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Curiosity ⇔ Entangled

Accelerator Media

Curiosity ⇔ Entangled brings together two experts from different fields for unscripted conversations fueled by mutual curiosity. Each episode explores intersections of science, technology, philosophy, and humanity, diving into topics like the origins of life, artificial intelligence, ancient and modern history, and the mysteries of the cosmos. These unique dialogues create opportunities for the cross-pollination of ideas, sparking new insights and innovation. Join us to discover where curiosity can lead. Produced by Accelerator Media, a nonprofit organization www.acceleratormedia.org

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  • 21 episodes
  • Avg 1 hr 20 min
  • English

Episodes 21

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  • S1 · E21
    Yesterday · 1 hr 13 min

    Is the Mind Only in the Brain? | Lambros Malafouris & Shaun Gallagher

    Where does the mind end, and how much of who we are is made through our relationships with the world around us? Cognitive archaeologist Lambros Malafouris joins philosopher Shaun Gallagher to explore a view of the mind that reaches beyond the brain. Drawing on Malafouris's Material Engagement Theory and Gallagher's work on embodied and enactive cognition, they examine how thinking emerges through the ongoing relationship between brain, body, other people, objects, technologies, and the environments we inhabit. Their conversation explores the four E's of cognition—embodied, embedded, extended, and enactive—why objects and materials may participate in human agency, the relationship between pottery and the potter who shapes it, how our brains and environments change together, and how technologies become part of the processes that make us who we are. From there, they turn to AI and ask what happens when technologies change faster than we can understand their effects on us: how digital systems reshape habits and institutions, what skills may disappear along the way, and whether changing our everyday practices may matter as much as changing the rules that govern technology. Three core questions: Does cognition happen inside the brain, or emerge through relationships between brain, body, other people, and the material world? If tools and technologies help shape our agency, habits, and sense of self, what happens when those technologies change? As AI becomes embedded in everyday life and institutions, how do we preserve the embodied practices and ways of thinking we still value? ——— GUESTS Lambros Malafouris - Cognitive & Anthropological Archaeologist Professor of Cognitive & Anthropological Archaeology, University of Oxford Tutorial Fellow in Archaeology and Anthropology, Hertford College Developer of Material Engagement Theory and author of People Are STRANGE: Material Engagement and the Creation of Self-Consciousness https://www.hertford.ox.ac.uk/staff/lambros-malafouris/ https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262553902/people-are-strange/ Shaun Gallagher - Philosopher & Cognitive Scientist Lillian and Morrie Moss Professor of Philosophy, University of Memphis Known for his work on embodied cognition, phenomenology, agency, intersubjectivity, and the Pattern Theory of Self https://www.memphis.edu/philosophy/people/ https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/facpubs/6153/ ——— Chapters 00:00 Meet Lambros Malafouris and Shaun Gallagher 02:38 The four E's: embodied, embedded, extended, and enactive cognition 09:05 Material Engagement Theory: how things shape the mind 16:34 What scientific models leave out 19:14 The situated person and the relational mind 23:35 Where does agency actually live? 28:44 Agency, body ownership, and the minimal self 30:25 The potter, the clay, and agency in the relationship 35:23 STRANGE, metaplasticity, and how humans become 44:03 What London taxi drivers reveal about brains and technology 46:05 Three kinds of technological transparency 49:34 What are our technologies doing to us? 50:55 AI, human becoming, and the technologies we choose 56:00 The socially extended mind and how institutions shape us 59:26 When digital technologies become the structure of institutions 1:03:04 Habits, practices, and another way to think about change 1:09:50 What embodied skills could we lose in the age of AI? 1:12:19 From pottery to politics: where the conversation leads

  • S1 · E20
    August 15 · 1 hr 23 min

    Sara Imari Walker x Amy Karle | Life, Time, Creativity and the Future

    What is life, and how much say do we have in shaping what comes next? Astrobiologist and theoretical physicist Sara Imari Walker joins artist and futurist Amy Karle to explore the questions they each reach from opposite directions: what life is, how it begins, and how we would recognize it somewhere else. Drawing on Walker's search for the physics and possible laws of life and Karle's art made with the tools of frontier science and biotechnology, they find where a scientist's attempt to see life differently meets an artist's attempt to help us feel possibilities we do not yet have language for. Their conversation explores time and how differently each of us lives it, possibility versus probability, creativity as a force that shapes the world, the traces we leave for the future, bioprinting and what we become when we remake the body, how a work changes as different cultures receive it, and the question of what part we play in the universe's ongoing creativity. Three core questions: 1. What does it mean to be alive, and how would we recognize life radically unlike our own? 2. Can genuinely new possibilities emerge, or is the future fundamentally constrained by the past and by probability? 3. Is the universe itself creative, and what role do life, intelligence, and human agency play in that creative process? ——— GUESTS Sara Imari Walker - Astrobiologist & Theoretical Physicist Professor and Deputy Director, Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science, Arizona State University Author of Life as No One Knows It and co-developer of Assembly Theory https://search.asu.edu/profile/1731899 https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo... Amy Karle - Artist, Bioartist & Futurist Known for Regenerative Reliquary and The Heart of Evolution Exhibited at Ars Electronica, the Centre Pompidou, and the Mori Art Museum https://www.amykarle.com ——— Chapters 00:00 Meet Sara Imari Walker and Amy Karle 01:14 What does it mean to be alive? 04:41 The futures cone, and how much we shape what comes 07:33 Possibility, probability, and the outliers that surprise us 10:40 Living out of the past, or starting from a blank slate 16:28 Echoes from the Valley of Existence: leaving DNA on the Moon 23:04 Our very different relationships to time 42:07 Powers of Ten, and seeing clearly in the AI age 47:48 What would alien life be, and how would we know it? 58:06 Amy's beginning, and the fragility of life 1:04:37 The Heart of Evolution, and who we become when we remake the body 1:08:40 Scary and beautiful: how cultures complete the work 1:18:15 Perception, and our role in the universe's creativity

  • S1 · E19
    August 4 · 1 hr 33 min

    Mark Solms x Karl Friston | Freud Was a Neuroscientist, and Modern Brain Science Is Proving Him Right

    What can Freud still teach us about the brain, consciousness, and mental health?Neuropsychologist and psychoanalyst Mark Solms joins theoretical neuroscientist Karl Friston to explore the connections between Freud’s ideas and modern neuroscience. Using Solms’s book The Only Cure as a starting point, they discuss how our experiences shape the brain’s understanding of the world—and why changing that understanding may be central to mental healing.Their conversation explores talking therapy, psychedelics, consciousness, memory, childhood development, the unconscious mind, curiosity, and the idea that our actions are guided by attempts to meet our needs and reduce uncertainty.———GUESTSMark Solms - Neuropsychologist, Psychoanalyst & AuthorProfessor, Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape TownAuthor of The Only Cure and The Hidden Springhttps://neuroscience.uct.ac.za/contac...https://www.simonandschuster.com/auth...Karl Friston - Theoretical Neuroscientist & PsychiatristProfessor of Imaging Neuroscience, University College LondonKnown for the Free Energy Principle and Active Inferencehttps://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/2747-karl-...https://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/~karl/———Chapters00:00 Meet Mark Solms and Karl Friston02:23 How a psychoanalyst and a neuroscientist joined forces06:12 Freud, Feynman, and a physics of the mind10:23 A 29-year quest to translate Freud, and a new book18:50 Does therapy treat causes while medication treats symptoms?30:49 Where our sense of self and our feelings come from43:27 The hidden design of the mind that Freud could only imagine49:10 Many kinds of memory, and the depth of the mind1:02:20 The unconscious: how much of us runs on autopilot1:15:08 Why our earliest years shape us, even when we cannot recall them1:25:59 "All thinking is wishful thinking"1:32:14 From Freud to Feynman to Friston

