FORA.tv - Audio Program of the Week

Kevin Kelly, Senior Maverick at WIRED and author of What Technology Wants, discusses the future of the digital media landscape. This program was recorded in collaboration with the NExTWORK Conference, on June 22, 2011. NExTWORK is a one-day, interdisciplinary conference that will feature world-renowned business leaders, technologists, and thinkers exploring the promise and peril of the network's future, as well as the most pressing digital issues and opportunities today. Kevin Kelly has been a participant in, and reporter on, the information technology revolution for the past 20 years. His books include the best-selling work on the networked economy, New Rules for the New Economy, and the classic volume on decentralized emergent systems, Out of Control. His most recent book, What Technology Wants, lays out a provocative view of technology as an autonomous force in the world. Kelly helped launch WIRED in 1993 and served as executive editor for six years, during which the magazine twice won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence. He currently holds the title of Senior Maverick at WIRED and is the publisher and editor of the Cool Tools website. From 1984 to 1990, Kelly was the publisher and editor of the Whole Earth Review. He also helped launch the WELL, a pioneering online service, in 1985 and co-founded the ongoing Hackers' Conference. His writings have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Time, Harpers, Science, GQ, and Esquire.

Humans now engage the Earth at Gaian scale. How did Earth and humans get to this state? Given how we got here, how should we proceed? Biologist Tim Flannery argues that the evolutionary perspective of Alfred Russell Wallace offers better guidance than the more familiar Darwinian version of evolution. Australian biologist Tim Flannery is the renowned author of The Weather Makers, The Future Eaters, and a great ecological history of North America, The Eternal Frontier. His current book is Here on Earth: A Natural History of the Planet. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Long Now Foundation, on May 3, 2011.

Taking a break from his role as co-host of Discovery Channel's MythBusters, Adam Savage talks about inspiration with attendees of the 2011 Maker Faire Bay Area. What inspires you? This program was recorded on May 22, 2011. Adam Savage has spent his life gathering skills that allow him to take what's in his brain and make it real. He's built everything from ancient Buddhas to futuristic weapons, from spaceships to dancing vegetables, from fine art sculptures to animated chocolate and just about anything else you can think of. Since 1993, Adam has concentrated on the special-effects industry, honing his skills through more than 100 television commercials and a dozen feature films, including Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace and Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Galaxy Quest, Terminator 3, A.I. and the Matrix sequels. He's also designed props and sets for Coca-Cola, Hershey's, Lexus and a host of New York and San Francisco theater companies. Not only has he worked and consulted in the research and development division for toy companies and made several short films, but Adam has also acted in several films and commercials -- including a Charmin ad, in which he played Mr. Whipple's stock boy, and a Billy Joel music video, "Second Wind," in which he drowns. Today, in addition to co-hosting Discovery Channel's MythBusters, Adam teaches advanced model making, most recently in the industrial design department at the San Francisco Academy of Art. Somehow he also finds time to devote to his own art. His sculptures have been showcased in over 40 shows in San Francisco, New York and Charleston, W.Va.

This program was recorded in collaboration with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, on April 26, 2011. Do you post comments online? Blog about your ideas? Tweet your opinion? Perhaps you're a "lurker," listening to, reading and following others who have their say in social media? It's no secret that Twitter, blogs and Facebook have changed the way we communicate, but have they tapped in to our modern pathological need to be "revered"? And, what does it really mean to be "someone" in the Twittersphere? At a pub in Brisbane, a panel of twittering journos and scientists fess up on their desires, obsessions, and hates of social media and try to unpick the psychology behind our intimate relationship with it. Among the panelists are Dr. Rod Lamberts, a science communications expert from ANU; Andy Gregson, a social networking entrepreneur; and Natasha Mitchell, the presenter of Radio National's "All in the Mind," who's a fervent blogger and Tweeter herself. Leading the conversation is "New Inventors" judge and ABC science broadcaster, Bernie Hobbs. This event is presented by ABC Cafe Scientific, as part of the Brisbane 'media140' conference.

