The Ancient, Medieval, and Modern world collide as we start with the Holy Grail, what it was, why it mattered, and end up talking about Indian Jones. We explore how the west fetishized relics and the political implications of museums. We also dive into the concept of a MacGuffin— objects in a story that seem to matter but only serve to get the characters from one phase of a story to another.
Episode 11: Don't Disconnect Me, Brah
I am a computer circuit that thinks, therefore, I am? Listen to Derek and Laurel discuss the long science fiction tradition of artificial intelligence, and the history of the fictional robot. Baked into these narratives is the question of human consciousness. Intuitively, we all know we are conscious, right? But how do we define it, and can we create it in our technology? All these questions and more will be (kinda) answered in this week’s podcast, “Don’t Disconnect Me Brah!” Stories explored will include 2001: A Space Odyssey, R.U.R., Asimov’s I, Robot, and others…