  • S1 · E18
    July 27 · 1 hr 16 min

    Designing the Futures We Imagine | Anab Jain & Anand Pandian

    This episode bridges speculative design, anthropology, ecological art, education, environmental ethics, material culture, and futures thinking to ask: how can imagination become a practical tool for building more open, connected, and livable worlds?Anab Jain, co-founder and creative director of Superflux and professor of Design Investigations at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, joins Johns Hopkins anthropologist Anand Pandian, author of Something Between Us and A Possible Anthropology, for a Curiosity Entangled conversation about speculative futures, ecological imagination, design, anthropology, and the more-than-human world. Together, they discuss how immersive experiences can make alternative futures tangible, why boredom and open-mindedness matter, and how art and design can create space for people to form their own relationships with possible worlds.They also explore authoritarianism and the political danger of imagination, Superflux’s future-home installations, the Jones Falls 2076 project in Baltimore, buried urban rivers, the afterlives of discarded objects, and the idea of the “Craftocene”—using craft, repair, and material experimentation to reverse the logic of consumption. Their conversation moves through abandoned vape batteries, aluminum cans, speculative artifacts, future museums, ecological education, community-building, hope, and the challenge of remaining creatively engaged when the future feels overwhelming.⸻TIMESTAMPS00:00:31 - Introductions: speculative design, anthropology, and shared inspiration00:04:35 - Possibility as embodied experience, not just an idea00:08:12 - Boredom, Walter Benjamin, and minds allowed to wander00:12:51 - Open-mindedness, jugaad, and wisdom from rural fieldwork00:23:03 - A lived 2050 apartment and imagination as slow activism00:26:16 - Jones Falls 2076: dreaming a buried river back to life00:34:10 - Telling terrible stories beautifully: loss and the Craftocene00:38:44 - Foraged vapes, burned cans, and reversing supply chains00:44:20 - The Future of Here: a culture built from what we discard00:48:30 - Museums of the future and objects that catch stories01:01:10 - Community, collective organizing, and sustaining hope01:07:46 - Getting unstuck: cognitive precarity and hope as making⸻GUESTSAnab Jain - Designer, Futurist & EducatorCo-Founder and Director, Superflux (London)Professor of Design Investigations, University of Applied Arts Viennahttps://superflux.in/https://superflux.in/index.php/team/a...Anand Pandian - Anthropologist, Professor & AuthorProfessor of Anthropology, Johns Hopkins UniversityAuthor of A Possible Anthropology and Reel Worldhttps://anand.studio/https://anthropology.jhu.edu/director...⸻RELATED TOPICSSpeculative design, anthropology, ecological design, ecological imagination, experiential futures, futures thinking, more-than-human world, environmental ethics, open-mindedness, authoritarianism, immersive installations, climate change, storytelling, boredom, material culture, repair, waste, consumerism, Craftocene, Jones Falls 2076, buried rivers, urban ecology, discarded objects, future museums, speculative anthropology, design education, radical pedagogy, community, hope, art and science, longform conversation⸻FOLLOW ACCELERATOR MEDIATwitter/X: https://x.com/xceleratormediaInstagram: / xcelerator.medialinkedin: / accelerator-media-orgwebsite: https://acceleratormedia.org⸻ABOUT CURIOSITY ENTANGLEDCuriosity Entangled pairs distinguished thinkers from different disciplines for unscripted conversations about consciousness, science, technology, and humanity’s long-term future. Hosted by Accelerator Media, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to public engagement with science and long-term thinking.

  • S1 · E17
    July 1 · 1 hr 5 min

    The Music of our Planet: Geology, Sound Art, and Deep Time with Marcia Bjornerud and Olivia Block

    Geology is usually taught through rocks, minerals, mountains, and deep time. But structural geologist Marcia Bjornerud and sound artist Olivia Block show how Earth science also connects to sound, music, memory, climate change, architecture, and the way humans understand the planet. Marcia Bjornerud, professor of geosciences at Lawrence University and author of Timefulness and Turning to Stone, joins composer and sound artist Olivia Block for a Curiosity Entangled conversation about geology, sound art, deep time, and the more-than-human world. Together, they explore how rocks record Earth’s history, how mountains and continents move over immense timescales, and why listening can become a powerful way to think about geological change. They also discuss the Great Unconformity, Snowball Earth, the Great Oxygenation Event, banded iron formations, slow earthquakes, seismology, quarry landscapes, architectural stone, and the challenge of communicating Earth history to a human audience. The conversation connects science and art through Olivia’s sound installations and Marcia’s writing, while also touching on climate change, AI, scientific humility, and the importance of seeing Earth as an active, dynamic system rather than a passive background to human life. This episode bridges geology, sound art, Earth history, climate science, music, architecture, and deep time to ask: how can science and art help us better understand the planet we live on? ⸻ TIMESTAMPS 00:00:31 - Introductions: Sound art, structural geology, and sonic connections 00:01:05 - Weaving Earth history with memoir 00:03:04 - Geological time, sound, and human perception 00:09:28 - Rocks as animate, responsive, and more-than-human 00:14:37 - The Great Unconformity and missing time in the geologic record 00:15:43 - Snowball Earth and ancient climate shifts 00:19:19 - The Great Oxygenation Event and how life transformed the atmosphere 00:27:18 - Climate urgency, grief, and moving beyond human-centered thinking 00:28:29 - AI, vulnerability, capitalism, and empathy for the nonhuman world 00:34:42 - Selecting rocks for a sound art installation 00:40:30 - Indiana limestone, architecture, and sound 00:46:27 - Slow earthquakes and finding signals in noise 00:58:52 - Scientific humility, jazz, and the limits of disciplinary boundaries ⸻ GUESTS Marcia Bjornerud - Structural Geologist, Professor & AuthorProfessor of Geosciences, Lawrence UniversityAuthor of Timefulness and Turning to Stonehttps://lawrence.edu/people/marcia-bjornerud-walter-schober-professor-of-environmental-studies-and-professor-of-geosciences Olivia Block - Composer & Sound ArtistMultichannel Installation ArtistComposer working across music, sound, electronics, and geological themeshttps://oliviablock.net/ https://instagram.com/oliviablocksound/https://oliviablock.bandcamp.com/ ⸻ RELATED TOPICS Geology, Earth science, sound art, deep time, structural geology, rocks, Earth history, climate change, Snowball Earth, Great Unconformity, Great Oxygenation Event, banded iron formations, slow earthquakes, seismology, music, sound installation, architecture, limestone, quarries, science communication, art and science, AI, scientific humility, more-than-human world, longform conversation ⸻ ABOUT CURIOSITY ENTANGLED Curiosity Entangled pairs distinguished thinkers from different disciplines for unscripted conversations about consciousness, science, technology, and humanity’s long-term future. Hosted by Accelerator Media, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to public engagement with science and long-term thinking. #Geology #EarthScience #MarciaBjornerud #OliviaBlock #SoundArt #DeepTime #ClimateChange #Seismology #Rocks #ScienceCommunication #ArtAndScience #LongformPodcast #CuriosityEntangled

  • S1 · E16
    June 21 · 58 min

    What Chess Reveals About Gender, Intelligence, and Culture | Agustín Fuentes & Jennifer Shahade

