The Future And You
Ideas and opinion about the future based on verifiable facts of today.
 
The Future And You -- November 30, 2011

Toni WeisskopfJulie CochraneMichael Z. Williamson, and Jason Cordova are our featured guests. 

Topic: The growing cultural divide between the military and civilians, as viewed by military personnel and military families. (Part 2)

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the November 30, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 37 minutes]. This is the second half of a panel recorded on July 16, 2011 in Chattanooga TN, at the SF&F conventionLibertyCon.

Toni Weisskopf is the publisher of Baen Books: one of the largest publishers of SF&F in America, and probably the number one publisher of Military SF.

Julie Cochrane has degrees and training in chemistry, psychology and computer science. Her hobbies include pistol marksmanship, history, criminology and folk music. She is coauthor of three military SF novels with the New York Times best-selling author John Ringo.

Jason Cordova served in the Navy, and is the author of the novel Corruptor.

Michael Z. Williamson is retired from the United States military after 25 years and is both a science fiction and military fiction author. He is also associate editor at SurvivalBlog where he does reviews of disaster preparedness products. He has consulted on military matters, weapons and disaster preparedness for Discovery Channel and Outdoor Channel productions. He tests and reviews firearms and gear for manufacturers. He is the author of at least ten military SF novels, one of which is a collaboration with the New York Times best-selling author John Ringo.

Direct download: TFAY_2011_11_30.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:39am EDT

The Future And You -- November 23, 2011

Toni Weisskopf, Julie Cochrane, Michael Z. Williamson, and Jason Cordova are our featured guests. 

Topic: The growing cultural divide between the military and civilians, as viewed by military personnel and military families.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the November 23, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 34 minutes]. This panel was recorded on July 16, 2011 in Chattanooga TN, at the SF&F convention LibertyCon.

Toni Weisskopf is the publisher of Baen Books: one of the largest publishers of SF&F in America, and probably the number one publisher of Military SF.

Julie Cochrane has degrees and training in chemistry, psychology and computer science. Her hobbies include pistol marksmanship, history, criminology and folk music. She is coauthor of three military SF novels with the New York Times best-selling author John Ringo.

Jason Cordova served in the Navy, and is the author of the novel Corruptor.

Michael Z. Williamson is retired from the United States military after 25 years and is both a science fiction and military fiction author. He is also associate editor at SurvivalBlog where he does reviews of disaster preparedness products. He has consulted on military matters, weapons and disaster preparedness for Discovery Channel and Outdoor Channel productions. He tests and reviews firearms and gear for manufacturers. He is the author of at least ten military SF novels, one of which is a collaboration with the New York Times best-selling author John Ringo.

Direct download: TFAY_2011_11_23.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:43pm EDT

This week's episode will be two or three days late (due to tech problems). Sorry for the inconvenience.

This week's episode will be two or three days late (due to tech problems). Sorry for the inconvenience.

Category:general -- posted at: 5:58am EDT

The Future And You -- November 16, 2011

Stephen Euin Cobb (your host) gives his opinion on a variety of future topics.

Topics: how popular science fiction movies effect decision making within our civilization; immortality through nanotechnology; movies such as: Blade Runner, Terminator, Minority Report, and Gattica; virtual realities (such as Second Life and World of Warcraft); why human augmentation may be inevitable; the widespread resistance to human augmentation which exists already; the creation of human organs using 3D printers which print with living cells; the de Vinchi surgical machine; the novel Rollback (by Robert J. Sawyer); Life Extension and Age Reversing; measurable loss of function in the various organs of the body; the likely availability of life extension technologies, and the effect they may have on the future of civilization.

This is the November 16, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 42 minutes]. This interview of Stephen Euin Cobb was recorded using Skype on October 15, 2011, and was conducted by Richard Buxton (a screenwriter and film student in London) as part of Richard's research for his thesis, which concerns the cumulative effect science fiction movies have on civilization.

Richard Buxton studied Fine Art at Central St Martins in London, and completed an MA in Production Design for Film & TV at Kingston University. Currently he is working toward a Film Making Degree at SAE Institute London with an emphasis in screenwriting. Part of that work will be his thesis which concerns the effect which science fiction films have had on society. He writes for Tracksounds (a website dedicated to film scores) and has appeared on SoundCast (a podcast of interviews and commentary about film scores).

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. He is also a artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of the Lifeboat Foundation. Three years a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine, he has also become a regular contributor at Robot Magazine, H+ Magazine, Space and Time Magazine: and has written for Digit, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines. His novels include: Bones Burnt Black, Plague at Redhook and Skinbrain

News Item: CBS News reports that Ridding body of old "zombie" cells slows aging process, study shows. Mayo Clinic scientists may have hit upon a way to slow the aging process. The key, they report in a tantalizing new study, is purging the body of senescent cells - old "zombie" cells that no longer work as they should.

Direct download: TFAY_2011_11_16.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:22am EDT

The Future And You -- November 9, 2011

Richard Buxton (a screenwriter and film student in London) is our featured guest.

Topic: Trends in movies and the movie making industry.

Richard Buxton studied Fine Art at Central St Martins in London, and completed an MA in Production Design for Film & TV at Kingston University. Currently he is working toward a Film Making Degree at SAE Institute London with an emphasis in screenwriting. Part of that work will be his thesis which concerns the effect which science fiction films have had on society. He writes for Tracksounds (a website dedicated to film scores) and has appeared on Soundcast (a podcast of interviews and commentary about film scores).

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the November 9, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 28 minutes]. This is the second half of an interview recorded using Skype on October 15, 2011.  

News Items: [1] DARPA plans to put 1,000 3-D printers (rapid fabrication devices) into high schools across the United States as a way to encourage American young people to go into engineering and particularly manufacturing, and to help high schoolers build STEM skills. [2] A Georgia Tech team has received a $3 million grant to explore how bacteria interact on a molecular level to form networks. The research may one day guide the design of nanodevices able to communicate with one another and accomplish tasks at the nanolevel of one billionth of a meter in size, which could lead to future breakthroughs in nanorobotics. [3] Military personal, academics, and diplomats met in Virginia October 25-28 for Unified Quest, a seminar war game to explore the geostrategic environment of the future. “The purpose of this symposium is about plausible strategic landscapes,” said Col. Kevin Felix, director of the Army’s Future Warfare Division. “The four working groups were given wide latitude to work towards 2028, and it was about bringing in the right folks.”

Direct download: TFAY_2011_11_9.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 8:34pm EDT

The Future And You -- November 2, 2011

Richard Buxton (a screenwriter and film student in London) is our featured guest.

Topic: Trends in movies and the movie making industry.

Richard Buxton studied Fine Art at Central St Martins in London, and completed an MA in Production Design for Film & TV at Kingston University. Currently he is working toward a Film Making Degree at SAE Institute London with an emphasis in screenwriting. Part of that work will be his thesis which concerns the effect which science fiction films have had on society.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the November 2, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 35 minutes]. This is the first half of an interview, which was recorded using Skype on October 15, 2011.

News Item: Rocksmith is a new video game which trumps Guitar Hero by teaching the player how to play real music on a real guitar. This game is one more example of a growing assortment of software which harness the accelerated learning environment of video games to allow players to develop skills which can then be used in the world outside the game. Many futurists believe (and your host is one of them) that in the years and decades to come the variety of skills which will be learned in this way will become vast and uncountable.

Direct download: TFAY_2011_11_2.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:59am EDT