Can virtual reality make us more empathetic?

In this episode of Moonshot Radio, filmmaker and immersive media artist Gabo Arora explores how VR can move beyond entertainment and become a powerful tool for emotional connection.

We talk about the promise and limits of immersive storytelling — what happens when audiences are no longer passive viewers but embodied participants. Does stepping into someone else’s world deepen empathy? Or does it risk simplifying complex realities into emotional spectacle?

We also explore the ethical dimensions of immersion, the responsibility of creators working with powerful emotional technologies, and how we might design digital tools that strengthen — rather than erode — our shared humanity.

This episode invites us to rethink technology not as distraction, but as a medium for connection.

Your DNA is everywhere. Who gets to read it—and what story will they tell?

In this episode of Moonshot Radio, I speak with artist and biohacker Heather Dewey-Hagborg, known for reconstructing human faces from discarded DNA. Her groundbreaking project Stranger Visions exposed how easily genetic material can be collected from everyday objects, and how quickly it can be transformed into data, prediction, and identity.

We explore the expanding world of biosurveillance: how our bodies—DNA, microbes, facial features, fingerprints, even breath and heat—are increasingly tracked, analyzed, and categorized by governments and corporations.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• Forensic DNA phenotyping and the rise of “DNA mugshots”

• Chelsea Manning and the politics of algorithmic identity

• Biobanks, newborn blood spots, and the hidden afterlives of our biological samples

• Genetic prediction of behavior—and its use in courts

• The risks of eugenics, “designer genetics,” and data-driven purity narratives

• Whether biotechnology will deepen inequality—or help us reconnect

This episode asks urgent questions about privacy, agency, and control in an age where biology itself has become legible.

What does identity mean when your genetic blueprint can be read, stored, sold, and interpreted?

What does it mean to be human when our bodies can be redesigned, regenerated, and reprogrammed?

In Episode 7 of Moonshot Radio, Linda Du is joined by Amy Karle, a pioneering bioartist and futurist working at the intersection of biotechnology, regenerative medicine, and the human body.

Born with a life-threatening cranial defect, Amy’s personal history deeply informs her practice. Through living artworks that grow, heal, and evolve, she challenges us to rethink identity, imperfection, and the role of technology in shaping our future.

In this conversation, we explore:

• The body as an interface between biology and technology

• Regeneration, stem cells, and bioengineered organs

• Art as a tool for asking ethical and philosophical questions science alone can’t

• Longevity, legacy, and what we leave behind — on Earth and beyond

• How biotechnology may reshape evolution and our sense of self

This episode is a meditation on healing, embodiment, and the future of the human form, where art doesn’t just represent life, but actively participates in it.