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The Year in the Future

Phil and Stephen review the top future-making news stories of 2013 and make their predictions for the year 2014 and beyond. Join us: Find Additional Technology Podcasts with The World Transformed on BlogTalkRadio

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World Transformed Meets Singularity Network

The World Transformed presents the November Singularity Network video hangout. PJ Manney, Jason Xu, Stephen Gordon, Philippe Van Nedervelde, Nikola Danaylov and others will be on hand to discuss a wide range of topics including […]

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Making Big Things Happen

We live in what is sometimes called the Age of Possbility, and sometimes the Age of Capability. We have more information, resources, and connections to other people at our fingertips than in any earlier era. […]

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The Transhumanist Wager

Best-selling author Zoltan Istvan joins Phil and Stephen for a discussion of his widely acclaimed and controversial novel The Transhumanist Wager. This near-future thriller tells the story of a man determined to transform the world in […]

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Positive Stories

Giulio Prisco joins Phil and Stephen to talk about optimistic science fiction. Why are fictional views of a better world so important? And why are they so hard to come by? Tune in and explore. […]

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Dangerous Visions

This week Phil and Stephen venture out of the comfort zone and talk about some disturbing possibilities for the future. How weird can things get? Unfortunately, the answer is — weirder than we can possibly […]

Exploring Possibilities

Lost Planet

In the news this week is the discovery a lonely, starless planet floating on its own out in interstellar space. Where did it come from? Where is it going? Phil and Stephen discuss the mystery of […]

Accelerating Tech

What Can You Do with a Robot?

Phil and Stephen present a user’s guide to future stuff. Sure, robots have been used in industrial settings for years and we anticipate that soon they’ll be driving our cars for us, but what else […]

Exploring Possibilities

The 20,000 Year Leap

Futurist Ray Kurzweil is on the record predicting that humanity will move forward 20,000 years in the 21st century. Just to provide a little context, 20,000 years ago we were living in a different epoch. At that […]

Entertainment

Ramez Naam and Crux

The first blows in the war between human and posthuman have been struck.  The world will never be the same. Ramez Naam joins Phil and Stephen to discuss his new novel Crux, the highly anticipated sequel […]

Podcasts

World’s Longest Book

Phil and Stephen expand on their idea to publish a collection of world-transforming ideas written by people all over the world. How many great ideas can one book contain? A hundred? Ten thousand? A million? […]

Exploring Possibilities

The First Step

Sure, we talk a lot about transforming the world, but how does one actually make it happen? This week Phil and Stephen talk about the critical juncture between great idea and world transformation: the first […]

Entertainment

Games Conquer the Universe

What’s more fun than playing games? One possible answer: systems that let you build your own games! Especially if you have to become something of a hacker to get the games going. How about building your own computer […]

Exploring Possibilities

Living with the Shocking Truth

Last week’s show about the Shocking Truth opened up some interesting discussion. Are things really getting better? This week we review the good news (or not so good news) concerning: Sexual assault statistics Forest growth […]

Exploring Possibilities

The Return of the Shocking Truth

Can you handle the truth? Most people can’t. When we face the facts, the world is different than a lot of us expect it to be. A LOT different. Take the quiz and then tune […]

Accelerating Tech

The Men Who Sold the Moon

A recent piece in the Financial Times explores the role that billionaire entrepreneurs are playing in pursuing world-transforming technologies and business models: The futuristic ideas that have been pouring lately from the fertile imaginations of some […]

Exploring Possibilities

Infinite Universes WT027

New findings suggest that our universe is not the only one. It may be one of many, or one of an infinite number of universes. Phil and Stephen discuss the implications. Does it matter if […]

Exploring Possibilities

The Future of Isms WT024, WT026

The future isn’t just about technological change. Some of the biggest changes we have ever seen and can expect ever to see occur in the realm of ideas. With that in mind, hosts Phil and […]

Entertainment

Dumb Movies, Smart Futures WT025

Phil and Stephen discuss the future of humanity as portrayed in some of the summer’s biggest movies as well as some older films. How have movies from years past accurately reflected the future — and […]

Accelerating Tech

Mind Blowing Technologies WT 023

Futurist George Dvorsky joins hosts Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon to discuss his recent io9 piece: 10 Mindblowingly Futuristic Technologies that Will Appear by the 2030’s. Are we really just a couple of decades away from […]

Exploring Possibilities

Declaration of Singularity WT 022

Like the Founding Fathers, transhumanists and singularitarians believe that we are subject to an oppressive regime with no legitimate claim on our lives or our futures. Has the time come to declare our independence from […]

Exploring Possibilities

The Once and Future Future WT020

Here we are more than a decade into the 21st century, and still no sign of a lot of cool future stuff: Moon colonies Underwater cities Rocket Airliners High-speed pneumatic trains Flying cities Phil  and […]

Exploring Possibilities

The Joy Explosion WT 019

Why are we interested in the future? We want to know what happens next. We want to avoid bad things that might happen and make the most of good things that can happen. What if […]

Podcasts

The Road to Radical Abundance WT 018

Phil and Stephen discuss Drexler’s new book, which outlines how atomically precise manufacturing will utterly transform our world. Skeptics say that Drexler’s vision of atomically precise manufacturing is a pipe dream that has been ridiculously hyped for too long. Drexler maintains that we are much closer than most people realize, and that progress is taking place in some unexpected quarters. Who is right? And if APM is on its way, will it be the ultimate example of catastrophic success or will it lead to an economic boom of unprecedented proportions? […]