The Austin Forum's July discussion event introduces a science fiction book with very real-world implications: Neal Stephenson's new climate thriller, "Termination Shock." Join Julie Tomlin, Austin Forum advisory board member and elite sci-fi geek, for a moderate and thoughtful discussion on how climate action might pit individuals against governments, or governments against each other. This […]
The 2021 book "This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race," by Nicole Perlroth, is a NY Times Bestseller. Although it is written in non-fiction journalism, it reads like a modern-day spy thriller with illuminating, sometimes terrifying, insights and perspectives that are worthy of discussion, especially in light of the […]
Digital technology is ubiquitous and pervasive in our lives and society, with largely positive impacts on how we live, work, learn, and play. But there are some dangers, risks and concerns. As with any tool, we can use combinations of responsible design, education, personal behavior, and policies to mitigate these while maximizing benefit. We'll unpack […]
We will kick off the Austin Forum Sci-Fi book club with Neil Stephenson’s “Snow Crash,” a novel that inspired many of the ideas and terms we use in technology today! While “Snow Crash” isn’t a new novel — it was nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1994 — the ideas and lessons about […]
The COVID-19 pandemic is undergoing a new surge in cases, driven by the increased contagiousness of the Delta variant. As we deal with a third spike in this pandemic, we bring back biologists Ilya Finkelstein and Jason McLellan from the University of Texas to explain what variants are, how they come to be, how we […]
