Afleveringen
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On November 16, 1974, the first message meant for the stars was broadcast into space, using a series of zeros and ones to encode an image. This image was designed by Frank Drake, an astronomer who helped develop the modern field of SETI as well as the Drake Equation, a formula which helps scientists think about the likelihood of intelligent life in our galaxy.
Fifty years later, the science journalist Nadia Drake, who is also the daughter of Frank Drake, wrote an essay for Scientific American about this message.
In this episode Samuel Arbesman had the pleasure to speak with Nadia about this Arecibo Message. Nadia is a freelance science journalist and former contributing writer at National Geographic.
Nadia and Samuel had a chance to discuss the nature of the Arecibo message and how this "selfie for humanity" was designed by her dad. They talked about SETI more broadly, as well as the wisdom of sending messages into outer space. They talked about other messages sent on behalf of humanity, as well as the nature of technosignatures more generally. They even discussed how the detection of extraterrestrial intelligence might change our lives, or not, and how we think about the world.
Produced byâ â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â Christopher Gatesâ â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â
Music by Suno
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In this episode of The Orthogonal Bet, host Samuel Arbesman speaks with Niko McCarty, the founding editor of Asimov Press. With a background in biology and science journalism, McCarty now leads Asimov Press, a publication dedicated to deep, thoughtful articles at the frontiers of biology and its history.
Arbesman, a longtime admirer of McCartyâs writing, was eager to explore his insights for many reasons. As the builder of a new press and a curator of compelling scientific narratives, McCarty has a unique perspective on science journalism. But beyond that, he also has his finger on the pulse of the future of biology itself.
Their conversation delves into McCartyâs journey into science journalism and how his newsletter became a transformative force in his career. They discuss his vision for Asimov Press, the reasoning behind publishing science fiction short stories alongside rigorous scientific writing, and the pressâs expansion into print publishingâoffering a glimpse into how McCarty envisions the future of science communication.
When it comes to biology, Niko provides so much wisdom into how to think about the cutting-edge in biology and biotech. They explore the levers that create biological progress, and Nikoâs vision of the future in biology.
Produced by â â â â â â Christopher Gatesâ â â â â â
Music by Suno â â â â â
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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In this episode, host Samuel Arbesman speaks with â Dave Jilkâ . Dave is a tech entrepreneur and writer. Heâs done a ton: started multiple companies, including in AI, published works of poetry, and written scientific papers. And heâs now written a new book that is an epic poem about the origins of Artificial General Intelligence, told from the perspective of the first such entity. Itâs titled â Epoch: A Poetic Psy-Phi Sagaâ and is a deeply thoughtful humanistic take on artificial intelligence, chock-full of literary allusions.
Sam wanted to speak with Dave to learn more about the origins of Epoch as well as how he thinks about AI more broadly. They discussed the history of AI, how we might think about raising AI, the Great Filter, post-AGI futures and their nature, and whether asking if we should build AGI is even a good question. They even finished this fun conversation with a bit of science fiction recommendations.
Produced by â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â Christopher Gatesâ â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â
Music by Suno
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In this episode, host Samuel Arbesman speaks with the writer â Henry Oliverâ . Henry is the author of the fantastic new book â Second Actâ . This book is about the idea of late bloomers and professional success later in life, and more broadly how to think about oneâs career, and Sam recently reviewed it for The Wall Street Journal. Sam really enjoyed this book and wanted to have a chance to discuss it with Henry.
Henry and Sam had a chance to talk about a lot of topics, beginning with how to actually define late bloomers and what makes a successful second act possible, from experimentation to being ready when oneâs moment arrives. They also explored why society doesnât really accept late bloomers as much as one might want it to, how to think about the complexity of cognitive decline, what the future of retirement might look like, along with many examples of late bloomersâfrom Margaret Thatcher to Ray Kroc.
Produced by â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â Christopher Gatesâ â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â
Music by Suno
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In this episode, host Samuel Arbesman speaks with Dominic Falcao, a founding director of Deep Science Ventures (DSV), which he created in 2016 after leading Imperial College Londonâs science startup program. Deep Science Ventures takes a principled and problem-based approach to founding new deep tech startups. They have even created a PhD program for scientists specifically geared towards helping them create new companies.
