I'm launching a new show... about A.I.... and us!

Let's figure out the future we actually want

Hi you,

First, if you’re living in the U.S., and you’re eligible, make sure you’re registered to vote!

Now, it’s been a minute, and the world has changed since I last sent you a message. I write today with some exciting news about a new project I’m ready to unveil: I have a new show! It’s called Life With Machines, and in many ways it’s something I’ve been building toward my entire life. In this show, we explore the human side of the A.I. revolution. 

You can find the show trailer on my YouTube channel, and we start dropping episodes October 15th. 

We have a dedicated Substack and because I believe on the open internet, we have a “web site” at LifeWithMachines.media We’ve already recorded some bangers with Willonius Hatcher (creator of BBL Drizzy); Dr. Alondra Nelson (behind the U.S. AI Bill of Rights); Arianna Huffington (on A.I. health coaching); and Rahaf Harfoush who sits on a United Nations A.I. commission and has advised the French government on AI policy. 

But let me rewind to offer some context. I’ve realized a few decades into this life just what I’m here to do: I tell stories. I also check email and other messaging platforms a lot, but when I’m not in one inbox or another, I’m telling stories. For years, they felt separate, but lately I’ve realized they are all grounded in the theme of interdependence, how we ultimately need each other and must figure out how to live together well. My stories fall into one of three areas: our relationship with nature (hello, America Outdoors!); our relationship with each other (yo, How To Citizen), and our relationship with technology. 

I believe we need to be in right relationship across all these domains to shape the future we want and deserve together. I believe each of these areas is marked by both crisis and decline but also rebirth and renewal. Climate, Democracy, Technology. We have so much work to do and we are already doing so much good work. 

Quick break: this is me in Paris at the base of the John Wick stairs. IYKYK

Technology is an area I was born into but drifted from, at least publicly, as a central focus while I journeyed deeper into the nature and human relationships. But this A.I. moment has brought me back with some clarity. We can’t choose connection to machines at the expense of connection to each other and Earth. We also can’t simply Hulk smash all the machines (says man encoding symbols into a machine for decoding by humans on another machine). 

This show is my place, our place, to ask tough questions, engage with the technology itself, have some fun, and build a future worth living in. We’ve initiated this project as a YouTube-first video podcast which you can also get on all the regular podcast places. We found an amazing partner in Lenovo as our lead sponsor (but don’t worry, there are spaces for others to advertise or collaborate, and we are editorially independent). And we’ve joined Rich Roll’s Voicing Change Media podcast network alongside next-level conversation-holders like Rainn Wilson, Dr. Rangan Chatterjee, Alexi Pappas, and Rich Roll himself. 

We plan to release a full episode every other week starting October 15th. 

If you want to support this new project, here are the most important things you can do

1. Subscribe to my YouTube and like, comment or share the trailer

2. Sign up for the free Substack newsletter

3. And if you’re an audio podcast person, follow the show in your existing podcast binging service like Spotify, Apple, or straight up mainline the RSS feed which you can find an Megaphone. 

And we want your suggestions and input. Use the contact form on our website, subject line “IDEA” to share your ideas for topics, guests, questions, experiments, and more.

Here’s some other things in the world I think you should know about

1. Help college students register to vote through Swing The Vote

2. Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson has a new book out called What If We Get It Right? That envisions a climate future where we… get it right! Read this book if you want to live. 

3. Finally, it’s hard to express just how happy this video made me. As a fan of Nirvana and live music, I got emotional watching this.