Sam Barker and David Pearce on Art, Paradise Engineering, and Existential Hope (With Guest Mix)

Sam Barker, a Berlin-based music producer, and David Pearce, philosopher and author of The Hedonistic Imperative, join us on a special episode of the FLI Podcast to spread some existential hope. Sam is the author of euphoric sound landscapes inspired by the writings of David Pearce, largely exemplified in his latest album — aptly named "Utility." Sam's artistic excellence, motivated by blissful visions of the future, and David's philosophical and technological writings on the potential for the biological domestication of heaven are a perfect match made for the fusion of artistic, moral, and intellectual excellence. This podcast explores what significance Sam found in David's work, how it informed his music production, and Sam and David's optimistic visions of the future; it also features a guest mix by Sam and plenty of musical content. Topics discussed in this episode include: -The relationship between Sam's music and David's writing -Existential hope -Ideas from the Hedonistic Imperative -Sam's albums -The future of art and music You can find the page for this podcast here: https://futureoflife.org/2020/06/24/sam-barker-and-david-pearce-on-art-paradise-engineering-and-existential-hope-featuring-a-guest-mix/ You can find the mix with no interview portion of the podcast here: https://soundcloud.com/futureoflife/barker-hedonic-recalibration-mix Where to follow Sam Barker : Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/voltek Twitter: https://twitter.com/samvoltek Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samvoltek/ Website: https://www.voltek-labs.net/ Bandcamp: https://sambarker.bandcamp.com/ Where to follow Sam's label, Ostgut Ton:  Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ostgutton-official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ostgut.Ton.OFFICIAL/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ostgutton Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ostgut_ton/ Bandcamp: https://ostgut.bandcamp.com/ Timestamps:  0:00 Intro 5:40 The inspiration around Sam's music 17:38 Barker - Maximum Utility 20:03 David and Sam on their work 23:45 Do any of the tracks evoke specific visions or hopes? 24:40 Barker - Die-Hards Of The Darwinian Order 28:15 Barker - Paradise Engineering 31:20 Barker - Hedonic Treadmill 33:05 The future and evolution of art 54:03 David on how good the future can be 58:36 Guest mix by Barker Tracklist: Delta Rain Dance – 1 John Beltran – A Different Dream Rrose – Horizon Alexandroid – lvpt3 Datassette – Drizzle Fort Conrad Sprenger – Opening JakoJako – Wavetable#1 Barker & David Goldberg – #3 Barker & Baumecker – Organik (Intro) Anthony Linell – Fractal Vision Ametsub – Skydroppin’ Ladyfish\Mewark – Comfortable JakoJako & Barker – [unreleased] This podcast is possible because of the support of listeners like you. If you found this conversation to be meaningful or valuable, consider supporting it directly by donating at futureoflife.org/donate. Contributions like yours make these conversations possible.