Cutting-Edge Presentations by World-Class Thought Leaders
Now Available as Free Podcasts

April 9, 2007 – Camden, ME – The Pop!Tech Institute today unveiled  its initial offering of Pop!Casts, free video podcasts of some of the most compelling presentations from recent Pop!Tech conferences. More than twenty presentations, featuring renowned thought leaders from many fields, are now available at www.poptech.org/popcasts, and more will be added regularly throughout the year.

“Pop!Tech’s mission is to encourage people to change the world by harnessing the power of new ideas,” said Andrew Zolli, Pop!Tech’s Curator. “It’s our hope that by making these remarkable presentations available, we’ll inspire people to do just that.”

Pop!Casts are made possible through an ongoing partnership with Lexus. “Our affiliation with Pop!Tech is based on shared values of  innovation and global citizenship,” said Deborah Meyer, vice president of marketing for Lexus. “We are proud to help bring these amazing ideas to the online community.” Support was provided by Yahoo!, which is also making a complete video stream of the 2006 conference available.

The initial batch of twenty-two Pop!Casts includes presentations by:

Thomas Friedman – Pulitzer Prize winning author and New York Times Columnist

Dr. Serena Koenig – Global health leader and Director of Haiti Programs for Partners in Health

Richard Dawkins – World renowned biologist and evolutionary theorist

Zinhle Thabethe – Renowned AIDS activist from South Africa

Sinikithemba Choir Performance – South African Choir of Zulu men and women who provide support to persons with HIV/AIDS

Bunker Roy – Founder of the Barefoot College in Tilonia, India

Carolyn Porco – Chief Imaging Scientist on the Cassini Mission to Saturn

Erin McKean – Editor-in-chief of U.S. Dictionaries for Oxford University Press and self-proclaimed “word geek”

Juan Enriquez – Leading futurist and bestselling writer on the future of nations

Neil Gershenfeld – Director of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms

Jonathan Coulton – Singer/Songwriter and the official Pop!Tech Balladeer

Thomas Barnett – Strategist and expert on national security and best-selling author

Jesse Sullivan and Todd Kuiken – Jesse Sullivan and his doctor, Todd Kuiken, work together to make Jesse the world’s first bionic man

Martin Marty – One of the most prominent interpreters of religion and culture

Chris Anderson – Editor in Chief of Wired magazine and author of “The Long Tail”

Theo Jansen – Dutch “kinetic sculptor” who creates wind-powered robotic “animals”

Marcia McNutt – Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute director

Reggie Watts – Human Beat-Box Polymath Musician and Comedian

Marianne Weems – Artistic director of the new media theater ensemble The Builders Association

Homaro Cantu – Inventor, entrepreneur and molecular gastronomist

Lester Brown – Preeminent environmentalist and head of the Earth Policy Institute

Kent Nichols – Co-Creator of the wildly popular website and podcast AskaNinja.com

Pop!Casts are available in both video and audio formats, and are published under the Creative Commons License, allowing their content to be distributed, translated, and edited freely for noncommercial purposes. New Pop!Casts will be released every one to two weeks and are available for subscription via RSS feed. For more information, please visit www.poptech.org/popcasts.

Titles for the Pop!Casts were produced by the designers of the award-winning motion graphics and branding firm Trollback & Co. Original music for the Pop!Casts was composed by Michael Montes.

About Pop!Tech

Held annually since 1997 in the seaside village of Camden, Maine, Pop!Tech is a one-of-a-kind conference, a community of remarkable people, and an ongoing conversation about science, technology and the future of ideas. The conference is the  signature event of the Pop!Tech Institute, a non-profit organization focused on uniting the world's most prominent thought leaders to network, share knowledge, and discuss the effects of technology on society. The conference's roster of speakers and its unique format have earned international acclaim. The conference has been supported by partners including Hewlett Packard, Lexus, Sun Microsystems, GE, IBM, National Geographic, and many others. For more information, see www.poptech.org.

About Lexus

Lexus has become synonymous with luxury since its introduction in 1989.  By offering some of the finest quality luxury vehicles and providing benchmark customer service, Lexus has remained the top-selling luxury nameplate in the United States for the past seven years in a row.  Lexus is the first and only luxury manufacturer with a line of innovative hybrid vehicles.  Lexus and its 221 dealers have repeatedly achieved high honors for both the products they sell and the customer service they provide.