Guest Backgrounder
 An incurable optimist at heart, Marshall is in it for the species. His mission is to help others become self-informed about future catastrophic threats. He also believes that men and women must face the next global catastrophe as coequals and advocates a service-to-others approach to survival. Read guest backgrounder...
- As a secular thinker, what inspired your interest in helping others to survive the next global catastrophe?
- What was your beat as a CNN science features producer?
- While videotaping the Bracken Bat cave story in Central Texas, you were surrounded by millions of bats. While that experience would unsettle most folks, you say that you felt the “the force” as Star Wars buffs like to call it. How did that happen and what did you experience with the bats?
- During the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, you were within a few miles of the Candlestick Park baseball stadium where the World Series was being played in San Francisco. How has that experience factored in to your interest in catastrophic events?
- During a trip to Israel in April 2000, you visited the mountain fortress of Masada and had an experience that shaped your entire Plan B strategy for surviving the next global catastrophe. Did you expect something like this to happen?
- Your first Internet article about a rogue comet called C/1999 Lee received over 5 million hits in just a few months. Why were people so interested in this comet?
- What prompted you to start the Your Own World USA web site, and what is the core mission of this site?
 Could We See Two
Suns in Five Years?
A former CNN science feature producer followed the money, and found an ongoing global mobilization in response to this looming possibility. Read topic backgrounder...
- What are the odds that we live in a binary star system?
- If we do have a second sun, why haven't we seen it by now?
- Why do you believe this second sun is slowly spiraling into Sol?
- Is this just another government conspiracy theory?
- What if anything are our governments doing about it?
- Why hasn't the government said anything about all this?
- Have our ancestors seen this second sun, and what did it do to them?
- Is this second sun mentioned in prophecy?
- Is this the end of life as we know it?
- What can we as individuals do about it?
 Surviving the Next
Global Catastrophe
Everyone already has a Plan A for surviving the next global catastrophe. Marshall is talking about Plan B. Read topic backgrounder...
- You say that you're an incurable, secular optimist. So why is your core mission in life to help others to survive the next global catastrophe?
- During a trip to Israel in 2000 visited the mountain fortress of Masada near the Dead Sea you had an epiphany. What did you experience, and how has it shaped your mission in life?
- Why do you believe that everyone should keep a No. 4 paper coffee filter in their wallet or purse?
- Some maintain that if we perish in another global catastrophe, that it will be a punishment from God for our own failings. Why do you use the term "sacrifice the virgin" for these broadly accepted viewpoints?
- You want people to begin using the term "evolutionary event" in lieu of "catastrophic event." Some would say this is just antics with semantics, so what is the point here?
- Why is it that ancient folklore killed many while saving a few during the December 2004 Indian Ocean superquake and tsunami?
- Do western civilizations have their own ancient folklore, written by survivors of past global catastrophes?
 The Internet
and Survival
The most valuable catastrophic survival gizmos on the planet today are Internet search engines like Google and Yahoo. This is because they’re rewiring our brains to work like Madison Avenue, MacGyver-style survivalists. Read topic backgrounder...
- We always hear the same old saw about how humanity is doomed to repeating the mistakes of the past. Yet, you believe that the Internet is breaking that cycle as it caused us to evolve as a species. How so?
- In the 1980's you hosted a consumer computer software TV feature that ran for over 4 years. What in your opinion is the single most exciting development in computing since then?
- How are search engines like Google and Yahoo rewiring our brains with Madison Avenue MacGyver-style survival wits?
- Information technology has moved from the printed work, to data and now to metadata, data that describes other data. So how can all this new metadata help us survive another global catastrophe?
- Most adults are what you call list thinkers, but you say today's kids are object thinkers. What does that mean, and how does it relate to survival?
 Media Scorecard
Media coverage of catastrophic threats has improved dramatically since 2005. Read topic backgrounder...
- Most still believe that Y2K was a waste of time, if not a foolish hoax on the nation. Yet, as a former CNN science features producer, you give the media an "F" for its reporting of Y2K. Why is that?
- The docudrama Supervolcano first aired on April 2005. Produced by The Discovery Channel and the BBC, it offers a realistic scenario of a global catastrophe caused by a supervolcano eruption at Yellowstone National Park. You believe this program represented a huge turning point in the media's approach to global catastrophe. So what are they doing differently?
- A month after Supervolcano first aired, the U. S. Geological Survey made a important announcement about Yellowstone. What was that announcement?
- Which American Cable TV channels are doing the best job of reporting global catastrophic threats?
- In the last hours of 2005, Japanese viewers revolted against a 2012 prophecy program aired by the Asahi Television Network, a major Japanese network. What happened, and why is it an important lesson for the American media?
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