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The After On Podcast

Rob Reid 62 Episodes Mar 11, 2026

The After On Podcast is hosted by author and entrepreneur Rob Reid and explores the science, technology, and social questions raised in his novel "After On." Each episode features long-form conversations with scientists, engineers, founders, and thinkers about emerging technologies and their implications. Topics range across artificial intelligence, biotech, physics, and the future of humanity. You do not need to have read the novel to follow along, since the show stands on its own as a discussion of big ideas.

Episodes

62: "DEEP VZN" Revisited | Kevin Esvelt Mar 11, 2026 01:53:59 I'm reposting my 2022 interview with Kevin Esvelt on the deranged USAID program "DEEP VZN," in conjunction with my latest appearance on Sam Harris's podcast, in which we discuss this terrifying topic

61: An "Observatory" for a Shy Super AI ? Aug 4, 2024 01:21:05 Might we unwittingly start sharing our world with a super AI? A monologue and (mostly) playful thought experiment.

60: Deep Fakes | Sam Harris and Zohaib Ahmed Jun 5, 2023 01:52:20 Will the glittering dawn of the genai era be accompanied by a dark tsunami of pixel-perfect deep fakes? I discuss this prospect with Sam Harris, as well as the CEO of synthetic audio pioneer Resemble.ai.

59: Generative AI | What's New & What's Next Mar 8, 2023 32:41 My thoughts on what's happening in the mad world of generative AI, announcing my new home online at robreid.substack.com, and more.

58: Recipes for Future Plagues | Kevin Esvelt Feb 28, 2022 01:55:23 USAID's new "DEEP VZN" program aims to discover new pandemic-grade viruses, then broadcast their genomes to the world, according to MIT evolutionary engineer Kevin Esvelt. He estimates that 30,000 people in dozens of countries could then easily assemble them.

57: Octopus Intelligence (and more!) | Roger Hanlon Oct 8, 2021 01:59:19 A wide-ranging discussion of cognition in octopuses & cuttlefish, plus many, many other topics with globally renowned sensory ecologist Roger Hanlon.

56: A Massive Future for an Old Vaccine? | Megan Murray Jun 19, 2021 01:13:37 Harvard epidemiologist Megan Murray tells us all about the anti-tuberculosis vaccine "BCG," and the astonishing protection it may provide against Covid -- as well as looming future pandemics.

55: Detecting Disease Outbreaks from Internet Traffic | Seth Stephens-Davidowitz Apr 23, 2021 01:42:30 This is closely tied to a 4-hour collaboration between Sam Harris and me, which Sam is posting to his podcast's feed. I strongly recommend that episode too! But it's not "required" for you to get everything out of this fascinating conversation with Seth.

54: Announcing a New Season Feb 2, 2021 02:47 This "episode" is just a quick new announcement of a new season of the podcast (finally)! And also of something very cool that I'm working on with fellow podcaster Sam Harris.

53: The Case Against Reality | Don Hoffman (classic + updated) Jul 30, 2019 01:41:09 Quantitative Psychologist Don Hoffman has a head-spinning take on the true nature of reality vs. what our senses report to us. This is a revisitation of our original interview, expanded with lots of new material recorded last week.

52: Many Quantum Worlds | Sean Carroll Jul 15, 2019 01:37:02 Quantum mechanics – and its eerie "Many Worlds" interpretation – are explored in terms that both poets & physicists can appreciate.

51: On Consciousness | Annaka Harris Jun 25, 2019 01:20:23 The baffling and fascinating mysteries connected to the phenomenon of consciousness are explored in this conversation with the deeply thoughtful science writer, Annaka Harris.

50: About that TED Talk | Kevin Rose Jun 18, 2019 01:21:42 This morning, TED posted a talk I just gave at their annual conference (on 11 days notice!). Kevin Rose interviewed me about my talk for his podcast. I'm posting his interview here as well.

49: Canceling PTSD with MDMA (part 2) | Rick Doblin May 28, 2019 01:00:30 The drug known as Molly, Ecstasy and MDMA may soon get regulatory approved for therapeutic use, thanks to a 34-year campaign waged by Rick Doblin. Rick and I discuss all of this, plus his own unique story.

48: Canceling PTSD with MDMA (part 1) | Rick Doblin May 21, 2019 01:06:28 The drug known as Molly, Ecstasy and MDMA may soon get regulatory approved for therapeutic use, thanks to a 34-year campaign waged by Rick Doblin. Rick and I discuss all of this, plus his own unique story.

