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Indre Viskontas

Each week we bring you a new, in-depth exploration of the space where science and society collide. We’re committed to the idea that making an effort to understand the world around you though science and critical thinking can benefit everyone—and lead to better decisions. We want to find out what’s true, what’s left to discover, and why it all matters.

Inquiring Minds

In this episode of Inquiring Minds, host Adam Bristol sits down with Silicon Valley tech expert, philosopher, and acclaimed science fiction author Gary Bengier to discuss his new novel, Journey to 2125: One Century, One Family, Rising to Challenges. As a prequel to his celebrated book Unfettered Journey, this latest work delves into the pivotal technological, political, and societal challenges humanity may face in the next century, all framed through the lens of a multi-generational family saga.

Bengier’s unique background—spanning a career as eBay’s Chief Financial Officer to his roles in astrophysics and philosophy—brings an unparalleled depth of realism and foresight to his writing. In Journey to 2125, he explores themes like climate change, robotics, AI, biotechnology, and the shifting labor landscape. The book blends hard science fiction with philosophical reflections, offering both a sobering view of the obstacles ahead and an optimistic call to action for addressing humanity’s most pressing issues.

They discuss:

 • The challenges of automation and labor displacement in a rapidly advancing technological landscape.
 • The integration of cutting-edge biotechnology and its societal implications.
 • The global energy crisis and the pivotal role of nuclear fission in the future.
 • The philosophical and economic systems required to navigate an increasingly automated world.

Bengier shares insights from his career in Silicon Valley, his work with the Santa Fe Institute, and his early life experiences that shaped his empathetic approach to storytelling. This episode offers a thought-provoking exploration of what it means to thrive in an era of exponential technological change.

Listen in to uncover actionable insights and a hopeful vision for building a sustainable and equitable future. 

Journey to 2125 is available everywhere books are sold.

 

Links:

Get Gary’s new Book at Amazon
 

Follow Gary on Facebook @garybengierauthor, 

Good Reads @Gary_F_Bengier 

and Twitter (X): @GaryFBengier

and visit his website: GaryfBengier.com/journey-to-2125/

 

Inquiring Minds Homepage: https://inquiring.show/

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds

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Journey to 2125: One Century, One Family, Rising to Challenges with Gary F. Bengier

In this episode of Inquiring Minds, host Indre Viskontas speaks with Kurt Gray, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and director of the Center for the Science of Moral Understanding. 

Gray’s groundbreaking new book, Outraged: Why We Fight About Morality in Politics and How to Find Common Ground, delves into the psychological roots of moral outrage and the societal divisions it fuels. Through scientific insights and engaging anecdotes, Gray explains how our deeply ingrained perceptions of harm shape our moral convictions and why bridging moral divides is both critical and possible.

They discuss:

 • The psychological basis of moral outrage and why it’s driven by differing perceptions of harm.
 • How disgust and fear influence our moral judgments and why facts alone rarely resolve disagreements.
 • The role of social media in amplifying moral panics and polarizing society.
 • Why shared stories and genuine listening are more effective than statistics in fostering understanding.

Gray also explores myths about morality, including the false belief that humans evolved as apex predators, and provides evidence for how our evolutionary history as prey shaped the cooperative moral frameworks we rely on today. Despite the challenges of polarization, Gray offers hope for bridging divides through empathy, understanding, and open dialogue.

Listen in to gain a deeper understanding of how morality drives human behavior, divides societies, and offers pathways for reconciliation. 

Outraged is available now at booksellers everywhere.

Links:

Get Kurt’s new Book “Outrage” on Amazon

and visit his website: kurtjgray.com

And connect with Kurt on X and Linkedin

Inquiring Minds Homepage: https://inquiring.show/

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds

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Outraged: Why We Fight About Morality and Politics and How to Find Common Ground with Kurt Gray

There aren't many people on Earth who have spent more of their life in space than Marsha Ivins.

A veteran of five space shuttle missions, Ivins has spent a total of 55 days in orbit, on missions devoted to such diverse tasks as deploying satellites, conducting scientific research, and docking with Mir and the International Space Station.

This episode features an interview with Ivins, where she relates some of her in-orbit experiences—such as how your body and brain slowly adapt to the fact that no single direction is up or down. Plus, for the benefit of geeks across the universe, she also explains why the Borg cube from Star Trek can maneuver just as well in space as any starfighter that Hollywood has dreamed up.

She discusses why publicly supported space missions are still vital, what it will take to get us to Mars and beyond, and why solving advanced space travel problems (energy, propulsion) might simultaneously help us solve many of our problems on Earth—perhaps including global warming.

This episode also features a discussion about new developments in science, including research suggesting that political biases are so pervasive that they can interfere with your ability to do math, and mounting evidence of the dangers of head injuries received from playing football.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds

1 Marsha Ivins - What It's Like To Spend 55 Days in Space

This week, Chris Mooney talks to environmental journalist Alan Weisman, who explains why, following on his 2007 New York Times bestseller The World Without Us, he decided to centrally take on the issue of human population.
For his just-published book Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth?, Weisman traveled to 21 countries—from Israel to Mexico, and from Pakistan to Niger—to report on how different cultures are responding to booming populations and the strain this is putting on their governments and resources.
Importantly, Weisman is no supporter of coercive population control measures such as China's infamous one-child policy. Rather, he makes a powerful case that the best way to manage the global population is by empowering women, through both education and access to contraception.
This episode of Inquiring Minds also features a discussion of the latest myths circulating on global warming, and the brave new world of gene therapy that we're entering—where being rich might be your key ticket to the finest health care.
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2 Alan Weisman - Can We Finally Have a Serious Talk About Population?

