Urgent Futures with Jesse Damiani

Apocalypse Early Warning System? Track the Oligarchs. Creative Tech as Crisis Intervention - Kyle McDonald | Rapid Response #25

How can art—especially new media art—be used to intervene in polycrisis? Across projects like Apocalypse Early Warning System, ICEspy, & more, artist Kyle McDonald charts a path. Support the show by checking out: ProtonVPN [https://go.getproton.me/SH1yt] (gold-standard VPN—fast and safe. Click the link to get 55% off VPN Plus: $4.49/mo). ZBiotics [https://zbiotics.com/?sca_ref=4926056.YlP8s92iYP] (Decrease impact of hangovers. Code: JESSEDAMIANI for 10% off), MUD\WTR [http://mudwtr.pxf.io/Urgent] (43% off starter kits), 1Password [https://1password.partnerlinks.io/UrgentFutures] (simplify your life and increase digital safety), Mission Farms CBD [https://mission-farms-cbd.sjv.io/Urgent] (healthy, effective CBD for relief, sleep, and wellbeing—25% off with email). BIO: Kyle McDonald is an artist working with code. He crafts interactive installations, sneaky interventions, playful websites, workshops, andtoolkits for other artists working with code. Exploring possibilities of new technologies: to understand how they affect society, to misuse them, and build alternative futures; aiming to share a laugh, spark curiosity, create confusion, and share spaces with magical vibes. Working with machine learning, computer vision, social and surveillance tech spanning commercial and arts spaces. Previously adjunct professor at NYU’s ITP, member of F.A.T. Lab, community manager for openFrameworks, and artist in residence at STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at CMU, and YCAM in Japan. Work commissioned and shown around the world, including: the V&A, NTT ICC, Ars Electronica, Sonar, Todays Art, and Eyebeam. CREDITS: This podcast is produced & edited by Adam Labrie & me, Jesse Damiani. Adam Labrie also edited the video version, which is available on YouTube. Find more episodes of Urgent Futures at: youtube.com/@UrgentFutures [https://www.youtube.com/@UrgentFutures]. Get full access to Reality Studies at www.realitystudies.co/subscribe [https://www.realitystudies.co/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

How Storytelling & Comedy Expose Corruption & Depict Climate Collapse - Adam McKay | #73

From comedies like Anchorman and Step Brothers to The Big Short, Vice, and 2C—a forthcoming film about climate apocalypse—Adam McKay's evolution as a storyteller and public figure epitomizes the journey we will need many other creative folks to undertake if we're going to survive what's coming. We get into all of it (including teasers about forthcoming projects). Support the show by checking out: ProtonVPN [https://go.getproton.me/SH1yt] (gold-standard VPN—fast and safe. Click the link to get 55% off VPN Plus: $4.49/mo). ZBiotics [https://zbiotics.com/?sca_ref=4926056.YlP8s92iYP] (Decrease impact of hangovers. Code: JESSEDAMIANI for 10% off), MUD\WTR [http://mudwtr.pxf.io/Urgent] (43% off starter kits), 1Password [https://1password.partnerlinks.io/UrgentFutures] (simplify your life and increase digital safety), Mission Farms CBD [https://mission-farms-cbd.sjv.io/Urgent] (healthy, effective CBD for relief, sleep, and wellbeing—25% off with email). BIO: Adam McKay is an Academy Award-winning writer, director, and producer whose work spans comedy, film, television, documentaries, and podcasting. He won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Big Short and earned additional Academy Award nominations for Vice and Netflix’s global hit Don’t Look Up. His producing credits also include The Menu, Booksmart, Hustlers, The Chair Company, and HBO’s acclaimed series Succession, for which he directed the pilot and won a Directors Guild Award. Before becoming one of Hollywood’s most influential filmmakers, McKay made his name in the comedy world as a founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade. In 1995, McKay and Will Ferrell happened to start on the same day at Saturday Night Live, where he became Head Writer. McKay and Ferrell’s time at SNL led to collaborations that established their unique absurdist style on Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) followed by Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), Step Brothers (2008), The Other Guys (2010) and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013). Beyond film and television, McKay is also an active producer of documentaries and podcasts focused on politics, culture, sports, and social issues. In 2023, he founded Yellow Dot Studios, a nonprofit media organization dedicated to combating climate misinformation through comedy and storytelling. In 2016, McKay joined the Creative Council of Represent Us, the largest grassroots anti-corruption campaign in the US to pass laws that stop political bribery, end secret money and give voters a stronger voice. He is passionate about the climate crisis and is affiliated with numerous climate organizations, including the Climate Emergency Fund to whom he donated $4M in 2022. In addition to aiding the movement General Strike for Resignations (GS4R), a group that helps finance strike-support platforms across labor unions, climate organizations and social justice groups, McKay supports DSA LA, Homeless Health Care LA and Amnesty International. CREDITS: This podcast is produced & edited by Adam Labrie & me, Jesse Damiani. Adam Labrie also edited the video version, which is available on YouTube. Find more episodes of Urgent Futures at: youtube.com/@UrgentFutures [https://www.youtube.com/@UrgentFutures]. Get full access to Reality Studies at www.realitystudies.co/subscribe [https://www.realitystudies.co/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

