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Articles by Christopher East
Derailment of the Fifth Working Group of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention
Ongoing advances in synthetic biology and bioengineering are substantially degrading constraints on the development, research, and use of biological weapons. At the same time, nations are chipping away at the cornerstone of international efforts to prevent the misuse of biological science and technology, the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC).
New “Gene Synthesis Screening Guidance” in the UK: A Positive Step Towards Responsible Innovation
This week the UK Government published voluntary Guidance for Gene Synthesis Screening as part of a package of responsible innovation announcements to speed up the safe acceleration of strategic technology deployment in the United Kingdom. Though delayed due to the general election, this is an important step towards mitigating the growing risks presented by misuse of this rapidly advancing technology while championing legitimate use.
Signs of Progress on Strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention
States Parties met in Geneva during the week of August 19 for the Fourth Meeting of the Working Group on Strengthening of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). This session focused on building frameworks for implementation mechanisms of Articles VII, X, and XII of the BWC. For any readers not yet familiar, the provisions of these articles are: Article VII: A provision to assist any State Party exposed to danger as a result of a violation of the Convention.
Launching the Global Biosecurity Accelerator at the Helsinki Biosecurity Dialogue
In collaboration with the Finnish Government, the Council on Strategic Risks (CSR) hosted the Helsinki Biosecurity Dialogue from 11-12 June 2024, bringing together officials from sixteen NATO countries and their Indo-Pacific partners, as well as select experts from multilateral institutions and international NGOs. The dialogue consisted of a two-day program focused on building relationships, providing updates regarding participants’ ambitious biosecurity work, and discussing biological...
Event Summary: U.S.–UK Strategic Dialogue on Biosecurity - The Council on Strategic Risks
On January 16, the Council on Strategic Risks (CSR) hosted senior government leaders for the launch of the U.S.–UK Strategic Dialogue on Biosecurity at the historic National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington, D.C. Building upon decades of partnership between the two countries, the Strategic Dialogue is a core component of the —the new bilateral economic partnership established in 2023 to adapt, reinforce, and reimagine the U.S.-UK alliance for the challenges of the twenty-first century.
The Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention in 2023: Glimmers of Progress Set Against a Troubled Geopolitical Landscape
For nearly two decades, efforts to strengthen the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) were in stasis, with opportunities missed and States Parties unable to agree to definite action. States Parties arrived at the Review Conference last year facing a growing biological weapons threat – augmented by rapidly converging complimentary technologies – coupled with a status quo in the BWC that was insufficient for the task.
The UK’s AI Safety Summit and The Future of AI Bioweapons
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an epoch-defining technology that will profoundly shape the ways we live and work. In the so-called ‘Century of Biology,’ AI-enabled tools promise a massive increase in speed and capacity in certain parts of the bioengineering R&D cycle, including during data aggregation, lab automation, and the analysis and output phases.
Media Review: September 2020
How many times have you watched the first season of a new series, loved it, and then found yourself hoping it didn’t get renewed? For me, this phenomenon has become more common lately, and not just because there’s so much to keep up with nowadays. The classic model for TV development—create a show formulaic and addictive enough to sustain several seasons’ worth of content—isn’t always the narratively expedient one.
Media Review: April 2020
Lodge 49 Created by Jim Gavin Produced by American Movie Classics, Touchy Feely Films, Byrnesy, Ocko & Company, and AMC Studios Season one released August 2018 Season two released August 2019 Given the high noise-to-signal ratio in today’s TV landscape, genre fans can be forgiven for overlooking the magnificent Lodge 49. Still, its obscurity is tragic, because it’s an unheralded gem, a moving, funny, heartfelt slice of quirky Southern California magic realism.
The Men Who Change the World
Staring west at a blood-red sunset, Adam Fisk leans against the railing encircling the beer garden, willing his body to feel the alcohol. Usually he’s blunted by the third Manhattan, but tonight his tolerance foils him. All he wants is an empty mind, cool evening air, the susurrant drone of insects. But his every attempt to find contentment is just that, an attempt, an effort he feels, unnatural and doomed to fail.
Media Reviews: December 2019
Here’s a confession: I’ve spent a healthy percentage of my writing life wrestling with an aversion to time travel fiction. For a while I felt the trope was too often deployed to look backward, in opposition to SF’s unique opportunity to imagine, confront, and shape the future. At best, younger me argued, time travel was an entertaining indulgence in nostalgia, the SF creative’s wistful method of reliving the past. At worst, it was a shirking of science fiction’s duty.
