Podcasts and Videos

Episode: 1561 'Hustling Hinkler, Up in the Sky' – an early Australian flier leaves his mark.  Today, an odd hero of early aviation.

Steven Hirshorn reflects on the Space Shuttle Program, the Space Shuttle Columbia accident, and the lessons learned that continue to shape human spaceflight. Episode 418

Peter Singer has been an influential philosopher for a number of decades. He was a significant early voice in animal rights, has been a leading thinker of utilitarianism, and helped inspire the effective altruism movement. In this podcast episode, we try our best to talk about all of those things — working from metaethical questions of consequentialism vs. other approaches, to specific flavors of utilitarianism, the practical demands that ethics places on people, the rights of animals, and the decisions we make at the end of our lives. Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2026/04/20/351-peter-singer-on-maximizing-good-for-all-sentient-creatures/ Support Mindscape on Patreon. Peter Singer received his B.Phil. in philosophy from the University of Oxford. He retired from Princeton University in 2023, and now lives in Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of a number of influential books, including Animal Liberation (1975). He has been named a Companion of the order of Australia, and is a winner of the Berggruen Prize. He is the founder of the charity The Life You Can Save. He and philosopher Kasia de Lazari Radek are co-hosts of the Lives Well Lived podcast (YouTube, Spotify, Apple). Web site Princeton University Center for Human Values page Google Scholar publications Amazon author page Wikipedia Bluesky

As AI is integrated into scientific practice, the practice of science itself is changing. AI models that summarize, categorize, simulate, and predict not only stand to accelerate scientific research; they now sit inside these practices, alternately enhancing and eroding craft while shifting how questions are posed, what counts as evidence, how tacit judgment is taught and exercised, and reshaping trust in results.   Dr. Kristin M. Branson (@kristinmbranson.bsky.social) is a senior group leader at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s (HHMI) Janelia Research Campus in Ashborn, Virginia. Dr. Lisa Messeri (@lmesseri.bsky.social) is an associate professor of sociocultural anthropology at Yale University.  Dr. Nicole C. Nelson (@nicolecnelson.bsky.social) is an associate professor in the Department of Medical History and Bioethics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

BTO Program Manager Lt. Col. Adam Willis, M.D., U.S. Air Force, joins Voices from DARPA to share his remarkable journey from a ROTC physics major to a leading innovator in military medicine.Dr. Willis discusses how a desire to apply science to help people led him down the dual paths of a Ph.D. in theoretical and appliled mechanics and a medical degree with a focus on neurology. He recounts the moment a demonstration of the DARPA-funded Revolutionizing Prosthetics program sparked his interest, leading him to cold-email a military doctor and future mentor, Col. Geoffrey Ling, who gave him a simple, life-changing piece of advice.In this episode, Dr. Willis explains his work on groundbreaking programs like Golden Hour Evacuation (GOLDEVAC) and Making Anatomical Sense of Hemorrhage (MASH), which aim to revolutionize battlefield medicine by bringing critical care capabilities directly to the point of injury. He details his vision for an "ICU in a box" and autonomous surgical tools that could save countless lives when evacuation to a surgeon isn't possible. He also shares his unique perspective as a "Rosetta Stone," translating complex medical challenges into the language of physics and engineering to find novel solutions.

If your people say they don't know what's going on strategically, or operationally, **it's your fault.** You can fill that void with your own vision and communications.

Binary thinking is that horrible all-or-nothing approach that holds us back by convincing us that any positive change we consider will inevitably lead to disaster. You know the sort of thing: 'I should be more assertive, but if I try, I'll end up being an arrogant psychopath who everyone hates', or 'I should get out for a walk every day, but if I do, I will neglect all my duties and get fired', or 'If I show compassion towards myself I will give up and stop trying and never get anywhere in life'. If you catch yourself doing the binary thinking thing, then you need to stop immediately.Even so, there's wisdom in the binary. If you can resist the temptation to let it sabotage all your plans, you can use it to help you realise those plans. By using your binary thinking as a prompt for reflection, you can turn your idea for positive change into a detailed, workable strategy. Try out the brand new Binary thinking worksheet! Oh, and I also mention the Core values exercise.