From Palantir Employee to Digital Rights Advocacy: Starting a People’s Movement Against AI Risks - Juan Sebastián Pinto | Rapid Response #24

By now, the company Palantir has probably entered your field of view—but many still don’t quite get the scope and scale of what they’re building and why. Juan, today's guest, formerly worked at Palantir and other AI companies, and has now emerged as leading advocate for a people’s movement to regulate AI and promote liberatory futures. So listen/watch on to understand into the invisible dangers of Palantir’s tools and what we can do to keep them (and other harmful aspects of AI rollout) in check. Support the show by checking out: ProtonVPN [https://go.getproton.me/SH1yt] (gold-standard VPN—fast and safe. Click the link to get 55% off VPN Plus: $4.49/mo). ZBiotics [https://zbiotics.com/?sca_ref=4926056.YlP8s92iYP] (Decrease impact of hangovers. Code: JESSEDAMIANI for 10% off), MUD\WTR [http://mudwtr.pxf.io/Urgent] (43% off starter kits), 1Password [https://1password.partnerlinks.io/UrgentFutures] (simplify your life and increase digital safety), Mission Farms CBD [https://mission-farms-cbd.sjv.io/Urgent] (healthy, effective CBD for relief, sleep, and wellbeing—25% off with email). BIO: Juan Sebastián Pinto [https://substack.com/profile/2532338-juan-sebastian-pinto] is a designer and writer currently working at the intersection of civil rights and technology. His writing appears in The Guardian, Forbes, Dwell Magazine, and Substack. His work and advocacy has been featured in WIRED, NPR, The Washington Post, Democracy Now!, and the BBC.In the past Juan led content/creative for various leading AI startups and worked and collaborated with many architecture firms as a strategist, writer, and graphic designer. He completed his BA and MA in English at the University of Pennsylvania. Juan also runs Ziggurat [https://open.substack.com/pub/zigguratmag] on Substack—be sure to subscribe! CREDITS: This podcast is produced & edited by Adam Labrie & me, Jesse Damiani. Adam Labrie also edited the video version, which is available on YouTube. Find more episodes of Urgent Futures at: youtube.com/@UrgentFutures [https://www.youtube.com/@UrgentFutures]. Get full access to Reality Studies at www.realitystudies.co/subscribe [https://www.realitystudies.co/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The Most Consequential Story in Earth's History - Peter Brannen | #72

