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(301)

Bonus: Rise of The Villains Outtakes

Bonus: Rise of The Villains Outtakes

When I interviewed special effects artist Shannon Shea about The Terminator and other villains of ’84, we also discussed his experiences working on Terminator 2. He tells me about the many life-sized ...

7 Helmi 202422min

Class of '84: Rise of The Villains

Class of '84: Rise of The Villains

This year marks the 40th anniversary of a lot of landmarks in pop culture, especially sci-fi and fantasy. So many franchises were born in 1984. Some came to define their genre or invent new genres. In...

31 Tammi 202436min

Making Blue Eye Samurai

Making Blue Eye Samurai

I was blown away by the Netflix animated series Blue Eye Samurai. I’m not alone, it has 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I was pleasantly surprised to discover the supervising director and producer of ...

17 Tammi 202440min

Prologue to Ursula K. le Guin

Prologue to Ursula K. le Guin

In the 1960s, Ursula K. le Guin represented a changing of the guard in science fiction literature. She was part of a generation of novelists who questioned the colonist mindset which had influenced Am...

3 Tammi 202448min

@ChristmasCarol: A Holiday Tale

@ChristmasCarol: A Holiday Tale

This week's episode is an original audio drama. In previous episodes, I’ve interviewed Captain Hook, vampires, colonists on the moon, and H.P. Lovecraft’s brain in a jar -- or at least actors playing ...

20 Joulu 202331min

Doctor Who's Power of Regeneration

Doctor Who's Power of Regeneration

In honor of Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, I’ve rewritten my 2018 episode about Doctor Who with updates on how the series has evolved, and new insights I’ve had about Doctor Who since I made this epis...

6 Joulu 202338min

How One Piece Became King of the Backstories

How One Piece Became King of the Backstories

One Piece is one of the biggest franchises in the world. The manga and anime have broken records in sales and viewership. The live action adaptation on Netflix was a hit. And the series holds a specia...

22 Marras 202332min

Bonus: Norse Myths Outtakes

Bonus: Norse Myths Outtakes

My guests from the previous episode, Carolyne Larrington and Ada Palmer, had so many interesting things to say about Norse mythology and how much of it is still a mystery to us, I decided to compile s...

16 Marras 202326min

Suosittua kategoriassa Yhteiskunta

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