When Disneyland opened to the public in 1955, it demystified the hidden world of factory automation through its extraordinary new attractions. In Disneyland and the Rise of Automation: How Technology Created the Happiest Place on Earth (Princeton University Press, 2026), Dr. Roland Betancourt tells the story of how the visionary engineers and designers at Disney transformed the technologies of the postwar assembly line into an entertainment experience unlike anything the world had ever seen.This book traces the origins and evolution of these technical innovations during the theme park’s first three decades in operation, exploring how engineers reimagined the systems and machines of industrial manufacturing and the military. The magnetic tape used to test ballistic missiles was repurposed to animate the talking macaws in the Enchanted Tiki Room. Programmable Logic Controllers, widely used on automotive assembly lines, brought to life the spectacular rides of the Matterhorn Bobsleds and Space Mountain. Dr. Betancourt shows how these and other attractions helped to allay fears about automation and job displacement in 1950s America. Along the way, he situates Disneyland’s remarkable creations within a broader history of the technologies that increasingly order and construct the world around us, from the Fordist factory to artificial intelligence.Essential reading for anyone interested in engineering, corporate histories, or popular culture, Disneyland and the Rise of Automation invites us to consider how technology and the logic of automation become integrated into our lives through entertainment. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-technology-and-society

When Disneyland opened to the public in 1955, it demystified the hidden world of factory automation through its extraordinary new attractions. In Disneyland and the Rise of Automation: How Technology Created the Happiest Place on Earth (Princeton University Press, 2026), Dr. Roland Betancourt tells the story of how the visionary engineers and designers at Disney transformed the technologies of the postwar assembly line into an entertainment experience unlike anything the world had ever seen.This book traces the origins and evolution of these technical innovations during the theme park’s first three decades in operation, exploring how engineers reimagined the systems and machines of industrial manufacturing and the military. The magnetic tape used to test ballistic missiles was repurposed to animate the talking macaws in the Enchanted Tiki Room. Programmable Logic Controllers, widely used on automotive assembly lines, brought to life the spectacular rides of the Matterhorn Bobsleds and Space Mountain. Dr. Betancourt shows how these and other attractions helped to allay fears about automation and job displacement in 1950s America. Along the way, he situates Disneyland’s remarkable creations within a broader history of the technologies that increasingly order and construct the world around us, from the Fordist factory to artificial intelligence.Essential reading for anyone interested in engineering, corporate histories, or popular culture, Disneyland and the Rise of Automation invites us to consider how technology and the logic of automation become integrated into our lives through entertainment. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/technology

Now, Dr. Elizabeth Sawin has dedicated her career to the theory and practice of creating change in complex systems. In 2021, she founded and is currently the Director of the Multi-solving Institute. This interview discusses her book Multisolving: Creating Systems Change in a Fractured World (Island Press, 2024) After studying many successful efforts around the world, where people created systems-change by building connections across silos, she developed the Multi-Solving approach to more effectively address equity, climate change health, well-being, and economic vitality as integrated issues. Prior to her current position, Beth co-founded the think tank Climate Interactive to develop tools and project possible futures for grappling with the complexity of the climate system. In this regard, she led efforts to integrate measures of equity, health, and well-being into decision-support computer simulations. Beth writes and speaks about multi-solving and leadership in complex systems for both national and international audiences. She has over 40 publications, both in scientific journals, as well as more populous literature, such as: Non-Profit Quarterly, The Stanford Social Innovation Review, The Daily Climate, U. S. News, as well as… in the New York Times and the Washington Post. Beth graduated from Dartmouth College with majors in Biology and Chemistry and subsequently received her PhD in Neuro-Biology from the Massachusetts Institute for Technology Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/systems-and-cybernetics

This episode features "Update on Rules for the Spatiotemporal Use of Campus Spaces" by Andrea Kriz (©2026 by Andrea Kriz) read by Stefan Rudnicki, and "[Part 2] Six-Gun Vixen and the Machinist of Doom Valley" by Ashok K. Banker (©2026 by Ashok K. Banker) read by Janina Edwards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices