The Future And You
Ideas and opinion about the future based on verifiable facts of today.
 
The Future And You -- December 26, 2012

Jacob Krogsgaard (atmospheric scientist and project manager) is today's featured guest.

Topics: Possible ramifications of self-replicating 3-D printers, such as the RepRap Machine by Dr. Adrian Bowyer. Also: open-source designs, crowd-funding, the stock market micro-crash, the Augmented Reality glasses such as the Google Glass project, and computers wired directly into the human brain. As well as his observation that our current generation of technology seems to be super-empowering volunteer activities of every type such as Librivox and Wikipedia; and his notion that artificial intelligence may be more useful if it does NOT mimic human styles of thinking.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the December 26, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 29 minutes] This interview was recorded using Skype on December 1, 2012.

Jacob Krogsgaard is currently working (along with Tom Canton) to create a documentary film which will promote the idea of using of a mass driver as a space launch system to the general public (as well as to the scientific and political communities) as an alternative to rockets and space elevators. Jacob Krogsgaard is an atmospheric scientist and project manager. Tom Canton is a experienced director of business, training and music videos.

BTW: I interviewed Dr. Adrian Bowyer about his RepRap 3-D Printer Project on September 17, 2008 Episode. That episode--like all past episodes of this show--remains available for your listening pleasure. It can be found here.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_12_26.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 6:05am EDT

The Future And You -- December 19, 2012

Jacob Krogsgaard (atmospheric scientist and project manager) is today's featured guest.

Topics: Driverless cars are legal in California and Nevada, why smartphones are not done changing the world, such as using a smartphone to give an EKG test, why high-frequency computerized stock trading is a problem, how journalism is being radically changed by the Internet, and police officers using tiny drones to take aerial photos of automotive traffic accidents. Also: examples of volunteer driven productivity; such as: the uncountable number of free tutorial videos on uTube, and the thousands of classic books which can be downloaded from Librivox.org and listened to as audiobooks for free. As well as: swallowing a camera in a pill, the Chinese going to the moon, the coming boom in space missions for profit, why cable companies are dinosaurs, and the problem of dieing newspapers.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the December 19, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 31 minutes] This interview was recorded using Skype on December 1, 2012.

Jacob Krogsgaard is currently working (along with Tom Canton) to create a documentary film entitled Mass Driver which will promote the idea of using of a mass driver as a space launch system to the general public (as well as to the scientific and political communities) as an alternative to rockets and space elevators. Jacob Krogsgaard is an atmospheric scientist and project manager. Tom Canton is a experienced director of business, training and music videos.

News Item: This is the seven year anniversary episode of The Future And You. Seven years ago (on December 15, 2005) the very first episode of The Future And You became globally available for public enjoyment. Back then it was in a magazine format in which each episode contained many guests. This made the show very long; usually about an hour and a half. Too long, some listeners said, which is why I changed it to the current shorter format. Sound quality back then was also less than it is today since I was doing phone interviews through a traditional land line telephone instead of through Skype or Google Talk. 

Despite their age, I am pleased to say that my decision to keep all past episodes up and available indefinitely has proven to be a good one. All the past episodes, even the very earliest, continue to be downloaded at a rate that I find pleasing. I'm also pleased at the global nature of the show's popularity. While the USA makes up about 60 percent of the audience, I have listeners in over 140 nations around the world. China tops the foreign countries, followed by all the English speaking nations (in order of population), then the developed countries in Europe and Asia and the Americas, followed finally by what seem to be all the nations that have access to the Internet.

I'd like to thank everyone who has helped to make this show a success: both those who listen and those who have let me interview them. The desire to hear and the desire to share ideas and opinion about the future is what keeps this show going. Thank you all, I appreciate your help.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_12_19.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 6:05am EDT

The Future And You -- December 12, 2012

Jacob Krogsgaard (atmospheric scientist and project manager) is today's featured guest.

Topics: adult stem cells harvested from human urine; 3D printing of organs; a new way of enriching uranium which may make it cheaper and easier, and therefore more common and more dangerous; solar cells which can split water into hydrogen and oxygen; why photovoltaics are wonderful, but why photovoltaics wont be enough to solve the climate change problem; and specifically why climate change may be catastrophic. Also: the two types of privacy; surveillance verses sousveillance; genetic therapies; regenerative medicine; and viruses used as targetable delivery methods for drugs which kill cancer.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the December 12, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 30 minutes] This interview was recorded using Skype on December 1, 2012.

Jacob Krogsgaard is currently working (along with Tom Canton) to create a documentary film entitled Mass Driver which will promote the idea of using of a mass driver as a space launch system to the general public (as well as to the scientific and political communities) as an alternative to rockets and space elevators. Jacob Krogsgaard is an atmospheric scientist and project manager. Tom Canton is a experienced director of business, training and music videos.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_12_12.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:38pm EDT

The Future And You -- December 5, 2012

Jacob Krogsgaard (atmospheric scientist and project manager) is today's featured guest.

Topic: the engineering difficulties which must be overcome in order to build a magnetic mass driver capable of safely launching into earth orbit both cargo and people.

Links for more info on things mentioned in this episode: Mass Driver, L5 Society, plasma window, and Mass Driver Up-Date By Henry Kolm From L5 News, September 1980.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the December 5, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 35 minutes]

Jacob Krogsgaard is currently working (along with Tom Canton) to create a documentary film entitled Mass Driver which will promote the idea of using of a mass driver as a space launch system to the general public (as well as to the scientific and political communities) as an alternative to rockets and space elevators. Jacob Krogsgaard is an atmospheric scientist and project manager. Tom Canton is a experienced director of business, training and music videos.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_12_5.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:12pm EDT

The Future And You -- November 28, 2012

Topic: Is America Still a Leader in Education? (Part 2 of 2)

Dr. Ben Davis (nuclear physicist, programmer, and former professor), Terry W. Erwin II (educator of English and Science at the High School level, who is also a science fiction writer) and Jim Craig (speaker, lecturer, and planetarium director) are our featured guests. Stephen Euin Cobb moderated this panel: asking questions and keeping everyone on topic.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the November 28, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 35 minutes] This is a panel discussion recorded before a live audience in Charlotte North Carolina on June 2, 2012 at the Science Fiction and Fantasy convention ConCarolinas. This is the second half of the panel discussion. The first half is in last next week's episode.

Dr. Ben Davis earned his PhD in Nuclear Physics from the University of Notre Dame. For several years he then taught mathematics, programming, astronomy and physics. He now works in the biometrics industry. His personal interest include: futurism, skepticism, science fiction, and history.

Terry W. Erwin II writes novels, short stories and articles. His novels include: Blood Swordand Flank Hawk.

Jim Craig is the director of the James H. Lynn Planetarium at the Schiele Museum in Gastonia NC. He is a lifelong science fiction fan and has given presentations on the history of science fiction. He is an outspoken activist for science education, critical thinking, skepticism and free thought. In 2006 he was allowed to name a crater on Mars.

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. He is also an 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 is a Contributing Editor at Space and Time Magazine; has become a regular contributor at Robot Magazine and H+ Magazine; and has written for Digit, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines. His novels include: Bones Burnt BlackPlague at Redhook andSkinbrain.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_11_28.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:57am EDT

The Future And You -- November 21, 2012

Dr. Ben Davis (nuclear physicist, programmer, and former professor), Terry W. Erwin II (educator of English and Science at the High School level, who is also a science fiction writer) and Jim Craig (speaker, lecturer, and planetarium director) are our featured guests. Stephen Euin Cobb moderated this panel: asking questions and keeping everyone on topic.

Topic: Is America Still a Leader in Education? (Part 1 of 2)

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the November 21, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 30 minutes] This is a panel discussion recorded before a live audience in Charlotte North Carolina on June 2, 2012 at the Science Fiction and Fantasy convention ConCarolinas. This is the first half of the panel discussion. The second half will be in next week's episode.

Dr. Ben Davis earned his PhD in Nuclear Physics from the University of Notre Dame. For several years he then taught mathematics, programming, astronomy and physics. He now works in the biometrics industry. His personal interest include: futurism, skepticism, science fiction, and history. 

Terry W. Erwin II writes novels, short stories and articles. His novels include: Blood Swordand Flank Hawk.   

Jim Craig is the director of the James H. Lynn Planetarium at the Schiele Museum in Gastonia NC. He is a lifelong science fiction fan and has given presentations on the history of science fiction. He is an outspoken activist for science education, critical thinking, skepticism and free thought. In 2006 he was allowed to name a crater on Mars.

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. He is also an 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 is a Contributing Editor at Space and Time Magazine; has become a regular contributor at Robot Magazine and H+ Magazine; and has written for Digit, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines. His novels include: Bones Burnt Black, Plague at Redhook andSkinbrain.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_11_21.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 5:33am EDT

The Future And You -- November 14, 2012

Ramez Naam (author, futurist and IT professional) is our featured guest.

Topic: Global Climate Change is just one of the many topics he covers in his book The Infinite Resource: The Power of Innovation on a Finite Planet. Looking beyond the arguments and hyperbole, in this interview we discuss what we know scientifically and what we don't know. We explore the problems and inconveniences which global warming will likely produce, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of some possible engineering methods of placing a thermostat on the Earth.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the November 14, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 40 minutes]

Ramez Naam is an IT professional, futurist and author. His background is in computer software and high scale web services. He held leadership roles on early versions of Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Internet Explorer. He was one of the early employees on the Bing search engine and led all of Program Management for Bing for two years and the Relevance and Ranking Team for four years. He is a member of Humanity Plus and the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, and he teaches at Singularity University. He is the author of the nonfiction book More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement which came out in 2005. And has a new book coming out in the spring of 2013 entitled The Infinite Resource: The Power of Innovation on a Finite Planet.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_11_14.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:43pm EDT

The Future And You -- November 7, 2012

Ramez Naam (author, futurist and IT professional) is today's featured guest.

Topics: good trends such as: poverty and hunger are down world-wide, while health and longevity are up; but also mixed trends such as in: education and the jobs of the future, the rising shortage of fresh water, how desalinization works and why it is increasingly important, the good and bad truth about fracking and natural gas, limits on agriculture--just how much food can we produce? the good and bad news about china, as well as other topics he covers in his book The Infinite Resource: The Power of Innovation on a Finite Planet which is due out in the spring of 2013.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the November 7, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 42 minutes] 

Ramez Naam is an IT professional, futurist and author. His background is in computer software and high scale web services. He held leadership roles on early versions of Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Internet Explorer. He was one of the early employees on the Bing search engine and led all of Program Management for Bing for two years and the Relevance and Ranking Team for four years. He is a member of Humanity Plus and the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, and he teaches at Singularity University. He is the author of the nonfiction book More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement which came out in 2005. And has a new book coming out in the spring of 2013 entitled The Infinite Resource: The Power of Innovation on a Finite Planet.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_11_7.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 2:37am EDT

The Future And You -- October 31, 2012

Ramez Naam (author, futurist and IT professional) is today's featured guest.

Topics: Internet Search Algorithms (what they are and how they do what they do); what and why he teaches at Singularity University; why he joined Humanity Plus and the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies; why he believes (as does your host) that all human beings are transhumanists by their fundamental nature; why he dislikes the term "Transhumanist" even though he is one. We also discuss his article in Scientific American which describes how photovoltaic cells (solar cells) are undergoing an exponential price change similar to Moore's Law; why the power grid is not ready for widespread use of photovoltaic cells, and what needs to be done to make it ready; and the difference between smart grids and dumb grids.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the October 31, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 38 minutes] 

Ramez Naam is an IT professional, futurist and author. His background is in computer software and high scale web services. He held leadership roles on early versions of Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Internet Explorer. He was one of the early employees on the Bing search engine and led all of Program Management for Bing for two years and the Relevance and Ranking Team for four years. He is a member of Humanity Plus and the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, and he teaches at Singularity University. He is the author of the nonfiction book More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement which came out in 2005. And has a new book coming out in the spring of 2013 entitled The Infinite Resource: The Power of Innovation on a Finite Planet.

News Item: As of Oct. 28, 2012, every observation from the extrasolar planet survey made by Kepler since its launch in 2009 through June 27, 2012, is available to scientists and the public. What's more, all future data will be no longer exclusive to the Kepler science team, its guest observers, and its asteroseismology consortium members and will be available immediately to the public. This treasure-trove contains more than 16 terabytes of data and is housed at the Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes, or MAST, at the Space Telescope Science Institute. MAST is a huge data archive containing astronomical observations from 16 NASA space astronomy missions, including the Hubble Space Telescope. It is named in honor of Maryland U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski. Over the past three years the Kepler science team has discovered 77 confirmed planets and 2,321 planet candidates.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_10_31.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:51am EDT

The Future And You -- October 24, 2012

Jim Craig, Micki (of the Charlotte Geeks) and Stephen Euin Cobb are today's speakers.

Topic: Inventions which were Inspired by Science Fiction movies, books or TV. 

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the October 24, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 66 minutes] This panel discussion was recorded before a live audience on June 2, 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Science Fiction and Fantasy convention ConCarolinas.

News Items: 

[1] Japan's biggest mobile operator will launch a real-time translation service that lets people chat over the telephone in several different languages. The application for NTT DoCoMo subscribers will give two-way voice and text readouts of conversations between Japanese speakers and those talking in English, Chinese or Korean with a several-second delay, the firm said. Voice-to-text readouts will soon be available in French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai.

[2] Starvation Hormone (fibroblast growth factor-21, FGF21 for short) Markedly Extends Mouse Life Span, Without Need for Calorie Restriction.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_10_24.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:24am EDT

The Future And You -- October 17, 2012

John G. Hartness is today's featured guest.

Topic: An even deeper penetration into the secrets of self-publishing electronically.  As well as some frank advice about writing erotica; how Michael Stackpole made many traditionally-published authors angry; Books on the Knob; what NOT to do when designing ebook covers, and some insider tips on how to publish and promote using Kindle Direct Publishing which is amazon's website for all those who self-publish electronically. 

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the October 17, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 63 minutes] This was recorded on July 21, 2012 in a pizzeria in Chattanooga Tennessee during the science fiction and fantasy convention: LibertyCon

Also, a listener email from Ripley Maddock mentions two articles: Driverless Cars In California Approved By Governor Jerry Brown and Carnegie Mellon Using Cell Phones and Facebook to Identify, Map and Monitor Potholes.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_10_17.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:12am EDT

The Future And You -- October 10, 2012

Sarah Hoyt, Daniel Hoyt, John G. Hartness, Charlotte Babb, Tamera Lowery and Dan Hollifield are today's featured speakers.

Topic: Self-Publishing as a Viable Career Option. How you can participate in the upheaval going on in the publishing industry by publishing your books, your short stories, and even your nonfiction articles for sale to the general public all by yourself. Mostly this means ebooks which have been outselling physical books for over a year, and which provide the author with a much larger royalty for each book sold than the traditional book publishers were ever able to offer--even if your name is Stephen King.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the October 10, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 53 minutes] This panel was recorded on July 21, 2012 before a live audience in Chattanooga Tennessee at the science fiction and fantasy convention: LibertyCon. Special thanks go to Derek Spraker and John Trieber of LibertyCon who recorded this, and many other panels for me.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_10_10.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:08am EDT

The Future And You -- October 3, 2012

Stephen Euin Cobb is today's featured speaker.

Topics: Your host reads from, and comments on, an MIT report entitled The Future of the Electric Grid. Also: cybersecurity; wind energy; why electric cars may become a huge burden on the electric grid; and how the power industry's push-back against solar cells in Hawaii has now spread to California.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the October 3, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 42 minutes] 

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

Direct download: TFAY_2012_10_3.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:08am EDT

The Future And You -- September 26, 2012

Jim Minz, Lee Martindale, Chris Morris, Janet Morris, Dan Hollifield, Holly McClure and Walt Boyes are today's featured guests.

Topic: ePublishing as viewed principally by various publishers and editors who have successfully transitioned into it without abandoning their traditional paper-based publishing business models.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the September 26, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 52  minutes] This panel was recorded on July 21, 2012 before a live audience in Chattanooga Tennessee at the science fiction and fantasy convention: LibertyCon. Special thanks go to Derek Spraker and John Trieber of LibertyCon who recorded this and many other panels for me.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_9_26.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:42pm EDT

The Future And You -- September 19, 2012

Stephen Euin Cobb is today's featured speaker.

A Variety of Topics Which Include: 11 Health Habits That Will Help You Live to 100; An exhaustive Longevity Quiz I took recently; Forks Over Knives (a documentary about how foods affect our health); The first ever smart phone with a Geiger counter built into it; Deaf gerbils hear again after stem cell cure; Woolly Mammoth fragments from Siberia raise cloning hopes; Google News and Google Alerts (what they are and why they can be valuable to you); and online college courses from famous universities which you can take for free

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the September 19, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 49 minutes] 

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

Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science is a nonfiction article by Stephen Euin Cobb available in a Kindle Edition. This 27-page article--written by an experienced futurist who has interviewed over 300 people for their opinion about the future--describes several of the far future scientific and technological innovations which will transform our civilization from what it is now into an exponentially larger, faster, stronger and more dynamic civilization than can be contained on this planet, or in this solar system, or within this universe. These technologies will allow us to expand through those boundaries and find new unimagined boundaries beyond them to break through. (Article: 7,498 Words) Chapter Titles -- We Will Transmute the Elements; We Will Develop Many Completely New Physics; My Father's Watch; Hidden-Life May be More Common on Planets than Non-Hidden: And Earth May be No Exception; The Universal Diagram; Engineering Space: Altering This Universe and Making New Ones.

