Flash Forward

Today we travel to a future where you can plop your head onto a brand new body.  Guests: Dr. Sergio Canavero — neurosurgeon & aspiring human head transplanter Dr. Zaev Suskin — doctor & bioethicist Dr. Paul Root Wolpe — director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University → → → Further reading & resources here! ← ← ←  How to get involved in the movement against police brutality. Flash...

Today we travel to a future where celebrities construct their own cities for you and I to live in.  Guests: Jon Karas — President and Co-Founder at Akoin Dr. Katherine P. Antonova — Associate Professor of Russian history at Queens College Brittany Spanos — senior writer at Rolling Stone Magazine → → → Further reading & resources here! ← ← ←  Flash Forward is produced by me, Rose Eveleth . The...

Today we celebrate the FIVE YEAR anniversary of the podcast. Whoa. To celebrate, I reached out to every single person who you’ve ever heard on the podcast — every expert, every voice actor, and even a few patrons — and asked them one question: what would you say to someone living 50 years from now? Here’s what they said. Guests: Alice Wong, Amy Slaton, Angeli Fitch, Arielle Duhaime-Ross, Ashley Sh...

Today we travel to a future where darkness is a thing of the past. No more night, no more stars, no more deep inky black sky. What happens when we light everything up? Guests: Dr. John Barentine — director of public policy at the International Dark Sky Association Rebecca Boyle — science journalist Dr. Lucianne Walkowicz — astronomer at the Adler Planetarium Dr. Sarah Pritchard — historian at Corn...

Today we travel to a future where software engineers didn’t actually fix any of the Y2K bugs. What would have happened if we had ignored the problem? What lessons does Y2K have for us, and why are people worried about 2038 and 2100?   Guests: Peter de Jager — author of “Doomsday 2000” and Y2K town crier.  Dr. Andy Michael — geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Earthquake Science Center J...

Hi again! I’m back with one more of these update episodes. Today we cover the growing “flight shame” movement, some interesting developments in the genetic genealogy space, and what’s going on with the 2020 Census.  New official, legit, Flash Forward episodes begin again on April 14th!  Sources: Susanna Elfors: founder, Tagsemester Peter Aldhous: reporter, BuzzFeed News Hansi Lo Wang : reporter, N...

Today is a very special ~~surprise~~ episode! I’ve been thinking about how to revisit old episodes, and give you folks updates on things that have happened since we covered certain futures. Sometimes things warrant more than a social media post, but not quite a whole new episode. So here’s a little experiment! On this episode, we revisit three futures and you get some juicy, fresh updates. We talk...

Today we travel to a future where a coalition of concerned mothers convinces the United States to shut off the Internet.  Guests: Philip Elmer‑DeWitt , journalist  Chipo Dendere , assistant orofessor of Africana Studies, Wellesley College Tim Maughan , author of Infinite Detail Actors: Billy’s mother -- Tamara Krinsky → → → Further reading on today’s episode can be found here ← ← ← Content Notes [...

Today’s episode is about a future in which China supplants the US as the dominant world superpower. Is it imminent? What does a China-led world look like? And why are so many people worried about it? Guests: Meredith Oyen , professor of history and director of Asian studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Gina Tam , professor of history at Trinity University  Linda Yueh , economist...

Today’s episode is about nuclear fusion, a technology that might save us all or might be a complete waste of time and money.  Guests: Charles Seife , professor at NYU and author of Sun in a Bottle: The Strange History of Fusion and the Science of Wishful Thinking Sabina Griffith , communications officer at ITER Nicholas Evans , professor of ethics at UMass Lowell Michael Wahid Hanna , senior fello...

It’s the 100th episode!!!!!! To mix things up, today we’re traveling to the 1919 to see how three different events shaped the last 100 years, and will continue to shape the future.  🚨🚨🚨 New merch!!! 🚨🚨🚨 Guests: Cathleen D. Cahill , professor of history at Penn State University Adam Green , professor of history at the University of Chicago Virginia Scharff , professor of history at the Univer...

Today we travel to a future where we can travel through time. Is it possible? Would you kill Hitler? Would it matter?  Guests: Annalee Newitz , science journalist and author of The Future of Another Timeline Bryan Méndez , astronomer at UC Berkeley  Donna Rose Addis , psychologist at the University of Toronto Actors: Tamara Krinsky as Dr. Catherine Moore (watch her show Tomorrow's World Today !) M...

