Episode 47 Featuring Christopher Mayer

Our October 2026 episode features Corey Anton, Peggy Cassidy, Susan Drucker, Thom Gencarelli, and Lance Strate discussing the state of the semantic environment. Their conversation addresses topics such as politics and democracy, commerce and education and technology and AI.

Our Serptember 2026 episode features author, filmmaker, and educator Nora Bateson, who is president of the International Bateson Institute, as well as an IGS trustee, and Nora's editor and warm data associate Leslie Thulin Eubanks. In conversation with IGS President Lance Strate, they discuss the upcoming double book launch event in New York City on October 7, 2026, hosted by the New York Society for General Semantics and the IGS, following the 74th annual Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture and Symposium on October 2-4, 2026, celebrating Nora Bateson's brand new book entitled Belly, edited by Leslie Thulin Eubanks, along with a new work by Gregory Bateson entitled Gregory Bateson's Ecology of Mind: The Course.

Our August 2026 episode features singer-songwriter, activist, and New York Society for General Semantics board member Michelle Shocked, and transmedia producer, director, writer, and sound designer Sue Zizza, owner of SueMedia Productions and RadioWaves Studios in New York City. In conversation with IGS President Lance Strate, they discuss their recently released podcast series, Bootleg This!, Michelle Shocked's audio memoir. Their discussion also covers the music industry, Google and YouTube, Nikola Tesla and Mark Twain, the Players club, podcasting, radio, the Firesign Theater, the Institute of General Semantics, the New York Society for General Semantics, the Media Ecology Association, the National Communication Association, and the New York State Communiction Association. 

Our July 2026 episode features author, financier, and IGS Trustee Christopher Mayer. In conversation with IGS President Lance Strate, they discuss his recently published book, The Unspeakable Level: Korzybski's Razor and Other Ways of Revealing.

Our June 2026 episode features author, scientist, and social commentator David Brin. In an interview conducted by IGS President Lance Strate, he discusses his career as a science fiction writer, including the adaptation of his novel, The Postman, by Kevin Costner. He also discusses his views on science and democracy, technology and society, and current and future developments in AI programming, as well as his recently published book, AIlien Intelligence, and also concludes with a message to the present and future AIs tuning in to this podcast.

Our May 2026 episode features German attorney-at-law Dace Luters-Thümmel, a member of the German and Latvian Courts and Bar Associations, a member of the Consultative Committee ALI-ELI Project "Principles of a Data Economy", and a nominee for the 2020 European Women of Legal Tech Award. In conversation with IGS President Lance Strate, she discusses the value of multilingualism, the differences between European and Anglo-American legal systems, the transition to democracy and rule of law from Communist and authoritarian governments, the importance of listening, and the regulation of media and technology, including AI. 

Our April 2026 episode features author, educator, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sarah L. Kaufman. As the Washington Post's chief dance critic, she wrote about the arts, entertainment, and society for 27 years. In conversation with IGS President Lance Strate, she discusses her career as a journalist and writer, dance as a form of expression, the concept of grace, and the art of writing, and her brand new book entitled, Verb Your Enthusiasm: How to Master the Art of the Verb and Transform Your Writing.

Our March 2026 episode features Peggy Cassidy, Thom Gencarelli, and Lance Strate discussing media ecology and general semantics. Their conversation follows up on a program sponsored by the New York Society for General Semantics,, and touches on topics such as the influence of general semantics on media ecology, sense perception and the human nervous system, language and symbolic form, orality and literacy, the effects of new technologies, and AI.

Our February 2026 episode features award-winning Canadian documentarian Kevin McMahon, the director of approximately 30 films, including McLuhan's Wake (2002). In conversation with Lance Strate, he discusses his career as a journalist and filmmaker, the practice of making documentaries, the idea of nonfiction film, and media scholars Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman. 

Our January 2026 episodes features IGS trustees Corey Anton, Susan Drucker, Thom Gencarelli, and Lance Strate discussing politics in the United States in light of recent events in Minneapolis. Their conversation deals with the concerns brought on by the current media and semantic environment, the use of cell phone cameras and video recordings, the introduction of deep fakes, information overload and image culture, and the importance of language.