A Brief History of Predicting the Future is a nonfiction article by Stephen Euin Cobb available in a Kindle Edition. This 21-page article--written by an experienced futurist who has interviewed over 300 people for their opinion about the future--describes how predicting the future has changed many times through the centuries: from magic to science, and from science fiction to computation. This is a quick and lively romp designed to give the reader a taste of what futurology today is all about, and a feel for the long uphill climb it has made from its humble beginnings in the dawn of antiquity. (Article: 5,600 Words) Sections include: The Future is Deep; The Far Future; The Near Future; From Ancient Magic to Scientific Causality; Science Fiction made the Future Fun; But then the Future Got Serious; Yes, the Future does Compute; The Future may get Weird; Just before it becomes Unimaginable; Transhumanists want you to be Better than Healthy; Virtual Living; End of the World; But not all Futures are Deadly, or even Weird.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_9_19.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:37am EDT

The Future And You -- September 12, 2012

Michael Z. Williamson,Philip R. Cox and Janet Morris are today's featured speakers.

Topic: (Second Half of discussion on) Future Weapons, including Post-Projectile weapons and "non-lethal" or "Less-than-lethal" weapons.

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.

Janet Morris is President and CEO of M2 Technologies, Inc., a woman-owned corporation specializing in non-lethal weapons (NLW), novel technology applications, tactics and technology. Her seminal non-lethal concept and novel technology applications work has been used by the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and was excerpted in the Army's Draft Operations Concept for Disabling Measures (920904). She has taught or provided course material to the U.S. Air Force's Air Command and Staff College, National Defense University's (IRMC) School of Information Warfare and Strategy, and Penn State University Applied Research Laboratory's Non-Lethal Institute. She has provided and presented seminars and briefings to the Defense Science Board, the Congressional Research Service, Senate Armed Services Committee Staff, and the Center for Naval Analysis.

Philip R. Cox has been an engineer in the military-industrial complex for the last thirty years. His career has included the development of many fine spacecraft and weapons of mass destruction.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the September 12, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 28 minutes] This panel was recorded on July 21, 2012 before a live audience in Chattanooga Tennessee at the science fiction and fantasy convention: LibertyCon. Special thanks go to Derek Spraker and John Trieber of LibertyCon who recorded this, and many other panels for me; and to the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel for having such a fine sound system.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_9_12.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:52am EDT

The Future And You -- September 5, 2012

Michael Z. Williamson, Philip R. Cox and Janet Morris are today's featured speakers.

Topic: Future Weapons, including Post-Projectile weapons and "non-lethal" or "Less-than-lethal" weapons. (First of two parts.)

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.

Janet Morris is President and CEO of M2 Technologies, Inc., a woman-owned corporation specializing in non-lethal weapons (NLW), novel technology applications, tactics and technology. Her seminal non-lethal concept and novel technology applications work has been used by the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and was excerpted in the Army's Draft Operations Concept for Disabling Measures (920904). She has taught or provided course material to the U.S. Air Force's Air Command and Staff College, National Defense University's (IRMC) School of Information Warfare and Strategy, and Penn State University Applied Research Laboratory's Non-Lethal Institute. She has provided and presented seminars and briefings to the Defense Science Board, the Congressional Research Service, Senate Armed Services Committee Staff, and the Center for Naval Analysis.

Philip R. Cox has been an engineer in the military-industrial complex for the last thirty years. His career has included the development of many fine spacecraft and weapons of mass destruction.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the September 5, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 31 minutes] This panel was recorded on July 21, 2012 before a live audience in Chattanooga Tennessee at the science fiction and fantasy convention: LibertyCon. Special thanks go to Derek Spraker and John Trieber of LibertyCon who recorded this, and many other panels for me; and to the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel for having such a fine sound system.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_9_5.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:06am EDT

The Future And You -- August 29, 2012

Eric FlintJanet MorrisLee MartindaleHolly McClureChris Morris and Daniel M. Hoyt are today's featured speakers.

Topic: Electronic Piracy of music, books, movies, software, etc. (This is the second of two parts.)

Eric Flint is the best selling author of more than 25 novels of science fiction and fantasy, as well as the former editor-in-chief of the online science fiction and fantasy magazine Jim Baen's Universe. Janet Morris is an author, publisher, editor and anthologist. Lee Martindale is a writer, editor and publisher. Chris Morris is an author, publisher and editor; as well as a singer and songwriter. Holly McClure is the president of Sullivan Maxx Literary agency and also is a writer. Daniel M. Hoyt is a science fiction writer and programmer in the field of rocket science.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the August 29, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 38 minutes] This panel was recorded on July 21, 2012 before a live audience in Chattanooga Tennessee at the science fiction and fantasy convention: LibertyCon. Special thanks go to Derek Spraker and John Trieber of LibertyCon who recorded this, and many other panels for me; and to the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel for having such a fine sound system.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_8_29.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:09am EDT

The Future And You -- August 22, 2012

Eric Flint, Janet Morris, Lee Martindale, Holly McClure, Chris Morris and Daniel M. Hoyt are today's featured speakers.

Topic: Electronic Piracy of music, books, movies, software, etc. (This is the first of two parts.)

Eric Flint is the best selling author of more than 25 novels of science fiction and fantasy, as well as the former editor-in-chief of the online science fiction and fantasy magazine Jim Baen's Universe. Janet Morris is an author, publisher, editor and anthologist. Lee Martindale is a writer, editor and publisher. Chris Morris is an author, publisher and editor; as well as a singer and songwriter. Holly McClure is the president of Sullivan Maxx Literary agency and also is a writer. Daniel M. Hoyt is a science fiction writer and programmer in the field of rocket science.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the August 22, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 31 minutes] This panel was recorded on July 21, 2012 before a live audience in Chattanooga Tennessee at the science fiction and fantasy convention: LibertyCon. Special thanks go to Derek Spraker and John Trieber of LibertyCon who recorded this, and many other panels for me; and to the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel for having such a fine sound system.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_8_22.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:00am EDT

The Future And You -- August 15, 2012

Les Johnson, Dr. Gregory L. Matloff, Stephanie Osborn, and Phillip R. Cox are today's featured speakers.

Topic: (1) The ways in which we will all suffer if we lose all of our satellites, and (2) the well-researched dangers which could destroy or disable all of our satellites.

IE: Why it is that without satellites cell phones would not function, credit card transactions could not be processed, the Internet would shut down in many areas and be slow and unreliable in places which remain online, and all GPS navigation would go dead. Also, some of the many ways we might lose our satellites such as: a repeat of the Carrington Event (a devastating solar flair in 1859), the hundred thousand pieces of space junk in earth orbit today, a catastrophic chain reaction in which the existing space junk suddenly multiplies a thousand fold, and of course satellite destruction through terrorism and space war.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the August 15, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 58 minutes] This panel was recorded on July 21, 2012 before a live audience in Chattanooga Tennessee at the science fiction and fantasy convention: LibertyCon. Special thanks go to Derek Spraker and John Trieber of LibertyCon who recorded this, and many other panels for me; and to the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel for having such a fine sound system.

Les Johnson serves as the Deputy Manager for the Advanced Concepts Office at the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Stephanie Osborn is a former NASA payload flight controller, with over twenty years experience in civilian and military space programs. She has worked on numerous Space Shuttle flights and the International Space Station.

Dr. Gregory L. Matloff is assistant professor of physics at New York City College of Technology. He has consulted for the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, is a Fellow of the British interplanetary Society, is a Hayden Associate at the American Museum of Natural History, and is a Corresponding Member of the International Academy of Astronautics.

Phillip R. Cox has been an engineer in the military-industrial complex for the last thirty years. His career has included the development of many fine spacecraft and weapons of mass destruction.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_8_15.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:45am EDT

The Future And You -- August 8, 2012

Eva Sawyer and Stephen Euin Cobb (your host) are today's featured speakers.

Topic: Improving the Functioning of Your Brain (AKA: Cognitive Enhancement).  Discussion points include: recent developments in cognitive enhancement, what is desired and what is desirable, drugs known to increase mental capacity, why there is push-back and resistance, the benefits, the dangers, and trends in medical research which will affect the future of cognitive enhancement.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the August 8, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 57 minutes] This panel was recorded on July 21, 2012 before a live audience in Chattanooga Tennessee at the science fiction and fantasy convention: LibertyCon. Special thanks go to Derek Spraker and John Trieber of LibertyCon who recorded this, and many other panels for me; and to the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel for having such a fine sound system.

Eva Sawyer has a bachelors degree in neurobiology and behaviour, a masters degree in zoology, and is currently working on her doctorate in neuroscience at Vanderbilt University. 

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

Direct download: TFAY_2012_8_8.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:01pm EDT

The Future And You -- August 1, 2012

Today's featured guests are: Dr. Tedd Roberts (a medical researcher with 30 years of experience who also blogs as Speaker-to-Lab-Animals); Cy Chase (a doctoral candidate in evolutionary biology at Vanderbilt); Cathe Smith (an insect molecular geneticist); Gary Shelton (an agronomist with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA); and, as moderator, your host Stephen Euin Cobb.

