The Future And You
Ideas and opinion about the future based on verifiable facts of today.
 
The Future And You -- February 23, 2011

Dr. James J. Hughes (author, professor and transhumanist) is today's featured guest.

Topics: challenges facing transhumanism today; the many flavours of transhumanism; fighting for the rights of the non-human person; and his expriences interviewing guests for his show Changesurfer Radio

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the February 23, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 42 minutes] This interview was recorded as a Skype-to-Skype call on February 18, 2011.

Dr. James J. Hughes is the Executive Director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. He is also a bioethicist and sociologist at Trinity College in Hartford Connecticut where he teaches health policy and serves as Director of Institutional Research and Planning. 

He holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of Chicago, where he also taught bioethics at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics. Dr. Hughes is author of Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future , and is working on a second book tentatively titled Cyborg Buddha. Since 1999 he has produced a syndicated weekly radio program, Changesurfer Radio

He is a Fellow of the World Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of Humanity+, the Neuroethics Society, the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities and the Working Group on Ethics and Technology at Yale University. Dr. Hughes speaks on medical ethics, health care policy and future studies worldwide.

News Items: The audio book edition of Bones Burnt Black is now complete. The tenth and final segment is now online for everyone to listen to and enjoy for free. It can be found in the same place you find the episodes of this show.

Direct download: TFAY_2011_2_23.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:26am EDT

This is Part Ten of ten weekly instalments which contain the complete text of the science fiction thriller Bones Burnt Black.

Plot: A methodical serial killer sabotages a large commercial spacecraft's engines to keep it on a trajectory to burn up in the sun, and then remains aboard the craft to murder and torment its passengers and crew.

This audio-book (read by the author, and released in ten parts over a ten week period) contains the complete text of the original paperback version (which was published and copyrighted 2004).

These audio files are released under the Creative Commons--noncommercial, no derivative works--2.5 license, which may be viewed at CreativeCommons.org. Briefly, this means you may--indeed you are encouraged to--copy these audio files as many times as you wish, and give them away to as many people as you wish. But you may not copy only a portion of any one audio file, you may not charge anyone any amount of money for them, and you may not use any portion of them to make something new.

If you enjoy this book please share it with a friend.

Thank you.

Stephen Euin Cobb

Direct download: BBB_EPISODE_10_TEMPORARILY_REMOVED.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

The Future And You -- February 16, 2011

Paul Levinson (author, media commentator and professor) is today's featured guest.

Topics: eyeglass computers will replace smart phones; group decision-making as opposed to individual; the one benefit of writer's groups; debating on TV the banning of violent videogames; being told to Shut-Up! while on-air by Bill O'Reily; playing God as a fiction writer; how the viral nature of the internet not only defeats the traditional gate-keepers but it can let every artist--no matter how small or isolated or obscure--find the audience that will love their work.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the February 16, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 50 minutes] This interview was recorded as a Skype-to-Skype call on February 5, 2011.

Paul Levinson is professor of communications and media studies at Fordham University in New York City. He has a Bachelors in Journalism, a Masters in Media Studies and a Doctorate in Media Ecology. 

He is the author of five novels of science fiction and/or fantasy; as well as nine non-fiction books. He served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America from 1998 to 2001. As a commentator on media, popular culture, and science fiction he has been interviewed over 500 times on television and radio. And his op-eds have appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, New York's Newsday, and the New York Sun.

Prior to his academic career, Paul Levinson was a songwriter, singer and record producer in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with recordings by The Vogues, Donna Marie of The Archies and Ellie Greenwich. As a radio producer he worked with Murray the K and Wolfman Jack.

Direct download: TFAY_2011_2_16.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

This is Part Nine of ten weekly instalments which will contain the complete text of the science fiction thriller Bones Burnt Black.

Plot: A methodical serial killer sabotages a large commercial spacecraft's engines to keep it on a trajectory to burn up in the sun, and then remains aboard the craft to murder and torment its passengers and crew.

This audio-book (read by the author, and being released in ten parts over a ten week period) will contain the complete text of the original paperback version (which was published and copyrighted 2004).

These audio files are released under the Creative Commons--noncommercial, no derivative works--2.5 license, which may be viewed at CreativeCommons.org. Briefly, this means you may--indeed you are encouraged to--copy these audio files as many times as you wish, and give them away to as many people as you wish. But you may not copy only a portion of any one audio file, you may not charge anyone any amount of money for them, and you may not use any portion of them to make something new.

If you enjoy this book please share it with a friend.

Thank you.

Stephen Euin Cobb

Direct download: BBB_EPISODES_TEMPORARILY_REMOVED.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

The Future And You -- February 9, 2011

Paul Levinson (author, media commentator and professor) is today's featured guest.

Topics: how protests (such as the one going on at the moment in Egypt) will be forever changed because of the media technology available to the public; why he calls the Internet the medium-of-media; Freedom of speech and Kieth Olbermann; the impact of cell phones, whether it is better for an author's career to be published online or on paper or through the Amazon Kindle.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the February 9, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 43 minutes] This interview was recorded as a Skype-to-Skype call on February 5, 2011.

Paul Levinson is professor of communications and media studies at Fordham University in New York City. He has a Bachelors in Journalism, a Masters in Media Studies and a Doctorate in Media Ecology. 

He is the author of five novels of science fiction and/or fantasy; as well as nine non-fiction books. He served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America from 1998 to 2001. As a commentator on media, popular culture, and science fiction he has been interviewed over 500 times on television and radio. And his op-eds have appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, New York's Newsday, and the New York Sun.

Prior to his academic career, Paul Levinson was a songwriter, singer and record producer in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with recordings by the Vogues, Donna Marie of The Archies and Ellie Greenwich. As a radio producer he worked with Murray the K and Wolfman Jack.

Direct download: TFAY_2011_2_9.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:05am EDT

The Future And You -- February 2, 2011

Marshall Brain (founder of HowStuffWorks.com) is today's featured guest.

Topics: Netflix verses Blockbuster; his essay Robotic Nation; how jobs are created and destroyed by technological innovation; a new bio-fuel; human population may plateau at about 9 billion; his project DecidingToBeBetter.com

Marshall Brain is best known as the founder of HowStuffWorks.com, which grew into one of the top Web sites in the country. He sold it to Discovery Communications in 2007 for $250 million. He hosted the TV show Factory Floor which appeared on the National Geographic channel. And he has written a number of books, articles and essays, which -- just like the famous website he created -- explain in a no-nonsense way how stuff works. A perfect example is his article "How to make a million dollars."  Which can be read for free on his website: MarshallBrain.com. 

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the February 2, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 36 minutes] This interview was recorded as a Skype-to-Skype call on Jan. 22, 2011.

News Items: 

[1] A new material could reduce charge-time for Lithium-ion batteries by a factor of 40. Handy for laptops, but it could be revolutionary for electric cars. 

[2] A new interactive store window will allow passersby to shop even after store hours. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany have developed a system using a series of cameras to take detailed pictures of potential customers as they approach the store window. A software program then transforms the shoppers’ hand and eye movements and facial expressions into commands. For instance, if a woman points to a designer handbag in the window, an image of it will appear on a display behind the shop window. When she points to a button, the handbag rotates on the screen to give the shopper the full view.

[3] A cloaking technology that bends sound waves around an object could render submarines and other underwater objects undetectable to sonar. The technique, developed by researchers at the University of Illinois, employs a highly engineered metamaterial to bend the waves around an object. Stealth submarines are an obvious potential military application for acoustic cloaking, but researchers also see possible medical applications, since many medical scans rely on sound waves. This new metamaterial could theoretically be used in a bandage that would curb disruption or interference from other body parts that sometimes interfere with ultrasound scanning, thus making these scans more accurate.

[4] Your host's birthday is tomorrow (February 3, 2011).

Direct download: TFAY_2011_2_2.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:00am EDT