The Disruptors

Ben Hammersley (@benhammersley) is a technologist, futurist author and Editor-at-Large of UK’s WIRED magazine.   Ben explores the effects of the internet and the digital network on the world’s business, political and social atmospheres. His latest book, 64 Things You Need to Know Now For Then gives us the essential guide to the things we need to know for life in the 21st century. He's the writer, host, and narrator of Netflix and BBC television series Cybercrimes with Ben Hammersley that was shot in over six countries across the globe. As the first specialist correspondent on the internet for The Times and The Guardian, he became the inventor of the popular term, ‘podcast.’   Ben's been called upon to advise three governments and countless tech organizations, including a seat on the European Commission High-Level Group on Media Freedom of the European Union. He has a private pilot’s license, is a Rescue Diver, and is a nationally registered Emergency Medical Technician in the USA, with an additional wilderness medicine diploma, and he holds qualifications in genomic science, disaster response, and advanced cardiac life support   You can listen right here on iTunes   In today's episode we discuss: * How societal norms and social media breakdown without problem guidance * The future of publishing and media in an age of outreach * Why Ben thinks we can change politics and we're both excited about the future for Millenials * What it's like as a futurist and why most companies are living in the past * The effect of GDPR and Europe's rules and regulations * Why internet censorship is important and key to democracy * Is democracy or authoritarianism a better model going forward * Why Ben isn't worried about AI and thinks blockchain is overrated * What happens when China becomes THE economic powerhouse of the world * How Ben accidentally invented the term podcast and why it's haunted him ever since * What it's like working with Netflix and the future of solo-media companies * Why Ben believes digital advertising is an enormous bubble Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to Support The Disruptors Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to Support The Disruptors The Disruptors is supported by the generosity of its readers and listeners. If you find our work valuable, please consider supporting us on Patreon, via Paypal or with DonorBox powered by Stripe. Donate  

Charlie Hartwell (@ShiftIt_Inst) is an Operating Partner at the Bridge Builders Collaborative, a consumer health tech investment group that invested early in Pear Therapeutics, Insight Timer and Headspace, in addition to being a "Change Agent" focused on igniting consciousness, mindfulness, and creating a more connected human world. Subscribe on Apple Podcast | Google Podcast | Android | Overcast | Spotify | Youtube You can listen right here on iTunes In today's episode we discuss: * Where are headed with consumer health tech and consciousness * Why Charlie's afraid our collective ability to live together * How mindfulness and meditation can help us get through this COVID crisis * The role of psychedelics in shifting mental health * Why meditation may just be the next best medic * Which alternative health practices hold the most promise for the future of healthcare * What Charlie thinks we should do for a more mentally-sound world * Why we're treating patients and health all wrong * How investment dollars drive innovation * Why the psychedelic movement of today is much more than a fad * What's the future of wearable tech Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to Support The Disruptors The Disruptors is supported by the generosity of its readers and listeners. If you find our work valuable, please consider supporting us on Patreon, via Paypal or with DonorBox powered by Stripe. Donate  