Topic: Genetic Manipulation--what we can do today that we could not do as little as three years ago, the falling cost of sequencing, what is pushing some areas forward and holding other areas back, where the money is flowing, its success's so far, what some of the big goals are, the benefits, the dangers, and other trends which are transforming this field into what it is yet to become. Because Genetic Manipulation is so technology driven--and because there is still so much to learn--it is one of our most rapidly changing fields of science and engineering.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the August 1, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 59 minutes] This panel was recorded on July 21, 2012 before a live audience in Chattanooga Tennessee at the science fiction and fantasy convention: LibertyCon. Special thanks go to Derek Spraker and John Trieber of LibertyCon who recorded this, and many other panels, for me; and to the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel for having such a fine sound system.

Announcement: Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science is a nonfiction article by Stephen Euin Cobb available in a Kindle Edition. This 27-page article--written by an experienced futurist who has interviewed over 300 people for their opinion about the future--describes several of the far future scientific and technological innovations which will transform our civilization from what it is now into an exponentially larger, faster, stronger and more dynamic civilization than can be contained on this planet, or in this solar system, or within this universe. These technologies will allow us to expand through those boundaries and find new unimagined boundaries beyond them to break through. (Article: 7,498 Words) Chapter Titles -- We Will Transmute the Elements; We Will Develop Many Completely New Physics; My Father's Watch; Hidden-Life May be More Common on Planets than Non-Hidden: And Earth May be No Exception; The Universal Diagram; Engineering Space: Altering This Universe and Making New Ones.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_8_1.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:35am EDT

The Future And You -- July 25, 2012

New York Times bestselling authors Brandon Sanderson, Timothy Zahn, John Ringo, and Eric Flint are joined by Janet Morris, Patrick Vanner, Richard Groller, Michael H. Hanson and Phillip R. Cox; as well as three artists: Melissa Gay, Michael Bielaczyc, ~mel-mel; and several convention organizers: Warren Buff, Brandy Spraker, Derek Spraker, Elayna Little Cook, and LibertyCon's Founder, Uncle Timmy. Mentioned are: The Space Proletariat, and a writers club called The Fictioneers.

Dedicated to the 25th Anniversary of the science fiction and fantasy convention LibertyCon, this over-sized episode contains 17 short interviews gathered from around this year's con. This episode is intended to give you a little of the feel and flavor of the con.

LibertyCon's organizers have a strong science and engineering background, which manifests itself in the number of panels which are dedicated to science and engineering topics. This year alone, they had 17 hours of science panels; which I estimate to be about 20% of their total programming. Over the last nine years this con has given me many brilliant scientists and researchers to interview. People from NASA, DOD, DOE, even DARPA. As well as academicians, inventors and innovators.

LibertyCon has been so helpful to me that, last year when I could not attend because of my brother's wedding, they recorded more than ten hours worth of science for me to use in the show. This may sound like a minor thing; just someone flipping a switch somewhere, but it was not. They had to borrow a sound board and microphones from The Atlanta Radio Theater Company, set them up in the appropriate rooms, verify it was recording each panel properly, and then burn it all onto a DVD and snail-mail it to me. LibertyCon has been very good to me, and to this show.

This was a special LibertyCon in that Uncle Timmy (its founder and leader for the last 25 years) is stepping down after this one.  This was an emotional time for many because Uncle Timmy is such a big lovable man, full of modesty and kindness for everyone.  To me his is a man we can all love and admire. 

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the July 25, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 99 minutes] 

Announcement: For a limited time, one of my novels is on sale. The Kindle edition of Skinbrain (Cerebrodermus Fantastica), my most recent and most futuristic novel, has been reduced to just $2.99.  That's right, under three bucks for what I consider my best novel. Here is a description of some of its main characters:

Cast of Characters:

Leather -- A runaway teenage girl. Tough and bold, she is learning to scrape out a living in the alleys of the largest city on Big Sandy: one of several dozen human inhabited worlds. Sleeping under bridges and in the dusty basement of an abandoned church, she takes the name Leather because it makes her feel tough, and she is determined to survive. She falls for a con-man named Johnny Bopp, and runs off with him straight into an assorted gang of mostly alien criminals.

Peter -- An evil little physicist who lusts after Leather and dreams of securing her to his torture rack, which at the moment holds an alien physicist he'd kidnapped weeks earlier, and from whom he’s been extracting scientific secrets. Peter plots to kill all the other gang members and capture Leather alive and undamaged so that he can damage her slowly and repeatedly for his morbid sexual enjoyment.

Breensdil -- A large and gentle insect-bearing alien. His people are peace-loving and nonviolent, and he is their greatest living physicist. Unfortunately, he is being tortured for secrets of advanced physics by Peter who intends to use these secrets to create more powerful weapons he can then sell to his Neo-Nazi allies on the colony world of Ironfeld.

Pug -- An easy-going frog-like alien of vast power and wealth who secretly owns and manages this galaxy. Each of her people own and manage one galaxy; by their laws anyone not up this task is aborted even if they are an adult. She causally decides which civilizations within her galaxy will live and which must be destroyed. She likes this new human civilization, and has an odd fondness for Johnny Bopp.

Johnny Bopp -- A happy-go-lucky human con-man and jewel thief who enjoys the company of aliens. A xenophile, he is forever seeking new things to see and do and taste and experience.

Eve Adams -- A beautiful and voluptuous android containing, and controlled by, a pair of octopus-like aliens who think as one because they are permanently mated. Driven by their obsession to studying human beings, they attempt to seduce Johnny away from Leather using their sensuous android body.

Aristat Sookirat -- Johnny Bopp's loyal friend. A bright red alien criminal who has more than once killed to protect Johnny. And needs little provocation to do it again.

The situation they find themselves in:

On a planet far from Earth, remains of a long dead alien civilization have been found. But this news has not reached the authorities—nor will it. Fourteen murderers—a mixed bag of human and alien criminals—have seen to that by killing the team of forty scientists who discovered the remains. These professional criminals combine their talents to search through the rubble for a hypothetical alien super-weapon. Leather thinks she's got what it takes to rub shoulders with the worst of them but soon realizes she’s in way over her head. Worse, as conflicts struggle to tear it apart, she learns just how unstable a team of criminals can be. Call it anything you like: treachery, betrayal, or just reducing the number with whom one must share the final spoils. Here, as in all of life, cowards and the dead reap nothing.

Skinbrain (Cerebrodermus Fantastica). It's a fun read. Check it out. 

Direct download: TFAY_2012_7_25.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 8:34pm EDT

The Future And You -- July 18, 2012

Stephen Euin Cobb is today's featured speaker.

Topic: A full explanation of the final results of my "TA-65 Evaluation Project" which I started nearly a year ago.

In this episode I describe in detail the immunology blood test results for my mother and myself which were taken at the end of the evaluation period, and compare them with the immunology blood test results taken at the start the evaluation period. To bring everyone up to speed on my TA-65 evaluation project, I provide a thorough summary of the project itself. And I explain the miscellaneous benefits I and my mother have observed. These benefits include changes in: arthritis pain, frequency and vividness of dreams, as well as fingernail thickness and growth rate.

TA-65 has been shown in clinical trials to successfully lengthen telomeres, which are fundamental to the health of cells. TA-65 is produced only by TASciences, Inc.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the July 18, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 40 minutes]

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

Announcement: For a limited time, one of my novels is on sale. The Kindle edition of Skinbrain (Cerebrodermus Fantastica), my most recent and most futuristic novel, has been reduced to just $2.99. That's right, under three bucks for what I consider my best novel.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_7_18.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 7:18pm EDT

The Future And You -- July 11, 2012

Chris Phoenix (futurist, nanotechnologist and software engineer) is today's featured guest.

Topics: The probability of developing human-like General Artificial Intelligence; Sky City (China's modular skyscrapers which are planned to be the tallest in the world); how and why medical progress in the USA is dragging its feet; the hope and value of Life Extension; things to watch in the next decade; his worry that governance may not get better; and recent research about the people who once inhabited Easter Island.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the July 11, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 27 minutes] This interview was recorded using Skype on June 23, 2012.

Chris Phoenix is a tech geek and software engineer currently working on projects including a CubeSat, health-related electronic devices, and astronomy hardware and software. From Stanford University, he obtained his BS in Symbolic Systems and MS in Computer Science. Previous careers have included dyslexia correction and co-founding the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology. In his spare time, he sings in an internationally competitive barbershop chorus, pursues extreme sports, and theorizes on major world problems.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_7_11.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:36am EDT

The Future And You -- July 4, 2012

Chris Phoenix (futurist, nanotechnologist and software engineer) is today's featured guest.

Topics: Examples of major disasters and how they can be categorized using The Phoenix Scale; the current helium shortage; the singularity and artificial intelligence; general AI; conversational AI; and The AI named Watson which won on Jeopardy.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the July 4, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 32 minutes] This interview was recorded using Skype on June 23, 2012. 

