skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, September 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

U.S. gender wage gap grows for first time in a decade; Trump has embraced NC's Mark Robinson, calling him 'Martin Luther King on steroids'; Volunteers sought as early voting kicks off in MN; Women's political contributions in congressional races fall short of men's.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rising threats of political violence, a Federal Reserve rate cut, crypto industry campaign contributions and reproductive rights are shaping today's political landscape.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A USDA report shows a widening gap in rural versus urban health, a North Carolina county remains divided over a LGBTQ library display, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz' policies are spotlighted after his elevation to the Democratic presidential ticket.

Death Anxiety Inspires Podcast About AI

play audio
Play

Wednesday, March 1, 2023   

A podcast has incorporated the philosophical work of Ernest Becker and his theory on death. The cultural anthropologist Becker's work Denial of Death was printed 50 years ago and won the Pulitzer Prize.

The podcast Spark Hunter is set two decades in the future and is about an artificial intelligence robot searching for the core of humanity and consciousness.

KB Miller, producer of the podcast for Fighter Steel Productions, said Becker's work directly influenced Spark Hunter.

"Becker's clear depiction of the human condition -- the anxiety, facing the abyss -- a classic tale of what every thinking person faces at some point in their life," Miller noted. "We wanted to see what would happen if a robot took that journey."

The podcast has topped the science fiction charts in English-speaking countries. The Ernest Becker Foundation, which advances knowledge about death anxiety, is based in Seattle.

Miller said the theory from Denial of Death inspired Spark Hunter's initial idea but he and his co-creator looked beyond Becker for its conclusion. They found the work of Silvia Benso, a philosopher at Rochester Institute of Technology who has expanded on Becker's work.

"All things have standing. Now, that's a true and venerable thought in many Indigenous and eastern traditions," Miller explained. "As Benso said, 'Doesn't that make every moment of every day a festival?' "

Miller pointed out Becker and Benso's ideas still have weight and meaning today, adding Spark Hunter is an expression of those ideas.

"Every bump in my life and every bump that I have caused would have benefited from a clearer understanding of the essential connectedness to people and to the earth that softens our death anxiety and supports that daily festivity," Miller remarked.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Recipients of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Grant can now access funding to drive financing for thousands of climate-focused and clean energy initiatives. (bilanol/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Michigan's most vulnerable communities are receiving federal funding to fight the devastating effects of climate change. It's part of the $27 billion …


Health and Wellness

play sound

September is Health Literacy Month, and a Denver-based group is working to help health professionals break a persistent pattern of discrimination …

Environment

play sound

A new report contends fossil fuel funding has biased Columbia University's climate research. The report, by two Columbia students, shows the …


Alabama releases roughly 220,279 men and 78,247 women from its prisons and jails each year. (Chad Robertson/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An Alabama woman is on a mission to help people who've been incarcerated for decades successfully transition back into society. The mission to …

Health and Wellness

play sound

In North Carolina, the gap between Medicaid reimbursement rates and the actual cost of dental care has reached a crisis point, impacting both …

So far in 2024, community health centers in North Dakota have screened 11,580 patients for food insecurity. Through those screenings, more than three thousand box meals have been distributed. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

September is Hunger Action Month. In North Dakota, it isn't just food banks trying to help underserved populations get nutritious items. Health …

Environment

play sound

Marine biologists conducting deep dives near five California islands are collecting data they hope will strengthen the case for ending gillnet fishing…

Environment

play sound

Researchers at Iowa State University are taking aim at the huge amount of energy used by data centers, now and in the future. They have developed a …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021