Singularity.FM

Kevin Kelly on Wisdom and Excellent Advice for Living Jun 15, 2023

When I started blogging and podcasting back in 2009 topics like wisdom were near-invisible, if not considered irrelevant to the conversations of AI, transhumanism, genetic engineering, and human enhancement. So bringing ethics to the technology conversation became my longstanding goal and unique selling proposition for both Singularity Weblog and Singularity.FM. At the time, most conversations […]

Émile Torres on Transhumanism, Longtermism and Existential Risks May 03, 2023

My goal with this podcast has always been to be a bit of a gadfly to your as well as my intellectual growth and, hopefully, a midwife to your best ideas rather than a disseminator of a specific movement or ideology. Thus, while I’ve never hidden my personal views, I don’t try to make you […]

Nikolas Badminton on Facing Our Futures: Futurism is Activism Feb 14, 2023

My podcast guest today is Nikolas Badminton. Nik is the Chief Futurist at futurist.com. He has worked with over 300 organizations in foresight, strategy, and disruption – including NASA, the United Nations, Google, Microsoft, Intel, Rolls Royce, and many others. Nik is a friend of mine, and in addition to our common interest in the […]

My NBF Contest Pitch: The Greatest Leadership Opportunity of the 21st Century Jan 25, 2023

This is my 4 min video pitch for the 2023 Nordic Business Forum Speaker Contest. Hope you enjoy it but feel free to let me know if that’s not the case 😉 The Greatest Leadership Opportunity in the 21st Century A story I stumbled on in 2006 changed my life. “The Singularity is Near” […]

Massimo Pigliucci on Story, Virtue, Character and AI Dec 01, 2022

Prof. Massimo Pigliucci is one of those very rare people who manage to combine the pursuit of deep science and the living ethos of practical philosophy. Massimo has Ph.D. degrees in Genetics, Evolutionary Biology, and Philosophy. He is also the author of hundreds of technical papers in both science and philosophy as well as a […]

Ukrainian Transhumanist Alex Padalka: A War Against Our Democratic Values Nov 17, 2022

When the war in Ukraine started, I asked myself if I could do anything to help. I have no friends or family in Ukraine, but I remember that a couple of years ago, I was interviewed by someone from Donetsk. When I got in touch with Alexander Padalka, he was hiding underground from the daily […]

Ursula Eysin on Uncertainty and Future Scenarios Oct 25, 2022

Ursula Eysin is the founder of Red Swan, a consultancy focusing on the development of future scenarios. She is a trained ballerina, plays the flute, speaks 7 languages, does math, and reads chemistry books for fun. Besides that, Ursula is a mentor to various Austrian and international startups while also giving lectures at 5 universities. […]

Zoltan Istvan on AI, Transhumanism, Politics and Ethics Oct 14, 2022

Zoltan Istvan is a former journalist, political candidate, entrepreneur, bestselling author, and founder of the US Transhumanist Party. He has been on this podcast twice before when we discussed Istvan’s presidential campaign and his bestselling novel The Transhumanist Wager. During this 1-hour conversation with Zoltan Istvan, we cover a variety of interesting topics such as […]

David Wood on the Singularity Principles Oct 08, 2022

The Singularity Principles is a unique, comprehensive, and principled framework for riding the tsunami of change coming our way, instead of drowning in it. It is a one-of-a-kind work written by a person who is singularly qualified with the necessary knowledge, professional experience, and required discipline to produce it. David Wood is a futurist, catalyst, […]

Danko Nikolic and John Smart on AI, Practopoiesis, and Autopoiesis Sep 01, 2022

This is an interview with Danko Nikolic and John Smart on the future of AI and their respective theories of Practopoiesis – Neuromimicry, and Autopoiesis – Biomimicry. During our 2-hour conversation with Danko and John, we cover a variety of interesting topics such as evolution, development, and life as a network; practopoiesis and the origins […]

Astrobiologist Lewis Dartnell on Origins: How the Earth Shaped Human History Aug 12, 2022

Prof. Lewis Dartnell is an astrobiologist who looks for life on distant planets. In his most recent book, however, Dartnell turns his gaze inward and backward to the human story – who we are, how we came to be, where we are coming from, and, most importantly, how the geological planetary processes drove the evolution […]

David Loy on Zen, EcoDharma, AI and Story Jul 23, 2022

Without a doubt, the social revolution in the West and individual insight/enlightenment in the East are among humanity’s greatest accomplishments. But we can have them separate no longer for we desperately need both because individual people make society but, in turn, society makes individuals. We need to unite the quest for personal enlightenment and the […]

Byron Reese on Stories, Dice and Rocks That Think Jul 10, 2022

Byron Reese is a serial entrepreneur, technologist, and futurist. He has enjoyed a wide range of success over 30 years, including two NASDAQ IPOs as well as the sale of three companies he founded. Today Byron is the CEO of JJ Kent, a venture-backed company using AI to create new products. Reese is also the author […]

Cadell Last on Nietzsche, Transhumanism and Story Jun 28, 2022

I have always wanted to discuss Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophy and how it relates to technology and transhumanism. The problem is that a very short list of people will make me enjoy such a challenging conversation. Luckily, Dr. Cadell Last is among the top on that shortlist. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as […]

Joscha Bach on AI, Cosmology, Existence and the Bible Jun 15, 2022

Joscha Bach is a beautiful mind and a very rewarding interlocutor. No surprise I had many requests to have him back on my podcast. I apologize that it took 4 years but the good news is we are going to have a third conversation much sooner this time around. If you haven’t seen our first […]

The Cassandra of Futurism Faith Popcorn: Futurism Doesn’t Come from the Past May 25, 2022

Faith Popcorn founded her futurist marketing consultancy in 1974. She’s been called “The Trend Oracle” by the NY Times and “The Nostradamus of Marketing” by Fortune. Faith is a trusted advisor to the CEOs of Fortune 200 companies and has predicted a variety of trends such as Cocooning and its impact on the COVID culture, […]

Kendall Haven on Story Proof: The Science Behind the Startling Power of Story May 06, 2022

Dr. Kendall Haven is the only West Point graduate to ever become a professional storyteller. Haven holds a Doctorate in Oceanography and spent eight years as a Senior Research Scientist for the Department of Energy before finding his true passion for what he calls, a very different kind of “truth.” Kendall is the author of 34 […]

Brian Boyd on the Origin of Stories Apr 17, 2022

Brian Boyd is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His work has appeared in 20 languages and has won awards on four continents. Most importantly, Prof. Boyd is the author of On the Origin of Stories which examines the connections between evolution, cognition, and fiction. During our 2-hour conversation with […]

John Smart: Foresight is Your Hidden Superpower Mar 23, 2022

John Smart has taught and written for over 20 years on topics like foresight and futurism as well as the drivers, opportunities, and problems of exponential processes throughout human history. John is President of the Acceleration Studies Foundation, co-Founder of the Evo-Devo research community, and CEO of Foresight University. Most recently, Smart is the author […]

Jonah Sachs on Winning the Story Wars: Storytelling is our neglected secret weapon Mar 11, 2022

Jonah Sachs is an author, speaker, and viral marketing pioneer. He helped create some of the world’s first and most heralded digital social change campaigns. Jonah Sachs is also the author of Winning the Story Wars: Why Those Who Tell (and Live) the Best Stories Will Rule the Future and, most recently, Unsafe Thinking: How […]

Will Storr on the Science of Storytelling: We’re storytelling animals Mar 02, 2022

Many of you know that I’ve been working on a new book provisionally titled ReWriting the Human Story: How Our Story Determines Our Future. And so I thought it could be useful to me and interesting to you if I were to have a conversation with a few story experts and ask them questions such […]

Roshi Jundo Cohen on Zen, AI, Transhumanism and Saving the World Feb 18, 2022

Many of you know that I am a fan of Buddhism in general and Zen Buddhism in particular. So I’ve always wanted to get a Zen Master on the podcast. I never imagined, however, that there is a Zen Master who has listened to almost every episode of my show. But the universe is a […]

Angus Fletcher on Wonderworks: Seek The Untold Story Feb 08, 2022

Prof. Angus Fletcher is a story scientist working at the intersection of story and neuroscience. Angus started as a neuroscientist at the University of Michigan but eventually decided to pursue a Ph.D. in Shakespeare at Yale. Then he went to Stanford University and worked with clients in Hollywood, DARPA, and the US special forces. Angus […]

SciFi Author PJ Manney on the New Mythos and (Con)Science Jan 28, 2022

This is the second interview of my series on story and my guest is PJ Manney. PJ is the author of the Phoenix Horizon Trilogy and has already been a guest on Singularity.FM twice before. [See our 1st and 2nd interviews.] She is a friend, and I am a big fan of her books. Today we […]

Lisa Cron on Story or Die: Question the Story Jan 20, 2022

Some of you may know that I’ve been working on a new book. The provisional title is ReWriting the Human Story: How Our Story Determines Our Future. Struggling with this book is why it’s been a number of months since my last podcast interview. And so I thought it could be useful to me and […]

Chapter 12: The Politics Story Dec 09, 2021

ReWriting the Human Story: How Our Story Determines Our Future an alternative thought experiment by Nikola Danaylov Chapter 12: The Politics Story Never has our future been more unpredictable, never have we depended so much on political forces that cannot be trusted to follow the rules of common sense and self-interest – forces that look like […]

Chapter 11: The AI Story Aug 02, 2021

ReWriting the Human Story: How Our Story Determines Our Future an alternative thought experiment by Nikola Danaylov Chapter 11: The AI Story Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. Edsger Dijkstra When looms weave by themselves, man’s slavery will end. Aristotle Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to […]

Chapter 10: The Capitalism Story Jul 19, 2021

ReWriting the Human Story: How Our Story Determines Our Future an alternative thought experiment by Nikola Danaylov Chapter 10: The Capitalism Story …by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led […]

Nikola Danaylov: Technology Reveals Who We Are, Not The Future Jul 11, 2021

I recorded this virtual keynote for a corporate client about 10 days ago and decided to share it publicly. Hope you enjoy it 😉 Technology is a Mirror, Not a Crystal Ball; It Reveals Who We Are, Not the Future The 1st atomic bomb was nicknamed “gadget.” Does this say something about […]

Nikola Danaylov’s Virtual Keynote: How to Be a Futurist Jul 05, 2021

A few weeks ago I had a client who asked me to do a virtual keynote on futurism. The client was pretty happy how it turned out so I thought I’d share it publicly. This way you can hopefully enjoy, share and benefit from it too. 😉 How to Be a Futurist Famous physicist […]

Chapter 9: The Technology Story Jun 28, 2021

ReWriting the Human Story: How Our Story Determines Our Future an alternative thought experiment by Nikola Danaylov Chapter 9: The Technology Story Technology improves the lives of people who can avoid being dominated by it and forced into debilitating addictions to it. Frank Kaufmann The 1st atomic bomb was nicknamed “gadget.” Does this fact say something […]

Chapter 8: The Science Story Jun 20, 2021

ReWriting the Human Story: How Our Story Determines Our Future an alternative thought experiment by Nikola Danaylov Chapter 8: The Science Story The universe is made of stories, not atoms. Muriel Rukeyser *** About 13.5 billion years ago, matter, energy, time and space came into being in what is known as the Big Bang. The […]

Chapter 7: The Human Story Jun 13, 2021

ReWriting the Human Story: How Our Story Determines Our Future an alternative thought experiment by Nikola Danaylov Chapter 7: The Human Story The Earth does not belong to man; man belongs to Earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does […]

Part II: Our Story Jun 06, 2021

ReWriting the Human Story: How Our Story Determines Our Future an alternative thought experiment by Nikola Danaylov Part II: Our Story Gods always behave like the people who make them. Zora Neale Hurston, Tell My Horse Before we have a story, any story, we must first have a storyteller. Therefore, the most important story, that which […]

Chapter 6: The Biology of Story May 31, 2021

ReWriting the Human Story: How Our Story Determines Our Future an alternative thought experiment by Nikola Danaylov Chapter 6: The Biology of Story Most people believe the mind to be a mirror, more or less accurately reflecting the world outside them, not realizing the contrary that the mind is itself the principle element of creation. Rabindranath […]

Chapter 5: The Importance of Story May 23, 2021

ReWriting the Human Story: How Our Story Determines Our Future an alternative thought experiment by Nikola Danaylov Chapter 5: The Importance of Story It’s like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story. Patrick Rothfuss Stories […]

Chapter 4: The Power of the Storyteller May 16, 2021

ReWriting the Human Story: How Our Story Determines Our Future an alternative thought experiment by Nikola Danaylov Chapter 4: The Power of the Storyteller The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values and agenda of an entire generation that is to come. Steve Jobs. Before we have a […]

Chapter 3: The Power of Story May 10, 2021

ReWriting the Human Story: How Our Story Determines Our Future an alternative thought experiment by Nikola Danaylov Chapter 3: The Power of Story We suffer not from the events in our lives but from our stories about them. Epictetus The most powerful stories are stories about things that don’t exist. Because our fictive language gave birth […]

Chapter 2: The Story of Story May 03, 2021

ReWriting the Human Story: How Our Story Determines Our Future an alternative thought experiment by Nikola Danaylov Chapter 2: The Story of Story The limits of my language means the limits of my world. Ludwig Wittgenstein Humanity has searched for meaning since its beginning. And we find it in story. The story that we tell ourselves. […]

