In this episode, hope, and how it enables us to look beyond what seems possible. For more on the book Future Rising: A Journey from the Past to the Edge of Tomorrow, check out http://futurerisingbook.com This is the last in the current series of Future Rising. For more 9and there is a lot more), please do check out the book! Host: Professor Andrew Maynard Web: http://andrewmaynard.net Twitter: http://twitter.com/2020science Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/literallyandrewmaynard/

In this episode, we move on from despair to possibility, and how the possible opens up pathways to the futures we aspire to. For more on the book Future Rising: A Journey from the Past to the Edge of Tomorrow, check out http://futurerisingbook.com We’ll be positing new episodes of Future each Monday. Please subscribe on your favorite podcast platform if you don’t want to miss them. And please do leave us a review! Host: Professor Andrew Maynard Web: http://andrewmaynard.net Twitter:...

In this episode, how despair and the future are connected, and what this means for how we think about how our actions impact the lives of others. For more on the book Future Rising: A Journey from the Past to the Edge of Tomorrow, check out http://futurerisingbook.com We’ll be positing new episodes of Future each Monday. Please subscribe on your favorite podcast platform if you don’t want to miss them. And please do leave us a review! Host: Professor Andrew Maynard Web:...

In this episode, we tackle one of the most painful but foundational aspects of the future and our relationship with it: Loss. Read more about Sandy Peckinpah here – while this episode draws on her experiences to highlight the connection between loss and our relationship with future, her story is also one of hope and light: https://www.sandypeckinpah.com/pages/about-Sandy For more on the book Future Rising: A Journey from the Past to the Edge of Tomorrow, check out...

In this episode, we begin to take a walk on the dark side of the future, starting with fear. We’ll be continuing along this darker – but important – path next week as we tackle despair. But we do get to Hope in a couple of episodes’ time, so stick in there! While we’re talking about fear, here’s a short video on how, rather than being ruled by fear, we can learn to better balance it with our reason: https://news.asu.edu/content/andrew-maynard-fear For more on the book Future Rising: A...

In this episode, how art is connected to the how we think about the future and fuels our imagination of what is possible. If you’re interested in the idea of minimalistic art, here’s a short piece in Vox about all-white paintings. To me, the value of these is subtler and deeper than is indicated in the article, but it’s an interesting staring point: https://www.openculture.com/2019/01/the-artistry-behind-an-all-white-painting.html For more on the book Future Rising: A Journey from the...

In this episode, how our creativity enables to build bridges toward the future we aspire to. To read more about the 2018 World Economic Future Forum Jobs Report, check out the link here: https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-future-of-jobs-report-2018 For more on the book Future Rising: A Journey from the Past to the Edge of Tomorrow, check out http://futurerisingbook.com We’ll be positing new episodes of Future each Monday. Please subscribe on your favorite podcast platform if you don’t...

In this episode, how our curiosity makes us delightfully discontent with what we know, and why this is important to how we think about the future and our roles in influencing it. If you're curious to find out more about NASA’s Curiosity rover, check out the mission details and images here: https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/home/  For more on the book Future Rising: A Journey from the Past to the Edge of Tomorrow, check out http://futurerisingbook.com We’ll be positing new episodes of Future each...

In this episode, how our imagination enables us to envision different futures, and inspires us to create them.  For an interesting take on imagination, check out this New York Times article on The Awesome Importance of Imagination: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/11/opinion/imagination-empathy.html For more on the book Future Rising: A Journey from the Past to the Edge of Tomorrow, check out http://futurerisingbook.com We’ll be positing new episodes of Future each Monday. Please...

In this episode, we dive into the sometimes contentious but ever-present topic of faith, and how this connects us to the future; whether faith in God, faith in humanity, or simply faith in the scientific methods we use to try and peer into the future. For an interesting take on “reasonable faith” it’s worth checking out this short blog post featuring physicist Paul Davies: https://www.worldviewsummit.org/post/scientists-have-faith For more on the book Future Rising: A Journey from the Past...

In this first episode of season 2, we start to look at what makes us uniquely human – starting with our feelings. If you're interested in an intriguing perspective on feelings and the future, you might want to check out this article that asks how people feel about the future, from an exhibit hosted by the V&A Museum in London: https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/how-do-you-feel-about-the-future For more on the book Future Rising: A Journey from the Past to the Edge of Tomorrow, check out...

If you’ve been listening to season one of Future Rising, you’ll know that most podcast episodes are short and hopefully insightful and engaging readings from the book Future Rising. This episode is different – it’s a lot longer for a start. As we’re currently in between seasons, I thought I’d post a bonus episode that captures some of the thinking and reasoning behind the book and the podcast. This episode is based on a TEDx talk that was scheduled to take place in early 2020, but was...

