Fixed: The Science/ Fiction of Human Enhancement

From bionic limbs and neural implants to prenatal screening, researchers around the world are hard at work developing a myriad of technologies to fix or enhance the human body. Fixed: The Science/ Fiction of Human Enhancement takes a close look at the drive to be “better than human” and the radical technological innovations that may take us there. What does “disabled” mean when a man with no legs can run faster than most people in the world? “Fixed” combines some of the most challenging questions facing the disability rights movement with the cutting-edge science of human enhancement. The result is eye-opening and raises provocative questions our civilization struggles to answer.  [Marilyn Golden, Disability Rights Education Defense Fund] Gregory Wolbring. Scientist, ability studies scholar and person with a disability, What does “normal” mean when cosmetic surgery procedures have risen over 450% percent in the last fifteen years and increasing numbers of people turn to “smart drugs” every day to get ahead at school or work?  With prenatal screening able to predict hundreds of probable conditions, who should determine what kind of people get to be born?  If you could augment your body’s abilities in any way imaginable, would you? Featuring: Lisa Bufano disability studies scholar and artist Dominika Bednarska disability justice educator Patty Berne exoskeleton test pilot Fernanda Castelo bionics engineer Hugh Herr journalist and radio host John Hockenberry scientist and ability studies scholar Gregor Wolbring Also with: robot scientist Rodney Brooks futurist Jamais Cascio bioethicist Marcy Darnovsky brain-computer interface study participant Tim Hemmes philosophy professor Cressida Heyes transhumanist James Hughes reproductive rights advocate Sujatha Jesudason disability lawyer Silvia Yee   Hosted by Adrienne Lauby, Sheela Gunn-Cushman and Josh Elwood. Produced and edited by Adrienne Lauby and Sheela Gunn-Cushman. Artist: Sue Austin. Photgrapher: Norman Lomax. (c) www.wearefreewheeling.org.uk. To learn more about Fixed, visit: www.fixedthemovie.com www.facebook.com/Fixed.the.movie The post Fixed: The Science/ Fiction of Human Enhancement appeared first on KPFA.