Stephen Euin Cobb's Blog, page 17

The Future And You--September 11, 2013

Michael Nuschke (Retirement Futurist) is our featured guest.

Topic: Retirement planning in the age of the Singularity.

Michael Nuschke is a Professional Retirement Planner who is also a Futurist and Life-Extensionist. By combining his profession with his futurism he has written a report entitled The End Of Retirement As We Know It. This report is available as a free pdf download from his website (www.retirementsingularity.com). I've read it and it's excellent. In my interview with Michael we discuss his report at length. We cover his assessment of how things are changing, and his advice which you can use to improve your personal future. As he says on his website: "I specialize in retirement income planning–how to ensure you don’t run out of money before you run out of life. This gets tricky if you live well past age 100 in good health."

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the September 11, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 33 minutes] This interview was recorded using Skype on August 31, 2013. The first half will be presented in this week's episode, and the second half will be presented next week.

The Future And You--September 4, 2013

Frederik Pohl, one of the legends of science fiction, passed away just a few days ago on September 2, 2013. In memory of his life and work today's episode contains an interview he gave me back in 2010 shortly after he'd turned 90 years old.

Topics: How he and Arthur C. Clarke became friends many decades ago; and how in Arthur's declining years Arthur asked Fred to finish a book that he had started but could not complete. Fred's years working as a literary agent--during which he became Isaac Asimov's first agent, and sold Isaac's first novel: A Pebble in the Sky. His work as the editor of various magazines including Astonishing, Galaxy and If--which is when he bought Larry Niven's first few professional stories, and when he hired Judy-Lynn del Rey as his secretary at Galaxy Magazine even though she knew nothing about Science Fiction at the time. (This was long before she worked at Ballantine Books, married Lester del Rey, and became so influential at Ballantine that they put her in charge of an imprint and named it after her.) Miscellaneous topics include: how he came to write for Playboy Magazine; why he wrote under so many pseudonyms; his method of collaborating with other authors; and how he become Encyclopedia Britannica's first official authority on the Roman Emperor Tiberius; predicting the future using the Delphi Method; his co-founding ofThe Futurians; his nonfiction books: The Way the Future Was, Our Angry Earth, and Science as a Spectator Sport; the Americanization of the world (which he has witnessed by traveling to more than 50 different nations); his modest contribution to democracy in Moscow; how he was excluded from attending the very first WorldCon; and a few insights about his long-term friends: Donald A. Wollheim (the creator of DAW Books), andIsaac Asimov.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the September 4, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 61 minutes] This interview was recorded on January 30, 2010.

Frederik Pohl is a science fiction writer, and has been a book and magazine editor, as well as a poet, critic, literary agent and teacher. He edited Galaxy magazine and its sister magazine If, winning the Hugo for If three years in a row. His writing also won him three Hugos and multiple Nebula Awards. He became a Nebula Grand Master in 1993.

The Future And You--August 28, 2013

Dr. Ben Davis (nuclear physicist and professor) is our featured speaker.

Topic: The Singularity, and some of the things which might prevent it from occurring.

Dr. Ben Davis earned his PhD in Nuclear Physics from the University of Notre Dame. For several years he then taught mathematics, programming, astronomy and physics. He now works in the biometrics industry. His personal interest include: futurism, skepticism, science fiction, and history.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the August 28, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 51 minutes] This is a presentation recorded before an audience at the SF&F convention LibertyCon in Chattanooga TN on June 29, 2013.

The Future And You--August 21, 2013

Catherine Asaro (theoretical physicist, author and SIGMA consultant), Stephanie Osborn (former NASA payload specialist and author) David L. Burkhead (who works at a scanning electron microscopy facility, and writes science fiction as well) and your host: Stephen Euin Cobb.

Topic: Nanotechnology. What is being done today and what it may produce in the future.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the August 21, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 53 minutes] This is a panel discussion recorded before an audience at the SF&F convention LibertyCon in Chattanooga TN on June 29, 2013.

The Future And You--August 14, 2013

James Maxey (author), Jim Craig (planetarium director), Ben Davis (nuclear physicist) and myself are today's speakers.

Topic: A Timeline of Humanity's Future in Space.

Specifically: When are we likely to do each of the following: return to the Moon; put the first footsteps on an asteroid; land people on Mars; visit the outer planets (or the moons of the outer planets) such as those of Jupiter and Saturn; and, of course, when are we likely to send people to a solar system other than our own--which is to say... When will we travel to the stars?

A recurring side topic: Is it appropriate for us to make use of celestial objects, or should we preserve them in their original state? And if we preserve them, who exactly are we preserving them for?

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the August 14, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 60 minutes] This panel discussion (originally titled "Why Aren't We In Space?") was recorded before a live audience at the science fiction and fantasy convention ConCarolinas in Charlotte NC on June 1, 2013.

The Future And You--August 7, 2013

James Maxey (author), Jim Craig (planetarium director), Gray Rinehart (writer and editor), Ben Davis (nuclear physicist) and myself are today's speakers.

