Brave New World -- hosted by Vasant Dhar

Neuroscientist Anil Seth explores how the brain constructs our sense of self and reality in Episode 94 of Brave New World with Vasant Dhar, offering insights on the boundary between perception and consciousness. Useful Resources: 1. Anil Seth2. Being You: A New Science Of Consciousness – Anil Seth. 3. TED Talk: Your Brain Hallucinates Your Conscious Reality – Anil Seth. 4. Predictive Coding5. Hermann Helmhotz and Unconscious Interference. 6. Priming In Psychology. 7. Reality Is A Controlled Hallucination – Anil Seth. 8. Computational Functionalism. 9. How The Mind Works – Steven Pinker. 10. Ned Block, Co-Director, Centre for Mind, Brain and Consciousness, NYU. 11. Thomas Nagel. 12. Claude Shannon and Information Theory. 13. David Chalmers, Co-Director, Centre for Mind, Brain and Consciousness, NYU. 14. Panel Discussion at The World Science Festival, Moderated By Brain Green. 15. Stevan Harnard and the Symbol Grounding Problem. 16. Pippa Ehrlich On The Mysteries of The Sea – Episode 77 Of Brave New World. 17. A Tiger For Malgudi – RK Narayan. 18. Kevin Mitchell Makes A Case For Free Will – Episode 80 Of Brave New World. 19. Marcello Massimini20. Robert Sapolsky. 21. Robert Sapolsky on Free Will. 20. Compatibilism. 21. The Emergent Properties of The Connected Brain. 22. Aaron Schurger. 23. Benjamin Libett. 24. Readiness Potential. Check out Vasant Dhar’s newsletter on Substack. The subscription is free!  

How do we get meat that is more nutritious, sustainable, and less cruel to animals? Dr Uma Valeti, a cardiologist turned CEO of Upside Foods, joins Vasant Dhar in episode 93 of Brave New World to discuss the future of cultivated meat. Useful Resources: 1. Dr Uma Valeti, MD, Upside Foods. 2. Clean Meat - Paul Shapiro. 3. ‘Animal Liberation NOW’ - Peter Singer. 4. How India Eats, Vegetarians vs Non Vegetarians percentage in India. 5. Maneka Gandhi On Animal Rights – Episode 44 of Brave New World. 6. Peter Singer On Animal Liberation – Episode 74 of Brave New World. 7. Paul Shapiro on Growing Meat Without Animals – Episode 54 of Brave New World. 8. Sean Sullivan, IndieBio, CPT Capital and Unovis Capital. 9. Cargill, Tyson Foods and Norwest Foods International. 10. CRISPR. 11. The Florida lab-grown meat ban. 12. The Alabama lab-grown meat ban. Check out Vasant Dhar’s newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!  

All meaningful reform happens when there is one smooth pipeline from research to policy to execution. Angela Hawken joins Vasant Dhar in episode 92 of Brave New World to discuss her work as both a thinker in academia and a doer with government. Useful resources 1. Angela Hawken at Marron Institute of Urban Management. 2. Solly Angel's Atlas of Urban Expansion. 3. Graduated Reintegration: Smoothing the Transition from Prison to Community -- Angela Hawken and Mark Kleiman. 4. Unorthodox Philanthropy. 5. Bias in Smart City Governance -- Constantine Kontokosta and Boyeong Hong. 6. The Civic Analytics program. 7. Litmus. Check out Vasant Dhar’s newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Memory, consciousness and the self aren't what you think they are. Michael Levin joins Vasant Dhar in episode 91 of Brave New World to explain why the distinction between machines and organisms will soon fall apart. Useful resources 1. Michael Levin at Tufts, Wikipedia, Twitter, Google Scholar and The Levin Lab. 2. There's Plenty of Room Right Here: Biological Systems as Evolved, Overloaded, Multi-scale Machines -- Joshua Bondard and Michael Levin. 3. Self-Improvising Memory: A Perspective on Memories as Agential, Dynamically Reinterpreting Cognitive Glue -- Michael Levin. 4. The Space Of Possible Minds -- Michael Levin. 5. Endless forms most beautiful 2.0 -- Wesley Clawson and Michael Levin. 6. My Octopus Teacher — Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed. 7. Pippa Ehrlich on the Mysteries of the Sea -- Episode 77 of Brave New World. 8. Turing Patterns. 9. Mark Solms’ theory of consciousness -- SelfAwarePatterns. 10. Mark Solms on Consciousness. Check out Vasant Dhar’s newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

We take it for granted -- but we shouldn't: smell is incredibly powerful and plays a critical role in our lives. Sandeep Robert Datta joins Vasant Dhar in episode 90 of Brave New World to discuss what neuroscience has taught him about the power of smell. Useful resources: 1. Sandeep Robert Datta at Harvard, Datta Lab, LinkedIn and Google Scholar. 2. Alex Wiltschko on the Sense of Smell -- Episode 81 of Brave New World. 3. Dmitry Rinberg on the Mysteries of Smell -- Episode 62 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar’s newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