Cory Doctorow (@doctorow) is the best selling science fiction author, blogger, and technology activist. He is the co-editor of the popular weblog Boing Boing), a contributor to many magazines, websites, and newspapers and a special consultant to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (eff.org), a non-profit civil liberties group that defends freedom in technology law, policy, standards, and treaties. He holds an honorary doctorate in computer science from the Open University (UK), where he is a Visiting Professor; he is also an MIT Media Lab Research Affiliate. In 2007, he served as the Fulbright Chair at the Annenberg Center for Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California. His novels have been translated into dozens of languages and are published by Tor Books, Head of Zeus (UK), Titan Books (UK) and HarperCollins (UK). He has won the Locus, Prometheus, Copper Cylinder, White Pine and Sunburst Awards, and been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula and British Science Fiction Awards. Several of his award-winning novels include: * Little Brother * Homeland * Pirate Cinema Cory also co-founded the open-source peer-to-peer software company OpenCola and serves on the boards and advisory boards of the Participatory Culture Foundation, the Clarion Foundation, the Open Technology Fund and the Metabrainz Foundation. Subscribe on Apple Podcast | Google Podcast | Android | Overcast | Spotify | Youtube You can listen right here on iTunes   In today's episode we discuss: * Possible geopolitical consequence of the COVID-19 epidemic * New ways to consider the role of economics and market forces post Corona * Why Cory thinks much of Europe will push further left after the world normalizes * The reason Cory isn't worried about a post-COVID new Patriot Act * Why today feels a lot like post-WWII oligarchy capitalism * The five new horsemen of the battle for individual privacy * How to avoid self-destructive late-stage capitalism * Why Coronavirus death and fallout may swing the future of US politics * Why the US is WAY more socialized than citizens think * How we could fund a successful Green New Deal * What were the true impacts of Edward Snowden * Are we headed toward a constant location-based tracking and surveillance * What worries Cory most about today's epidemic climate Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to Support The Disruptors The Disruptors is supported by the generosity of its readers and listeners. If you find our work valuable, please consider supporting us on Patreon, via Paypal or with DonorBox powered by Stripe.

Douglas Rushkoff (@rushkoff) is an author, teacher, and documentarian who studies human autonomy in a digital age. He has been named one of the “world’s ten most influential intellectuals” by MIT. Douglas' work explores how different technological environments change our relationship to narrative, money, power, and one another. He coined such concepts as “viral media” and “social currency,” and has been a leading voice for applying digital media toward social and economic justice. Douglas is the author twenty books including bestsellers Present Shock, Throwing Rocks and the Google Bus, Program or Be Programmed, Life Inc, and Media Virus and is releasing his new book Team Human based off his podcast. He has written and hosted three award-winning PBS Frontline documentaries – The Merchants of Cool looked at the influence of corporations on youth culture, The Persuaders, about the cluttered landscape of marketing, and new efforts to overcome consumer resistance, and Digital Nation, about life on the virtual frontier. Most recently, he made Generation Like, an exploration of teens, marketers, and social media. Douglas is also a research fellow of the Institute for the Future, and founder of the Laboratory for Digital Humanism at CUNY/Queens, where he is a Professor of Media Theory and Digital Economics. His novels and comics, Ecstasy Club, A.D.D, and Aleister & Adolf, are all being developed for the screen. Douglas also served as an Advisor to the United Nations Commission on World Culture and regularly appears on TV shows from NBC Nightly News and Larry King to the Colbert Report and Bill Maher. Subscribe on Apple Podcast | Google Podcast | Android | Overcast | Spotify | Youtube     You can listen right here on iTunes In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: * The reason billionaires are planning for the "inevitable" apocalypse and why that's a big problem * How broken the US political system is and how we can fix it * The big issue with the stock market and venture capital and how we can reinvent business for the 21st century * Why our future is in our hands and what we can do about it * Which tech giants will get broken up and which will reign * The problems with social media and plans to fight back * How regulations affect business and monopolies and where we are headed * Why people are pushing back against tech and how it impacts our world * What Google's walkout means for the future of tech * Why Douglas thinks companies are the key to changing our world * The reason Douglas is very worried about growing inequality * Why capital is the only thing that counts today * How to redesign our education system for the modern era  Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to Support FringeFM FringeFM is supported by the generosity of its readers and listeners. If you find our work valuable, please consider supporting us on Patreon,

