The Orthogonal Bet

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman had the pleasure of speaking with Paul Rony. Paul is the founder and CEO of Kosmik, a tech startup based in France. Paul is also deeply knowledgeable about the history of computing and the ideas that animate it, and Samuel wanted to discuss these ideas with him. Samuel and Paul had a chance to discuss how Paul became interested in computing history, his own experie...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman had the pleasure of speaking with Nicholas Bergson-Shilcock. Nick is the cofounder and CEO of the Recurse Center, a kind of retreat for programmers and community for people to work at what they term the edge of their abilities. RC has been running these self-directed retreats since 2011 and the company is a very intentional effort in fostering curiosity and is info...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman had the pleasure of speaking with Corey Maley. Corey is an associate professor of philosophy at Purdue University who explores the philosophy of science and computation, focusing on cognitive science, the nature of computation both digital and analog, and how brains compute. Samuel and Corey had a chance to discuss the nature of analog computation and what people g...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman had the pleasure of speaking with Joel Simon. Joel is a fascinating creator who works at the intersection of art and computational research, particularly in the realm of AI and creativity. He is the creator of Artbreeder, a biologically inspired tool for navigating the space of AI images, and has also worked on many other projects, such as evolving floorplans, a di...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman has the pleasure of speaking with Stephen Webb. Stephen is a physicist and the author of numerous books, including one entitled "If the Universe is Teeming with Aliens… Where is Everybody?", the second edition of which includes 75 solutions to the Fermi Paradox. Samuel wanted to talk to Stephen to explore the nature of the Fermi paradox — essentially, if...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman is excited to welcome David Edmonds back to the podcast. Dave is the cohost of the Philosophy Bites podcast as well as the bestselling author of numerous books about philosophy. Last time they spoke about his book Death in a Shallow Pond: A Philosopher, A Drowning Child, and Strangers in Need , and this time they discuss Parfit , his biography of the philosopher De...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman welcomes back Edward Ashton. Edward is a science fiction writer and the author of numerous novels, including Mickey7 , which served as the basis for the film Mickey 17 . The two last spoke about Ashton’s novel The Fourth Consort , a compelling first-contact story, and he now returns to discuss his new book, After the Fall . After the Fall is a delightful and though...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with Lori Emerson, a professor of Media Studies at University of Colorado Boulder and the founding director of the Media Archaeology Lab, where Arbesman serves as an advisor. Emerson’s work sits at the crossroads of media, technology, and history—a perspective embodied by the Lab’s hands-on approach to preserving older technologies and keeping them alive thr...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with Brendan Schlagel , a builder obsessed with learning and community, and the cofounder of Hyperlink and Leaflet —projects devoted to helping people learn together and share knowledge in public. Samuel and Brendan trace the history of Hyperlink and the learning communities it sparked, and how that work ultimately led to Leaflet: a tool designed to make pub...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with Gordon Brander , a technologist and researcher currently building Deep Future , an AI tool designed to facilitate scenario planning. Gordon has worked in design and engineering at organizations including Mozilla and Google , where he used scenario planning in practice—and he’s now aiming to democratize the framework more broadly. Together, Samuel and Go...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with Florian Jehn , a researcher who studies the nature of societal collapse and the author of the blog Existential Crunch . Existential Crunch examines and summarizes scientific work in this space, serving as a living literature review of research on societal collapse. Samuel and Florian discuss the origins of Existential Crunch, the radically interdiscipli...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with novelist Dexter Palmer , the author of three books that deliberately resist easy categorization. As they discuss, Palmer’s work can be thought of as literary fiction infused with science-fictional tropes and textures . His debut, The Dream of Perpetual Motion , is a kind of steampunk tale; Version Control explores a near-future world with dollops of tim...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with Stuart Buck , executive director of the Good Science Project —a think tank devoted to better understanding how science is done and funded. Stuart previously served as a vice president at Arnold Ventures , where he focused (among other things) on scientific practice and reproducibility, and he holds a PhD in education policy and a JD . Stuart also wrote...

Tinkered Thinking is the pseudonym of the author behind White Mirror , a collection of stories that explore the implications of artificial intelligence and advances in computing—while offering a more optimistic lens than much of contemporary science fiction. In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with Tinkered Thinking about the origins of these stories and his broader evolution as a writer, incl...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks again with Alec Nevala-Lee . Arbesman previously hosted Nevala-Lee to discuss his biography of Buckminster Fuller; this time, Nevala-Lee returns to talk about his new book, Collisions , a biography of Nobel Prize–winning physicist Luis Alvarez . Alvarez’s career ranged across particle physics, the Manhattan Project, the investigation of the JFK assassination...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with Nick Foster , a designer and futurist who has worked with numerous major companies imagining a variety of futures—from Nokia and Dyson to Google. Foster is also the author of the new book Could Should Might Don’t , which explores the many ways we do and can think about the future. Arbesman and Foster discuss how Foster found his way into the world of fu...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with David Edmonds , cohost of the Philosophy Bites podcast and bestselling author of numerous books on philosophy, including his most recent work, Death in a Shallow Pond : A Philosopher, A Drowning Child, and Strangers in Need . In this delightful book, Edmonds explores Peter Singer’s famous “shallow pond” thought experiment—its moral implications, its inf...

n this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with Rohit Krishnan , one of the most playful and insightful thinkers in the world of ideas. Rohit writes Strange Loop Canon , a newsletter devoted to exploring delightfully wide-ranging concepts—including artificial intelligence. He also recently collaborated with Jon Evans on Walter , a project that trained an AI to be good at social media. Together, Samuel...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with Linda Liukas , author of the beloved Hello Ruby children’s book series about computers, as well as a new Finnish-language book for adults on computing. Liukas also recently designed a playground in Helsinki that introduces children to foundational ideas in computer science through play. Together, Arbesman and Liukas explore her path to becoming a childr...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with Molly Mielke . Despite her youth, Molly has already built a fascinating career across tech—spending time at Notion, Figma, Stripe, and the Browser Company—before launching her own venture fund, Moth Fund . Along the way, she’s learned a great deal about herself and thought deeply about the role of technology in the world. Arbesman and Mielke discuss her...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with Daniel Temkin , a writer and artist working in the digital art space who has been creating strange and provocative programming languages for years. These “esoteric languages” or “esolangs” [esso] explore the limits and breadth of what programming and code can be. Temkin recently released a book collecting languages he created, titled Forty-Four Esolangs...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with Parker Owens, whose passion for Lego has grown into something remarkable. In addition to working as an attorney, Parker runs Parker’s Brick Builds, a company where he designs and sells custom Lego creations. His sets range from vehicles and a siege tower to even a Lego “dumpster fire” that fans can build themselves. Arbesman and Owens explore Parker’s L...

Samuel Arbesman is joined once again by Kristoffer Tjalve . The two previously spoke about the poetic web and the delightful aspects of the internet. This time, Kristoffer shares his new project: the Internet Phone Book —a physical book that lists personal websites alongside essays about the internet. After selling out its first run, the book is now available again as a reprint from Metalabel. In...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with Edward Ashton . Edward Ashton is a science fiction writer and the author of numerous novels, including Mickey7 , which became the basis for the movie Mickey 17 . His most recent novel is The Fourth Consort , a fascinating first contact story that touches upon many different topics, from humanity’s uniqueness to how to think about interstellar confederat...

In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with Neal Agarwal. Neal has been building online playthings for most of his life. He runs neal.fun , which many listeners may already be familiar with, home to such games and internet toys as Infinite Craft and Internet Roadtrip . For example, Infinite Craft begins with the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water, which can be recombined in open-ended w...