In this episode of Outside The System, I spoke with Cam Wiese, a dreamer with a grand and ambitious vision - to bring back the World's Fair. The original World's Fair was an exhibition for companies and nations to come together to showcase their inventions and grand vision for the future. Cam believes that re-creating this event and telling better stories about the positive power of technology will get us out of our collective dystopian technology vision. While your initial reaction may be skepticism (mine certainly was), Cam makes a great case for how bringing back the World's Fair will inspire millions to dream, build, and ultimately create a better future. I left the conversation with a sense of wonder about technology and the future - something I hadn't felt in awhile.

During the episode, we got into:

• The purpose the original World's Fair served
• How the stories we tell create the future we build
• How science fiction helps expand the realm of possibility
• Why Walt Disney deserves credit for the moon landing
• How technology can be utopian, dystopian, or somewhere in between - depending on how it's used
• What the new World's Fair will showcase
• How you can get involved and help build the new World's Fair

Notes and Links

• World's Fair Co website
• World's Fair Co Twitter
• Cam's Twitter
• Top US grocery chains by share of dollars spent
• Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler
• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
• Isaac Asimov
• World's Fair posters

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In this episode, I spoke with Kris Newby, the author of Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons. You may be skeptical about the premise of this book but I promise there is a lot more here than a baseless conspiracy theory. Kris has top tier technical credentials and spent a large chunk of her career at Stanford. Much of her book is based on primary research, which involved Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and interviews with individuals directly involved in the biological weapons program. Most importantly, her work shows that the tragedy of Lyme disease in our medical system isn't some movie-like conspiracy but instead, mostly made up of good people operating under bad incentives. I've linked to a lot of material in the show notes so check those out if you're inclined to dig deeper.

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Timestamps

(2:25) How Kris and her family were personally affected by Lyme Disease

(8:30) Overview of Lyme Disease

(10:30) Willy Burgdorfer and his connection with Lyme Disease

(17:26) How the US bug-borne weapons program came about and what they worked on

(25:00) The misaligned incentives in government funding that create opportunity for self-inflicted harmful experiments

(32:00) The strange circumstances surrounding "The Swiss Agent"

(36:58) How a change in patent law complicated the treatment of Lyme Disease

(39:05) Lyme Disease as the prequel to COVID-19

(41:05) Science, especially in Lyme Disease, is a small club that doesn't encourage thinking outside of the established paradigm. Similarities to Alzheimer's Disease research.

(45:54) How the incentive structure of the medical-industrial complex discourages simple treatments. Similarities to COVID-19 vaccination incentive vs possible treatments.

(49:44) The incentive structure that encourages the denial of chronic disease and even penalizes physicians who come up with effective treatments using cheap antibiotics

(52:04) The suppression of Bitten by NIH and other influential groups

Links and Resources

The Bitten Files - Substack

Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons

Project 112 - Wiki

Plum Island

Willy Burgdorfer

The Swiss Agent

Lyme Disease Cabal Primary Research Document Cloud (Part 1)

Lyme Disease Cabal Primary Research Document Cloud (Part 2)

Under Our Skin (documentary)

Kris Newby website

Cat Scratch Disease article

Lead Poisoning article

Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic by Pam Weintraub