    Chess is often framed as pure strategy, competition, and calculation. But Jennifer Shahade and Agustín Fuentes reveal why the game also opens up deeper questions about bodies, culture, gender, intelligence, creativity, AI, and human variation. Jennifer Shahade, two-time U.S. Women’s Chess Champion, author, and poker player, joins biological anthropologist Agustín Fuentes for a wide-ranging Curiosity Entangled conversation about what chess teaches us about the mind, and what it exposes about our assumptions. Together, they explore why claims about “male” and “female” brains fail to explain excellence in chess, how culture shapes opportunity and expectation, why representation matters for young players, and how simplistic ideas about IQ, aggression, and ability continue to circulate online. They also discuss AI in chess and beyond, including when computational tools help people learn, when they flatten creativity, and why being wrong is still essential to human thinking. The conversation moves from chess rankings and gender bias to trans inclusion, education, access, variation, and the importance of creating more open pathways for young people to discover what they are capable of. This episode bridges chess, anthropology, cognition, gender, AI, and culture to ask a bigger question: what do our games reveal about being human? ⸻ TIMESTAMPS 00:00:31 - Introductions: Anthropology, chess, poker, and gender 00:01:47 - Chess as nonstop mental action, stress, and emotion 00:03:13 - Why chess is often framed as warfare and competition 00:04:55 - Why sex and gender do not determine chess ability 00:08:00 - How chess rankings work 00:09:00 - Skill development, training, and different paths to mastery 00:12:00 - Aggression, playing style, and gendered expectations 00:15:00 - The “greater male variability” argument and why it fails 00:18:00 - IQ claims, cognition, and misinformation online 00:27:00 - Representation, role models, and opening possibilities for kids 00:30:00 - AI, bias, labeling, and what algorithms reproduce 00:42:00 - Creativity, unpredictability, and why variation matters ⸻ GUESTS Jennifer Shahade - Chess Champion, Author & Poker Player Two-Time U.S. Women’s Chess Champion Author of Chess Queens and Thinking Sideways Agustín Fuentes - Professor of Anthropology, Princeton University Biological Anthropologist Author of Sex Is a Spectrum and The Creative Spark ⸻ RELATED TOPICS Chess, gender, cognition, anthropology, poker, AI, creativity, intelligence, human variation, education, representation, bias, chess culture, women in chess, trans inclusion, learning, skill development, algorithms, human behavior, science, longform conversation ⸻ FOLLOW ACCELERATOR MEDIA Twitter/X: https://x.com/xceleratormedia Instagram: https://instagram.com/xcelerator.media LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/accelerator-media-org Website: https://acceleratormedia.org ⸻ ABOUT CURIOSITY ENTANGLED Curiosity Entangled pairs distinguished thinkers from different disciplines for unscripted conversations about consciousness, science, technology, and humanity’s long-term future. Hosted by Accelerator Media, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to public engagement with science and long-term thinking. #Chess #JenniferShahade #AgustinFuentes #Anthropology #Gender #AI #Cognition #Poker #WomenInChess #Science #LongformPodcast #CuriosityEntangled

  • S1 · E15
    May 27 · 2 hr 1 min

    Where There Is Life, There Is Mind: Plant Intelligence & Consciousness with Paco Calvo and Mileece

    In this Curiosity Entangled conversation, sonic artist and immersive ecology designer Mileece and philosopher of plant intelligence Paco Calvo explore plant sentience, sound, consciousness, ecology, and the limits of human perception. Mileece has spent decades using sound, technology, and immersive ecological design to help people experience their living relationship with plants and natural systems. Paco Calvo, professor of philosophy of science at the University of Murcia and author of Planta Sapiens, studies plant intelligence, behavior, and the assumptions that shape how science understands non-animal life. Together, they discuss plant anesthesia, sonic art, scientific dogma, anthropocentrism, panpsychism, pollination, relational ecology, and what it means to think of life itself as minded. TIMESTAMPS 00:00:07 – Mileece opens with microtubules, time crystals, and a playful path into big questions 00:00:27 – Paco Calvo asks how art, technology, and ecology connect in Mileece’s work 00:02:42 – Mileece on art as an entry point for questions science cannot yet formalize 00:04:10 – Paco on why art and science should move in both directions 00:06:03 – Mileece on the responsibility of artists in this moment on Earth 00:07:02 – Using technology to facilitate people’s innate relationship with nature 00:08:07 – Why art allowed Mileece to discuss plant consciousness before science was ready 00:10:08 – Paco on plant anesthesia and the power of outsider questions 00:13:00 – What does it mean for a plant to come out of anesthesia? 00:15:09 – Mileece on watching insects, bumblebees, and the limits of human dogma 00:16:31 – Externalities, economics, and the danger of ignoring contextual reality 00:19:39 – Robotic Buddhist monks, anthropomorphism, and the Dalai Lama’s view on plant sentience 00:24:48 – Paco on human bias beyond Western science 00:26:37 – Time scales, empathy, and learning to meet other beings on their own terms 00:29:01 – Mileece explains why she works with sound and plants 00:31:16 – Relational ecology and the false separation between humans and nature 00:32:31 – “Every inhalation we take is the exhalation of plants” 00:34:11 – Sound as a bridge to the hidden living relationships in ecology 00:36:29 – Paco on relational thinking, pollinators, flowers, and coevolution 00:39:08 – Why the whole plant can be understood as a sensory surface 00:40:04 – Why science loses the relationship when it freezes life into snapshots 00:43:08 – Sentience, decision-making, and unconscious processes inside living cells 00:44:02 – Paco’s view that where there is life, there is mind 00:45:06 – Neurocentrism, carbon-centrism, and the slippery slope toward panpsychism 00:47:35 – Mileece on emergence, coherence, and life as a relational state 00:51:02 – Mycorrhizal networks and the question of who gets to be the “main character” 00:55:39 – Communicating with radically different forms of life 00:57:14 – Mileece on wanting to communicate with plants and building sonification systems 01:00:54 – Mileece reflects on criticism, skepticism, and proving the legitimacy of the question GUESTS Mileece – Sonic Artist, Immersive Ecology Designer, and Biophilic Energy Ambassador Paco Calvo – Professor of Philosophy of Science, University of Murcia; Author of Planta Sapiens FOLLOW ACCELERATOR MEDIA Twitter/X: https://x.com/xceleratormedia Instagram: https://instagram.com/xcelerator.media LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/accelerator-media-org Website: https://acceleratormedia.org ABOUT CURIOSITY ENTANGLED Curiosity Entangled pairs distinguished thinkers from different disciplines for unscripted conversations about science, technology, philosophy, and humanity’s long-term future. Produced by Accelerator Media, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to thoughtful educational media and long-term thinking. #PlantIntelligence #PlantSentience #Mileece #PacoCalvo #PlantaSapiens #SonicArt #Consciousness #Ecology #CuriosityEntangled

  • May 2 · 2 hr

    Do Animals Sing? Animal Cognition, Communication, and Music | David Rothenberg & Justin Gregg

