28 min listen
CultureLab: Where billionaires rule the apocalypse: Naomi Alderman’s ‘The Future’
CultureLab: Where billionaires rule the apocalypse: Naomi Alderman’s ‘The Future’
ratings:
Length:
20 minutes
Released:
Feb 13, 2024
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
Real tech billionaires are reportedly building secret bunkers in case of post-apocalyptic societal collapse. It’s a frightening prospect, a world where only the super rich survive catastrophe. But it’s a world one author is exploring in her latest novel.Naomi Alderman is the prize-winning and best-selling author of The Power. Her latest book The Future imagines a world where billionaires survive a world-shaking cataclysm, only to find out they’re not as in charge of events as they think they are. The Future has been the centrepiece of the New Scientist book club. In this episode culture and comment editor Alison Flood asks Naomi all about it. They explore her motivations for writing the book, the real mysteries of human evolutionary history and why Alderman thinks artificial intelligence can’t actually predict what’s to come for humanity.This conversation contains some spoilers.To read about subjects like this and much more, visit newscientist.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Released:
Feb 13, 2024
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
#21: How to prevent future pandemics, black lives matter and racism in science, suspended animation by New Scientist Podcasts