Through 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/essays/americas-freedom-farce (https://www.samhbarton.com/essays/americas-freedom-farce) Follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/SamHBarton) Become a Patron (https://www.patreon.com/samhbarton) Support this podcastSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/talk-of-today/donations

COVID-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 of the New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI) where they study how interactions within a system lead to its behavioral patterns, and how the system interacts with its environment. His recent work recent quantitatively analyses the origins and impacts various complex phenomena, including pandemics. He's published over 200 research papers in professional journals, including Science and Nature, authored of two books: a textbook Dynamics of Complex Systems, and Making Things Work, which applies complex systems science to solving problems in healthcare, education, systems engineering, international development, and ethnic conflict. His work on the causes of the global food crisis was cited among the top 10 scientific discoveries of 2011 by Wired magazine He has been a Visiting Scholar at Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. He is currently Research Scientist at the MIT Media Laboratory. In our conversation, we cover: - Why applying complexity science is the right approach to deal with issues of uncertainty like the pandemic we're facing - What is the Precautionary Principle - The structural problems of the World Health Organisation - The need for global governance, but more importantly, effective decision-making - What we can learn from biology about ethics - Most importantly, how we can beat COVID-19, and why it will take all of us to do so. Support the podcast on patreon and keep up to date with podcasts developments: patreon.com/samhbarton samhbarton.com twitter.com/samhbarton Links: https://twitter.com/yaneerbaryam https://necsi.edu/yaneer-bar-yam https://www.endcoronavirus.org/ https://necsi.edu/ https://necsi.edu/complexity-rising-from-human-beings-to-human-civilization-a-complexity-profile https://necsi.edu/ethical-values-a-multiscale-scientific-perspective Systemic Risk of Pandemic via Novel Pathogens – Coronavirus: A Note https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b68a4e4a2772c2a206180a1/t/5e2efaa2ff2cf27efbe8fc91/1580137123173/Systemic_Risk_of_Pandemic_via_Novel_Path.pdf Support this podcastSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/talk-of-today/donations

What 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 organise our societies. Today we're talking to Kostadin Kushlev, an assistant professor in psychology at Georgetown University where he leads the The Digital Health and Happiness Lab, exploring questions of how digital technologies affect health and well-being. The general themes covered in the podcast Happiness helps health, productivity and being a good citizen Components of well being Using phones doesn’t make us feel worse, it just removes opportunities for potential happiness. Parenthood and well being Affects of do not disturb on people who have ADHD Income and its affect on happiness/well being Progressive taxation and its effect on the general population’s well being (In the States) Living a Psychologically rich life and what that means ‍ Links Kostadin's papers (https://www.kushlev.com/papers#publications) ADHD and Smartphones (https://theconversation.com/are-our-smartphones-afflicting-us-all-with-symptoms-of-adhd-58330) Stop Checking Email So Often (https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/opinion/sunday/stop-checking-email-so-often.html?_r=0) Smartphones and Well-being (https://theconversation.com/to-improve-digital-well-being-put-your-phone-down-and-talk-to-people-82057) Support this podcastSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/talk-of-today/donations

What 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 it. In order to solve this problem, we first need to understand it. There is no better lens to view things of this nature through than that off energy and information and how these primordial entities flow across time, space — across the scale of life in all of its forms, and the artifacts It creates. Our guest today is Geoffrey West. Geoffrey is a theoretical physicist who turned his attention to biology, applying the mathematical rigour of one in his discipline to the complexities of life. He's spent decades exploring the universal mathematical scaling laws that suffuse biology, from mitochondria, to cells, people you and I, and entire ecosystems. These laws are the natural scaffolding that has guided the growth of life over the eons and can explain and predict certain characteristics of its manifestations, like lifespan, metabolic rates, and growth, with incredible precision. Geoffrey then applied these insights to our societies and the cities they've formed. He found that cities do indeed follow very similar scaling laws to life. Given that urbanisation is increasing rapidly around the world and that cities are critical to our economies and lives, understanding the mathematical laws that these cities follow as they function and scale is paramount to developing a coherent and mathematically principled framework for sustainability. All of this and more is covered in his book Scale, which has been the source of inspiration of this conversation. It is in, in my opinion, one of the most important books of our time, one that should be in the hands of every policy maker, change-maker, urban planner, and intellectual explorer. Geoffrey has been the recipient of a number of awards and accolades for his work over the years. In 2006 Geoffrey was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World. He was the President of the Santa-Fe institute, the home of complexity science, and prior to that he was the leader, and founder, of the high energy physics group at Los Alamos National Laboratory. I feel deeply privileged to have had the opportunity to speak to Geoffrey and delight in sharing his insights with you in this episode. In our conversation we cover: what complexity science is and the characteristics of complex adaptive systems scaling laws of life the benefits of applying the computational, mathmetisable frameworks to problems in biology and society how cities are engines of efficiency, and the scaling laws that make this possible Most importantly, the desperate need for a fundamental shift in how societies around the world operate, or risk collapse. Support this podcastSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/talk-of-today/donations

