How We Future: Stories of Hope, Hype, and Gratitude

What does it look like to prioritize loving kindness, support for others’ success, and rest with intention? In this episode of How We Future , Lisa is talking with Rabbi Shira Stutman, a nationally recognized rabbi, author of The Jewish Way to a Good Life and host of the podcast Chutzpod! Shira is the full-time rabbi of Aspen Jewish Congregation and the former Founding Rabbi of Sixth & I Histo...

In the Season 4 premiere of How We Future , Lisa Kay Solomon talks with Alison Levine, polar explorer, mountaineer, leadership educator, and author of On the Edge , to explore what courage really looks like when the stakes are extreme. From leading the first American women’s Everest expedition to skiing to both the North and South Poles as part of the Adventure Grand Slam, Alison operates at the e...

What do you do when the world changes faster than you can make sense of it? The Season 3 finale of How We Future features Stanford educators Scott Doorley and Carissa Carter for a conversation about design, technology, and what it actually means to adapt in a moment of runaway change. Scott and Carissa are the creative and academic leaders behind Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design and t...

“The absence of intentionality is a recipe for resentment.” This episode of How We Future features Erica Keswin, a longtime advocate for human-centered leadership and the author of Bring Your Human to Work , Rituals Roadmap , and The Retention Revolution . Lisa and Erica explore how leaders can intentionally design work environments that honor connection, dignity, and trust in an era defined by AI...

What kind of leadership do we need right now? In this episode of How We Future , Lisa sits down with cognitive scientist and host of The Psychology Podcast Scott Barry Kaufman and longtime technology strategist Chris Shipley to explore what it means to lead with humanity in a world shaped by AI, uncertainty, and nonstop change. The conversation centers on their upcoming book, Leading for Tomorrow...

“Curation is putting two pieces in dialogue with each other. And there’s a dynamism to that.” — Sanyin Siang In this episode of How We Future , Lisa is joined by Sanyin Siang, one of today’s most influential voices on human-centered leadership. Drawing on her work as Executive Director of the Coach K Center on Leadership & Ethics at Duke University, Sanyin shares how we can build trust, foster...

Why are people inside the same organization planning for completely different futures? In this episode of How We Future , Lisa talks with foresight expert Sabrina Sullivan about what futures work looks like beyond buzzwords and trend decks. Drawing on her experience working with global organizations, like Ford Motor Company and Deloitte, Sabrina explains how shared future scenarios help teams surf...

Is your time being wasted? Or are you wasting others’ time? So often, it seems that calendars fill up, processes multiply, and simple tasks become unnecessarily hard. In this episode, Bob Sutton joins Lisa Kay Solomon to examine how friction shows up at work: the meetings that shouldn’t exist, the processes that are way too complicated, and the small design choices that quietly shape whether peopl...

What happens when you stop accepting the rules you’ve been handed and start redesigning the game itself? Cassidy Lichtman is a former U.S. National Team volleyball player, gender equity advocate, and the leader of professional volleyball at Athletes Unlimited. In this episode, Cassidy and Lisa explore what it takes to build futures that don’t yet exist, even when the system seems rigid. Cassidy sh...

How can you use your opportunities to benefit everyone? In this episode of How We Future , Lisa talks with Chase Griffin, former quarterback at UCLA, 2x NIL Male Athlete of the Year, and a leading voice in the evolution of college athletics. Chase shares how he learned to navigate moments of change—from NIL to civic engagement—by centering and designing for collective value. Together, they explore...

Communication anxiety is real. It’s time to start practicing. This episode of How We Future , features Matt Abrahams, Stanford lecturer and host of the Think Fast, Talk Smart podcast. Lisa and Matt explore how effective communication is a learnable skill and why we’re rarely taught how to practice it. Matt shares the frameworks he teaches to every incoming Stanford MBA to help them speak more conf...

What if you can learn to be lucky? In our first episode of season 3, Lisa Kay Solomon is joined by author, educator, and neuroscientist Tina Seelig to explore how curiosity, generosity, and small daily choices can dramatically expand what’s possible over time. Drawing from decades of teaching at Stanford and her forthcoming book What I Wish I Knew About Luck , Tina reframes luck as a skill that ca...

