Singularity.FM

Robert Steele is a very interesting person indeed: in the 1980s Robert was a clandestine CIA agent who believed not only in secrecy but also in Reagan’s right-wing politics and trickle down economics. Today Steele is the author of The Open Source Everything Manifesto: Transparency, Truth, and Trust. So how does a former spy and CIA intelligence professional, and Marine Corps infantry officer, beco...

Dr. Michael Fossel is one of those few theoreticians who can see much of the big picture of aging. While some use mostly guesswork, and others hope to improve on that with logic, Fossel never shies away from the clear verdict that only data can give. Add his overwhelming compassion as a human being and you will understand why he is a clinician who really cares. You will also get a pretty good idea...

Last time I interviewed BioViva CEO Liz Parrish I had no idea that she would make global headlines shortly thereafter by becoming a gene therapy test subject herself. And so I wanted to bring her back to discuss the kind of experiment she volunteered for, as well as the broad science behind it. So, 4 months after receiving gene therapies aimed at reversing muscle-wasting disease and aging, I final...

Singularity University is not about the singularity and is not even a university. It is not about abundance and is not an exponential organization. Then what is Singularity University about?! Those are the claims I made and the questions I asked, and tried to address, during my recent presentation at a local meetup organized by Singularity University in the Netherlands. Check it out and judge for...

Zoltan Istvan is the first unashamedly and unabashedly openly transhumanist presidential candidate in the history of the United States. His political campaign, his Immortality Bus Tour and his book the Transhumanist Wager, have managed to get a huge amount of global media coverage and stir a debate. For good or for bad, much of that debate has been revolving not only around Istvan’s ideas but also...

How can humans ever hope to push back and delay the ever growing power of software based artificial intelligence? Well, Dr. Louis Rosenberg – founder and CEO of Unanimous AI, believes that human swarming may be able to amplify human intelligence and buy us some time, if not change the outcome entirely. During our 86 min conversation with Louis Rosenberg we cover a variety of interesting topics suc...

To me cryonics just makes sense. It may not be pretty but, just like open heart surgery, it is one of those things that, without any guarantees, can possibly extend your life [very] substantially. Thus, especially given the alternative, I just can’t quite make sense of the slow rate of adoption evident not only in North America but also across the world. And so I am always happy to discover new bo...

Whether we like it or not, the current reality is that every day 150,000 people die. And while I have no doubt that one day humanity will defeat death of old age, like anyone else, I am not guaranteed that I will be alive to benefit personally from such a radical development. And so, while I am hoping for the best, I am doing what I can to get ready for the worst. In my case this entails planning...

Salim IsmailExponential Organizations is one of those very rare individuals who can be and look from both inside and outside of the box – all at the same time. Furthermore, Ismail is one the few Singularity 1on1 interviewees who have the uncanny ability to keep surprising me with challenging, provocative, enlightening and often unexpected answers. During my time at Singularity University [GSP’11]...

There are those of us who philosophize and debate the finer points surrounding the dangers of artificial intelligence. And then there are those who dare go in the trenches and get their hands dirty by doing the actual work that may just end up making the difference. So if AI turns out to be like the terminator then Prof. Roman Yampolskiy may turn out to be like John Connor – but better. Because in...

BioViva‘s CEO Liz Parrish is a fire-starter and probably not everyone’s favorite person. But if your goal is as bold as defeating aging then you’ll have to break some eggs. And so feel as you might but I have to admit that Parrish is definitely one of my favorite people – not only for the scientific work that she does but also because she is a fun, passionate and fully committed individual that in...

Marshal Brain‘s 2003 book Manna was quite ahead of its time in foreseeing that eventually, one way or another, we will have to confront and address the phenomenon of technological unemployment. In addition, Marshall is a passionate brainiac with a jovial personality, impressive background and a unique perspective. And so I was very happy to meet him in person for an exclusive Singularity 1on1 inte...

The first time I interviewed Jack Andraka he was the youngest guest ever on my Singularity 1on1 podcast. At 16 he already had a mind-blowing list of science awards and inventions, the most notable of which was his nanotechnology-based pancreatic cancer test. So when I discovered that Jack will be speaking at Canada’s best annual conference – IdeaCity, I was determined to kidnap him if I have to, b...

