Deep Future

Mike Winter and I start with his AI or Die combat-robot fight against his BattleBots-veteran daughter — then dioramas as everyday model-making, and why creative thinking shouldn't live only in language.

Juan Enriquez and I start with his case for scientific optimism, then follow it into optogenetics, Openwater’s open-source brain tools, and a new model for medical research. We connect that model to local AI and the larger question underneath the whole conversation: whether we use the extraordinary agency already in our hands.

Juan Enriquez and I follow climate change into the oceans, where almost all of the warming is stored. He explains how more moisture in the atmosphere produces extreme rain while heat dries out the land, why net zero will not cool the oceans quickly, and how marine cloud layers or stratospheric geoengineering might help. We connect BYD-scale manufacturing to geoengineering drones, then confront the harder problem: who can coordinate action before politicians demand an instant fix?

Juan Enriquez and I confront the case for geoengineering. We trace how warming oceans, peat fires, permafrost methane, and abrupt shifts recorded in Greenland ice cores can turn climate change into a runaway cycle. Then we explore volcanic aerosols, Stephen Salter’s cloud-brightening ships, stratospheric reflectors, and dual-use drones—and the geopolitical problem of deciding who gets to cool the planet.

Juan Enriquez and I trace how sequencing makes biology readable and programmable—from personalized cancer vaccines to ocean genomics, biorefineries, and cheaper solar energy.