Sam wanted to speak with Dom to discuss the origins of Deep Science Ventures, as well as how to think about scientific and technological progress more broadly, and even how to conceive new research organizations.
Dom and Sam had a chance to discuss tech trees and the combinatorial nature of scientific and technological innovation, non-traditional research organizations, Europeâs tech innovation ecosystem, what scientific amphibians are, and the use of AI in the realm of deep tech.
Produced by â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â Christopher Gatesâ â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â
Music by Suno
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In this episode, host Samuel Arbesman speaks with writer, researcher, and entrepreneurâ Max Bennettâ . Max is the cofounder of multiple AI companies and the author of the fascinating book â A Brief History of Intelligenceâ : Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains. This book offers a deeply researched look at the nature of intelligence and how biological history has led to this phenomenon. It explores aspects of evolution, the similarities and differences between AI and human intelligence, many features of neuroscience, and more.
Produced by â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â Christopher Gatesâ â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â
Music by Suno
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In this episode, host Samuel Arbesman speaks with novelist â Lev Grossmanâ . A longtime fan of Levâs novels, the host delves into his works, including â The Magicians trilogyâ âa splendid set of books about a university for magic, fantastical worlds, and much more. These books are amazing. Levâs newest book is the novel â The Bright Swordâ , a retelling of the legends of King Arthur, particularly focusing on what happens after Arthur dies.
The Sam devoured The Bright Sword and found it fascinating. Itâs a book that weaves together ideas about gods and magic, the layering of myths across history, and much moreâall topics explored in the conversation with Lev.
Lev and Sam discuss the story of King Arthur, its gaps and its history, the layering of gods and stories over time, the nature of magic and religion, the importance of secondary worlds, and the magic in The Magicians versus the magic of The Bright Sword. They even have a chance to discuss Levâs next project, which is a space opera. This episode was a lot of fun.
Produced by â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â Christopher Gatesâ â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â
Music by Suno
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In this episode, host Samuel Arbesman speaks withâ Alex Millerâ , a software developer and artist known for his work on a project called â Spacefillerâ . This project exemplifies generative art, where computer code is used to create art and imagery. Spacefiller itself is a pixelated form of artwork that feels organic and biological, but is entirely crafted through algorithms.
Sam invited Alex to discuss not only Spacefiller, but also the broader world of generative art, and the concept of coding as a fun and playful activity. Together, they explore topics such as the distinction between computation as art and computation as software engineering, the nature of algorithmic botany, and even the wonders of graph paper.
Produced by â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â Christopher Gatesâ â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â
Music by Suno
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In this episode, host Samuel Arbesman speaks with â J. Doyne Farmerâ , a physicist, complexity scientist, and economist. Doyne is currently the Director of the Complexity Economics program at the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School and the Baillie Gifford Professor of Complex Systems Science at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford.
Doyne is also the author of the fascinating new book â âMaking Sense of Chaos: A Better Economics for a Better World.ââ
Sam wanted to explore Doyneâs intriguing history in complexity science, his new book, and the broader field of complexity economics. Together, they discuss the nature of simulation, complex systems, the world of finance and prediction, and even the differences between biological complexity and economic complexity. They also touch on Doyneâs experience building a small wearable computer in the 1970s that fit inside a shoe and was designed to beat the game of roulette.
Produced by â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â Christopher Gatesâ â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â
Music by Suno
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In this episode, host Samuel Arbesman speaks with â Tarin Ziyaeeâ , a technologist and founder, about the world of artificial life. The field of artificial life explores ways to describe and encapsulate aspects of life within software and computer code. Tarin has extensive experience in machine learning and AI, having worked at Meta and Apple, and is currently building a company in the field of Artificial Life. This new companyâwhich, full disclosure, Sam is also advisingâaims to embody aspects of life within software to accelerate evolution and develop robust methods for controlling robotic behavior in the real world.
