Computing Up
Conversations about computation writ large, with Michael Littman and Dave Ackley.
Latest episodes
Jun 7, 2020 • 44min
Cranky About Theory - Computing Up 36th conversation
Dave hates theory. Michael disagrees.
May 3, 2020 • 42min
Catching up with Peter Winkler - Computing Up 35th conversation
Michael and Dave talk with mathematician, computer scientist, and puzzle maker Peter Winkler, about topics ranging from randomness to free will, and combinatorics to Sleeping Beauty, and John Horton Conway to Erdős number 1. And don't miss the bonus puzzle! Conway's (first) Princeton Lecture [Title photo courtesy of Peter Winkler]
Apr 1, 2020 • 39min
Artificial Death - Computing Up 34th Conversation
Michael and Dave talk about pandemic models and simulation journalism, programming languages, and what people really want. Washington Post's simulator is here
Mar 1, 2020 • 56min
The Multilevel Michael Frank - Computing Up 33rd Conversation
Michael and Dave talk to Brown University neuroscientist Michael J Frank about topics from brains and minds, to engineering and machine learning, to dopamine and Parkinson's disease and New Age woo.
Feb 1, 2020 • 55min
Melanie Moses Scales Up - Computing Up 32nd Conversation
Computer scientist and biologist Melanie Moses joins Michael and Dave in a conversation ranging from biology nerds vs computing nerds to the future of justice in the United States, with a whole lot of scaling along the way.
Jan 1, 2020 • 48min
Michael Carbin Computes the Winning Ticket & More - Computing Up 31st Conversation
Michael Carbin, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, joins Michael and Dave to discuss neural net lottery tickets, computing with uncertainty and more. [Cover photo courtesy of Michael Carbin]
Dec 1, 2019 • 44min
Zander Furnas on Politics as Computation - Computing Up Thirtieth Conversation
Zander Furnas helps Dave get a clue about political science, in theory and in practice -- from authoritarianism to democracy, and from Congressional staffer's incentives to Elizabeth Warren's plan for lobbyists, and whether there's hope for society after all. [Background image by www.GAUPERphoto.com used by permission of Zander Furnas]
Nov 2, 2019 • 40min
Living Computation and Society - Computing Up Twenty-Ninth Conversation
Dave and Michael revisit the meaning of life (the subject of the second Computing Up conversation) in the context of politics and society and human destiny. [Photo by Jeffrey Lee on Unsplash]
Sep 30, 2019 • 36min
Theories of Theories of Everything - Computing Up Twenty-Eighth Conversation
Inspired by a WIRED profile of Karl Friston, Dave and Michael talk about theories of everything, and theories thereof. [WIRED Article: https://www.wired.com/story/karl-friston-free-energy-principle-artificial-intelligence/ ]
Sep 1, 2019 • 47min
Brian Christian's Algorithms - Computing Up Twenty-Seventh Conversation
Author Brian Christian talks about "Algorithms to Live By", and computing writ large, with Michael and Dave. [Cover photo by Michael Langan courtesy of Brian Christian]