47. AI Boom, or Doom? | Stuart Russell Apr 30, 2019 01:30:06 Stuart Russell's textbook is used to teach AI in over 1,400 universities and 120 countries. If AI scares him, it should scare you too.

46: Defeating Food Allergies | Kari Nadeau Apr 9, 2019 01:47:49 The food allergy epidemic is mysterious, volatile, and growing fast. Kari Nadeau and her Stanford team are trying to halt it.

45: End Games (part 2) | Naval Ravikant Mar 21, 2019 01:06:02 A rampage killer with a knife can kill a few. With a gun, dozens. With a jetliner, way more. What might future tech enable? In Part Two of our conversation, Naval and I discuss "The Ender."And how to preclude this monstrosity.

44: End Games (part 1) | Naval Ravikant Mar 19, 2019 01:13:41 Naval & I discuss a horrifying risk. We questioned whether to post this. Might it give someone ideas? Well, the bad guys already HAVE ideas. And cataclysms are only averted if we face them. There's still time.

43: Synthetic Neurobiology | Ed Boyden Mar 1, 2019 01:22:04 Not yet 40, Ed Boyden has already concocted a panoply of tools, which are revolutionizing neuroscience research. He tells us all about optogenetics, expansion microscopy, and more.

42: Live from Gainesville + the 2019 Plan Dec 30, 2018 56:07 We start with a review of this podcast's 2019 roadmap. Then – recorded before a live audience in Gainesville, Florida – I'M the interviewee for once!

41: The Medical Potential of Video Games | Adam Gazzaley Dec 19, 2018 01:29:23 Both a recap and extensive update of last summer's conversation about neuroscience, consciousness, and the medical potential of video games.

40: Our Interstellar Visitor | Avi Loeb Nov 28, 2018 01:10:35 Did the product of an alien intelligence make a near-Earth approach last fall? Harvard Astronomy Department Chair Avi Loeb believes this is possible.

39: Restoring Sight to the Blind | EJ Chichinilsky Nov 14, 2018 01:24:16 Amazing work at Stanford could restore vision to the blind. Then later become a gateway some mind-blowing neural augmentation! We discuss the astounding neuroscience and engineering behind all this, with the professor who's making it happen.

38: The Science & Practice of Happiness | Laurie Santos Oct 24, 2018 01:25:55 This spring, Yale evolutionary psychologist Laurie Santos debuted a course about happiness, almost as an experiment. It became the most popular course in the university's 300+ year history. Listen carefully, because this episode could make you happier!

37. On the Future | Astronomer Royal Martin Rees Oct 1, 2018 01:20:59 Can humankind survive this century? Great Britain's Astronomer Royal Martin Rees shares some of his profoundly original thinking on this fraught question.

36. Mapping the Heavens | Priya Natarajan Sep 13, 2018 01:23:44 Dark matter, dark energy, and black holes are the universe's three most massive mysteries. Literally! Yale astrophysicist Priya Natarajan takes us on a fascinating tour of them all.

35: Empowering the Acre | Andrew Youn Aug 22, 2018 01:13:26 Andrew Youn's One Acre Found is bringing food security to hundreds of thousands of families throughout Central Africa. Now THAT'S an inspiring startup!

34: Ancient DNA | David Reich Jul 31, 2018 01:31:35 The genetic code of Neanderthals, archaic humans, and other elders is reconfiguring much of our understanding of human history. And it could just save hundreds of thousands of modern human lives per year.

33: The Evolution of Beauty | Richard Prum Jul 16, 2018 01:25:03 A bold and brilliant refutation of the common wisdom about sexual attraction, aesthetics, and more. Rick Prum is an evolutionary heretic. And the wellspring of his unorthodox ideas is ... Charles Darwin himself.

Announcement | On the Future of this Podcast Jul 1, 2018 20:59 The full lowdown on where this podcast is going from here.

31: Expanding DNA's Alphabet (by half!) | Floyd Romesberg Jun 26, 2018 01:20:36 Floyd Romesberg added two letters to DNA's ancient four-letter alphabet. He got this running in cells. And coding proteins. His cell lines have passed it down hundreds of generations. Now what?