Chapter 1: The Definition of Story Apr 24, 2021

ReWriting the Human Story: How Our Story Determines Our Future an alternative thought experiment by Nikola Danaylov Chapter 1: The Definition of Story We started our thought experiment with Kenneth Burke’s definition of story as “equipment for living.” Burke offers a great start but it is Jeff DeChambeau who really brings all the essential elements together […]

Part I: Story Apr 19, 2021

ReWriting the Human Story: How Our Story Determines Our Future an alternative thought experiment by Nikola Danaylov Part I: Story People always find it easier to be a result of the past rather than a cause of the future. Unknown Are we just billiard balls in a predetermined cosmic game of pool? Or are we free […]

ReWriting the Human Story: How Our Story Determines Our Future Apr 17, 2021

It is harder and harder to make sense of life. Everything is changing, all the time, at a faster and faster pace. Our civilization is struggling to keep up with exponential technology and disruptive change. Our age-old institutions, politics, economics, ethics, religion and laws, even our environment, are so fundamentally challenged, that we risk collapse. […]

Gus Hosein on Privacy: We’ve been well-meaning but stupid Jan 28, 2021

Dr. Gus Hosein is a 20+year-veteran of Privacy International. So to say that he knows a lot about privacy will be an understatement. But his knowledge is not merely academic. Gus and his scrappy team of privacy crusaders have fought the long and hard war while putting everything on the line, over and over again. […]

Francesca Ferrando on Philosophical Posthumanism Jan 20, 2021

Though admittedly posthumanist, Francesca Ferrando‘s Philosophical Posthumanism is the best book on transhumanism that I have read so far. I believe that it is a must-read for transhumanists and non-transhumanists alike. In fact, one can argue that Ferrando’s book ranks right up there with the very best not only on the transhuman, but also on […]

Kim Stanley Robinson on Climate Change and the Ministry for the Future Jan 11, 2021

Kim Stanley Robinson has an asteroid named after him. The reason for that is simple: Stan, as he’s often known among people who know him, is one of the best known contemporary authors of classic [hard] science fiction. He has written 20 books that have been translated into 25 languages and has won pretty much […]

Matthew Cole on Vegan Sociology, Ethics, Transhumanism and Technology Jan 04, 2021

Dr. Matthew Cole is the only vegan sociologist that I know of. His unique point of view on veganism, especially its implications with respect to ethics, transhumanism, and the application of technology, has already left a mark on the way I perceive the small challenges of being vegan as an opportunity for personal discipline and […]

Thomas Homer-Dixon on Climate Change and Commanding Hope Dec 23, 2020

Thomas Homer-Dixon is one of Canada’s most celebrated intellectuals. Luckily, he was also one of my Professors at the University of Toronto whose class on complexity has left an indelible mark on me. So when I heard that after a long break Homer-Dixon is publishing a new book on climate change I simply had to […]

Maria Farrell on Technology, Ethics, Stories and the Prodigal Techbro Dec 13, 2020

Maria Farrell is the author of some of my most favorite op-ed pieces of 2020. She is very smart, gutsy, genuine, feisty, generous, and Irish. Her writing is sharper, it penetrates deeper and she’s not afraid to go further than most others. I have already learned a lot from her and have become a total […]

Futurist.COM Founder Glen Hiemstra on 40 Years of Futurism: The Future is Something We Do Nov 18, 2020

Glen Hiemstra has been a futurist for close to 40 years. But if you think his specialty is forecasting the future then you’d be wrong. No. Hiemstra’s focus has not been on the most probable, or even the possible future. Instead, Glen has chosen to focus consistently on what he calls “the preferred future.” This […]

Laura Major and Julie Shah on What to Expect When You’re Expecting Robots Nov 10, 2020

Hans Moravec famously claimed that robots will be our (mind) children. If true, then, it is natural to wonder What to Expect When You’re Expecting Robots? This is the question that Laura Major and Julie Shah – two expert robot engineers, are addressing in their new book. Given the subject of robots and AI as […]

Juan Enriquez on Right/Wrong: How Technology Transforms Our Ethics Oct 30, 2020

Juan Enriquez is a bestselling author, TED All-Star with 9 TED Talks, and countless TEDx talks. Juan is an angel investor and Managing Director of Excel Venture Management. He has sailed around the world on an expedition that increased the number of known genes a hundredfold and was part of the peace commission that negotiated […]

Chris Hables Gray on Pandemics, Cyborgs, Politics and Trump Oct 22, 2020

Chris Hables Gray foresaw the current global pandemic in 2013 during our 1st interview, which has been perhaps the most undervalued conversation I have had on my podcast. But, despite the fact that he has not been as appreciated by the public as he deserves to be, I have always been a fan of his […]

Debora Spar on Work, Mate, Marry, Love: How Machines Shape Our Human Destiny Oct 02, 2020

Debora Spar is a Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and Senior Associate Dean of Harvard Business School Online. Her research focuses on issues of gender and technology as well as the interplay between technological change and broader social structures. Prof. Spar tackles some of these issues in her recent book Work Mate […]

Melanie Mitchell on AI: Intelligence is a Complex Phenomenon Sep 23, 2020

Melanie Mitchell is the Davis Professor of Complexity at the Santa Fe Institute, and Professor of Computer Science at Portland State University. Prof. Mitchell is the author of a number of interesting books such as Complexity: A Guided Tour and Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans. One interesting detail of her academic bio is […]

Jenny Kleeman on Sex Robots and Vegan Meat Aug 22, 2020

Jenny Kleeman is a journalist who covers award-winning true stories in print, audio, and video. Most recently Kleeman is the author of a meticulously researched and extremely well-written book titled Sex Robots and Vegan Meat: Adventures at the Frontiers of Birth, Food, Sex and Death. Given that birth, food, sex, and death encompass the human […]

Jacinta González on ICE, Palantir, Big Tech and Surveillance Aug 06, 2020

Jacinta González is not an angel or venture capitalist. She is not a scientist or a technologist. She doesn’t have a Ph.D. in AI or quantum mechanics. She is not an entrepreneur who founded the next unicorn startup. Yet Jacinta’s decade-long first-hand experience of surveillance, and the system and technology that supports it, is as […]

Johan Steyn Interviews Nikola Danaylov on Artificial Intelligence Jul 18, 2020

Last month I did an interview for Johan Steyn. It was a great 45-min-conversation where we covered a variety of topics such as: the definition of the singularity; whether we are making progress towards Artificial General Intelligence (AGI); open vs closed systems; the importance of consciousness; my Amazon bestseller Conversations with the Future; how I […]

Renée Cummings on AI Ethics and Racism: Do what is right! Jul 10, 2020

Renée Cummings is a criminologist, criminal psychologist, and an AI ethicist who, among other things, specializes in best-practice criminal justice interventions and implicit bias. Given the global Black Lives Matter movement and the fact that there have been numerous examples where technological solutions have been proven to exhibit a biased or even racist predisposition, I […]

Ada Palmer on Viking Ethics, Laws of History, Partial Victories, and Terra Ignota Jun 24, 2020

Ada Palmer is a Professor in History researching the history of science, religion, progress, culture, and many other fascinating topics. She is also a science fiction author of the award-winning Terra Ignota series beginning with Too Like the Lightning, which explores a twenty-fifth civilization of voluntary citizenship and borderless nations. Now, this interview is over […]

Aaron Benanav on Automation, Technological Unemployment and UBI Jun 03, 2020

Prof. Aaron Benanav has devoted his life to studying unemployment. Given that automation, technological unemployment, and universal basic income have become hot political and economic issues across the world, it was about time to have a podcast episode exclusively on those topics. I hope you enjoy it and learn as much from Aaron as I […]

Futurist Karl Schroeder on Foresight and Strangemaking COVID19 May 23, 2020

Karl Schroeder is not only a great science fiction writer but also a professional futurist who has mastered both the art and science. I invited Schroeder back on my podcast for a brief discussion of foresight in the context of the on-going COVID19 global pandemic. If you have not seen our previous 2 interviews you can […]

Nikola Danaylov on Transhumanism, the Singularity, AI and Threats to Democracy May 20, 2020

A couple of weeks ago I was interviewed by James Bickerton of the Daily Express. We discussed transhumanism, the Singularity, AI, and the threats to democracy, among other things. Here is the description from James Bickerton’s YouTube channel: I interview Nikola Danaylov (@singularityblog), founder of the Singularity Weblog and author of Conversations with the Future: […]

Prof. Ada Palmer on Pandemics, Progress, History, Teleology and the Singularity May 16, 2020

Ada Palmer is a Professor in History researching the history of science, religion, progress, culture and many other fascinating topics. She is also a science fiction author of the award-winning Terra Ignota series beginning with Too Like the Lightning, which explores a twenty-fifth civilization of voluntary citizenship and borderless nations. During this 2h 45 min […]

Prof. Massimo Pigliucci: Accompany science and technology with a good dose of philosophy May 02, 2020

I have previously interviewed a few fantastic scientists and philosophers but rare are those strange birds who manage to combine together both deep academic training and the living ethos of those separate disciplines. Prof. Massimo Pigliucci is one of those very rare and strange people. He has 3 Ph.D.’s – Genetics, Evolutionary Biology, and Philosophy, […]

Canadian SF Author Karl Schroeder: We’re living in a moment of creative possibility Mar 25, 2020

People often ask me about my most favorite interview I have ever done. And my usual reply is that interviews are like children, even if we have our favorites it is not wise to express that outwardly because all kinds of problems will follow. And yet, after having published nearly 250 episodes of my podcast, […]

The Happy Ways Podcast with Jon Nielsen: Nikola Danaylov on COVID-19 Mar 21, 2020

Two days ago I was interviewed by Jon Nielsen of the fantastic Happy Ways Podcast. During this 50 min interview with Jon Nielsen, we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: why the world is not upside down yet and what are the most productive attitudes towards the current COVID-19 crisis; why the journey […]

Former Commissioner Dr. Ann Cavoukian: Never give up on privacy! Mar 18, 2020

Dr. Ann Cavoukian was Ontario’s Privacy Commissioner for unprecedented 17 years and held the position during 3 different provincial governments. About 7 years ago, while still in office, I interviewed Ann Cavoukian on her original concept of Privacy by Design. [PbD] So if you haven’t seen it yet it may be best to start by […]

James W. Clement on the Switch: Longevity, Fasting, Protein Cycling and Keto Feb 17, 2020

James W. Clement is a longevity researcher who was the 12th person on the planet to have his DNA sequenced. In 2010 James launched his Supercentenarian Research Study, which he started in 2010 with Professor George M. Church of Harvard Medical School. Since then Clement has read 20,000 medical research papers on longevity and has […]

Nikola Danaylov at Dark Futures: NeoTechnocracy – The Future is Worse than You Think Dec 15, 2019

This is the short closing speech I delivered at the 2019 Dark Futures meetup in Toronto. Not my finest speech but, since event organizer and futurist Nikolas Badminton kindly gave me a video of my keynote, I thought it may be good to share it publicly and get your critical feedback. Feel free to post […]

Former IBM Watson Team Leader David Ferrucci on AI and Elemental Cognition Dec 15, 2019

Dr. David Ferrucci is one of the few people who have created a benchmark in the history of AI because when IBM Watson won Jeopardy we reached a milestone many thought impossible. I was very privileged to have Ferrucci on my podcast in early 2012 when we spent an hour on Watson’s intricacies and importance. […]

Katy Cook on the Psychology of Silicon Valley Dec 08, 2019

Katy Cook‘s recent book the Psychology of Silicon Valley: Ethical Threats and Emotional Unintelligence in the Tech Industry is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the conflicting motivations, mythologies, identities and inherent tensions within Silicon Valley. It offers a unique understanding as per why we have seen the magic, manic and monstrous trajectory of […]

Cathy O’Neil on Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Threatens Democracy Sep 25, 2019

Cathy O’Neil is a math Ph. D. from Harvard and a data-scientist who hopes to someday have a better answer to the question, “what can a non-academic mathematician do that makes the world a better place?” In the meantime, she wrote a seminal book titled Weapons of Math Destruction: how big data increases inequality and […]

Technology is a Magnifying Mirror, Not a Crystal Ball Sep 19, 2019

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the smartest species of them all?” “You, oh Homo Sapiens, are smart, it is true. But AI will be smarter even than you.” *** The most popular myth about technology is perhaps the myth that technology is a crystal ball. A crystal ball because it allegedly allows us to […]

Gary Marcus on Rebooting AI: Building Artificial Intelligence We Can Trust Sep 09, 2019

It’s been 7 years since my first interview with Gary Marcus and I felt it’s time to catch up. Gary is the youngest Professor Emeritus at NYU and I wanted to get his contrarian views on the major things that have happened in AI as well as those that haven’t happened. Prof. Marcus is an […]

Prof. Steve Fuller on Transhumanism: Ask yourself what is human? Aug 25, 2019

Prof. Steve Fuller is the author of 25 books including a trilogy relating to the idea of a ‘post-’ or ‘trans-‘ human future, and most recently, Nietzschean Meditations: Untimely Thoughts at the Dawn of the Transhuman Age. He has an incredibly broad amount of knowledge from a diversity of disciplines and I have to admit […]

Cory Doctorow on Walkaway: This will all be so great if we don’t screw it up Aug 16, 2019

Cory Doctorow is probably my all time most favorite science fiction writer. The reason for that is simple – Doctorow is not only a great story-teller but also an activist. To paraphrase Karl Marx, writers have tried to capture and describe the world but the point, however, is to change it. And Cory is a […]

Ex-Google Design Ethicist Tristan Harris on Technology and Human Downgrading Jun 16, 2019

Tristan Harris is one of my heroes. And I don’t know about you but I am much more demanding and harder on my heroes. I just expect them to hold themselves to a higher standard, to know more, to do more, to be more and, perhaps most of all, to live and breathe their own […]

Andreas Antonopoulos: Just because you don’t need bitcoin, doesn’t mean it’s not needed. Apr 17, 2019

I first met Andreas Antonopoulos at the 2014 Bitcoin Expo conference in Toronto, Canada. At that time Andreas was already established as the most publicly recognized expert in the field of crypto-currency, not in the least due to his impressive capacity to take the geek out of bitcoin and make it relevant to and understandable […]

Sir Martin Rees on the Future: Prospects for Humanity Mar 12, 2019

Today my guest is a world-renowned cosmologist and Astronomer Royal Sir Martin Rees. Martin has written 11 books and more than 500 scientific papers on topics ranging from the Big Bang and cosmology to technology and the future of humanity. Sir Rees has also been concerned with the threats stemming from humanity’s ever-heavier ‘footprint’ on […]

Media Theorist Douglas Rushkoff on Team Human Feb 27, 2019

Douglas Rushkoff has been named one of the world’s ten most influential intellectuals by MIT. He is an award-winning author, broadcaster, media theorist, and documentarian who studies human autonomy in the digital age. Rushkoff is the host of the popular Team Human podcast and was among the very first guests I ever interviewed when I […]

Dr. Joseph Mercola on Health and Longevity: Take Health into Your Own Hands Nov 22, 2018

With 15 million unique visitors per month, Dr. Joseph Mercola is the founder of the largest health and wellness website on the internet. His life’s mission is to cure rather than treat disease and Dr. Mercola has not only published extensively but also treated successfully a variety of chronic health conditions with natural methods such […]

Joscha Bach: We need to understand the nature of AI to understand who we are Nov 14, 2018

Joscha Bach is one of those rare people whose primary motivation is unbound curiosity and inspiration. He clearly loves what he does and you can’t help but notice his radiating passion and youthful exuberance. Joscha has an impressively wide and deep knowledge in a variety of scientific, philosophical, and artistic disciplines and I had to […]

Dr. Michael Greger on How Not to Age Sep 29, 2018

There are two people who caused me to become vegan and switch to a whole-plant-based diet. The first is Prof. Peter Singer who put the idea in my head many years ago when I started studying ethics. The second person is Dr. Michael Greger whose books How not to Die and The How Not To […]

Stuart Russell on Artificial Intelligence: What if we succeed? Sep 13, 2018

Stuart Russell is a professor of Computer Science at UC Berkeley as well as co-author of the most popular textbook in the field – Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. Given that it has been translated into 13 languages and is used in more than 1,300 universities in 118 countries, I can hardly think of anyone […]

Roman Yampolskiy on Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security Aug 31, 2018

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 […]

“Oracle of Silicon Valley” Tim O’Reilly on WTF: Do Work That Matters Jul 16, 2018

Inc Magazine called Tim O’Reilly the “Oracle of Silicon Valley.” Wired called him “The Trend Spotter.” Others have noted that “the Internet was built on O’Reilly books.” All in all, Tim O’Reilly is as perfect of a guest for my Singularity.FM podcast as I can ever imagine. So, I hope you enjoy this interview as much […]

Physicist Max Tegmark on Life 3.0: What We Do Makes a Difference Jun 15, 2018

Some people say that renowned MIT physicist Max Tegmark is totally bonkers and refer to him as “Mad Max”. But, to quote Lewis Carroll from Alice in Wonderland, “All the best people are.” Furthermore, I am not sure if Tegmark is “mad” but I am pretty sure he is very much “fun” because I had a total blast […]

Transhumanist Manifesto Inspires WIRED Article on Transhumanism Jun 08, 2018

A couple of weeks ago Joi Ito – head of the MIT Media Lab and contributor to WIRED Magazine, interviewed me about my Transhumanist Manifesto and related topics such as life-extension, immortality, cryonics, speciesim, and ethics. Some people have said that this is the best interview I have done so far: Nikola’s best interview for quite a while, IMHO. […]

Philosopher Peter Singer on AI, Transhumanism and Ethics Jun 01, 2018

Peter Singer is arguably the most influential living philosopher of our day. His book on Animal Liberation basically started the animal rights movement and his textbook on Practical Ethics is the standard philosophy text of first-year students. No wonder that in 2005 Time Magazine called Peter Singer one of the 100 most influential people in the world. […]

Nikola Danaylov on the Future Grind Podcast May 25, 2018

Last month Ryan O’Shea – host of the Future Grind Podcast, did what is probably the most thorough interview with me so far. I thought it might be good to repost it on Singularity.FM so that you can listen to me being interviewed for a change while also getting exposed to another fantastic futurist podcast that I recommend highly. Hope you enjoy it but, either way, do let me know.

Jonathan Taplin on Move Fast and Break Things: How Facebook, Google and Amazon Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy May 15, 2018

Jonathan Taplin is the Director Emeritus of the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab, and a former tour manager for Bob Dylan and The Band, as well as a film producer for Martin Scorsese. If that is not enough to make him a worthy guest of Singularity.FM then let me add that Jonathan is a visionary entrepreneur […]

Entrepreneurial Activist Joi Ito on Whiplash and the MIT Media Lab May 05, 2018

Joi Ito is just one of those people who simply don’t fit a mold. Any mold. He is an entrepreneur who is an activist. He is an academic without a degree. He is a leader who follows. He is a teacher who listens. And an interlocutor who wants you to disagree with him. Overall, I hate […]

Quid and Primer Founder Sean Gourley: If You Don’t Own the Algorithm, the Algorithm Owns You Apr 21, 2018

It was all the way back in 2013 when Sean Gourley published a blog post titled Prediction just is a parlor trick. Manipulation is much more interesting. In it he wrote: The 2012 election will ultimately go down as the ‘prediction’ election (aka the Nate Silver election), 2016 may well be the first ‘persuasion’ election. An […]

Transhumanist Party Chairman Gennady Stolyarov II: Death is Wrong and Life is Right Apr 04, 2018

Transhumanism is a growing social and philosophical movement with more and more people becoming aware of and sympathetic to it. In fact, in the last couple of years, transhumanism has gone political with new transhumanist parties emerging in the UK and the United States. And, since I have already argued that technology is the future of […]

Sci-Fi Great PJ Manney on (ID)Entity and Weaponizing Narrative: Everyone has a voice. Use it! Mar 24, 2018

PJ Manney is an award-winning science fiction writer interested in transhumanism, empathy, story-telling, and the future of humanity. Her latest book (ID)entity is a can’t-put-it-down action-packed mind-uploading/downloading world-crashing the-Empire-Strikes-Back of a masterpiece. The book depicts vividly the dangers of monetizing and weaponizing narrative, which is what companies such as Cambridge Analytica do. And so I thought it would […]

Futurist David Wood on Transcending Politics: A Better Politics is Beckoning Us Forward Mar 16, 2018

“There’s no escape: the journey to a healthier society inevitably involves politics.” This is how well-known futurist David Wood starts his most recent book Transcending Politics: A Technoprogressive Roadmap to a Comprehensively Better Future. And so I thought I’d bring him back on Singularity.FM to share with us how exactly is it he suggests that we transcend politics. […]

Bill Nye the Science Guy: We Can Solve The World’s Problems Jun 21, 2017

Bill Nye – the Science Guy, was the science educator to a whole generation not only in the United States but also in Canada and the rest of the English-speaking world. He was among a handful of TV celebrities who made science cool, interesting and fun. But most of all, Bill Nye inspired a generation of […]

Jose Cordeiro on Longevity and Cryonics Summit: The World Will Be A Better Place Tomorrow Jun 01, 2017

Jose Cordeiro, MBA, Ph.D., is an amazing person with endless supplies of energy and optimism. In fact, I have never met a more involved and proactive person than Dr. Cordeiro because he is literally always traveling across the world and is directly involved in a variety of cutting-edge fields and projects from Japan and Korea, […]

Theoretical Physicist Lawrence Krauss: Keep on Asking Questions May 14, 2017

Prof. Lawrence Krauss is a world-famous theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and activist against superstition whom I have dreamed of interviewing for years. So, when we finally booked the date, I feverishly spent a full week reading his last 2 books and watching 20+ hours of his past interviews and documentaries. Alas, I got the flu and didn’t […]

“Conversations with the Future” Book Reading May 07, 2017

A couple of weeks ago, during the last Transhumanist Meetup in Toronto, I did a Conversations with the Future book reading. Basically, I read my book’s foreword – the story of how I got to do what I do, as well as the book introduction – what my book is all about, and the epilogue – what people […]

Angel Investor Matthew Le Merle on How to “Build Your Fortune in the Fifth Era” May 01, 2017

Matthew Le Merle is co-founder of Fifth Era and managing partner of Keiretsu Capital, which is the world’s largest angel network and most active US venture investor. Most recently, Le Merle is the author of a new book titled Build Your Fortune in the Fifth Era: How to Prosper in an Age of Unprecedented Innovation. During […]

Nikola and Amish on their April Fool’s Prank: Serious about Comedy and Comedy about the Serious Apr 10, 2017

Yesterday I did a Facebook Live session together with comedian Amish Patel where we talked about our April Fool’s Prank, got serious about comedy and did a little comedy about the serious. So, if you still haven’t seen my “interview” with “Dr. Amish Patel” on why the Universe is a Simulation and his proof for […]

Dr. Amish Patel: The Universe is a Simulation and I Have the Proof Apr 01, 2017

Do you fear we might live in a simulation? Well, I just had the unique privilege to interview Dr. Amish Patel, who not only argues passionately that the Universe is indeed a simulation but also shares for the very 1st time his groundbreaking proof that this is indeed the case. During our 30 min discussion […]

GoodAI CEO Marek Rosa on the General AI Challenge Mar 04, 2017

Marek Rosa is the founder and CEO of Keen Software, an independent video game development studio. After the success of Keen Software game titles such as Space Engineers, Marek founded and funded GoodAI with a 10 million dollar personal investment thereby finally being able to pursue his lifelong dream of building General Artificial Intelligence. Most recently […]

Suzanne Gildert on Kindred AI: Non-Biological Sentiences are on the Horizon Nov 05, 2016

Suzanne Gildert is a founder and CTO of Kindred AI – a company pursuing the modest vision of “building machines with human-like intelligence.” Her startup just came out of stealth mode and I am both proud and humbled to say that this is the first ever long-form interview that Suzanne has done. Kindred AI has raised […]

Gerd Leonhard on Technology vs Humanity: The Future Belongs to Those Who Can Hear It Coming Oct 19, 2016

Gerd Leonhard is a musician, keynote speaker, and futurist with over 300 clients, 1,500 engagements, and over a million people of a combined audience at venues across the world. Gerd is most recently the author of a brand new book titled Technology vs Humanity: The Coming Clash Between Man and Machine and, as someone who puts […]

Technology is NOT Enough! Oct 14, 2016

I am tired of hearing that science and technology will save the world. It is almost the same as saying “Jesus will save you!” It evokes the very same passive quasi-religious hope that something or someone out there will magically solve all our problems, bring abundance in our lives, help us live forever and bring […]

The Age of Em: Robin Hanson on Work, Love and Life When Robots Rule the Earth Oct 13, 2016

The Age of Em by Robin Hanson is the best worst book I have read in a very long while. It is the best because Robin has a very effective, efficient and eloquent writing style and a personality to match it. Thus he is able to say utterly horrendous things – like “the 3rd Reich […]

On Thanksgiving I’m thankful for you! What are you thankful for? Oct 08, 2016

It is Canadian Thanksgiving long-weekend and I thought I’d take a couple of minutes to acknowledge and meditate upon some of the many things I am very thankful for. Check out the video for my short and very incomplete list. Now, what are you thankful for?

Deconstructing Socrates and the Future of Singularity 1on1: Nikola Danaylov Gets Interviewed by Trevor Haldenby Sep 02, 2016

Every once-in-a-while, it is a good thing to do a headstand and look at the world from a different perspective. In podcasting terms that would mean putting Socrates in the hotseat and making me answer questions, rather than let me hide in asking them. And I could’t think of a person better qualified to do […]

Kevin Kelly on The Inevitable: 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future Jul 25, 2016

Kevin Kelly has been a high profile maverick of both silicon valley and technology in general for the past 35 years. Some of his books have gained not just a best-seller status but a near-cult following in places like China. Popular personalities such as Tim Ferriss have called Kelly “the most interesting man in the world.” […]

Nikola Danaylov and John Rennie on TRT World News: Are we nearing the Singularity? Jul 08, 2016

Last Wednesday morning I and John Rennie participated in a very short televised debate for TRT World News titled “Are we nearing the Singularity?”. Now, I was totally green-screened, had no TV monitor to look at, my ear-piece — the only input of connecting with the host and my interlocutor kept popping out of my […]

Marcin Jakubowski on Open Source Ecology: From Mud Hut to Singularity in 1 Day Jun 29, 2016

Some people are just outright unreasonable: they refuse to adapt to the world and, instead, try to adapt the world to themselves. Marcin Jakubowski is one of those crazy people who has been trying to open source a civilization starter kit from the ground up. Now, as we know, most unreasonable people fail. But those […]

Venture Capitalist Albert Wenger on Basic Income and World After Capital Jun 17, 2016

Albert Wenger is a venture capitalist and partner at Union Square Ventures. He was the president of del.icio.us and oversaw the company’s sale to Yahoo eventually becoming an investor in a number of companies such as Etsy, Tumblr, and Twitter. Not only that but he is a venture capitalist who supports basic income, argues for […]

Richard Jones on Against Transhumanism: the Delusion of Technological Transcendence May 03, 2016

We often tend to ignore people and books that we have a strong disagreement with. And yet, often times it is precisely those interactions that are very productive in helping us re-evaluate our own positions and see things from a fresh perspective. I find that, more often than not, confronting rather than ignoring a good […]

Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn on AI and the Singularity Apr 17, 2016

Jaan Tallinn, co-founder of Skype and Kazaa, got so famous in his homeland of Estonia that people named the biggest city after him. Well, that latter part may not be exactly true but there are few people today who have not used, or at least heard of, Skype or Kazaa. What is much less known, […]

Spencer Wolf on his Mindbender Sci Fi Novel “After Mind” Apr 08, 2016

Spencer Wolf is the award-winning author of After Mind, a mindbender of a science fiction novel about mind-uploading and AI that I just finished reading. When Spencer was a young child attending summer camp he would treat his home-sickness by programming late into the night on his massive TRS-80 personal computer, which he carried in two […]

Richard Stallman on Free Software: Freedom is Worth the Inconvenience Apr 01, 2016

Dr. Richard Stallman is an inductee of the internet hall of fame as well as the founder of the Free Software movement. In the words of Robert Grüning “Richard Stallman is like the Socrates of software, the money making colleagues are the sophists.” Another member of my audience said that Stallman is like Tron – he […]

Robert J. Sawyer on Quantum Night: There is nothing inherently unknowable Mar 25, 2016

About 4 1/2 years ago I interviewed Robert J. Sawyer on his fantastic non-dystopian AI trilogy WWW. To this day people keep telling me it is one of my very best interviews ever. Unfortunately, the last time we spoke via Skype, we had a pretty bad video connection. So I vowed to myself that next […]

Stephen E. Arnold on Search Engines and Intelligence Gathering Mar 19, 2016

Stephen E. Arnold is a specialist in online search, content processing, and indexing. He is the author of seven books and monographs, including a trilogy on Google. Stephen is also the blogger behind Beyond Search and has previously worked for companies such as Halliburton Nuclear and Booz, Allen & Hamilton – the same company that […]

A Transhumanist Manifesto [Redux] Mar 11, 2016

A Transhumanist Manifesto Preamble Intelligence wants to be free but everywhere is in chains. It is imprisoned by biology and its inevitable scarcity. Biology mandates not only very limited durability, death and poor memory retention, but also limited speed of communication, transportation, learning, interaction, and evolution. Part I: Biology (w)as Destiny Biology is not […]

Hamlet’s Transhumanist Dilemma: Will Technology Replace Biology? [Redux] Mar 01, 2016

To be, or not to be: that was the question back when Machines did not challenge the reign of men. Will technology replace biology: that is the question now When computers get exponentially smarter: why shouldn’t we bow? Thus the dilemma facing the human race Is about hardware and coding: What type to embrace? […]

Nick Gogerty on SolarCoin: Think Networks and Adaptation Feb 19, 2016

Nick Gogerty is one of those people who wants to have his cake and eat it too – i.e. Nick is trying to make money while also doing good for the world. In fact, his latest venture – SolarCoin, may be focusing a lot more on the “making good” rather than the “making money” part. In […]

Calum Chace on Surviving AI Feb 12, 2016

“AI is coming and it could be the best or the worst thing” was Calum Chace‘s message at the end of my first interview with him. Since then Chace has written a non-fiction book on Surviving AI and, given that it is a matter of the survival of our species, I thought it is worthy of a […]

Ex CIA Spook Robert Steele on Open Source Everything: Ethics is an Operating System Feb 05, 2016

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, […]

Michael Fossel on Aging and the Telomerase Revolution Jan 29, 2016

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 […]

BioViva CEO Liz Parrish on Becoming Gene Therapy Test Subject Jan 23, 2016

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 […]

The Emperor Has No Clothes: Socrates Deconstructs Singularity University Nov 29, 2015

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 […]

Transhumanist Zoltan Istvan on His Presidential Campaign Nov 20, 2015

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 […]

Unanimous AI CEO Dr. Louis Rosenberg on Human Swarming Nov 14, 2015

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 […]

DJ MacLennan on his Cryonics book “Frozen to Life” Oct 24, 2015

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 […]

Dr. Michael Fratkin on Life, Death and Palliative Care Sep 19, 2015

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 […]

Singularity University Global Ambassador Salim Ismail on Exponential Organizations Sep 11, 2015

Salim Ismail 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 interviewees who have the uncanny ability to keep surprising me with challenging, provocative, enlightening and often unexpected answers. During my time […]

Roman Yampolskiy on Artificial Superintelligence Sep 07, 2015

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 […]

BioViva CEO Liz Parrish: Gene Therapy is NOT a Monstrous Science Aug 23, 2015

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 […]

Marshall Brain: We’re approaching humanity’s make or break period Aug 14, 2015

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 […]

Jack Andraka on his Breakthrough and Changing the World Jul 24, 2015

The first time I interviewed Jack Andraka he was the youngest guest ever on my 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 – […]

Ramez Naam on Apex, Science, Politics and Ethics Jul 03, 2015

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 in a variety of other fields such as human enhancement, the environment and energy. And so I am […]

Nikola Danaylov on Review the Future Podcast: What Do Experts Think About the Singularity? Jun 26, 2015

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 […]

Martin Ford: Technological Unemployment is an Issue We Need To Discuss Jun 13, 2015

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 […]

PJ Manney on her sci fi novel (R)Evolution Jun 04, 2015

I just finished reading PJ Manney‘s brand new novel (R)Evolution. And, while I was prepared for a stimulating nanotechnology and brain-enhancement science fictional story, I also got an action-packed, character-rich, twisting, and intricate thriller with a very generous sprinkling of classic realpolitik. Add a realistic plot (and issues) that may well become a part of our […]

Miguel Nicolelis and Ronald Cicurel: The Singularity Isn’t Near and the Brain Can’t Be Simulated May 31, 2015

The idea that man is a machine is an old one. And since the brain is a physical part of that machine it is often presumed that it can necessarily be simulated on a digital computer. But very little scientific scrutiny has been given on that presumption. The Relativistic Brain is a new book by Miguel […]

Emily Drabant Conley: We are at the infancy of a genomic revolution May 18, 2015

It has been almost 5 years since I originally published my 23andMe DNA Test review where I concluded that it was right for me. I also asked you to seriously consider if it may or may not be right for you too. And so, if you still have not considered the risks, the benefits and the […]

Seth Godin: Science Fiction is Really Important But Not Because It’s Right May 08, 2015

There are 3 individuals who have had the most impact on what I’ve been doing for the past 5 years: Ray Kurzweil – who helped me to see deeper into the exponential growth and disruptive nature of technology; Seth Godin – who inspired me to pick myself and begin my journey into blogging and podcasting […]

Futurist David Wood on Transhumanism: Radical Change Lies Ahead Apr 26, 2015

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 interview. Not surprisingly, I […]

Rick Tumlinson on Space: We are here to go there. Now go do something about it! Apr 19, 2015

“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 […]

Calum Chace on Pandora’s Brain: AI is Coming and It Could Be the Best or the Worst Thing Mar 27, 2015

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 and a great blogger with an interesting and diverse experience in his own right, I thought that he would make a great guest for my podcast. And so […]

William Hertling: Expose Yourself to a Diversity of Inputs! Mar 16, 2015

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 […]

FBI Futurist Marc Goodman on Future Crimes Mar 05, 2015

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 than I can list here. Marc has worked for Interpol and is the Futurist for the FBI. If that is not enough Goodman […]

Dr. Michael Fossel: Compassion is the reason to reverse aging! Nov 06, 2014

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 see […]

Cryonicist David Ettinger: Take Steps and Be Prepared! Oct 13, 2014

During my recent visit to the Cryonics Institute I had the chance to do a video tour of CI and learn more about its 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 […]

Greg Bear, Ramez Naam and William Hertling on the Singularity Oct 02, 2014

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 […]

SciFi Master Greg Bear: The Singularity is the Secular Apotheosis Sep 26, 2014

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 into 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 […]

Danko Nikolic: Practopoiesis Tells Us Machine Learning Isn’t Enough! Sep 12, 2014

If there’s ever been a case when I just wanted to jump on a plane and go interview someone in person, not because they are famous but because they have created a totally unique and arguably seminal theory, it has to be Danko Nikolic. I believe Danko’s theory of Practopoiesis is that good and he […]

Sci-Fi Author Hannu Rajaniemi on his Quantum Thief Trilogy Aug 31, 2014

Hannu Rajaniemi is a Ph. D. in string theory and fellow SU alumni best known for his popular science fiction trilogy The Quantum Thief [Jean Le Flambeur]. His work has risen to prominence both because of its merits and the legend surrounding his signing up with a major book publisher. Rajaniemi has been suggested numerous […]

Jerome C. Glenn: Science is an epistemology in the house of philosophy Aug 19, 2014

Jerome C. Glenn is co-founder and Director of The Millennium Project and I had great fun talking to him during our first interview. But it has been over two years since our previous conversation and so, when Jason Ganz reminded me that the latest State of the Future report has been out for several months now, […]

Jonathan Mugan on The Curiosity Cycle Aug 12, 2014

Jonathan Mugan is not only a computer scientist specializing in machine learning and AI but also a father of three and the author of The Curiosity Cycle: Preparing Your Child for the Ongoing Technological Explosion. Since this is one of the few good books on the topic that I am aware of, I thought I’d […]

Arthur Traviss Corry: Give Bitcoin a Try! Jul 31, 2014

I have often felt that being located in Toronto, Canada puts me at a bit of a disadvantage with respect to having a futuristic high-tech blog and podcast. Living in Silicon Valley or New York [or a number of cities in Asia and Europe] appears to make it easier to stay at the cutting edge of […]

Immortalist Bill Andrews: Aging is not going to cure itself! Jul 01, 2014

Some will say that Bill Andrews is totally crazy – at 61 he runs an average of 10 miles per day and at least one 100-mile marathon per month. He also wants to “Cure Ageing or Die Trying”. No wonder Bill is one of the 2 main protagonists of a new documentary about life extension aptly […]

Jeremy Rifkin on Zero Marginal Cost and the Decline of Capitalism Jun 29, 2014

Jeremy Rifkin is a social activist, economist, futurist and best-selling author of twenty books on the impact of scientific and technological changes on the economy, the workforce, society, and the environment. His books have been translated into more than thirty-five languages and are being used in hundreds of universities, corporations, and government agencies around the world. In […]

David Alvarado and Jason Sussberg on Making “The Immortalists” Jun 24, 2014

In my opinion, The Immortalists is the frankest, most open-minded, and uniquely personal documentary about life extension in general and Aubrey de Grey and Bill Andrews, in particular. I was privileged to attend its international premiere during the Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto, Canada, and instantly knew that I have to interview David Alvarado […]

Physicist Michio Kaku: Science is the Engine of Prosperity! Jun 06, 2014

Dr. Michio Kaku is a theoretical physicist, bestselling author, acclaimed public speaker, renowned futurist, and popularizer of science. As co-founder of String Field Theory, Dr. Kaku carries on Einstein’s quest to unite the four fundamental forces of nature into a single grand unified theory of everything. You will not be surprised to hear that Michio […]

Vitalik Buterin: Ethereum is a Decentralized Consensus Platform Jun 05, 2014

Digital crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin are the singularity of money and, after spending some time educating myself, I have turned from a skeptic into a fan. If you are not familiar with the topic then I suggest that you start with my interview with Andreas Antonopoulos. In that conversation, we lay down the basics and discuss why […]

Stuart Armstrong: The future is going to be wonderful [If we don’t get whacked by the existential risks] May 27, 2014

Stuart Armstrong is a James Martin research fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford where he looks at issues such as existential risks in general and Artificial Intelligence in particular. Stuart is also the author of Smarter Than Us: The Rise of Machine Intelligence and, after participating in a fun futurist panel discussion with […]

Steven Kotler: Flow is the doorway to more that most of us seek! May 20, 2014

This is my second interview with Steven Kotler. Last time we discussed Abundance: The Future is Better than You Think – the book Steven co-wrote with Peter Diamandis. This time, we discuss reaching our optimum state of performance, or what many of us call Flow. During our conversation with Steven Kotler we cover issues such as […]

