As we pass the second yearly anniversary of the show, we take a look back at some of our favorite segments from past episodes with comedian guests who share our passion for everything "Singularity". This includes episodes with Stephen Fry (FBL20), Duncan Trussell (FBL21), and Reggie Watts (FBL22). Often known for their insights into the human condition, these well-read comedians take us on a tour from ancient Greek mythology, through modern day social media, and into the future of basic income to explore the different ways in which technology is a part of the human story.  ** Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter Music by: Amine el Filali

This week our guest is Meghan O'Gieblyn, who has written regularly for entities such as Wired, The New York Times, and The Guardian, in addition to authoring books such as Interior States and her latest book: God, Human, Animal, Machine: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning. Interestingly, much of Meghan’s work pulls on her experience losing her faith in religion while simultaneously being drawn into transhumanism from reading the Age of Spiritual Machines by Singularity’s very own Ray Kurzweil. This exploration of Meghan's background and her latest book takes us on a journey through the ways in which technology and spirituality have historically woven together, the current ways in which they are conflicting, and the future philosophical questions we’re going to be forced to reconcile. For those of you interested in this subject, I highly recommend going and listening to episode 52 with Micah Redding, which lays a lot of the foundation that we build on her in this episode.  Find out more about Meghan through her website meghanogieblyn.com, or find her book on Amazon. **  Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter Music by: Amine el Filali

This week our guest is Reason magazine’s Senior Editor, Robby Soave, who recently published his newest book, Tech Panic, Why We Shouldn’t Fear Facebook and the Future. This work focuses heavily on how the societal panic about the dangers of social media are overblown, and how this panic could be used to justify harmful governmental policies that increase censorship and limit free speech. In this conversation we explore this dynamic in detail, in addition to talking about the role of advertising, mental health issues in young women, the polarization between American political parties, and much more. You can follow Robby and his work at twitter.com/robbysoave ** Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter Music by: Amine el Filali

This week our guest is Micah Redding, who is the founder and Executive Director of the Christian Transhumanist Association, an organization that believes science and technology can be used to alter the human condition in a way that empowers the beliefs of Christianity. In this episode, my goal is simply to gain an understanding of how Micah and other Christian transhumanists see the world. This takes us on a journey from the foundations of their belief system to an exploration of concepts such as brain uploads, living in a simulation, and the possibility that Jesus was simply an avatar in the simulation created by his programmer father, God. To find out more about the Christian Transhumanist Association, visit christiantranshumanism.org ** Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter Music by: Amine el Filali

This week our guest is cognitive scientist, Scott Barry Kaufman, who has an impressive resume that includes teaching at NYU and Columbia, writing for Scientific American, hosting a podcast on psychology that is so definitive it’s actually called The Psychology Podcast, and is the author of several books including his latest, Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization. In this episode we take a very psychology-centric approach to technology, looking very specifically at how we can navigate the negative aspects of technology that threaten our ability to be ourselves and to be happy. Follow Scott at Twitter.com/sbkaufman or look into more of his work at scottbarrykaufman.com ** Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter Music by: Amine el Filali

This week our guest is social psychologist, Jonathan Haidt, who has authored several of my personal favorite books including the Happiness Hypothesis, The Righteous Mind, and the Coddling of the American Mind. We're lucky enough to have Jon join us to discuss his just released Atlantic article entitled, 'Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid,' which explores his upcoming book about social media. In this episode we discuss the key points of this article, exploring what dynamics shifted in American life as a result of social media and the resulting impacts on our children’s mental health, on our politics, and on the fabric of society itself.  Visit TheCoddling.com or LetGrow.org for more information on raising and mentoring Gen-Z kids to be less anxious and depressed. And if you wish to learn more about viewpoint diversity in academia, visit Heterodoxacademy.org ** Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter Music by: Amine el Filali

This week my guest is Kent Bye, the voice behind the podcast, Voices of VR, which has undoubtedly been one of the world’s leading sources of virtual reality information for nearly a decade now. This episode honestly feels like one of the most informative and comprehensive conversations we’ve had on the show yet, with Kent’s expertise carrying us through a wide array of VR relevant topics. This includes everything from the journey of VR to this point, the trajectory of VR into the future, the dynamics of design and of hardware, the impact of the Indie community versus the impact of Meta, the philosophical impacts in terms of well-being, the role of capitalism and perverse incentives, and a whole, whole lot more. Follow Kent at twitter.com/kentbye and listen to the Voices of VR at voicesofvr.com ** Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter Music by: Amine el Filali

This week our guest is Nolen Gertz, who is an Assistant Professor of Applied Philosophy at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, and the author of several books including “Nihilism and Technology.” In this episode we really focus on the philosophical side of technology, exploring related concepts of hedonism, the need for struggle, apathy for the world’s challenges, and much more. Ultimately, Nolen proposes that technology is allowing us to stay comfortable and nihilistic while the world burns around us and that we need to embrace responsibility in order to restore a balance to our lives. Following Nolen and his work at twitter.com/ethicistforhire ** Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter Music by: Amine el Filali

This week our guest is Robin Ince, a comedian, actor, and writer known for presenting the BBC radio show The Infinite Monkey Cage with physicist Brian Cox, his appearances alongside Ricky Gervais, and his stand-up comedy career. In this episode we explore topics from Robin’s latest book, The Importance of Being Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity, which takes readers on a tour through Robin’s scientific journey, his interviews with guests, and why he thinks it’s so important that we remain interested in science despite the commonly held view that its a distant and difficult subject reserved only for academics. Our conversation also explores the role of technology in all of this, and how it’s related to our relationship with science. Find Robin's book and tour dates through his website robinince.com or follow his latest updates via his twitter.com/robinince ** Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter Music by: Amine el Filali

This week our guest is Michael P Lynch, who is the Professor of Philosophy at the University of Connecticut and author of several books including “The Internet of Us” and his latest “Know-It-All Society: Truth and Arrogance in Political Culture.” He self describes his work as an exploration of truth, democracy and the ethics and epistemology of technology. In this episode, we take a tour of Michael’s perspective on multiple issues related to digital behavior and the pursuit of truth. This includes the impacts of our overabundance of digital information, the fundamental aspects of the human condition, the consequences of our technological infrastructure, the success and failures of our institutions, and a whole lot more. You can find out more about Micheal at his website (https://michael-lynch.philosophy.uconn.edu/), and can follow his work exploring the Future of Truth at https://futureoftruth.uconn.edu/ ** Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter Music by: Amine el Filali