Visakan 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: understanding what makes people tick. These come in forms of long twitter threads, covering things like friendships and partnerships, procrastination, marketing, aesthetics, community, — there's too many to list. All of these seem to be interconnected in a massive visa-web of insight. I think about it as the twitterfication of his brain. He's also well on his way to writing 1 million words, which can be found on his blog, He's one of my favourite people to follow, because I have no idea what I'm going to read next, but I know it will make me see the world in a new way. We have a pretty sporadic chat, covering topics including: - Identity - Diversifying your meaning portfolio - The Three S's -- Sensitivity, Smarts, Strength - Aesthetics - ADHD - Being a high-voltage person. Visakan Veerasamy Twitter: https://twitter.com/@visakanv Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/visa Blog: http://visakanv.com/ Visa's latest ebook (https://t.co/FhjOsfg9Gy?amp=1) Support this podcastSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/talk-of-today/donations

The 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 Sanchez-Bayo. Francisco is an environmental scientist and ecologist at the University of Sydney. He focuses on the the risk assessment of pesticide contaminants on organisms, particularly their affects on birds and aquatic ecosystems, and the fate and transport of contaminants in the environment. He's been the author or co-author of over 80 articles and book chapters — one of which is the focus of today's discussion. Earlier this year he published a paper titled: Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers. The beginning of the abstract reads: Biodiversity of insects is threatened worldwide. Here, we present a comprehensive review of 73 historical reports of insect declines from across the globe, and systematically assess the underlying drivers. Our work reveals dramatic rates of decline that may lead to the extinction of 40% of the world's insect species over the next few decades.The report states that main drivers of the population decline are intensive agriculture, pollution and climate change. Speaking to ABC television in Australia, Dr Sanchez-Bayo said: “We are not alarmists, we are realists. We are experiencing the sixth mass extinction on Earth. If we destroy the basis of the ecosystem, which are the insects, then we destroy all the other animals that rely on them for a food source. “It will collapse altogether and that’s why we think it’s not dramatic, it’s a reality.” Heavy stuff. In my discussion with The topic of today has an importance in our lives than most of us may be unaware of. Today we're talking about 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 Sanchez-Bayo. Francisco is an environmental scientist and ecologist at the University of Sydney. He focuses on the the risk assessment of pesticide contaminants on organisms, particularly their affects on birds and aquatic ecosystems, and the fate and transport of contaminants in the environment. He's been the author or co-author of over 80 articles and book chapters — one of which is the focus of today's discussion. Earlier this year he published a paper titled: Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers. The beginning of the abstract reads: Biodiversity of insects is threatened worldwide. Here, we present a comprehensive review of 73 historical reports of insect declines from across the globe, and systematically assess the underlying drivers. Our work reveals dramatic rates of decline that may lead to the extinction of 40% of the world's insect species over the next few decades.The report states that main drivers of the population decline are intensive agriculture, pollution and climate change. Speaking to ABC television in Australia, Dr Sanchez-Bayo said: “We are not alarmists, we are realists. We are experiencing the sixth mass extinction on Earth. If we destroy the basis of the ecosystem, which are the insects, then we destroy all the other animals that rely on them for a food source. “It will collapse altogether and that’s why we think it’s not dramatic, it’s a reality.” Heavy stuff. In my discussion with... Support this podcastSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/talk-of-today/donations

This 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 with its foundation in effective altruism, which is a philosophy and social movement that aims to apply evidence and reason to determine the most effective ways to benefit others. If this is the first time you’ve been exposed to these ideas, i highly recommend you check out their websites and content. I’m sure it will change the way you think about how you navigate the world, and could realistically increase the positive impact you have on the world by orders of magnitude. This mode of thinking has really changed the way i view the world. As i said at the start, my guest today is Rob Wiblin. Rob is director of research at 80,000 hours and hosts the 80,000 hours podcast. He studied genetics and economics at the Australian National University (ANU) and was named Young Alumnus of the Year in 2015. He has worked as a research economist in various Australian Government agencies, he was Research Director and then Executive Director at the Centre for Effective Altruism in Oxford and then became Research Director for 80,000 Hours. He and the 80,000 hours crew also know how to throw a great party. So we hit on quite a few topics in the 40 minutes we had to chat, which included: What is ‘good’? Universal basic income Global issues that we face today How to choose a career path Websites you can visit to find out how to donate to charity more effectively Why sorting out your mental health might need to be a priority And some mental frameworks and tools to help you navigate the world. Rob's Twitter (https://twitter.com/robertwiblin) The Dictators Handbook (https://www.amazon.com.au/Dictators-Handbook-Behavior-Almost-Politics/dp/1610391845) On What Matters (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b4tV1cWP1I) Pandemics (https://80000hours.org/2017/08/podcast-we-are-not-worried-enough-about-the-next-pandemic/) http://www.robwiblin.com/ (http://www.robwiblin.com/) The Importance of the long-run (https://80000hours.org/articles/why-the-long-run-future-matters-more-than-anything-else-and-what-we-should-do-about-it/) Support this podcastSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/talk-of-today/donations

Tiago 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 an arms-dealer for smart people. Find Tiago online: Twitter: https://twitter.com/fortelabs Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/simulacrumsquared Website: https://www.fortelabs.co/ Links discussed: Body keeps the score: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18693771-the-body-keeps-the-score Hyperion: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77566.Hyperion Eric Chaisson -- Cosmic Evolution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLtJyg_f3B0 Support this podcastSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/talk-of-today/donations

Our 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 podcastSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/talk-of-today/donations

This 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 podcastSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/talk-of-today/donations