Make People Better Podcast

As a filmmaker, Cody is acutely aware of how Hollywood films has shaped his perception of genetic engineering. Ridley Scott’s masterpiece, Blade Runner, was present for him during the entire process of making the documentary Make People Better. During shoots, they often joked that the documentary could have been shot on one of Mr. Scotts film sets. How is it that we so often set out to create the world we see in science fiction? We sit down with the writer and producer of Stargate SG1, one of the longest running Sci-fi franchises in history. Robert Cooper is more than a shaper of where science goes, he also suffers from a rare genetic disease. Who better to be our guide for the future of the genomic revolution? Episode Guests Robert Cooper [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_C._Cooper] is a Canadian writer and producer best known for his work in the Stargate franchise. He was formerly an executive producer of Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe. He also co-created both Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe with Brad Wright. Cooper has written and produced many episodes of Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe as well as directed a number of episodes. Reference links for this episode https://www.forbes.com/sites/arunshastri/2021/08/03/read-before-assembly-the-influence-of-sci-fi-on-technology-and-design/?sh=5d0d3316220b [https://www.forbes.com/sites/arunshastri/2021/08/03/read-before-assembly-the-influence-of-sci-fi-on-technology-and-design/?sh=5d0d3316220b] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Shock [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Shock] https://www.mgm.com/television/stargate-sg-1 [https://www.mgm.com/television/stargate-sg-1] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2142608/support] This podcast is brought to you by the RandomGood Foundation [https://www.randomgood.com/rgfoundation] and was produced by Rhumbline Media, LLC [https://rhumblinemedia.com]. Add a video of your thoughts on our Filmstacker Project [https://app.filmstacker.com/events/accept/human-game?token=e1b130a8-97d7-4008-9ff7-8b1d21a97cef]. Learn more about the podcast [https://makepeoplebetterfilm.com/podcast/] at our website. Leave us a comment on social media: Instagram [https://instagram.com/makepeoplebetterfilm] Facebook [https://m.facebook.com/MakePeopleBetterFilm/] Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/@codysheehy_Rhumbline] Twitter [https://twitter.com/makepeople_film] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/code-of-the-wild/] Credits Written and Edited by Cody Sheehy Produced by Samira Kiani Music By Tyler Strickland Impact production by Megan Friend Recorded by Cody Sheehy and Samira Kiani Additional Recording By Galen McCaw Sound design and mixing by Kim Christensen Supporting materials by Cody Sheehy Social media and marketing by Megan Friend, Amna Vegha, and Marci Fiamengo Website by Craig Boesewetter Legal by W. Wilder Knight II Executive production by Randall Gebhardt and Christopher Gebhardt

The technology companies driving the genomic revolution are modeling themselves after their predecessors in Silicon Valley. Many bioethicists take note that the same value system, often a mix of new age spiritualism mixed with a tech ethic of “go fast and break things,” is being used as a justification to move the technologies of life far past government regulations and what the rest of society is prepared for spiritually. But even as the new genomic revolution is getting started, Silicon Valley is entering into a period of self-reflection. Our guides for this discussion are Gaymon Bennet, a philosopher at Arizona State university and Barry Brown, the founder of Human (ethos) and an advisor to Singularity University. Episode Guests Barry Brown [https://www.linkedin.com/in/barry-brown-06590b3] has been involved in the field of individual and team transformation for the past 30 years.  Gaymon Bennet [https://religionandglobalcitizenship.csrc.asu.edu/people/gaymon-bennett] works on the problem of modernity in contemporary religion and biotechnology: its shifting moral economies, contested power relations, and uncertain modes of subjectivity. Reference links for this episode https://www.google.com/search?q=gaymon+bennet&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS999US999&oq=gaymon+bennet&aqs=chrome..69i57.2233j0j4&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#ip=1 [https://www.google.com/search?q=gaymon+bennet&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS999US999&oq=gaymon+bennet&aqs=chrome..69i57.2233j0j4&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#ip=1] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/19/dark-side-of-tech-silicon-valley-guardian [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/19/dark-side-of-tech-silicon-valley-guardian] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11464826/ [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11464826/] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/23/opinion/google-big-tech-work-culture.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/23/opinion/google-big-tech-work-culture.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2142608/support] This podcast is brought to you by the RandomGood Foundation [https://www.randomgood.com/rgfoundation] and was produced by Rhumbline Media, LLC [https://rhumblinemedia.com]. Add a video of your thoughts on our Filmstacker Project [https://app.filmstacker.com/events/accept/human-game?token=e1b130a8-97d7-4008-9ff7-8b1d21a97cef]. Learn more about the podcast [https://makepeoplebetterfilm.com/podcast/] at our website. Leave us a comment on social media: Instagram [https://instagram.com/makepeoplebetterfilm] Facebook [https://m.facebook.com/MakePeopleBetterFilm/] Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/@codysheehy_Rhumbline] Twitter [https://twitter.com/makepeople_film] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/code-of-the-wild/] Credits Written and Edited by Cody Sheehy Produced by Samira Kiani Music By Tyler Strickland Impact production by Megan Friend Recorded by Cody Sheehy and Samira Kiani Additional Recording By Galen McCaw Sound design and mixing by Kim Christensen Supporting materials by Cody Sheehy Social media and marketing by Megan Friend, Amna Vegha, and Marci Fiamengo Website by Craig Boesewetter Legal by W. Wilder Knight II Executive production by Randall Gebhardt and Christopher Gebhardt

The last 20 years of history have been bookended by two events. 9/11 and Covid-19. Many security experts believe that as cheap and easy-to-use gene editing tech proliferates, the occurrence of intentional release of publicly available viruses like smallpox or engineered variants of bird flu will be released for ideological reasons. Is there a plan to keep us safe? We start with special agent Edward You, formerly the director for the FBI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate, who is leading the U.S. government’s defense. In this episode we also talk with Richard Carmona, the former United States Surgeon General who was also tasked with this in his tenure, Harvard’s Sam Weiss Evans, and Michael Hopmeier who is a biosecurity expert. Episode Guests Richard Carmona [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Carmona] is an American physician, nurse, police officer, public health administrator, and politician.  Sam Weiss Evans [https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuelaevans] focuses on the governance of security concerns in emerging research technology, especially biology.  Edward You [https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-you-1827bb1b]  is currently on a Joint Duty Assignment at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) serving as the National Counterintelligence Officer for Emerging and Disruptive Technologies. Michael Hopmeier [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-hopmeier-080928] is the president of Unconventional Concepts, and consult of matters of homeland security. Reference links for this episode https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/news-blog/is-a-bioterrorism-attack-in-the-us-2008-12-02/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIscOy7o6v_QIVUjmtBh3szw9hEAMYASAAEgIRQvD_BwE [https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/news-blog/is-a-bioterrorism-attack-in-the-us-2008-12-02/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIscOy7o6v_QIVUjmtBh3szw9hEAMYASAAEgIRQvD_BwE] https://www.foreignaffairs.com/world/nightmare-bioterrorism?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=gap_ds&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIp6LZ9I6v_QIVoxnnCh3LfATKEAMYASAAEgIek_D_BwE [https://www.foreignaffairs.com/world/nightmare-bioterrorism?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=gap_ds&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIp6LZ9I6v_QIVoxnnCh3LfATKEAMYASAAEgIek_D_BwE] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2142608/support] This podcast is brought to you by the RandomGood Foundation [https://www.randomgood.com/rgfoundation] and was produced by Rhumbline Media, LLC [https://rhumblinemedia.com]. Add a video of your thoughts on our Filmstacker Project [https://app.filmstacker.com/events/accept/human-game?token=e1b130a8-97d7-4008-9ff7-8b1d21a97cef]. Learn more about the podcast [https://makepeoplebetterfilm.com/podcast/] at our website. Leave us a comment on social media: Instagram [https://instagram.com/makepeoplebetterfilm] Facebook [https://m.facebook.com/MakePeopleBetterFilm/] Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/@codysheehy_Rhumbline] Twitter [https://twitter.com/makepeople_film] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/code-of-the-wild/] Credits Written and Edited by Cody Sheehy Produced by Samira Kiani Music By Tyler Strickland Impact production by Megan Friend Recorded by Cody Sheehy and Samira Kiani Additional Recording By Galen McCaw Sound design and mixing by Kim Christensen Supporting materials by Cody Sheehy Social media and marketing by Megan Friend, Amna Vegha, and Marci Fiamengo Website by Craig Boesewetter Legal by W. Wilder Knight II Executive production by Randall Gebhardt and Christopher Gebhardt

