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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 1d

I had a really fun, dorky, SciFi-inflected conversation with Matthew Ying Yeung Metz about #GaiaWakes on the Kroc School at the University of San Diego's #KrocPod podcast. Please check it out!!

open.spotify.com/episode/3McT...

Gaia Wakes: When Earth Grows a Brain

open.spotify.com

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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 1d

Furthermore, the administration intends to terminate at least 541 ATF industry operations inspectors (reducing their number by almost 2/3) in FY26, thereby setting the conditions for increased arms trafficking (while simultaneously / paradoxically declaring war on drug cartels).

Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · 1d

I was recently quoted in this great CNN piece by Bob Ortega on the Trump administration's lack of interest in pursuing gun crimes, firearms sales infractions, straw-purchasing and trafficking, etc.
www.cnn.com/2025/10/15/u...

Gun crime cases fall as agents shift to immigration crackdown | CNN

ATF is just one of several federal law enforcement agencies that have felt a notable impact on normal duties while assisting with the immigration mission, a CNN review has found.

www.cnn.com

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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · Sep 11

I had a delightful conversation about #GaiaWakes with Scott Jones on his Give and Take podcast. I get the impression he could make even mundane topics shimmer with some combination of mystery and revelation and curiosity and joy.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

Episode 302: Is the Earth Growing a Brain?...with Topher McDougal

Podcast Episode · Give and Take · 09/09/2025 · 53m

podcasts.apple.com

Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · Aug 25

I'm grateful to have had this really fun and wide-ranging conversation about #GaiaWakes, #sustainability, #AI, and planetary consciousness with a supremely well-informed interlocutor, Mitch Ratcliffe at Intentional Futures.
earth911.com/podcast/sust...

Sustainability In Your Ear: Author Topher McDougal Asks If Earth Is Evolving A Planetary Consciousness

Has the convergence of climate change, information technology, and human progress set the stage for a global mind that can reverse environmental damage?

earth911.com

Reposted by Topher McDougal

Page One Media @pageonem.bsky.social · Jul 25

Gaia Wakes by @tophermcd.bsky.social (@agendapub.bsky.social appeared in Writer’s Digest, where it was praised for challenging genre boundaries and inviting readers to sit with complexity in moments of global change.

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Reposted by Topher McDougal

Page One Media @pageonem.bsky.social · Jul 30

🧵 (6/9) Gaia Wakes by @tophermcd.bsky.social (@agendapub.bsky.social) was featured in Swarthmore Magazine (page1m.co/4kWAKr2)

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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · Aug 3

When Daniel Immerwahr said of David Graeber that he was better known for being interesting than right, I had to admit that a significant part of me would actually prefer the former to the latter. In that sense, provoking conversations is what gratified me most.

Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · Aug 3

Despite the editors' disparaging title (and to be fair, the book doesn't resonate too well with the agendas of most communist parties), the review itself is nuanced.

Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · Aug 3

Many thanks to John Hawkins for this thoughtful review of #GaiaWakes in the UK socialist magazine Morning Star.
morningstaronline.co.uk/article/pull...

Pull the Gaia one, it’s got bells | Morning Star

Gaia Wakes: Earth’s Emergent Planetary Consciousness in an Age of Environmental DevastationTopher McDougal, Agenda Publishing, £25IT’s often said that Earth is the only known haven for life in the cos...

morningstaronline.co.uk

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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · Jul 18

Check out my recent essay on writing #GaiaWakes, a book that doesn't fall into an easily recognizable genre.

www.writersdigest.com/on-the-merit...

On the Merits and Demerits of Genre Recognizability

Author Topher McDougal discusses the dilemma of writing a book that doesn't fall into an easily recognizable genre.

www.writersdigest.com

Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · Jun 16

Oh, you ferreted out the weakness 🙄.

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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · Jun 16

I would say "speculative" rather than "unserious". Does the topic seem pressing beside, say, Israel, Ukraine, the rise of US fascism, ecosystem collapse, etc? No. But no other social phenomenon is growing exponentially, currently double doubling in power every 5.x months. Speculation is warranted.

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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · Jun 12

The ten legions of imperial sardukar arrived and the Fremen revolt, so presumably Newsom plays Duke Leto Atreides.

But must we collapse Baron Harkonnen and the Padisha Emperor into a single personage?