Chris Phoenix is a tech geek and software engineer currently working on projects including a CubeSat, health-related electronic devices, and astronomy hardware and software. From Stanford University, he obtained his BS in Symbolic Systems and MS in Computer Science. Previous careers have included dyslexia correction and co-founding the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology. In his spare time, he sings in an internationally competitive barbershop chorus, pursues extreme sports, and theorizes on major world problems.

News Items: 

[1] MIT engineers have developed a fuel cell that runs on the same sugar that powers human cells: glucose. This glucose fuel cell could be used to drive highly efficient brain implants of the future, which could help paralyzed patients move their arms and legs again.

[2] To make identification possible, whotube.com provides a youtube-like website accessible to the general public which allows merchants to post their store camera video footage of shoplifters, thieves and vandals. It also gives merchants the opportunity to promote their store by attaching an advertisement to each piece of footage uploaded.

[3] Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science is a new nonfiction article by Stephen Euin Cobb available in a Kindle Edition. This 27-page article--written by an experienced futurist who has interviewed over 300 people for their opinion about the future--describes several of the far future scientific and technological innovations which will transform our civilization from what it is now into an exponentially larger, faster, stronger and more dynamic civilization than can be contained on this planet, or in this solar system, or within this universe. These technologies will allow us to expand through those boundaries and find new unimagined boundaries beyond them to break through. (Article: 7,498 Words) Chapter Titles -- We Will Transmute the Elements; We Will Develop Many Completely New Physics; My Father's Watch; Hidden-Life May be More Common on Planets than Non-Hidden: And Earth May be No Exception; The Universal Diagram; Engineering Space: Altering This Universe and Making New Ones.

[4] A Brief History of Predicting the Future is a new nonfiction article by Stephen Euin Cobb available in a Kindle Edition. This 21-page article--written by an experienced futurist who has interviewed over 300 people for their opinion about the future--describes how predicting the future has changed many times through the centuries: from magic to science, and from science fiction to computation. This is a quick and lively romp designed to give the reader a taste of what futurology today is all about, and a feel for the long uphill climb it has made from its humble beginnings in the dawn of antiquity. (Article: 5,600 Words) Sections include: The Future is Deep; The Far Future; The Near Future; From Ancient Magic to Scientific Causality; Science Fiction made the Future Fun; But then the Future Got Serious; Yes, the Future does Compute; The Future may get Weird; Just before it becomes Unimaginable; Transhumanists want you to be Better than Healthy; Virtual Living; End of the World; But not all Futures are Deadly, or even Weird.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_7_4.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:32am EDT

The Future And You -- June 27, 2012

Chris Phoenix (futurist, nanotechnologist and software engineer) is today's featured guest.

Topics: Trends in nanotechnology and molecular manufacturing; methods of getting to the nanoscale; the problem with MEMS (microelectromechanical systems); some of the benefits of "scaling down" to the nanoscale; benefits of molecular manufacturing; and medical benefits from nanotechnology. Also trends in fusion; the rise of space access; and his involvement with a satellite called SkyCube, which will be launched into space on a SpaceX Falcon 9.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 27, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 35 minutes] This interview was recorded using Skype on June 23, 2012.

Chris Phoenix is a tech geek and software engineer currently working on projects including a CubeSat, health-related electronic devices, and astronomy hardware and software. From Stanford University, he obtained his BS in Symbolic Systems and MS in Computer Science. Previous careers have included dyslexia correction and co-founding the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology. In his spare time, he sings in an internationally competitive barbershop chorus, pursues extreme sports, and theorizes on major world problems.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_6_27.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:25am EDT

The Future And You -- June 20, 2012

Dr. Ben Davis (nuclear physicist and professor), Jim Craig (planetarium director), James Maxey (author), and Stephen Euin Cobb (your host) are today's featured guests.

Topic: Trends in higher education in the USA, with an emphasis on what is going right and what is going wrong. 

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 20, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 55 minutes] This is a panel discussion recorded before a live audience on June 2, 2012, at the science fiction and fantasy convention, ConCarolinas. 

Dr. Ben Davis earned his PhD in Nuclear Physics from the University of Notre Dame. For several years he then taught mathematics, programming, astronomy and physics. He now works in the biometrics industry. His personal interest include: futurism, skepticism, science fiction, and history. 

Jim Craig is the director of the James H. Lynn Planetarium at the Schiele Museum in Gastonia NC. He is a lifelong science fiction fan and has given presentations on the history of science fiction. He is an outspoken activist for science education, critical thinking, skepticism and free thought. In 2006 he was allowed to name a crater on Mars.

James Maxey is the author of the superhero novelsNobody Gets the Girl and Burn Baby Burn; as well as the Dragon Age trilogy:Bitterwood, Dragonforge, and Dragonseed. His multi-book epic, Dragon Apocalypse, is an enthusiastic blend of the superhero and fantasy genres. Its titles include Greatshadow (2012), Hush (2012) andWitchbreaker (2013).

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

Direct download: TFAY_2012_6_20.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 5:18pm EDT

The Future And You -- June 13, 2012

James Maxey (author), Edmund R. Schubert (editor and author), and David B. Coe (author) are today's featured guests.

Topic: The upheaval in the traditional book publishing Industry as described by three people who rely on it to pay their bills.

James Maxey is the author of the superhero novels Nobody Gets the Girl and Burn Baby Burn; as well as the Dragon Age trilogy: Bitterwood, Dragonforge, and Dragonseed. His multi-book epic, Dragon Apocalypse, is an enthusiastic blend of the superhero and fantasy genres. Its titles include Greatshadow (2012), Hush (2012) and Witchbreaker (2013).

Edmund R. Schubert is editor-in-chief of Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show (the poplar online magazine of science fiction and fantasy).  A fiction author himself, he has written over 35 short stories and one novel: Dreaming Creek.

David B. Coe is the award-winning, and critically acclaimed, author of twelve novels (some of which have been translated into no less than six languages, including Russian, German, Dutch, and French). David has a doctorate in American history from Stanford University, and he enjoys nature photography, bird and butterfly watching, and playing guitar. His latest novel, Thieftaker, is scheduled for release on July 3, 2012 under the pseudonym D.B. Jackson.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 13, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 37 minutes] These three interviews were recorded on June 2, 2012, at the Hilton Hotel in Charlotte NC during the SF&F convention ConCarolinas.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_6_13.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 2:03am EDT

The Future And You -- June 6, 2012

Jonah Knight (singer, songwriter, performer); Jaysen Buterin (independent film maker); three popular authors: James Maxey, David Drake and Janine Spendlove; half of the Mon Frere Comedy Troupe (specifically Bob Bashir, Tom McCoy and Matt Shawn); and my favorite Klingon, Commander Keela Septaric, are today's featured guests.

Composed of seven interviews I gathered in the hallways of the Hilton Hotel in Charlotte NC, this episode is dedicated to the SF&F convention ConCarolinas. I spoke on a number of science and technology panels again this year, and I will be including some of those fascinating discussions in future episodes, but this episode is intended to give you a little of the feel and flavour of the convention. Naturally my obsession with the trends which are creating our future manifests itself in today's episode. The first two interviews contain the bulk of today's trends. The remaining five are included because they are interesting and fun. 

The first interview is twelve minutes with the singer/songwriter/performer Jonah Knight who talks about how the upheaval in the music industry over the last decade or more has played itself out, and what authors can learn from it since their industry (publishing) is now in a very similar upheaval. The second interview is ten minutes with the independent film maker Jaysen Buterin about the equally technology-driven upheaval going on in the independent film industry. This is followed by three interviews of about three minutes each with popular authors: James Maxey, David Drake, and Janine Spendlove. Then five minutes with half of the Mon Frere Comedy Troupe (specifically Bob Bashir, Tom McCoy, and Matt Shawn). And to close, I am told what my last name means in Klingon by my favorite Klingon -- Keela Septaric who runs the Klingon Karaoke every year at ConCarolinas. (BTW: Klingon Karaoke does not involve singing in Klingon. It's just a snappier sounding name.)

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 6, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 54 minutes]

ConCarolinas is a general multi-genre multi-media convention which is held every year in Charlotte NC. It's called a sci-fi convention, but in truth it covers all speculative fiction -- science fiction, fantasy and horror. It hosts a variety of fandom related events and guests, including gaming, discussion panels, costume events, music events like Klingon Karaoke, charity auction, SCA events, fan groups like the 501st Stormtroopers, Starfleet, and Klingon Assault Group, and something different every year.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_6_6.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:19am EDT

The Future And You -- May 30, 2012

Stephen Euin Cobb is today's featured speaker.

Main Topic: A detailed description of a new form of Internet spam so cleverly disguised that you have probably read lots of it without even noticing. It's called Spintax (a contraction of the words spin and syntax).

