After the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s easy to think we won’t face another global outbreak in the next century. But viruses don’t have a schedule — the next pandemic could be tomorrow. And it could be much more fatal than COVID-19. So, how do we prepare ourselves? With us to explain the best ways to both prevent and face these outbreaks is David Quammen, an award-winning author, and journalist on science and humans’ relationship with the natural world. He regularly contributes to many distinguished news sources, including the New York Times, the NY Times Book Review, and National Geographic. His 18 ..read more

How to END War: John Reuwer - World BEYOND War   Historically, war has seemed natural for humans. It is everywhere. However, at its core, conflict always comes down to a choice. When making these decisions, we need to understand the right tools to respond to all conflict levels, from neighborly disputes to global warfare.   With the help of expert John Reuwer, we learn the value of settling wars with nonviolence and civil resistance. John is the treasurer and a member of the Board of Directors at World BEYOND War (WBW), a global movement that aims to abolish the institution of war. T ..read more

Recently, the development of artificial intelligence has become exponential. As more programs like ChatGPT have been released to the public, many people see benefits of continuing investment in this growth. Some believe it might even help solve our existential threats. But with its unregulated advancements, AI itself could be an existential threat to our world. From cybersecurity risks to autonomous weapons, artificial intelligence poses countless threats to the safety of humankind. How should we regulate AI development? With us to talk about managing our uses of artificial intelligence is Joe ..read more

We are all horrified by the wars in Israel-Palestine, and Ukraine.  And those are just the conflicts we hear about.  There are 21 wars in the world right now - most of them barely make the news.  We tend to feel hopeless as we watch the death and suffering.  But what if we didn’t have to feel helpless?  What if the world had ways to actually DO something, and SOLVE wars? The Human Survival Project proposes redesigning and strengthening the United Nations, so humanity can have the global tools to manage violence, and the many other existential threats humanity faces.&nb ..read more

With the growing conversation on climate change, many people are now helping the planet and trying to get rid of the damaging policies and products that are worsening climate change - which is great. But we need to widen our focus from not only getting rid of the bad, but to also pushing for the good. Our response to saving our world from this existential threat needs to pick up the pace, and in order to do that, we have to be more strategic about where we’re directing our time and resources. How can we change our approach to climate change? With us to share his thoughts on where we’re at and ..read more

The United States spends an astronomical amount of money on its military - more than any other nation.  In fact, more than the next 8 nations combined.  It helps fund 750 military bases in 80 countries.  It has quite an impact on the world. Last week, the U.S. Congress and President Biden enacted the National Defense Authorization Act of 2023, which increased military spending to the largest level since the end of World War II, even adjusted for inflation. Increasing technology makes war more dangerous.  And growing conflict between the United States, China and Russia (and ..read more

There’s a ton of conversation lately about inflation, and its effects on the economy and on people’s personal finances.  Lots of people are concerned.  BUT, could inflation actually be helpful? We are in a climate and environmental crisis that could ruin just about everything if we don’t get it under control - including the entire economy.  The planet is being ruined by people buying stuff, and when stuff is expensive, people buy less.  Could higher prices help us get our overconsumption under control? Further, as we destroy the climate and nature, there will be shortages o ..read more

Being positive is a good part of happiness and mental health.  And being supportive is nice and friendly.  But amid catastrophic threats to humanity, being positive and supportive is not just about being happy and friendly – it’s how we rally support for the ambitious policies that are bold enough to reduce death and suffering of billions of people.  Productive criticism is fine, but we can’t afford negativity anymore.  Today, I unpack some psychology of why it makes rational sense to be positive in these dangerous times. “Those who say it cannot be done should not interrup ..read more

After decades of hard work, climate change activists have finally put the issue in the mainstream of public discourse and policy discussions.  But, the world’s response to this critical threat to humanity is far too slow.  We all need to be even better activists.  What can we improve? Dave Johnson has good ideas for us, brought from the field of design.  He is a teacher, lawyer, author and activist.  He teaches at the Stanford Law School and at Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (a/k/a “the d.school”).  He has extensive legal experience in litigation, n ..read more

As nations of the world meet at COP27 in Egypt to negotiate next steps to address climate change, we desperately need to improve this international process.  Instead of vague promises that might be broken, we need enforcement systems to build trust between countries, so we can be sure everyone will follow through on their commitments.  Economic sanctions used against Russia after their invasion of Ukraine taught us a lot about what’s possible.  Now we need to apply what the world has learned.  Today, I explain.  Thanks for listening. ----- The Human Survival Podcast, h ..read more