Congressman Bill Foster is the U.S. representative for Illinois’s 11th district. Before moving into politics, Representative Foster enjoyed a successful career as a high-energy physicist and particle accelerator at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. In this episode, Science Soapbox chats with the Congressman about his path from particle accelerator to politics, the growing opioid epidemic, and what’s so freaky about the future of Artificial Intelligence.
Here are some of the links and references mentioned during the show:
- You can learn more about Congressman Foster and his activity in Congress on his official House of Representatives page
- The Congressman’s first run for office was endorsed by 31 Nobel laureates, listed here
- Before entering Congress, Representative Foster spent 22 years as a particle accelerator designer at Fermilab
- Representative Foster was a member of the team that discovered the top quark, announced in March 1995
- Devon recommends this article for a great summary of addiction as a medical condition and this longform piece about the opioid epidemic and obstacles to treatment
- For all you policy wonks, you can follow these links to read up on the Examining Opioid Treatment Infrastructure Act, the Opioid Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, and the Expanding Opportunities for Recovery Act
- POLITICO recently convened a group of policymakers and experts to explore policy options around the culture of prescribing, which you can read more about here
- We’d be remiss if we didn’t include the link to our episode chatting with CRISPR co-pioneer George Church
- If you’re as excited/freaked out about the future of artificial intelligence as we are, check out this White House blog post on preparing for the future by Ed Felten, Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer
This episode was recorded on July 7, 2016 at the Longworth House Office Building. Special thanks to Visager for music and to the Office of Congressman Bill Foster for the photo and hospitality.