Talk of Today
37 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsExplore developments in the world and what they could mean for our future with Sam Barton.
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Episodes
The Capability Approach, Corona Virus, and Freedom with Prof. Jonathan Wolff
November 02, 2020 07:40 - 2 hours - 127 MBMy guest today is the philosophy professor Jonathan Wolff. Jonathan is the Alfred Landecker professor of values and public policy at the University of Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government. We cover: * The Capability Approach * Global justice and the nation-state * The difficulties of translating philosophy into policy * Balancing Life & Liberty in the context of the corona virus, and; * Universities in a post-covid world Shownotes ( www.samhbarton.com/podcast/the-capability-approach-cor...
Rewilding the Singularity with Michael Garfield
October 28, 2020 10:28 - 1 hour - 99.7 MBMy guest today is Michael Garfield, a writer, musician, artist, poet-philosopher, paleontologist-futurist who's setting the seeds for a planetary renaissance. With incisive eloquence, he takes the threads of technology, science, and the wonders of the natural world to weave together a cosmic story of Life, one that needs to be shared more wildly. In our conversation we cover: * Corona virus and the epistemic crisis * Community and fragmentation * Evolution as a multi-billion year remix proj...
Living Between Frames with Nora Bateson
October 20, 2020 08:53 - 1 hour - 86.7 MBNora Bateson is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and educator, and as President of the International Bateson Institute, an organisation that integrates the sciences, arts and professional knowledge to create a qualitative inquiry of the integration of life. Her work is focused on the innumerable relationships that define our world and who we are, understanding the role that perception and context plays in our interactions. Her work brings the fields of biology, cognition, art, anthropology,...
Idea Markets with Mike Elias
September 06, 2020 21:11 - 1 hour - 105 MBMike is the founder of IdeaMarkets, a stock market for credibility that's currently under development. His team hopes to align financial incentives with the credibility of publishers to help combat misinformation and to really make the truth pay for those who seek it. In our conversation we cover: * The promise of distributed ledger technologies, aka crypto * Decentralised finance * Idea markets and aligning financial incentives with truth seeking * Truth as an ordering force in the world *...
Information and Life with Prof. Paul Davies
July 13, 2020 08:17 - 1 hour - 90.8 MBTopics covered: * What is information? * What's the difference between computation and information processing? * What is order? * Emergence and reductionism * Cancer through the lens of information * Top-down causality I think this episode is on one of the most fascinating topics we've explored so far. Today we're talking about information, a concept that we've only had for less than a century, but one that is proving to be absolutely foundational to our understanding of the universe and th...
The Constructal Law with Prof. Adrian Bejan
July 07, 2020 06:38 - 1 hour - 140 MBThe constructal law is a law of physics that predicts natural design and its evolution in biology, geophysics, climate change, technology, social organization, evolutionary design and development, wealth and sustainability. The law states that for a finite-size flow system to persist in time (to live) it must evolve such that it provides greater and greater access to the currents that flow through it. If the second law of thermodynamics is seen as the irreversibility of energy flow, the const...
Decentralised Organisations with Richard Bartlett
June 26, 2020 06:38 - 1 hour - 111 MBIn this episode of Talk of Today we're joined by Richard Bartlett. Richard is an expert in bringing people together and catalysing decentralised forms of organising. He's co founder of Loomio, a digital tool to help groups numbering just a few people to several hundred to make better decisions together. He's also co founder of The Hum, which is something like a management consultancy for non-hierarchical organisation. He's a director and member of Enspiral - a network of people supporting eac...
The Free Energy Principle with Dr. Maxwell Ramstead
June 05, 2020 00:36 - 2 hours - 232 MBThe Free Energy Principle is a formal description of how life resist entropy across scales by minimising surprise. Surprise here being an information-theoretic view of how unlikely a particular sensory state of an organism is, not the psychological phenomenon of surprise — though they are definitely linked. The free energy principle describes how organisms attempt to reduce the difference between their model of the world and their perception of it. Joining me to shed light on this topic is M...
Chaos, Order, and Emergent System Design with Matthew Pirkowski
May 10, 2020 02:25 - 2 hours - 186 MBMatthew Pirkowski (@MattPirkoswki) is one of Twitter's most incisive thinkers, offering penetrating insights in things ranging from representations of value, the many problems of social media platforms and how we interact with them, the evolution of society, and designing emergent systems. In our conversation we cover: - The substance underlying Jordan Peterson's main body of work and its implications for ethics. - The role money plays in scaling social groups - Specialisation as epistemic sp...
