People of Long Now

Peter Leyden

Long Now Associate

Host, Moderator & Producer of Conversations

Peter Leyden has spent his career figuring out the future and helping others see what’s probably coming and what’s possible to bring about. Since coming to San Francisco 25 years ago to work with the founders of Wired magazine, he’s been both a creator in the world of ideas, and an innovator in organizations pioneering new fields.

In the entrepreneurial realm, Leyden ended up running Wired as managing editor, and founded and ran two of his own media startups, including his most recent Reinvent. In the intellectual realm, Leyden is a frequent keynote speaker, coauthor of two books, writer of many articles, and the host and curator of several popular event series.

Leyden’s role with Long Now is as a host, moderator and producer of conversations. He’s currently working on producing and facilitating some experimental virtual events under development with the Long Now board.

Leyden learned the futures business by working closely with several of the key players of Long Now. He worked with Cofounder Stewart Brand at Global Business Network, the highly influential strategic foresight firm. He worked with Board Co-chair Kevin Kelly at Wired. And he coauthored a book with Board Member Peter Schwartz called The Long Boom: A Future History of the World, 1980-2020.

Leyden recently developed a sequel to The Long Boom that became a talk in Long Now’s Seminar series called The Transformation: A Future History of the World from 02020 to 02050. You can find much more about Leyden at PeterLeyden.com.