The Long Now Foundation

Bayo Akomolafe - The Untimely

In his Talk, poet-philosopher Bayo Akomolafe presented a riveting critique of linear time, and gave a persuasive invitation to step sideways, to slow down, to notice the cracks in our temporal systems. Through Yoruba cosmology, slave ship histories, and decolonization strategies, he invited us to look at the space between the tick and the tock, to sit in the uncomfortable and incomplete. Only here, in what Akomolafe calls “parapolitics of the untimely,” can we ask, “What does untimeliness make possible?” This talk was presented May 5, 02026 at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco. Episode notes: https://longnow.org/talks/02026-akomolafe/ The event livestream is here: https://youtube.com/live/dM9IaFgKdqU This talk is part of Long Now Talks. Launched by Stewart Brand in 02003, Long Now Talks has invited more than 400 leading thinkers to share their civilization-scale ideas with a live audience and millions around the globe tuning in to our podcast and videos. Long Now Talks are brought to you by The Long Now Foundation, which has spent the last 25 years igniting cultural imagination around long-term thinking. By inspiring thought and conversation about how we've been shaped by the last 10,000 years and what might be in store for us over the next 10,000 years, Long Now Talks seek to expand our collective sense of the present moment. Long Now Talks cover futurism and speculative fiction; time, nature, and contemplative practices; the intersection of the humanities and sciences; the evolution of counterculture to cyberculture; cultural imagination, land art and public monuments; and of course, long-term thinking and being a good ancestor. In our age of compounding crises, The Long Now Foundation is a counterweight. We are a force that imagines new possibilities, thinks critically, and takes action over the long term. We believe that when we all come together, bound by commitment and curiosity, audacious things become possible. Will you join us? https://longnow.org/join

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Eric Ries - Incorruptible by Design

3w ago01:10:17Tap to summarize

What if we redefined “profit” as maximizing human flourishing? Eric Ries has seen the corrosive effects of shareholder primacy at every company he’s worked with. Mission-driven companies, however, are the outliers: demonstrating stronger profits, better talent, and deeper loyalty. So why don't we build differently? In the long arc of economic history, our current definitions of profit and value are relatively new, held in place by normative consensus. But we can flip the script. By using what Ries calls “mission transmission,” we can build companies around a coherent set of values, where profit becomes the natural extension of those values, rather than the only goal. “Start with the thing you have the most agency over," he said. "You can decide the purpose of your work.” We built this system, Ries urged, so we can rebuild it better. Eric’s new book, "Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad…and How Great Companies Stay Great," is available worldwide on May 26, 02026. This talk was presented April 7, 02026 at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco. Episode notes: https://longnow.org/talks/02026-ries/ The event livestream is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MptHy1KZnI This talk is part of Long Now Talks. Launched by Stewart Brand in 02003, Long Now Talks has invited more than 400 leading thinkers to share their civilization-scale ideas with a live audience and millions around the globe tuning in to our podcast and videos. Long Now Talks are brought to you by The Long Now Foundation, which has spent the last 25 years igniting cultural imagination around long-term thinking. By inspiring thought and conversation about how we've been shaped by the last 10,000 years and what might be in store for us over the next 10,000 years, Long Now Talks seek to expand our collective sense of the present moment. Long Now Talks cover futurism and speculative fiction; time, nature, and contemplative practices; the intersection of the humanities and sciences; the evolution of counterculture to cyberculture; cultural imagination, land art and public monuments; and of course, long-term thinking and being a good ancestor. In our age of compounding crises, The Long Now Foundation is a counterweight. We are a force that imagines new possibilities, thinks critically, and takes action over the long term. We believe that when we all come together, bound by commitment and curiosity, audacious things become possible. Will you join us? https://longnow.org/join

