FUTURES Podcast Luke Robert Mason

Founder & CEO of OpenBCI Conor Russomanno shares his thoughts on what neurotechnology can teach us about being human, the ethical challenges of designing devices to measure brain activity, and the advantages of open-source brain-computer interfaces.
Conor Russomanno is the founder and CEO of OpenBCI, a company working to build ethical brain-computer interfaces. He became fascinated with the relationship between the human brain and mind after suffering concussions playing college football and rugby. While pursuing an MFA in Design & Technology at Parsons School of Design, he spent two years creating DIY brain-sensing headsets and neuro-interactive games, animations and stories. In 2013, he began work on what would later become OpenBCI, which has since designed and distributed more than 40,000 tools for neuroscience to more than 100 countries around the world. One of Russomanno's leading innovations is the award-winning Galea headset, a hardware and software platform that merges next-generation biometrics with mixed reality.
Russomanno's work has been featured in media outlets such as Bloomberg, Scientific American and Wired. He was recognized in the Forbes "30 Under 30" in 2018 and has served as an adjunct professor and research affiliate at Parsons, NYU and MIT.
Bonus episode recorded in-person at The Royal Society Neural Interfaces Summit in September 2023.
ABOUT THE HOST
Luke Robert Mason is a British-born futures theorist who is passionate about engaging the public with emerging scientific theories and technological developments.
He hosts documentaries for Futurism, and has contributed to BBC Radio, BBC One, The Guardian, Discovery Channel, VICE Motherboard and Wired Magazine.
CREDITS
Producer & Host: Luke Robert Mason
Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @FUTURESPodcast
Follow Luke Robert Mason on Twitter at @LukeRobertMason
Subscribe & Support the Podcast at http://futurespodcast.net

Senior Research Fellows Dr. Eleanor Drage and Dr. Kerry McInerney share their insights on how artificial intelligence will impact society, using a feminist lens to rethink innovation and the importance of language in shaping our understanding of ‘good’ technology.
Dr Eleanor Drage is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge Centre for the Future of Intelligence. She teaches AI Professionals about AI ethics at Cambridge and presents widely on the topic. She specialises in using feminist ideas to make AI better and safer for everyone. She is currently building the world's first free and open access tool that helps companies meet the EU AI act's obligations. Eleanor is also an expert on women writers of speculative and science fiction from 1666 to the present - An Experience of the Impossible: The Planetary Humanism of European Women’s Science Fiction.

Dr Kerry McInerney (née Mackereth) is a Senior Research Fellow at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge, where she co-leads a project on how AI is impacting international relations. Aside from The Good Robot, Kerry is the co-editor of the collection Feminist AI: Critical Perspectives on Algorithms, Data, and Intelligent Machines (2023, Oxford University Press) and the co-author of the forthcoming book Reprogram: Why Big Tech is Broken and How Feminism Can Fix It (2026, Princeton University Press).
This episode was recorded in front of a live audience for an event in partnership with SPACE4.
ABOUT THE HOST
Luke Robert Mason is a British-born futures theorist who is passionate about engaging the public with emerging scientific theories and technological developments.
He hosts documentaries for Futurism, and has contributed to BBC Radio, BBC One, The Guardian, Discovery Channel, VICE Motherboard and Wired Magazine.
CREDITS
Producer & Host: Luke Robert Mason
Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @FUTURESPodcast
Follow Luke Robert Mason on Twitter at @LukeRobertMason
Subscribe & Support the Podcast at http://futurespodcast.net

Legal scholar Nita Farahany shares her insights into protecting our privacy through the right to cognitive liberty, how neuro-technology can enhance our understanding of mental health, and why the public should demand self-access to their brain data.
Nita Farahany is Professor of Law & Philosophy at Duke Law School, Director of Science & Society, and Faculty Chair of the MA in Bioethics & Society Policy. Since 2010, she has served on Obama’s Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. Her scholarship focuses on the ethical, legal, and social implications of biosciences and emerging technologies, particularly those related to neuroscience and behavioral genetics. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute, Chair of the Criminal Justice Section of the American Association of Law Schools, is one of the co-founding editors-in-chief of Journal of Law and the Biosciences, and serves on the Board of the International Neuroethics Society. She received an AB from Dartmouth College, an MA, PhD, and JD from Duke University, and an ALM from Harvard University.
Bonus episode recorded in-person at The Royal Society Neural Interfaces Summit in September 2023.
ABOUT THE HOST
Luke Robert Mason is a British-born futures theorist who is passionate about engaging the public with emerging scientific theories and technological developments.
He hosts documentaries for Futurism, and has contributed to BBC Radio, BBC One, The Guardian, Discovery Channel, VICE Motherboard and Wired Magazine.
CREDITS
Producer & Host: Luke Robert Mason
Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @FUTURESPodcast
Follow Luke Robert Mason on Twitter at @LukeRobertMason
Subscribe & Support the Podcast at http://futurespodcast.net

