Kurt Andersen speaks with computer scientist Stuart Russell about the risks of machines reaching superintelligence and advancing beyond human control.  In order to  avoid this, Russel believes, we need to start over with AI and build machines that are uncertain about what humans want. STUART RUSSELL is a computer scientist and professor at University of California Berkeley. He is the author, most recently, of Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control. He has...

Kurt Andersen speaks with Genevieve Bell, cultural anthropologist and founding director of The School of Cybernetics, about how people adapt to changes in artificial intelligence and the way these technologies impact the way we live. GENEVIEVE BELL is an Australian anthropologist and the founding director of The School of Cybernetics at the Australian National University. She is also a Senior Fellow in the Advance research and development labs at Intel. A transcript of this episode is...

Kurt Andersen speaks with Roger McNamee, the author of Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe, about the evolution of Facebook and other big tech companies, and what measures might be taken to curb their influence.      ROGER MCNAMEE is a buѕіnеѕѕmаn, іnvеѕtоr, vеnturе саріtаlіѕt, muѕісіаn and author. He іѕ thе fоundіng раrtnеr оf thе vеnturе саріtаl fіrm, Еlеvаtіоn Раrtnеrѕ, and the co-founder of the рrіvаtе еquіtу fіrm, Ѕіlvеr Lаkе Раrtnеrѕ. He was an early investor in Facebook,...

Host of this season’s The World as You’ll Know It, Kurt Andersen, speaks with Alison Gopnik, cognitive scientist, author, and professor of psychology at the University of California Berkeley, about the way technology is shaping the way we think, learn and make decisions.  ALISON GOPNIK is a professor of psychology at the University of California Berkeley. Gopnik is a psychologist and cognitive scientist specializing in the study of children’s learning and development. She’s the author of...

Host of this season’s The World as You’ll Know It, Kurt Andersen, speaks with Sinan Aral, professor at MIT and author of “The Hype Machine,” about the promise and peril of social media, and the ways it tricks our brains into wanting more.  SINAN ARAL is the David Austin Professor of Management, Marketing, IT, and Data Science at MIT; director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy; and head of MIT’s Social Analytics Lab. He is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He is the author of...

Technology is at an inflection point. Can we harness it to make life better...or will it harness us? Join Kurt Andersen as he and a world-class selection of thinkers explore this question as it pertains to our brains, our personal lives, our laws and our government. The World as You'll Know It returns for a second season on August 24th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week features two conversations. In the first, Michael Kimmelman, the architecture critic for The New York Times, speaks to Julián Castro, former mayor of San Antonio, Texas and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, about the housing crisis and the role cities play in national politics. Then Michael speaks with Janette Sadik-Khan, former Commissioner of New York City Department of Transportation, about how public transit can drive economic recovery in cities.  JULIAN CASTRO...

Paul Tough, author, most recently, of "The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us," speaks to Paul LeBlanc, President of Southern New Hampshire University, about whether Covid will serve as a catalyst to finally force a re-thinking of higher education.  PAUL TOUGH is the author of The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us and How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character. He is a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine;...

Steven Greenhouse, the author of "Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor," speaks to Jared Bernstein, former Chief Economic Adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, about how Covid has underscored economic inequality, and what he believes can be done about it. STEVEN GREENHOUSE was a reporter for The New York Times for over thirty years, covering labor and the workplace for many of them. He is the author of two books: Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present,...

Steven Greenhouse, the author of "Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor," speaks to David Autor, the Ford Professor of Economics at MIT, about how Covid is likely to change the workforce by accelerating automation and reducing the number of low-wage jobs.  STEVEN GREENHOUSE was a reporter for The New York Times for over thirty years, covering labor and the workplace for many of them. He is the author of two books: Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present,...

David Wallace-Wells, the author of "The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming" speaks to Christiana Figueres, the former Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, about the catastrophic difference between the earth's temperature rising by 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius by 2100. DAVID WALLACE-WELLS is the author of The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming, a best-selling book based on a story he wrote in 2017, which was the most widely read in the history of New...

Welcome to The World as You'll Know It, a new podcast that pairs established journalists with experts to discuss the ways in which Covid-19 will shape the course of the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices