Esther Dyson, whose bio defies summarization (and who happens to be sister of previous guest George Dyson), discusses Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and Spike Jonze's Her. We discuss the substance of life, bioethics, why our senses aren't always reliable, institutions and culture, predatory business models, child labor, mortality, building communities, and gardening versus carpentry.

A few notes and links related to conversation:

Wellville, the nonprofit Esther founded to to achieve long-term, equitable, community wellbeing
Two-phase commit protocol
Google AI search tells users to glue pizza and eat rocks
The Gardener and the Carpenter by Alison Gopnik
Between Two Fires: Truth, Ambition, and Compromise in Putin's Russia by Joshua Yaffa
Exit, Voice, and Loyalty by Albert O. Hirschman
The Order of Time by Carlo Rivelli
Steve Jobs's 2005 commencement address at Stanford

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Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

Intro music by Secret School.

Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

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