    What if animal sounds are not just signals, but music, performance, and meaning?In this wide-ranging conversation, philosopher and musician David Rothenberg and animal cognition researcher and writer Justin Gregg explore the strange borderlands between music, language, animal communication, play, science, and imagination. Moving from birdsong and whale music to dolphins, narwhals, emotional support alligators, escaped zoo animals, and improv comedy, they ask what happens when we stop treating animals as biological machines and start listening to them as expressive beings.David Rothenberg, professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, has spent decades making music with birds, whales, insects, and other species while writing about the philosophical and scientific meaning of animal sound. Justin Gregg, author of If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal and Humanish, studies animal minds, dolphin cognition, and the ways humans project meaning onto other creatures. Together, they bring music, science, philosophy, humor, and curiosity into a lively conversation about what animals know, what humans imagine, and why the boundary between the two is never as clean as we think.They discuss why birds sing, whether animal sounds can be understood as music, how scientists study communication without reducing it to simple function, and why anthropomorphism is not always the mistake it is assumed to be. The conversation opens into stories of beluga whales, military dolphins, narwhals, prairie dogs, koalas, lyrebirds, emotional support alligators, animal escape stories, and the deep human need to find kinship with other beings.TIMESTAMPS00:00:57 – David Rothenberg on music, philosophy, and his unconventional academic path00:04:35 – Justin Gregg on sociolinguistics, dolphins, and entering animal cognition from the humanities00:05:20 – Scott McVay, John Lilly, Gregory Bateson, and the strange history of dolphin research00:07:45 – Teaching electronic music to engineering students and encouraging creative play00:12:21 – What makes sound music, and why streaming has changed how people listen00:20:04 – Organized sound, John Cage, silence, and listening differently00:24:08 – Why birds sing at dawn and why science still struggles to explain the dawn chorus00:26:34 – Birdsong, mating success, nightingales, and the limits of simple evolutionary explanations00:29:16 – Studying musicality in birds and why scientists resisted the question00:34:20 – Humpback whale song, beauty, and what science often leaves out00:39:15 – Koalas, lyrebirds, noise, distortion, and what humans recognize as song00:44:10 – Bee dances, prairie dogs, symbolic communication, and the importance of attention00:48:05 – Justin Gregg’s emotional support alligator story and animals as individuals00:53:55 – Narwhals, belugas, military dolphins, and Cold War animal research00:57:10 – Escaped animals, freedom stories, and why humans root for animals in captivityGUESTSJustin Gregg – Animal Cognition Researcher and WriterAuthor of If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal, Humanish, and Are Dolphins Really Smart? His work explores animal minds, dolphin cognition, human exceptionalism, and the stories people tell about intelligence, happiness, and meaning.David Rothenberg – Philosopher, Musician, and WriterProfessor of Philosophy and Music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Author of Why Birds Sing, Thousand Mile Song, Bug Music, and other works exploring music, nature, animal sound, and the deep connections between human creativity and the more-than-human world.FOLLOW ACCELERATOR MEDIATwitter/X: https://x.com/xceleratormediaInstagram: https://instagram.com/xcelerator.mediaLinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/accelerator-media-orgWebsite: https://acceleratormedia.org#AnimalCognition #Birdsong #WhaleMusic #JustinGregg #DavidRothenberg #AnimalCommunication #Dolphins #MusicPhilosophy #Anthropomorphism #Bioacoustics #CuriosityEntangled

  • S1 · E13
    April 4 · 1 hr 45 min

    What Will 30 Trillion Tons of Waste Look Like in 100 Million Years?

    Waste is not just what societies discard. It is one of the clearest records of who we are, how we live, and what kind of planet we are leaving behind. In this wide-ranging conversation, anthropologist Joshua Reno and geologist Jan Zalasiewicz explore waste as both a human problem and a geological force, moving from landfills and urban rubble to deep time, the Anthropocene, and the far future of Earth itself.  Joshua Reno, professor of anthropology at Binghamton University, studies the hidden systems societies depend on but prefer not to think about, especially landfills, disposal, and the cultural meanings of waste. Jan Zalasiewicz, geologist and paleontologist, has spent decades mapping the physical traces humans leave behind, from landfill strata and made ground to the broader geological signatures of the Anthropocene. Together, they bring two very different disciplines into unusually close conversation. They discuss why waste is both necessary and disavowed, how landfills reveal uncomfortable truths about human behavior, and why the geological scale of human leftovers is far larger than most people realize. They explore how cities preserve layers of industrial history like buried archives, why “waste as resource” is both useful and misleading, and how the accelerating production of waste changes our sense of time. From there, the conversation opens outward into questions of continuity, extinction, future readers, nuclear warning systems, the Fermi paradox, deep-time oceans, and what it means to leave a material record in a universe that may not care whether anyone is left to interpret it.   This conversation bridges anthropology, geology, environmental thought, philosophy, and deep time, revealing waste not as a side effect of civilization, but as one of its defining signatures.⸻TIMESTAMPS00:00:27 – Joshua Reno on landfills, hidden systems, and the paradox of necessary waste00:06:27 – Why studying trash reveals more than self-reporting ever can00:10:06 – Why many geologists resist treating landfill and waste as geology00:13:22 – The shocking scale of the technosphere and humanity’s waste legacy00:19:03 – Why pollution narratives are powerful but incomplete00:20:55 – Fly ash, landfill mining, and the complicated idea of “good waste”00:25:43 – Cities as layered archives: London, war, rubble, and urban strata00:29:23 – What landfill work feels like from the inside: constant motion, danger, and routine00:35:34 – Sewer epidemiology and why institutions often resist what waste can reveal00:39:00 – Future readers, lost continuity, and who might one day interpret our remains00:49:08 – Nihilism, speculative philosophy, and the spread of “the world after us” thinking00:53:12 – The Fermi paradox and whether civilizations accelerate into self-destruction01:00:35 – Nuclear waste, deep burial, and the problem of warning distant futures    ⸻GUESTSJoshua Reno – Professor of Anthropology, Binghamton UniversityAuthor of Waste Away: Working and Living with a North American Landfill and Military Waste: The Unexpected Consequences of Permanent War Readiness. His work examines waste, disposal, landfills, and the hidden systems that shape social life.Jan Zalasiewicz – Geologist, Paleontologist, and StratigrapherEmeritus Professor of Palaeobiology, University of Leicester, Author of The Earth After Us and co-author of The Cosmic Oasis. His work spans geology, paleobiology, the Anthropocene, and the long-term material traces of human civilization.

  • S1 · E12
    Nov 9, 2025 · 1 hr 29 min

    Robin Hanson x Joe Henrich | Cultural Evolution: The Slow Burn Rewriting Human Nature

    Cultural evolution has shaped human nature far more than we realize, and economist Robin Hanson and evolutionary biologist Joe Henrich reveal why ignoring this changes everything about policy, innovation, and our future. In this deep dive conversation, they explore how culture doesn't just influence behavior, it rewrites our preferences, beliefs, and even our cognitive machinery. Joe Henrich, professor at Harvard and author of The WEIRDest People in the World, explains how humans evolved to be uniquely reliant on social learning, making us a cultural species first and foremost. Robin Hanson, economist at George Mason University and author of The Elephant in the Brain, challenges the implications: if cultural evolution can account for most of human nature, then far more has changed in the last hundred thousand years than conventional wisdom suggests—and far more could change in the near future. Together, they tackle why economists bracket preferences instead of explaining them, how WEIRD psychology has dominated research while studying statistical outliers, why the collective brain hypothesis suggests innovation depends more on population size than individual genius, and why organizations systematically suppress innovation despite claiming to value it. They discuss marriage norms and kinship structures that literally reshape cognition across cultures, big gods and moral religions that enabled large-scale cooperation, and the uncomfortable selection pressures modern societies refuse to discuss openly. This conversation bridges economics, evolutionary biology, anthropology, and policy—revealing why cultural evolution deserves far more attention than it receives in academia, government, and institutional design.⸻ TIMESTAMPS 00:00:04 – Introductions: Economics meets cultural evolution 00:01:26 – What is cultural evolution and why does it matter? 00:03:31 – The ambitious scope: explaining preferences, beliefs, and values 00:04:08 – Why economists bracket preferences—and why that's a problem 00:04:55 – Cultural evolution as a return to Darwinian thinking 00:06:26 – How genetic evolution shaped us to be cultural learners 00:07:45 – Why cultural evolution rarely enters policy discussions 00:12:00 – The WEIRD problem: most psychology research studies outliers 00:20:00 – Marriage norms, kinship, and cognitive differences across cultures 00:28:00 – The collective brain: why innovation depends on population size 00:38:00 – Can individuals or small groups out-innovate large populations? 00:48:00 – Religion, cooperation, and big gods that enforce moral norms 00:58:00 – Why societies struggle with explicit reasoning about cultural evolution 01:08:00 – Selection pressures we're not thinking about: fertility, values, migration 01:18:00 – The challenge of integrating cultural evolution into institutional design 01:24:30 – Cultural evolution's influence (or lack thereof) in economics 01:26:00 – Innovation: overwhelmingly important, surprisingly poorly understood 01:28:00 – Why organizations suppress innovation while claiming to promote it ⸻ GUESTS Robin Hanson – Economist, George Mason University Author of The Elephant in the Brain and The Age of Em https://overcomingbias.com/ http://mason.gmu.edu/~rhanson Joe Henrich – Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University Author of The WEIRDest People in the World and The Secret of Our Success https://x.com/JoHenrich https://henrich.fas.harvard.edu ⸻ FOLLOW ACCELERATOR MEDIA Twitter/X: https://x.com/xceleratormediaI nstagram: https://instagram.com/xcelerator.media LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/accelerator-media-org Website: https://acceleratormedia.org ⸻ ABOUT CURIOSITY ENTANGLED Curiosity Entangled pairs distinguished thinkers from different disciplines for unscripted conversations about consciousness, science, technology, and humanity's long-term future. Hosted by Accelerator Media, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to science storytelling and long-term thinking.