America's Freedom Farce
May 03, 2020 09:58 - 14 minutes - 19.5 MBThrough the lens of opportunity and freedom — what people can do and be in the world — most Americans are far less free than the rest of the Western world. A vast proportion of Americans are shackled by wage slavery, unable to pursue the American dream. To fulfill the principles laid down by its forefathers, America needs to provide more for its citizens and unleash its latent entrepreneurial potential and become what it once was. You can read the full essay at https://www.samhbarton.com/essa...
How to beat COVID-19 with Professor Yaneer Bar-Yam
April 23, 2020 01:51 - 1 hour - 99.6 MBCOVID-19 has caused titanic global shifts that are continuing to reverberate across the planet, thrusting our societies into territories unknown and crippling our economies. There have been few out there who have consistently contributed clear insights into the potential risks of a virus like COVID-19, how it can rapidly propagate across our interconnected world and wreak devastation, and most importantly, how to stop it, than Professor Yaneer Bar-Yam. Professor Yaneer Bar-Yam is president o...
Happiness and Society with Dr. Kostadin Kushlev
April 18, 2020 07:10 - 1 hour - 159 MBWhat makes us happy? What affects do the decisions we make have on our subjective well-being? How does money, or parenthood affect our happiness? What are societies like when the people in them are happier? What affects do new technologies like smartphones, and constant connectivity, have on how happy we think we are? If happiness, subjective well-being, or flourishing is important (which i'm sure we'd all agree it is), answering these questions has profound consequences for how choose to org...
The Scaling Laws of Life with Geoffrey West
April 10, 2020 08:49 - 2 hours - 169 MBWhat are the universal scaling laws of life and what do they mean for how our societies today function and their survival in the future? The conversation I'm going to share with you today is one of the most important I've had to date. We live in a time characterised by extreme uncertainty, which is, in many ways, being driven by the impacts of insatiable hunger for growth. If we do not tame humanity's rapacious desire for more, it will spell disaster for all of us, and there's maths to prove ...
High-voltage living with Visakan Veerasamy
March 31, 2020 05:20 - 1 hour - 151 MBVisakan Veerasamy is an eccentric Singaporean who weaves together of sparkling web of insight, wit, and positivity throughout the world of twitter. The community of people he's built around him is eclectic, and the common sentiment i see among them is an overwhelming appreciation for the content he puts out. Some would call him a marketing consultant — but that's underselling him substantially. Marketing could be seen as the best way to categorise and monetise what I think his gift is: under...
Insect Population Collapse with Dr Francisco Sanchez-Bayo
March 19, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 90.6 MBThe topic of today has an importance in our lives than most of us may be unaware of: global insect populations. While these creepy crawlies may inspire disgust in some of us, the value insects bring to the natural world, and of course, to our world cannot be understated — they are inextricable, vital components of our global ecosystem, and the existence of up to 40% of insect species is threatened. Joining me in this episode to talk about this ecological catastrophe is scientist Dr. Francicso...
80,000 hours with Rob Wiblin
February 22, 2020 04:51 - 43 minutes - 59.7 MBThis podcast has the potential to significantly change the way you spend your time and money. And i’m not being hyperbolic. In this episode I’m speaking with Rob Wiblin from 80,000 hours, an organisation that looks into how people can spend their most precious resource, their time, but more specifically, the time they spend working, to maximise for humanity’s well being. The number 80,000 hours is roughly how long someone spends working in their lifetime, hence the name. It’s an organisation ...
Building a Second Brain with Tiago Forte
February 20, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 118 MBTiago Forte is the the man behind the 'building a second brain course'. Among many other things, Tiago helps people build their own trusted digital archive for their most valuable knowledge and ideas. We have a pretty wide-ranging discussion, covering where people go wrong when it comes to organising their information, general thoughts about twitter the social platform responsible for this conversation, his life philosophy servant hedonism, we talk a bit about trauma, and, why he thinks he's...
How Emotions are Made with Lisa Feldman Barrett
July 17, 2019 17:33 - 58 minutes - 47 MBOur understanding of the biology of emotions has changed dramatically in recent years. We don't experience our emotions, we construct them. Listen to Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett, author of 'How emotions are made' talk about the science of emotions and the implications of our new understanding of them. Support this podcast
Design Thinking: The Scientific Method Applied to Business
July 15, 2019 14:21 - 7 minutes - 6.21 MBThis is a reading of a blog post I wrote on Design Thinking and the scientific method. Show notes can be found at samhbarton.com Blog post originally posted on buckhamduffy.com Support this podcast
Sorry Trump. You're wrong about Sovereignty
September 26, 2017 07:28 - 11 minutes - 9.24 MBThis is an audio essay on the issue of state sovereignty in an interconnected world, inspired by Trump's recent address to the UN General Assembly. The essay is available on talkoftoday.com and on medium -@shbarton. Links and sources can be found there as well. You can support the podcast at www.patreon.com/talkoftoday or at talkoftoday.com/support Support this podcast
Psychedelics with Chris Timmerman
September 07, 2017 17:27 - 42 minutes - 33.8 MBChris Timmerman is a PhD student in the Psychedelic Research Group from Imperial College in London. He's currently conducting brain imaging experiments on people under the influence of the psychedelic drug DMT. In this episode, we talk about the psychedelics in general, ego dissolutionment and DMT. You can support this podcast at www.patreon.com/talkoftoday or at www.talkoftoday.com/support Support this podcast
Why I turned off my notifications and you should too
August 05, 2017 21:37 - 10 minutes - 8.42 MBA short essay on why I turned off my notifications, updates regarding my trip to the US/Canada as well as on future podcasts. Show notes can be found at talkoftoday.com Support the podcast at talkoftoday.com/patreon or at patreon.com/talkoftoday Support this podcast
Meditation and the Brain with Dr Sarah Lazar
July 19, 2017 18:15 - 50 minutes - 40.2 MBMeditation has exploded in popularity in recent years. Once thought of as a purely spiritual practice, the physical and mental benefits of it are now being recognised by science. Secular institutions like schools and corporations are jumping onto the Zen train to reap these benefits, which range from increases in productivity, improved sleep quality, increased creativity, as well as reduced stress and anxiety, just to name a few. On a side note, there’s also the fact that some people repo...
The Inevitable Technologies that will Shape our Future with Kevin Kelly
July 11, 2017 23:13 - 53 minutes - 43 MBIn this episode, we explore the technologies that will shape our future as outlined in the book 'The Inevitable' by Kevin Kelly. It takes the vast swathes of technological developments that we’ve seen over the past few decades, and paints a marvellous picture of what they could, and most likely will inevitably mean for the future. Topics covered in the podcast include: - Artificial intelligence and the cognifying of everything - The blockchain - Information abundance - Startup advice for woul...
The Plight of the Biafran People with Gosife Okekenta
July 06, 2017 20:50 - 1 hour - 54.1 MBToday's episode is a bit different from the rest. Instead of talking about developments in science, tech and society, I'm chatting to a man called Gosife Okenta about the ongoing subjugation and suffering of his people in Nigeria. He would not call himself Nigerian, however. Gosife is from Biafra, a secessionist state in eastern Nigeria that existed in the late 1960s. Though is no longer exists, there are millions of people who identify as Biafrans today, and are treated as second class citiz...
The Death of Aging with Aubrey de Grey
June 22, 2017 21:25 - 37 minutes - 30.2 MBAging could become a thing of the past. Not in 100 years, but within our lifetime (whatever that means) In this episode, I'm joined by Aubrey de Grey. Aubrey is a British biomedical gerontologist, chief scientist and founder of the SENS Research Foundation, an institution focused on using regenerative medicines to repair damage underlying the diseases of aging. In our conversation, we talk about some of the underlying causes of aging, where anti-aging research is at the moment, and what ...
The Future of Food with Dr Liz Specht
June 16, 2017 04:54 - 55 minutes - 44.5 MBThere aren't too many decisions that we make daily that can have as much of an impact on the world as what we choose to eat. Today, we're joined by Dr Liz Specht from the Good Food Institute to talk about the future of food. In our conversation, we talk about what's going on in food-tech, why are these developments so important, and when will we taste the fruits of the labour of the rapidly evolving food-tech industry? Links to what's discussed in the podcast can be found at talkoftoday....
Concussions with Dr Fatima Nasrallah
May 31, 2017 14:39 - 32 minutes - 26.4 MBThis episode is with Dr Fatima Nasrallah, a senior scientist and researcher from the Queensland Brain Institute. This is a discussion on concussions, yo. What do we know about them, how do we measure them, what are the long term impacts, and how should you use this information? Show notes available at talkoftoday.com/podcast-3 Links: www.talkoftoday.com/lifetab www.globalcitizenship.today Queensland Brain Institute: https://qbi.uq.edu.au/ https://concussion.qbi.uq.edu.au/ Support this po...
