Listen Now

If Aliens landed on a university campus, which department would they visit first? We speak with Dr. Hollis Robbins, who makes the case for the Humanities as that "go-to" source of knowledge about people and what makes them tick. Hollis is a dean and a professor, a poet and a futurist, plus the founder of Sci Fi Talk, a 40000 member community of science fiction enthusiasts who meet on Clubhouse most Sunday nights. Hollis and John use Sci-Fi as a jumping off point to explore how the Humanities will evolve in a hotter and more Covid-normal future.

Every day, billions of people, and hundreds of billions of transactions, depend on security based around public key infrastructure (PKI) --- the cryptographic paradigm that underpins the Internet. From electronic commerce, to streaming movies, to banking, or looking for a soul mate online, the building blocks for participating in daily life are increasingly online and interactive. PKI is the "bit-based" (1s and 0s) computer security model that enables this lifestyle. Enter Quantum Computing, which is not based on 1s and 0s. Quantum Computing harnesses properties of sub-atomic physics to be a "qubit-based" (1---Everything-in-between---0) computing paradigm. Which computer would you bet on to crack the largest crypto-keys? We spoke with Skip Sanzeri, the chief operating officer of QuSecure to get a grounding in quantum computing, and how it will transform the security landscape for decades to come. This show will help you learn the difference between a classical and quantum computer. You'll understand how this difference relates to cryptography and digital life. You'll hear what's being done by government and industry to respond. What new benefits come along with the new risks. And where people can go to learn more about quantum computing.

We sit down with Shyamala Prayaga, founder of the Digital Assistant Academy and product owner of digital assistants for Ford Motor Company. In this conversation, we focus on the Digital Assistant Academy, which brings a use-case and craft orientation to conversational design for chatbots, virtual assistants and many other combinations. Which skills do people need to become successful designers in this exciting new space? How are organizations responding to the demand for conversational design? We unpack these questions and more.

Visual effects wizardry meets machine learning in this conversation about virtual humans with Doug Roble and Matthias Wittman of Digital Domain. From Virtual Tupac, Benjamin Button, to Thanos, Digital Domain has created some of the most iconic virtual characters in media & entertainment. Now, the company is expanding its efforts into the burgeoning field of virtual humans, lifelike 3D avatars combining Hollywood quality photorealism on the front end, with AI and machine learning in the back. We talk about virtual humans as an artistic concept, a business proposition, as well as the talent and attitude required to succeed in this exciting new medium for creativity.

We sit down with Brian Storm to talk about the role of audio in developing documentary journalism. Giving people a voice is more than simply making them sound good. Conversational interviewing with great audio forms the linear spine of many a great story. How that will evolve in a world of smart speakers and social audio means it's a fantastic time to be a creator.

After interviewing leaders in pop culture, journalism, videogames and conversational AI, the AC podcast takes a quick look at the role of audio as a storytelling medium. Looking across four main themes: audio as immersive technology, audio as a general interface to interactive technology, audio as a creative medium, and audio as a social medium, we return to the idea that the ultimate theater still exists in the human mind.

We speak with Jeff Gomez, who is a veteran transmedia producer for some of Hollywood's biggest film franchises (ex. Pirates of the Caribbean, Avatar), video games (Halo, Splinter Cell), and toys (Mattel & Hasbro). Jeff is a big believer in the potential for audio to become an integral part of large scale branded storyworlds where the audience "dwells" within media content as they consume it.

We interview Dr. Aki Nakamura of Japan's Ritsumeikan University Center for Game Studies about the role of audio in videogame culture in Japan and Asia. Japan is a global hotspot for game innovation and experimental media. Dr. Nakamura provides a glimpse into how new audio technologies and experiences are taking that dynamic to a new level.

We sit down with Dr. Dona Kim Murphey, neuro-scientist and education advocate to talk about how the overemphasis on standardized test results ignores so much of a child's development. Dr. Murphey combines her scientific background with a fierce determination to change things on the ground for the kids in her Houston area school district, not to mention the national debate over the role of standardized tests in schools and how they skew what is taught in class.

Everyone has planned where to go and what to do when you get there. If it's just one stop, the routing problem is easy. Almost the same with two stops. But the more stops you add, the more complex things become. So imagine you're a public transit agency trying to calculate the best routes for the best experience for the most people in the most efficient and delightful way possible. You'd need a graduate degree from MIT just to list all the variables. Fortunately, that's what Alex Wallar, CTO of The Routing Company brings to the table. Find out how transit agencies are rethinking how they deploy 80% fewer vehicles to offer a better experience to their passengers.

Covid-19 flipped a circuit breaker between the world before the pandemic and a different world that's emerging from the aftermath. The AC podcast dug into its archives to re-connect with some of the people we interviewed in the past. We wanted to understand how they navigated 2020 and how they're positioning themselves for the future. It's my take on how history is lurching forward, rather than progressing in a nice, smooth line.

We speak with Brent Friedman, a narrative writer for tier-one video games like Resident Evil 2. Brent talks about how storytelling skills honed in Hollywood and video games might be redeployed for things like mask-wearing and vaccination - the stories that matter.

This episode features a conversation with Hanson Hosein, a leading thinker and advocate about the power - and peril - of storytelling to effect social change.

In this show, we speak with Devin Liddell of Teague, one of the original product and service design firms. Devin speaks about sets of futures, designing the future we want, and how those processes might interact in the context of the pandemic.

This show features a conversation with Steve Masur, a leading media and intellectual property attorney. Steve speaks about how March 13, 2020 (a Friday naturally) marked the end of the old world while Monday March 16, 2020 heralded the launch of a different world.

In this show, we speak with Missy Cruz, emergency room technician and one of the first covid-19 patients in the United States. Missy walks us through some of the earliest days of the pandemic and her journey through covid-19 when first-hand knowledge was little to none.

This episode features a conversation with Natalie Monbiot, Head of Business for Hour One. We speak about covid-19 and how the push to a virtual-centric collaborative model will accelerate the adoption of avatars and other types of virtual assistants.

In this episode, we speak with Shelley Peterson, Principal Investigator for Augmented Reality for Lockheed Martin Space Systems. Shelley not only works in sky-High Tech, she personally experienced a bout with Covid-19 as one of the first patients in the state of Colorado.

This episode features Laura Rizzotto, an award winning musician and performer, about how she navigated new relationships with her fans and her approach to art during the pandemic.

This episode features John Rossant, Chairman of the New Cities Foundation and mobility expert. We discuss how Covid-19 impacted how people and goods move around a city and what that means for the future.