Snow Crashing Into The Metaverse
Imaginary Worlds12 Touko 2022

Snow Crashing Into The Metaverse

For the last 30 years, the real world has been catching up to Neal Stephenson’s vision of the future in his 1992 novel Snow Crash, which influenced the creators of Google Earth, Second Life, Oculus Rift and more. Now the centerpiece of the novel, a virtual world called The Metaverse, may become a daily part of our lives thanks to Facebook (renamed Meta) and other big tech companies. I talk with Meta’s director of A.I. policy Kevin Bankston, Silicon Valley engineer Stephen Pimentel, Australian National University School of Cybernetics director Genevieve Bell, Yale professor Lisa Messeri, and Grace Ng of the DAO Crash Punks about whether it’s a good idea to use a satirical cyberpunk novel as a blueprint for the future. Plus, actor Varick Boyd reads from Snow Crash. The section on Grace Ng has been updated to reflect the crypto market crash that happened after the episode originally aired in May 2022. This episode is sponsored by Backblaze, VAST Horizon, and Squarespace. Our ad partner is Multitude. If you’re interested in advertising on Imaginary Worlds, you can contact them here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jaksot(300)

Scarlet Hollow Draws a Picture of Success

Scarlet Hollow Draws a Picture of Success

Scarlet Hollow is a successful indie video game – and that’s no small feat. It’s been a long journey, and the game is made almost entirely by two people: Abby Howard and Tony Howard-Arias of Black Tab...

28 Tammi 37min

Making History with Assassin's Creed

Making History with Assassin's Creed

Darby McDevitt is a narrative director and writer at Ubisoft . He’s worked on multiple games in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, which spans time periods from Ancient Greece to Victorian England. But w...

14 Tammi 36min

Say No to Santa World Tour: An Audio Drama

Say No to Santa World Tour: An Audio Drama

In my annual audio drama, I interview several folklore figures who are synonymous with the holiday season outside America -- but they’ve been overshadowed by the cultural juggernaut of Santa Claus. So...

17 Joulu 202541min

Searching for Cryptids

Searching for Cryptids

When I was growing up, Bigfoot appeared regularly on the covers of supermarket tabloids, so I assumed he was a joke. But I’ve discovered that he’s part of a larger and even stranger world of cryptids ...

3 Joulu 202540min

This Animated Life

This Animated Life

As longtime listeners know, I worked in the animation industry before switching careers and going into broadcasting. Today’s episode features a trio of conversations that trace the history of animatio...

19 Marras 202540min

Bringing Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein to Life

Bringing Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein to Life

When director Guillermo del Toro asked Tamara Deverell to be the production designer on his film adaptation of Frankenstein, she had a good idea of what he wanted. Del Toro had been dreaming of making...

5 Marras 202534min

Creature Double Feature

Creature Double Feature

In honor of the spooky season, we present two monstrous origin stories --Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. We know when these books were written in the 19th century. But what insp...

22 Loka 202541min

Music of a Forbidden Planet

Music of a Forbidden Planet

In the 1950s, the avant-garde music scene in New York and the movie studios of Los Angeles might have seemed like opposite ends of a cultural spectrum. But they came together (and blew apart) when MGM...

8 Loka 202535min

Suosittua kategoriassa Yhteiskunta

olipa-kerran-otsikko
siita-on-vaikea-puhua
i-dont-like-mondays
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
kolme-kaannekohtaa
poks
antin-palautepalvelu
sita
aikalisa
mamma-mia
yopuolen-tarinoita-2
kaksi-aitia
rss-murhan-anatomia
rss-palmujen-varjoissa
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
meidan-pitais-puhua
rss-nikotellen
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
terapeuttiville-qa
rss-haudattu