30. De-extinction, The Whole Earth, and Way More|Stewart Brand Jun 12, 2018 01:42:48 Over six consecutive decades, Stewart Brand has impacted society, tech and science in outlandishly diverse ways. This truly unhurried conversation explores the scope of his intensely original American life.

Jordan Harbinger | Bonus Episode Jun 8, 2018 01:27:55 An examination of the science of psychopathy from my buddy Jordan Harbinger's terrific podcast. This bonus episode is in addition to the two new original episodes I'm creating this month.

28: Exponential Medicine | Daniel Kraft May 29, 2018 01:08:27 Key aspects of medical technology are improving even faster than computers. What are the ramifications for our health? For our lifespans? Dr. Daniel Kraft has tremendous insights into all of this - particularly as it relates to cancer.

27. Depression: The Psychedelic Cure | Katya Malievskaia & George Goldsmith May 15, 2018 01:05:42 The largest-ever clinical trial of a psychedelic drug will soon begin in Europe and North America. The drug is psilocybin - the active ingredient in magic mushrooms. The target is treatment-resistant depression.

26: Reality Isn't | Don Hoffman Apr 30, 2018 01:21:56 Quantitative Psychologist Don Hoffman has a head-spinning take on the true nature of reality vs. what our senses report to us. Is it the most counterintuitive insight since Pythagoras figured the Earth is round?

25. A Night at the Battery Apr 17, 2018 01:03:40 In this very atypical episode, the tables turn and I'm the interviewee! We discuss all of my creative projects, including this podcast series. Recorded live at The Battery in San Francisco.

24: BioEngineering |George Church Apr 3, 2018 01:20:53 George Church helped found 22 companies, and co-invented the paradigm-shattering gene editing technique CRISPR. In our interview, he delivers a sweeping survey of the world of synthetic biology, and makes some astounding predictions

23: AI & Robotics - Their Present and Future| Rodney Brooks Mar 20, 2018 01:22:44 Rodney Brooks is a founding luminary of TWO vital domains in tech: robotics and AI. He's the father of the Roomba, the long-time head of MIT's AI lab, and a serial entrepreneur. Few can rival his breadth & depth in technology.

22: Creating the 6th, 7th & 8th Sense | David Eagleman Mar 6, 2018 59:32 Neuroscientist David Eagleman has done groundbreaking work on how we perceive time. Now he hopes to radically expand the pantheon of human senses.

21: Neural Imaging and ... Telepathy? | Mary Lou Jepsen Feb 20, 2018 01:07:47 After stints at Google and Facebook, serial entrepreneur Mary Lou Jepsen is ready to upend the worlds of medical imaging and ... telepathy. Yup, TELEPATHY. Give it a listen!

20: Radical Life Extension | Aubrey de Grey Jan 17, 2018 01:07:00 Aubrey de Grey is a highly credentialed scientist who believes it's within our grasp to REVERSE human aging in the next few decades. Dozens of scientists are now executing on his plan, funded by extremely smart backers including Peter Thiel.

19: A Lightning Tour of the After On Universe Jan 2, 2018 01:14:04 A wide-ranging set of excerpts from the After On audiobook, read brilliant folks including John Hodgman, Felicia Day, Jesse Cox, Tom Merritt. Back to "normal" episodes next week, promise! :-)

18: It's Really After On Dec 22, 2017 01:25:25 This week, Broadway's own January LaVoy and legendary fantasy writer Patrick Rothfuss read/perform the the opening of the After On audiobook (plus quite a bit more). With some notes & observations from the author.

17: The Past Present & Future of Cryptocurrency | Coinbase Co-Founder Fred Ehrsam Dec 13, 2017 01:44:38 Whether you're a cryptocurrency novice or expert, this episode will teach you a ton. My guest, Fred Ehrsam, founded the world's largest platform for storing & trading Bitcoin and more. Just us for a full crypto education!

16: The Promise & Peril in YOUR Genes | Robert Green Nov 29, 2017 01:36:07 You will soon have access to a dizzying battery of facts about your health. Some could be horrid or positive on a life-changing scale! But most will be wildly ambiguous. Should you peek? NOTE: This is NOT just hypothetical.

15. Music Piracy | The Extraterrestrial Threat Nov 21, 2017 01:23:12 A vast alien civilization is so into American pop music, it recently committed the biggest copyright violation since the dawn of time. Against us! How should humanity respond? A special (and rather playful) episode with John Hodgman.