  • S1 · E11
    Nov 5, 2025 · 1 hr 13 min

    Daniel H. Wilson x Eric Anctil | Keep Evolving, Stay Human: Can AI Make Us Better People?

    In this episode of Curiosity Entangled, professor @DrEricAnctil and science fiction author Daniel H. Wilson meet for a wide-ranging dialogue on artificial intelligence, human nature, and the uncertain futures we're building together. What begins as introductions between a media scholar and a roboticist-turned-storyteller unfolds into a profound exploration of how humans interface with technology, the cultural implications of AI, and whether our species can evolve alongside machines without losing what makes us fundamentally human. Eric traces his academic journey from sports media and higher education to inventing his own role studying media, technology, and the cultural dimensions of innovation—focusing not on how machines are built, but on how humans engage with them. Daniel describes his path from growing up in the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma through earning his robotics PhD at Carnegie Mellon to writing bestsellers like How to Survive a Robot Uprising, blending his technical expertise with indigenous perspectives and science fiction imagination. Together, they probe whether science fiction can help us navigate near-future scenarios, how different cultural frameworks might reshape our relationship with AI, and whether capitalism's profit motives can align with technologies that make us better people. At the heart of the discussion lies a shared tension: we're living through a "wild west" moment with AI, simultaneously fascinated and terrified by what we're creating. The pair explore how social media addiction revealed humanity's vulnerability to engineered engagement, why "engaging" rather than "embracing" should be our stance toward new technologies, and how younger generations might inject different values into systems currently driven by shareholder interests. They also examine the anthropomorphization of AI in everything from autonomous vehicles to children's toys, and debate whether we can design AI companions that challenge us to be more empathetic rather than simply reinforcing our existing behaviors. Through these exchanges, Eric and Daniel circle around an audacious hope: that despite the dangers ahead, humans can evolve together, retain their humanity, and create technologies that serve the greater good rather than merely extracting value. ⸻ Learn More About the Guests Daniel H. Wilson Author and Roboticist | PhD, Carnegie Mellon University Cherokee Nation Citizen | Author of Robopocalypse, The Andromeda Evolution, Pearl in the Sky https://danielhwilson.com Eric Anctil Professor of Media and Technology, University of Portland Founder, Cosmic North Studio | Author of Keep Evolving and Stay Human https://cosmicnorth.studio https://youtube.com/@UCjeiKRid_5RsYCWvMJ5KhVQ https://ericanctil.com ⸻ Timestamps 00:00:27 – Introductions: Robots, fiction, and the human side of AI 00:04:12 – How science fiction predicts and shapes the future 00:06:00 – Voyeurism, exhibitionism, and the psychology of social media 00:08:14 – The real “robopocalypse”: attention as the new battleground 00:10:47 – Consciousness, sentience, and the rise of AI companions 00:13:40 – Infotainment, learning, and the erosion of deep knowledge 00:15:45 – The domestication of robots and humans 00:17:18 – Psychosis, ego, and the hidden dangers of AI interaction 00:19:59 – Deifying machines and the illusion of digital gods 00:21:26 – Reciprocity, empathy, and losing our social reflexes 00:27:24 – Why machines flatter us and how it makes them dangerous 00:29:23 – Working inside the machine: morality, capitalism, and complicity 00:33:05 – Bezos, efficiency, and the dark logic of progress 00:36:25 – Hole in the Sky and the idea of Indigenous technology 00:39:51 – Is AI the new colonizer and are we its resources 00:42:31 – The peer-opticon: how we surveil each other for free 00:47:20 – Hive minds, utopias, and the illusion of collective intelligence

  • S1 · E10
    Nov 1, 2025 · 1 hr 18 min

    Can Consciousness Be Engineered? | Bernardo Kastrup & Christof Koch

    In this episode of Curiosity Entangled, philosopher Bernardo Kastrup and neuroscientist Christof Koch meet for a rare and wide-ranging dialogue on consciousness, physics, and the limits of materialism. What begins as an exchange between two leading proponents of Integrated Information Theory (IIT) unfolds into a profound exploration of what consciousness is, how it might arise, and whether it could extend beyond biology into machines and even quantum systems. Christof traces his decades of work with Francis Crick and at the Allen Institute, developing tools to detect signs of consciousness in unresponsive patients. Bernardo describes his dual life as a computer engineer and philosopher of mind, bridging the technical and the metaphysical in search of a unified account of reality. Together, they probe whether artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT merely mimic human awareness or could one day become truly conscious. Their conversation ranges from quantum entanglement and the ontology of information to the metaphysical implications of Integrated Information Theory. At the heart of the discussion lies a shared question: can a theory of consciousness also illuminate the nature of the physical world? The pair discuss the idea of “ontological dust,” the possibility that quantum computers might possess a faint glimmer of experience, and how mystical or non-dual experiences challenge the boundaries of physicalism. They also touch briefly on anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff’s theory of orchestrated objective reduction, which suggests that consciousness arises from quantum effects in microtubules, and debate its compatibility with IIT. Through these exchanges, Bernardo and Christof circle around an audacious idea that mind and matter may not be two distinct domains but two perspectives on a single informational reality. ⸻ 5 Questions This Episode Might Leave You With 1. Can consciousness arise from non-biological systems—or is it unique to life? 2. What connects Integrated Information Theory and quantum information theory? 3. Are “things” in the world truly distinct, or are they convenient fictions of perception? 4. Could future technologies enable minds to merge or expand through physical connection? 5. If consciousness is intrinsic to the universe, what does that mean for science itself? ⸻ Learn More About the Guests Bernardo Kastrup Philosopher & Computer Engineer | Executive Director, Essentia Foundation Author, The Idea of the World; Analytic Idealism https://bernardokastrup.com Christof Koch Neuroscientist & Meritorious Investigator, Allen Institute for Brain Science Co-developer of Integrated Information Theory Former Chief Scientist & President, Allen Institute https://christofkoch.com https://alleninstitute.org ⸻ Timestamps 00:00:27 – Introductions: From neuroscience to philosophy and AI 00:05:12 – Integrated Information Theory and the illusion of AI consciousness 00:08:45 – Quantum computers, entanglement, and the possibility of artificial feeling 00:10:00 – Beyond Physicalism: Consciousness, physics, and metaphysical challenges 00:15:40 – Information as the bridge between mind and matter 00:19:00 – Split-brain experiments and instantaneous shifts in consciousness00:27:00 – Are objects real, or conceptual conveniences?00:33:00 – Why panpsychism isn’t enough 00:38:30 – Particles as ripples, not things: rethinking matter 00:45:00 – The power and peril of scientific “convenient fictions” 00:49:00 – Experimenting with shared consciousness and Neuralink interfaces 00:53:00 – Consciousness in the cosmos and possible ways to detect it 00:56:00 – Dissociative identity, unconscious knowledge, and the multiplicity of mind 01:02:00 – Closing reflections on mind, matter, and mystery ⸻ Follow Accelerator Media https://x.com/xceleratormedia https://instagram.com/xcelerator.media https://linkedin.com/company/accelerator-media-org

  • S1 · E9
    Aug 17, 2025 · 1 hr 23 min

    Báyò Akómoláfé & Catherine Keller: Crossroads, Creation, and Artificial Intelligence

    In this episode of Curiosity Entangled, philosopher and psychologist Báyò Akómoláfé joins theologian Catherine Keller for a searching dialogue on artificial intelligence, theology, and what it means to be human at the crossroads of technology. What begins with the question of AI’s place in creation unfolds into a meditation on race, mortality, authority, and the fragile line between the natural and the artificial.Bayo invokes the Garden of Eden, crossroads in Yoruba cosmology, and his idea of “becoming dust” to reimagine AI not as a tool but as a disruptive force unsettling human identity and mastery. Catherine draws from process theology and her work on apocalyptic hope to probe whether AI is a new instrument of denial or a chalice through which unexpected solidarities and forms of life might emerge. Together, they wrestle with risk, death, and transformation, asking whether we are witnessing the end of “the human” or the unveiling of new ways of being entangled with each other and the more than human world .5 Questions This Episode Might Leave You With1. Is AI a threat to human identity, or an invitation to rethink what being human means?2. What can Yoruba crossroads, biblical dust, and apocalyptic theology teach us about decision and risk in an age of AI?3. Does naming the world bring care, or does it foreclose possibility?4. Can AI be a tool for denying death, or a companion in embracing finitude?5. How might solidarity and possibility be cultivated at the crossroads of technology, theology, and ecological crisis?Learn More About the GuestsBayo AkomolafePhilosopher, Psychologist, Poet | Author, These Wilds Beyond Our FencesFounder, The Emergence Networkhttps://www.emergencenetwork.org/https://bayoakomolafe.netCatherine KellerTheologian | Author, Facing Apocalypse: Climate, Democracy, and Other Last ChancesProfessor of Constructive Theology, Drew Universityhttps://catherineekeller.com/Timestamps00:00:27 - Opening and the invitation to speak about AI00:03:05 - Creation and destruction as a single intensifying moment00:05:27 - Eden, naming, and taxonomy as care or closure00:13:09 - Crossroads versus intersectionality and the risk of decision00:20:14 - Becoming dust, mortality, and species level vulnerability00:27:13 - Transhumanist dreams, immortality quests, and denial of death00:31:13 - Entanglement, weathering bodies, and the work of solidarity00:40:16 - Authorship and authority reimagined in the age of AI00:51:24 - AI as chalice, poetics, and naming the unnamable01:07:02 - Regulation, safety, and the reinforcement of colonial dynamicsFollow Accelerator Mediahttps://x.com/xceleratormediahttps://instagram.com/xcelerator.media/https://linkedin.com/company/accelerator-media-org

  • S1 · E8
    Jun 29, 2025 · 1 hr 12 min

    Gurcharan Das & Milan Vaishnav: The Bhagavad Gita, War Ethics, Liberalism, and Global Power Shifts

    In this episode of Curiosity Entangled, author and philosopher Gurcharan Das joins political economist Milan Vaishnav for a wide-ranging conversation on the ethics of war, the future of liberalism, and the enduring tensions between statecraft and morality. What begins as a thought experiment—could the targeted assassination of a tyrant prevent a full-scale war?—unfolds into a rich dialogue spanning geopolitics, ancient Indian philosophy, and the fragile norms holding the global order together. Gurcharan draws on the Bhagavad Gita, his utilitarian leanings, and his new AI-powered book project to explore modern warfare, drone ethics, and whether Gandhi and Himmler could really have drawn wisdom from the same sacred text. Milan weaves in contemporary case studies—from Gaza to Gujarat, from Tamil Nadu’s manufacturing boom to the shortcomings of India’s liberal opposition—offering sharp analysis on state capacity, democracy, and economic reform. Together, they examine what it means to wield power responsibly in an era of deep polarization and technological acceleration. 5 Questions This Episode Might Leave You With 1. Could targeted assassinations of wartime instigators reduce human suffering—or create dangerous moral precedents? 2. Can the Bhagavad Gita guide ethical decision-making in modern warfare and politics? 3. Is the liberal international order unraveling, or are we taking its historic gains for granted? 4. What lessons can India learn from Tamil Nadu’s manufacturing success and China’s bureaucratic incentives? 5. Can moral imagination and institutional reform revive democracy in an age of cynicism? Learn More About the Guests Gurcharan Das Author, India Unbound and The Difficulty of Being GoodHarvard-Educated Philosopher | Former CEO, Procter & Gamble India https://gurcharandas.org https://x.com/gurcharandas Milan Vaishnav Director, South Asia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Author, When Crime Pays | Host, Grand Tamasha https://carnegieendowment.org/people/milan-vaishnav https://x.com/milanv Timestamps 00:00:27 – Introducing the concept: AI book on the Bhagavad Gita and modern warfare 00:05:31 – Drone strikes, utilitarian ethics, and the seduction of surgical warfare00:11:49 – What if the Buddha had guided Arjuna instead of Krishna? 00:16:20 – Gandhi, Himmler, and the duality of interpreting the Gita 00:20:23 – The moral hazards of targeted assassinations 00:24:46 – Kant’s Perpetual Peace and the UN’s mixed legacy 00:30:11 – Why liberalism still matters—despite its critics 00:34:54 – The need for community: liberalism and the rise of nationalism 00:37:17 – India’s economic reforms: missing political champions? 00:41:29 – India’s missed industrial revolution—and hope in Tamil Nadu 00:45:17 – iPhones, incentives, and the future of Indian manufacturing 00:50:27 – Education reform and the politics of short-term thinking 00:54:10 – A silent education revolution underway? 00:58:16 – Institutions, norms, and fragile democracies 01:03:28 – When (if ever) is assassination justifiable? 01:07:32 – The need for global legitimacy in precision warfare 01:10:46 – Is this the best period in human history—and will we realize it too late? Follow Accelerator Media https://x.com/xceleratormedia https://instagram.com/xcelerator.media/ https://linkedin.com/company/accelerator-media-org

  • S1 · E7
    May 18, 2025 · 1 hr 10 min

    How Earth Shaped Life and Life Shaped Earth: A Conversation Across Deep Time | Sean B. Carroll x Andrew H. Knoll

    In this episode of Curiosity Entangled, evolutionary biologist Sean B. Carroll and paleontologist Andrew H. Knoll dive deep into the intertwined story of life and Earth—how genetics and geology, extinction and emergence, have sculpted the living world as we know it. From early microbial life and the Cambrian explosion to mass extinctions and planetary evolution, this conversation maps billions of years of change and discovery. Sean and Andy reflect on how their once-separate disciplines—evo-devo and paleontology—came together to unlock new understandings of form, function, and time. They explore the episodic history of water on Mars, the transformative role of oxygen in animal evolution, the legacy of the Mars Rover, and the very real consequences of global environmental change today. Along the way, they share personal stories of fossil-hunting, career pivots, and the emotional pull of scientific storytelling. For anyone curious about Earth’s past, present, and precarious future, this episode is a time capsule and a call to curiosity. 5 Questions This Episode Might Leave You With 1. How did common genetic toolkits shape life’s diversity across wildly different species? 2. What does Mars’s episodic climate history suggest about life beyond Earth? 3. How did a collaboration between evo-devo and paleontology unlock new insights into evolution? 4. What caused Earth’s great mass extinctions—and what can they teach us today? 5. Can scientific storytelling help shift how we think about the planet’s future? Learn More About the Guests Sean B. Carroll –Distinguished University Professor of Biology, University of Maryland Executive Producer, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios Professor Emeritus of Molecular Biology & Genetics, University of Wisconsin–Madison https://tangledbankstudios.org https://www.seanbcarroll.com/ Andrew H. Knoll –Fisher Research Professor of Natural History Research Professor of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Harvard University https://eps.harvard.edu/people/andrew-h-knoll https://www.amazon.com/Brief-History-Earth-Billion-Chapters/dp/0062853910 Timestamps 00:00:50 – Mars’s climate history: wet–dry–wet again? 00:05:25 – Andy’s pivot from engineering to geology and biology 00:11:09 – Bridging disciplines: paleontology meets evo-devo 00:15:27 – Discovering shared genetics across the animal kingdom 00:19:20 – Fossil hunting in the Arctic and unearthing deep time 00:24:28 – Oxygen, tectonics, and the rise of large animals 00:27:25 – Sean’s childhood fascination with salamanders 00:35:15 – Why scientists are never bored 00:39:12 – Sean’s leap from researcher to writer and filmmaker 00:45:17 – Writing to think: how books reshape scientific thought 00:51:02 – Global collaboration in science and the joy of mentorship 00:54:27 – The climate parallels between past mass extinctions and today 01:00:25 – Volcanism, CO₂, and the End-Permian extinction 01:04:11 – Stories of recovery: hope in biodiversity conservation ⸻ Follow Accelerator Mediahttps://x.com/xceleratormediahttps://instagram.com/xcelerator.media/https://linkedin.com/company/accelerator-media-org