Tony Parisi (@auradeluxe) is a virtual reality pioneer, serial entrepreneur, and angel investor. He co-created several, 3D graphics standards, is Head of AR/VR Ad Innovation at Unity Technologies, and author several O'Reilly Media books on virtual reality and WebGL. Today, Tony is has a leading spokesman for the immersive industry and was recently named one of Next Reality’s 30 People to Watch in Augmented Reality in 2019. Subscribe on Apple Podcast | Google Podcast | Android | Overcast | Spotify | Youtube You can listen right here on iTunes In today's episode we discuss: * Where are we on the AR and VR adoption cycle * What the future of AR/VR holds and why they will diverge * How COVID-19 is pushing us towards an immersive future * The big differences between consumer and enterprise VR adoption * Why Facebook and Oculus are well-placed to dominate virtual reality  * Which sci-fi inspirations are most realistic for augmented and virtual reality * What's the future look like for the entertainment industry * Why Tony isn't all that worried about any future tech * How tech life cycles are accelerating and what it all means * Why we have reached a tipping point in consumer VR adoption   Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to Support The Disruptors The Disruptors is supported by the generosity of its readers and listeners. If you find our work valuable, please consider supporting us on Patreon, via Paypal or with DonorBox powered by Stripe. Donate  

Mary Robinette Kowal (@robinettekowal) is a Nebula- and Hugo-award winning science fiction and fantasy author, a puppeteer, and podcaster. In addition The Calculating Stars: A Lady Astronaut Novel which was nominated for a Hugo in 2019 (sci-fi book of the year award), she's also the President of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and very involved in the push for diversity in science, STEM, and sci-fi as a whole. On her podcast, Writing Excuses, she and other award-winning authors share tips and tricks with aspiring authors looking to build their careers. Subscribe on Apple Podcast | Google Podcast | Android | Overcast | Spotify | Youtube You can listen right here on iTunes In today's episode we discuss: * How COVD-19 will affect the future of education * Why the Coronavirus issue is so bad in Italy and not other places * How looking at Polio and the Spanish flu can give us models of today's pandemic * The second-order effects of Corona on the future and economy as a whole * Best practices for fighting a plague * The big difference between European and US startups * Why COVD could end up being a net-positive for the US * Why quarantining can be huge in reducing epidemic death rates * How sci-fi helps us build a better future * How to prepare for a post-automation world * What is the future of books, publishing and media * The future of AI, creativity and jobs * Why Trump is the absolute wrong person at the helm of the US during this crisis Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to Support The Disruptors The Disruptors is supported by the generosity of its readers and listeners. If you find our work valuable, please consider supporting us on Patreon, via Paypal or with DonorBox powered by Stripe. Donate  

Miguel Arias Cañete (@mac_europa) was the European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy and led the EU negotiations of the Paris Agreement. He’s now involved with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation which has launched the Prize for Humanity, an annual €1m award for people or organizations from all over the world focused on mitigation of, and adaptation to climate change. Miguel has served the Spanish Government as both the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries and Minister for Agriculture, Food and Environment before being selected to head his Party List in the European Parliamentary elections. Subscribe on Apple Podcast | Google Podcast | Android | Overcast | Spotify | Youtube You can listen right here on iTunes In today's episode we discuss: * The unique challenges that went into crafting the Paris Accord * What the US's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement means for climate policy * How hard it is to ensure collective action on big problems * China's role in addressing the environment * Why Miguel thinks the US will rejoin the Paris Accords * How the EU is leading the effort on decarbonization * What to think about nuclear energy * The reason transportation is so hard to go green * What happens if we don't reach climate goals * The problems of bureaucracy and why the EU is actually pretty efficient * Which agritech areas are most important to reduce global warming * How business can be used as a force for good * Are we headed for a future of mass migrations * Why democracy is a stronger governance system than centralized economies in the long run * How China's policy on coal could crush climate goals Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to Support The Disruptors The Disruptors is supported by the generosity of its readers and listeners. If you find our work valuable, please consider supporting us on Patreon, via Paypal or with DonorBox powered by Stripe. Donate  

