Michael Garfield
Michael Garfield | |
|---|---|
| Residence | Austin, Texas, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Evolutionary Dynamics, Developmental Psychology, Technology, Spirituality, Musical Performance, Transmedia Art |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Evolutionary biology, Paleontology, Complex systems, Futurism |
Michael Garfield is an American multimedia artist, musician, writer, podcaster, and futurist based in Austin, Texas. Trained in evolutionary biology and reconstructive postmodern philosophy, he describes himself as a "paleontologist-futurist" whose transdisciplinary work spans essay, music, and fine art. He is best known as the host and producer of the Future Fossils podcast and, later, Humans On The Loop.
Biography
Garfield was trained in evolutionary biology and in reconstructive postmodern philosophy. Early in his career he undertook paleontological fieldwork with the paleontologist Robert Bakker, known as the "dinosaur heretic," before moving into science communication and complex systems research.
He served as a complex-systems science communicator at the Santa Fe Institute, as an innovation researcher at Mozilla, and as community manager at the Long Now Foundation. He has also spent more than a decade performing and speaking on the international festival circuit, appearing at events including Moogfest, SXSW, Burning Man, and Boom Festival. He has been a faculty member at Weirdosphere and communications director for the AI Capabilities & Alignment Consensus Project.
Work
Garfield is the host and producer of the Future Fossils podcast and later of Humans On The Loop, as well as producer of the Santa Fe Institute's Complexity podcast. Through these programs he acts as an interlocutor for a worldwide community of artists, scientists, and philosophers, exploring the intersection of evolutionary dynamics, technology, culture, and spirituality.
Beyond podcasting, he describes his synthetic, transdisciplinary output as "mind-jazz" performances that take the form of essay, music, and fine art. He has produced over a hundred hours of original music, illustrated more than four hundred scientific papers, and written for publications including Aeon, Big Think, H+ Magazine, and Reality Sandwich. He publishes essays and audio through his Substack and Patreon.
Honors
In spring 2025, Humans On The Loop was ranked the #2 futurist podcast in the world by Feedspot, and #6 in both the futurism and evolutionary biology categories by MillionPodcasts.