Seldon Crisis: Beyond Foundation

Joel McKinnon

From Asimov to AI, an exploration of the range of possibilities for life and intelligence in the near and distant future.

  1. From Asimov to Planetary Intelligence: Rebooting Seldon Crisis

    EPISODE 47

    From Asimov to Planetary Intelligence: Rebooting Seldon Crisis

    After a long pause, Seldon Crisis is back—with a new name, a broader focus, and a new home. What began as a Foundation-focused story + dramatization + commentary show is rebooting as Seldon Crisis: Beyond Foundation, exploring the near- and long-term futures of life, intelligence, and civilization—especially as today’s headlines start to echo Asimov’s themes of collapse and recovery. In This Episode Why I started Seldon Crisis five years agoWhat changed—and why the show pausedWhy Foundation feels newly relevant in the era of:AI accelerationclimate and planetary crisisinequality and political dysfunctionsystemic and existential riskThe new show identity and directionThe move to Substack and what it enablesWhat’s New New title: Seldon Crisis: Beyond FoundationNew description: An exploration of the range of possibilities for life and intelligence in the near and distant future.New platform/home: Substack via seldoncrisis.netBetter organization: episodes categorized as:Story (narrative episodes)Conversations (guest interviews)Reflections (solo essays & commentary)Some topics may be written-only when visuals matter.Upcoming Topics A planned episode inspired by three major thinkers: Sara Imari Walker — Assembly Theory (with Lee Cronin) and new ideas about the origin of lifeDavid Grinspoon — Earth in Human Hands and intentional planetary stewardship; co-author (with Walker) on planetary intelligenceBenjamin Bratton — speculative theory on planetary computation and large-scale systems thinkingAlso coming: more guest conversations, including returning and new guests. Release Schedule Note Posts will typically appear on Substack first, then be recorded and released as podcast episodes.As of recording, this post and two more are already up at seldoncrisis.net, with audio versions coming soon.Credits Theme music: Tom Barnes (updated theme featured after the close)Thank you to everyone who listened in the past—and to everyone returning now. I’m excited to keep going in a format that can last. Next episode: Assembling Gaia

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From Asimov to AI, an exploration of the range of possibilities for life and intelligence in the near and distant future.