ABOUT THE EVOLVE FASTER podcast

PODCAST SUMMARY: Would you cut off your head to change the world? What if lying were made illegal? Would you take a drug to change your identity? Is death a challenge or something to fear? Scott Ely takes us down a rabbit hole of speculative fiction with psychological twists and philosophical turns to reimagine the big questions of life. These Twilight Zone-style cautionary tales also challenge you to find your place in a rapidly evolving world. Everything is changing, yet the questions that drive us remain the same. Create your reality…before it creates you. Isn’t it time for an upgrade?

show description

The Evolve Faster Podcast with Scott Ely is a laboratory of practical philosophy and applied psychology delivered through speculative fiction. The 30-60 minute episodes experiment with the possibilities of changing human nature through the cautionary tales of where the world might be headed next. The goal is to push boundaries, explore challenging topics and guide listeners towards self-directed upgrades of mind, life, and soul. Samuel Butler wrote that “life is like playing violin in public and learning to play as you go.” But what if the ability to play brilliantly was within you all along?

Assume you do have it within you and pose yourself this thought experiment: What if you could start over with a brain unhindered by evolutionary hangovers? A fresh life with no societal baggage and an aspirational soul with a complete focus towards finding meaning to your existence? In other words, what if that nagging question—what in the hell am I supposed to do?—was easy to answer? It is with this existential question, and this overarching thought experiment, where this podcast and platform finds its roots. For more information on the metaphor, check out my article on What Does it Mean to Evolve Faster.

The Present & Future Plan

Season One tackles questions of using your MIND better, such as “What is the truth?” Season Two will face problems of LIFE. Can we overcome the challenging parts of our human nature? And can we lead an independent and better life in this society we didn’t choose to join? Season Three will embrace the challenges of finding meaning in existence—what we’ll call SOUL, for lack of a better metaphor.

If you’re like many people and me, the story of your life may be poorly, self-written pulp fiction that’s in need of a ruthless editor. You can find the person you want to be either on an enticing journey of reason, creativity, individualism, and enlightening experience, or, a downward spiral of self-delusion. You can either rewrite yourself as the hero in your story or end up a footnote in someone else’s lame, corporate-sponsored, reality TV show of a life. The choice is yours.

Lao Tzu said, “the journey of 1,000 miles begins with one step.” If he’d been a podcaster, he might have said it begins with clicking play on Episode One.

show format notes

  • The Evolve Faster Podcast is semi-serial because due to a larger story arc for the whole season, episodes (and themes, characters, etc.) are connected and build on one another. But technically, the episodes are stand-alone if you want to jump in anywhere based on the topic at hand. It’s just a little more interesting to listen in order.
  • Audio Nerd Alert: The show is written, performed and professionally produced in a studio with music and effects. So if at all possible, it’s best to listen with good headphones! I realize it can’t be avoided, but just know that listening on earbuds, smartphone, laptop or car speakers might make for a less-than-optimum experience (as background audio production all but vanishes through these mediums).
  • The theme of each “Season” (about 10-12 episodes) builds around related topics and interlinked concepts.
  • The Seasons are a fiction-meets-non-fiction format; by design, it might not always be easy to figure out where the line blurs. Then, in between seasons, there are less formal episodes which are more like traditional podcast format (non-fiction). These might include formats like Ask Me Anything, Behind the Podcast and possibly interviews related to that Season’s themes.

need more info on what to expect?

Here’s what’s we have produced, released or at least have blueprints for so far:

  • Episode One: An introduction to the overall Evolve Faster platform.  This episode will be foundational and in a nonfiction format, different from the regular seasons.
  • Season One: The journey begins as we embark on about eleven episodes on big questions relating to MIND.  What is the truth? Can we trust reason? Why do we have emotions? Does happiness define the good?  What is identity? What is creativity?
  • Season One Analysis: The between season format will vary between AMA (Ask Me Anything) and BTP (Behind the Podcast) episodes that dissect the whole first season, episode by episode, to peer beneath the hood to see what made that season tick. These are non-fiction and less formal, creating a little space for writing and producing the next season.
  • Season Two: Next, we continue with another 10 podcasts on questions related to LIFE.  What is society? Why are humans so fallible? What does it mean to be an individual?  What is reality? Do humans matter?
  • Season Two Analysis [Expected 2020]: Same as with Season One Analysis, we observe the big question of each Season 2 Episode through a more detailed, non-fictional outlook.
  • Season Three [Expected 2020]: Here, we finally explore some of the biggest questions in the philosophical canon through the lens of SOUL.  Why are we here? Do we have a soul? Is there a God? What happens after death? And of course, the existential favorite… What am I supposed to do!?
  • Season Four (and beyond): There are a lot of big ideas on the table, but only time will tell how deep the rabbit hole goes… or let us figure out if it was actually a black hole. Either way, it’s up to you to decide if you’ll be around to find out.

please subscribe

The Evolve Faster Podcast is written, produced and performed by Scott Ely. It takes an enormous effort to produce all the quality, original content needed for this podcast. You can learn about multiple ways of supporting it by going to the Subscribe page.