Secondary Topics: A sampling of Forecasts for the next 25 years from the World Future Society; Nine Ways to Bias Open-Source Artificial General Intelligence Toward Friendliness (a new peer-review article by Ben Goertzel and Joel Pitt of Novamente); how to use Speakeasy Speedtest (a free website) to make sure you are getting all the Internet speed for which you are paying; the most popular free downloads at C/Net.com; a mention that your host recently switched from DSL (at 6.0 mbps) to cable modem (at 20.0 mbps).

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the May 30, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 34 minutes]

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

Note: A listener named Rainer sent links to three lectures which are videos on YouTube. I watched the first one: a one hour lecture about the paleolithic diet by a medical biochemist. It was excellent: full of well-researched science. All three videos make a case for the paleolithic diet. Here are the second and third videos.

Announcement: For a limited time, one of my novels is on sale. The Kindle edition of Skinbrain (Cerebrodermus Fantastica), my most recent and most futuristic novel, has been reduced to just $2.99. That's right, under three bucks for what I consider my best novel.

Skinbrain description from Amazon.com: On an earth-like planet far from Earth the remains of a long dead alien civilization have been found, but this news has not reached the authorities—nor will it. Fourteen murderers—a mixed bag of human and alien criminals—have seen to that by killing the team of forty scientists who discovered the remains. These professional criminals combine their talents to search through the rubble for a hypothetical alien super-weapon. One under-age street-tough thinks she's got what it takes to rub shoulders and bump heads with the worst of them but soon realizes she’s in way over her head. Worse, as conflicts struggle to tear it apart, she learns just how unstable a team of criminals can be. Call it anything you like: treachery, betrayal, or just reducing the number with whom one must share the final spoils. Here, as in all of life, cowards and the dead reap nothing.

If you like science fiction, especially science fiction which involves strange alien worlds, strange alien species, strange alien cultures, and strange alien criminals. Check it out. If you enjoy reading Skinbrain a hundredth as much as I enjoyed writing it, you are in for wonderful experience.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_5_30.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:05pm EDT

The Future And You -- May 23, 2012

Stephen Euin Cobb is today's featured speaker.

Topics: Erotic novels are getting a sales boost from ebooks such as the Kindle and the Nook; Google's anticipated eyeglass computers; many (and possibly most) human beings are chimeras; the next big boom-time for programmers who write apps; how science fiction's vision of the future changes based on the decade in which it is written; sequencing each patient's personal exome; and the steadily falling price of sequencing a patient's personal genome. I also mention interviewing Ari Kiirikki (then Vice President of Knome Inc. The world's leading provider of personal DNA sequencing) several years ago at the Singularity Summit in New York City.

Mini Speculative Essay: The news article I read into this episode about Human Chimeras specifies that expectant mothers get a dose of stem cells from their fetus, and that these stem cells travel through the mother's body and become a permanent part of her various tissues, including the brain. It just struck me that this may be part of why women have a statistically longer lifespan than men, who of course never get this or any bonus dose of fresh cells during their adulthood. The obvious test of this as a correlation would be to compare the longevity of a population of women who had no pregnancies, verses those who had many pregnancies. It should also be mentioned that births in this case may not be relevant. Pregnancy alone, even if only temporary, may be sufficient to dose a woman with fresh stem cells. It should also be mentioned that, the amount of stem cells received by the mother may be trivial to her longevity, that this amount my vary widely from mother to mother, or even from pregnancy to pregnancy for the same mother. There are many possible interesting variables to explore. Some of them may be meaningful. Maybe. This is just a speculative idea. Right now I have no strong opinion on it either way. An opinion would be impossible without data.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the May 23, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 42 minutes]

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

Direct download: TFAY_2012_5_23.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 2:02am EDT

The Future And You -- May 16, 2012

Stephen Euin Cobb is today's featured speaker.

Topic: A major photovoltaic problem will hit the United States, and many other nations, in about two or three years (in 2014 and 2015). There is no need to speculate as to how this photovoltaic problem will play out since it has already hit the state of Hawaii. We need only observe the existing problem to fully understand the problem that is to come, since the effects it is currently having on consumers and business and government are all available for scrutiny. Stephen Euin Cobb provides a description, assessment and commentary.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the May 16, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 31 minutes]

Additional sources of information: First and Second Maui News artcles read in this episode; PV-Magazine; Wikipedia article about Smart Grids 

BTW: A smart grid would solve some, or most, or possibly even all of the problems I've described in this episode. However, within the next three years, the United States is not going to replace all of its existing power grid network with a shiny new smart grid. Its just not going to happen that fast. We will need it, but we wont have it until after we have suffered.

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

Direct download: TFAY_2012_5_16.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:54am EDT

The Future And You -- May 9, 2012

Les Johnson (author, speaker and NASA deputy manager) is today's featured guest.

Topic: Part 2 of Trends in space exploration. What's going on now, and some of the missions which are planned for the future.

Les Johnson serves as the Deputy Manager for the Advanced Concepts Office at the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. He was the technical consultant for the movie Lost in Space. And In his spare time he writes popular science books and articles--for example. In collaboration with C Bangs (an artist) and Greg Matloff (a professor of astronomy) he wrote:Paradise Regained: The Regreening of Earth (2009); Living Off the Land in Space (2007); and with Greg Matloff and Giovanni Vulpetti he wrote Solar Sails: A Novel Approach to Interplanetary Travel (2008). And with Jack McDevitt, he has a new book coming out this month called: Going Interstellar.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the May 9, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 35 minutes] This is the second half of an interview recorded using Skype on April 27, 2012.

News item: This is the 250th episode of The Future And You.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_5_9.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:36am EDT

The Future And You -- May 2, 2012

Les Johnson (author, speaker and NASA deputy manager) is today's featured guest.

Topic: Trends in space exploration. What's going on now, and some of the missions which are planned for the future.

Les Johnson serves as the Deputy Manager for the Advanced Concepts Office at the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. He was the technical consultant for the movie Lost in Space. And In his spare time he writes popular science books and articles--for example. In collaboration with C Bangs (an artist) and Greg Matloff (a professor of astronomy) he wrote:Paradise Regained: The Regreening of Earth (2009); Living Off the Land in Space (2007); and with Greg Matloff and Giovanni Vulpetti he wrote Solar Sails: A Novel Approach to Interplanetary Travel (2008). And with Jack McDevitt, he has a new book coming out this month called: Going Interstellar.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the May 2, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 39 minutes] This is the first half of an interview recorded using Skype on April 27, 2012.

News item: The BBC news website published an article describing research showing ways in which pacemakers and other medical implants can be attacked by hackers. Some of these attacks have potentially lethal results. And Listener Emails: Concerns with Marshall Brain's new book Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_5_2.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 2:01am EDT

The Future And You -- April 25, 2012

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

Topic: The remarkably GOOD future which we can create for ourselves using the robots which will dominate our economy during the next decade or two. (Last week Marshall explored the bad possibilities, this week he explores the good.)

This is a thorough examination of Marshall Brain's new book: Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future. One of his two visions is remarkably bad, and the other is remarkably good.  Both are completely different from any form of civilization we have seen before. Currently we are on track toward the future that is bad. In today's episode we will discuss the remarkably bad future, Next week we will discuss the remarkably good future.

Marshall Brain is best known as the founder of HowStuffWorks.com, which grew into one of the top Web sites in the country, and sold in 2007 to Discovery Communications 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 April 25, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 33 minutes] This is the second half of an interview recorded using Skype on April 6, 2012.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_4_25.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 2:38am EDT

The Future And You -- April 18, 2012

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

Topic: The remarkably BAD side of what the rise of robots may do to our culture, civilization, economy, and lifestyles during the next decade or two. This is a thorough examination of Marshall Brain's new book: Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future. One of his two visions is remarkably bad, and the other is remarkably good. Both are completely different from any form of civilization we have seen before. Currently we are on track toward the future that is bad. In today's episode we will discuss the remarkably bad future, Next week we will discuss the remarkably good future.

Marshall Brain is best known as the founder of HowStuffWorks.com, which grew into one of the top Web sites in the country, and sold in 2007 to Discovery Communications 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 April 18, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 30 minutes] This is the first half of an interview recorded using Skype on April 6, 2012.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_4_18.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 8:32pm EDT

The Future And You -- April 11, 2012

Paul Fischer (digital network engineer) is our featured guest.

Topics: Fun, Interesting and Cool Stuff (but no future or computer security). For example: Beer (especially high-end micro-brews), BaltiCon and the BaltiCon Podcast, The one time your host accidentally visited a Brothel, the time your host's high school chemistry teacher showed the class how to make wine, and the world's simplest method for distilling wine into hard liquor. 

Bonus: After you have listened to this episode you will know how to make all the wine you want at home using materials anyone can buy at any food store. You will also know how to distill any wine you make into hard liquor without effort over a period of eight hours using only devices you already own--a method which uses no heat, no fire and no evaporation.  

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the April 11, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 35 minutes]. This is the final part of an interview recorded using Skype on March 3, 2012.

