408: Leadership at the Edge of Humanity: AI, Mars, and Moral Choice

In this episode of The Future of Leadership, host Zoë Routh reflects on the idea of place, how where we are shapes who we become, prompted by Australia Day and the launch of Olympus Dawn, the final book in her Gaia series.

Go to the Kickstarter campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zoerouth/olympus-dawn-the-complete-gaia-series-finale

Zoë is joined by Richard Anderson, a microbiologist and science-fiction author whose work sits at the intersection of evolution, ethics, and humanity's future beyond Earth. Richard shares his journey from writing about the origins of life to imagining what it might truly take to live and govern on Mars.

Together, they explore the biological realities of space living, from food production to gravity, and move into deeper territory: the ethics of AI sentience, the risks of disinformation, and the leadership and governance challenges that emerge when technology evolves faster than social systems. The conversation considers what responsibility looks like when human survival depends on collective intelligence, not just innovation.

Share your thoughts on Substack here: https://open.substack.com/pub/zoerouth/p/how-place-affects-who-we-become?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

The episode closes with reflections on leadership, curiosity, and the kinds of futures worth imagining and working towards.

Key Moments:

00:00 Welcome

00:28 Australia Day, identity, and reflection

00:34 Olympus Dawn and imagining future worlds

01:18 The power of place

02:34 Mars, AI, and humanity's next frontier

03:36 Microbiology and space colonisation

04:58 Living systems, food, and gravity in space

11:21 Ethics and AI sentience

14:28 Governance, disinformation, and leadership

34:36 Rapid-fire reflections

43:23 Closing thoughts