Inside Google: The Myths, the Culture and the Secret Sauce Is it the five-star chefs, free laundry and on-site masseuses that are the secret to Google's success? Perhaps its unique management style and innovative team? Either way, the revolutionary search engine has so deeply impacted our work and culture that we have turned the company name into a verb. Despite being one of the most successful and celebrated companies in history, Google maintains an air of mystery, and cultural myths abound. How has Google stayed innovative and cutting edge while making the transition to tech giant? What exactly happens inside the elusive Google campus? Steven Levy takes a deep dive into Google management, its products and its company culture. Join us as he shares untold stories and unpacks the mythology behind Google. - The Commonwealth Club of California Steven Levy is a Senior Writer for Wired and Formerly Senior Editor and Chief Technology Writer for Newsweek. Levy is the author of the 2011 book, In the Plex. John Battelle is an entrepreneur, journalist, professor, and author. Currently founder and chairman of Federated Media Publishing, he is also a founder and executive producer of conferences in the media, technology, communications, and entertainment industries as well as "band manager" with BoingBoing.net.

Professor Donald Johanson, founding director of The Institute of Human Origins (IHO) at Arizona State University, discovered the 3.2 million year old hominid skeleton popularly known as "Lucy" (Australopithecus afarensis) in Ethiopia in 1974. She has become an icon in this field of study and remains an important touchstone for scholars and lay-people alike for understanding our beginnings. This famous discovery forever changed our understanding of human origins. Dr. Johanson's talk focuses on how paleoanthropological field work over the last 30 years has established the continent of Africa as the crucible for human evolution. - California Academy of Sciences Donald C. Johanson is the director of the Institute of Human Origins. For the past 30 years he has conducted field and laboratory research in paleoanthropology. Most notably, he discovered the 3.18 million year old hominid skeleton popularly known as "Lucy." He has written, among other books, the widely read Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind (with Maitland Edey) in 1991, and numerous scientific and popular articles. In 1994, he co-wrote Ancestors: In Search of Human Origins and narrated a companion NOVA television series seen by more than 100 million people worldwide. He has also published From Lucy to Language (with Blake Edgar, principal photography by David Brill), 1996, and most recently, Lucy's Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins (with Kate Wong), 2009. Johanson is a frequent lecturer at universities and other forums in the United States and abroad.

Historian Ian Morris lectures on his work, Why the West Rules -- For Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal About the Future. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Long Now Foundation, on April 13, 2011. A Malaysian lawyer told a British journalist: "I am wearing your clothes, I speak your language, I watch your films, and today is whatever date it is because you say so." Do chaps or maps drive history? Human brilliance and folly, or geography? Or maybe genes, or culture? Ian Morris goes a level deeper than Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel to determine why the standards of Europe and North America now prevail in the world when it was the East that dominated for the 1,200 years between 550 and 1750 CE. Why did that happen, and what will happen next? Ian Morris is an archaeologist and professor of classics and history at Stanford. His splendid book is Why the West Rules -- For Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal About the Future.

Healy Hamilton, the director of the Center for Applied Biodiversity Informatics at the California Academy of Sciences, talks with freelance science journalist Mark Hertsgaard about his latest book, Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth. This program was recorded in collaboration with the California Academy of Sciences, on March 23, 2011. Mark Hertsgaard, an independent journalist based in San Francisco, is the author of five books that have been translated into sixteen languages. He covers climate change for Vanity Fair, The Nation, Time and Die Zeit and has written for many of the world's leading newspapers and magazines. Dr. Healy Hamilton heads the Center for Biodiversity Research and Information at the California Academy of Sciences, and serves as adjunct professor in the Department of Geography at San Francisco State University. Her interests range from researching the effects of climate change on biodiversity to the evolution and conservation of cetaceans and seahorses.