Sam wanted to speak with Tarin to discuss the nature of artificial life, its similarities and differences to more traditional artificial intelligence approaches, the idea of open-endedness, and more. They also had a chance to chat about tool usage and intelligence, large language models versus large action models, and even robots
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In this conversation, host Samuel Arbesman speaks with â Omar Rizwanâ , a programmer currently working on â Folk Computerâ . Omar has a longstanding interest in user interfaces in computing and is now focused on creating physical interfaces that enable computing in a more communal and tangible wayâthink of moving sheets of paper in the real world and projecting images onto surfaces. Folk Computer is an open-source project that explores a new type of computing in this vein.
Samuel engages with Omar on a range of topics, from Folk Computer and the broader space of user interfaces, to the challenges of building computer systems and R&D organizations. Their conversation covers how Omar thinks about code and artificial intelligence, the world of physical computing, and his childhood experiences with programming, including the significance of meeting another programmer in person for the first time.
Produced by â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â Christopher Gatesâ â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â
Music by Suno
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In this episode, host Samuel Arbesman Sam speaks with â Eli Altmanâ , the managing director of A Hundred Monkeys, a company that specializes in the art of naming. â A Hundred Monkeysâ works with clients to come up with the perfect name for a company, product, or anything else that requires a name.
The art of naming is a fascinating subject. Throughout human history, the power of names has been a recurring theme in stories and religion. A well-crafted name has the ability to evoke emotions and associations in a profoundly impactful way.
Sam invited Eli to the show because he has been immersed in this field for decades, growing up with a father who specialized in naming. The conversation explores the intricacies of this art, how experts balance competing considerations when crafting a name, the different types of names, and what makes a name successful. They also discuss the importance of writing and storytelling in naming, the impact of AI on the field, and much more.
Produced by â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â Christopher Gatesâ â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â
Music by Suno
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In this episode, host Samuel Arbesman Sam speaks with â â Alex Komoroskeâ â , a master of systems thinking. Alex is the CEO and co-founder of a startup building at the intersection of AI, privacy, and open-endedness. Previously, he served as the Head of Corporate Strategy at Stripe, and before that, spent many years at Google, where he worked on the Chrome web platform, ambient computing strategy, Google Maps, Google Earth, and more.
The throughline for Alex is his focus on complex systems, which are everywhere: from the Internet to biology, from the organizations we build to society as a whole. These systems consist of networks of countless interacting parts, whether computers or people. Navigating them requires a new mode of thinking, quite different from the top-down rigid planning many impose on the world.
Alex is deeply passionate about systems thinking and its broad implicationsâfrom making an impact in the world and navigating within and between organizations to understanding undirectedness and curiosity in oneâs work.
His more bottom-up, improvisational approach to systems thinking reveals insights on a range of topics, from how to approach large tech companies and the value of startups, to a perspective on artificial intelligence that untangles hype from reality.
Produced by â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â Christopher Gatesâ â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â
Music by Suno
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In this episode, host Samuel Arbesman speaks with â Adrian Tchaikovskyâ , the celebrated novelist of numerous science fiction and fantasy books, including his Children of Time series, Final Architects series, and The Doors of Eden. Among many other topics, Adrianâs novels often explore evolutionary history, combining âwhat-ifâ questions with an expansive view of the possible directions biology can take, with implications for both Earth and alien life. This is particularly evident in The Doors of Eden, which examines alternate potential paths for evolution and intelligence on Earth.
Sam was interested in speaking with Adrian to learn how he thinks about evolution, how he builds the worlds in his stories, and how he envisions the far future of human civilization. They discussed a wide range of topics, including short-term versus long-term thinking, terraforming planets versus altering human biology for space, the Fermi Paradox and SETI, the logic of evolution, world-building, and even how advances in AI relate to science fiction depictions of artificial intelligence.
Produced by â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â Christopher Gatesâ â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â
Music by Suno
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In this episode, host Samuel Arbesman speaks with John Strausbaugh, a former editor of New York Press and the author of numerous history books. Johnâs latest work is the compelling new book â âThe Wrong Stuff: How the Soviet Space Program Crashed and Burned.ââ
The book is an eye-opening delight, filled with stories about the Potemkin Village-like space program that the Soviets ran. Beneath the achievements that alarmed the United States, the Soviet space program was essentially a shambling disaster. The book reveals many tales that had been hidden from the public for years. In this conversation, Samuel explores how John became interested in this topic, the nature of the Soviet space program and the Cold Warâs Space Race, the role of propaganda, how to think about space programs more generally, and much more.