Ramez Naam (@ramez) is a computer scientist, futurist, angel investor and award-winning author best known for his Nexus Trilogy: Nexus, Crux and Apex His other (non-fiction) books include: The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet and More than Human: Embracing the Promises of Biological Enhancement. He's currently co-chair of energy and the environment at Singularity University and earlier in his career led teams at Microsoft working on Outlook, Internet Explorer and Bing where he co-patented 20 inventions, many alongside Bill Gates. Ramez has appeared on Sunday morning MSNBC, Yahoo! Finance, The New York Times, WSJ, PopSci, Wired, and many more. Ramez holds more than 20 patents, and many of those are as a co-inventor with Bill Gates. Subscribe on Apple Podcast | Google Podcast | Android | Overcast | Spotify | Youtube You can listen right here on iTunes In today's episode we discuss: * Why we're at a tipping point for carbon-emitting cars sold * What it was like working directly with Bill Gates * What is Ramez predicted about renewable energy and why it's better than even he thought * How technologists are solving global problems by fixing incentives and driving down costs * What it's like to be both a bestselling fiction and non-fiction author * Why Ramez is no longer a big believer in radical life extension * The brain2.0 movement and why we're becoming cyborgs * What Ramez thinks about CRISPR and genetically engineering people * The importance of sci-fi to shift societal attitudes * How to think about technological trends when tackling big problems * Why innovation often leaves behind a lot bodies * The reason Ramez is fundamentally optimist despite all the challenges we face * Why the secret to a better future is to create it Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to Support The Disruptors Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to Support The Disruptors The Disruptors is supported by the generosity of its readers and listeners. If you find our work valuable, please consider supporting us on Patreon, via Paypal or with DonorBox powered by Stripe. Donate

Hey guys, my book is finally live! You can grab it FREE for two days (3/26-27) at mattwardwrites.com/cynetic After this Friday, it'll be $2.99 and up so I recommend getting it while the getting's good. Here's the blurb. It's 2096, sixty years after ninety percent died from a man-made Bioplague. Humanity has splintered into four unequal subspecies: immortals, cyborgs, enhancers, and subservient half-human, half-animal hybrids.  The world is anything but equal. Hybrids everywhere are suffering, but sixteen-year-old Raek Mekorian, a wolfish with a nose for trouble, doesn’t see an alternative. Except the Resistance, who don’t stand a chance against the world government. His mom always said, “Keep your head down.” And he does, until his sister is murdered by a pair of cyborgs. Overnight, his simple life is shattered, fracturing the rigid governmental caste as he is thrust into the dangerous world of superhuman hit squads, Resistance uprisings, and secrets better left unsaid. With only built-in blasters and the advice of a mysterious professor, Raek must navigate crushing betrayal, self-doubt, and a limitless enemy whose evil knows no bounds. The fate of mankind may rest in his hands. Cynetic Wolf is the first in the Wolfish YA sci-fi dystopian series that features bloody immortality, post-apocalyptic progress, and gene editing that splinters the very fabric of society. If you like dark technothrillers, fast-paced adventure, and surprising sci-fi, are a fan of Divergent, Red Rising, or the Hunger Games, or love classics like the Handmaid’s Tale, Brave New World and Ender’s Game, you’ll love this speculative fiction thriller. Get Cynetic Wolf today for a page-turning dystopian whirlwind… right up to its astonishing conclusion! --   mattwardwrites.com/cynetic

Hey guys, my book is finally about to be published! You can grab it FREE for two days (3/26-27) at mattwardwrites.com/cynetic (link won't activate until 3/26). After this Friday, it'll be $2.99 and up so I recommend getting it while the getting's good. Here's the blurb. It's 2096, sixty years after ninety percent died from a man-made Bioplague. Humanity has splintered into four unequal subspecies: immortals, cyborgs, enhancers, and subservient half-human, half-animal hybrids.  The world is anything but equal. Hybrids everywhere are suffering, but sixteen-year-old Raek Mekorian, a wolfish with a nose for trouble, doesn’t see an alternative. Except the Resistance, who don’t stand a chance against the world government. His mom always said, “Keep your head down.” And he does, until his sister is murdered by a pair of cyborgs. Overnight, his simple life is shattered, fracturing the rigid governmental caste as he is thrust into the dangerous world of superhuman hit squads, Resistance uprisings, and secrets better left unsaid. With only built-in blasters and the advice of a mysterious professor, Raek must navigate crushing betrayal, self-doubt, and a limitless enemy whose evil knows no bounds. The fate of mankind may rest in his hands. Cynetic Wolf is the first in the Wolfish YA sci-fi dystopian series that features bloody immortality, post-apocalyptic progress, and gene editing that splinters the very fabric of society. If you like dark technothrillers, fast-paced adventure, and surprising sci-fi, are a fan of Divergent, Red Rising, or the Hunger Games, or love classics like the Handmaid’s Tale, Brave New World and Ender’s Game, you’ll love this speculative fiction thriller. Get Cynetic Wolf Thursday for a page-turning dystopian whirlwind… right up to its astonishing conclusion! --   mattwardwrites.com/cynetic - (link won't activate until 3/26)

 Bruce Schneier (@schneierblog) is an internationally renowned security technologist, called a "security guru" by The Economist. He is the author of 13 books--including: Data and Goliath: The Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World and Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-connected World. This episode is a reairing of another we broadcast long ago which we thought was especially relevant and worth reiterating today. In addition to his books, Bruce has hundreds of articles, essays, and academic papers, his influential newsletter "Crypto-Gram" and his blog "Schneier on Security" is read by over 250,000 people. Bruce has testified before Congress, is a frequent guest on television and radio, has served on several government committees, and is regularly quoted in the press. Schneier is a fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University; a Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School; a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, AccessNow, and the Tor Project; an Advisory Board Member of the Electronic Privacy Information Center and VerifiedVoting.org; and a special advisor to IBM Security and the Chief Technology Officer at IBM Resilient. Subscribe on Apple Podcast | Google Podcast | Android | Overcast | Spotify | Youtube You can listen right here on iTunes In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: * The difference between the US, Europe, and Asia when it comes to privacy and data, and what it all means * Why IoT internet security is one of the biggest problems no one is talking about * Which tech giants will get broken up and which will reign * The problem with social media and ideas on how to solve it * How regulations affect business and monopolies and where we are headed * Why voting and elections are so susceptible to manipulation * How Bruce thinks about privacy in a surveillance capitalist economy * Why your car could kill you and your fridge won't feed you * The reason Bruce is optimistic and pessimistic about the future * Why things are going to get worse before they get better * The sad truth GDPR and data privacy * What you need to know about China, Huawei, and surveillance Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to Support FringeFM FringeFM is supported by the generosity of its readers and listeners. If you find our work valuable, please consider supporting us on Patreon, via Paypal or with DonorBox powered by Stripe. Donate Uplevel Your Meditation and Mind

KE Lanning (@kelanningauthor) is a geophysicist and sci-fi/speculative fiction author of The Melt Trilogy, a series of dystopian fiction novels set in in a world where climate came much faster than anticipated. She also interviews notable science fiction authors and futurists for FUTURISM magazine. Subscribe on Apple Podcast | Google Podcast | Android | Overcast | Spotify | Youtube   You can listen right here on iTunes   In today's episode we discuss: * How sci-fi helps humanity cope and prepare for big societal changes * What would happen if climate change happened in a generation * Advantages of self-funding startups * What would happen if Antarctica became a landgrab  * Why this will be the century of synthetic biology * How sci-fi futurists could help government anticipate unintended consequences * What technology is Karen most worried about and why * More about Matt's post-gene-editing dystopian sci-fi (get the 1st five chapters FREE here) * Why we need to build towards better harmony with the world fast * The enormous potential of fusion power * Why science and art are two sides of the same coin * Are we headed towards robot riots Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to Support The Disruptors The Disruptors is supported by the generosity of its readers and listeners. If you find our work valuable, please consider supporting us on Patreon, via Paypal or with DonorBox powered by Stripe. Donate  

