We live in a world consumed by code, and advanced by algorithms. For all of our technological prowess and alleged progress, we’re still haunted by the oldest questions; about love, meaning, loss, suffering, and what it means to be human creatures in times of precarity and collapse.
My guest today — returning to The Passing Through Podcast to contemplate these questions — is our friend Douglas Rushkoff. Longtime listeners will remember him, but for those of you just joining us, MIT named him one of the world’s 10 most influential intellectuals. Doug is an educator, author of many important books like Media Virus or Survival of the Richest, he’s media theorist, podcaster, gifted orator, and whole-hearted human interested in doing the hard work of composting our collective shit.
If you’re a new listener and would like to blast back to the past, he first appeared on this show last year, in episode 42. It’s still one of my favorite conversations, so please give it a listen.
It’s always a treat to talk to Doug, so I was thrilled to snag a bit of his time on Halloween in between meetings and menacing hordes of trick or treaters.
This time around we talk about AI and animism, about the strange overlap between silicon intelligence and the ancient sentience of the Earth. We talk about music, about the rhythms that hold us together when modernity’s mitigation strategies fall short, sorrow, love and the unrelenting pain, injustice and suffering seated in the center of the swirl.
If you haven’t already, go read one of Doug’s many books, or listen to his incredible podcast: Team Human. It’s one of my own personal favorite podcasts and well worth your time.
You can find Doug at https://rushkoff.com or on his podcast, Team Human:
https://www.youtube.com/@douglasrushkoff
https://open.spotify.com/show/5NJh9lWYPeJyu1ebGCnaxf