Produced by â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â Christopher Gatesâ â â â â â â â â â â â â â
Music by Suno
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In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with â Michael Levinâ , a biologist and the Vannevar Bush Professor at Tufts University. Michaelâs work encompasses how information is processed in biology, the development of organismal structures, the field of Artificial Life, and much more.
Sam wanted to talk to Michael because of his pioneering research in these areas. Biology, as Michaelâs work reveals, is far more complex than the mechanistic explanations often taught in school. For instance, the process of morphogenesisâhow organisms develop their specific formsâchallenges our understanding of computation in biology, and Michael is leading the way in this field. He has deeply explored concepts such as the relationship between hardware and software in biological systems, the process of morphogenesis, the idea of polycomputing, and even the notion of cognition in biology.
From his investigations into the regeneration process in planariaâa type of flatwormâto the creation of xenobots, a form of Artificial Life, Michael stands at the forefront of groundbreaking ideas in understanding how biology functions.
Produced by â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â Christopher Gatesâ â â â â â â â â â â â â â â
Music by Suno
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In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with â Laurel Schwulstâ . Laurel operates within many roles: designer, artist, educator, and technologist. She exploresâamong other thingsâthe intersection of the human, the computational, and the wonderful. Sam wanted to talk to Laurel because of this intersection and particularly because of how Laurel thinks about the internet. As part of this, she helps to run HTML Day and its celebrations, promotes what is referred to as â âHTML Energy,ââ and is even thinking deeply about what it would mean to create a PBS of the Internet. In other words, the Internet and the web are delightful and special for Laurel, and she wants more of that energy to exist in the world.
Produced by â â â â â â â â â â â â â â Christopher Gatesâ â â â â â â â â â â â â â
Music by â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â Suno
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In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with â Eliot Peperâ . Eliot is a science fiction novelist and all-around delightful thinker. Eliotâs â booksâ are thrilling tales of the near future, exploring many delightful areas of the world and the frontiers of science and technology. In Eliotâs most recent novel, Foundry, he takes the reader on a journey through the world of semiconductors, from their geopolitical implications to their profoundly weird manufacturing processes.
Sam wanted to talk to Eliot to explore this profound strangeness of the manufacturing of computer chips, but also use this as a jumping-off point for something broader: how Eliot discovers these interesting topics and those wondrous worlds that are incorporated into his books. They spoke about the importance of curiosity, as well as concrete ways to cultivate this useful kind of curiosity, which was fascinating.
Produced by â â â â â â â â â â â â â Christopher Gatesâ â â â â â â â â â â â â
Music by â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â Suno
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In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with Hilary Mason, co-founder and CEO of Hidden Door, a startup creating a platform for interactive storytelling experiences within works of fiction. Hilary has also worked in machine learning and data science, having built a machine learning R&D company called Fast Forward Labs, which she sold to Cloudera. She was the chief scientist at Bitly and even a computer science professor.
Samuel wanted to talk to Hilary not only because of her varied experiences but also because she has thought deeply about how to use AI productivelyâand far from naivelyâin games and other applications. She believes that artificial intelligence, including the current crop of generative AI, should be incorporated thoughtfully into software, rather than used without careful examination of its strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, Samuel, who often considers non-traditional research organizations, was eager to get Hilaryâs thoughts on this space, given her experience building such an organization.
Produced by â â â â â â â â â â â â Christopher Gatesâ â â â â â â â â â â â
Music by â â â â â â â â â â â â Suno
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In this episode, host Samuel Arbesman speaks with â Amy Kuceyeskiâ , a mathematician and biologist who is a professor at Cornell University in computational biology, statistics, and data science, as well as in radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College. Amy studies the workings of the human brain, the nature of neurological diseases, and the use of machine learning and neuroimaging to better understand these topics.
Sam wanted to talk to Amy because she has been using sophisticated AI techniques for years to understand the brain. She is full of innovative ideas and experiments about how to explore how we process the world, including building AI models that mimic brain processes. These models have deep connections and implications for non-invasively stimulating the brain to treat neurodegenerative diseases or neurological injuries.
Produced by â â â â â â Christopher Gatesâ â â â â â
Music bySuno
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