The Man Who Sees The Future - EP 94 Neal Stephenson

About this episode

Neal Stephenson came on the podcast. What else do I have to tell you? The man has a weird mind portal into how technology will develop and has influenced generations of nerds. As a result, I seem to have spent my career covering things that Stephenson predicted in his best-selling books. He’s out with a new book now, D: Heavy Water , which served as a lovely excuse to get Neal on the show. In the episode, we talk space, brain computer interfaces, swords, Hollywood and much more. Oddly, Stephenson says that the rapid development of AI caught him off guard. Go figure. Anyway. Living Legend. Go listen and watch. SPONSOR Some of you will be wondering, “Is this episode sponsored?”. Yeah, it is. By the wonderful people at Brex. I’ve worked at large companies like The New York Times and Bloomberg, and their expense systems were terrible. Brex’s expense management systems, by contrast, are fantastic. AI agents run around taking care of tons of stuff for you and give you back your time. Your company should switch to Brex to make life better for everyone. Find out more here . TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 1:53 D and the Atomic Race 4:34 Inside the Book Tour 8:21 AI Caught Him Off Guard 11:09 Is This the Singularity? 15:27 AI's Manhattan Project Moment 28:32 Brains, Bodies and Words 38:31 What Actually Worries Neal 40:11 Can Fiction Inspire Progress? 49:56 Why No Snow Crash? 55:06 Jane Austen Meets Fortnite 1:03:21 Inside Early Blue Origin 1:13:43 Rockets, Guns and Giant Towers 1:20:36 Why Radical Rockets Struggle 1:23:05 Swords and Selective Technology 1:27:15 Can AI Fix Education? 1:32:31 Storytelling Versus Predicting the Future This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.corememory.com/subscribe