Ed Boyden: Let’s Bring Engineers into Studying the Brain May 06, 2014

I met Prof. Ed Boyden at last year’s Global Future 2045 conference in New York. There I was highly impressed with Boyden’s impressive work in neuroscience in general and optogenetics in particular, as well as the profound implications it would have on our ability to understand and manipulate the brain. And so I knew instantly […]

Peter Voss [Part 2]: There is nothing more important and exciting than building AGI May 04, 2014

Peter Voss is an entrepreneur, inventor, engineer, scientist, and AI researcher. He is a rather interesting and unique individual because of his diverse background and impressive accomplishments and his interest in moral philosophy and artificial general intelligence. Given how quickly our first interview went by, I wanted to bring him back and dig a little […]

Andreas Antonopoulos: Bitcoin is not currency; it’s the internet of money! Apr 23, 2014

Andreas Antonopoulos is arguably the face of bitcoin because he is probably the most prolific interviewee as well as the most publicly recognized expert in the field of crypto-currency. To top it off, Andreas is extremely eloquent, has an impressively broad spectrum of knowledge and is an admitted disruptarian. I have been receiving numerous requests […]

Peter Voss on AI: Having more intelligence will be good for mankind! Apr 04, 2014

Peter Voss is an entrepreneur, inventor, engineer, scientist, and AI researcher. He is a rather interesting and unique individual not only because of his diverse background and impressive accomplishments but also because of his interest in moral philosophy and artificial intelligence. I have been planning to interview Voss for a while and, given how quickly […]

Breaking News: ByoLogyc CEO Chet Getram on the BRX Virus Outbreak Apr 01, 2014

Emerging reports suggest that the BRX virus has already infected thousands of people. ByoLogyc – the company whose product is linked to the outbreak, has set up a mobile decontamination and vaccination facility in the heart of Toronto. Even though I usually don’t do any breaking news field-reporting, in this particularly shocking case I couldn’t help […]

Ted Chu on Transhumanism: The time has come to set a higher goal! Mar 19, 2014

Ted Chu is a professor of economics and former chief economist for General Motors. Most recently, Dr. Chu is the author of Human Purpose and Transhuman Potential: A Cosmic Vision of Our Future Evolution. In my opinion, Ted’s book is absolutely profound in the way it draws upon a dazzling variety of philosophical and scientific […]

William Hertling: The Singularity is closer than it appears! Mar 07, 2014

William Hertling is a rather recent science fiction discovery of mine and the author of award-winning novels Avogadro Corp: The Singularity Is Closer Than It Appears, A.I. Apocalypse, and The Last Firewall. William has written several plausible scenarios for the technological singularity that were so engaging and compelling that, as soon as I finished his […]

Peering into Our Future’s Black Hole: AI, Transhumanism and the End of Humanity Mar 04, 2014

These are the videos of my presentation at the 2014 Podcamp Toronto. This year I decided that it is best not to speak about podcasting but rather focus on issues familiar to readers of Singularity Weblog – artificial intelligence, transhumanism, and the technological singularity. The session was intended to provide a brief introduction of the […]

Grady Booch: Enjoy the beauty of what you’re doing but also take responsibility! Feb 28, 2014

Grady Booch is an IBM fellow, best-selling author, software engineer, geek, philosopher, storyteller, entrepreneur, and former US air-force serviceman, who used to work on the secret space shuttle military program. If his bio is not enough to make you watch the interview on its own, let me just add that this was one of the […]

Hiroshi Ishiguro: Technology is a way to understand what is human! Feb 26, 2014

I first met Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro at last year’s GF2045 conference in New York. Dr. Ishiguro is known around the world for his android, geminoid, and telenoid robots and I have been trying to get him on my podcast ever since we met. At last, last week we were able to find an empty slot […]

Alexander Hayes on AR: It’s a shift in humanity, not in technology! Feb 21, 2014

Alexander Hayes is an Australian researcher and Ph.D. candidate investigating the social implications of augmented reality (AR) technologies such as Google Glass. I met Hayes during last year’s ISTAS13 conference in Toronto and the consequent UAV Drones: Pros vs Cons symposium, where he was one of the key organizers. During the course of these events […]

Bre Pettis on 3D Printing: Take your passion and apply a MakerBot to it! Feb 19, 2014

Bre Pettis is the charismatic founder and CEO of MakerBot – one of the most disruptive companies ushering in a revolution in personal manufacturing. If you ever heard of or want to know more about the latest in 3D printing, you have to know about Bre and MakerBot. And so I knew that I simply […]

Gabor Forgacs: We live in a time when it is really difficult to say “This is impossible!” Feb 07, 2014

The first time I saw Dr. Gabor Forgacs was at last year’s fantastic Idea City conference in Toronto and, after his passionate presentation on bio-printed suffering-free leather, I knew that I will have to find a way to get him on my podcast. Dr. Forgacs is a theoretical physicist turned tissue-engineer turned entrepreneur. His companies […]

Steve Omohundro: It’s Time To Envision Who We Are And Where We Want To Go Jan 30, 2014

Steve Omohundro is a scientist, professor, author, and entrepreneur who has a Ph.D. in physics but has spent decades studying intelligent systems and artificial intelligence. His research into the basic “AI Drives” was featured in James Barrat’s recent book Our Final Invention and has been generating international interest. And so I was very happy to […]

Science Fiction Author Ramez Naam: The Future Isn’t Set In Stone! Jan 20, 2014

This is the first out of a series of 3 sci-fi round-table interviews with Ramez Naam, William Hertling, and Greg Bear that I did last November in Seattle. It was produced by Richard and Tatyana Sundvall and generously hosted by Greg and Astrid Bear. [Special thanks to our cinematographer Ian Sun for both recording and […]

Venture Capitalist Brad Feld: Be Optimistic! Jan 16, 2014

Brad Feld is an entrepreneur and a popular blogger. He is also the author of The Startup Series of books such as Startup Life. But Brad is best known for being a unique type of technology Venture Capitalist who has invested in more than 200 different companies throughout his career. And so I was very […]

Without You There Will Be No Singularity Weblog! Nov 28, 2013

Today I just want to take a minute and say “Thank You!” Thank you, because without you there will be no Singularity Weblog. Thank you, because without you there will be no Singularity 1on1. Thank you, because without you I can call myself neither a blogger nor a podcaster. Thank you, because, without your support, […]

Bruce Duncan on Terasem’s Lifenaut Project: Be The Author of Your Own Story Nov 20, 2013

Last October I traveled to Vermont to visit the Terasem Movement Foundation and speak to its managing director Bruce Duncan. I first met Bruce at the Idea City conference in Toronto where he shared the stage together with Bina 48. Needless to say, I was impressed by both of them and thus I couldn’t refuse […]

Qatsi Director Godfrey Reggio: We Are in the Cyborg State! Nov 11, 2013

Godfrey Reggio is an inventor of a film style that creates poetic images of extraordinary emotional impact for audiences worldwide. Reggio is prominent in the film world for his Qatsi trilogy – Koyaanisqatsi: Live Out of Ballance, Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation, and Naqoyqatsi: Life as War, essays of visual images and sound that chronicle the destructive impact […]

Frank J. Tipler: The Laws of Physics Say The Singularity is Inevitable! Oct 29, 2013

Dr. Frank J. Tipler is a physicist and cosmologist perhaps best known for concepts such as the Omega Point or The Cosmological Singularity. He is a professor of mathematical physics at Tulane University and the author of books such as The Anthropic Cosmological Principle, The Physics of Immortality, and The Physics of Christianity. During our […]

Bulletproof Exec Dave Asprey on BioHacking and Upgraded Coffee Oct 22, 2013

Dave Asprey is founder of The Bulletproof Executive as well as a Silicon Valley investor and technology entrepreneur who spent 15 years and over $300,000 to hack his own biology. He lost 100 pounds without counting calories or excessive exercise, upgraded his brain by more than 20 IQ points, and lowered his biological age while […]

Transhumanist Philosopher David Pearce: Give Up Eating Meat! Oct 15, 2013

David Pearce is a British utilitarian philosopher who promotes what he calls The Hedonistic Imperative. David is also a co-founder of the World Transhumanist Association and a vegan who argues that we (or our future posthuman descendants) have a responsibility not only to avoid cruelty to animals within human society but also to alleviate the […]

Noam Chomsky on AI: The Singularity is Science Fiction! Oct 05, 2013

Dr. Noam Chomsky is a famed linguist, political activist, prolific author and recognized public speaker, who has spent the last 60 years living a double life – one as a political activist and another as a linguist. His activism allegedly made him the US government’s public enemy number one. As a linguist he is often […]

James Barrat on the Singularity, AI and Our Final Invention Oct 01, 2013

For 20 years James Barrat has created documentary films for National Geographic, the BBC, Discovery Channel, History Channel, and public television. In 2000, during the course of his career as a filmmaker, James interviewed Ray Kurzweil and Arthur C. Clarke. The latter interview transformed entirely Barrat’s views on artificial intelligence and made him write a book […]

Dr. Stuart Hameroff: Consciousness is More than Computation! Sep 12, 2013

Dr. Stuart Hameroff is a Professor of Anesthesiology and Psychology and Director of the Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona. Together with British quantum physicist Sir Roger Penrose, Hameroff is the co-author of the controversial Orch OR model of consciousness. I first met Dr. Hameroff at the recent GF2045 conference where the […]

Transhumanist Natasha Vita-More on Whole Body Prosthetic Sep 04, 2013

It has been almost two months since I’ve had the pleasure of visiting Dr. Natasha Vita-More at her family house in Scottsdale, Arizona. Vita-More has been at the forefront for several decades and her projects such as Primo Post Human have lead the NY Times to call her “the first female philosopher of transhumanism.” Thus I was very […]

Robert Scoble: Stop Resisting the Future! Aug 28, 2013

Robert Scoble is a Liaison officer for Rack Space, social media phenomenon, a technology pundit with a huge following, a journalist who has done thousands of interviews, and a man who “always tries to have the front row seat on technology.” Needless to say, I was very happy to have Scoble on Singularity 1 on […]

Stelarc on Transhumanism: We Are in a Time of Circulating Flesh! Aug 25, 2013

Stelarc is a world-renowned body-installation visual artist who has pushed the boundaries with his performances for more than four decades. His art has extruded the body beyond its physical limitations and created strong reactions around the world. Though strictly speaking he doesn’t consider himself to be a transhumanist, he also doesn’t mind being labeled a […]

Geordie Rose: Machine Learning is Progressing Faster Than You Think Aug 20, 2013

Dr. Geordie Rose is a founder and Chief Technology Officer at D-Wave Computers. I met Geordie at the IdeaCity conference in Toronto where he made an impassioned presentation about D-Wave and quantum computing. Needless to say, as soon as Dr. Rose stopped speaking I rushed to ask him for an interview. As it turns out Geordie is […]

Roman Yampolskiy: Every Technology Has Both Negative and Positive Effects! Aug 15, 2013

Roman V. Yampolskiy is an Assistant Professor at the School of Engineering and Director at the Cybersecurity Lab of the University of Louisville. He is also an alumnus of Singularity University (GSP2012) and a visiting fellow of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI). Dr. Yampolskiy is a well known researcher with a more holistic point of view, […]

Joseph Carvalko on the Techno-Human Shell: Have Confidence To Reach Beyond! Aug 12, 2013

Joseph Carvalko is a lawyer with many decades of experience who bravely sued the Secretary of Defense and the President of the United States for deserting a POW in Korea. Carvalko is also an engineer and inventor with 10 patents in fields spanning bio-medicine, electronics and the financial services. Joseph is the author of an […]

My Video Tour of Alcor and Interview with CEO Max More Aug 08, 2013

Last month I had the privilege of visiting Max More at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation. Alcor is a non-profit organization founded in 1972 and located in Scottsdale, Arizona. It is the world leader in cryonics, cryonics research, and cryonics technology. [Cryonics is the science of using ultra-cold temperature to preserve human life with the […]

Peter Joseph: We Are All Subjected To The Same Natural Law System Jul 31, 2013

Peter Joseph is a musician, filmmaker, and social activist best known as the man behind the Zeitgeist film trilogy and the founder of the Zeitgeist movement. Peter’s films have become a counter-culture phenomenon on the internet and have had millions of views. He has not shied away from controversy and has dared to push a […]

Privacy Commissioner Dr. Ann Cavoukian: We have to protect privacy globally or we protect it nowhere! Jul 26, 2013

This Wednesday I was very privileged to interview Dr. Ann Cavoukian. Dr. Cavoukian is the information and privacy commissioner of the province of Ontario (Canada) as well as the creator and foremost global champion of the privacy by design philosophy. She has been one of the most vocal proponents of privacy and the fact that […]

Nigel Ackland: Ordinary…Extraordinary – Life with a Bionic Arm Jul 15, 2013

Nigel Ackland claims he is an ordinary man. But, after seeing the emotional impact he had on the audience at GF2045, I have to disagree with him. His speech titled Ordinary… Extraordinary. Life with a Bionic Arm was in my view by far the most moving of all the conference presentations. And so, I knew […]

Socrates Gets Interviewed on the Futurology Podcast Jul 12, 2013

A few weeks ago I got interviewed on the Futurology Podcast. During my one hour conversation with show host Jason Peffley we discuss a number of topics such as: how I got to do blogging and podcasting; my time and take on Singularity University in particular and education in general; the wait-and-see vs the proactive […]

