Uploaded November 2021 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Writers Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley explore the limits of isolation techniques, journeying thousands of feet into the Earth & thousands of years into the future.
From the Long Now Seminar, “Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine” by Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley.
Watch the full talk here: youtu.be/H0-xDv40U2I
Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley track the history and future of quarantine around the globe, chasing the story of emergency isolation through time and space—from the crumbling lazarettos of the Mediterranean, built to contain the Black Death, to an experimental Ebola unit in London, and from the hallways of the CDC to closed-door simulations where pharmaceutical execs and epidemiologists prepare for the outbreak of a novel coronavirus.
But the story of quarantine ranges far beyond the history of medical isolation. In their new book, Until Proven Safe, the authors tour a nuclear-waste isolation facility beneath the New Mexican desert, see plants stricken with a disease that threatens the world’s wheat supply, and meet NASA’s Planetary Protection Officer, tasked with saving Earth from extraterrestrial infections. They also introduce us to the corporate tech giants hoping to revolutionize quarantine through surveillance and algorithmic prediction.
We live in a disorienting historical moment that can feel both unprecedented and inevitable; Manaugh and Twilley help us make sense of our new reality through a thought-provoking exploration of the meaning of freedom, governance, and mutual responsibility.
"Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine" was given on August 17, 02021 as part of Long Now's Seminar series. The series was started in 02003 to build a compelling body of ideas about long-term thinking from some of the world's leading thinkers. The Seminars take place in San Francisco and are curated and hosted by Stewart Brand. To follow the talks, you can:
Subscribe to our podcasts: longnow.org/seminars/podcast
Explore the full series: longnow.org/seminars
More ideas on long-term thinking: blog.longnow.org
The Long Now Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to fostering long-term thinking and responsibility. Our projects include a 10,000 Year Clock, endangered language preservation, thousand year+ data storage, and Long Bets, an arena for accountable predictions.
Become a Long Now member to support this series, join our community, and connect with our ongoing work to explore and deepen long-term thinking: longnow.org/membership
Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/longnow
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/longnow
Subscribe to our channel: youtube.com/longnow
Writers Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley explore the limits of isolation techniques, journeying thousands of feet into the Earth & thousands of years into the future.
From the Long Now Seminar, “Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine” by Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley.
Watch the full talk here: youtu.be/H0-xDv40U2I
Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley track the history and future of quarantine around the globe, chasing the story of emergency isolation through time and space—from the crumbling lazarettos of the Mediterranean, built to contain the Black Death, to an experimental Ebola unit in London, and from the hallways of the CDC to closed-door simulations where pharmaceutical execs and epidemiologists prepare for the outbreak of a novel coronavirus.
But the story of quarantine ranges far beyond the history of medical isolation. In their new book, Until Proven Safe, the authors tour a nuclear-waste isolation facility beneath the New Mexican desert, see plants stricken with a disease that threatens the world’s wheat supply, and meet NASA’s Planetary Protection Officer, tasked with saving Earth from extraterrestrial infections. They also introduce us to the corporate tech giants hoping to revolutionize quarantine through surveillance and algorithmic prediction.
We live in a disorienting historical moment that can feel both unprecedented and inevitable; Manaugh and Twilley help us make sense of our new reality through a thought-provoking exploration of the meaning of freedom, governance, and mutual responsibility.
"Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine" was given on August 17, 02021 as part of Long Now's Seminar series. The series was started in 02003 to build a compelling body of ideas about long-term thinking from some of the world's leading thinkers. The Seminars take place in San Francisco and are curated and hosted by Stewart Brand. To follow the talks, you can:
Subscribe to our podcasts: longnow.org/seminars/podcast
Explore the full series: longnow.org/seminars
More ideas on long-term thinking: blog.longnow.org
The Long Now Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to fostering long-term thinking and responsibility. Our projects include a 10,000 Year Clock, endangered language preservation, thousand year+ data storage, and Long Bets, an arena for accountable predictions.
Become a Long Now member to support this series, join our community, and connect with our ongoing work to explore and deepen long-term thinking: longnow.org/membership
Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/longnow
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/longnow
Subscribe to our channel: youtube.com/longnow
