Admittedly, I’m hooked on the Conversations Network

In fact, surprised myself by having such a strong focus on technology in the top-3. But the truth is, these topics will have a huge impact on our future.

1. Pop!Tech 2004: Carolyn Porco, Cassini Science Imaging Team Leader: ‘Explorer’s Club’

"(…) Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations (CICLOPS) has been focused on Saturn since early 2004 as the Cassini spacecraft approached its orbit around the planet. (…) The icy moon Enceladus contains fissures that suggest tectonics, the south pole is especially warm and has signatures of organic material. (…) The other moon, Titan, is where the Huygens probe landed in January 2005. (…) the Titan moon may give us a significant glimpse of what the Earth was like before living organisms. (…) Lastly Carolyn shares some of her views on science and spirituality. (…)"

2. Pop!Tech 2004: Joel Garreau, Journalist, The Garreau Group: ‘Human Nature’

"(…) "Are we fundamentally changing human nature in our lifetime?" Joel Garreau thinks that yes we will be…over the next twenty years. What’s driving this? (…)" GRIN: genetics, robotics, Information and nanotech.

3. Tech Nation: Sandra Blakeslee, Contributor, NY Times

"(…) Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with NY Times contributor Sandra Blakeslee, about neuroscience, and how it is revealing how our brains map out our physical bodies. (…)"

4. Pop!Tech 2004: Ben Saunders, Solo Explorer

"(…) On his latest expedition in February 2004, Ben set out from Cape Arktichevsky in Northern Siberia in an attempt to be the first person in the world to make a complete crossing of the frozen Arctic Ocean in a 1,240-mile journey ending in Canada, solo and unsupported. (…) After experiencing first hand conditions described by NASA and Environment Canada as ‘the worst on record’, Ben has raised international awareness regarding the extent to which climate change is affecting the Arctic. He noticed conditions that were up to 15 degrees warmer than in 2000, and had to negotiate vast, unprecedented areas of thinning ice and open water. (…)"

5. Pop!Tech 2004: Doug Rushkoff: ‘Renaissance Prospects’

"(…) Douglas Rushkoff analyzes, writes and speaks about the way people, cultures, and institutions create, share, and influence each other’s values. He sees "media" as the landscape where this interaction takes place, and "literacy" as the ability to participate consciously in it. (…)"

6. O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference 2005:
Chris Anderson, Wired Magazine: ‘Economics of the Long Tail’

"(…) he explores the economics of the long tail and shares his insight on the effects it might have on future business models. Chris discusses how distribution networks like Amazon, iTunes and Netflix have shown that the right side of the curve which forms millions of niches can be as big a market as the chart toppers. (…)"

7. O’Reilly Digital Democracy Teach-In:
Gatekeepers No More? The Grassroots Challenges the Journalistic Priesthood

"(…) Professional journalists have been the chief gatekeepers of news about political campaigns and governmental operations. That’s changing, fast, as the Internet and other technical tools open up a variety of avenues for other participants in the information process. (…)" With Dan Gillmor, Jeff Jarvis and Jay Rosen.

8. Pop!Tech 2005: Sam Harris, Author, The End of Faith: ‘The Future of Ideas’

"(…) Sam Harris debates many points relating to religion, particularly the dangers that can be brought about by religious extremists — in any faith — around the world (…)"

Runners-up:

Clayton Christensen, Professor, Harvard Business School: ‘Capturing the Upside’

"(…) Through his recent research, Professor Christensen has developed a set of theories to help guide managers as they seek to answer seven critical questions when trying to build new growth businesses, again and again: (…)"

Web 2.0 Conference: Lawrence Lessig

"(…) By presenting media remixing as the "creative writing" of the future he highlights the dangers of moving from a free culture where discussion and free speech are taken for granted, to a permission culture where permission to reproduce media messages will depend on the use of that media. (…)"

SDForum: Lawrence Lessig: ‘The Comedy of the Commons’

"(…) Lessig (…) charts a history of IP, which helps him highlight the difference between physical-property law, which can result in a tragedy of the commons, and intellectual-property law, which can result in a comedy of the commons. (…)"

Eben Moglen, Director, Software Freedom Law Center: ‘Freedom Businesses Protect Privacy’

"(…) Few, if any, presentations at conferences in the coming years will manage to combine the intellectual depth and delivery skills shown by Software Freedom Law Center director Eben Moglen in this penetrating analysis of privacy and technology. (…)"

Tech Nation: Dr. Steven Miles, Author & Professor, University of Minnesota

"(…) Dr. Moira Gunn talks to Dr. Steven Miles, the Minnesota MD who studied tens of thousands of documents released by the Department of Defense about US military prisons in Iraq. Included were those from the notorious Abu Ghurayb prison near Baghdad. What Dr. Miles found was extremely disturbing. (…)"

MeshForum 2005: Jamais Cascio: ‘Participatory Panopticon’

Jamais Cascio‘s ‘Participatory Panopticon’, a presentation at the
MeshForum 2005 Event held in Chicago, Il, May 1-4, 2005 and podcast via
IT Conversations, takes the "memory prosthesis" concept of Nokia
Lifeblog a few steps further.

"(…) [S]elf-proclaimed freelance world-builder, [Jamais] has a bold vision for the future. He calls it the Participatory Panopticon, and it spells the end of privacy and the end of secrecy. While personal privacy is eroding, the ability of those in power to lie, cheat, and steal is also becoming increasingly impaired. (…)"

Tech Nation: Greenfield v. Kurzweil: ‘Biotech: Will it Save Us or Hurt Us?’

"(…) Baroness Susan Greenfield, Director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, debates Ray Kurzweil, one of America’s most prolific inventors and a futuristic thinker in his own right. Will biotechnology save us? Or hurt us? (…)"

Pop!Tech 2005: Susan Blackmore, Author and lecturer: ‘Memes’

"(…) Memetics is an intellectually rich but controversial field which seeks to explain how our minds and cultures are designed by natural selection acting on replicating information, just as organisms evolve by natural selection acting on genes. (…)"

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