Morten Bove (@mbove) is the founder and CEO of Wohn Homes, a Danish startup revolutionizing modular, eco-friendly affordable housing designed with tokenized ownership for students. Morten also runs Block21, a blockchain-focused tech podcast on the future of decentralization.     Subscribe on Apple Podcast | Google Podcast | Android | Overcast | Spotify | Youtube You can listen right here on iTunes In today's episode we discuss: * How recycled plastic can be used to make sustainable housing * Why inequality is the driving factor in almost all social unrest * What does the future of cities look like * Why Morten is big on blockchain and tokenization * What happens now that the ICO bubble burst, and where crypto is headed * The big difference between European and US startups * Why smaller countries make things simpler * How to build better triple-bottom-line businesses (here's a free guide for founders) * How business can be used as a force for good * Why it's so hard for startups to raise funding (ps. here's a free pitch deck guide!) * The scary truth about surveillance and privacy * Why Trump pulling out of the Paris accord wasn't all bad Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to Support The Disruptors The Disruptors is supported by the generosity of its readers and listeners. If you find our work valuable, please consider supporting us on Patreon, via Paypal or with DonorBox powered by Stripe. Donate  

Carinne Chambers-Saini (@carinnechambers) is the founder and CEO of DivaCup, an eco-tech startup focused on making feminine health more sustainable. She's been awarded the EY Entrepreneur of The Year for Sustainable Products and Services, been recognized as one of Canada’s 40 under 40, and her company, Diva has ranked 138 on the 2018 GROWTH 500 list and 103 on the 2017 PROFIT 500 list, along with being recognized as one of Waterloo’s Top Employers for 2019.     Subscribe on Apple Podcast | Google Podcast | Android | Overcast | Spotify | Youtube   You can listen right here on iTunes In today's episode we discuss: * How to design more eco-friendly products and businesses * Why packaged goods and disposables are ruining our world * Advantages of self-funding startups * Why funding's harder for female founders * Ways Carinne would improve the education system * The benefits of building a certified B Corp * Why businesses need to be the ones to drive a better world * How to build better triple-bottom-line businesses (here's a free guide for founders) * The reason Carinne's more-than-worried about screen time for her kids * Why social media is such a powerful force for good, and bad * How DivaCup is addressing inequality in a big way * What does the future of jobs look like * Why focus trumps everything for founders and success Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to Support The Disruptors The Disruptors is supported by the generosity of its readers and listeners. If you find our work valuable, please consider supporting us on Patreon, via Paypal or with DonorBox powered by Stripe. Donate  

Amy Harder (@AmyAHarder)is one of the top national energy and climate change reporters in the country, distilling complex energy and climate issues to people outside the industry at Axios. Amy has appeared on PBS' NewsHour, CSPAN, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, and NPR, among many other media outlets, and regularly speaks at events and panel on climate change. Subscribe on Apple Podcast | Google Podcast | Android | Overcast | Spotify | Youtube You can listen right here on iTunes In today's episode we discuss: * The importance of journalistic neutrality * What the state of climate change today * How Trump's transformed eco policy * What carbon capture could do to save our future * Why governmental climate policies are unlikely * Which areas of cleantech are most promising for future growth * Why we need more stories on hopeful climate change * The big difference between European and US startups * What a more effective Paris Accord could look like * How to build better triple-bottom-line businesses (here's a free guide for founders) * Why sustainability needs economic drivers to success * The reason Amy's hopeful about our planet's future * Why a carbon tax won't work and possible alternatives * Why plastics are ruining the world in more ways than one Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to Support The Disruptors The Disruptors is supported by the generosity of its readers and listeners. If you find our work valuable, please consider supporting us on Patreon, via Paypal or with DonorBox powered by Stripe. Donate