 on 1 features Natasha Vita-More. During our conversation with Natasha she covers a wide variety of topics such as: her personal artistic background and how she got to be interested and involved in transhumanism, as well as her take on technology, religion, death, th...

Today I am very happy to have the Eyeborg Rob Spence as my guest on Singularity 1 on 1. During our 40 min conversation I get Rob to share his views on a wide variety of topics such as project Eyeborg, documentary film making, advanced prosthetics, artificial intelligence, transhumanism, the technological singularity and others. Rob Spence is a Canadian director and producer who lives in Toronto. H...

Today’s edition of Singularity 1 on 1 features prominent author, maverick technologist and regular TED speaker Kevin Kelly. Kevin just published a new book called What Technology Wants. Seth Godin blogged about it and called it The Book Of The Year because in Seth’s opinion “if there’s justice it will win the Pulitzer prize.” Steven Johnson called it the anti-Unabomber manifesto. After such endors...