Utopias with Dr. Ramesh Srinivasan
The Utopias Podcast with Dr. Ramesh Srinivasan
In the wake of an era where alarmism and crisis branding sells - whether in relation to climate change, new technologies, or polarization, we have a huge opportunity to embrace our capacity for innovation, empathy, and compassion towards one another. To get there it is high time to have creative, productive, and truly progressive conversations about our planetary future, and approach such from every discipline and perspective we can.
Hosted by UCLA professor and public intellectual Ramesh Srinivasan, the “Utopias” podcast presents a new narrative, a vision of life futures based on a set of conversations that celebrate the work and perspectives of “dreamers”, or those who represent and care deeply for the endless potential for human creativity, expression, and optimism. We share the stories of those who believe in the potential for our planet, and are doing the important work to try to empower our tomorrow in a way that we can all benefit from.
This podcast brings back the realms of the scientific, emotional, artistic, legal, poetic, musical, ecological, and spiritual into conversation with one another as together, we imagine and advocate for futures for our planet and species that lift us all up. Dr. Srinivasan’s guests shall run the gamut, bringing artists, journalists, politicians, scientists, environmentalists, monks and religious practitioners, and scholars together. Utopias shall inspire listeners to imagine new futures defined by compassion, an appreciation of diversity alongside unity, and the recognition that we live in an extraordinary time where we are all in ‘it’ together.
Produced by Jack Garland. Music by Albert Ortega
Utopias with Dr. Ramesh Srinivasan
Sayash Kapoor
Sayash Kapoor is a computer scientist and co-author of AI Snake Oil. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Princeton University's Center for Information Technology Policy. His work focuses on the societal impacts of AI. In 2023, he was named to Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in AI.”
This conversation was recorded on February 27, 2025.
Learn more about Sayash, AI Snake Oil, and Ramesh. Follow Sayash on Bluesky, X, and LinkedIn. Keep up with Ramesh on X, YouTube, Instagram, Bluesky, TikTok and LinkedIn. Questions or comments? Email podcastutopias@gmail.com.
References:
- The Fallacy of Inscrutability by Joshua A. Kroll.
- Technology and the Rise of Great Powers by Jeffrey Ding.
- Machine Bias by Julia Angwin, Jeff Larson, Surya Mattu and Lauren Kirchner.
This podcast contains explicit language and content that may not be suitable for all audiences.