Aengus Anderson Radio

Alexander Rose is the Executive Director at the Long Now Foundation, a San Francisco-based group dedicated to encouraging long-term thinking. He is also the foundation's Clock Project Manager, overseeing the design and construction of a monument-scale clock that is intended to run for 10,000 years in the desert of west Texas. Our conversation began with the clock, both as a physical object and as a statement about our culture's obsession with the short term. This naturally opened up a discussion of the present and how long-term thinking has the potential to transform unsolvable issues into solvable ones. This is our second project-based conversation and, as with Peter Warren, the discussion turned to how we can make The Conversation happen, especially between people who have very different time horizons. Learn more at www.findtheconversation.com

Jan Lundberg is a former oil industry analyst turned environmental activist. He is the founder of Culture Change and the Sail Transport Network. We spoke to him about peak oil, the tension between individualism and community, the innate value of nature, and the difficulty of compromise. He provides an interesting counterpoint to Dr. Max More and approaches environmentalism from a drastically different perspective than Peter Warren. Learn more at www.findtheconversation.com

Andrew Keen, the self-professed Anti-Christ of Silicon Valley, is the author of The Cult of the Amateur: How Blogs, MySpace, YouTube, and the Rest of Today's User-Generated Media are Destroying Our Economy, Our Culture, and Our Values and, more recently, Digital Vertigo: How Today's Online Social Revolution is Dividing, Diminishing, and Disorienting Us.  Our conversation touches on social media, community, the amorphous nature of values , and whether The Conversation, as a concept, has any merit at all.  This conversation has a slew of connections and contrasts with earlier episodes and Andrew's discussion of futurism and community are worth considering next to Max More and Colin Camerer, respectively. Learn more at www.findtheconversation.com

Dr. Colin Camerer is one of the pioneers of neuroeconomics, a combination of neuroscience, psychology, and traditional economic theory. Our conversation began with a discussion of how neuroeconomics critiques the traditional economic belief that people are rational decision makers before moving into the relationship between our economic system and the environment. With each interview, I am developing a greater sense of how this project is going to work and the twists and turns unstructured conversations can take. The results are always fun an surprising, and my talk with Dr. Camerer ended by returning to the mind, the biological limits of knowledge, and the new challenge of sorting through an ocean of information. Learn more at www.findtheconversation.com

The Malpai Borderlands Group is a coalition of ranchers and environmentalists who manage over 75,000 acres of grassland in Southeastern Arizona. Does that sentence look odd to you? The American West isn’t known for friendly hobnobbing between ranchers and environmentalists and often they work at cross purposes, wasting little love on each other. Their cultural division is mirrored in the landscape: ranches are populated almost exclusively by cattle while natural preserves often ban grazing. Two groups, two philosophies of land use, two different economic goals. Nothing to talk about. Deadlock. Antagonism. That’s where Malpai comes in. It’s the story of enemies extending hands in cautious friendship and engaging in a small version of The Conversation. To learn more about Malpai, we talked with Peter Warren of The Nature Conservancy, one of the partners in the group. Learn more at www.findtheconversation.com

Dr. Max More is the CEO of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation and founder of the magazine Extropy. He holds of PhD in Philosophy from the University of Southern California and is a leading transhumanist thinker. Our conversation ranged from the use of reason to morality in a physicalist worldview. We even touched on Nietzschean benevolence and whether anything can have intrinsic value. You will hear plenty of contrasts with my conversation with Rev. Fife, but there are also a few similarities that may surprise you. Learn more at www.findtheconversation.com

We plunge into The Conversation with our first interview: Reverend John Fife. Our conversation started with Rev. Fife’s experience with the Sanctuary movement and his perspective on current US/Mexico border issues. From there, we explored the underlying tension between human rights and national sovereignty, finishing up with some big-picture thoughts about crisis, The Conversation, and change. When is the last time you questioned the idea of a nation? I skimmed a chapter of Benedict Anderson's “Imagined Communities” once and almost died, but Rev. Fife tackles similar issues with eloquence, energy, personal experience, and a very different philosophical background–I can’t imagine a better place to start The Conversation. -A. Learn more at www.findtheconversation.com