Topic: Global Climate Change. Evaluating its possible solutions for effectiveness and political achieveability.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the August 7, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 58 minutes] This panel discussion was recorded before a live audience at the SF&F convention ConCarolinas in Charlotte NC on June 1, 2013.

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he is also a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. His novels include Bones Burnt Black, Plague at Redhook and Skinbrain.

The Future And You--July 31, 2013

John Ringo (best selling author), Larry Correa (best selling author), Catherine Asaro (theoretical physicist, author and SIGMA consultant), Les Johnson (author and NASA administrator), Tedd Roberts (brain scientist), Michael Z. Williamson (author), Julie Cochran (author), Patrick Vanner (author) and Lillian Price (microbiologist and medical student) are today's speakers.

Topic: "Ten Ways Civilization Might Die."

Ways discussed include: another Carrington Event, an eruption of the Yellowstone caldera, an asteroidal impact, The Singularity, a computer virus with unexpected catastrophic secondary and tertiary effects, a human engineered virus or bacteria, cyber attacks against infrastructure, EMPs (electromagnetic pulses), the vulnerabilities of digital patient medical records, the rise of artificial intelligence, universal apathy in a wired world, The Law of Unintended Consequences, and the obvious--Global Nuclear War.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the July 31, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 60 minutes] This is a panel discussion recorded before a live audience at the SF&F convention LibertyCon in Chattanooga TN on June 29, 2013.

The Future And You--July 24, 2013

Seventeen diverse interviews from LibertyCon 2013.

Topics: Trends and insight into what is happening behind the scenes in a wide variety of professions, interests, enthusiasms and fields. This collection is partly intended give you a sense of the trends which are creating the future, but also to provide you with a bit of the flavor of the science fiction and fantasy convention LibertyCon.

Our guests today in the order in which they appear:

Catherine Asaro (author, scientist, dancer, singer and LibertyCon's Science Guest of Honor).

Kevin J Anderson (best selling author and LibertyCon's Literary Guest of Honor) accompanied by his wife Rebecca Moesta.

Larry Correia (best selling author and LibertyCon's Master of Ceremonies).

John Ringo (bestselling author).

Toni Weisskopf (head of Baen Books).

Michael Z. Williamson (author of military SF).

Patrick Vanner (author).

Stuart Jaffe (author & podcaster).

Elayna Little Cook (volunteer working in the LibertyCon art room).

Melissa Gay (professional artist).

Brandy Spraker (LibertyCon's new chairperson).

Kennith I. Roy (engineer and space engineering researcher).

Gail Sanders (costume maker and vendor).

Warren Buff & Jeff Orth (SF&F convention organizers).

Cathe Smith (insect geneticist and LibertyCon volunteer).

Geoffrey Mandragora (author of The Thunderbolt Affair).

Lillian Price (author of Thin Places).

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the July 24, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 133 minutes].

The Future And You--July 17, 2013

Catherine Asaro (theoretical physicist, author and SIGMA consultant), Les Johnson (author and NASA administrator), Sarah Hoyt (author), Tedd Roberts (brain scientist), Ben Davis (nuclear physicist), Jeff Barnes (FAA safety engineer and SF writer), Lillian Price (microbiologist and medical student), Chuck Gannon (author and SIGMA consultant) and Jim Beall (nuclear engineer) are today's speakers.

Topic: "Where's My Flying Car?"  And other broken promises about the future from science fiction.

Subtopics: tricorders; jet packs; nuclear fusion; teleportation; faster than light travel; anti-matter; space tourism; foods that won't spoil; supersonic commercial airliners; and robot servants that do the laundry, wash the dishes and cook meals. Also all those cool things from the movie "Back to the Future" such as Doc Brown's time machine and Mister Fusion; Marty Mcfly's hover board, self-tying shoes and self-drying clothes; and the national weather service's right-on-time weather control.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the July 17, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 59 minutes] This is a panel discussion recorded before a live audience at the SF&F convention LibertyCon in Chattanooga TN on June 29, 2013.

The Future And You--July 10, 2013

James Maxey (author), Jim Craig (planetarium director), Gray Rinehart (writer and editor), Ben Davis (nuclear physicist) and myself are today's speakers.

Topic: "The Year in Science" (Part 2).

Subtopics: grid parity; smart grids (verses the dumb grids we have now); photovoltaics and the rise of solar cells; solar panels on residential roofs; George Orwell; so called joule theives (such as the one that charges your cell phone with the stray radio waves around you, or charges it using the special T-shirt you are wearing which produces electricity from your body). Also: the promises and hopes of augmented reality verses the much talked about privacy fears; the BMW prototype of augmented reality (which is far better than Google Glass); and how augmented reality may very well produce new waves of unemployment.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the July 10, 2013 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 32 minutes] This is the second half of a panel discussion recorded before a live audience at the SF&F convention ConCarolinas in Charlotte NC on June 1, 2013.