Legendary actor, producer, and director Leonard Nimoy joined Art for the first segment of the program. He recalled his Spock character had "dignity, and integrity, and intelligence” and that "this was a person you could believe and count on" in the turbulence of late 1960s America. Nimoy concluded that, at the time, we were ready for the idea of a friendly alien rather than the 1950s science fiction monsters bent on conquering Earth.
Nimoy mused that "chances are that [aliens] are far ahead of us" and perhaps they would come to keep us from destroying ourselves. He expressed pride in his 1970s hit show "In Search of..." and noted that it seemed to be the blueprint for shows about mysteries that followed. As for more recent TV science fiction, Nimoy had few favorites, but did single out "The X-Files" as a show with “an attitude, and I think that’s very important.” In a bit of serendipity, Nimoy's son, Adam, appeared on Coast to Coast AM recently to discuss his father's life and legacy.
Open Lines took up the next three segments. Art read a news report on one of the first artificial brains, which prompted futurist and consultant Charles Ostman to call in and talk about the "artificial self-evolving brain project" that was the source of the news. He described efforts to develop artificial brains that build their own structures based on purpose and conditions. Art argued that this sort of scenario could eventually disrupt or destroy human life. Ostman also discussed cyberterrorism and scenarios which might ensue, and concluded that the promise of AI development outweighed its risks. The last hour continued with news and Open Lines.