🚀 Space Settlements, Science Fiction & Live Podcast Events
Catch up on the latest episodes of the FUTURES Podcast, and join our live events in London, UK.
Thank you to everyone who has been listening to the FUTURES Podcast. Your dedication to the show has taken us to the top of the indie charts on Goodpods.
Since my last update, I’ve hosted live shows at the Science Museum and Kings Place, and interviewed guests on space settlements, science fiction, human extinction, and bioethics. I’ve also been using the podcast as a way to augment my PhD research into the moral status of humanoid robots.
If you have any ideas for folk that I should feature on the show then feel free to contact me.
Here is a summary of this update:
🎟️ FUTURES Podcast Live in London, UK - Book Now
📺 A Brief History of the Future - Listen Now
🚀 Space Settlements - Listen Now
🧮 Mathematics & Science Fiction - Listen Now
📰 Other News (From Friends & Paid Subscribers)
🎟️ FUTURES Podcast Live
Following the success of our live events at the Science Museum and Kings Place, we have partnered with Engage Works’ Flux Innovation Lounge for a new hybrid events experience:
🎤 Blueprints for Ethical Tomorrows at Flux Innovation Lounge
Wednesday 20 March 2024, 6:30PM - 8:45PM, Flux Innovation Lounge, London, UK & Online Livestream. Tickets are Free.
Join human rights lawyer Susie Alegre & mechanical engineer Dr. Shini Somara for a series of compelling conversations on the importance of engineering ethical innovations. The increasing dominance of artificial intelligence has unveiled the extent to which human experience is mediated by algorithmic processes and technological advances. It’s more crucial than ever to pause and explore how fundamental human rights and regulation, along with the principles of diversity and inclusion, need to be integrated into new technological developments.
How can engineers and developers incorporate human rights in the design and deployment of emerging technologies? What role should ethics play in the development of artificial intelligence? How do we make innovation accessible to all?
This is a hybrid event: the in-person event is invite-only, but it will be freely accessible to all via an online livestream. Details on how to join the event can be found below.
🎟️ Request an in-person ticket by emailing info@futurespodcast.net
🔴 Register for the Online Livestream
I’m extremely excited to find a venue that fits the vibe of the podcast - the Flux Innovation Lounge is like an interdimensional spaceship that has landed in London’s Design District. You can see what in-person audiences have in store below:
🎤 Upcoming Live Events at SPACE4
I have recently partnered with London-based Housmans Bookshop and co-op SPACE4 to host a series of live events about the impact of capitalism on digital technology.
🎧 You can listen to our first event with Dr. Corinne Cath & Dr. Fieke Jansen on the politics of internet infrastructure here.
You can claim your FREE ticket for future events using the links below:
🎟️ 28 March 2024 - Blockchain Radicals w/ Joshua Dávila
🎟️ 25 April 2024 - Countering Big Tech w/ Jeremy Gilbert, Alex Williams, and Alison Winch
📺 A Brief History of the Future
On the latest episode of the FUTURES Podcast, I interview futurist Ari Wallach about his upcoming PBS documentary series, A Brief History of the Future.
In 2016, I was lucky enough to host a short documentary series called ‘Science Non-Fiction’ for Futurism. It was a continuation of a lifelong passion to tell stories in the fields of science, technology, and the future. So after seeing the blurb for Ari’s new PBS show, and an early preview, I was immediately hooked. And, as you’ll hear me admit during the episode, I was also a little jealous. It’s stunning. Imagine Anthony Bourdain meets Chef’s Table meets Tomorrow’s World. Thankfully I know Ari’s work through various mutual friends, and I’m excited that this show will bring his insights into long-term futures thinking to a whole new audience. The documentary provides a protopian vision the world sorely needs right now and features interviews with many friends and former podcast guests.
“Most people don't think about the future that often. And when they do, they think about jetpacks and monorails. But, increasingly so, they think of the future as a fearful place.” - Ari Wallach
During our podcast interview, we discuss why we need ethical long-term visions that prioritise humanity, the importance of transgenerational empathy, and how to co-construct inclusive stories that imagine better tomorrows.
You can watch the trailer for his documentary (releasing on PBS in April 2024) below:
🚀 Space Settlements
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing authors Kelly Weinersmith & Zach Weinersmith about the challenge of building settlements on Mars, how extended periods in extra-terrestrial environments impact our body and mind, and how international space law needs to be updated if we are to become a multi-planetary species.
I love having conversations about space. The dream of going to the stars is one of humanity’s greatest ambitions because it requires an incredible degree of human innovation, resilience, and imagination. But this journey is also fraught with danger. Especially when so much of the science is unknown.
That’s why I was so excited to learn that wife-and-husband team Kelly and Zach Weinersmith had made it the topic of their new book, ‘A City on Mars’.
🧮 Mathematics & Science Fiction
I’ve started to record a couple of in-person podcasts from the Faculty of Art’s Podcast Studio at the University of Warwick - where I am studying towards my PhD. The latest is with Prof. Ian Stewart, an emeritus professor of mathematics at Warwick. We discussed strategies for explaining abstract mathematical concepts to the public, the role imagination can play in education, and how science fiction can assist in solving the world’s most complex mysteries.
I first met Ian when he kindly agreed to speak at my 2011 revival of the University’s mid-90s cyberculture conference, Virtual Futures. He has dedicated his career to raising public awareness of mathematics, and I’ve always been in awe of his ability to take complex ideas and make them understandable to a general audience.
He is a prolific author of popular non-fiction books, and in 1997 famously shared a stage with a live tiger as part of his Royal Institution Christmas Lecture to demonstrate how symmetry occurs in nature. But what you may not know about Ian is that he has written several science fiction novels and short stories.
Here’s a quick behind-the-scenes for all of the podcast geeks:
📰 Other News (From Friends & Paid Subscribers)
Cybersalon’s newest short fiction publication, All Tomorrow’s Futures: Fictions That Disrupt is available to pre-order. In a new collaborative approach, renowned experts, armed with their deep knowledge of justice, energy, digital money, longevity and learning, join forces with talented authors to weave narratives that transcend the future that you may currently believe is inevitable.
My friend, near-future fiction author Stephen Oram, has recently released his new short-story collection, Extracting Humanity. It is a skilful exploration of smart currencies, memorials, medical care, treatment of refugees, social networks, data monitoring, and justice systems. I moderated a panel on ‘Applied Science Fiction’ for his book launch in London last year.
If you have something you want to share in this newsletter feel free to reach out.
Onwards!
Luke Robert Mason
If you have any questions, recommendations or suggestions, reply to this email or connect with me on social media @LukeRobertMason.
Great stuff, Luke. Looking forward to it all. I'm new to this subject and would gain from consuming all this content and attending the events. Thanks 🙂🙌