A Father & Son Search for Habitable Worlds: Richard Powers, Winner of The Pulitzer Prize

#Astrobiology #PullitzerPrize #RichardPowers
Special Father’s Day Episode! Richard Powers is an American novelist whose works explore the effects of modern science and technology. His novel The Echo Maker won the 2006 National Book Award for Fiction. He's won many awards over the course of his career, including a MacArthur Fellowship. Powers has published 14 novels and has taught at the University of Illinois and Stanford University. He won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Overstory.

Powers’ latest book is Bewilderment in which, The astrobiologist Theo Byrne searches for life throughout the cosmos while single-handedly raising his unusual nine-year-old, Robin, following the death of his wife. Robin is a warm, kind boy who spends hours painting elaborate pictures of endangered animals. He’s also about to be expelled from third grade for smashing his friend in the face. As his son grows more troubled, Theo hopes to keep him off psychoactive drugs. He learns of an experimental neurofeedback treatment to bolster Robin’s emotional control, one that involves training the boy on the recorded patterns of his mother’s brain…

With its soaring descriptions of the natural world, its tantalizing vision of life beyond, and its account of a father and son’s ferocious love, Bewilderment marks Richard Powers’s most intimate and moving novel. At its heart lies the question: How can we tell our children the truth about this beautiful, imperiled planet?

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!

00:02:58 Judging the book by its cover
00:09:44 Getting on Oprah!
00:14:51 What is the inspiration for this book and the many worlds in it?
00:19:35 About the search for extraterrestrial life.
00:23:30 Are recent findings in astrobiology making us feel more alone?
00:24:34 About Enrico Fermi's famous Fermi Paradox
00:33:23 Was extraterrestrial life already discovered?
00:36:35 Does our stewardship of the planet depress you as it does me?
00:42:54 Is there any evidence that would cause you to re-think your belief that life is abundant in the cosmos?
00:49:46 About decoded neural feedback.
01:03:44 The final Thrilling Three

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Produced by Brian Keating and Stuart Volkow P.G.A

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[sciencedaddio]

Hey Happy Father’s Day Brian!! Hope it is a good one and the fam let’s you know how much you are appreciated!!

[DrBrianKeating]

Get me a free Father’s Day gift Please join my mailing list; click here 👉 briankeating.com/list 📝 for the hottest news in STEM

[tcarr]

I have heard of Richard before but I’ve never read any of his works.
This is why this platform is so important. I am constantly being introduce to fascinating people. Kudos to Brian‘s editor for this match. I will be buying Bewilderment.
Richard seemed very genuine and likable.
Another great job Brian. Than you again!

[cybrfriends]

Awesome interview. Good job Brian. Thanks to Richard Powers and all his answers.

[IntuitiveIQ]

Happy Father's Day, Brian. I wish I had a father like you, but that would be "undeniably impossible" because we are about the same age. 😀 My father was a genius, but unfortunately, he was also crazy. 🙄

[garffieldiscool]

I love the coment, something like a chiken layed the egg. Makes me think how we evolved from hunting with stiks a stones to where we are today. Happy fathers day.

[PhilipGreenspun]

It hasn’t been made into a movie yet. How is there already some video of the father and son?

[peterz]

PS Thanks for a wonderful discussion. Powers has an unexpected and surprising range of scientific knowledge for a novelist. Extremely articulate as well. Will seek out his books.

[rJaune]

Life doesn't have to be ubiquitous to be everywhere. There is a lot of space and time. We may be the only things for the entire galaxy, for now.

[nunomaroco]

Hi, happy Father day, in my opinion, we dont have contact cause, we are agressive specie, analogy, if we go to the jungle, and someone talk about Canibals, no one want contact, same thing whit advance civilization, probably they cant use violence, first step to contact, is no more war and guns, other way, no contact, all the best.

[jimmychavez]

The question I have is when they talk about other intelligence life in the universe, where’s everybody? What I don’t understand is that we can not see for example the ex-planet pluto’s surface with our telescopes we have today and pluto is our own solar system, how is it expected to see proof of life on other planets ? I’m thinking when they say where’s everything is spaceships or structure’s made, that what I would like explained if we can’t see other planets in other solar systems how is it expected to find structures or any signs of life It makes my head hurt when hearing people say there’s no life, intelligent life out there! The earth isn’t made up of exotic, or only found on earth elements. Our solar system is made up of the same elements found throughout our galaxy, & throughout the Universe. There has to be life, & intelligent life throughout the Universe I think that we will one day finally be able to get a signal and be able to communicate with alien people. The distance between Solar system’s, or galaxies is just to great to think we’ll be able to find, or see Alien life with the technology we have today or the near future, unless aliens come here once again like they have before

[peterz]

Nick Lane, who studies the biochemistry needed for development of life, believes that life beyond bacteriial is unlikely to be found. i.e. advanced life is sparse at best. Maybe worth a discussion some time.

[kurtu]

Of course we cant keep living like we do today. We are barely a Type I Kardashev civilization. When we reach Type II, everyone will be capable of utilizing Tzar Bomba amounts of energy just for daily trivial things.