Dave Ackley is a very smooth presenter, and I love how he broke the 4th wall slideshow conceit in the second video. I presume he had a monitor off at 90 degrees to direct his gaze in register with ours as we watch. Thanks for introducing me to his work, @dana-edwards.

You would enjoy the work going on at NSF's BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action. They developed the artificial life platform Avida, among other things. https://www3.beacon-center.org