New Realities, September 20, 2025
In this episode, the hosts Alan Steinfeld and Suzanne Ross interview Rizwan Virk, author of ‘The Simulation Hypothesis.’ They explore the idea that physical reality operates like a multiplayer virtual reality game, drawing parallels between ancient spiritual concepts like Maya and modern video game mechanics. The conversation covers how a simulation mindset can help individuals reframe life’s challenges, the nature of UFOs and synchronicities as programmed phenomena, and the potential for human consciousness to upgrade to new abilities such as telepathy.
Guest, RIZWAN “RIZ” VIRK
Rizwan (“Riz”) Virk is a pioneering futurist at the intersection of technology, consciousness, and imagination. A successful entrepreneur, prolific investor, bestselling author, and video game industry innovator, Riz holds a B.S. in Computer Science from MIT and an M.S. in Management from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, and is currently pursuing a PhD at Arizona State University’s College of Global Futures, researching AI, the metaverse, and virtual worlds at the Center for Science and the Imagination. He teaches engineering and innovation at ASU, has served as a visiting researcher at the University of Cambridge’s Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, and founded Play Labs at MIT, a leading startup accelerator housed in the MIT Game Lab. A venture partner at Griffin Gaming Partners and founder of Bayview Labs, Riz has invested in and advised dozens of influential companies including Discord, Tapjoy, Telltale Games, Pocket Gems, Theta Labs, Moon Express, and more, while creating hit games such as Tap Fish and Grimm: Cards of Fate. He is also an accomplished indie film producer, with credits including Thrive, Sirius, Knights of Badassdom, and adaptations of works by Philip K. Dick and Ursula K. Le Guin. Riz is the author of influential books including The Simulation Hypothesis, The Simulated Multiverse, Zen Entrepreneurship, and Startup Myths & Models, and hosts the podcast The Simulated Universe, exploring ideas at the edge of science, philosophy, and science fiction. A sought-after speaker and media voice, he has appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience, Coast to Coast AM, The History Channel, Gaia TV, and CNN, and has been featured by NBC News, Scientific American, BBC Science Focus, The Wall Street Journal, and many others, bringing rare clarity to humanity’s biggest questions about reality, intelligence, and the future.
New Realities
New Realities has been the leading edge, new Consciousness cable program broadcast from New York for the last 12 years. The series is hosted & produced by Alan Steinfeld. I firmly believe that – ‘A mind stretched to new realities never returns to its original dimension.’ - Alan Steinfeld New Realities is dedicated to exploring evolving human potentials in an evolving world. This series explores the idea of how to become more conscious beings. We present programs that invite the viewer to look at automatic behaviors and take free reign of their body, mind and spirit so that we can hope to inhabit and create a better world.
This program is constantly on the look out for new and different perspectives in achieving a greater and more peaceful reality for the planet. It is about embracing a synthesis of rational understanding with mystical awareness. We must continually be on watch for ways in which we may enlarge our consciousness. We must not attempt to limit our slice of the world, which is given us, but we must somehow learn how to transform it and transfigure it.
