Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Author and futurist Ramez Naam joins me to discuss the growing threat of authoritarianism, the tech elite’s complicity, and how we can still defend democracy—and the planet—before it’s too late. From Burning Man to AI persuasion bots, Naam lays out both the peril and the path forward.
In this episode of LIMINAL NEWS, I sit down with Ramez Naam—scientist, technologist, and award-winning sci-fi author—to unpack how we arrived at the brink of democratic collapse, and what we can still do to pull back.
Ramez and I first met years ago at Burning Man. Since then, he’s become one of the most lucid voices connecting climate change, clean energy, technology, and political reform. We talk about the tech industry’s dangerous silence, the manipulation of social media, the rise of AI influence operations, and why “everything is downstream from protecting democracy.”
He also shares hopeful insights about the unstoppable rise of clean energy, how humor and compassion can still bridge divides, and why the fight for the future will be won through both emotional resilience and civic action.
🎙️ Guest Bio:
Ramez Naam is a computer scientist, futurist, and former Microsoft program manager. He’s the author of The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet and the award-winning Nexus science-fiction trilogy. His work explores the intersection of technology, climate, and human evolution.
🔗 https://x.com/ramez
🔗 rameznaam.com
Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction & Burning Man origins
04:00 – Tech billionaires and the authoritarian right
09:30 – Media consolidation and manipulation
14:40 – How outrage drives polarization
18:00 – From Koch brothers to crypto capitalists
22:45 – “Everything is downstream from democracy”
24:00 – Climate optimism: solar, batteries, and the clean-energy tipping point
27:00 – Covid, lockdowns, and the shift to fear politics
30:00 – How we actually win: non-violence and persuasion
34:45 – AI, social media, and the new tools of control
39:30 – Hope, humor, and emotional resilience in dark times
43:00 – Building bridges and reclaiming civic trust
47:00 – The road ahead and Ramez’s next creative project
—
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🖥️ Official Website
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#RamezNaam #LiminalNews #DanielPinchbeck #Democracy #Authoritarianism #ClimateCrisis #CleanEnergy #TechEthics #AI #FutureOfDemocracy #BurningMan #PoliticalPolarization #SocialMedia #TrumpEra #Futurism
Author and futurist Ramez Naam joins me to discuss the growing threat of authoritarianism, the tech elite’s complicity, and how we can still defend democracy—and the planet—before it’s too late. From Burning Man to AI persuasion bots, Naam lays out both the peril and the path forward.
In this episode of LIMINAL NEWS, I sit down with Ramez Naam—scientist, technologist, and award-winning sci-fi author—to unpack how we arrived at the brink of democratic collapse, and what we can still do to pull back.
Ramez and I first met years ago at Burning Man. Since then, he’s become one of the most lucid voices connecting climate change, clean energy, technology, and political reform. We talk about the tech industry’s dangerous silence, the manipulation of social media, the rise of AI influence operations, and why “everything is downstream from protecting democracy.”
He also shares hopeful insights about the unstoppable rise of clean energy, how humor and compassion can still bridge divides, and why the fight for the future will be won through both emotional resilience and civic action.
🎙️ Guest Bio:
Ramez Naam is a computer scientist, futurist, and former Microsoft program manager. He’s the author of The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet and the award-winning Nexus science-fiction trilogy. His work explores the intersection of technology, climate, and human evolution.
🔗 https://x.com/ramez
🔗 rameznaam.com
Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction & Burning Man origins
04:00 – Tech billionaires and the authoritarian right
09:30 – Media consolidation and manipulation
14:40 – How outrage drives polarization
18:00 – From Koch brothers to crypto capitalists
22:45 – “Everything is downstream from democracy”
24:00 – Climate optimism: solar, batteries, and the clean-energy tipping point
27:00 – Covid, lockdowns, and the shift to fear politics
30:00 – How we actually win: non-violence and persuasion
34:45 – AI, social media, and the new tools of control
39:30 – Hope, humor, and emotional resilience in dark times
43:00 – Building bridges and reclaiming civic trust
47:00 – The road ahead and Ramez’s next creative project
—
📩 Subscribe to Liminal News on Substack
substack.com/@danielpinchbeck
📸 Instagram → instagram.com/danielpinchbeck
🧵 Threads → threads.net/@danielpinchbeck
📘 Facebook → facebook.com/danielpinchbeck.author
🐦 Twitter / X → twitter.com/pinchbeck
🔵 Bluesky → https://bsky.app/profile/danielpinchbeck.bsky.social
💼 LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/danielpinchbeck
📚 Goodreads → goodreads.com/author/show/26172.Daniel_Pinchbeck
📚 Explore My Books
tinyurl.com/mrsmtpwv
🌐 Join Our Online Community, e-Courses, Seminars & more! – The Liminal Institute
https://www.liminal.news
🖥️ Official Website
pinchbeck.io
#RamezNaam #LiminalNews #DanielPinchbeck #Democracy #Authoritarianism #ClimateCrisis #CleanEnergy #TechEthics #AI #FutureOfDemocracy #BurningMan #PoliticalPolarization #SocialMedia #TrumpEra #Futurism
