The Long Conversation
Stewart Brand in conversation with Barbara Finamore on China's clean energy market.
Paul Hawken, environmentalist and author, interviews Jim Barry, Research Division Chair of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Paul Hawken, environmentalist and author of Drawdown
Peter Schwartz, futurist, SVP Strategic Planning, Chief Future Officer for Salesforce.com, Asia Society Northern California board, interviews Jiang Lin from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Jiang Lin of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory interviews Zander Rose, Executive Director of the Long Now Foundation
Kara Platoni, Lecturer and Assistant Dean for Students at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism
Orville Schell, Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society speaks on China US Collaboration on Climate Change.
Audience members, lit by the glow of COAL + ICE's glacial backgrounds, listening to the Long Conversation
Inez Fung, climatologist at UC Berkeley, describing atmospheric cycles related to climate change
Stuart Russell, Professor of Computer Science at UC Berkeley and Adjunct Professor of Neurological Surgery at UCSF, interviews Peter Calthorpe of the Congress for New Urbanism.
Miles Traer, self-defined pop-scientist at large, speaking on engaging individuals in science through pop culture
On Sunday, September 9, Asia Society Northern California hosted the Long Conversation in collaboration with the Long Now Foundation.
Thirteen experts from a variety of different fields, including climatology, journalism, energy policy, and U.S.-China relations, took the stage to converse with each other in front of a live audience. The Long Conversation's unique relay rotation format—Speaker A interviews Speaker B for 15 minutes, after which Speaker A leaves and is replaced by Speaker C, while Speaker B now becomes the interviewer and asks Speaker C questions—ensured fast-moving, informative and entertaining conversations over a three-hour period. With each individual conversation comprising of two experts with different backgrounds, there was a diversity of thought as well as points of convergence, with discussions touching on China's energy policy and its relationship to environmental activism, the future of artificial intelligence and what that means for the planet, as well as the necessity of educating leaders on thinking long-term.
The Long Conversation was held at the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture in San Francisco. The event was part of the U.S.-premiere of Coal + Ice, a month-long exhibition and climate action festival shedding insight on the various aspects surrounding climate change and its impact on the world.
COAL + ICE continues in San Francisco until Sunday, September 23. To find more events, please click here.
Watch complete footage of The Long Conversation at COAL + ICE! (3 hr., 20 min).