Team Human

Co-Founder & Director of the Institute for the Study of Energy & Our Future, Nate Hagens deconstructs some of our deeply held beliefs about climate change and offers us a few dangerous and inexpensive ways to keep our species sustainably happy. How can we learn to live with less?

Here's a preview of this week's bonus episode: Sand Talk author Tyson Yunkaporta joins Douglas Rushkoff in Team Human's High Fidelity spatial audio room for a special salon. Team Human teammates were granted a special opportunity to join live. Originally recorded on May 8, 2021. You can gain full access to this conversation by becoming a supporter today at: patreon.com/teamhuman Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Comedian, composer, contemporary buddhist, and host of the Duncan Trussell Family Hour Duncan Trussell and Rushkoff travel far and wide through spirituality and synchronicity to help us discover what it means to be truly human, together. Is the hope that life — and conversations, themselves — continue after death? How can humans grapple with the Buddhist belief of truly learning to let go of “the dream”? Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here's a preview of this week's Team Human bonus content: A talk Rushkoff gave about the late Robert Anton WIlson and his notion of the chapel perilous. Rushkoff shares the story of the first time he met RAW and why RAW believed a skeptic's worldview isn't safer than any other worldview. This talk includes a conversation with The Stoa's Rebecca Fox and Peter Limberg. Recorded March 2021. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writer, philosopher, and author of The Fall of Language, Alex Stern helps us distinguish who we are from what we tweet. Further, he explores how enlightenment values end up turning into their opposite — and why the word “fascism” can be a barrier to understanding culture. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here's a special preview of science fiction author Bruce Sterling's conversation with Douglas Rushkoff circa 1990. Sterling had just co-written The Difference Engine with William Gibson. This conversation was recorded in part to research for Rushkoff's Cyberia.Support now for as little as $2 per month to gain full access to this conversation and Team Human's special patrons-only Team Feed at Patreon.com/TeamHuman. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feels Good Man filmmakers Arthur Jones and Giorgio Angelini show us how a great meme can go bad — and how to take it back again.Rushkoff, Angelini, and Jones explore the evolution of Matt Furie’s Pepe the Frog from stoner frog to alt-right meme. When did internet culture became real-world culture? How did a community of trolls who wanted to manipulate reality end up effecting physical space? When was the moment that fan fiction became mainstream?In his monologue, Rushkoff addresses the cycle of bad faith arguments amplified by Twitter that end up destroying real conversation — and many talented people’s credibility. “Once you cross over into the land of make-believe facts — however earnest you believe your intention is — it undermines not only your argument, but the whole social fabric. It undermines our entire collective quest as human beings to figure out what the heck is really going on here.” Rushkoff says. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here's a special preview of Reality Sandwich Co-Founder and Editorial Director of Lucid News Ken Jordan and Douglas Rushkoff's conversation from WFMU's The Media Squat. Jordan explains how cultural change works, the 2012 prophecy, and art's role in giving voice to the unspoken. Originally aired June 22, 2009.Support now for as little as $2 per month to gain full access to this conversation and Team Human's special patrons-only Team Feed at Patreon.com/TeamHuman. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Musician and composer Ela Minus introduces us to her acts of rebellion and shows us how music can help us find the others against all efforts to prevent it. Minus’ new album, Acts of Rebellion is streaming everywhere now.In his monologue, Rushkoff explores how robots can help us appreciate and understand what it means to be human. "You need the next medium in order to understand the value of the medium that you’re in.” Rushkoff says. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here's a special preview of The Yes Men's conversation with Rushkoff from an episode of WFMU's The Media Squat in 2009. Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno discuss their 2009 film The Yes Men Fix The World, how they measure success, and bias against situationist-style media pranking. Originally aired August 3, 2009.Support now for as little as $2 per month to gain full access to this conversation and Team Human's special patrons-only Team Feed at Patreon.com/TeamHuman. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Entrepreneur and author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life Luke Burgis shares the reasons behind Silicon Valley's obsession with the philosophies of former Stanford Professor René Girard and whether we can ever transcend the human impulse of wanting to be like someone else. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

danah boyd is a Partner Researcher a Microsoft Research, the founder and president of Data & Society, and a visiting professor at New York University. In this conversation from 2009, Rushkoff and boyd discuss how Myspace was turning into a "digital ghetto" as Facebook was becoming the dominant social media platform. Further, boyd explores the digital practices of underrepresented populations.You can access the full conversation now by becoming a contributing supporter at patreon.com/teamhuman. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author and lifelong community and climate activist Frank Brodhead helps us transform our rage and despair into hope and action. Why is environmentally-friendly policy never the focal point of political leadership? “I think so much of local politics has to do with maintaining the resale value of people’s main asset, that’s their home. The last thing that responsible political leadership is to maintain a stable climate.” Frank says. Even in the face of despair, Frank provides reason for us to keep playing for Team Human.In his monologue, Rushkoff explores why film and television needs to embrace the human soul. “You can’t get to those questions with the best film technology alone. You need also to be able to embrace that weird extra special something about the human soul.” and recalls a discussion with Richard Dawkins and Naomi Wolf about moralism. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Pescovitz is a former research director at Institute for the Future and a former editor at Boing Boing and Wired Magazine. Rushkoff and Pescovitz explore the characteristics of innovative people, simulation theory, and the importance of wonder in a conversation originally aired on WFMU's The Media Squat. You can access the full conversation now by becoming a contributing supporter at patreon.com/teamhuman. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Socialite, philanthropist, international southerner, mischief maker and self-described shit-starter, Kenya (Robinson) investigates gender, consumerism, and ability through unexpected performative actions and sculptural gestures.In his monologue, Rushkoff reminds us that it's okay to turn to civics to avoid burnout from 24/7 political coverage. "Civics is something different than politics. Civics is helping other people." He also proposes people use non-fungible tokens to critique the art market. “The current NFT market in some ways is anti-art in that it’s simply reinforcing capitalism.” Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here's a sneak peak of tech culture journalist and former Boing Boing editor Xeni Jardin discussing the power of bottom-up media from WFMU's The Media Squat. Originally aired on April 13, 2009. You can stream the full conversation by becoming a contributing supporter of Team Human at Patreon.com/TeamHuman, Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author of “Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World” and member of the Apalech Clan, Tyson Yunkaporta helps us reckon with the end of civilization. Have we accidentally reintroduced circularity into our systems? Is there a way to integrate western civilization’s ideal of progress with integral theory? Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ethnopharmacologist Dennis McKenna, brother of the late Terence McKenna, meets Douglas Rushkoff for research related to Cyberia in 1992. McKenna and Rushkoff discuss DMT, cybernetic evolution, the ongoing development of the human being, and more in a special bonus episode exclusive to Team Human patrons. You can listen to the full conversation by becoming a contributing supporter now: patreon.com/teamhuman Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Playing for Team Human today, R. U. Sirius, Nick Philip, Annie P.O, and Jody Radzik, look back on the magical explosion at the intersection of art and technology in the early-1990s rave scene.This episode was recorded in High Fidelity, a real-time spatial audio software developed by Second Life co-founder Philip Rosedale. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In celebration of the paperback release of Dark Horse's Aleister & Adolf, Douglas Rushkoff and Michael Oeming join Jimmy Church's FADE to BLACK to discuss the graphic novel's 2016 release. To gain full access to this conversation you can become a contributing supporter of Team Human at https://www.patreon.com/teamhuman. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.