Media Reviews: September 2019
The Twilight Zone Created by Rod Serling Produced by CBS Television Studios, Monkeypaw Productions, and Genre Films Season one released April 2019 Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone is seminal genre TV. Its legacy looms over modern SF and fantasy, a background radiation of ideas, style, theme, and invention which has influenced imaginative storytelling for well over half a century.
Media Review: August 2019
Aniara Based on the poem by Harry Martinson Directed by Pella Kågerman & Hugo Lilja Produced by Meta Film Stockholm, Meta Film, and Viaplay Released September 7, 2018 US release date May 17, 2019 With every advantage at its disposal, Hollywood ought to be producing more memorable, visionary science fiction films. Unfortunately, the U.S. film industry is so often focused on blockbuster spectacle that sometimes one has to venture farther afield to find something interesting and different.
Media Review: May 2019
Watership Down Based on the novel by Richard Adams Produced by 42, Biscuit Filmworks, BBC, and Netflix Released December 2018 To say Richard Adams’ novel Watership Down is a formative influence is perhaps a massive understatement, so naturally I was thrilled to learn that Netflix and the BBC were collaborating to remake the story as a miniseries. The new adaptation dropped late last year, and while I found the results wanting, it did inspire me to revisit the story in depth.
Media Review: April 2019
Russian Doll Created by Leslye Headland, Natasha Lyonne, and Amy Poehler Produced by Universal Television, Paper Kite Productions, Jax Media, and 3 Arts Entertainment Released February 2019 Writing about Netflix’s brilliant new series Russian Doll is inherently challenging. Is talking about it at all an automatic spoiler? Do expectations mar its impact? Is it weird that I loved it but also hope it gets cancelled? That it felt derivative and wildly original at the same time?
Media Reviews: January 2019
Perhaps in reaction to the medium’s general fascination with antiheroes and outright villainy, many recent genre-bending science fiction and fantasy shows have aimed their narrative sights at a common theme: the challenges of living ethically in an unforgiving, problematic world.
Media Reviews: August 2018
Let’s face it: darkness—perhaps too often—has become a dominant characteristic of modern television. A tour of recent, international SF and fantasy TV shows quickly reveals this isn’t just true in the US; the trend extends well beyond US shores. Darkness courses through these shows like an electrical current, and watching all these shows in close proximity might take some fortitude.
Media Reviews: April 2018
This month, the review team doubles up to get iconic. Carrie Vaughn takes a look at Downsizing, a film giving a new spin to one of SF’s most classic tropes: shrinking. Christopher East, on the other hand, gives us a review of Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams, the small screen’s newest take on the worlds of SF icon Philip K. Dick. This isn’t a brilliant film, but I can’t help thinking that it should have been.
Media Reviews: January 2018 - Lightspeed Magazine
There’s always a risk of being critically dismissive of comedy. I think we’re conditioned react to it as a genre that favors style over substance, shallowness over depth. It’s perhaps even easier to be dismissive of comedy that combines with science fiction and fantasy; the genres share, I think, a checkered collaborative history.
Media Reviews: October 2017 - Lightspeed Magazine
This month we take a look at new television set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Defenders (Season 1) Created by Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez ABC Studios, Goddard Textiles, Marvel Television, and Netflix August 2017 The vast increase of scripted TV shows in recent years has created plenty of room for the superhero genre, a category still prospering in the wake of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s blockbuster dominance.
TV Review: May 2017 - Lightspeed Magazine
The 100 Created by Jason Rothenberg Produced by Bonanza Productions, Alloy Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, CBS Television Studios 2014-current The CW is known for its wide array of superhero and dark fantasy shows, from Arrow to iZombie. It’s even doing well in the non-speculative arena with breakout hits like Jane the Virgin and the critically acclaimed Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
Media Review: February 2017 - Lightspeed Magazine
This month, we take a look at the original anthology series Black Mirror. The easiest way to begin a review of the brilliant British science fiction series Black Mirror (originally on Channel 4 in the UK, now streaming on Netflix) is to acknowledge its place in TV history as a descendant of other innovative genre anthology shows.
Media Review: 12 Monkeys and Mr. Robot - Lightspeed Magazine
The real world may seem increasingly dystopian lately, but that doesn’t seem to have quenched our thirst for dystopian visions. Two current shows—one that reaches into the cinematic past, the other straight into the modern zeitgeist—are leveraging the science fictional furniture of dystopia to powerful, if decidedly different, effect. Based on the visionary 1995 Terry Gilliam film, Syfy’s 12 Monkeys may seem like a curious property to adapt for episodic TV, but it’s surprisingly good.
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