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Melody Jue - Ocean Memory

3w ago01:03:10Tap to summarize

The ocean is not empty. It is a vast storage facility of memory agents. Ocean organisms use the chemical signatures of seawater for memory and intelligence in ways we can barely imagine. In her Talk, Melody Jue said our struggle to understand ocean memory comes from our terrestrial bias. This bias shapes what we try to protect and the technologies we develop. We must, she said, “deterritorialize the sensorium.” To better translate the ocean's memories, Jue worked with interdisciplinary artists, musicians, divers, and researchers to develop soundscapes that help us “smell” with our ears, remapping chemosensation through synesthesia. Don’t miss the moment in the Talk where she plays two original music pieces that use the density and flow of sound to mimic chemical gradients of seawater. “The ocean teaches us humility,” Jue concluded. “It makes us confront our preconceptions about the planet and sensation.” This talk was presented March 18, 02026 at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco. Episode notes: https://longnow.org/talks/02026-jue/ The event livestream is here: https://youtube.com/live/rVruWwO4hZg This talk is part of Long Now Talks. Launched by Stewart Brand in 02003, Long Now Talks has invited more than 400 leading thinkers to share their civilization-scale ideas with a live audience and millions around the globe tuning in to our podcast and videos. Long Now Talks are brought to you by The Long Now Foundation, which has spent the last 25 years igniting cultural imagination around long-term thinking. By inspiring thought and conversation about how we've been shaped by the last 10,000 years and what might be in store for us over the next 10,000 years, Long Now Talks seek to expand our collective sense of the present moment. Long Now Talks cover futurism and speculative fiction; time, nature, and contemplative practices; the intersection of the humanities and sciences; the evolution of counterculture to cyberculture; cultural imagination, land art and public monuments; and of course, long-term thinking and being a good ancestor. In our age of compounding crises, The Long Now Foundation is a counterweight. We are a force that imagines new possibilities, thinks critically, and takes action over the long term. We believe that when we all come together, bound by commitment and curiosity, audacious things become possible. Will you join us? https://longnow.org/join

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Claire Isabel Webb & Nina Miolane - The Geometry of Consciousness

Apr 2000:50:47Tap to summarize

What is consciousness — and how might we describe it scientifically? Neuroscience can map neural activity with extraordinary detail, yet the relationship between electrical signals and subjective experience remains one of humanity’s most enduring questions. Mathematician and machine learning researcher Nina Miolane approaches this question from an unexpected direction: geometry. In her work, patterns of neural activity can be understood as structures in a mathematical space. In this view, cognition may be described through the geometry of neural representations: patterns that can be measured, compared, and modeled across biological and artificial systems. In conversation with science historian Claire Isabel Webb, Miolane explores how new mathematical frameworks may help illuminate long-standing puzzles in the science of mind. If consciousness arises from structured patterns of activity, what does that imply about intelligence? Could similar patterns arise in machine systems? And what might it mean to study consciousness as a phenomenon that admits formal description? As humanity increasingly shares cognitive labor with machines, a rigorous language for studying the mind would be game-changing. If that language could unlock a deeper understanding of consciousness, it would not only have broad implications for the evolving relationship between human cognition and AI, but for how we as human beings fundamentally understand ourselves. From Aristotle to Descartes, every generation has recast the mystery of consciousness. A geometric and mathematical explanation might lead to a paradigm shift that could affect all of society's pace layers — how we design, govern, and relate to each other in the next 10,000 years and beyond. This talk was presented April 20, 02026 at The Interval in San Francisco. Episode notes: https://longnow.org/talks/02026-webb-miolane/ The event livestream is here: https://youtube.com/live/w6MvOXg9fdw This talk is part of Long Now Talks. Launched by Stewart Brand in 02003, Long Now Talks has invited more than 400 leading thinkers to share their civilization-scale ideas with a live audience and millions around the globe tuning in to our podcast and videos. Long Now Talks are brought to you by The Long Now Foundation, which has spent the last 25 years igniting cultural imagination around long-term thinking. By inspiring thought and conversation about how we've been shaped by the last 10,000 years and what might be in store for us over the next 10,000 years, Long Now Talks seek to expand our collective sense of the present moment. Long Now Talks cover futurism and speculative fiction; time, nature, and contemplative practices; the intersection of the humanities and sciences; the evolution of counterculture to cyberculture; cultural imagination, land art and public monuments; and of course, long-term thinking and being a good ancestor. In our age of compounding crises, The Long Now Foundation is a counterweight. We are a force that imagines new possibilities, thinks critically, and takes action over the long term. We believe that when we all come together, bound by commitment and curiosity, audacious things become possible. Will you join us? https://longnow.org/join

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Stefan Sagmeister - Finally, something good.