14: The Future (if any) of Jobs | Andrew McAfee Nov 14, 2017 01:17:27 Andy McAfee of MIT is a leading thinker about how robotics and other automation will influence the future of work and jobs. We touch on some scary stuff - plus some delightful notes of optimism!

13: Medium, Twitter, and Networked Words | Ev Williams Oct 31, 2017 01:17:40 Ev Williams co-founded and ran both Twitter and Blogger.com, and is now the founder/CEO of Medium. He's a deep thinker about ideas morph & travel, and is carving out a place for thoughtful, serious writing online.

12. TED Talks + Organization | Chris Anderson Oct 24, 2017 01:20:11 You've probably seen a TED Talk or two (or 500!) online. Chris runs the TED organization, and has some fascinating thoughts both on how we're wired to process oratory, and how we might build a better world.

11. Space Archaeology | Sarah Parcak Oct 17, 2017 01:37:58 Sarah Parcak is a pioneer in the emerging field of space archaeology. In 2016 she won the TED Prize to launch a "citizen science" platform, which is finding lost sites and fighting archaeological looting throughout the world.

10. Tech's Past & Future | Tim O'Reilly Oct 10, 2017 01:18:21 Technology's pre-eminent publisher, Tim O'Reilly helped trigger the rise of the commercial Web, the open source community, the Web 2.0 era, and the maker movement. I discuss tech's past and future with one of its most original thinkers.

9. Drones |Chris Anderson of Wired & 3DR Oct 3, 2017 01:23:25 Chris Anderson was Wired's editor-in-chief for 12 years, then started one of the world's great drone companies. We discuss all this – and his origins as a high school dropout living in a squat and playing bass for a band called REM (no, not that REM).

8: Fermi's Paradox (or, where are all the aliens?) | Stephen Webb Sep 26, 2017 01:50:02 Our universe's vastness and age has given alien intelligence ample space and time in which to arise. Why can we detect no sign of it? This is actually a momentous and scientifically serious question. Yes, really! With British astronomer Stephen Webb.

7. The Dangers of Superintelligence| James Barrat Sep 19, 2017 56:29 James Barrat's book "Our Final Invention" helped touch off a public debate about the possible dangers of superintelligence, which continues to this day. We discuss these dangers in depth in our interview. For those who are reading the novel After On, Tom Meritt and I discuss pages 380-464 in the very last section of the podcast.

6. On Terrorism | Sam Harris Sep 12, 2017 02:16:20 Sam Harris is one of the most visible and controversial commentators on terrorism and its roots. Our interview dives deep into this subject, as well the personal journey that made Sam into the public intellectual he has become. For those who are reading the novel After On, Tom Meritt and I discuss pages 289-380 in the very last section of the podcast.

5. Quantum Computing |Steve Jurvetson Sep 5, 2017 01:08:31 Quantum computers could be almost farcically powerful compared to classical computers. Venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson and I discuss how & why this is – and whether this potential will ever be realized. For those who are reading the novel After On, Tom Meritt and I discuss pages 241-288 in the very last section of the podcast.

4: Synthetic Biology | Andrew Hessel Aug 24, 2017 01:18:15 It took 13 years and $3 billion to read the first human genome in 2003. Now takes #$1K and just hours. What happens when we can WRITE DNA as easily as we now read it? For those who are reading the novel After On, Tom Merritt and I discuss pages 180-241 in the very last section of the podcast.

3: Privacy + Govt Intrusion | Cindy Cohn (EFF) Aug 17, 2017 01:16:45 In this episode, we discuss patent trolls, government hacking, privacy in the digital age, and other vital issues with Cindy Cohn, who runs the Electronic Frontier Foundation. For those who are reading the novel After On, Tom Merritt and I discuss pages 110-180 in the very last section of the podcast.

2: Consciousness & Neuroscience | Adam Gazzaley Aug 10, 2017 01:21:00 In this episode,we discuss the roots of consciousness and other vital topics with UCSF neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley. For those who are reading the novel After On, Tom Merritt and I discuss pages 51-109 in the very last section of the podcast.

1: Augmented Reality | Meron Gribetz Aug 3, 2017 01:18:49 In this episode, we discuss augmented reality (AR) with the CEO of AR pioneer Meta, Inc. Meron Gribetz. For those who are reading the novel After On, Tom Merritt and I discuss pages 1-51 in the very last section of the podcast.

The After On Podcast

Episodes

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