There's always risk at the cutting edge of technology. Driverless cars are awesome -- but can we rely on the tech? Missy Cummings joins Vasant Dhar in episode 89 of Brave New World to share her insights on why we need to proceed with caution. Also check out: 1. Missy Cummings on LinkedIn, Wikipedia, GMU and Google Scholar. 2. California Bans GM's Cruise Robotaxis After Near-Fatal Pedestrian Accident -- Justin Banner. 3. Setbacks and Prospects for Autonomous Vehicles -- Henry Petroski. 4. Joshua Brown, Who Died in Self-Driving Accident, Tested Limits of His Tesla -- Rachel Abrams & Annalyn Kurtz. Check out Vasant Dhar’s newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

He lifted The Stern School of Business up significantly in the rankings, and is now making NYU a major global player in higher education. Raghu Sundaram joins Vasant Dhar in episode 88 of Brave New World to share his learnings about higher education where so much is changing, and yet, some foundational truths persist. Useful resources: 1. Raghu Sundaram on LinkedIn, Wikipedia, Google Scholar and NYY Stern. 2. Nandan Nilekani on an Egalitarian Internet — Episode 15 of Brave New World. 3. The Future of Liberal Education — Episode 11 of Brave New World (w Michael S Roth). 4. Indebted: How Families Make College Work at Any Cost — Caitlin Zaloom. 5. Caitlin Zaloom on the Explosion of Student Debt -- Episode 37 of Brave New World. 6. Susan Dynarski's papers on education and student debt. 7. Degrees of Return: Estimating Internal Rates of Return for College Majors Using Quantile Regression -- Liang Zhang, Xiangmin Liu and Yitong Hu. 8. Law and Education in Our Modern World — Episode 5 of Brave New World (w John Sexton). Check out Vasant Dhar’s newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

What does it mean to be geeky -- and how are geeks changing the world? Andrew McAfee joins Vasant Dhar in episode 87 of Brave New World to share his insights on how geeks have created a brave new innovation culture. Useful resources: 1. Andrew McAfee on Twitter, LinkedIn, Amazon, MIT and his own website. 2. The Geek Way -- Andrew McAfee. 3. The Second Machine Age -- Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee. 4. Elon Musk -- Walter Isaacson. 5. No Rules Rules -- Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer. 6. Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128 -- AnnaLee Saxenian. 7. The New Argonauts -- AnnaLee Saxenian. 8. What the Dormouse Said -- John Markoff. 9. John's Markoff's interview of Raj Reddy. 10. The Secret of Our Success -- Joseph Henrich. 11. The Knowledge Machine -- Michael Strevens. 12. When It Comes to Culture, Does Your Company Walk the Talk? -- Donald Sull, Stefano Turconi and Charles Sull. 13. The Paradigm Shifts in Artificial Intelligence -- Vasant Dhar. Check out Vasant Dhar’s newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Imagine an America where the government provides a floor for all our needs, from housing to health care to college to an income. Natalie Foster joins Vasant Dhar in episode 86 of Brave New World to argue that such a shift is possible -- and the time to make it is now. Useful resources: 1. Natalie Foster on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, the Economic Security Project, the Aspen Institute and her own website. 2. The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America’s Next Economy -- Natalie Foster. 3. The Economic Security Project. 4. Pulp Fiction and Dirty Dancing. 5. The Narrow Corridor -- Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson. 6. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State — Episode 19 of Brave New World. 7. Pippa Ehrlich on the Mysteries of the Sea -- Episode 77 of Brave New World. 8. Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better -- Jennifer Pahlka. 9. File your taxes for free -- Internal Revenue Service. 10. Code for America. 11. The FAFSA Fiasco. 12. Caitlin Zaloom on the Explosion of Student Debt — Episode 37 of Brave New World. 13. Indebted: How Families Make College Work at Any Cost — Caitlin Zaloom. 14. The Submerged State -- Suzanne Mettler. 15. Why We Sleep -- Matthew Walker. 16. Andrew Yang on the New Politics America Needs — Episode 27 of Brave New World. 17. Albert Wenger on the World After Capital — Episode 29 of Brave New World. 18. Paul Sheard Demystifies Money -- Episode 73 of Brave New World. 19. Capital in the Twenty-First Century -- Thomas Piketty. 20. The Political Economy of Education, Financial Literacy, and the Racial Wealth Gap -- Darrick Hamilton and William Darity Jr. Check out Vasant Dhar’s newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Does life exist outside our planet? Are we alone in the universe? Seth Shostak joins Vasant Dhar in episode 85 of Brave New World to describe his search for the answers. Useful resources: 1. Seth Shostak at The Seti Institute, Wikipedia, TED, Amazon and his own website. 2. Life in the Universe -- Jeffrey Bennett, Seth Shostak, Nicholas Schneider and Meredith MacGregor. 3. Sharing the Universe: Perspectives on Extraterrestrial Life -- Seth Shostak. 4. Confessions of an Alien Hunter -- Seth Shostak. 5. The Copernican Revolution -- Thomas Kuhn. 6. Peter Ward on Life on Earth -- Episode 76 of Brave New World. 7. Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe -- Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee. 8. The Drake Equation. 9. The Gaia Hypothesis. 10. Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth -- James Lovelock. 11. Kevin Mitchell Makes a Case for Free Will -- Episode 80 of Brave New World. 12. The Kessler Syndrome. Check out Vasant Dhar’s newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

