Of all the people whose well-being we should care about, only a small fraction are alive today. The rest are members of future generations who are yet to exist. Whether they’ll be born into a world that is flourishing or disintegrating – and indeed, whether they will ever be born at all – is in large part up to us. As such, the welfare of future generations ... Show More
Jan 13
How to Prevent a Mirror Life Catastrophe | James Smith (Director, Mirror Biology Dialogues Fund)
When James Smith first heard about mirror bacteria, he was sceptical. But within two weeks, he’d dropped everything to work on it full time, considering it the worst biothreat that he’d seen described. What convinced him?Mirror bacteria would be constructed entirely from molecule ... Show More
2h 9m
Jan 6
#142 Classic episode – John McWhorter on why the optimal number of languages might be one, and other provocative claims about language
John McWhorter is a linguistics professor at Columbia University specialising in research on creole languages. He's also a content-producing machine, never afraid to give his frank opinion on anything and everything. On top of his academic work, he's written 22 books, produced fi ... Show More
1h 35m
Aug 2022
Forging The Future: Ari Wallach on The Longpath Mindset, Telos & Transgenerational Empathy
We as a global society currently face challenges—some of which are existential in nature—that simply cannot be solved with the mindset, institutions, and paradigms currently in place. Instead, these solutions require that we think beyond current economic, political, and social co ... Show More
2h 14m
Jul 2023
Set Your Future Self Up for Success
<p>As you move through time, you exist as a present self who makes decisions, an in-between self who should carry out those decisions, and a future self who will benefit from those decisions. Yet as we all know, in-between self often fails to follow through on what present self r ... Show More
49m 55s
Apr 2020
Toby Ord: What are the odds civilisation will survive the century?
This week we talk to the philosopher Toby Ord about the end of civilisation as we know it.
Ok, it’s not all doom and gloom. As Toby says, he’s an optimistic person, but in his new book The Precipice (£25, Bloomsbury) he explains why we’re at a point in time where we, as a species ... Show More
35m 35s
Jun 2023
Meet Your Future Self || Hal Hershfield
Today we welcome Hal Hershfield to the podcast. Hal is a Professor of Marketing, Behavioral Decision Making, and Psychology at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. The recipient of numerous teaching awards, Hal was named one of “The 40 Most Outstanding B-School Profs Under 40 In ... Show More
57m 4s
Jun 2022
What to Teach the World of the Future
<p>While the world races ahead into the metaverse, education remains rooted in the era of neat orderly rows of desks and lesson plans. In this wide-ranging conversation, Leila Hoteit, the managing director and senior partner who leads BCG’s education, employment, and welfare work ... Show More
20m 38s
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sam Harris speaks with William MacAskill about his new book,</span> <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/What-Owe-Future-William-MacAskill/dp/1541618629"> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">What We Owe the Future.</span></em></a> <span style="font- ... Show More
<p><em>New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.</em></p> <p><em>---</em></p> <p><br /></p> <p>Most of us worry about money sometimes, but what if we changed the way we thought about our relationship to ... Show More