Build the bridge to connect your community’s gaps. Lisa is closing out season 2 with Olatunde Sobomehin (Tunde), co-founder and CEO of StreetCode Academy and co-author of Creative Hustle . Tunde believes that underrepresented communities should be participating in the upside of technology instead of being excluded from it. StreetCode's mission is to hack, hustle, and design the future to bridge th...

Are sci-fi stories the key to a better future? This week’s episode of How We Future features Ruth Wylie and Ed Finn, co-directors of the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University. For nearly 15 years, they've been running what might be the most unusual university center in the country, one that brings together science fiction writers, scientists, artists, and engineers to...

Are you being a good ancestor? This episode of How We Future features public philosopher Roman Krznaric, author of The Good Ancestor and History for Tomorrow , to explore how we can break free from short-term thinking and start planning in generations, not quarters. Roman argues we all have two competing forces. The marshmallow brain seeks instant gratification. The acorn brain enables long-term t...

The future is a paradox we have to learn to hold. In this episode of How We Future , Lisa Kay Solomon is joined by Pascal Finette, Co-Founder of radical , an organization that offers strategic advice to help leaders build organizations that strengthen under stress instead of breaking. Over nearly three decades, Pascal has led transformations at eBay, Mozilla, and Google, and he brings refreshing h...

The best way to unstick the present is to think further into the future. In this episode of How We Future , Lisa Kay Solomon sits down with Aditi Juneja, Executive Director of Democracy 2076, to explore how thinking 50 years ahead can break down current obstacles and make seemingly unrealistic hopes feel very possible. Democracy 2076 helps us plan democracy not for the next election cycle, but for...

Can graphic design be a force for good? In this episode of How We Future , Lisa sits down with Franzi Sessler, the co-founder of global design agency Kreatives, to explore how design, storytelling, and creativity can shape better futures. Recently, Franzi, and her team have made stunning sports explainers for the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. Their collaboration with Allianz and the...

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” For our first-ever live audience recording of How We Future , Lisa Kay Solomon sat down with architect and author Chad Oppenheim at Book Passage in San Francisco. The conversation centers around Chad’s book RIDE: The Iconic Wheels of the Silver Screen and the vehicles that became emotional anchors in fi...

Film's most iconic cars are also invitations to the future. On January 28, Lisa will be hosting a live taping of How We Future featuring architect and cultural visionary Chad Oppenheim, celebrating his new book RIDE: The Iconic Wheels of the Silver Screen . They'll be gathering at Book Passage in San Francisco's Ferry Building for an evening that blends design, film, and imagination. Chad’s work e...

Sometimes the fastest way to clarity is to start drawing. In this episode of How We Future , Lisa Kay Solomon sits down with visual thinking pioneer Dan Roam to explore how simple sketches can bring clarity to complexity. Dan, author of The Back of the Napkin and five other bestselling books, shares how visual thinking strengthens problem-solving, communication, and our sense of agency in an uncer...

In serious times, play can be one of our most powerful tools. In this episode of How We Future , Lisa talks with Jill Vialet, social entrepreneur, author of Why Play Works , and founder of Playworks, about why play belongs at the center of how we lead, learn, and navigate complexity. Jill covers her journey to building an organization that transformed recess into a source of connection, trust, and...

Can changing your mindset increase your lifespan? To kick off season two of How We Future , Lisa sits down with Chip Conley, entrepreneur, bestselling author, and founder of Modern Elder Academy. Chip has spent decades helping people rethink aging, midlife, and what it really means to live life to the fullest. In their conversation, Chip and Lisa explore the idea of the “midlife chrysalis” and why...

You can’t be a leader unless you’re a continuous learner. In this special Season 1 closer, Lisa is joined by her mom, Dr. Bonnie Kay! Bonnie is many things: consultant, psychologist, continuous learner, competitive golfer, and lifelong inventor of her own path. Together, they revisit the choices, relationships, and philosophies that shaped Bonnie’s unconventional career and deeply influenced Lisa’...

The future is being built in the spaces most of us never learned to see. In this episode, Lisa talks with journalist and entrepreneur Jennifer Brandel. Jennifer is the co-founder of Zebras Unite , and creator of the Interstitium , a theory of the hidden connective work that keeps communities, movements, and systems alive. Jenn has spent her career naming the “in-between” roles that make change pos...