What If We Could Shrink Humans?

Flash Forward

Flash Forward Presents

Science

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2021

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today’s episode is about a future where humans learn how to shrink ourselves. What are the ethics of making someone smaller against their will? Would we keep all our fingers and toes? Would we even be considered humans anymore? Guests: Dr. Fei Chen, an assistant professor of stem cell and regenerative biology at Harvard. Dr. Jonathan Payne, a professor of geological sciences at Stanford. Dr. Sebastian Alvarado, an assistant professor of biology at Queens College, CUNY. Dr. Joyce Lee, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of Michigan. Silvia Yee, a senior staff attorney at the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund. Micah Perks, an author and director of creative writing at UC Santa Cruz. Voice Actors: Parvus Employee #1: Henry Alexander Kelly Parvus Employee #2: Ashley Kellem Harry Purvis — Brett Tubbs Parvis Tour Guide — Chelsey B. Coombs → → → Further reading & resources here! ← ← ← Flash Forward is hosted by, Rose Eveleth and produced by Julia Llinas Goodman. The intro music is by Asura and the outro music is by Hussalonia. The episode art is by Mattie Lubchansky. Get in touch: Twitter // Facebook // Reddit // [email protected] Support the show: Patreon // Donorbox Subscribe: iTunes // Soundcloud // Spotify Episode Sponsors: BetterHelp: Affordable, private online counseling. Anytime, anywhere. Flash Forward listeners: get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/flashforward BirdNote Daily: BirdNote Daily is a short, two-minute podcast that answers all of your burning bird-related questions — like, how do birds stay perched in a tree when they’re asleep? What’s the difference between a raven and crow? What’s the biggest bird that’s ever lived? Find our on Bird Note Daily, wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Flash Forward.
0:10.7	I'm Rose and I am your host. Flash Forward is a show about the future.
0:15.5	Every episode we take on a specific possible, or at least definitely in this case,
0:20.9	in this episode, not so possible, future scenario. We always start with a little bit of a field trip
0:26.4	into the future to check out what is going on. And then we teleport back to today to talk to experts
0:32.9	about how that world that we just heard might really go down, or in fact might not. Got it?
0:39.3	Great. This episode we are starting in the year 2073.
0:57.3	Oh, morning. Hey. You ready for this? I don't even know what this is.
1:05.6	Yeah, it's probably going to be some kind of weird gimmick to get us to buy more
1:09.6	part of this product. As if we could spend our powerful bucks anywhere else.
1:14.0	Good morning, everyone. If you'll follow me, we're headed to the Norton Amphitheater at the end of the
1:20.0	hall. You know, we could just leave right now. I mean, it could be fun, right?
1:27.5	I heard some of the engineers and experiences are consulting on that new Jupiter hotel.
1:32.4	Oh no, I am not going to space. You can go to Jupiter. I will stay right here on Earth
1:37.3	where there's gravity and solid ground. Thank you very much. Actually, I think Jupiter has more gravity
1:42.4	than Earth. So whatever. Are you coming with me or not?
1:46.0	Hey, this door wasn't locked a minute ago. How did they do that?
1:51.2	It's parvis. There's probably a tiny key bot inside the handle or something.
1:57.2	Well, I guess you better go before they notice or miss thing.
2:00.5	Welcome to parvis experiences. From the company that patented self inserting contact lenses,
2:20.9	comes a new line of one of a kind wellness and team building experiences.
2:25.6	Parvis is a leader in the health innovation space and this latest venture is a natural extension
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Flash Forward Presents, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Flash Forward Presents and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.