Human rights lawyer Dr. Susie Alegre shares her insights into the threat artificial intelligence poses to human creativity, the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in safeguarding freedom of thought, and applying existing laws to regulate the development and deployment of emerging technologies.
Dr. Susie Alegre is a leading international human rights lawyer and Associate at Garden Court Chambers. She has been a legal pioneer in digital human rights, in particular the impact of artificial intelligence on the human rights of freedom of thought and opinion. She is also a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Roehampton, and a Senior Fellow at CIGI.
This episode was recorded in front of a live audience for an event in partnership with Engage Works.
ABOUT THE HOST
Luke Robert Mason is a British-born futures theorist who is passionate about engaging the public with emerging scientific theories and technological developments.
He hosts documentaries for Futurism, and has contributed to BBC Radio, BBC One, The Guardian, Discovery Channel, VICE Motherboard and Wired Magazine.
CREDITS
Producer & Host: Luke Robert Mason
Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @FUTURESPodcast
Follow Luke Robert Mason on Twitter at @LukeRobertMason
Subscribe & Support the Podcast at http://futurespodcast.net

Cultural  & Political Theorists Jeremy Gilbert, Alex Williams & Alison Winch share their insights on the societal impacts of technological innovation, the hegemonic power of the Silicon Valley tech billionaires, and re-engineering digital platforms for democratic purposes.
Jeremy Gilbert is Professor of Cultural & Political Theory at the University of East London. He is the author of Common Ground: Democracy and Collectivity in an Age of Individualism, Anticapitalism and Culture: Radical Theory and Popular Politics and Twenty-First Century Socialism. He writes regularly in the British press, is the current editor of the journal New Formations, and hosts three regular podcasts: #ACFM (on Novara Media); Love is the Message; Culture, Power, Politics.
Alex Williams is a political theorist and lecturer in digital media and society currently based at the University of East Anglia. His writings include Political Hegemony and Social Complexity, Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work (with Nick Srnicek), as well as numerous articles on the future of left politics and contemporary formations of digital power.

Alison Winch is a Lecturer in Promotional Media at Goldsmiths. She researches intimacy, power and sexual politics in a branded media culture. Her books include The New Patriarchs of Digital Capitalism: Celebrity Tech Founders and Networks of Power (Routledge 2021), which is co-authored with Ben Little. Her monograph Girlfriends and Postfeminist Sisterhood (Palgrave, 2013) looks at how the affect of friendship is harnessed in a media culture.
This episode was recorded in front of a live audience for an event in partnership with SPACE4 & Housmans Bookshop.
ABOUT THE HOST
Luke Robert Mason is a British-born futures theorist who is passionate about engaging the public with emerging scientific theories and technological developments.
He hosts documentaries for Futurism, and has contributed to BBC Radio, BBC One, The Guardian, Discovery Channel, VICE Motherboard and Wired Magazine.
CREDITS
Producer & Host: Luke Robert Mason
Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @FUTURESPodcast
Follow Luke Robert Mason on Twitter at @LukeRobertMason
Subscribe & Support the Podcast at http://futurespodcast.net

Mechanical Engineer Shini Somara shares her thoughts on why we need impactful storytelling in science communication, how diversity drives innovation in STEM, and why imagination is key to understanding new technologies.
Dr. Shini Somara is a Mechanical Engineer specialising in Computational Fluid Dynamics and an award-winning media broadcaster. She deep dives into all topics on science, technology and innovation to deliver easily accessible and relatable pearls of wisdom for all ages and abilities. Shini speaks to audiences on TV, radio, XR/VR and live events. She has published 7 young persons STEM books and runs a podcast for Women in STEM called eSTEAMd Women. As a TEDx Speaker and mentor to MEng/PhDs at Imperial College in London - Shini is passionate about making science & technology accessible to all, especially amongst under-represented groups in engineering and innovation.
This episode was recorded in front of a live audience for an event in partnership with Engage Works.
ABOUT THE HOST
Luke Robert Mason is a British-born futures theorist who is passionate about engaging the public with emerging scientific theories and technological developments.
He hosts documentaries for Futurism, and has contributed to BBC Radio, BBC One, The Guardian, Discovery Channel, VICE Motherboard and Wired Magazine.
CREDITS
Producer & Host: Luke Robert Mason
Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @FUTURESPodcast
Follow Luke Robert Mason on Twitter at @LukeRobertMason
Subscribe & Support the Podcast at http://futurespodcast.net