Dark Matter, Bright Minds

Kindle Cast
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Science, technology, and the future of intelligence. What lies beneath the systems that shape our lives — from AI to spyware, pandemics to planetary collapse?

  1. What’s Really Happening in Iran? | Alex Shams on Gaza, Regime Change & Global Power

    10 Apr

    What’s Really Happening in Iran? | Alex Shams on Gaza, Regime Change & Global Power

    Writer and anthropologist Alex Shams joins Dark Matter, Bright Minds for a deep conversation on the Iran war, Gaza, the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions, regime change, and the democratic horizon after war. Together, Pritha Kejriwal and Alex move beyond the news cycle to ask harder questions about sovereignty, state power, militarisation, civil society, and the global order. A sharp systems-level conversation on the war beneath the headlines.

    1hr 7min
  2. Marxism as Method: Vijay Prashad on Power, Planning & the Global South

    21 Feb

    Marxism as Method: Vijay Prashad on Power, Planning & the Global South

    We live in a world saturated with explanations—yet starved of understanding. In this episode of Dark Matter, Bright Minds, Pritha speaks with Vijay Prashad on Marxism as a method of analysis: beginning with the question of emancipation, taking inventory of what capitalism produces, and naming the structures that restrict freedom. The conversation spans capitalism’s cycles of crisis, markets vs capitalism, planning and the politics of information, the Global South’s structural position, BRICS and the limits of “multipolarity,” international law and the UN Charter, Gaza as a stress test for the current world order, the Indian left’s challenges (caste, labour organising, and money in elections), and AI as a tool within privately owned platforms. We close with a practical definition of socialism—what it looks like when it changes lives in concrete terms. Listen now. Hosted by Pritha Kejriwal. A Kindle Cast Production.

    1hr 11min
  3. Nita Farahany on Cognitive Liberty, Brain Surveillance & the Future of Being Human

    22 Jan

    Nita Farahany on Cognitive Liberty, Brain Surveillance & the Future of Being Human

    In this urgent and deeply reflective conversation, philosopher and ethicist Dr. Nita Farahany joins Pritha Kejriwal on Dark Matter Bright Minds to explore what happens when the human mind becomes measurable, interpretable, and marketable. As neurotechnology moves from therapeutic settings into workplaces, schools, and consumer devices, Farahany introduces the idea of cognitive liberty — the fundamental right to mental self-determination. She reflects on mental privacy, freedom of thought, and the growing risk of a world where dissent is quietly chilled through neural surveillance rather than force. The conversation moves fluidly between law, neuroscience, ethics, and personal experience, including Farahany’s own use of neurofeedback to heal from PTSD. Along the way, it confronts difficult questions about memory, identity, inequality, and what it truly means to remain human in an age of thought monitoring. This conversation spans law, ethics, neuroscience, grief, trauma, and resistance—offering a rare blend of intellectual rigor and lived experience at the edge of the neural age. Presented by Kindle Cast. Hosted by Pritha Kejriwal.

    42 min
  4. Jim Al‑Khalili on Reality: Time, Entanglement & Consciousness

    9 Jan

    Jim Al‑Khalili on Reality: Time, Entanglement & Consciousness

    In this rare and deeply contemplative conversation, theoretical physicist Jim Al-Khalili sits down with Pritha Kejriwal on Dark Matter Bright Minds to explore the hidden architecture of reality and the human struggle to make sense of it. He speaks about time as a mystery still unresolved, the strangeness of quantum entanglement, the possibility of consciousness emerging from complexity, and whether artificial intelligence could one day become aware. The conversation moves fluidly between physics and philosophy, touching on the multiverse, scientific humility, and the ethical responsibility that comes with rapid technological progress. A calm, searching, and profoundly human episode from one of the world’s most articulate scientific thinkers. Presented by Kindle Cast. Hosted by Pritha Kejriwal.

    50 min
  5. Love Beyond Romance: Simon May on Identity, Fear & Becoming

    26/12/2025

    Love Beyond Romance: Simon May on Identity, Fear & Becoming

    In this episode of Dark Matter, Bright Minds, philosopher Simon May reflects on love as a deeply existential emotion — shaped by longing, risk, fear, and the search for groundedness in an unstable world. The conversation explores modern romantic love, commodification under capitalism, love beyond people, the role of mortality in love, and why fear of success may be one of love’s deepest challenges. A clear-eyed conversation on love as effort, vulnerability, and the condition of becoming. Presented by Kindlecast. Hosted by Pritha Kejriwal.

    1hr 10min
  6. Daniel A. Bell on Censorship, Governance, Surveillance & the Philosophy Behind Modern China

    05/12/2025

    Daniel A. Bell on Censorship, Governance, Surveillance & the Philosophy Behind Modern China

    In this episode of Dark Matter Bright Minds, host Pritha Kejriwal speaks with Prof. Daniel A. Bell, author of The China Model, to unpack how China’s “vertical” system really works: grassroots democracy, mid-level experimentation, and political meritocracy at the top. They separate myth from reality — from surveillance and social credit system to everyday political life across Beijing, Shandong, Hong Kong, and China’s digital world. The discussion spans China’s contested regions from Xinjiang to Tibet and Taiwan, Confucian and Marxist influences, and how China views India in an emerging multi-polar world. A sharp, nuanced listen for anyone seeking to understand China beyond headlines.

    55 min
  7. Why Objects Matter: Graham Harman on Object-Oriented Ontology

    14/11/2025

    Why Objects Matter: Graham Harman on Object-Oriented Ontology

    Unlock a mind-expanding philosophy that redefines objects, politics, and identity. In this illuminating episode, renowned philosopher Graham Harman radically reframes our everyday world. Object-oriented ontology (OOO) argues that human perception does not exhaust reality—each object, whether stone, cloud, nation, or AI, possesses irreducible existence and withdrawal. Host Pritha Kejriwal guides the conversation through Harman's pathbreaking ideas, showing why and how objects resist full knowledge, with deep application for listeners.

    29 min
  8. Unmasking Anonymous: Power, Identity & Code

    31/10/2025

    Unmasking Anonymous: Power, Identity & Code

    Anthropologist Gabriella Coleman joins host Pritha Kejriwall on Kindlecast to unravel the misunderstood world of hacker collectives—especially Anonymous—and how digital anonymity, image boards, and chat culture fuel activism, resilience, and collective power. Hear real stories from IRC chatrooms, learn how diverse hackers built their own moral architecture, and see how informants and betrayal shaped outcomes. Coleman breaks down why trickster tactics, playful culture, and mask-wearing matter in the fight for truth, ethics, and justice—grounding ideas for youth in current movements. Explore the difference between Anonymous and QAnon, the rise of security professionals, and the challenges facing new generations. Coleman discusses the cyclical nature of activism, how blockchain/AI is the fresh “shiny thing,” and why a politics of collective self-effacement is more needed than ever.

    1hr 15min
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About

Science, technology, and the future of intelligence. What lies beneath the systems that shape our lives — from AI to spyware, pandemics to planetary collapse?

Information

  • Creator
    Kindle Cast
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    13