The Wicked Opportunities Podcast

Let’s talk about menopause. Not because this is a medical podcast, but because menopause is one of the most powerful, under-examined, and culturally misunderstood transitions we have. And it perfectly captures what this episode is really about: liminality , the space where you are no longer what you were, but not yet what you’re becoming... and where magical possibilities abound! In this Spill, Yv...

What does a slaughterhouse have to do with your org chart? In this episode of The Intentional Spill , Yvette and Frank trace one of modernity’s quiet organizational origin stories: Henry Ford borrowing the logic of the slaughterhouse to build the assembly line and, in the process, embedding segmentation, efficiency, and divide-and-conquer thinking into the DNA of our institutions . We’ve been livi...

In this episode of The Intentional Spill , Yvette and Frank tell the story behind a question that still lingers in foresight work: “Robots, really?” It was said years ago (half skeptical, half dismissive) after a scenario exercise meant to stretch imagination rather than confirm comfort. And it perfectly captures why foresight so often fails when it’s treated as prediction instead of preparation ....

In this episode of The Intentional Spill , Yvette and Frank take on one of foresight’s most comfortable habits (and biggest risks): the “Top 10 Trends” list . Using pop culture, collective joy, and the phenomenon of cultural movements (yes, including Taylor Swift) as a starting point, the conversation explores why what’s trending on Google, LinkedIn, or mainstream media is often the least interest...

In this episode of The Intentional Spill , Yvette and Frank confront a growing global pattern: the attempt to defang the future by controlling language . Sparked by an expanding list of government-banned words (from equity and race to climate and identity) the conversation explores what happens when imagination, meaning-making, and collective agency are treated as threats . This isn’t a U.S.-only...

In this episode of The Intentional Spill , Yvette and Frank take aim at how transformation has been hijacked and turned into a crisis response, a reorg strategy, or a last-ditch effort to save a sinking ship. Sparked by a recent Harvard Business Review call to “stop doing transformation,” the conversation asks a deeper question: What if transformation isn’t the problem, but how we’ve been co-optin...

Welcome to the 2026 season of the Wicked Opportunities podcast - launching The Intentional Spill , a weekly series of 15-minute, digestible, raw conversations (less prep, more truth). In the kickoff episode, Yvette Montero Salvatico and Frank Spencer (aka Dr. Juicy Owl) call out “ marketed renewal ” and the New Year, New You productivity trap, then make the case for Intentional Evolution : getting...

The traditional approach to a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) environment has often involved attempts to eliminate uncertainty, simplify complexity, and overcome volatility and ambiguity. This relies on mindsets and systems built on ideas like strategic hindsight, efficiency, simplicity, certainty, and control . Recent events have highlighted that these existing systems are inef...

In this formative interview, TFSX co-founder Frank Spencer speaks with world-renowned social systems scientist, futurist, cultural historian, attorney, consultant, speaker, and author Riane Eisler, diving deep into the (re)framing of a society built upon cooperation, partnership, and deep care. As she states during the conversation, the belief that humans are inherently competitive, egocentric, an...

The urban legend of Generational Warfare has haunted us all for far too long, and it’s high time that we pull the mask off of this specter that has caused so much age-related fear and loathing. During this month's WO Live!, we are exploring the idea of the People Cloud where we can connect with individuals around the globe based on shared passions and goals rather than the outdated construct...

In the world of foresight, we’re no strangers to complex challenges. But perhaps none feels as pervasive and daunting as the “Tragedy of the Commons.” This age-old narrative of scarcity and competition for limited resources shapes our decisions, our systems, and often, our very outlook on the future. As activist and founder Adrianne Wright says, “the scarcity mindset is how we tell a fundamentally...

Welcome to 2025… it’s time for Wicked Opportunities® to take the stage! As we begin our collective journey down the path of the new year, it’s imperative that we seek out new minds, new hearts, and new spirits – not only for ourselves, but for one another as well. However, this will mean that we will be defying gravity, soaring beyond the hold that a world in crisis has on our minds. With the coll...

