Stewart Brand on Starting Things and Staying Curious

Conversations with Tyler

Society & Culture, Education

4.8 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 26 January 2022

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

From psychedelics to cyberculture, hippie communes to commercial startups, and the Whole Earth Catalog to the Long Now Foundation, Stewart Brand has not only been a part of many movements—he was there at the start. Now 83, he says he doesn’t understand why older people let their curiosity fade, when in many ways it’s the best time to set off on new intellectual pursuits.

Tyler and Stewart discuss what drives his curiosity, including the ways in which he’s a product of the Cold War, how he became a Darwinian decentralist, the effects of pre-industrial America on his thought, the subcultural convergences between hippies and younger American Indians, why he doesn’t think humans will be going to the stars, his two-minded approach to unexplained phenomena, how L.L. Bean inspired the Whole Earth Catalog, why Silicon Valley entrepreneurs don’t seem interested in the visual arts, why L.A. could not have been the home of hippie culture and digital innovation, what libertarians don’t understand about government, why we should bring back woolly mammoths, why he’s now focused on maintenance and institutions, and more.

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Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.

Recorded January 3rd, 2022

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi everyone, this is Dallas Podcast Producer here at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
0:09.6	We're producing a new podcast called Ideas of India, hosted by Shruti Rajagopalan.
0:14.6	Shruti and her guests explore the academic ideas propelling India forward.
0:18.8	Wherever you live, Shruti's discussions are relevant, engaging, and imperative.
0:23.3	Tune in and subscribe to Ideas of India on your favorite podcast app.
0:32.6	Conversations with Tyler is produced by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University,
0:37.6	bridging the gap between academic ideas and real-world problems.
0:42.0	Learn more at mercatis.org.
0:44.5	And for more conversations including videos, transcripts, and upcoming dates,
0:49.2	visit ConversationsWithTiler.com.
0:55.2	Hello everyone and welcome back to Conversations with Tyler.
0:59.2	Today I'm chatting with Stuart Brandt and Stuart is an individual who is above all else an individual
1:04.9	and who defies summary. But think of him as someone who was
1:08.4	there early or there first in a multitude of movements including cyber culture,
1:13.2	psychedelics, the importance of Native Americans and their philosophy,
1:17.2	the whole earth catalog, the entire San Francisco scene,
1:20.8	the long now foundation and the notion of the importance of durability and the idea of maintenance,
1:26.0	the idea of bringing back William Amit's to life and much much more.
1:29.7	Stuart Brandt, welcome.
1:31.4	Well thanks, it's a delight and an honor to be here.
1:34.5	Thinking back on your entire life, in which ways do you see yourself as a product of the cold war?
1:41.2	I was in the town that was in Rockford Hill in the way that was rated as number seven on the list of
	...

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