He came to America as a ten-year old, and became invested in both the country and its world of finance. Vlad Barbalat joins Vasant Dhar in episode 84 of Brave New World to discuss his life and learnings. Useful resources: 1. Vlad Barbalat on LinkedIn and Liberty Mutual Investments. 2. The Story Of My Experiments With Truth -- MK Gandhi. 3. The Coddling of the American Mind -- Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. 4. The Future of Liberal Education -- Episode 11 of Brave New World (w Michael S Roth). Check out Vasant Dhar’s newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

He has been a driver of change at Transport for London, which has shown the way to the rest of the world. Shashi Verma joins Vasant Dhar in Episode 83 of Brave New World to share his learnings on urban transport -- and the governance structures that lead to the best results. Useful resources: 1. Shashi Verma on LinkedIn and Centre for London. 2. Albert Wenger on the World After Capital — Episode 29 of Brave New World. 3. Estimating the Social Benefit of Constructing an Underground Railway in London -- CD Foster and ME Beesley. 4. A History of London Transport -- TV Barker and Michael Robbins. 5. The Subterranean Railway --  Christian Wolmar. 6. Evaluating Urban Transport Improvements -- Anthony J Venables. 7. Agglomeration, Productivity and Transport Investment -- Daniel J Graham. Check out Vasant Dhar’s newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

How much blame should we put on social media for polarizing our society? Perhaps not as much as we tend to do. Joshua A Tucker joins Vasant Dhar in episode 82 of Brave New World to discuss his studies on the effects of social media -- and the algorithms that run them.    Useful resources: 1. Joshua Tucker at NYU, Twitter and Google Scholar. 2. Online searches to evaluate misinformation can increase its perceived veracity -- Kevin Aslett, Zeve Sanderson, William Godel, Nathaniel Persily, Jonathan Nagler & Joshua A Tucker. 3. Less than you think: Prevalence and predictors of fake news dissemination on Facebook -- Andrew Guess, Jonathan Nagler and Joshua A Tucker. 4. Breaking the Social Media Prism: How to Make Our Platforms Less Polarizing -- Chris Bail. 5. Chris Bail on How to Fight Polarization -- Episode 34 of Brave New World. 6. The Social Media Industrial Complex -- Episode 3 of Brave New World (w Sinan Aral). 7. How Social Media Threatens Society -- Episode 8 of Brave New World (w Jonathan Haidt). 8. Quantifying the Impact of Misinformation and Vaccine-Skeptical Content on Facebook -- Jennifer Nancy Lee Allen, Duncan J Watts, and David Rand. Check out Vasant Dhar’s newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Smell is the most underrated of our senses -- and it affects everything. Alex Wiltschko joins Vasant Dhar in episode 81 of Brave New World to discuss the role of smell in our lives -- and in this new digital age. Useful resources: 1. Alex Wiltschko on LinkedIn, Google Ventures, Google Scholar and Twitter. 2. Osmo. 3. Perfumes: The A-Z Guide -- Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez. 4.  Perfume: The Story of a Murderer -- Patrick Suskind. 5. The Mystery of Smell -- Lydialyle Gibson on Sandeep Robert Datta. 6. A novel multigene family may encode odorant receptors: a molecular basis for odor recognition -- Linda Buck and Richard Axel. 7. Metabolic activity organizes olfactory representations -- Wesley W Qian et al (including Alex  Wiltschko.) 8. Hyperbolic geometry of the olfactory space -- Yuansheng Zhou, Brian H Smith & Tatyana Sharpee. 9. Odor Perception and the Variability in Natural Odor Scenes -- Geraldine A Wright and Mitchell G.A. Thomson. 10. The Biological Sense of Smell -- Christine WJ Chee-Ruiter. 11. Also check out the work of Jim DiCarlo, David Marr and Eero Simoncelli. Check out Vasant Dhar’s newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Given what we know of physics and neuroscience, can there be free will? Kevin Mitchell, a neuroscientist himself, joins Vasant Dhar in episode 80 of Brave New World to unpack his argument for the existence of free will. Useful resources 1. Kevin Mitchell on Amazon, Twitter, Trinity College, Google Scholar, his blog and his homepage. 2. Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will -- Kevin Mitchell. 3. Innate: How the Wiring of Our Brains Shapes Who We Are -- Kevin Mitchell. 4. Freedom Evolves -- Daniel Dennett. 5. Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will -- Robert Sapolsky. 6. Free Will -- Sam Harris. 7. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement -- Episode 21 of Brave New World. 8. Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment -- Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein. 9. Synthetic Biology -- J Craig Ventor Institute. 10. David Krakauer. 11. David Krakauer on Complexity, Agency, and Information -- Episode 242 of Sean Carroll's Mindscape. 12. Anthony Zador on How our Brains Work — Episode 35 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar’s newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!