If we should look to the future with anticipation, what should our attitude be towards the present (and the past?) Hosts Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon make the case for gratitude — with a long list of items we’ll soon be grateful for. Topics discussed include: Nose-cell transplant allows paralyzed dog to walk Nanoparticle halts […]
This is it — the big 250th edition of FastForward Radio on BlogTalkRadio. Hosts Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon reflect on what got them started doing FastForward Radio, how their thinking about the future has changed over the years, and what’s next for the show. Listen to internet radio with The Speculist on Blog Talk Radio
At the H+ Magazine site I have a piece that expands on some of the ideas we explored in our recent FastForward Radio on the subject of human exceptionalism. Are homo sapiens just one of the many diverse life forms on this planet, or is there something unique about us? In some ways, the question […]
The cover of MIT Technology Review shows Buzz Aldrin, second man to set foot on the moon, with a caption reading: “You promised me Mars colonies. Instead I got Facebook.” Have we really stopped solving the big problems? On a special Thursday evening FastForward Radio, Phil and Stephen examine whether human achievement has peaked. Will […]
Are human beings better or more important than other living things? Should we be just as concerned about the lives of animals as we are our fellow humans? Woud the world be better off without humans? Phil and Stephen discuss the case for human exceptionalism and explain why humanity has a unique role to play […]
I was talking with a friend the other night about how much I enjoy the works of P. G. Wodehouse, especially the Jeeves novels. They are laugh-out-loud funny, even today, primarily because Wodehouse was a genius at ending a sentence differently than the reader expects. He does it dozens or hundreds of times in each […]
According to Harvard Business Review, the sexiest career these days is data scientist: Goldman is a good example of a new key player in organizations: the “data scientist.” It’s a high-ranking professional with the training and curiosity to make discoveries in the world of big data. The title has been around for only a few […]
Felix Baumgartner’s supersonic feat of high-altitude skydiving may be more than just an impressive accomplishment. Is it a signpost on the way to a future in which we are all Baumgartners? Phil and Stephen discuss how balloons in space, cardboard bicycles, underground parks, and other developments show us a world of nearly limitless possibilities: one in which […]
So did you hear about this guy who rode a balloon out into space — more than 100,000 feet up! — and jumped from it, hurtling towards the earth at hundreds of miles per hour before safely parachuting to the ground? His name is Joseph Kittinger. He made his astounding leap from the US Air […]
The Human Imperative is the relentless drive to improve the human condition. This is the one commandment obeyed by virtually of all humanity for all of human history: Thou shalt improve thine own circumstances, the circumstances of thy family, the circumstances of thy tribe, or the circumstances of thy species. This commandment is pervasive; […]