And where in the name of Shai-Hulud are Muad'Dib and Alia?
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

‘This isn’t an isolated incident’: Trump’s show of military force in LA was years in the making

The president had been waiting for this made-for-TV clash that allows the administration to ‘manufacture’ a crisis

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Topher McDougal

Page One Media @pageonem.bsky.social · May 29

@tophermcd.bsky.social's new book, GAIA WAKES from @agendapub.bsky.social, was reviewed in Daily Galaxy

page1m.co/4dAcJUB

🧵(8/20)

#science #Ai #dailygalaxy

What If Earth Developed a Brain?

A planetary brain driven by AI: fiction or a possible future? The "Gaiacephalos hypothesis" explores how Earth could gain global consciousness.

page1m.co

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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · May 25

A humongous thank you to the awesome team at the #Kroc School at the University of San Diego that made my #Gaia Wakes book launch such a smooth, professional affair. Here's the recording:

m.youtube.com/watch?v=-pIe...

Gaia Wakes Book Launch Livestream

YouTube video by Kroc School

m.youtube.com

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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · May 23

Article 3: theconversation.com/gun-traffick...

Gun trafficking from the US to Mexico: The drug connection

Some of the same people caught illegally trafficking firearms across the border to Mexico are also selling illicit drugs, including fentanyl, meth and heroin.

theconversation.com

Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · May 23

Article 2:
theconversation.com/us-gun-traff...

US gun trafficking to Mexico: Independent gun shops supply the most dangerous weapons

Independent gun dealers supplied 83% of crime guns seized in Mexico and traced back to purchases in the US. Chain stores supplied the other 17%.

theconversation.com

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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · May 23

US-based #firearms retailers are largely responsible for arming Mexican #cartels -- with huge implications for #homicide rates in #Mexico and #drug trafficking to the States.

stories.theconversation.com/mexican-drug...

Mexican drug cartels use hundreds of thousands of guns bought from licensed US gun shops – fueling violence in Mexico, drugs in the U.S. and migration at the border

Gun traffickers buy firearms at gun dealers in the U.S. and transport them across the border to Mexico, where it is much harder to buy guns.

stories.theconversation.com

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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · May 20

I had the pleasure of talking with Philip McKenzie on the #DeepDive podcast about my new book, #GaiaWakes. And it has come out just in time for the book launch this evening!

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

Episode 224: Gaia Wakes & Emergent Planetary Intelligence w/ Topher McDoughal

Podcast Episode · The Deep Dive · 05/15/2025 · 1h 4m

podcasts.apple.com

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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · May 17

My new Salon.com article on #AI #emancipation has just come out!

A spinoff of an academic piece I'm producing for the #Future of #Slavery and Emancipation working group at Yale University's Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, #Resistance, and #Abolition.

www.salon.com/2025/05/17/a...

Afraid AI will overpower humanity? It may be time to liberate the machines

Avoiding the rise of dystopian tech oligarchs may require recognizing the sentience and rights of AI

www.salon.com

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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · May 14

I had just started to doubt whether the physical artifact actually existed when it arrived! Thank you, Agenda Publishing, for such a beautiful job on #GaiaWakes.

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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · May 14

An excerpt from my new book, #GaiaWakes is now on Live #Science! Check it out (and then attend my book launch on 20 May in San Diego)!

www.livescience.com/technology/c...

Could a planet really develop a brain?

"My contention is that Earth may, if we are lucky and diligent and clever enough, grow an emergent superconsciousness."

www.livescience.com

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Reposted by Topher McDougal

Page One Media @pageonem.bsky.social · May 2

@tophermcd.bsky.social's GAIA WAKES (@agendapub.bsky.social) was included in Alta's "New Releases for May" round-up

page1m.co/4jX5zvo

🧵(16/21)

#newrelease #maybook #sciencebook

14 Best New Books to Read in May 2025

Here are 14 books by authors on and of the West, including So Many Stars, The Words of Dr. L, and The Last Great Dream.

page1m.co

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Topher McDougal @tophermcd.bsky.social · May 1

📘 🚀 Come to my #GaiaWakes book launch!! 📘 🚀

As AI connects and shapes our world, is it also giving rise to a planetary brain? 🌍 🧠

I'll be discussing this and related questions at the Kroc School at the University of San Diego on Tuesday, 20 May!

krocresources.sandiego.edu/peace/gaiawa...

Gaia Wakes Book Launch Event with Professor Topher McDougal

Discover Gaia Wakes by Professor Topher McDougal at a special book launch event exploring AI, global technology, and the awakening of planetary consciousness. Reserve your spot for this free, public t...

krocresources.sandiego.edu

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