Dreaming Against the Machine - April 04, 2026


Trailer： Dreaming Against the Machine

Topics
dreaming against the machine
Episode 0： Dreaming of a Better World

Episode Stats


Length

1 minute

Words per minute

144.27

Word count

283

Sentence count

19


Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
00:00:00.000 What would a good future look like?
00:00:02.900 The public conversation about the future is dominated by the dreams of tech oligarchs
00:00:07.740 and their overly literal readings of science fiction.
00:00:11.520 Their power fantasies of super-intelligent AI, space colonies, and cyberpunk dystopias
00:00:18.780 haunt our media and pervade the collective unconscious of the internet.
00:00:24.180 But setting the terms of the public conversation about the future parries power.
00:00:28.900 And we can't cede that power to these nihilistic visions promoted by the ultra-wealthy.
00:00:35.920 In order to push back, we need to envision feasible futures that we actually want.
00:00:42.180 I don't have a fully realized positive vision of what the future could look like,
00:00:47.140 because envisioning a good future is an impossible task to take on alone.
00:00:52.300 That's because a good future has to be one that we build together,
00:00:56.460 one that has a place for everyone.
00:00:58.600 That's what makes it a good future.
00:01:01.400 That means it has to be forged in conversation.
00:01:05.140 That's what my new podcast, Dreaming Against the Machine, is about.
00:01:10.380 Exploring ideas about how to envision better futures that are grounded in reality.
00:01:16.840 I'm Adam Becker.
00:01:18.640 I'm an astrophysicist and journalist.
00:01:21.460 My latest book, More Everything Forever, explains and debunks Silicon Valley billionaires' ideas about the future.
00:01:29.140 But rather than rehashing that book in the form of a podcast, I want to find hope in the darkness of the current political moment.
00:01:39.000 I think we can win a future worth having, but I don't think we can do that without earnest and entertaining conversations about what such a future might look like.
00:01:49.740 I'd love for you to join me for those conversations on Dreaming Against the Machine.
00:01:55.340 Let's dream of a better future together.