The Future Grind Podcast: Science | Technology | Business | Futurism

Host Ryan O’Shea speaks with Amanda Plimpton of Livestock Labs, a startup creating implants to track the health & wellness of cattle. They spun out of the work of Grindhouse Wetware & they hope to soon return to the human augmentation space. Amanda has previously spoken DEF CON’s Biohacking Village & is known for her work in the biohacking community. They discuss the path to market for implantable and augmentative devices, the balance between valuing open source & protecting intellectual property, & mor

Host Ryan O’Shea speaks with Anna Bethke, the head of AI for Social Good at Intel. Anna is responsible for establishing partnerships with social impact organizations, and is actively involved in the AI ethics discussion and collaborates on research surrounding the design of fair, transparent, ethical, and accessible AI systems. Anna received degrees in Aerospace Engineering from MIT & worked as a data scientist at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. They discuss bias and AI ethics, available resources, and more.

Host Ryan O’Shea speaks with Supervisory Special Agent Edward You of the FBI’s Biological Countermeasures Unit. This unit is in the Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate and is focused on identifying existing and emerging biological threats. They discuss the mission and operation of the Biological Countermeasures Unit, the perceived differences between intentional and accidental harm, the FBI’s interest in community labs and citizen science, & much more. More at hello@futuregrind.org.

Host Ryan O’Shea speaks with entrepreneur and author David Wood. David was one of the early pioneers of the smartphone industry & serves as Chair of the London Futurists, which hosts educational events dedicated to exploring accelerating technologies. David has been included in T3 magazine’s list of the ”100 most influential people in technology”, & has authored or edited 8 books including his latest, Sustainable Superabundance: A Universal Transhumanist Invitation.

In this installment of the Future Grind podcast host Ryan O’Shea sits down with artist, designer, author, and speaker Natasha Vita-More. Natasha is co-editor of The Transhumanist Reader: Classical and Contemporary Essays on the Science, Technology and Philosophy of the Human Future, as well as the Executive Director of Humanity Plus, a nonprofit organization which advocates for the ethical use of emerging technologies to improve human capabilities. More at futuregrind.org.

Host Ryan O’Shea speaks with Paul Platte of Covestro, one of the leading producers of high-performance polymers & a major supplier to the automotive, electronics, & healthcare industries. They discuss many of the crucial design & engineering challenges that most people overlook when discussing self-driving cars, as well as the ramifications of electric vehicles, changing ownership models, & drones.

Host Ryan O’Shea sits down with Dr. James Hughes, a bioethicist & Executive Director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, which he founded alongside Nick Bostrom in 2004. James is well known for his contributions to the technoprogressive movement, and was previously a Buddhist monk. They discuss the potential of a technoprogressive future, ideas for the regulation of transformative technologies, the controversies around brain augmentation and animal uplift, and more!

Host Ryan O’Shea speaks with Todd Kuiken, Senior Research Scholar at the Genetic Engineering & Society Center at North Carolina State University. In this role Todd travels the world to study biosafety and biosecurity within the do-it-yourself biology community. He previously spent time in Washington D.C. leading the Wilson Center’s Synthetic Biology Project. They discuss his collaboration with DIYbio.org, safety within citizen science, public perception, what is holding DIYbio back, & more!

Host Ryan O’Shea sits down with Gennady Stolyarov II, Chairman of the US Transhumanist Party. In addition to his work work with the Party, Gennady is a published author and composer, and he has contributed articles to the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, the Brighter Brains Institute, the Mises Institute, & more. They discuss the current state of transhumanist politics, why Gennady feels that transhumanism can transcend socialism, libertarianism, and all other conventional ideologies.

We're excited to announce that we have partnered with the Life Extension Advocacy Foundation to produce the Rejuvenation Roundup Podcast, hosted by Ryan O'Shea! To celebrate, this special installment of Future Grind features the full first episode of the Rejuvenation Roundup Podcast. Explore the latest in life extension and anti-aging science with a dive into a month's worth of scientific insights and new breakthroughs. More at futuregrind.org!

Host Ryan O’Shea sits down with Rob Lee, the CEO & owner of the Pittsburgh Knights. The Knights participate in the growing world of eSports, where competitors battle in virtual environments with very real stakes. These may be video games, but according to some metrics, eSports leagues already have audience numbers that surpass those of some major sports, and it’s popularity continues to grow. They discuss making a living in virtual worlds, the impact of IP laws, the future of entertainment, VR, & more.

In this installment of the Future Grind podcast host Ryan O’Shea speaks with Jorgen Pedersen, the Founder and CEO of RE2 Robotics! RE2 has developed what are perhaps the most advanced humanlike robotic arms in the world, which are currently used by the US military to diffuse bombs. They also have applications in healthcare, agriculture, energy, and more. We discuss how robots can save lives, the controversy around robots on the battlefield, the future of automation, and more! More at futuregrind.org.

In this episode Ryan O’Shea speaks with Britt Wray, a host of the BBC podcast Tomorrow’s World & the author of the book Rise of the Necrofauna: The Science, Ethics, and Risks of De-Extinction. Her book focuses on the idea of resurrecting extinct animals, such as the woolly mammoth, & whether or not this is possible, ethical, & safe. Britt focuses on the ethical issues of emerging science & technology, creating stories which she tells through radio, tv, print, & public speaking. More at futuregrind.org.

In this installment of the Future Grind podcast, host Ryan O’Shea speaks with Amal Graafstra! Amal was one of the early pioneers of RFID implants, and he created the first implantable NFC tag, the xNT, in 2013. He sells these implants through Dangerous Things, and his new company, VivoKey Technologies, promises a cryptographically secure digital identify authentication and payment solution. We discuss concerns of security and privacy, the FDA, safety, and more. Show notes at futuregrind.org.

Host Ryan O'Shea talks life extension, CRISPR, DIYbio & more with Oliver Medvedik, co-founder of both the Genspace citizen science laboratory in Brooklyn and the Life Extension Advocacy Foundation. Oliver is a molecular biologist with a Ph.D. at Harvard Medical School, and in addition to his work on life extension, Oliver is the Director of the Biomedical Engineering Center at The Cooper Union.