On today’s episode we take everything we’ve learned so far about the future of crime, and take it to space.  Guests: Loren Grush — senior space reporter at The Verge Michelle Hanlon — associate director of the National Center for Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi and co-founder of For All Moonkind . Erika Nesvold — astrophysicist and developer for Universe Sandbox Lucianne Walkowi...

Today’s episode is about the future of forensics: what happens when just a few skin cells can make you suspect number one?  Guests: Raychelle Burks — professor of chemistry at St. Edward’s University Kelley Kulick — deputy public defender at the Santa Clara Public Defender’s Office Mitra Sharafi — professor of law at University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School Mary Graw Leary — professor of law at...

Today we travel to a future where algorithms can be put on trial.  Guests: Rumman Chowdhury -- Global Lead for Responsible AI at Accenture Applied Intelligence Kevin De Liban -- attorney at Legal Aid or Arkansas  Nicholson Price -- assistant professor of law at University of Michigan Shobita Parthasarathy -- professor of public policy and women’s studies at University of Michigan Actors: Evan John...

Today we travel to a future where satellites can catch criminals. Guests: Sarah Parcak , professor of anthropology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and author of Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes our Past Jamon Van Den Hoek , professor of geography at Oregon State University Wenyao Xu , professor of computer science at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo Actors...

Today we travel to a future where your face can be held against you. Guests: Brandeis Marshall -- data scientist & professor at Spelman College Matt Cagle -- attorney, ACLU Northern California  Keith Kaplan -- councilman, Teaneck, NJ Ankita Shukla -- PhD candidate, IIIT Delhi Actors: Evan Johnson as Mr. MortonDavid Romero as DavidAsh Greenberg as AshSantos Flores as SantosCharlie Chalmers as C...

Today we travel to a future where dying isn’t the end. What if you could live on as a simulation? A bot that knows everything you’ve ever said, and can pretend to be you? 🚨 BECOME A PATRON BEFORE JUNE 30TH AND GET A SPECIAL REWARD! 🚨 Guests: James Vlahos — journalist & author of Talk to Me: How Voice Computing Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Think Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad — researc...

Today we travel to a future where we can swap bodies with one another. Would you trade places with someone? Do you own your body?  Guests: Calvin Gimpelevich — writer, author of “Rent, Don’t Sell” Sav Schlauderaff — PhD student, University of Arizona, co-founder Queer Futures Collective Krizia Puig — PhD student, UC Santa Cruz, co-founder Queer Futures Collective Susan Gelman — professor of psycho...

Today we travel to a future where all animal testing is banned. What are the alternatives? What can we do without using animals, and what can’t we do?  → → → Further reading on today’s episode can be found here ← ← ← Guests: Janet D. Stemwedel -- professor of philosophy at San Jose State University Lawrence Carter Long -- communications director at the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fun...

Today we travel to a future where we can tattoo sensors right onto our skin. What happens when you can get a live readout of everything from glucose to hormones to hydration levels built into a tattoo? What kind of privacy can you expect when your medical data is literally written on your skin? And what does any of this have to do with Inspector Gadget and René Descartes?   → → → Further reading o...

Today we travel to a future where humans can see at night. What happens when we expand our vision out into the darkness? How does that impact everything from work, to architecture, to poaching to horror movies? And is it even possible? → → → Further reading on today’s episode can be found here ← ← ← 🚨 BECOME A PATRON BEFORE JUNE 30TH AND GET A SPECIAL REWARD! 🚨 Guests: Gang Han -- researcher at...

Today we travel to a future where fisheries collapse world wide, and we turn the ocean into a giant farm.  Guests: Amanda Nickson : director of international fisheries at The Pew Charitable Trusts Daniel Pauly : professor University of British Columbia, principal investigator at Sea Around Us , author of Vanishing Fish: Shifting Baselines and the Future of Global Fisheries Bernard Friedman: founde...

Today we travel to a future where we try to break up with cement. Can it be done? How did cement because so ubiquitous? And what’s so bad about cement in the first place? Guests:Grady Hillhouse: civil engineer and host of Practical Engineering Robbie Andrew: senior researcher at CICERO Center for International Climate Research Amy Slaton: historian at Drexel University and author of Reinforced Con...

Today, we travel to the deserts. Or, actually, the deserts travel to us. What happens if dust swallows up over 30% of the planet? → → → Background reading, source material and other links here ← ← ← As air pollution gets worse, a dystopian accessory is born ← My piece on face masks mentioned in the episode!  Guests:Sumant Nigam: climate researcher at University of Maryland Morgan Gorris: PhD candi...