This week we talk to scientist and explorer Sylvia Earle, a woman who has spent almost a year of her life under water. She explains why the oceans are "not too big to fail." But she also says that just maybe, we're growing wise enough to save them.
Earle is the National Geographic Society Explorer in Residence, and former chief scientist at NOAA—plus she's a TED Prize winner who used that award to form Mission Blue, an ocean conservation initiative. Her unofficial titles go further: Time called her "Hero of the Planet," and many others call her "Her Deepness." She has set several underwater depth records, including diving to 1,250 feet, without a tether, in 1979.
Back in 1970, when some institutions of higher education were still refusing to admit women, Earle was leading female aquanauts on expeditions to the sea floor. The Tektite Program featured a team of women who lived in an undersea laboratory off the Virgin Islands for two weeks, conducting research.
This episode also features a discussion of the the latest research on how conspiracy theories fuel the denial of science on issues ranging from climate change to vaccinations, and on how scientists are reconsidering the origins of life and, yes, bringing Mars into the picture.
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3 Sylvia Earle - Why the Oceans Are Not Too Big to Fail

This week we talk to Randy Schekman, the University of California-Berkeley cell biologist who was just awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in medicine for his work on how cells regulate the protein “traffic” that is at the core of their communication with other cells.
In the interview with co-host Indre Viskontas, Schekman not only explains his scientific breakthroughs—he also tells us why he wants to take a stand about the steeply rising cost of public higher education, which is driving huge student debt loads and rendering college simply too expensive for some. Affordable higher education, says Schekman, is “really in peril all over the country."
In addition to being a Nobel laureate, Schekman is also a winner of the coveted Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and the former editor-in-chief of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
This episode also features a (spoiler free) discussion of the science behind the hit sci-fi movie Gravity, and the controversy this year over the Nobel Prize in physics.
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4 Randy Schekman - This 2013 Nobel Laureate Says College Is Way Too Expensive

As two top researchers studying the science of science communication—a hot new field that combines psychology with public opinion research—Dan Kahan and Stephan Lewandowsky agree about most things.
There's just one problem. The little thing that they disagree on—whether it actually works to tell people, and especially political conservatives, that there's a "scientific consensus" on climate change—has huge practical significance.
In this episode, Kahan and Lewandowsky debate the issue. It also features a discussion of the strange and disturbing disappearance of moose across much of the United States, and of Oprah's recent claim that self-described atheist swimmer Diana Nyad isn't actually an atheist.
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5 Dan Kahan and Stephan Lewandowsky - How Do You Make People Give a Damn About Climate Change?

Why is America so polarized? Why are our politicians so dysfunctional? Why do they sometimes even seem to downright hate each other?
In this episode of Inquiring Minds, moral psychologist and bestselling The Righteous Mind author Jonathan Haidt explains that our differences are, at root, the result of sharply contrasting moral systems and the emotions that underlie them. These emotions differ from left to right. And in politics, we feel first and think later.
As a result, even though political partisans today tend to think their adversaries are wrong and immoral, the truth is actually that they are too moral, albeit in a far more visceral than intellectual sense.
This episode also contains a discussion of Glenn Beck's recent flubbing of basic statistics, and of why a primate species—the marmoset—may in some ways be better at communicating than today's Democrats and Republicans.
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6 Jonathan Haidt - This is Why Your Political Opponents Hate You

This week, we speak with veteran science journalist George Johnson, whose new book The Cancer Chronicles: Unlocking Medicine's Deepest Mystery helps turn much traditional thinking about cancer on its head. It's a provocative and also a personal exploration of the myths and misunderstandings that surround this most formidable enemy to our health and well being.
This episode also features a discussion of the science of hangovers (timed just for Halloween weekend, we know) and new findings about the origins of the SARS virus.
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7 George Johnson - Why Most of What You've Heard About Cancer is Wrong

This week we feature a conversation with psychologist Alison Gopnik, recorded live at the 2013 Bay Area Science Festival. Gopnik talks about her latest book, The Philosophical Baby: What Children's Minds Tell Us About Truth, Love, and the Meaning of Life. She explains that babies are natural explorers, and way smarter than we used to think. But along the way, we lose that cognitive flexibility and openness—some of us more than others.
This episode also features a discussion about a recent study that shows different cells—different cells in the same brain—can have different DNA; and a recent New York Times story that draws attention to the fact that now more than ever, many people who get Ph.Ds don’t get jobs afterwards.
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8 Alison Gopnik - We All Start Out as Scientists, But Some of Us Forget

On the show this week guest host Cynthia Graber talks to paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson, most well known for discovering the fossil of a female hominid australopithecine, or "Lucy.”
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63 Donald Johanson - Lucy's Legacy, 40 Years Later

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