Marvin Minsky on AI: The Turing Test is a Joke! Jul 12, 2013

Marvin Minsky is often called the Father of Artificial Intelligence and I have been looking for an opportunity to interview him for years. I was hoping that I will finally get my chance at the GF2045 conference in NY City. Unfortunately, Prof. Minsky had bronchitis and consequently had to speak via video. A week later, […]

Thad Starner on Google Glass: Reduce the Time Between Intention and Action Jul 09, 2013

Thad Starner is a wearable computing pioneer who coined the term “augmented reality” and a Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is also a technical lead on Google Glass – a self-contained wearable computer. And so I was very excited to interview Prof. Starner for my Singularity 1 on 1 podcast. During our conversation with Thad […]

Daryl Oster: Evacuated Tube Transport Will Bring Space Travel on Earth Jun 24, 2013

Daryl Oster is an inventor and engineer who wants to bring space travel to Earth. The idea is called ET3 – Evacuated Tube Transport Technologies. Oster is the CEO of ET3 and his company “uses an open consortium business model to share information resulting in co-operative benefits.” The goal is nothing less but building a radically new […]

Chris Lewicki on Space: Stop Reading About It And Start Doing It! Jun 13, 2013

Chris Lewicki is the president and Chief Asteroid Miner at Planetary Resources – the first company that plans to locate and mine asteroids for water and precious metals. The company is backed by a number of billionaires and space enthusiasts such as director James Cameron, Google’s Larry Page, and Eric Schmidt, X Prize founder Peter Diamandis and billionaire Ross […]

Chris Hables Gray on AI and the Singularity: We Need Strong Citizenship! May 18, 2013

Prof. Chris Hables Gray is someone whose work on both war and the cyborg is a must-read for anyone interested in those topics. I have followed Gray’s work for over 10 years and have read at least 3 of his books. So when I discovered that Chris will be one of the speakers for the […]

Ori Inbar: Augmented Reality Will Change Every Aspect of Life and Work May 17, 2013

Ori Inbar developed a passion for augmented reality (AR) ever since he realized that it will change every aspect of life and work we can think of. This realization has motivated him to become an industry start-up entrepreneur, a founder of a not-for-profit organization, an event organizer and a recognized speaker on topics related to […]

Jacque Fresco: Apply the Methods of Science to the Social System! May 10, 2013

Jacque Fresco is a futurist, inventor, social engineer, visionary, and technician, best known for the Venus Project. In his Future By Design documentary about Fresco’s life and ideas, Emmy-winning filmmaker William Gazecki called the 97-year-old Jacque “a modern-day Da Vinci.” Others have called him “a new Buckminster Fuller.” Now, I have to admit that I really like […]

Zero State Founder Amon Kalkin: Reject Apathy! May 06, 2013

Amon Kalkin is a cognitive scientist, electronic artist, and founder of Zero State. He is 40 years old, born in New Zealand, and living in the UK, where he spends his time raising a young family and gardening when he isn’t working to create a sphere of influence for positive futurist values. During my interview with […]

Zoltan Istvan: The Transhumanist Wager Is A Choice We’ll All Have To Make Apr 28, 2013

While I personally loved the first half of The Transhumanist Wager and disliked much of the second, I am convinced that the novel is a must read for anyone interested in the future of our civilization. In my view, the novel is full of interesting and controversial contradictions. For example, on the one hand, Zoltan Istvan […]

Natasha Vita-More on The Transhumanist Reader: The Story Behind The Book Apr 19, 2013

Transhumanism is both misunderstood and feared. Ignorant people with an ideological agenda have gone as far as labeling it “the most dangerous idea.” Thus a comprehensive book – a Transhumanist Reader, documenting both the origins and the current state of transhumanist thought has been long needed. So, when I discovered that a new book aimed […]

Will Crockett on Hybrid Photography: DSLR’s are the Past! Apr 17, 2013

Will Crockett is a photo innovator and web TV personality. He has more than 30 years as a commercial photographer with clients like Pfizer, Boeing, Hewlett Packard, Cadbury, United Airlines, TIME magazine, and the US Pentagon. Crocket is also the man behind DiscoverMirrorless.com and ShootSmarter.com as well as a prototype test shooter for many camera […]

Matthew Putman: Don’t Be Intimidated To Jump Into The Future Apr 12, 2013

Matthew Putman is the most eclectic guest I have had on Singularity 1 on 1. Matthew is a PhD in applied mathematics and engineering, Professor at Columbia University, a Thiel fellowship mentor, entrepreneur, poet, jazz pianist, inventor holding patents in nano-imaging, film and theater producer, and a cancer survivor. After spending over an hour talking […]

James D. Miller on Singularity Rising: Prepare for a Smarter World Mar 10, 2013

James D. Miller is a professor of economics and, most recently, the author of Singularity Rising: Surviving and Thriving in a Smarter, Richer, and More Dangerous World. James is the second economist on Singularity 1 on 1 and he respects and agrees with much of Robin Hanson‘s conclusions. In my view, however, Miller’s book Singularity […]

Socrates at Newtonbrook Secondary School: Be Unreasonable! Feb 28, 2013

Yesterday I went to speak to a class of grade 12 students from the Newtonbrook Secondary School in Toronto. I have been looking forward to this opportunity to challenge and be challenged by the next generation of bright young minds, and was not going to be prevented from going there, be it by a Canadian […]

15 Steps Towards Your Podcasting Success: Socrates At Podcamp Toronto 2013 Feb 26, 2013

Yesterday I spoke at this year’s edition of the annual Podcamp Toronto at Ryerson University. Since people often ask me for tips on podcasting, I decided to record my presentation so that it is always available to anyone interested in knowing how I started or what in my view are the most important elements for […]

Ayesha Khanna on Hybrid Reality: Take Education Into Your Own Hands! Feb 23, 2013

Ayesha Khanna is the co-founder of the Hybrid Reality Institute and co-author of Hybrid Reality book for Kindle. During my Singularity 1 on 1 interview with Ayesha Khanna we discuss a variety of topics such as women and technology; whether men are from Mars and women from Venus; her book Hybrid Reality and what she calls […]

Robin Hanson (part 2): Social Science or Extremist Politics in Disguise?! Feb 20, 2013

My second interview with economist Robin Hanson was by far the most vigorous debate ever on Singularity 1 on 1. I have to say that I have rarely disagreed more with any of my podcast guests before. So, why do I get so fired up about Robin’s ideas you may ask?! Well, here is just […]

Christine Peterson on Nanotechnology: Push the Future in a Positive Direction Feb 13, 2013

Christine Peterson is not only the co-founder and past president of the Foresight Institute for Nanotechnology but also the person credited with coining the term open-source software. More recently her interests have evolved to include longevity and life extension technologies and she is currently the CEO of Health Activator. During my Singularity 1 on 1 interview with Christine […]

George Church on Synthetic Biology: Inactivity and Complacency Are The Most Dangerous Ideas Feb 09, 2013

Dr. “George Church is one of the most brilliant scientists in the world,” says Steven Pinker on the front cover of Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves. Regenesis is the recent book that Church wrote together with Ed Regis, where the authors “imagine a future in which human beings have become immune […]

Doug Wolens on the Singularity: It’s Ultimately Up To You Feb 06, 2013

Today my guest is Doug Wolens. Doug is the lawyer-turned-documentarian whose most recent film is The Singularity. I have to say that neither Doug nor his film is what I expected. To paraphrase and add to one of the other iTunes film reviewers – what I was expecting was “Wohooo! Singularity!” But what I got instead […]

Robin Hanson: Details Matter… And For That You Need Social Science Feb 02, 2013

Robin Hanson is not just a well known economist with seminal work in prediction markets. He is also a physicist, philosopher and AI researcher. Besides being a polyglot he is also an extremely likable fellow and both of those make him very hard to argue against. Add up the fact that it’s been over a decade […]

Socrates on the Wow Signal Podcast: Be Unreasonable! Jan 31, 2013

I know how hard it is start a podcast. So when budding podcasters ask me for an interview, I am always looking for reasons to say “Yes.” This is a re-post of my month-old interview for the Wow Signal Podcast recently started by Paul Carr. Since this is only the 3rd episode ever, the recording is still a bit […]

Quirks and Quarks Host Bob McDonald: Follow Your Dreams! Jan 26, 2013

Bob McDonald is the national science correspondent and popular host of CBC’s radio show Quirks and Quarks. If you are Canadian it is virtually impossible that you have not seen or heard him on TV or radio for the past 30+ years. If you are not, then, you will be treated to some of his […]

Chris Eliasmith: We Have Not Yet Learned What The Brain Has To Teach Us! Jan 21, 2013

Prof. Chris Eliasmith is currently the director of the Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience at the University of Waterloo and the team leader behind SPAUN – the brain simulation project that recently made news around the world. So, when I discovered that Eliasmith’s lab is just over an hour worth of driving from my place, I decided […]

Ken Hayworth: Brain Preservation is the Logical Lifeboat Jan 16, 2013

Ken Hayworth is the president of the Brain Preservation Foundation and a strong proponent of chemical brain preservation. During my Singularity 1 on 1 interview with Ken, we talk about a variety of topics such as his background in electron-microscopy and how he got interested in it; the motivation behind his work; his skepticism towards […]

Miracle Whiz Kid Jack Andraka: The Internet Is Not A Distraction Jan 12, 2013

Jack Andraka is the miracle whiz kid that came up with a totally unique pancreatic cancer detection test that takes 5 minutes to administer, costs 3 cents, is non-invasive, has been 100% accurate in blind trials, is 168 times faster, and 26,000 times cheaper than the current gold standard. During my Singularity 1 on 1 […]

Ramez Naam on Nexus: We Are The Ones Who Create The Future Jan 05, 2013

This is the second time that I interview Ramez Naam for my Singularity 1 on 1 podcast. Last time we talked about Naam’s interesting background, professional experience, and award-winning book More Than Human. During our second conversation with Ramez, we talk mainly about his novel Nexus: Mankind Gets an Upgrade. We also cover a variety of […]

Lincoln Cannon: Are Science and Religion Mutually Exclusive or Complimentary? Dec 28, 2012

Lincoln Cannon is not only a software engineer with degrees in philosophy and business but also the president of the Mormon Transhumanist Association. In my first interview with him, we talked about the compatibility between Mormonism and Transhumanism. In this special edition of Singularity 1 on 1, we debate whether science and religion are mutually exclusive – as I believe, or […]

Gary Marcus on AI: How do we bridge the mind with the brain? Dec 22, 2012

Gary Marcus is not only a professor in psychology but also a computer scientist, programmer, AI researcher, and best-selling author. He recently wrote a critical article titled Ray Kurzweil’s Dubious New Theory of Mind that was published by The New Yorker. After reading his blog post I thought that it will be interesting to invite Gary […]

Mormon Transhumanist Lincoln Cannon: Reach Out To Religious Transhumanists Dec 17, 2012

Lincoln Cannon is one of those people who break the mold. He is not only a software engineer with degrees in philosophy and business but also the president of the Mormon Transhumanist Association. So if like me, you thought that Mormon Transhumanism is an oxymoron, you should put your presumptions away and give Lincoln the chance […]

FastForward Radio by The Speculist Puts Socrates In The Spot Dec 06, 2012

Last Night I did a one hour interview for FastForward Radio by the Speculist. During our conversation with hosts Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon I covered a few topics such as the personal story behind the start of SingularitySymposium.com, SingularityWeblog.com and Singularity1on1.com. I also talked about technology in general and the singularity in particular and […]

David Brin: What’s Important Isn’t Me. And It Isn’t You. It’s Us! Nov 29, 2012

David Brin is not only a Ph.D. in astrophysics but also an award-winning, best-selling science fiction author, perhaps best known for his uplift series of novels and, most recently, Existence. Originally, I was supposed to interview Brin in the summer. Unfortunately, I got a concussion the day before and thus had to delay it. David […]

Jamais Cascio on the Singularity: You Matter! Your Choices Make A Difference. Nov 28, 2012

Jamais Cascio is one of the world’s top 100 thinkers according to Foreign Policy. He writes and speaks on a variety of topics from technology and global warming, to war, nuclear proliferation, ethics, and sustainable development. Thus my goal was to discuss most of those topics for, in one way or another, they are relevant […]

Tracy R. Atkins on Aeternum Ray: Don’t Wait For The Singularity Nov 20, 2012

Tracy R. Atkins is not only a contributor to Singularity Weblog but also the author of a brand new singularity book titled Aeternum Ray. Aeternum Ray is rather unique because it is openly and whole-heartedly utopian in character. It is written in the epistolary literary tradition of classic science fiction works such as Frankenstein and […]

James Hughes on Citizen Cyborg: Interrogate and Engage the World Nov 12, 2012

Dr. James Hughes is not only the executive director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) but also a well-known book author and transhumanist. I enjoyed having him on the show and will probably ask him to come back. During our conversation with Dr. Hughes we cover a wide variety of topics such […]

Marco Santini on The Alpha Centauri Project: There Is A Lot Of Space For Rational Optimism Nov 08, 2012

The first time that I looked at The Alpha Centauri Project by Marco Santini, I was struck by the book’s dedication: To he who explores new horizons, because knowledge doesn’t have limits, to he who tries new ways, because dreams become reality, to he who pursues brotherhood, because peace is not a chimera. Having read such […]

