2023 Conference

Our conference theme for 2023 was Living as Humans in a Machine Age. We had a great time in Madison, WI–thanks to all who joined us! Below are video recordings of the talks. You can see more information about the speakers at the speaker bio page.

Friday, October 20

  • 7:00 p.m. Paul Kingsnorth, “People, Place, Prayer”

Saturday, October 21

    • 8:30 Light breakfast
    • 9:00 Welcome
    • 9:15-10:15 Imagining Life Beyond the Machine
      • Eric Miller, “The Instructed Imagination”
      • Jason Peters, “Imagination: Not Whimsical but Fatal”

    • 10:30-11:45 Human Responses to Technology
      • Jeffrey Bilbro, “Where Now Are Wayland’s Bones?”
      • Cassandra Nelson, “Median Humans and the Life That Really is Life”
      • Tessa Carman, “The Joy of Tech Resistance”

    • 12-1:00 Lunch
    • 1:00-2:15 Paul Kingsnorth Keynote Address, “The Blizzard of the World”

  • 2:30-3:45 Humane Politics
    • Adam Smith, “The Politics of Reenchantment”
    • Mark Mitchell, “Politics in Babel”
    • John Murdock, “Back to the Future of the Religious Right”

  • 4:00-5:00 Living Outside the Machine
      • Ashley Colby, “Doomer Optimism: Life Adjacent to the Machine”
      • Bill Kauffman, “Off the Empire, On Wisconsin”

We're grateful for the support of our co-sponsor, Plough.