41: Transhumanist Wager

We tackle the big issues this week with the trends emerging in online sales during Thanksgiving/Black Friday and take a deep dive into the politics of transhumanism. What does it mean to be human? What happens when we no longer need our biological bodies? How will we be ready? On the news front, Alibaba dominates the headlines, while Zuckerberg announces that he’s giving his wealth away. Amazon refuses to let up on their drone delivery proposal and Yahoo refuses to die. Bless.

Episode 41. Recorded Wednesday 2 December 2015.

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Audio:

Download episode 41 (mp3)

Show notes

Intro:

• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 | IMDb
• Archie Rose Distillery in Rosebery | archierose.com.au
• Captain America: Civil War – full trailer | youtube
• Batman vs Superman – sneak peak | youtube

Feature #1: Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Singles Day in China

• Thanksgiving/Black Friday online sales hit $4.5bn | TechCrunch
• The top 10 tech purchases in the Black Friday sales | TechGuide
• Cyber Monday beat forecasts with a record $3bn in sales | TechCrunch
• China’s Alibaba breaks Singles Day record as sales surge | BBC

News:

• Amazon has a new drone delivery video – 8 details worth noting | Washington Post
• Zuckerberg’s love letter to his new daughter, announces Chan Zuckerberg Initiative | FB Note
• Bill Gates and a group of elite investors to fund clean energy tech with Breakthrough Energy Coalition | VentureBeat
• Raspberry Pi Zero – the $5 computer | raspberrypi.org
• Yahoo board to consider sale of core internet business | WSJ
• Fast food giant Jollibee is coming to Australia | Mashable

Feature #2: Transhumanism (H+)

• Interview with U.S. presidential candidate Zoltan Istvan | Singularity 1 on 1 podcast
• Ray Kurzweil’s wildest prediction – Nanobots will plug our brains to the web by the 2030s | Singularity Hub
• Zoltan Istvan and his Transhumanist Party | wikipedia
• Transhumanist Party Australia | loomio

What’s that sound?

• Caleb and Nathan in Ex Machina | youtube