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PODCAST

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast

Shane Farnsworth

Escaped Sapiens is a long-form podcast exploring science, intelligence, exploration, and the edges of human understanding through in-depth conversations with researchers, thinkers, and field experts. Visit Website About Shane Farnsworth Get in touch Suggest a guest If you enjoy the podcast, here"s how you can support it: Subscribe to the YouTube or ES Clips YouTube channels. Tap the 🔔 icon to recieve episode updates. Follow on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or subscribe to the RSS feed. If you enjoy

science

All Episodes

02:23:02

Earth & Life. 3.77 Billion Years Under Construction |...

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast ·

2023/11/28

This conversation is about the history of life and earth. I speak with evolutionary biologist and author Olivia Judson, who is best known for her book 'Dr. Tatiana's sex advice to all creation''. Oliva thinks of the history of life on earth in terms of 5 energy epochs, in which life has worked out how to make use of different kinds of energy. These epochs are geochemistry, light, oxygen, flesh, and fire. Olivia explains her fascination with the transformation of life over time, and with what it

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02:24:05

Scientific Literacy And Democracy | Johannes Vogel |...

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast ·

2023/11/17

NOTE: From 0:01:07-0:02:36 the sound quality is lower than the rest of the episode as you are hearing the backup recording. This conversation is about democracy and scientific literacy. In 2023 Germany shut down the last of its nuclear plants, and is now bringing back several mothballed coal plants to keep the lights on over winter. Was this a smart decision given the scientific consensus that we need to cut carbon emissions? Similar questions can be asked about the banning of GMO crops, or

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01:16:10

The Ethics and Practice of Plastic Surgery | Gary...

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast ·

2023/09/15

In this conversation I speak with Dr. Gary Linkov about the ethics and practice of plastic surgery. Gary is a double board certified facial plastic surgeon who specializes in lip lift surgeries and hair restoration. He is also renowned for carrying out complex nasal surgery for US war veterans in need, and for teaching rhinoplasty procedures to the NYU head and neck surgery residents. Plastic surgery is controversial. On the one hand critics claim that it leads to unhealthy beauty standards, and

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01:49:26

Rise Of The Blockchain | JP Vergne | Escaped Sapiens #57

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast ·

2023/07/25

In this conversation I discuss distributed and decentralized organizations with Jean-Philippe Vergne, who is an associate professor of strategy at University College London. We focus on the development of blockchain technology, which at least in theory should allow for new forms of organization that don't rely on centralized authorities to function. The initial dream was that blockchain technology would drive innovation, provide transparency, limit abuses of power, and provide access to financing

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02:13:51

Feeding The Future : The Ocean Farmers | Shawn...

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast ·

2023/07/19

What is the future of our oceans? On this episode of the Podcast I speak with Dr. Shawn Robinson about marine ecology, aquaculture, and the politics and economics of what ends up on your plate. Shawn is a marine ecologist who did his graduate work at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia on the giant Pacific octopus (MSc) and at the University of British Columbia on biological oceanography off Vancouver Island (PhD). He began his career as a research scientist in 1988 with the Dept. Fisheries

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02:16:09

Genetic Biocontrol and De-Extinction | Stephen...

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast ·

2023/06/26

In only 250 years since colonization, Australia has seen the extinction of 38 species of mammals. Much of the devastation to Australia's native wildlife has been caused or exacerbated by the introduction of invasive pests like cats, dogs, cane toads, camels, and rabbits. A key question is whether science will one day be able to return Australia to its original state? In this conversation I speak with Dr. Stephen Frankenberg about genetic biocontrol and de-extinction. We focus on the use of gene

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02:13:45

The Birth Of Synthetic Intelligence | David Shapiro |...

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast ·

2023/05/30

Progress in AI development seems to be accelerating, and we might be living through a period in human history that is every bit as significant as the agricultural and industrial revolutions. We might be witnessing the dawn of synthetic general intelligence. In this conversation I speak with David Shapiro who is an AI researcher and YouTube content creator. We discuss the current state of the art LLMs, and the inevitable rise of autonomous AI given current global economic competition. We cover the

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01:58:30

What Science Learned From The Pandemic | Peter...

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast ·

2023/05/15

Now that the dust has settled to a certain extent, how did we do with the pandemic? Which countries handled the situation best? Did we learn anything? How well did scientists do, and how well did the public, politicians, and the media do? In this episode of the podcast I speak with Australian immunologist and author Peter Doherty. Peter has won a range of distinguished prizes for his research including the Albert Lasker prize for basic medical research and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

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01:53:40

Behind Closed Doors: The High Stakes Game Of...

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast ·

2023/04/23

It is easy to take peace for granted. In this episode of the podcast I speak with John Kornblum about the hard work that diplomats do in the background to maintain peace between nations. John specializes in European and east–west relations, and played a defining role in many of the important events leading up to the end of the Cold War, and those that led to the current post-cold war security environment. These included the Quadripartite negotiations on Berlin, the Helsinki Final Act, the stationing

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01:36:48

Vertical Farming: A New Food System | Viviana Correa...

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast ·

2023/03/31

Most of us live nowhere near where our food comes from. which means that the food that we have access to is dictated by conderations like does it travel well, and does it have a long shelf life. Our supply chains also lead to sprawling monocrops, pesticide overuse, and agricultural runoff, as well as biodiversity loss, and a range of other problems. But this might all change in the near future with vertical farming. In this episode of the Podcast I speak with Dr. Vivian Correa Galvis about the

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01:43:47

Reconstructing Limbs With Advanced Prosthetics |...

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast ·

2023/03/19

In this episode of the Podcast I speak with Professor Munjed Al Muderis about a new technology that is allowing amputees to walk again. Osseointegration is the direct structural and functional connection between living bone and the surface of a load-bearing artificial implant. While dental implants have long been standard, surgeons are now starting to use this technology to reconstruct missing limbs. We cover some of the technical details of these kinds of surgeries, the complications, and the

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01:01:21

A Refugee’s Story | Munjed Al Muderis | Escaped...

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast ·

2023/03/11

In this episode of the Podcast I speak with Professor Munjed Al Muderis about his escape from Iraq as a refugee. In 1999 Munjed was forced to flee Iraq after a busload of army draft evaders were brought into the hospital where he worked to have the top of their ears amputated under Saddam Hussein's orders. The senior surgeon in the operating theatre refused the orders and was immediately interrogated and shot in front of several medical staff. Rather than complying with orders Munjed decided to

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01:38:41

Good, Evil, and Social Engineering | Hans-Georg...

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast ·

2023/02/20

On this episode of the podcast I speak with Professor Hans-Georg Moeller from the University of Macau. Georg's work focusses on Chinese and Comparative Philosophy (specifically Daoism) and on Social and Political Thought (specifically Social Systems Theory). We discuss the role that morality plays as a potent social engineering tool for establishing order and power. While morality is usually thought of in a positive sense, morally charged communication is often rigid and divisive, and leaves little

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03:02:20

Moral Blindness, Political Division, and Bull$&%t |...

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast ·

2023/02/10

On this episode of the podcast I speak with Professor Philipp Huebl about moral myopia, political division, and the spread of "bull$&%t" and misinformation. Bull$&%t, in this case, is something that lies somewhere between lies and truth, or something created by those that are indifferent towards the truth. Philipp is a visiting professor in philosophy and cultural studies at the Universität der Künste. We discuss why fake news and conspiracy is so captivating, and the tribal psychology that makes us

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01:28:24

Exploring the Illegal Trade in Human Organs |...

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast ·

2023/01/27

On this episode of the podcast I speak with Professor Frederike Ambagtsheer about the illegal trade and trafficking in human organs. Frederike has a background in criminology and public international law, has a doctorate on organ trade, and is currently researching organ trafficking at Erasmus MC's Transplant Institute in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. In this conversation we discuss what is currently know about the trade in human organs, focusing on the kidney trade. We cover the experience of some of

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01:02:31

What is money and who rules the world? | Yanis...

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast ·

2022/12/18

On this episode of the podcast I speak with Yanis Varoufakis about the role of banks and politicians. Yanis is an economist, politician, author and Secretary-General of MeRA25. He is perhaps best known for his role as the Greek Minister of Finance during the Greek credit crisis. In our discussion we cover some fairly big questions: When banks are bailed out, who really foots the bill? Who are the winners and losers during inflation? Are those that control the means of production still the dominant

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02:27:27

The Atomic Priesthood and Messages From the Dead |...

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast ·

2022/12/06

On this episode of the podcast I speak with Ola Wikander about the field of “Nuclear Semiotics”, the scholarly discussion concerning communicating information about nuclear waste disposal into the far future. Ola is a Ugaritologist, Hebraist, Semitist, author, and Senior Lecturer at Lund University. He specializes in ancient languages and religions of the near east, and in particular the texts of Ugarit, which was a city state destroyed c. 1185 BC. Assuming we work out a secure way of dealing with

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01:51:01

A Different Look At Gender Equality. | Bryan Caplan |...

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast ·

2022/11/14

For many people the question of whether or not women are treated more unfairly than men is so obvious that is obscene to challenge the assumption. But if we are genuinely interested in creating a more equal society, then as society develops our biases should be routinely returning to with sober eyes. How should those issues that affect men, such as conscription, incarceration rates, suicide rates, circumcision, custody issues, steroid use, low university attendance rates, poor school performance,

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01:27:39

How Many Fish Should We Leave In The Ocean? | Trevor...

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast ·

2022/10/31

In this episode of the podcast I discuss the state of marine fisheries with Professor Trevor Branch from the University of Washington. Trevor specializes in data synthesis and constructing mathematical models to determine the health of fish populations. Often in the media one sees stories of collapsing fish populations and dire predictions of species extinction and a future with empty seas. The goal of this episode was to find out what the science says about the actual current status of our oceans,

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01:19:38

Engineering Life And Consciousness. | Michael Levin...

The Escaped Sapiens Podcast ·

2022/10/17

In this episode of the podcast I speak with developmental and synthetic biologist Michael Levin from Tufts University. Michael is a director of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University and Tufts Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology. He is also co-director of the Institute for Computationally Designed Organisms. We discuss the implications of Michael's research in medicine and society including cures for cancer, regenerating limbs, and the creation of artificial super

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104 results

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