Gravitational Waves with Dr Jess McIver
May 24, 2017 21:52 - 38 minutes - 31 MBWe now have a new way of observing the universe. Over a century ago, Einstein’s seminal work on the theory of general relativity predicted the existence of gravitational waves which are ripples within the very fabric of the universe itself. In February of 2016, the existence of gravitational waves was confirmed by measurements made by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. In this episode, I chat with Dr Jess McIver postdoctoral scholar in experimental physics at Califor...
The Why behind the Podcast - Generalism and Global Citizenship
May 17, 2017 14:07 - 10 minutes - 8.1 MBThis episode is a bit different to the rest! Topics discussed are: - What the podcast is about and what to expect - Why I started the podcast - Brief bio on me(Sam Barton) - An explanation of the Global Citizenship concept I've discussed on other podcasts. Links mentioned: www.globalcitizenship.today www.talkoftoday.com www.patreon.com/talkoftoday Instagram: @shbarton Support this podcast
The Blockchain, Complexity Economics and Generalism with Kary Bheemaiah
May 03, 2017 02:23 - 1 hour - 60.3 MBBlockchain technology has potential to transform society. It's described as 'the trust machine' - an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value. My guest for this episode is Kary Bheemaiah -a researcher, lecturer, writer, technology consultant based in Paris. Kary recently published book, ‘The Blockchain Alternative: Rethinking Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Theory’ explores the ma...
The Psychedelic DMT with Dr Rick Strassman
April 24, 2017 00:40 - 1 hour - 60.5 MBDMT(dimethyltryptamine - more like dimethyltripdaeffout) is a psychedelic substance that's found throughout nature and within the human body. It's a substance that, after more scientific enquiry, could bridge the gap between science and spirituality due to the life-changing, and some would say, mystical experiences it can facilitate. Dr Rick Strassman is an author, specialist in psychiatry and psychopharmacology. He was the first to legally administer psychedelics to people in the United ...
The Earth Charter and Global Community with Clem Campbell
April 16, 2017 23:09 - 37 minutes - 30.2 MBThe Earth Charter is an international declaration of fundamental values and principles for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century. It "seeks to inspire in all peoples a sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility for the well-being of the human family, the greater community of life, and future generations. The four pillars and sixteen principles of the Earth Charter are: I. Respect and Care for the Community of Life 1. Respect Earth and ...
Coral Bleaching and the Great Barrier Reef
April 06, 2017 02:42 - 48 minutes - 38.6 MBToday's guest is Brett Lewis, a marine researcher from the Queensland University of Technology. He was a part of the team that filmed video of coral bleaching in action that ended up going viral. In today's episode ,we find out exactly what coral bleaching actually and what does it mean for the great barrier reef? Why is reef actually important, and we also discuss current issues in science communication. Links: Twitter: BrettM_Lewis fightforourreef.org.au www.globalcitizenship.today talk...
Biohacking with Amal Graafstra
March 09, 2017 22:48 - 55 minutes - 38.1 MBWe can now take our evolution into our own hands. Amal Graafstra is Chief of Awesome and Dangerous Things, a Biohacking company based out of Seattle, Washington. He's one of the guys that put biohacking on the map, with the RFID chip he's got implanted in his hand, that allows him to access his car and house without keys - and that's just the start! Technologies available today can allow us to do far crazier things - from paying for stuff with a wave of a hand, to actually changing our ve...
Universal Basic Income with Dr Karl Widerquist
March 05, 2017 15:39 - 1 hour - 51.8 MBUniversal Basic Income - an answer to our automated future and the beginning of a utopian future? An idea backed by people on both sides of the political spectrum, technologists and futurists, a basic income may not just be philosophically appealing, it may be necessary. Today's conversation is with Dr Karl Widerquist, a political philosopher and economist at Georgetown University, SFQ Qatar. He is co-chair of the Basic Income Earth Network and an author of numerous books, including 'Indepe...
Principles behind Engineering a Viral Idea with Dr Brendan Markey-Towler
March 02, 2017 18:00 - 1 hour - 56.3 MBWhat makes an idea stick? What is it about an idea that causes it to plant itself in the mind and spread? In this episode, I talk to Dr Brendan Markey-Towler, an economist from the University of Queensland, about a paper he wrote called 'Competition of Ideas in the Public Sphere'. Basically, what Brendan does in this paper is break dow what form an idea should take, to make an idea the fittest it can be in the marketplace of ideas. He does this using behavioural economics, psychology and ...