Dr. David Brin is an astrophysicist and well-known science fiction author. He's perhaps most famous for his Hugo Award winning Uplift SciFi series. He is also a famous futurist and public speaker who consults with the intelligence and defense communities. We chatted about his early career and how his first SciFi novel, Sundiver, financed his Ph.D. work. In the second half of the show, we got into the Kardashev scale of planetary civilizations, technical means to deal with climate change, "Brin's Corollary" which is related to iPhones, cameras and UFOs, possible interactions with extraterrestrial life and, finally, how human beings might partner with artificial intelligence agents to assist and literally leapfrog each other to new levels. If you're into space, astronomy, alien life and AI, you're in for quite a ride.

TMO Background Mode: Interview With Astrophysicist/SciFi Author Dr. David Brin