  • S1 · E6
    Apr 28, 2025 · 1 hr 40 min

    Scott Aaronson x Zvi Mowshowitz | Why the AI Revolution Won’t Look Like You Expect—And Why That’s More Dangerous

    This podcast is produced by volunteers at Accelerator Media, a nonprofit educational media organization. Our work is supported by listeners and viewers like you. If you’d like to help us ignite curiosity and inspire long-term thinking about our shared future, please consider making a donation: https://acceleratormedia.org/donate/ In this episode of Curiosity Entangled, theoretical computer scientist Scott Aaronson and writer Zvi Mowshowitz confront one of the biggest questions of our time: what happens when humanity builds tools that can outthink us? In a wide-ranging and unsparing conversation, they explore the realities of AI risk, gradual human disempowerment, the complexities of steering technological progress, and why alignment efforts may fall short when it matters most. Scott and Zvi examine the unique nature of the AI revolution—how it’s different from past technological shifts—and why traditional assumptions about progress and control may no longer apply. They tackle the pitfalls of today’s AI safety approaches, the psychological challenge of thinking clearly about diffuse, slow-moving risks, and the educational, societal, and epistemic shifts that the AI era demands. This is a conversation for anyone grappling with the future of intelligence, agency, and civilization itself. 5 Questions This Episode Might Leave You With 1. How could AI lead to humanity’s gradual loss of agency without an obvious “takeover” moment? 2. Why is it so difficult to steer or slow down transformative technologies once they are unleashed? 3. What makes today’s AI fundamentally different from previous technological revolutions? 4. Are current AI safety and interpretability efforts enough—or are we fooling ourselves? 5. How can we cultivate deeper skepticism, clearer thinking, and better education in the age of AI? Learn more about the guests Scott Aaronson – Professor of Computer Science at the University of Texas at Austin, expert in quantum computing and theoretical foundations of AI alignment. https://scottaaronson.blog/ Zvi Mowshowitz – Writer and strategic thinker focusing on decision theory, AI forecasting, and the societal impact of emerging technologies. https://thezvi.substack.com/https://x.com/TheZvi https://www.balsaresearch.com/ Timestamps 00:00:50 – Why this technological revolution leaves no obvious human niche 00:04:00 – How Zvi’s writing method mirrors real-time information processing 00:09:54 – Rethinking AI risk: gradual disempowerment vs. sudden takeover 00:14:10 – Why AI disruption is uniquely hard to govern—and harder to discuss 00:17:00 – GPT-4o, AI as research assistant, and the shifting cognitive landscape 00:21:15 – Why steering is harder than halting in technological revolutions 00:26:05 – Verifying claims and detecting “crank” proofs with AI 00:34:50 – Concrete examples vs. abstract theorizing about AI risk 00:37:10 – Strategic deception: when AIs learn to lie convincingly 00:43:50 – Lessons from past technological disruptions—and why AI is different 00:50:00 – The future of AI alignment: Scott’s new center at UT Austin 00:55:00 – Why pouring cold water on false hope matters for alignment 01:00:25 – Out-of-distribution reasoning: what models guess when data is scarce 01:11:00 – Education in an AI-saturated world: challenges and possibilities 01:17:00 – Learning, motivation, and the loss of intellectual environments 01:23:20 – Oscillating extremism, cultural breakdown, and the AI era 01:30:00 – Keeping focus: resisting distractions in a world of manufactured outrage Follow Accelerator Media:https://x.com/xceleratormedia https://instagram.com/xcelerator.media/ https://linkedin.com/company/accelerator-media-org

  • S1 · E5
    Apr 16, 2025 · 57 min

    Planetary Consciousness, Technological Meaning & Future Histories | David Christian & Kevin Kelly

    Can artificial intelligence awaken something akin to spiritual consciousness? Can humanity collaborate at planetary scale? In this episode of Curiosity Entangled, historian David Christian (author of Origin Story and Future Stories) and futurist Kevin Kelly (co-founder of Wired, author of Excellent Advice for Living) navigate a conversation that spans from evolutionary psychology and Buddhism to artificial aliens and the blood bias of media. Together, they explore whether the next Axial Age will be catalyzed not by gods descending from the heavens—but by intelligence we’ve created ourselves. 🔗 Links & Resources – Kevin Kelly’s work: https://kk.org – David Christian’s Big History course on The Great Courses https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/big-history-the-big-bang-life-on-earth-and-the-rise-of-humanity Timestamps: 01:06 – Reflections on living across oceans and finding the galactic center 02:21 – Knowledge, inefficiency, and curiosity as drivers of human progress 05:13 – “Technology can do the hard work. We can do the important work.” 07:21 – What technology gives us that ancestors never had 09:56 – How tech expands opportunity for genius to emerge 12:02 – Evolutionary psychology, Buddhism, and the challenge of living well 14:50 – What comes after survival? Maslow’s hierarchy and AI’s future 17:03 – Will we bond with AI like we bond with pets? 18:29 – Are machines just faking consciousness? Does it matter? 19:41 – Could AI provoke a new Axial Age of belief and meaning? 23:17 – How ancient technologies created global networks and cosmologies 27:42 – Is Earth becoming conscious through us—and AI? 30:16 – A planetary nervous system and the idea of AI-to-AI communication 31:24 – Self-domestication and the duality of being both creator and created 33:04 – Can we collaborate as 8 billion humans? 35:19 – Introducing the idea of “public intelligence”—a shared, open AI 38:32 – “Better Wi-Fi”: a universal human desire 41:01 – Rethinking education and self-identity beyond national boundaries 43:13 – Travel and the case for a universal right of mobility 45:03 – The blood bias of media and storytelling’s dystopian defaults 46:21 – Educating for progress, not just conflict 48:50 – Are we wired to respond more to crisis than to hope? 50:10 – Cooperation as the human default—if given the chance 51:12 – Why understanding the past helps us shape a better future 55:07 – Are we any better at predicting the future than 2000 years ago? 56:11 – “We can get better at the future by becoming better at history." Photo Credit: Photo of Kevin Kelly courtesy of Christopher Michel – https://www.christophermichel.com/New-Heroes/Kevin-Kelly Photo of David Christian courtesy of The Australian https://www.theaustralian.com.au/ Follow Accelerator Media: https://acceleratormedia.org/ https://x.com/xceleratormedia https://instagram.com/xcelerator.media/ https://linkedin.com/company/accelerator-media-org This podcast is produced by volunteers at Accelerator Media, a nonprofit educational media organization. Our work is supported by listeners and viewers like you. If you’d like to help us ignite curiosity and inspire long-term thinking about our shared future, please consider making a donation: https://acceleratormedia.org/donate/

