Adam Becker

Adam Becker is the host of Dreaming Against the Machine

Describe the show in 10 words or less.
Thoughtful conversations about what a good future could look like.

Why Dreaming Against the Machine? Why now?
It’s a scary time, and we need hope. Building realistic hope means seriously thinking about what we want the future to be. Right now, the conversation about the future is dominated by the nightmares of tech oligarchs like Elon Musk and his plans for space. We can do much better than that, but first we have to dream it.

What would you want your listeners to take away from Dreaming Against the Machine?
That a better world is possible, that we can work together to get there from here,  and that we can have fun figuring out what that might look like. Also that it’s a good idea to go off into the mountains to see the night sky properly.

You’ll love Dreaming Against the Machine if you like ____.
Listening to extremely earnest nerds talk about ideas, having hope, science, history, the history of science, being a small part of the vastness of nature, Star Trek, being a human being in a human body, or hating on tech bros.

What does a good future on planet Earth look like to you? Has this answer changed over the course of your life?
I don’t have a wonderful answer to this, which is part of why I started this podcast – so I could ask people who are smarter than me about this and think about it with them out loud. And yes, my answer to this has changed dramatically over my life. I used to think that the best future would be off Earth, in space. I was wrong.

How do you keep yourself hopeful throughout the course of your work?
I stay away from screens as much as possible. I keep my phone off a lot. I also spend time looking at trees, hiking in the mountains, and reading paperback books. I’m particularly fond of books by Annie Dillard, Michael Chabon, Ursula Le Guin, and Richard Powers.

Thanks, Adam!