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Cybernetics

May 28, 2026 · 53 min · 17 segments

Misha Glenny and guests discuss cybernetics – the field of study which gave us the prefix ‘cyber’ and helped lay the foundations for the information age. After the Second World War, cybernetics…

Speakers: Orit HalpernGuestJon AgarGuestJacob WardGuestMisha GlennyHost

Top entities: Norbert Wiener×34 Cybernetics×9 Claude Shannon×15 Misha Glenny×5 Warren Sturgis McCulloch×9

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NOTABLE LINE28:28–29:46
A Brain "Built to Go Psychotic"
“McCulloch drops unforgettable line about artificial brains”
BEST STORY35:46–36:48
Chile’s Star-Trek Control Room
“Chilean socialism embraced futuristic cybernetic control room”
BEST STORY23:57–25:23
Robot Tortoises Amaze Britain
“Britain wowed festival crowds with robot tortoises”
AHA MOMENT15:06–16:10
Two Opposite Definitions of Information
“Understanding information totally flipped for Shannon forever”
INSIGHTFUL4:50–6:23
War Sparks Human-Machine Mathematics
“Radar challenges birthed a new information science”

Norbert WienerPersonAmerican computer scientist and mathematician
99%34 mentions
CyberneticsEntityField of study
98%9 mentions
Claude ShannonPersonAmerican mathematician and electrical engineer
97%15 mentions
Misha GlennyPersonJournalist
96%5 mentions
Warren Sturgis McCullochPersonAmerican neurophysiologist
95%9 mentions
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCollege or UniversityPrivate university in Cambridge, Massachusetts
94%15 mentions
AramcoCompanyChemicals company
93%9 mentions
John AgarPersonAmerican film actor
92%7 mentions
Orit HalpernPersonAmerican historian and cyberneticist
91%12 mentions
BBCCompanyBroadcasting company
90%10 mentions
Martha OwenPersonRandy Owen's mother
89%2 mentions
BookEntity
88%2 mentions
Walter PittsPersonAmerican logician
87%5 mentions
James MerrimanPersonCoach and soccer player
86%6 mentions
Stafford BeerPersonBritish theorist and consultant
85%3 mentions
ChileCountryCountry in South America
84%10 mentions
In Our TimeBroadcast Service
83%4 mentions
N. Katherine HaylesPersonAmerican chemist
82%2 mentions
Daniel BellPersonAmerican sociologist and writer
81%2 mentions
Gregory BatesonPersonAnthropologist
80%5 mentions
World War IIEventWar
79%4 mentions
Salvador AllendePersonFormer President of Chile
78%4 mentions
Frank RosenblattPersonAmerican psychologist
77%2 mentions
Maastricht UniversityCollege or UniversityPublic university in Maastricht, Netherlands
76%2 mentions
Principia MathematicaBookBook by Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell
75%1 mention
John von NeumannPersonHungarian-American mathematician and physicist
74%7 mentions
Cold WarEventWar
73%2 mentions
EntscheidungsproblemEntity
72%2 mentions
Project CybersynEventProject
71%2 mentions
University of Chicago PressCompanyCompany
70%2 mentions
David A. MindellPersonAuthor
69%1 mention
University College LondonCollege or UniversityPublic university in London, England
68%2 mentions
TelexEntity
67%1 mention
Johns Hopkins University PressCompanyCompany
66%2 mentions
Eden MedinaPersonComputer science researcher
65%1 mention
Greek languageEntityHuman language
64%6 mentions
Duke University PressCompanyCompany
63%1 mention
Leo WienerPersonAmerican historian and linguist
62%2 mentions
Da Capo PressCompanyPublishing company
61%1 mention
EarthPlacePlanet
60%4 mentions
BBC StudiosCompanyFilm production company
59%2 mentions
Smart cityEntity
58%1 mention
DresdenCityCity in Germany
57%2 mentions
Soviet UnionCountryCountry
56%7 mentions
Lindisfarne AssociationOrganization
55%1 mention
William GibsonPersonAmerican-Canadian fiction writer and essayist
54%2 mentions
James LovelockPersonEnglish scientist and environmentalist
53%5 mentions
United KingdomCountryCountry in Europe
52%11 mentions
United StatesCountryCountry in North America
51%9 mentions
The Human Use of Human BeingsBookBook by Norbert Wiener
49%4 mentions