  • S1 · E4
    Apr 5, 2025 · 1 hr 9 min

    Aliens, AI, and Humanity’s Destiny in Space | Curiosity Entangled Ep 04

    This podcast is produced by volunteers at Accelerator Media, a nonprofit educational media organization. Our work is supported by listeners and viewers like you. If you’d like to help us ignite curiosity and inspire long-term thinking about our shared future, please consider making a donation: https://acceleratormedia.org/donate/In this episode of Curiosity Entangled, science writer Roger Highfield and historian Jörg Matthias Determann explore how science fiction, religion, and culture shape our visions of the future—and what they reveal about our present. From Islamic cosmology and the search for extraterrestrial life to the forgotten knowledge of the Apollo era and the ethical frontiers of AI, this conversation journeys across disciplines and centuries.Roger and Matthias reflect on the narratives that propel human space exploration, the surprising theological roots of science fiction, and the profound entanglement between mythology, science, and society. They ask: what do our imagined futures say about who we are today? And how can curiosity help us think more clearly—and skeptically—about the world we’re building?5 Questions This Episode Might Leave You With1. Can religion and science fiction help us prepare for alien contact?2. What will it take to build a sustainable human presence beyond Earth?3. What do ancient texts reveal about our place in the cosmos?4. Are today’s space missions modern-day myths of destiny and conquest?5. How can we balance wonder with skepticism in the age of AI?Learn more about the guestsRoger Highfield – https://www.rogerhighfield.com/Author of Stephen Hawking: Genius at Work – https://www.amazon.com/Stephen-Hawking-Genius-at-Work/dp/0744084555Jörg Matthias Determann – https://qatar.vcu.edu/news/our-faculty/dr-jorg-matthias-determann/https://vcu.academia.edu/DetermannAuthor of Islam, Science Fiction and Extraterrestrial Life – https://www.amazon.com/Islam-Science-Fiction-Extraterrestrial-Life/dp/0755601270Timestamps00:01:12 – From neutron experiments to Chernobyl: how Roger became a science writer00:08:03 – Santa Claus, Harry Potter, and the physics of myth00:09:18 – Connecting the Quran and extraterrestrial life00:17:21 – Dune as a mirror for Middle Eastern history and geopolitics00:25:10 – The romantic origins of Soviet space dreams00:28:25 – Manifest destiny and religious language in modern space exploration00:35:22 – Should science fiction ideas be patentable?00:41:10 – Why we imagined Moon colonies by now—and what we missed00:45:39 – The lost knowledge of Apollo and the challenge of returning to the Moon00:49:35 – Space colonization as a spiritual and imperial narrative00:54:56 – Are we likely to find robotic alien life first?01:00:35 – AI and the unraveling of the scientific method01:05:09 – A fake news vaccine, and what it means for future communication01:08:38 – Skepticism, wonder, and why the future is still wide openFollow Accelerator Media:https://x.com/xceleratormediahttps://instagram.com/xcelerator.media/https://linkedin.com/company/accelerator-media-org

  • S1 · E3
    Mar 28, 2025 · 1 hr 26 min

    Beyond Quantum Weirdness, Physics of Life, and the Laws We Haven’t Found Yet

    In this episode of Curiosity Entangled, theoretical physicist Chiara Marletto and science writer Philip Ball dive deep into the meaning and future of quantum theory, exploring how physics may eventually help us understand life, thought, and the laws that govern complex systems. They reflect on what makes quantum mechanics feel strange, the conceptual leap brought by quantum information theory, and how foundational ideas in physics are increasingly influencing biology, computation, and even thermodynamics.Chiara and Philip also explore what it would take to move past our current scientific frameworks—and whether new principles or laws may be hiding in plain sight, waiting to be articulated. This is a conversation about physics at the edge, curiosity without borders, and how new stories in science might soon emerge.🌐 Learn more about the guestsChiara Marletto – https://www.chiaramarletto.com/Author of The Science of Can and Can’t – https://www.chiaramarletto.com/books/the-science-of-can-and-cant/Philip Ball – https://philipball.co.uk/Author of Beyond Weird – https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Weird-Everything-Thought-Different/dp/022655838X🧠 5 Questions This Episode Might Leave You With1. Could physics help predict the trajectory of life, not just describe it?2. What would it take to move beyond quantum theory—and what parts of it will likely remain?3. Why is it still so hard to agree on what quantum mechanics says about reality?4. How might thermodynamics evolve in a world where information is fundamental?5. Are we missing a set of universal laws that apply beyond particles—across biology, cognition, and complexity?⏱️ Highlights & Timestamps00:01:07 – Rethinking quantum theory: weirdness or beauty?00:04:19 – Wheeler’s vision: telling quantum stories without equations00:05:24 – Quantum information theory reframes superposition and entanglement00:08:05 – Quantum mechanics as a theory about what we can know00:14:34 – Proof in hardware: why quantum computers matter00:20:59 – When fundamental theory becomes usable technology00:24:00 – What might survive in the next theory after quantum mechanics?00:26:10 – Testing if gravity is quantum—in the lab00:34:08 – The struggle to unify interpretations of quantum theory00:36:03 – Will quantum thermodynamics become a universal science?00:44:52 – Searching for laws that transcend scale and subject00:54:00 – Can physics make biology more predictive?01:04:21 – Reflections on research, funding, and intellectual freedomFollow Accelerator Media:https://x.com/xceleratormediahttps://instagram.com/xcelerator.media/https://linkedin.com/company/accelerator-media-org

  • S1 · E2
    Jan 24, 2025 · 55 min

    The Global AI Race and the Future of Humanity: Susan Schneider x Zoltan Istvan

    What does it mean to be human in an age of advanced artificial intelligence? How will transhumanism shape the future of humanity? And can we navigate the ethical challenges of AI and emerging technologies before it’s too late? In this thought-provoking episode of Curiosity ⇔ Entangled, Susan Schneider, renowned philosopher and director of the Center for the Future Mind, joins Zoltan Istvan, journalist, futurist, and transhumanist presidential candidate, for an enlightening conversation about the intersection of AI, consciousness, and the human future. Their dialogue explores risks and promises of AI, the philosophical implications of emergent technologies, and the global challenges of aligning advanced AI systems with human values. With candor and curiosity, Susan and Zoltan explore what it means to thrive in a world where humanity may soon no longer hold the top spot in intelligence. Don’t miss the chance to see Susan and Zoltan speak at MindFest 2025 this March—where philosophy, science, and curiosity converge! Visit philevents.org/event/show/131378 Curiosity Explored: 1. The ethical implications of AI systems developing emergent intelligence and how philosophers view the concept of sentience in machines. 2. How AI could exacerbate geopolitical risks and reshape power dynamics between nations. 3. The philosophical questions surrounding transhumanism, radical longevity, and the role of humanity in the future of intelligence. 4. How universal basic income (UBI) could address societal disruptions from automation and AI advancements. 5. The philosophical frameworks for navigating the alignment of AI with human well-being and flourishing. Links to Explore Further: MindFest 2025: Dive into cutting-edge discussions about the future of intelligence at this exciting event featuring Susan and Zoltan. Join experts in Boca Raton this March to explore the intersections of philosophy, science, and technology. Visit philevents.org/event/show/131378 Susan Schneider’s Official Website: Discover her writings, projects, and insights into the future of mind and AI ethics. Visit schneiderwebsite.com Zoltan Istvan’s Official Website: Explore Zoltan’s bold ideas on transhumanism, politics, and the future of humanity. Visit zoltanistvan.com Center for the Future Mind: Learn more about Susan Schneider’s work and her team’s research into consciousness and emerging technologies. Visit fau.edu/future-mind Timestamps: 00:00:25 – Introduction to Susan Schneider and Zoltan Istvan 00:03:11 – Transhumanism: Past optimism versus current challenges 00:07:45 – Emergent AI intelligence and the ethics of alignment 00:16:03 – The global race for AI dominance and geopolitical risks 00:26:14 – Longevity, transhumanism, and the fight against aging 00:33:45 – AI’s potential to create and destroy: navigating the dichotomy 00:42:37 – Philosophical perspectives on the role of humanity in a post-AI world 00:52:08 – Closing thoughts: Building a better future amidst uncertainty

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