This is my fourth interview with Ramez Naam and the reason for that is simple: Ramez is a cool, smart guy, who writes kick-ass, gritty, action-packed and scientifically compelling science fiction novels as well as being a researcher and expert in a variety of other fields such as human enhancement, the environment and energy. And so I am always happy to have him back on Singularity 1on1 both becau...

David Wood is the chair of London Futurists and on the Humanity+ board of directors. He is an eminent futurist whose valuable newsletter I myself have been subscribed to for several years now and so I was very happy that, at long last, we managed to sit down for a proper Singularity 1on1 interview. Not surprisingly, I found our conversation both intellectually enlightening and spiritually entertai...

A few weeks ago I got interviewed on Review the Future podcast. Co-hosts Ted Kupper and Jon Perry did a great job in putting me on the spot and I enjoyed talking to them very much. So, if for once you are interested in having me as “the man with the answers” then check out their synopsis below and listen to the audio interview above: In today’s podcast we are joined by Nikola Danaylov, host of the...

“Rick Tumlinson is the descendant of pioneers who wants to help create the future pioneers who are going to go open the Solar system and expand life beyond the Earth. That’s why I am here. The whole reason I exist is to make sure that this species and the life of the Earth expands into the universe.” Rick Tumlinson is a legendary visionary, evangelist and a trench warrior for the opening, privatiz...

Pandora’s Brain is one of the most philosophical science fiction novels I have read recently. And since Calum Chace has been a valuable contributor to Singularity Weblog, as well as a great blogger with an interesting and diverse experience in his own right, I thought that he would make a great guest for my Singularity 1on1 podcast. And so I invited him for an interview which turned out to be a ve...

This is my second interview with William Hertling. The first time we met was at Greg Bear’s house near Seattle where we did both a 1on1 interview and a fantastic science fiction panel together with our host and Ramez Naam. So I suggest you start by watching those videos if you have not seen them yet because today we are going deeper into topics such as artificial intelligence and the technological...

Marc Goodman is not your typical street cop – he considers himself a humanitarian, he is super smart and well educated, he has worked in over 70 countries and speaks more languages that I can list here. Marc has worked for Interpol and is the Futurist for the FBI. If that is not enough Goodman is also the Chair for Policy, Law and Ethics at Singularity University as well as the author of the scari...

Michael Fossel‘s dream is to reverse human aging and since 1996 he has been a strong and vocal advocate of experimenting with telomerase therapy as a potential way of intervention in a wide variety of medical conditions related to aging. Fossel is also one of those unique people who are a real pleasure to not only see speaking from the stage but also to meet in person. And having done both of thes...

During my recent visit to the Cryonics Institute I had the chance to do a video tour of CI and learn more about their vitrification procedures and membership policies. I also had the unique opportunity to interview David Ettinger, whose father Robert Ettinger is the “father of cryonics” because he pretty much started the field with his seminal book The Prospect of Immortality. I was also happy to...

This is the concluding sci fi round-table discussion of my Seattle 1-on-1 interviews with Ramez Naam, William Hertling and Greg Bear. The video was recorded last November and was produced by Richard Sundvall, shot by Ian Sun and generously hosted by Greg and Astrid Bear. (Special note of thanks to Agah Bahari who did the interview audio re-mix and basically saved the footage.) During our 30 minute...

Greg Bear is truly one of the masters of classic science fiction – he has written over 35 books, that have sold millions of copies, and have been translated in 22 languages. No wonder I was not only immensely excited but also pretty nervous while preparing to interview him face to face. As it turned out I was worrying for nothing: Greg Bear is a really affable fellow with a fantastic sense of humo...

Technological unemployment is an issue that I have mentioned a few times during my past interviews. In fact, I would go as far as saying that it is at the bottom of the top 5 biggest problems humanity faces today. So while it may not be the very biggest issue we face right now, it definitely is a huge challenge that, if not resolved, has the potential to impact negatively on a variety of other one...