If you spend enough time learning about climate change, you come to regard the molecule carbon dioxide—abbreivated to CO2—with fear and frustration. After all, the long accumulation of CO2 is behind roughly 75% of Earth’s warming. Leaving aside the fact that we’re the species that put all that CO2 in the air, we’re also not viewing the bigger picture. That bigger picture is the subject of today's guest's modestly titled new book, The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything. Read on... Support the show by checking out: ProtonVPN [https://go.getproton.me/SH1yt] (gold-standard VPN—fast and safe. Click the link to get 55% off VPN Plus: $4.49/mo). ZBiotics [https://zbiotics.com/?sca_ref=4926056.YlP8s92iYP] (Decrease impact of hangovers. Code: JESSEDAMIANI for 10% off), MUD\WTR [http://mudwtr.pxf.io/Urgent] (43% off starter kits), 1Password [https://1password.partnerlinks.io/UrgentFutures] (simplify your life and increase digital safety), Mission Farms CBD [https://mission-farms-cbd.sjv.io/Urgent] (healthy, effective CBD for relief, sleep, and wellbeing—25% off with email). The book amply earns the big claim of the title, helping readers like me understand that the carbon cycle is one of the most miraculous things on Earth—and also one of the most consequential. Buy [https://amzn.to/42PUoOF]The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything [https://amzn.to/42PUoOF] here. [https://amzn.to/42PUoOF] Don’t get the wrong idea: Story of CO2 is not a starry eyed greenwashing affair. If anything, the book is asking us to approach the subject with humility. The carbon cycle may be miraculous, and a driving part of why life emerged on Earth, but that doesn’t mean it’s unchangeable. In continuing to burn fossil fuels, we’re tampering with that system, and at an alarming rate. Insofar as we’re already witnessing some of the consequences, we also have no way of knowing the full regimen of changes that might be occurring across the Earth system. To that, Peter employs some of the same time travel he used in The Ends of the World—which we discussed in an earlier episode—taking us on a journey through deep time to understand how the story of CO2 really did become the story of everything—at least as we understand it on our one precious planet. BIO: Peter Brannen is an award-winning science journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Scientific American, and The Guardian among other publications. He is the author of The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything and The Ends of the World. Peter was a 2023 visiting scholar at the Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, and is an affiliate at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado-Boulder. He was formerly a 2018 Scripps Fellow at CU-Boulder, a 2015 journalist-in-residence at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center at Duke University, and a 2011 Ocean Science Journalism Fellow at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, MA. His essays have been featured in the Best American Science and Nature Writing series and in The Climate Book by Greta Thunberg. Peter is particularly interested in geology, ocean science, deep time, the carbon cycle and the Boston Celtics. Peter splits time between Cambridge, MA and Damariscotta, ME and is a placental mammal. CREDITS: This podcast is produced & edited by Adam Labrie & me, Jesse Damiani. Adam Labrie also edited the video version, which is available on YouTube. Find more episodes of Urgent Futures at: youtube.com/@UrgentFutures [https://www.youtube.com/@UrgentFutures]. Get full access to Reality Studies at www.realitystudies.co/subscribe [https://www.realitystudies.co/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Extreme Heat: What City-Dwellers Need to Understand - Vivek Shandas | #71

When you think of threats from heat, your mind probably goes to wildfire threats. And don’t get me wrong, having lived through wildfires firsthand, they’re not to be underestimated! But the headline-grabbing nature of fires might overshadow the fact that plain old heat can be a real threat to your health. In fact, extreme heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S.; more than hurricanes and floods. Support the show by checking out: ProtonVPN [https://go.getproton.me/SH1yt] (gold-standard VPN—fast and safe. Click the link to get 55% off VPN Plus: $4.49/mo). ZBiotics [https://zbiotics.com/?sca_ref=4926056.YlP8s92iYP] (Decrease impact of hangovers. Code: JESSEDAMIANI for 10% off), MUD\WTR [http://mudwtr.pxf.io/Urgent] (43% off starter kits), 1Password [https://1password.partnerlinks.io/UrgentFutures] (simplify your life and increase digital safety), Mission Farms CBD [https://mission-farms-cbd.sjv.io/Urgent] (healthy, effective CBD for relief, sleep, and wellbeing—25% off with email). And this is pronounced in urban spaces, where a deadly cocktail of heat-exacerbating building materials and careless urban planning has created a situation in which, during heat events, cities can become especially dangerous. Today’s guest is an expert in the phenomenon of urban heat islands, areas that are significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas. Tree cover is one of the key interventions, but unfortunately, US cities are actually losing tree cover. A study from the Forest Service in 2018 found that US cities were losing trees at a rate of 36 million per year. And worse, what Vivek has found in his research is that many of the hottest neighborhoods in cities—those that already lack sufficient tree cover—are also losing trees at the fastest rates. While I absolutely hate this fact, it’s why I especially appreciate Vivek’s approach, weaving together sustainability, environmental justice, and urban planning—and doing so in such a clear-eyed, accessible way. I know this is not light fare, but given that we’re also potentially heading into what experts have literally called a “super-duper” El Niño, which they believe will produce new record-setting temperatures, I feel strongly that you need to familiarize yourself with this subject so that you’re best able to prepare and help do what you can to advocate for better heat planning in your hometowns. BIO: Vivek Shandas is a researcher, professor at Portland State University, and advisor helping cities navigate climate and public health challenges. Over two decades, he has worked with governments and communities to improve urban environments through data-driven, equitable strategies. He has authored 100+ journal articles and five books, and his work on urban heat, air quality, and environmental justice has been featured in major outlets including The New York Times and National Geographic. In 2023, he was appointed to the USDA’s National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council. He is also the lead scientific advisor to CAPA Strategies and enjoys the mountains and water of the Pacific Northwest, where he lives with his family. CREDITS: This podcast is produced & edited by Adam Labrie & me, Jesse Damiani. Adam Labrie also edited the video version, which is available on YouTube. Find more episodes of Urgent Futures at: youtube.com/@UrgentFutures [https://www.youtube.com/@UrgentFutures]. Get full access to Reality Studies at www.realitystudies.co/subscribe [https://www.realitystudies.co/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]