Welcome to The Conversation. In this brief episode, producers Aengus and Micah explain what The Conversation is, why it matters, and how they hope to approach it with a new genre of media combining audio interviews with online discussion. Learn more at www.findtheconversation.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a veteran of 25 years witnesses a fellow soldier kill an eight year-old girl. Upon returning home, he develops Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and faces a decision about how to cope with his memories. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a man learns that he is a father but, two weeks before his daughter's birth, his paternity is called into question. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a woman reflects on her decision to give up equestrianism and go to college. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a man shares his decision to drop out of his PhD program. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a young man proposes to his girlfriend... and then reconsiders. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a man gets in his car and leaves his life behind. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a single mom decides to marry her best friend before his deployment to Iraq. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a teenage girl talks about learning that her father is gay and her subsequent decision to stay with him. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a man in his early forties decides to take a job in Afghanistan. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a father decides to take a transcontinental motorcycle trip and leave his children for a year. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a woman shares her decision to stop trying to help her mentally ill mother. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a 21 year-old abandons his carefree bachelor fantasy and reluctantly marries a girl he accidentally impregnated. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a man questions the advice of his doctor and decides to stop taking anti-anxiety medication. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a woman shares her decision to end a pregnancy. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a recent college graduate receives an unexpected job offer from his uncle: teach English in Ciudad Juárez. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a man reluctantly decides to sever ties with his father. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a man decides to leave his unfaithful ex-girlfriend and their daughter. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a woman talks about the decision to train and apply her psychic power. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a woman gives up on justice and ceases prosecution of the man who bankrupted her. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a musician talks about his decision to skip an audition in Nashville. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a woman talks about her decision to not physically resist being raped by a friend. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a woman talks about her decision to be honest with the IRS. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a professional wrestling referee talks about the split-second decision to end a match, ruin a show, and go off the script. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a man decides to become a traveling street performer after losing his family and job. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a man discusses his decision to stop attending church. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a mother talks about the decision to put her mentally handicapped daughter in a group home. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a man who is afraid of being alone talks about his decision to solo-hike the Pacific Crest Trail—at night. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. In this episode, a man discusses the decision to accept his homosexuality. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

What is the hardest decision you have ever made? During the summer of 2010, producer Aengus Anderson rode his motorcycle around North America and asked hundreds of people this question. Ultimately, 220 people agreed to share their decisions on tape, bravely opening windows into the most personal moments of their lives. The Decisions Project is a cross-section of these stories--stories that reveal a constellation of different worlds, moralities, and ways of thinking about the decision-making process. In this episode, a woman talks about her decision to press charges against her daughter. Learn more at www.thedecisionsproject.com

Tucson, Arizona would have never existed without the Santa Cruz river. Yet Tucson’s success has transformed the Santa Cruz from an intermittent stream meandering through a lush floodplain into a dry channel imprisoned by cement walls. At the turn of the twentieth century, the Santa Cruz was Tucson’s geographic and cultural heart, but today the river is a forgotten landscape. Drained of water and stripped of vegetation, ignored the media and physically distant from most Tucsonans, the Santa Cruz is dismissed as an unfortunate casualty of Arizona’s modernization. But the river continues to be relevant--its very silence a loud reminder that civilization in the desert comes at a price and that, underneath the Arizona dream, there is a harsh environmental reality.

Pie Town, New Mexico: population 90. Over the past thirty years, this small town perched atop the continental divide has become a mecca for pie aficionados from across the Southwest. But the festival is about more than celebrating good pie, it is about a rural community struggling to raise money for basic social services. It is also about visitors from distant cities, people who feel a lack of community in their own lives and attempt to find it, if only for a weekend, in Pie Town.

Eastern Tennessee to Tucson, Arizona. Two Wheels to Nowhere is a seven-part series that weaves together the story of one man's motorcycle journey around the United States with the voices of people he met along the way. It is a conversation about people's greatest sources of excitement and concern--a conversation that ultimately explores how different Americans face the unknown.

Dover, Delaware to Highway 129, North Carolina. Two Wheels to Nowhere is a seven-part series that weaves together the story of one man's motorcycle journey around the United States with the voices of people he met along the way. It is a conversation about people's greatest sources of excitement and concern--a conversation that ultimately explores how different Americans face the unknown.

Keene Valley, New York to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Two Wheels to Nowhere is a seven-part series that weaves together the story of one man's motorcycle journey around the United States with the voices of people he met along the way. It is a conversation about people's greatest sources of excitement and concern--a conversation that ultimately explores how different Americans face the unknown.

Chicago, Illinois to Lake Oneida, New York. Two Wheels to Nowhere is a seven-part series that weaves together the story of one man's motorcycle journey around the United States with the voices of people he met along the way. It is a conversation about people's greatest sources of excitement and concern--a conversation that ultimately explores how different Americans face the unknown.

Northern Idaho to Gary, Indiana. Two Wheels to Nowhere is a seven-part series that weaves together the story of one man's motorcycle journey around the United States with the voices of people he met along the way. It is a conversation about people's greatest sources of excitement and concern--a conversation that ultimately explores how different Americans face the unknown.

From Kanab, Utah to Portland, Oregon. Two Wheels to Nowhere is a seven-part series that weaves together the story of one man's motorcycle journey around the United States with the voices of people he met along the way. It is a conversation about people's greatest sources of excitement and concern--a conversation that ultimately explores how different Americans face the unknown.

From San Francisco, California to Kanab, Utah by way of the Salton Sea. Two Wheels to Nowhere is a seven-part series that weaves together the story of one man's motorcycle journey around the United States with the voices of people he met along the way. It is a conversation about people's greatest sources of excitement and concern--a conversation that ultimately explores how different Americans face the unknown.