Paul Fischer is a digital network engineer. In his spare time (teamed with his wife, Martha Holloway) he organizes the new media track at the science fiction convention Balticon; produces the Balticon Podcast; and has several times served as judge for the annual Parsec Awards which are given for Excellence in Podcasting.

News Item: Google Glasses (augmented reality glasses) are scheduled to become publicly available before the end of 2012. (As per an article in the NY Times dated Feb 21, 2012 written by Nick Bilton.)

Announcement: Bones Burnt Black (the FREE audio book) took the #1 position on the list of "Today's Top Subscriptions" at Podiobooks.com on April 9, and simultaneously took the #2 position on their list of "Most Popular Books by Number of Subscriptions in the Last 30 Days."

Direct download: TFAY_2012_4_11.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:35am EDT

The Future And You -- April 4, 2012

Paul Fischer (digital network engineer) is our featured guest.

Topics: Cyberwar: Several specific examples of computer hacking done by military forces around the world. How Iran's nuclear program was successfully cyber attacked. How the Chinese government successfully attacked a school in the USA (and bragged about it on their official TV news program). How a commercial airliner's onboard computer was accidentally infected with a virus which crashed the plane and killed all aboard. Also described: Why your car is now vulnerable to computer hacking, and how this can put your life in danger. And at least one incident without any hacking at all: how Fidel Castro cleverly tricked the Cubans into first giving up their ammunition, and then later (when they had no bullets) forced them to surrender all their guns.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the April 4, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 36 minutes]. This is the third part of an interview recorded using Skype on March 3, 2012.

Paul Fischer is a digital network engineer. In his spare time (teamed with his wife, Martha Holloway) he organizes the new media track at the science fiction convention Balticon; produces the Balticon Podcast; and has several times served as judge for the annual Parsec Awards which are given for Excellence in Podcasting.

Announcement: J.C.Hutchins (author of the popular 7th Son trilogy) said this about the new audio book version of Bones Burnt Black which is available for Free at Podiobooks.com:  "A riveting and realistic portrayal of space travel gone wrong, and of a crew who must fight for their survival. Bones Burnt Black is exciting, and expertly told. A must-listen." Don't miss out. Listen to Bones Burnt Black today.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_4_4.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:55am EDT

The Future And You -- March 28, 2012

Evo Terra (author, speaker and digital business strategist) is our featured guest.

Topic: Trends in New Media: Where we are now, how we got here, and some of the shifting trends which are changing the direction of New Media in our future.

Evo Terra is: co-founder of ePublish Unum; founder of Podiobooks.com; a professional public speaker at digital & social media events; and a digital Business strategist at ASW Consulting Services. Previously Evo was the host of Dragon Page Live Fire at 550 AM KFYI Radio, and was co-founder & show host at FarPoint Media. He is also co-author of the books Podcasting for Dummies and Expert Podcasting Practices for Dummies.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the March 28, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 46 minutes]. This is the complete interview recorded using Skype on March 17, 2012.

News Item: The audio book of your host's novel Bones Burnt Black is now available on Podiobooks.com for FREE. Read by the author himself, this is an improved version of the audio book edition (cleaner sound, and with music added to the beginnings and ends). If you enjoy audio books (especially those that are Free) please give its first chapter a listen.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_3_28.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:48am EDT

The Future And You -- March 21, 2012

Paul Fischer (digital network engineer) is our featured guest.

Topics: Even more examples of how your smart phone is vulnerable to viruses, trojans, worms, and other hacker software; some of which attacks your phone by way of blue-tooth, Wi-Fi, attached to the apps you download, or by tricking you into thinking the attacking software is actually an update for a trusted app you installed some time ago.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the March 24, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 42 minutes]. This is the second part of an interview recorded using Skype on March 3, 2012.

Paul Fischer is a digital network engineer. In his spare time (teamed with his wife, Martha Holloway) he organizes the new media track at the science fiction convention Balticon; produces the Balticon Podcast; and has several times served as judge for the annual Parsec Awards which are given for Excellence in Podcasting.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_3_21.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:18am EDT

The Future And You -- March 14, 2012
Paul Fischer (digital network engineer) is our featured guest.

Topics: specific examples of why your smart phone is even more vulnerable to viruses, trojans, worms, and other hacker software than is your computer, and why you can do pretty much nothing about it; how Corpus Christie's automated water meter-reading system caught a thief who'd stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of water, as well as allowed the city to lay-off every last one of their meter readers; and why cities and towns are scrambling to build their own wireless networks for their police, firefighters and other city employees.

Paul Fischer is a digital network engineer. In his spare time (teamed with his wife, Martha Holloway) he organizes the new media track at the science fiction convention Balticon; produces the Balticon Podcast; and has several times served as judge for the annual Parsec Awards which are given for Excellence in Podcasting. 
Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the March 14, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 39 minutes]. This is the first part of an interview recorded using Skype on March 3, 2012.

News Item: Some of you may be wondering why there has not been a final update on my TA-65 evaluation project yet. Well, it turns out we still have more pills to take. My mother read somewhere that it was good to take a break one day each week when taking TA-65. And so she did. And so we aren't out of pills yet. Although I should mention that even when we run out we will still need to have blood drawn, sent to UCLA for testing, and the results returned before I do a final explanation of all the results; so this could still take another month or two. I ask for your continued patience.

Second News Item: I am pleased to announce that the audio version of my novel Bones Burnt Black will soon join the nearly 600 books available on Podiobooks.comAll of which are offered at everyone's favorite price: Free. If you haven't had a chance to listen to my novel, that opportunity will present itself beginning on March 28, 2012. And if you have heard it already, Podiobooks.com holds many other titles you can enjoy as well. (BTW: This is a new and improved version of Bones Burnt BlackThe audio has been cleaned a bit more; and to give it that professional touch, music has been added at the beginning and end of each episode, as well as in the breaks between scenes.)
Direct download: TFAY_2012_3_14.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:36am EDT

The Future And You -- March 7, 2012

George Dvorsky (futurist and ethicist) is our featured guest.

Topics: Why he has changed from a Vegetarian Diet to a Paleolithic Diet (which is limited to the foods our species ate before the rise of farming and animal husbandry),  and his recent personal-record-breaking dead-lift of 400 pounds. Also, his expectations concerning: techlepathy (neurotechnologically-assisted telepathy); postgenderism; astrosociobiology (the speculative scientific study of extraterrestrial civilizations and their possible social characteristics and developmental tendencies); caloric restriction; the work of Matt Lalonde and Rob Wolfe; the Conscientious Carnivore; Ancestral Health; Primal Transhumanism; and his worry that the Fermi Paradox represents a "Great Filter" which may still lay ahead of us, and which our species might not survive.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the March 7, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 41 minutes]. This is the final third of an interview recorded using Skype on February 17, 2012.

George Dvorsky is a Canadian futurist and ethicist. He has written and spoken extensively about the impacts of cutting-edge science and technology—particularly as they pertain to the improvement of human performance and experience. He is the Chairman of the Board at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies and is the program director for the Rights of Non-Human Persons program.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_3_7.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:36am EDT

The Future And You -- February 29, 2012

George Dvorsky (futurist and ethicist) is our featured guest.

Topics: Is it wise to use our emotions (especially repugnance) as a guide to truth? Giving protective rights to intelligent animals (apes, whales, dolphins, and elephants), and eventually (when the time is right) to artificially intelligent software; augmenting animals to raise their IQ (animal uplifting); the new movie Planet of the Apes; the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey; better ways to conduct the search for extraterrestrials (SETI); Dyson Spheres; the Fermi Paradox; why your host hopes we will forever move to universes of ever increasing dimensionality; as well as artificially created universes and simulated universes.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the February 29, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 61 minutes]. This is the second third of an interview recorded using Skype on February 17, 2012.

George Dvorsky is a Canadian futurist and ethicist. He has written and spoken extensively about the impacts of cutting-edge science and technology—particularly as they pertain to the improvement of human performance and experience. He is the Chairman of the Board at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies and is the program director for the Rights of Non-Human Persons program.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_2_29.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:59am EDT

The Future And You -- February 22, 2012

George Dvorsky (futurist and ethicist) is our featured guest.

Topics: the importance of studying history in order to extrapolate the future; how democratic transhumanism differs from other flavours of transhumanism; why he is a technogaian environmentalist and how that relates to Bright Green Environmentalism; the abolition of suffering in all species; political problems of putting a thermostat on the earth; as well as the good and bad of living an engineered blissful existence permanently.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the February 22, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 62 minutes]. This is the first third of an interview recorded using Skype on February 17, 2012.

George Dvorsky is a Canadian futurist and ethicist. He has written and spoken extensively about the impacts of cutting-edge science and technology—particularly as they pertain to the improvement of human performance and experience. He is the Chairman of the Board at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies and is the program director for the Rights of Non-Human Persons program.

News Item: Your host's most transhumanist novel is now available for purchase through Amazon's Kindle program. All the main characters in Plague at Redhook have augmentations which transhumanists look forward to possessing. Computers implanted in their bodies and hardwired into their brains, for example, such that they can share with one another their verbal thoughts, as well as images of what they are currently looking at, or what they remember seeing in the past. These augmentations are not new to them, this is how they live their normal lives. The plot is an action-adventure story combined with a medical-mystery story combined with an exploring-an-alien-world story.

And remember: you don't need a Kindle to purchase and read Kindle books. There is a free app that turns most smart phones into a Kindle reader. And there is a free downloadable program which will turn a PC or a Mac into a Kindle reader as well. So if you have $3.99 to burn, and want to see what your host thinks the future might be like in story form, consider buying a copy of Plague at Redhook.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_2_22.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:07am EDT

The Future And You -- February 15, 2012

Wendy S. Delmater(editor, author and safety engineer), Joe Naff(author), and Myself (your host) are our featured guests.

Topic: Future disasters, and what you can do now to prepare for them. (Part 3)

The future will contain many bad events as well as many good. Your individual journey through your personal future will be less painful if you are prepared. Here are dozens of ways to greatly reduce your future suffering.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the February 15, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 39 minutes]. This is the third and final part of a panel recorded before a live audience on June 4, 2011 in Charlotte NC at the SF&F convention ConCarolinas.

Wendy S. Delmater runs the critically acclaimed zine: Abyss & Apex Magazine of Speculative Fiction, and has a new non-fiction book coming out on Valentines Day, 2012 entitled Better Dating Through Engineering: A system For Finding Lasting Love After 45

Joe Naff is the author of the supernatural thriller: The Gospel of the Font, and the young-adult high-fantasy series: The Chronicles of Shyra.

News Item: A new and very brief update on my TA-65 Evaluation Project.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_2_15.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:44am EDT

The Future And You -- February 8, 2012

Jonathan Mugan (author of The Curiosity Cycle, and computer science researcher) is our featured guest.

Topics: Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, online games, learning styles and methods, arguing to agree, errors in our thinking process, and many topics covered in his book The Curiosity Cycle: Preparing Your Child for the Ongoing Technological Explosion. (Part 2)

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the February 8, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 39 minutes]. This is the second half of an interview recorded on January 21, 2012 using a Skype-to-Skype connection. 

Jonathan Mugan is a computer science researcher specializing in machine learning and Artificial Intelligence. He completed a postdoc at Carnegie Mellon University, and received a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin. His book The Curiosity Cycle: Preparing Your Child for the Ongoing Technological Explosion is available in paperback and Kindle eBook editions.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_2_8.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:52am EDT

The Future And You -- February 1, 2012

Jonathan Mugan (author of The Curiosity Cycle, and computer science researcher) is our featured guest.

Topics: Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, cyber-security, human intelligence, human learning, errors in our thinking process, and many topics covered in his book The Curiosity Cycle: Preparing Your Child for the Ongoing Technological Explosion.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the February 1, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 41 minutes]. This is the first half of an interview recorded on January 21, 2012 using a Skype-to-Skype connection. 

Jonathan Mugan is a computer science researcher specializing in machine learning and Artificial Intelligence. He completed a postdoc at Carnegie Mellon University, and received a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin. His book The Curiosity Cycle: Preparing Your Child for the Ongoing Technological Explosion is available in paperback and Kindle eBook editions.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_2_1.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:07am EDT

The Future And You -- January 25, 2012

Wendy S. Delmater(editor, author and safety engineer), Joe Naff(author), and Myself (your host) are our featured guests.

Topic: Future disasters, and what you can do now to prepare for them. (Part 2)

The future will contain many bad events as well as many good. Your individual journey through your personal future will be less painful if you are prepared. Here are dozens of ways to greatly reduce your future suffering.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the January 25, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 43 minutes]. This is the second part of a panel recorded before a live audience on June 4, 2011 in Charlotte NC at the SF&F convention ConCarolinas.

Wendy S. Delmater runs the critically acclaimed zine: Abyss & Apex Magazine of Speculative Fiction, and has a new non-fiction book coming out on Valentines Day, 2012 entitled Better Dating Through Engineering: A system For Finding Lasting Love After 45

Joe Naff is the author of the supernatural thriller: The Gospel of the Font, and the young-adult high-fantasy series: The Chronicles of Shyra.

News Item: A thorough update on the health benefits observed so far in my TA-65 Evaluation Project. (My mother and I are now 4-1/2 months into our six month evaluation.)

Direct download: TFAY_2012_1_25.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:32am EDT

The Future And You -- January 18, 2012

Wendy S. Delmater (editor, author and safety engineer), Joe Naff (author), and Myself (your host) are our featured guests.

Topic: Future disasters, and what you can do now to prepare for them.

The future will contain many bad events as well as many good. Your individual journey through your personal future will be less painful if you are prepared. Here are dozens of ways to greatly reduce your future suffering.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the January 18, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 40 minutes]. This panel was recorded before a live audience on June 4, 2011 in Charlotte NC at the SF&F convention ConCarolinas.

Wendy S. Delmater runs the critically acclaimed zine: Abyss & Apex Magazine of Speculative Fiction, and has a new non-fiction book coming out on Valentines Day, 2012 entitled Better Dating Through Engineering: A system For Finding Lasting Love After 45

Joe Naff is the author of the supernatural thriller: The Gospel of the Font, and the young-adult high-fantasy series: The Chronicles of Shyra.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_1_18.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 2:16am EDT

The Future And You -- January 11, 2012

Rebecca Ledford (manager and editor-in-chief of Phase 5 Publishing), Ken Gentile (Author), and the husband and wife team behind the pseudonym Brandy Wayne are our featured guests.

Topics: Trends churning within the publishing industry, including how the publishing industry is still being turned upside down by the rise of eBooks.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the January 11, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 32 minutes]. This is the complete interview recorded on June 4, 2011 in Charlotte NC at the SF&F convention ConCarolinas.

Rebecca Ledford is manager and editor-in-chief of Phase 5 Publishing.  Ken Gentile wrote The Tale-Seller's Night and Lil Red & The Baron.  The husband and wife team behind the pseudonym Brandy Wayne are the authors of Sheleasoun, Book 1 of the Beneath the Echoes of Memory series.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_1_11.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:35am EDT

The Future And You -- January 4, 2012

Jim Craig (planetarium director), James Maxey(author), Chris Berman(author), Justin Chung(artist), Emlee Vassilos(actress), Terry W. Erwin II(author), and me: Stephen Euin Cobb (author, futurist and your host) are our featured guests. 

Topic:  When Did Science Become a Bad Word? (Part 2) 

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the January 4, 2012 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 31 minutes]. This is the second halfof a panel recorded on June 4, 2011 in Charlotte NC at the SF&F conventionConCarolinas.

Jim Craig is the director of the James H. Lynn Planetarium at the Schiele Museum in Gastonia NC. He is a lifelong science fiction fan and has given presentations on the history of science fiction. He is an outspoken activist for science education, critical thinking, skepticism and free thought. In 2006 he was allowed to name a crater on Mars.

James Maxey is the author of the superhero novel Nobody Gets the Girl as well as the Dragon Age fantasy series which includes the novels Bitterwood,Dragonforge, and Dragonseed. Set a thousand years in the future, after the fall of our modern civilization, in a world dominated by the intelligent dragons we created through genetic engineering. Humans are reduced to slaves, and the remnants of long forgotten nanotechnology make the world a wondrous place of magic.

Chris Berman is the author of Red Moon and Star Pirates.

Justin Chung is an artist, illustrator, and creative consultant. He was Artsit Guest of Honor for 2011 at ConCarolinas.

Emlee Vassilos is an actress who is co-staring (as Lily) in the soon to be released zombie horror movie A Few Brains More, which is the sequel to Fist Full of Brains. She has also performed in Destiny RoadRenee, and the TV movie Trinity Goodheart.

Terry W. Erwin II writes novels, short stories and articles. His novels include: Blood Swordand Flank Hawk.   

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. He is also an 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 is a Contributing Editor at Space and Time Magazine; has become a regular contributor at Robot Magazine and H+ Magazine; and has written for Digit, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines. His novels include: Bones Burnt Black, Plague at Redhook andSkinbrain.

News Items: 

[1] PhysOrg.com reports that transistors made from cotton fibers are being explored at the Textiles Nanotechnology Laboratory at Cornell University for use as clothing to collect, monitor and relay information. 

[2] Your host, Stephen Euin Cobb, has been promoted to Contributing Editor at Space and Time Magazine. During the last two years Stephen has contributed feature articles to Space and Time in which he interviewed Harry Turtledove, Ben Bova, Peter S. Beagle, and Frederik Pohl. This month he will turn in a feature interview with Kevin J. Anderson, which will appear in an upcoming issue. Hildy Silverman, editor-in-chief of Space and Time Magazine, was especially pleased Stephen got this interview because--back in 1982, long before he became a best selling author with an international fan base--Kevin J. Anderson made his very first professional sale to Space and Time Magazine.

Direct download: TFAY_2012_1_4.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:42am EDT