The Jim Rutt Show (2018-2026) was a popular podcast series examining cutting-edge thinking in science and technology with regard to the future of our economy, our political systems, and our social systems.
Each interview covered a short list of critical topics in great depth. Jim Rutt had a reputation for not letting people get by on talking points. He provoked real conversations with leading thinkers, writers, and doers who are shaping the future of the planet.
The blog (see Archive above) explores many of these same themes in written form, offering deeper dives into complexity science, consciousness research, social evolution, and Jim’s quest for better ways of organizing human civilization.
About Jim:
Jim Rutt (1953-2026) was an entrepreneur, complexity scientist, writer, podcaster, and lifelong explorer of ideas. Jim studied business management at MIT before beginning a career that would take him from the early days of the internet to the frontiers of complexity science, cognition, artificial intelligence, and human systems. As CEO of Network Solutions during the dot com boom, Jim lead the company through its landmark acquisition by VeriSign. Along the way, The New York Times famously dubbed him “the Internet’s Bad Boy” for his creative mischief and willingness to challenge convention. He is also widely credited with coining the term “snail mail,” a bit of early internet-era humor that quickly entered the popular lexicon as email replaced regular mail.
After stepping away from the business world in 2001, Jim moved with his family to Santa Fe, NM where he found an intellectual home as a Researcher in Residence at the world-renowned Santa Fe Institute. During this chapter of his life, he devoted himself to the study of the application of complexity science to financial markets, and evolutionary artificial intelligence. He later served as Chairman of the Board and remained actively involved with SFI for over two decades.
In 2018—after some nudging from his family, who couldn’t stand watching him waste time arguing with people on Facebook!—Jim launched The Jim Rutt Show, a long-form podcast dedicated to deep conversations with scientists, philosophers, technologists, historians, entrepreneurs, and independent thinkers. Through hundreds of episodes, he built a strong listenership and a reputation for intellectual curiosity, rigorous inquiry, and a willingness to engage seriously (and not-so-seriously!) with ideas wherever they led. He was, perhaps, one of the most prepared and well-read podcast hosts, taking great care to thoroughly research his guests and craft extraordinary questions and talking points that sparked truly amazing conversations.
Jim was a founding thinker in the Game~B movement and spent much of his later life exploring how humanity might create more resilient, adaptive, and humane systems for the future.
Beyond his public work, Jim was a voracious reader (he read the Lord of The Rings saga 39 times), audiophile, world traveler, woodsman, dog-lover, airplane pilot, hitchhiker, and philanthropist. He loved history, gaming, hunting, fishing, boating, camping, cooking, art, film, photography, and programming. He was often the smartest man in the room and was always game for a good old fashioned debate. He loved making people laugh, making people squirm, and was known for telling jokes that ranged from benign “dad jokes” to entirely, utterly, and shockingly foul. He possessed a jolly nature and larger-than-life personality that somehow complimented his contrarian, nonconformist core. He was so very lucky, and he knew it.
Above all, Jim was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, mentor, and friend. He will be greatly missed and always remembered.
This Substack serves as a permanent archive of Jim’s essays, podcasts, and ideas, and is maintained by his family. We hope future readers and listeners will continue to discover the curiosity, generosity, humor, and intellectual spirit that defined his remarkable life.