“The revolution will not be televised. The revolution will be live.” – Gil Scott-Heron Real transformation doesn’t come from headlines or top-down decisions. It happens in the hearts, minds, and actions of people – of us. Join Yvette Montero Salvatico and Frank W. Spencer IV for a dynamic Wicked Opportunities® Live! session as we explore: 🔹 How love, empathy, and activism fuel real change  🔹 Why...

Sophie Strand – one of our favorite thinkers, writers, and “life-weavers” – shared in her article entitled “Myco Eco Mytho” that, “Stories don’t belong to human beings. But human beings belong to stories. Let’s enter back into the complex, tangled work of letting go of authorship and letting ourselves be told.” This call to rewild our role across time, space, and experience – past, present, and fu...

In this episode of the Wicked Opportunities® Podcast, TFSX Principal Frank Spencer speaks with physician, aquanaut, dive medical technician, speaker, martial artist, skydiver, and VP of Immersive Medicine at Luxsonic Technologies, Dr. Shawna Pandya. Dr. Shawna Pandya has a vision for shaping the future of medicine through transdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. 

Breaking free from conventional thinking, TFSX Principal Frank Spencer delves into futures through an "art-based" lens with ARTEFACTO Founders Andrea Busquets and Pablo Reyes Arellano. Explore their innovative approach, liberating us to envision new futures, "dream ourselves awake," and contribute to cultural evolution through civic participation. 

TFSX Co-Founder Frank Spencer discusses her new book, Combining , in-depth with Nora Bateson. Listen as Nora discusses poems, passages, and concepts from her book that reinforce our need to elevate our sacred connection to the cosmic whole to discover/engage with understand/undergo ancestral and generational transformation.

We know… it’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way. (At least that’s what Mac Davis said back in 1980, and when was he ever wrong?). Nevertheless, we all need to realize that we hold only a small part of the larger human, planetary, and cosmic story, and such a realization will attune us to the deeper picture within various situations, as well as helping us to take our personal viewp...

When you think about the future, does the idea of connection come to mind? It did for Kermit the Frog! (Well, at least in relation to rainbows, lovers, and dreamers). In reality, connection is a critical mindset when it comes to practicing rigorous foresight. Exploring alternative possibilities through the lens of ecosystems, interconnectedness, and the “larger whole” - past, present, and yet-to-c...

Y ou are about to enter another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop… the Relating dimension! (Thank you for letting us include a Twilight Zone reference - this is a foresight podcast, after all.) Our first stop in this new dimension within the Inner Development Goals: Appreciation, a skill, and trait that enables...

In this last episode within the Thinking dimension of the Inner Development Goals, TWOP hosts Yvette Montero Salvatico and Frank Spencer get to talk about their favorite subject: Kevin Bacon! Correction… we meant to say “visioning.” (But who doesn’t also love a good 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon story?) Embodying the trait of visioning is about much more than supercharging our imaginations for greater...

You want a story? Ok, “Once upon a time, there were two crazy but incredibly smart podcast hosts who loved to talk about the future…” Oh, you want us to help you find the stories all around you? Well, why didn’t you say so? We love to empower people to look for the puzzle pieces, the interconnections, and the patterns that make up the stories that are actually shaping our realities. This is what i...

Are you curious about our next episode in the 23 and Me series? If so, you’re in luck because this one’s all about being more open and curious. (See what we did there?) Our present-day political, social, and economic landscapes have created an unfavorable environment for fostering perspectives that are culturally rich and tend to narrow our assumptions and blind spots. This means that we have to b...

In most contexts today, from businesses to governments to social development, we’re told to view complexity as our mortal enemy - crush it, vanquish it, overcome it, and do everything in our power to simplify it. How would you feel if we told you this is the opposite of what you should be doing? (Obviously, that’s exactly what we’re about to do!) For many years, we’ve allowed a landscape built on...

We’re now entering the “Thinking” dimension of the Inner Development Goals. If you weren’t already 100% convinced that the 23 traits and skills highlighted in the IDGs are the same attributes necessary for robust futuring, then these next several podcasts should do the trick. (Honestly, what else do you want from us, friends!) In this episode, Yvette and Frank take a critical look - very meta of u...