
Desert Island Discs – Demis Hassabis, CEO of DeepMind [audio] - tim_sw
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08qy1sl
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sambeau
I can highly recommend this. For us Brits this is a national institution and
appearing on it is considered a badge of honour similar to a minor peerage. We
listen to it live on a Sunday morning.

If you enjoy the format there is a large archive of these with many of the
most influential people of the 20th century. However the modern (Kirsty Young)
ones are by far the most insightful due to her masterful, understated
interviewing.

I offer these as a taster to non-Brits who would like to hear more:

Dustin Hoffman:

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p314n](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p314n)

Tom Hanks:

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b079m78n](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b079m78n)

Bruce Springsteen:

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0855znp](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0855znp)

Bill Gates:

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06z1zdt](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06z1zdt)

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atmosx
Thanks for this! This is an amazing series!!! I'll probably listen everything
in time!

Another amazing podcast series from BBC is "a brief history of mathematics":
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00srz5b/episodes/downloads](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00srz5b/episodes/downloads)

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pjc50
The programme has been running since 1942, so "everything" is rather a lot :)

There are a few more programmes of similar longevity, one that people may like
is Alistair Cooke's "Letter from America"
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00f6hbp](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00f6hbp)
from 24 March 1946 to 20 February 2004

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atmosx
Indeed! Ok, maybe not _all of them_ but definitely _some_ of them! :-)

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nopinsight
I enjoyed listening to the short segment on how and why he gave up chess at 11
despite being ranked 2nd in the world for that age group. Remarkable
reflectiveness for an 11-year-old. Check out this down the page:

"Demis Hassabis: ‘I thought we were wasting our minds’

AI expert Demis Hassabis on giving up chess tournaments aged 11."

It makes me wonder how many other brilliant minds are wasted on trivial
pursuits and how we can better engage them on major problems of our
increasingly complex world.

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muse900
'It makes me wonder how many other brilliant minds are wasted on trivial
pursuits and how we can better engage them on major problems of our
increasingly complex world.'

How can you objectify the term 'wasting' (their lives)?

I mean to you the only people that their lives are worth something are
scientists?

If you aren't a scientist you have wasted your life?

I think that people that enjoy trivial persuit or chess or whatever it is,
haven't wasted anything by doing what they love.

If the only thing you see in life is 'the evolution of science' then I feel
sorry for you. There are far better things in life than that. But again each
to their own goal, you might enjoy being a scientist and discovering something
new, other people might just enjoy living by the beach and have nothing to do
with tech. Noone is wasting his/her life.

Also another point, people that can't AI or be good at maths etc doesn't mean
they can't have a great mind!

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partisan
The life of that Shepherd doesn't sound trivial at all. And neither does
pursuing a life of chess mastery unless that pursuit doesn't bring one
personal growth and satisfaction.

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muse900
It's trivial to the people around him, and in my own eyes he is way more
successful than demis, you or me will ever be. Because success isn't valued in
money, achievements, fame, discoveries. If you do believe that success is only
measured in those above, then am sorry about the life you have chosen to live.

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partisan
I feel like you didn't read my comment or didn't understand my point.

That said, I won't make wide ranging judgements about your life based on the
few words you have written.

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epberry
Wow I had never heard this program and the interviewer did a fantastic job.
Demis's intellect really shows through. It's really clear how hard he works
and how driven he is. This has given me some inspiration on what otherwise
might a lazy Saturday.

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ngcc_hk
Actually Mozart know about copying as he do scores. And publishing is one of
those public goods thing that is key to most of the things we treAsured and
talked about here.

E=mc2 is a fish, it cannot be consumed and used by you only.

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SBCRec
Thanks for linking this. Has given me inspiration to finish off some of my
projects. It is interesting he comes from a game design background.

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pjs_
KLF - yes mate :)

