Astrobiologist Prof. Lewis Dartnell discusses how human biology shapes civilization, the challenges of living on Mars, and the importance of cooperation. Topics include the interconnectedness of biology and society, the impact of plagues on societies, and the future of humanity in space.

Journalist Richard Fisher shares his thoughts on the importance of taking a long view of the future, why short-termism is the greatest threat to civilisation, and how metaphors are key to our comprehension of time. Richard Fisher is a Senior Journalist with BBC Global News in London, where he writes and commissions for BBC Future, the BBC's international-facing science, technology and health features site. He was recently a 2019-20 Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has held various roles at the BBC, including leading the BBC.com Features teams as a managing editor, and before that, he was both a feature and news editor at New Scientist. Find out more: futurespodcast.net FOLLOW Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast ABOUT THE HOST Luke Robert Mason is a British-born futures theorist who is passionate about engaging the public with emerging scientific theories and technological developments. He hosts documentaries for Futurism, and has contributed to BBC Radio, BBC One, The Guardian, Discovery Channel, VICE Motherboard and Wired Magazine. Follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/lukerobertmason CREDITS Produced by FUTURES Podcast Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason

Transhumanists Elise Bohan, Prof. Steve Fuller and Anders Sandberg share their thoughts on the future of humanity, the role artificial intelligence will play in society, and the radical ways advanced technology may redefine what it means to be human. Recorded in front of a live audience at Kings Place, London on 16 February 2023. Elise Bohan is a Senior Research Scholar at the University of Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute (FHI). She holds a PhD in evolutionary macrohistory, wrote the world’s first book-length history of transhumanism as a doctoral student, and recently launched her debut book Future Superhuman: Our transhuman lives in a make-or-break century (NewSouth, 2022). Prof. Steve Fuller is Auguste Comte Professor of Social Epistemology at the University of Warwick, UK. Originally trained in history and philosophy of science, he is the author of more than twenty books. From 2011 to 2014 he published three books with Palgrave on ‘Humanity 2.0’. His most recent book is Nietzschean Meditations: Untimely Thoughts at the Dawn of Transhuman Era (Schwabe Verlag, 2020). Anders Sandberg is a Senior Research Fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute (FHI) at Oxford University where his research focuses on the societal and ethical issues surrounding human enhancement and new technologies. He is also research associate at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics and the Oxford Centre for Neuroethics. Find out more: futurespodcast.net FOLLOW Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast ABOUT THE HOST Luke Robert Mason is a British-born futures theorist who is passionate about engaging the public with emerging scientific theories and technological developments. He hosts documentaries for Futurism, and has contributed to BBC Radio, BBC One, The Guardian, Discovery Channel, VICE Motherboard and Wired Magazine. Follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/lukerobertmason CREDITS Produced by FUTURES Podcast Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason

Bioethicist Dr. Sarah Chan shares her thoughts on the ethics of human genome editing, the potential of developing a social model of enhancement, and the possibility of using biotechnology to improve the cognitive abilities of animals. Sarah Chan is a Chancellor’s Fellow working in interdisciplinary bioethics at the Usher Institute for Population Health Sciences and Informatics, and Co-Director of the Mason Institute for Medicine, Life Sciences and Law, University of Edinburgh. Previously, from 2005 to 2015, she was a Research Fellow in Bioethics at the University of Manchester, first at the Centre for Social Ethics and Policy and from 2008 the Institute for Science Ethics and Innovation. Sarah’s research focuses on the ethics of new biomedical technologies, including stem cell and embryo research; reproductive medicine; synthetic biology; gene therapy and genetic modification; and human and animal enhancement. Her current work draws on these interests to explore the ethics of emerging modes of biomedicine at the interface of health care research, medical treatment and consumer medicine including population-level health and genetic data research; the use of biomaterials in both research and treatment; and access to experimental treatments and medical innovation. Find out more: futurespodcast.net FOLLOW Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast ABOUT THE HOST Luke Robert Mason is a British-born futures theorist who is passionate about engaging the public with emerging scientific theories and technological developments. He hosts documentaries for Futurism, and has contributed to BBC Radio, BBC One, The Guardian, Discovery Channel, VICE Motherboard and Wired Magazine. Follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/lukerobertmason CREDITS Produced by FUTURES Podcast Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason

Media scholar David J. Gunkel shares his thoughts on the philosophical case for the rights of robots, the challenge artificial intelligence presents to our existing moral and legal systems, and how tools like ChatGTP force us to confront our human exceptionalism. David J. Gunkel is Presidential Research, Scholarship, and Artistry Professor in the Department of Communication at Northern Illinois University. He is the author of Robot Rights, Of Remixology: Ethics and Aesthetics after Remix, and The Machine Question: Critical Perspectives on AI, Robots, and Ethics. Find out more: futurespodcast.net FOLLOW Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast ABOUT THE HOST Luke Robert Mason is a British-born futures theorist who is passionate about engaging the public with emerging scientific theories and technological developments. He hosts documentaries for Futurism, and has contributed to BBC Radio, BBC One, The Guardian, Discovery Channel, VICE Motherboard and Wired Magazine. Follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/lukerobertmason CREDITS Produced by FUTURES Podcast Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason

Cyberpunk author Pat Cadigan shares her thoughts on the role of science fiction in society, her methods for thinking about the future, and which elements of the cyberpunk genre have become features of our everyday reality. Pat Cadigan was born in Schenectady, NY, and grew up in Fitchburg, MA. Attending the University of Massachusetts on a scholarship, she eventually transferred to the University of Kansas where she received her degree. Since embarking on her career as a fiction writer in 1987, her Hugo and Nebula Award-nominated short stories have appeared in such magazines as Omni, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine as well as numerous anthologies. Her first collection, Patterns, was honoured the Locus Award in 1990, and she won the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1992 and 1995 for her novels Synners and Fools. Pat Cadigan moved to the UK in 1996 and now lives in London. Recorded live from the Science Museum, London on 26 October 2022. Find out more: futurespodcast.net Credits Produced by FUTURES Podcast Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason Follow Us Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast

Macrohistorian Elise Bohan shares her thoughts on the importance of adopting a transhumanist worldview, why we live in a make-or-break century, and what is worth preserving about humanity. Elise Bohan is a Senior Research Scholar at the University of Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute (FHI). She holds a PhD in evolutionary macrohistory, wrote the world’s first book-length history of transhumanism as a doctoral student, and recently launched her debut book Future Superhuman: Our transhuman lives in a make-or-break century (NewSouth, 2022). Find out more: futurespodcast.net Credits Produced by FUTURES Podcast Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason Follow Us Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast

Founder of Second Life Philip Rosedale shares his thoughts on what virtual worlds can teach us about being human, the relationship between Second Life users and their avatars, and the challenges of building the metaverse using Web 3.0 technologies. Philip Rosedale is the Founder of Linden Lab, parent company of Second Life, an open-ended, Internet-connected virtual world and pioneering metaverse. Following Second Life, he worked on several projects related to distributed work and computing. Excited by innovations in these areas and the proliferation of new VR-enabling devices, he re-entered the virtual worlds space in 2013, co-founding High Fidelity, a company devoted to exploring the future of next-generation shared virtual reality. Philip rejoined Second Life in 2022, as Strategic Advisor, focused on helping to shape and build a better metaverse. Find out more: futurespodcast.net Credits Produced by FUTURES Podcast Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason Follow Us Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast

Biomedical engineer Ritu Raman shares her insights on designing biological robots, how new developments in tissue engineering may allow us to grow organs, and what biofabrication means for the future of food and medicine. Ritu Raman, PhD is the d’Arbeloff Career Development Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. Her lab is centered on engineering adaptive living materials for applications in medicine and machines. The Raman Lab’s current focus is building neuromuscular actuators to restore mobility and power robots. Prof. Raman has received several recognitions for scientific innovation, including being named a Kavli Fellow by the National Academy of Sciences and being named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 and MIT Technology Review 35 Innovators Under 35 lists. She is the author of the upcoming MIT Press book Biofabrication. She is passionate about increasing diversity in STEM and has championed many initiatives to empower women in science, including being named a AAAS IF/THEN ambassador and founding the Women in Innovation and STEM Database at MIT (WISDM). Find out more: futurespodcast.net CREDITS Produced by FUTURES Podcast Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason FOLLOW Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast

Sociologist James Hughes shares his thoughts on how libertarian transhumanism allows for cognitive liberty and bodily autonomy, the ethical implications of using enhancement technologies to amplify human virtues, and the challenge of being a techno-optimist. James Hughes, the Executive Director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, is a bioethicist and sociologist who serves as the Associate Provost for Institutional Research, Assessment and Planning for the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMB), and as Senior Research Fellow at UMB’s Center for Applied Ethics. He holds a doctorate in Sociology from the University of Chicago where he taught bioethics at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics. Dr. Hughes has taught health policy, bioethics, medical sociology and research methods at Northwestern University, the University of Connecticut, and Trinity College. Dr. Hughes is author of Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future (2004) and is co-editor of Surviving the Machine Age: Intelligent Technology and the Transformation of Human Work (2017). In 2005 Dr. Hughes co-founded the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) with Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom, and since then has served as its Executive Director. Dr. Hughes serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of Evolution and Technology, and as co-founder of the Journal of Posthuman Studies. Find out more: futurespodcast.net CREDITS Produced by FUTURES Podcast Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason FOLLOW Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast