#information-overload Here is a list of videos that I watched/listened to in April that I found worth my time: 1. [Kim Stanley Robinson at UCLA: Exploring Optimism, Optopia, and Climate Change Narratives](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpzXkpx29S4&list=PLiRaKCnT35eajJ-lmYf6BMlUrcxeGCZux&index=2&t=4341s) 2. [Stephen Heintz & Kim Stanley Robinson | A Logic For The Future | Long Now Talks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO7eG4I2xcs&list=PLiRaKCnT35eajJ-lmYf6BMlUrcxeGCZux&index=87) Kim Stanley Robinson is the author of The Ministry for the Future - a utopian 'climate fiction' novel published in 2020. I have been reading the book very slowly the past few months. I'm at the part where Mary goes to San Francisco to talk with the central banks about [carbon quantitative easing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_quantitative_easing). I've listened to a few interviews with Robinson since last summer and find him very inspiring. He's a realist and has a necessary sense of humour about the themes of Ministry. "Oh, yes, I'm an optimist. I'm a very angry optimist. I'm gonna beat you with my optimism like a club, until you admit life could be better than it is right now" he says. He's very lucid in his talk at UCLA and is more focused on specific institutional changes in his Long Now Talk with Stephen Heintz - a philanthropist and policy expert who led [track II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_II_diplomacy) dialogues with Iranian that laid the groundwork for the Iran nuclear deal. Both good videos for zooming you out of your local national context and considering governance at a planetary scale. 3. Nate Hagens: [How Pro-Social Technology is Saving Democracy from 'Big Tech' with Audrey Tang | The Great Simplification](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXgne-9F7uU&list=PLiRaKCnT35eajJ-lmYf6BMlUrcxeGCZux&index=59) Nate Hagens is the Director of the Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future and an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota. He hosts a podcast called The Great Simplification where he's had many fantastic guests including Daniel Schmachtenberger, Zak Stein, Nora Bateson, and Vanessa Andreotti. This month, he hosted Audrey Tang - Taiwan's inaugural Minister of Digital Affairs and now Ambassador-at-large. Taiwan is a global leader in 'digital democracy', especially when it comes to using social tech for impactfully engaging citizens in policy co-creation. Tang has played a significant role in its success. This interview is a great up-to-date overview of Taiwan's digital democracy initiatives and an invitation to the emerging field of prosocial technology. You can learn more about Tang's story in this new mini documentary: Good Enough Ancestor. 4. [Tim Sweeney: Fortnite, Unreal Engine, and the Future of Gaming | Lex Fridman Podcast #467](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=477qF6QNSvc&list=PLiRaKCnT35eajJ-lmYf6BMlUrcxeGCZux&index=74&t=7687s) This was a late night background listen while I playing some Slay the Spire. Fortnite season 4 had it's 7-year anniversary a few days ago and man I miss those times. I'd never learned who was behind Epic Games and how the studio started until this interview. Tim Sweeney seems like a very thoughtful tech leader and a visionary for the future of the metaverse. He emphasized interoperability standards and creators/citizens earning their fair share in the digital economy. Jules Terpak is a tech and digital culture journalist (though she'll tell you she isn't one) who's recently been speaking with some pretty big names. Recently she interviewed Microsoft AI's new CEO, Mustafa Sulleyman. This interview is a good [A Conversation with President Barack Obama | Hamilton College Sacerdote Great Name Series](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU3E8r0n27w&list=PLiRaKCnT35eajJ-lmYf6BMlUrcxeGCZux&index=7&t=2160s) [This is What a Digital Coup Looks Like | Carol Cadwalladr | TED](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU3E8r0n27w&list=PLiRaKCnT35eajJ-lmYf6BMlUrcxeGCZux&index=7&t=2160s) Bernie Sanders: [My Message to Coachella](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRaCL-IEShA&list=PLiRaKCnT35eajJ-lmYf6BMlUrcxeGCZux&index=27) Jules Terpak: [How our time online is changing (ft. CEO of Microsoft AI, Mustafa Suleyman)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3rtIZV6wB0&list=PLiRaKCnT35eajJ-lmYf6BMlUrcxeGCZux&index=29) [Canada's Role in a Shifting Global Order - with Mark Carney | Prof G Conversations](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V11qNDDElZw&list=PLiRaKCnT35eajJ-lmYf6BMlUrcxeGCZux&index=37) Nate Hagens: [How Pro-Social Technology is Saving Democracy from 'Big Tech' with Audrey Tang | The Great Simplification](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXgne-9F7uU&list=PLiRaKCnT35eajJ-lmYf6BMlUrcxeGCZux&index=59) [Tim Sweeney: Fortnite, Unreal Engine, and the Future of Gaming | Lex Fridman Podcast #467](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=477qF6QNSvc&list=PLiRaKCnT35eajJ-lmYf6BMlUrcxeGCZux&index=74&t=7687s) - Obama - The most important office in this government is the citizen - around 30 minutes - Kim Stanley Robinson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpzXkpx29S4&list=PLiRaKCnT35eajJ-lmYf6BMlUrcxeGCZux&index=3&t=1s - Who KSR is. Link to Ministry for the Future - A voice of optimism and realism - Digital coup TED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZOoT8AbkNE&list=PLiRaKCnT35eajJ-lmYf6BMlUrcxeGCZux&index=15 - A voice of bravery - A beautiful internet is possible - Sam Altman TED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MWT_doo68k&list=PLiRaKCnT35eajJ-lmYf6BMlUrcxeGCZux&index=22 - Followed the digital coup - More of the same - A good look into what talk about AI sounds like today - Jules and Microsoft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3rtIZV6wB0&list=PLiRaKCnT35eajJ-lmYf6BMlUrcxeGCZux&index=29 - Jules is killing it - - Prof G and Carney: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V11qNDDElZw&list=PLiRaKCnT35eajJ-lmYf6BMlUrcxeGCZux&index=37 - Prof G is killing it - The election is next week - Carney is not perfect but seems to be the man for the moment - The data impresses me - A good interview about Poilievre - Bernie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRaCL-IEShA - Tang - honoourable mention: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OOCLUijhZQ&list=PLiRaKCnT35eaFVl7xQ6_NtD4Q2FdiYbef&index=1 - Will post more about Zak Stein in the future - Papers - Prosocial media - Systems leverage points - Music - - Movies - Conclave - Really good pacing - Lines that resonanted - Certainty is the enemy of unity and tolerance. Our faith lives because it walks hand in hand with doubt - We serve God, not the church - Games - Slay the Spire - Balatro - Into the Breach