Mosquitoes, which have evolved on Earth for more than a hundred million years, could be extinguished by new genetic engineering tools in a matter of years in modern efforts to prevent malaria. The first of these immensely powerful technologies are called “gene drives.” In this episode, we sit down for a mind mending interview with Dr Kevin Esvelt of MIT’s Sculpting Evolution Lab, who is one of the key inventors of gene drives and has been a chief advocate for its current deployments to sterilize invasive rodents and drive disease laden mosquitoes to extinction. We also get a sobering perspective from James Collins, an evolutionary ecologist at Arizona State University. At the end of the day, humans have never been able to modify nature without huge unforeseen consequences, but we usually proceed anyway. Episode Guests Kevin Esvelt [https://www.media.mit.edu/people/esvelt/overview/] is director of the Sculpting Evolution group, which invents new ways to study and influence the evolution of ecosystems. James P. Collins [https://sustainability-innovation.asu.edu/person/james-collins/] is an evolutionary ecologist whose research group studies the role of host-pathogen interactions in species decline and extinction. Reference links for this episode https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02087-5 [https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02087-5] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/first-us-open-air-test-of-genetically-modified-mosquitoes-deemed-a-success-180979960/ [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/first-us-open-air-test-of-genetically-modified-mosquitoes-deemed-a-success-180979960/] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41576-021-00386-0 [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41576-021-00386-0] https://www.netflix.com/title/80208910 [https://www.netflix.com/title/80208910] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2142608/support] This podcast is brought to you by the RandomGood Foundation [https://www.randomgood.com/rgfoundation] and was produced by Rhumbline Media, LLC [https://rhumblinemedia.com]. Add a video of your thoughts on our Filmstacker Project [https://app.filmstacker.com/events/accept/human-game?token=e1b130a8-97d7-4008-9ff7-8b1d21a97cef]. Learn more about the podcast [https://makepeoplebetterfilm.com/podcast/] at our website. Leave us a comment on social media: Instagram [https://instagram.com/makepeoplebetterfilm] Facebook [https://m.facebook.com/MakePeopleBetterFilm/] Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/@codysheehy_Rhumbline] Twitter [https://twitter.com/makepeople_film] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/code-of-the-wild/] Credits Written and Edited by Cody Sheehy Produced by Samira Kiani Music By Tyler Strickland Impact production by Megan Friend Recorded by Cody Sheehy and Samira Kiani Additional Recording By Galen McCaw Sound design and mixing by Kim Christensen Supporting materials by Cody Sheehy Social media and marketing by Megan Friend, Amna Vegha, and Marci Fiamengo Website by Craig Boesewetter Legal by W. Wilder Knight II Executive production by Randall Gebhardt and Christopher Gebhardt

In the United States, many citizens place personal freedom above all other societal values. Combine that with a wave of new gene hacking technologies that are cheap and easy to use, and the biohacking movement is born. It’s fun, you can inject yourself in your own basement, and it can generate a lot of interest on social media.  In this episode we start with visionary biochemist, genetic designer, and biohacker Jo Zayner. An ex-NASA biochemist, turned underground biohacker, Jo first gained notoriety by publicly injecting themself with CRISPR at a live event. Although their claims that it would enhance their muscles did not pan out, it did inspire a wave of copycat hackers who started dubious enterprises that publicly injected themselves and sold untested cures to Herpes and other ailments. Samira and Cody traveled with Jo to the Dominican Republic, which has no medical regulations, to meet with patients suffering from muscular dystrophy, and who are desperate to meet Zayner and try any DIY cure. Episode Guests Jo Zayner [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Zayner] (formerly Josiah Zayner) is a biohacker, artist, and scientist best known for their self-experimentation and work making hands-on genetic engineering accessible to a lay audience, including CRISPR. Ynti Eusebio [https://www.facebook.com/drynti.eusebioalburquerque/] is the medical director of Prometheus Regenerative Lab located in the Dominican Republic. Ynti provides plastic surgery and Stem Cell Therapies to his patients. Henry Thompson, a resident of the Dominican Republic suffering from muscular dystrophy. Resources https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/02/biohacking-stunts-crispr/553511/ [https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/02/biohacking-stunts-crispr/553511/] https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/5/19/18629771/biohacking-josiah-zayner-genetic-engineering-crispr [https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/5/19/18629771/biohacking-josiah-zayner-genetic-engineering-crispr] http://www.josiahzayner.com/p/about.html [http://www.josiahzayner.com/p/about.html] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/19/style/biohacker-death-aaron-traywick.html [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/19/style/biohacker-death-aaron-traywick.html] ht [https://youtu.be/B3F9VapBuWo] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2142608/support] This podcast is brought to you by the RandomGood Foundation [https://www.randomgood.com/rgfoundation] and was produced by Rhumbline Media, LLC [https://rhumblinemedia.com]. Add a video of your thoughts on our Filmstacker Project [https://app.filmstacker.com/events/accept/human-game?token=e1b130a8-97d7-4008-9ff7-8b1d21a97cef]. Learn more about the podcast [https://makepeoplebetterfilm.com/podcast/] at our website. Leave us a comment on social media: Instagram [https://instagram.com/makepeoplebetterfilm] Facebook [https://m.facebook.com/MakePeopleBetterFilm/] Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/@codysheehy_Rhumbline] Twitter [https://twitter.com/makepeople_film] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/code-of-the-wild/] Credits Written and Edited by Cody Sheehy Produced by Samira Kiani Music By Tyler Strickland Impact production by Megan Friend Recorded by Cody Sheehy and Samira Kiani Additional Recording By Galen McCaw Sound design and mixing by Kim Christensen Supporting materials by Cody Sheehy Social media and marketing by Megan Friend, Amna Vegha, and Marci Fiamengo Website by Craig Boesewetter Legal by W. Wilder Knight II Executive production by Randall Gebhardt and Christopher Gebhardt