Feb 1701:08:48Tap to summarize

Acclaimed designer Stefan Sagmeister brings data to life to convey an uplifting message for our current times. Amid the stark reality of a world facing the aftermath of an unprecedented global pandemic, natural disasters, and political turmoil “Finally, Something Good” presents tangible evidence that, when assessed from a long-term perspective, most aspects of human development have improved. Using relevant data from the United Nations, World Bank, and other global and national databases, Sagmeister artfully transforms the numbers into captivating visual representations that yield resonant understanding. By embedding information into eclectic mediums — antique paintings, clothing, sculptural objects, and installations — Sagmeister bridges the past and present, while telling a hopeful story of progress over time. In a nonstop news cycle of crisis and outrage, Sagmeister’s work presses pause. This talk will give us a moment to reflect on the bigger picture. Sagmeister makes long-term progress more palpable, more perceptible, more human-scale. This talk won’t deny the present-day metacrisis, but will situate our current moment within the long upward arc of human advancement in health, education, safety, and quality of life. In doing so, he’ll challenge the helplessness that arises when we give into the panic, and falsely believe the future is in uncontestable decline. Sagmeister’s approach reinforces a core Long Now principle: we must see beyond the present moment to meaningfully steward future generations. His talk provides tools for thought and action to cultivate an expanded temporal awareness. Sagmeister’s work demonstrates how perspective itself is a design problem. By showing that collective human action has produced measurable gains over centuries, his work restores a sense of participation in history. This talk was presented February 17, 02026 at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco. Episode notes: https://longnow.org/talks/02026-sagmeister/ The event livestream is here: https://youtube.com/live/KXVf6lBxx1Q This talk is part of Long Now Talks. Launched by Stewart Brand in 02003, Long Now Talks has invited more than 400 leading thinkers to share their civilization-scale ideas with a live audience and millions around the globe tuning in to our podcast and videos. Long Now Talks are brought to you by The Long Now Foundation, which has spent the last 25 years igniting cultural imagination around long-term thinking. By inspiring thought and conversation about how we've been shaped by the last 10,000 years and what might be in store for us over the next 10,000 years, Long Now Talks seek to expand our collective sense of the present moment. Long Now Talks cover futurism and speculative fiction; time, nature, and contemplative practices; the intersection of the humanities and sciences; the evolution of counterculture to cyberculture; cultural imagination, land art and public monuments; and of course, long-term thinking and being a good ancestor. In our age of compounding crises, The Long Now Foundation is a counterweight. We are a force that imagines new possibilities, thinks critically, and takes action over the long term. We believe that when we all come together, bound by commitment and curiosity, audacious things become possible. Will you join us? https://longnow.org/join

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Indy Johar - Civilizational Optioneering