Venture capitalist and Twitter guru Guy Kawasaki talks about his book, Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Commonwealth Club of California, on March 24, 2011. Marketing these days is strategic and holistic and involves a whole lot of genuine social media engagement. Renowned venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki is famous for helping to create Apple product evangelism and for his legendary marketing methods. He explains how to develop the highest level of relations with customers, employees and colleagues by affecting their hearts, minds and actions. Guy Kawasaki is a Silicon Valley venture capitalist. He was one of the Apple employees originally responsible for marketing the Macintosh in 1984. He is currently a Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures, and has been involved in the rumor reporting site Truemors and the RSS aggregator Alltop. He is also a well-known blogger, who trades on his association with Apple. Josh McHugh is CEO of Attention Span Media. Josh's experience at the intersection of technology, media and business began 14 years ago at Forbes Magazine, where he chronicled the brainiacs and billionaires behind the turn-of-the-century tech upheaval. Before joining Attention Span in 2008, he was a contributing editor at Wired Magazine and a writer for Vanity Fair, Outside, and shelfloads of other publications. He has also worked as a copywriter for advertising juggernauts Wieden + Kennedy and Goodby, Silverstein and Partners.

Professor and journalist Peter Beinart talks with Paul Krugman, New York Times op-ed columnist and a Nobel Laureate in Economics. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Graduate Center at the City University of New York, on April 6, 2011. Paul Krugman is Professor of Economics and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, at Princeton University, and an Op-Ed columnist for the Times. His numerous books include "The Great Unraveling," "The Conscience of a Liberal," and "The Return of Depression Economics," an updated edition of which was published in 2009. For his contributions to New Trade Theory, he received the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Peter Beinart is an American journalist and Associate Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York. He is a Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation and Senior Political Writer for The Daily Beast website. Beinart worked at The New Republic until 2006, for much of the time writing The New Republic's signature "TRB" column, which was reprinted in the New York Post and other major American newspapers.

Everything's going to Hell in a handbasket! Or is it? Not according to Matt Ridley. Ridley takes a long-term view of humanity's past to project a deeply optimistic view of our future. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Long Now Foundation, on March 22, 2011. This program contains visual aids. A complete video version is available at: http://fora.tv/2011/03/22/Matt_Ridley_Deep_Optimism Via trade and other cultural activities, "ideas have sex," and that drives human history in the direction of inconstant but accumulative improvement over time. The criers of havoc keep being proved wrong. A fundamental optimism about human affairs is deeply rational and can be reliably conjured with. Trained at Oxford as a zoologist and an editor at The Economist for eight years, Matt Ridley's newest book is The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves. His earlier works include Francis Crick; Nature via Nurture; Genome; and The Origins of Virtue. Matt Ridley's books have sold over 800,000 copies, been translated into 27 languages and been short-listed for six literary prizes. In 2004 he won the National Academies Book Award from the US National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine for Nature via Nurture. He is married to the neuroscientist Professor Anya Hurlbert. They have two children and live at Blagdon near Newcastle upon Tyne.

Vivian Schiller, former President and CEO of NPR, discusses the state of public media in America, in a conversation with former PBS President and CEO Pat Mitchell. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Paley Center for media, on April 5, 2011. A media executive and journalist with more than twenty years experience in the industry, Vivian Schiller was president and CEO of NPR from January 2009 to March 2011. She joined NPR from The New York Times Company where she served as senior vice president and general manager of NYTimes.com. As president and CEO, Schiller oversaw all NPR operations and initiatives, including the organization's critical partnerships with its more than 800 member stations, and their service to the more than twenty-six million people who listen to NPR programming every week. During her tenure at the New York Times, she led the day-to-day operations of NYTimes.com, the largest newspaper Web site on the internet, overseeing product, technology, marketing, classifieds, strategic planning, and business development. Pat Mitchell (born January 20, 1943) is the current President and Chief Executive Officer of The Paley Center for Media (formerly the Museum of Television and Radio) in New York City and the former President and CEO of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). She resigned from PBS in March 2006 and was replaced by the current CEO, Paula Kerger, formerly of New York's PBS station, WNET. At PBS, she was named President and Chief Executive Officer in March 2000, the first woman and first producer and journalist to hold the position.