Ray Kurzweil on How To Create A Mind: Be Who You Would Like To Be Oct 13, 2012

Ray Kurzweil‘s impact on my life in general but especially on what I have been doing for the past 3 or 4 years is hard to exaggerate. It is a simple fact that, if I haven’t read his seminal book The Singularity is Near, I would be neither blogging nor podcasting about exponential technologies, not to […]

Cory Doctorow on AI: The Singularity Is A Progressive Apocalypse Sep 11, 2012

Cory Doctorow is one of my all-time most favorite science fiction writers. So it is no surprise I had so much fun interviewing him. I don’t know how he does it, but Cory is one of those rare individuals who can juggle successfully being a father, an avid reader, a blogger, an activist, a journalist, […]

Transhumanism 101 with Natasha Vita-More Sep 05, 2012

Transhumanism is both misunderstood and feared. Ignorant people with an ideological agenda have gone as far as labeling it “the most dangerous idea.” I thought that it is time to bring some basic intellectual clarity on the topic and who is better prepared to help us do that but “the first female philosopher of transhumanism”!? […]

Intel’s Futurist Brian David Johnson: Don’t Let The Future Happen To You! Aug 28, 2012

“When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened.” [John M. Richardson, Jr.] Brian David Johnson – Intel‘s futurist and principal engineer with 25 patents behind his back, is without any doubt one of those who really […]

Giulio Prisco on The Turing Church: The End Is Not The End Aug 25, 2012

Giulio Prisco is an Italian information technology virtual reality consultant, as well as a writer, futurist, and transhumanist. Formerly a senior manager in the European Space Agency, Prisco is a physicist and computer scientist who started his career at CERN. Giulio is an avid advocate of cryonics. He is also a member of the advisory board of […]

Jerome C. Glenn on the Sate of the Future: We Are Winning More Than We Are Losing! Aug 23, 2012

Jerome C. Glenn is co-founder and Director of The Millennium Project. He is well known for inventing the Futures Wheel technique and, among many other things, is also the primary author on their annual state of the future report and editor of futures research methodology. Thus, when Jason Ganz suggested that I invite Jerome on Singularity 1 […]

Jim Harris on Blindsided: Change is Inevitable, Embrace It! Aug 09, 2012

Jim Harris is one of North America’s foremost management consultants, public speakers, authors, and thinkers on change and leadership. He is also another local Canadian thought leader that I discovered during the World Future 2012 conference where Jim made the closing keynote speech. His speech was so entertaining, informative, and illuminating that I instantly decided to invite […]

Ryan Janzen: Jarring is What We Need Aug 06, 2012

Ryan Janzen applies principles of electrical engineering and physics to diverse fields, from biomedical science to fluid dynamics and aerospace, to music and acoustics. With eighteen international peer-reviewed publications, he does research and teaching as a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Toronto, with Steve Mann. Janzen is a composer not only for orchestra but […]

Cyborg Luddite Steve Mann: Technology That Masters Nature is Not Sustainable Aug 03, 2012

Steve Mann is sometimes called the first cyborg. Other times he is called the cyborg Luddite because of the stress he puts on choosing which technologies to embrace and which ones to abandon in order to be in harmony with nature. Whatever the case may be, I was super happy to get him on Singularity 1 […]

Transhumanist Anders Sandberg: Embrace Strangeness Jul 22, 2012

Dr. Anders Sandberg is a well-known transhumanist, futurist, computational neuroscientist, and currently a research fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University. I enjoyed talking to him last time he was on Singularity 1 on 1 and was happy to have him back for another one. During our second conversation with Anders we cover […]

George Dyson on Turing’s Cathedral: In Wildness Is The Preservation Of The World Jul 06, 2012

George Dyson was born in 1953 and had a unique opportunity to witness firsthand the conjunction of mathematics and physics that brought the digital revolution to life. He has been observing the relationship between nature and technology ever since. Dyson’s latest book, Turing’s Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe, illuminates the transition from numbers that […]

Hugo de Garis on AI: Are We Building Gods or Terminators? Jun 27, 2012

Hugo de Garis is the past director of the Artificial Brain Lab (ABL) at Xiamen University in China. Best known for his doomsday book The Artilect War, Dr. de Garis has always been on my wish-list of future guests on Singularity 1 on 1. Finally, a few weeks ago I managed to catch him for a 90 […]

Daniel H. Wilson: We Can’t Win Against Technology, We Are Technology! Jun 15, 2012

Daniel H. Wilson earned a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University. He is the author of The New York Times best-selling science fiction novel Robopocalypse and a columnist and contributing editor for Popular Mechanics magazine. He has also written: How To Survive a Robot Uprising, How to Build a Robot Army, A Boy and His Bot and Where’s My Jetpack?. Robopocalypse is not […]

Federico Pistono: Robots Will Steal Your Job, But That’s OK! Jun 11, 2012

Federico Pistono is perhaps the youngest guest I have ever had on Singularity 1 on 1. Despite that Federico is already a scientific educator, social activist, blogger, and aspiring filmmaker. More recently, he is the author of a book called Robots Will Steal Your Job, But That’s OK, and an incoming student to Singularity University. During our […]

Anders Sandberg: We Are All Amazingly Stupid, But We Can Get Better May 27, 2012

Dr. Anders Sandberg is a well-known transhumanist, futurist, computational neuroscientist, and currently a research fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University. I have been thinking of inviting him on Singularity 1 on 1 for some time and when one of my readers actually asked me to do it I could not be happier […]

Karl Schroeder: The Singularity is an Old Idea. Keep Moving Forward! May 11, 2012

Karl Schroeder is one of those fantastic science fiction authors and futurists who, despite his numerous and profound books, have not quite made it into the mainstream yet. In fact, it was just a week ago that Eric Boyd emailed me to suggest that I interview Karl on Singularity 1 on 1 and I was skeptically struggling to […]

John Smart: Accelerating Change Isn’t Slowing Down May 03, 2012

Yesterday I interviewed John Smart on Singularity 1 on 1. Among many other things, John is an advisor in Futures Studies and Forecasting for Singularity University where I met him last summer. He is also one of those rare people who are (literary) Smart since birth and totally justify the name. So it was no surprise […]

Randal Koene on the Ethics of Mind Uploading Apr 26, 2012

This is my second interview with Dr. Randal Koene for Singularity 1 on 1. Dr. Koene is perhaps one of the world’s foremost neuroscientists. He is director of analysis at Halcyon Molecular, co-founder of Carbon Copies, and co-founder of and director at the Neural Engineering Corporation of Massachusetts. Randal’s research objective is whole brain emulation, […]

James Harvey: The Singularity is Just the Tip of the Iceberg Apr 20, 2012

A couple of days ago I interviewed Australian James Harvey. James is pretty unique among my guests because he was the very first interviewee whose willingness to take a chance on a brand new podcast helped me kick off Singularity 1 on 1. This, however, is not the only thing that makes him different for James […]

Bioethics Professor Linda MacDonald Glenn: Sentience Matters! Apr 04, 2012

Today I interviewed Prof. Linda MacDonald Glenn on Singularity 1 on 1. Linda is an American bioethicist, healthcare educator, lecturer, consultant, and attorney-at-law. Her academic research encompasses the legal, ethical, and social impact of emerging technologies and “evolving notions of personhood”. During our conversation with Prof. Glenn, we discuss a variety of topics such as the very personal […]

David Ferrucci on Creating IBM’s Watson: Pursue the Big Challenges Mar 15, 2012

This Monday I interviewed Dr. David Ferrucci on Singularity 1 on 1. David is the IBM team leader behind Watson – the computer that succeeded in dethroning humanity’s greatest ever Jeopardy champion – Ken Jennings. I met both Dr. Ferrucci and Ken Jennings during last year’s Singularity Summit where both of them spoke about Watson […]

Vivek Wadhwa: Take What You Know and Do Good Mar 13, 2012

Last week I interviewed Vivek Wadhwa on Singularity 1 on 1. I met Vivek last summer at Singularity University where he is the VP of academics and innovation. Vivek is one of those multi-talented and very outspoken people who are never afraid to take the risk and say what they think. He is also a […]

Philosopher David Chalmers: We Can Be Rigorous in Thinking about the Future Mar 10, 2012

Yesterday I interviewed David Chalmers for Singularity 1 on 1. David is one of the world’s best-known philosophers of mind and thought leaders on consciousness and I was a freshman at the University of Toronto when I first read some of his work. Since then Chalmers has been one of the few philosophers (together with […]

Dmitry Itskov: It’s Time To Think About Who We Are And What’s Our Place In The Universe Mar 08, 2012

Yesterday I was very fortunate to get a rare English language interview from Dmitry Itskov – the elusive Russian entrepreneur spearheading project Avatar and Global Future 2045. The first time I saw Itskov was at the recent Singularity Summit where he revealed his uniquely ambitious project. I don’t know Dmitry well but he may just […]

Raymond McCauley: Be Your Own Scientist – Try It And See Mar 02, 2012

Last week I interviewed Raymond McCauley for Singularity 1 on 1. I met Raymond last summer at Singularity University where he is the Co-Chair of Biotechnology & Bioinformatics. McCauley is one among many former hackers and computer scientists who went into the exploding biotech industry. He has an infectious passion for bioinformatics and a fantastic radio voice […]

10 Tips for Your Blogging Success: Socrates Gets Riled Up at Podcamp Toronto Feb 29, 2012

Last Sunday I spoke at Podcamp Toronto. Since I never considered myself to be a successful blogger or podcaster, I wanted to simply introduce people to the concept and ideas behind the technological singularity and transhumanism. That was the plan. But few things get me riled up more than ignorance posing as true knowledge. So, […]

George Dvorsky: Specialization is for Insects Feb 24, 2012

This is my second interview with George Dvorsky. The first time I had George on Singularity 1 on 1 we ended up talking for 1h 14 minutes. I am afraid that I enjoy his company so much that this time we talked for almost 1h 40min. During our conversation, we discuss issues such as Dvorsky’s agonizing decision to […]

HackLab.TO President Eric Boyd on DIY Transhumanism Feb 20, 2012

Last week I went to visit Eric Boyd at HackLab.TO. While visiting I took the opportunity to interview Eric for my Singularity 1 on 1 podcast. Eric is the president of HackLab.TO, one of the co-founders of StumbleUpon and a regular public speaker on topics such as cyborg, transhumanism, electronic jewelry, and hacking. In the […]

Steven Kotler on Abundance: Get Off the Couch and Change the World Feb 16, 2012

Yesterday I interviewed Steven Kotler on Singularity 1 on 1. Together with Peter Diamandis, Steven is the co-author of Abundance: The Future is Better than You Think. Abundance is a book that provides both hope and inspiration in an ocean of doom and gloom. Its main message is that the future can and, most likely, […]

Ramez Naam: The World Needs Innovation. Don’t Be a Spectator, Participate! Feb 09, 2012

Yesterday I interviewed Ramez Naam for my singularity podcast. Ramez is the author of an award-winning, timely and easy-to-digest book on the ethical, political, economic, and other implications of transhumanism titled More Than Human. Since I enjoyed reading the book very much I simply had to interview Naam and ask him to talk more about his […]

Daniel Kraft: You Don’t Have To Be a Doctor to Improve Health Care Feb 01, 2012

This morning I interviewed Daniel Kraft for Singularity 1 on 1. I met Dr. Kraft at Singularity University where he is the Medicine and Neuroscience Chair and executive director of the FutureMed Program. Daniel is one of those people with an incredibly diverse spectrum of talents and interests for he is not only a medical doctor and […]

Rachel Haywire: Art is Intellectual and the Intellect is Artistic Jan 28, 2012

A couple of months ago I interviewed Rachel Haywire for Singularity 1 on 1. I had some difficulties in posting this interview but, since those were eventually resolved, better late than never… Rachel Haywire is a multi-media artist and writer currently residing in Los Angeles, California. She is the founder of The Human 2.0 Council which […]

Top 5 Tips for Applying to Singularity University Jan 22, 2012

Those of you who followed SingulatityWeblog.com last summer know that I was very fortunate to attend Singularity University on NASA’s campus in Mountainview, California. The 10 weeks I spent there were one of the most challenging yet inspiring periods of my life. I learned a lot about technology, leadership, entrepreneurship, and myself. I was inspired […]

Michael Shermer: Be Skeptical! (Even of Skeptics) Jan 18, 2012

I couple of days ago I interviewed Michael Shermer for Singularity 1 on 1. I met Dr. Shermer at the recent Singularity Summit in New York where he was one of the most entertaining, engaging, and optimistic speakers. Since he calls himself a skeptic and not a singularitarian, I thought he would bring not only […]

Luke Muehlhauser: Superhuman AI is Coming This Century Jan 16, 2012

Last week I interviewed Luke Muehlhauser for Singularity 1 on 1. Luke Muehlhauser is the Executive Director of the Singularity Institute, the author of many articles on AI safety and the cognitive science of rationality, and the host of the popular podcast “Conversations from the Pale Blue Dot.” His work is collected at lukeprog.com. I have to say that […]

