UnHerd with Freddie Sayers

UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers talks to author, Oxford academic, and Royal Geographical Society fellow Charles Foster about his book 'The Edges of the World', exploring why true creativity, spiritual growth, and human flourishing occur at the volatile margins rather than the static centres of life, evolution, and society. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, riots and looting have spread across French cities after protests over education spiralled out of police control. To some, this is a cautionary tale of unbridled immigration and a warning to other European powers. But look closer and there might be more to the story than you'd find on an X feed. To analyse the mood on the ground and the wider context of the crisis, Freddie is joined by historian of French culture Andrew Hussey and writer Philippe Lemoine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers talks to MIT evolutionary engineer Kevin Esvelt about a suspicious biological researcher's death in Irkutsk, Russia, using the incident to explore the escalating biosecurity risks posed by engineered pandemic weapons, vaccine-evading pathogens, and AI-accelerated gain-of-function research. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr Iain McGilchrist has dedicated decades of neuroscience research to unravelling the inner workings of the human mind. But now, a new form of ‘consciousness’ has come to compete with the very idea of being a person. Could artificial intelligence overtake its creators? Join the psychiatrist, philosopher and author of the bestselling book The Master and His Emissary, for a live on-stage conversation with UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers talks to Oxford philosopher Professor Nick Bostrom about the escalating concerns over artificial intelligence, weighing whether catastrophic warnings from industry insiders reflect genuine existential fears or commercial strategy, while analysing technical threats like deceptive alignment and autonomous AI coordination alongside the broader economic, geopolitical, and societal risks of managing superintelligence. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.