Jan 2701:07:45Tap to summarize

In this talk, Indy Johar proposes that civilization’s longevity depends less on stability or efficiency, and more on optionality. Entropy drives systems toward homogenization and exhaustion, but life acts as a counterforce, generating new pathways for becoming. Johar argues that our current economic system collapses value into singular metrics like price, which renders our systems brittle and less capable of adaptation and optionality. To survive the long now, we must transition to an "optioneering" architecture. Our institutions and economic grammar must be redesigned to increase the surface area of future freedom, not foreclose on it. We do this by shifting away from "closed projects" with finite ends, to "open gardens" where success is measured by the system's ability to evolve and surprise us. By valuing adaptation over control, we can build a civilization capable of coherence in motion. The Q&A for this talk will be hosted by Denise Hearn, Long Now's Director of Strategic Initiatives. Indy Johar is cofounder of Dark Matter Labs and of the RIBA award winning architecture and urban practice Architecture00. He is also a founding director of Open Systems Lab, seeded WikiHouse (open source housing) and Open Desk (open source furniture company). Indy is a non-executive international Director of the BloxHub, the Nordic Hub for sustainable urbanization. He is on the advisory board for the Future Observatory and is part of the committee for the London Festival of Architecture. He is also a fellow of the London Interdisciplinary School. Indy was 02016-17 Graham Willis Visiting Professorship at Sheffield University. He was Studio Master at the Architectural Association - 02019-02020, UNDP Innovation Facility Advisory Board Member 02016-20 and RIBA Trustee 02017-20. He has taught and lectured at various institutions from the University of Bath, TU-Berlin; University College London, Princeton, Harvard, MIT and New School. He is currently a professor at RMIT University. This talk was presented January 27, 02026 at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco. Episode notes: https://longnow.org/talks/02026-johar/ This talk is part of Long Now Talks. Launched by Stewart Brand in 02003, Long Now Talks has invited more than 400 leading thinkers to share their civilization-scale ideas with a live audience and millions around the globe tuning in to our podcast and videos. Long Now Talks are brought to you by The Long Now Foundation, which has spent the last 25 years igniting cultural imagination around long-term thinking. By inspiring thought and conversation about how we've been shaped by the last 10,000 years and what might be in store for us over the next 10,000 years, Long Now Talks seek to expand our collective sense of the present moment. Long Now Talks cover futurism and speculative fiction; time, nature, and contemplative practices; the intersection of the humanities and sciences; the evolution of counterculture to cyberculture; cultural imagination, land art and public monuments; and of course, long-term thinking and being a good ancestor. In our age of compounding crises, The Long Now Foundation is a counterweight. We are a force that imagines new possibilities, thinks critically, and takes action over the long term. We believe that when we all come together, bound by commitment and curiosity, audacious things become possible. Will you join us? https://longnow.org/join

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Kate Crawford - Mapping Empires

Nov 1101:15:08Tap to summarize

Kate Crawford - Mapping Empires by The Long Now Foundation

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Lynn Rothschild - Nature’s Hardware Store: Building the Future with Biology

Oct 1401:16:23Tap to summarize

In her Long Now Talk, NASA researcher Dr. Lynn Rothschild explores how the extreme constraints of space travel can enable radical sustainability on Earth. Hear how her teams have used mycelium, the root structure of fungi, to grow off-planet construction materials, and programmed bacteria to print new biological materials on demand. Cells, Rothschild explains, are micromachines with a 3.8-billion-year R&D history. Her research harnesses these ancient biological processes to engineer living systems that make tools, materials, and medicines that could sustain astronauts and settlements beyond Earth. This talk was presented October 14, 02025 at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco. Episode notes: https://longnow.org/talks/02025-rothschild/ The event livestream is here: https://youtu.be/caKccZHa7E4 This talk is part of Long Now Talks. Launched by Stewart Brand in 02003, Long Now Talks has invited more than 400 leading thinkers to share their civilization-scale ideas with a live audience and millions around the globe tuning in to our podcast and videos. Long Now Talks are brought to you by The Long Now Foundation, which has spent the last 25 years igniting cultural imagination around long-term thinking. By inspiring thought and conversation about how we've been shaped by the last 10,000 years and what might be in store for us over the next 10,000 years, Long Now Talks seek to expand our collective sense of the present moment. Long Now Talks cover futurism and speculative fiction; time, nature, and contemplative practices; the intersection of the humanities and sciences; the evolution of counterculture to cyberculture; cultural imagination, land art and public monuments; and of course, long-term thinking and being a good ancestor. In our age of compounding crises, The Long Now Foundation is a counterweight. We are a force that imagines new possibilities, thinks critically, and takes action over the long term. We believe that when we all come together, bound by commitment and curiosity, audacious things become possible. Will you join us? https://longnow.org/join

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