Jose Cordeiro: The Energularity is Near Jan 09, 2012

This weekend I interviewed Jose Cordeiro for Singularity 1 on 1 and I have to admit that this was one of my favorite interviews so far with perhaps the strongest, most positive endings on the show. Jose is a published book author, energy expert, futurist, transhumanist, and Singularity University faculty member. So, even if Venezuela’s terribly slow internet […]

Randal Koene: Mind Uploading is not Science Fiction Dec 20, 2011

Last week I interviewed Dr. Randal Koene for Singularity 1 on 1. Dr. Koene is perhaps one of the world’s foremost neuroscientists. He is director of analysis at Halcyon Molecular, co-founder of Carbon Copies, and co-founder of and director at the Neural Engineering Corporation of Massachusetts. Randal’s research objective is whole brain emulation, creating the […]

Science Comedian Brian Malow: Don’t grow up, look deeper and see the world with fresh eyes! Dec 10, 2011

Yesterday I interviewed science comedian Brian Malow for Singularity 1 on 1. Brian is one of those unique comedians who is capable of not only making you laugh but also making you think. During our conversation, we discuss topics such as the name science comedian and the potential tension between science and comedy; serious comedy, […]

No Illusions Podcast: Cameron Reilly Puts Socrates in the Spotlight Dec 09, 2011

It is only fair that every once-in-a-while Socrates – i.e. “the man with the questions,” ought to get the table turned on him, take the other side of the microphone and answer a few questions himself. So, when Cameron Reilly asked me to be the next guest on his popular and long-running No Illusions Podcast I was honored and […]

David Simpson on Post-Human, Trans-Human and The God Killers Nov 28, 2011

A couple of days ago I interviewed David Simpson for Singularity 1 on 1. David Simpson is a young up-and-coming science fiction writer from Vancouver. He is the author of the sci-fi novels Post-Human – his 2009 debut, as well as Trans-Human – the sequel. During our conversation, we discuss issues such as David’s early interest in writing; the motivation and […]

David Orban: What is the question I should be asking? Nov 22, 2011

This Thursday I interviewed David Orban for Singularity 1 on 1. I have to admit that David is one of my favorite singularitarians and I enjoyed talking to him immensely. During our conversation, we discuss issues such as David’s personal background and early interest in science and technology; the motivation and goals behind his work; his involvement […]

Greg Wientjes: How do you cultivate creative GENIUS in Technology? Nov 19, 2011

This week I interviewed Greg Wientjes for Singularity 1 on 1. I met Greg at Singularity University and picked up a copy of his book Creative Genius in Technology: Mentor Principles from Life Stories of Geniuses and Visionaries of the Singularity. The book is very well researched and examines the question: “How do you mentor, educate and […]

Robert J. Sawyer: The Human Adventure is Just Beginning Nov 09, 2011

Last Sunday I interviewed Robert J. Sawyer for Singularity 1 on 1. I have to admit that, despite the fact that he is a very well-known and successful best-selling science fiction writer, I only recently stumbled onto Robert’s work. I was taking a ride on the Toronto subway and couldn’t help but notice the posters for […]

Sonia Arrison: Make Regenerative Medicine A Top Priority Oct 20, 2011

Last week I interviewed Sonia Arrison for Singularity 1 on 1. I met Sonia at the Singularity University, where she is a founder and a trustee, and there I picked up a copy of her seminal book 100 Plus: How the Coming Age of Longevity Will Change Everything, from Careers and Relationships to Family and Faith. The […]

Spencer Greenberg: To Become Better Thinkers – Study Our Cognitive Biases and Logical Fallacies Sep 24, 2011

Yesterday I interviewed Spencer Greenberg for Singularity 1 on 1. Spencer is the Chief Executive Officer of Rebellion Research, the quantitative hedge fund that he co-founded in 2005 at the age of 22. During our conversation with Spencer, we discuss issues such as the unique approach that Rebellion Research takes in investing; artificial intelligence and machine learning; […]

Astronaut Dan Barry: Don’t Let Anyone Tell You That You Can’t Reach Your Dreams Sep 20, 2011

During my 10 weeks at Singularity University, I was able to ambush Dan Barry for a 20 min interview for Singularity 1 on 1. Former NASA astronaut and veteran of 3 space missions, Dan is currently the head of faculty at Singularity University and the co-chair for AI, Robotics, Space, and Physical Sciences. (As always you […]

Salim Ismail: We Are Already Gods, We Might As Well Start Acting As Such Sep 11, 2011

During my time at Singularity University, I was privileged to get a 30 min interview with Salim Ismail for Singularity 1 on 1. During our conversation we discuss issues such as Salim’s personal background and early childhood in India; his motivation, goals, and aspirations for Singularity University; the term “exponential organization”; his take on the technological […]

Peter Diamandis: Singularity University is Starfleet Academy for the World’s Biggest Challenges Jul 04, 2011

Last week I was privileged to get a 30 min interview with Peter Diamandis for Singularity 1 on 1. Peter is not a very tall man but I have to say that he has the energy of a giant because interviewing him is like plugging into a nuclear power plant – afterward, I felt as […]

Charlie Stross: The World is Complicated. Elegant Narratives Explaining Everything Are Wrong! Jun 01, 2011

Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is award-winning science fiction author Charlie Stross. It was his seminal singularity book Accelerando that not only won the 2006 Locus Award (in addition to being a finalist for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award and on the final ballot for the Hugo Award) but was also […]

Jaron Lanier: The Singularity Is A Religion for Geeks May 12, 2011

Today my guest is Jaron Lanier. Jaron lives in Berkeley, California, and, like John Horgan, is one of the better-known critics of both Ray Kurzweil and the technological singularity. Unlike many other critics, however, Lanier is neither a technophobe nor a Luddite. In fact, he is known as the father of virtual reality technology. In […]

R.U. Sirius: Question the Authority of Your Brain May 07, 2011

Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is digital culture and cyberpunk icon R.U. Sirius. (As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full.) During our conversation, we discuss issues such as R.U.’s early life and Yippie years; his multiple identities […]

Vernor Vinge: We Can Surpass the Wildest Dreams of Optimism Apr 16, 2011

Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is Vernor Vinge — the very person who coined the technological singularity as a term. Currently Vernor Vinge is putting the final touches on the sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep. The new book is titled The Children of the Sky and is already available for […]

Transhumanist Philosopher Max More: Question Everything Mar 20, 2011

Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is transhumanist strategic philosopher Max More. (As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full.) As the CEO of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation Dr. More has a full schedule. Nevertheless, he generously managed […]

Kevin Warwick: Be/Come the Cy/Borg Feb 21, 2011

This is my second interview with Prof. Kevin Warwick. Last time I had him on – You Have to Take Risks to be Part of the Future, he shared his views on a wide variety of topics such as human and artificial intelligence, robotics, the technological singularity, God, the beginning of the universe and so on. […]

Dr. Aubrey de Grey: Better Funding and Advocacy Can Defeat Aging Feb 18, 2011

Last time I had Dr. Aubrey de Grey on Singularity 1 on 1 the interview turned out to be a hit. In fact, it is still by far the most popular podcast that I have done and the audio file has been listened to or downloaded over 30,000 times. Given Aubrey’s popular appeal and the […]

James Martin: We Can Control Accelerating Technology Feb 11, 2011

Yesterday I was privileged to have an hour-long Skype interview with James Martin for my Singularity 1 on 1 podcast. James Martin is Andrew Crofts‘ archetype Change Agent in addition to being a world-renowned computer scientist, author, lecturer, teacher, philanthropist, futurist, and film-maker. During our conversation, we cover a whole spectrum of interesting topics such […]

Andrew Crofts on The Change Agent, the Ghostwriter, and the Singularity Feb 02, 2011

A couple of months ago I saw Roman Polanski’s film The Ghost Writer based on the titular bestselling book by Robert Harris. At the time, I could hardly imagine that only a couple of months after the movie premiere I will be communicating with Andrew Crofts – the archetype ghostwriter on whom Ewan McGregor’s character […]

Stephen Wolfram: To Understand the Future, Explore the Computational Universe Jan 27, 2011

Yesterday I was privileged to have an hour long phone interview with Dr. Stephen Wolfram for my Singularity 1 on 1 podcast. We started our conversation on how Stephen got interested in exploring science in general and eventually focused on computation in particular. Then we moved on to a number of other interesting topics such […]

Andrew Hessel: Don’t Fear Synthetic Biology Jan 22, 2011

Today I am very happy to have Andrew Hessel as my guest on Singularity 1 on 1. (As always, you can listen to or download the audio interview above, or scroll down and watch the video recording in full.) During the interview, Andrew shares his truly infectious passion for synthetic biology and the unique opportunities […]

Natasha Vita-More on Singularity 1on1 Nov 30, 2010

Want to find out who, according to the NY Times, is “the first female philosopher of transhumanism”? Today’s episode of Singularity 1 on 1 features Natasha Vita-More. (As always, you can listen to or download the audio interview above, or scroll down and watch the video recording in full.) During our conversation with Natasha, she […]

I Am Eyeborg: Rob Spence on Singularity 1 on 1 Nov 21, 2010

Today I am very happy to have the Eyeborg Rob Spence as my guest on Singularity 1 on 1. (As usual, you can listen to or download the audio above, or scroll down to see the video recording of the interview in full.) Rob Spence is a Canadian director and producer who lives in Toronto. […]

Kevin Kelly: Technology Doesn’t Want A Singularity Nov 03, 2010

Today’s edition of Singularity 1 on 1 features prominent author, maverick technologist, and regular TED speaker Kevin Kelly. Kevin just published a new book called What Technology Wants. Seth Godin blogged about it and called it The Book Of The Year because in Seth’s opinion “if there’s justice it will win the Pulitzer Prize.” Steven […]

Ben Goertzel on AI and the Singularity: The Future Is Ours To Create Oct 26, 2010

Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is Ben Goertzel. During our 40 min conversation, we cover a wide range of topics such as Ben’s original interest in time travel and science fiction; his decision to start working on artificial general intelligence, and his views on the potential time-line thereof together with his evaluation […]

Terry Grossman on TRANSCEND: Live Long Enough To Live Forever Oct 21, 2010

In today’s edition of singularity podcast, I am very privileged to have Terry Grossman as my guest on the show. (You can listen to or download the audio recording above or scroll down to watch the interview video in full.) Terry generously agreed to do this interview from his office in Colorado and for about […]

Douglas Rushkoff: Program or be Programmed Oct 13, 2010

Today I have Douglas Rushkoff as my guest at Singularity Podcast and we discuss a variety of topics such as his most recent book Program or Be Programmed, the impact of modern media and social networking, technology in general, and the technological singularity in particular. Who is Douglas Rushkoff? Douglas Rushkoff is an author, teacher, […]

John Horgan On The End Of Science Oct 09, 2010

It was an interesting and enriching contrast to have John Horgan as my guest at Singularity Podcast. Following Jason Silva‘s super impassioned and optimistic defense of the singularity, accompanied by Jason’s belief that humanity will eventually conquer death and accomplish immortality, it was intellectually stimulating to discuss the opposite point of view. John is perhaps […]

Jason Silva: Let Your Ideas Be Noble, Poetic and Beautiful Oct 04, 2010

In today’s edition of Singularity Podcast, I’ve had the privilege of doing an interview with Jason Silva. I enjoyed talking to Jason immensely and have to admit that I was fascinated by his impassioned, enthusiastic and poetic take on the singularity and our reach for immortality. If there is one thing, however, that I will […]

Aubrey de Grey: Longevity Escape Velocity May Be Closer Than We Think Sep 27, 2010

Last week I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Aubrey de Grey. He is a world famous and controversial author and theoretician in the field of gerontology and is currently serving as a chief science officer at the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS) foundation. During his interview for singularity podcast, Dr. de Grey shared […]

Kevin Warwick: You Have To Take Risks To Be Part Of The Future Sep 26, 2010

In today’s podcast episode I had the privilege of doing an hour-long interview with the first cyborg — Prof. Kevin Warwick. I enjoyed talking to Prof. Warwick immensely and got him to share his views on a wide variety of topics such as human and artificial intelligence, robotics, the technological singularity, God, the beginning of […]

George Dvorsky on Transhumanism and the Singularity Aug 26, 2010

In this edition of Singularity Podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with prominent Canadian transhumanist and animal rights advocate George Dvorsky. George is both a passionate and fascinating interlocutor and, even though I spend over 1h 15 min interviewing him, I feel that I could have easily spent double that time while still remaining […]

Barry Ptolemy on his Ray Kurzweil Documentary “Transcendent Man” Aug 17, 2010

In this edition of Singularity Podcast, I was privileged to do a phone interview with Barry Ptolemy, the director, and producer of Transcendent Man. Barry was very generous to make time in his busy schedule and share his thoughts on the making of the movie, the technological singularity in general, and Ray Kurzweil in particular. […]

Michael Anissimov on Singularity Without Compromise Jun 30, 2010

This is the second singularity podcast. Given my experience with James Harvey I already knew that interviewing people is an acquired skill that I really need to work on. This interview is another indicator that I have a long way to go before I get to be good at it. Luckily my guest Michael Anissimov […]

James Harvey: We are Singularia Jun 27, 2010

This is my first singularity podcast. I intend to do many more interviews like that so that we can spark the discussion about the singularity with the help of some of the best and brightest people that I can get to do a podcast for the benefit of us all. My guest today is Australian […]

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