In this episode, which is also the last in this season of Future Rising, we begin pulling together the threads from the past few weeks as we explore how reason helps us not only peer into the future, but begin to design it. If you’ve enjoyed listening, please subscribe and let others know. And season 2 will be here before you know it! For more on the book Future Rising: A Journey from the Past to the Edge of Tomorrow, check out http://futurerisingbook.com We’ll be positing new episodes of...

In this episode we consider how knowledge fuels our understanding of the future and our various relationships to it. Read, listen to and watch J. F. Kennedy’s 1962 Moon speech here: https://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm For more on the book Future Rising: A Journey from the Past to the Edge of Tomorrow, check out http://futurerisingbook.com We’ll be positing new episodes of Future Rising on Monday’s Wednesday’s and Fridays. Please subscribe on your favorite podcast platform if you don’t...

In this episode we explore an aspect of our connection with the future that is both highly important, and extremely hard to pin down: intelligence. For more on intelligence, check out Hank Green’s Crash Course video on the topic – highly recommended: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xTz3QjcloI  For more on the book Future Rising: A Journey from the Past to the Edge of Tomorrow, check out http://futurerisingbook.com We’ll be positing new episodes of Future Rising on Monday’s Wednesday’s and...

In today’s episode of Future Rising, we consider how intention affects not only how we think about the future, but our attitudes toward changing it. In this episode I refer to the Terminator movies, and John Connor’s famous line “The future is not set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves.” It is, admittedly, a bit of a trivial link, but it does illuminate the difference between being passive versus active participants in crafting the future. It’s also a subtle nod to my...

In today’s episode of Future Rising we look at how learning allows us to move beyond instinct as we navigate the future. Today’s podcast mentions the British scientist Michael Faraday. You can find out more about this highly influential yet often overlooked experimenter here: https://www.aaas.org/genius-michael-faraday    For more on the book Future Rising: A Journey from the Past to the Edge of Tomorrow, check out http://futurerisingbook.com We’ll be positing new episodes of Future Rising...

In today’s episode of Future Rising we consider how memory is vital to connecting past effects with future causes, and how as a result it is essential to our ability to build a better future. One of the stories mentioned in this episode is that of British musician Clive Wearing. You can read more about Wearing and how his memory loss profoundly affected his life in this quite compelling piece by Oliver Sachs: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/09/24/the-abyss  For more on the book...

In today’s episode of Future Rising we consider the fundamental importance of how cause and effect govern the threads between past and future, and our ability to impact the future through our actions. One of the trickier aspects of causality is where correlation—an apparent relationship between two things—is mistaken for a cause-effect relationship. We don’t go into this in the podcast, but if you’re interested in some of the weirder examples of correlation that has nothing to do with...

In today’s episode of Future Rising we consider something we all rely on, and yet can get us into trouble as we build a future that’s very different from the past: instinct. If you’re interested in more on human behavior – and this touches on instinct but goes far beyond it – I’d highly recommend this talk by Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman on system 1 and system 2 thinking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjVQJdIrDJ0 For more on the book Future Rising: A Journey from the Past to the Edge...

In today’s episode of Future Rising we look at a basic evolutionary trait that lies at the heart of how we’re connected with the future: Anticipation. And if you’re interested, here’s more on Paul the Octopus: https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/paul-the-octopus-scientific-or-psychic/ For more on the book Future Rising: A Journey from the Past to the Edge of Tomorrow, check out http://futurerisingbook.com We’ll be positing new episodes of Future Rising on Monday’s Wednesday’s and Fridays....

In today’s episode of Future Rising we begin to journey from the world of physics to the world of biology, and the remarkable future-changing power of evolution. For a highly recommended primer on evolution, check out this Crash Course video by John Green, Hank Green, and Emily Graslie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92oHNd8vFwo For more on the book Future Rising: A Journey from the Past to the Edge of Tomorrow, check out http://futurerisingbook.com We’ll be positing new episodes of...

In today’s episode of Future Rising we dive into an intriguing theory developed by MIT professor Jeremy England that ties together entropy and the emergence of life on earth. You can read more about England’s ideas in this Scientific American article from 2014: A New Physics Theory of Life: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-new-physics-theory-of-life/ For more on the book Future Rising: A Journey from the Past to the Edge of Tomorrow, check out...

In today’s episode of Future Rising we explore that most elusive and yet important of concepts when it comes to the future: Entropy. For more on entropy, I’d highly recommend this video from Crash Course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsY4WcQOrfk For more on the book Future Rising: A Journey from the Past to the Edge of Tomorrow, check out http://futurerisingbook.com We’ll be positing new episodes of Future Rising on Monday’s Wednesday’s and Fridays. Please subscribe on your favorite...