Can problems like poverty and climate change by fixed through games? Visionary game designer Jane McGonigal thinks they can. With more than 174 million gamers in the United States, McGonigal explores how we can save the world through the power of gaming. McGonigal is helping pioneer the fasting-growing genre of games that turns gameplay to achieve socially positive outcomes. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Commonwealth Club of California, on January 24, 2011. Jane McGonigal is the director of games research and development at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, California. She has created and deployed games and missions in more than 30 countries on six continents. She specializes in games that help gamers enjoy their real lives more -- and games that challenge players to tackle real-world problems, through planetary-scale collaboration. McGonigal is the author of the newly released book, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World.

Acclaimed psychologist Glenn Wilson discusses research on human sexual behavior. This program was recorded in collaboration with Gresham College, on February 22, 2011. Why do the "selfish genes" of men and women sometimes create conflict? How do monogamy, polygamy and infidelity stack up in terms of adaptive value? Is sex addiction a real disease or just an excuse for bad behaviour? The distinction between explanation and moral justification. Reconciling the discrepancy between male and female instincts. As well as being one of Britain's best-known psychologists, Glenn Wilson is the Visiting Gresham Professor of Psychology. He has appeared on numerous television and radio programs and has published more than 150 scientific articles and 33 books. He is an expert on individual differences; social and political attitudes; sexual behavior, deviation and dysfunction; and psychology applied to the performing arts. Not one to shy away from contention, his most recent books include: Born Gay: The Psychobiology of Sex Orientation, The Secret of Lasting Love and Psychology for Performing Artists.He has lectured widely abroad, having been a guest of the Italian Cultural Association, and a visiting professor at California State University, Los Angeles, San Francisco State University, Stanford University, the University of Nevada, Reno and Sierra Nevada College. Apart from being a professional psychologist, Dr. Wilson trained as an opera singer at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and still undertakes professional engagements as an actor, singer and director.

Technology is rapidly evolving the state of modern war, notes political scientist P.W. Singer. But as our battles are increasingly fought at arm's length by unmanned drones and robotic soldiers, how will it change the way we think about conflict? This program was recorded in collaboration with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, on October 2, 2010. The rate of technological change over the last century has been exponential. According to Moore's Law, computing power has doubled for the price every two years, a trend set to continue or even accelerate. It’s a trend that's seen robotics take centre stage in the theatre of war -- and in some cases, saved many lives. But according to political scientist P. W. Singer, it may be taking us into the ultimate of ethical grey areas. Singer claims "YouTube wars," fought by remote consoles thousands of kilometres away from the battlelines, have profoundly compromised the gravitas that once accompanied the horrors of warfare. For example, unmanned squadrons of "Predator Drones" currently carry out five times the airstrikes in Pakistan that were waged on Kosovo ten years ago. But, as Singer points out, this isn’t actually referred to as a "war." As the military becomes increasingly disconnected from the battles they are waging, Singer checks up on the cost to the operators and the targets of our newest "killer apps" -- the unmanned robot armies of the twenty-first century. - Australian Broadcasting Corporation Peter W. Singer was speaking to the Lowy Institute's Rory Medcalf at the Sydney Opera House for the 2010 Festival of Dangerous Ideas. - Australian Broadcasting Corporation Peter Warren Singer is Senior Fellow and Director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at the Brookings Institution. He is the youngest scholar named Senior Fellow in Brookings's 90-year history. In his personal capacity, Singer served as coordinator of the Obama-08 campaign’s defense policy task force. In 2009, Singer was named by Foreign Policy Magazine to the Top 100 Global Thinkers List, of the people whose ideas most influenced the world that year. Dr. Singer is considered one of the world's leading experts on changes in 21st century warfare. He was named by the President to Joint Forces Command's Transformation Advisory Group. He has written for the full range of major media and journals, including the Boston Globe, L.A. Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, Current History, Survival, International Security, Parameters, Weltpolitik, and the World Policy Journal. Dr. Singer’s most recent book, Wired for War (Penguin, 2009), looks at the implications of robotics and other new technologies for war, politics, ethics, and law in the 21st century.