Stephen Ho: Exploring Neurotech in Cinema with the Neurratives Podcast

Neural Implant podcast - the people behind Brain-Machine Interface revolutions

Today's guest is Stephen Ho from Blackrock Microsystems. While we've featured Blackrock guests before, Stephen's appearance today is driven by his podcast, Neurratives, where neurotech-inspired movies are reviewed and discussed.

Top 3 Takeaways:

• "Our goal for the podcast isn't necessarily to be overly technical, requiring a neuroscience degree to understand. We're often deep in the subject matter and may get a bit jargony, but broadly, we aim to be accessible without pretending to be accomplished neuroscience researchers."
• “Due to the subject's nature, movies dealing with neuroscience themes often lean heavily towards science fiction. So, I make a conscious effort to seek out romantic comedies, medical dramas, or family dramas as a palate cleanser between sci-fi films.”
• “I tend to be relaxed regarding accuracy in science and technology in movies, though I do point out inaccuracies when I notice them. However, I don't always see this as detrimental to the movie itself. Some tropes bother me, like percutaneous connectors seen in "The Matrix" and "Ghost in the Shell." They seem impractical and unsanitary.”

2:00 Let’s hear about the Neurratives podcast

4:14 What does a normal podcast episode look like?

7:30 What are some notable movies?

10:30 What are your qualifications to talk about neurotech movies?

12:15 Did you ever feel imposter syndrome?

14:00 Will you ever run out of movies?

16:00 Would listening to Neurratives be better before or after watching the movie?

16:45 What should movie directors either start or stop doing for neurotech movies?

21:15 Anything else that we didn’t talk about that you wanted to mention?