What It Takes To Build The Future

We often think of the future as something brand new — an unknowable horizon that will burst onto the scene in years or decades, fueled by sudden and unexpected breakthroughs. But in reality, our progress toward the future is much more incremental, pushed forward little by little by an army of innovators and tinkerers. And yet, despite that, many of us still struggle to envision what that future will look like, and how we’ll get there.

On this episode, we explore what it takes to create the future, and how we can shape our own destiny.

We hear about why some innovations, from flying cars to robot butlers, still haven’t quite materialized, how futurists go about forecasting what’s coming next, and a new vision of our climate future that ditches doom and gloom for a greener picture.

ALSO HEARD:

• We talk with science journalist Nicole Kobie about why the future promised by The Jetsons, from flying cars to robot butlers, still hasn’t materialized — or at least not in the ways we expected. Her new book is “The Long History of the Future: Why Tomorrow’s Technology Still Isn’t Here.”
• We hear from a hobby pilot who owns one of just a handful of BlackFly aircrafts. They are the size of a compact car, and can take off nearly vertically, hover and fly backwards.
• Predicting the future may seem more like it belongs in the domain of magic than science – but, as reporter Alan Yu discovers, there’s a craft that futurists and trend forecasters rely on to envision what comes next.
• When it comes to climate change, most predictions we hear are all doom and gloom — but marine biologist and conservation strategist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson says that’s the wrong tack to take. We talk with Johnson about the rosier future she envisions, and why it could ultimately be part of the solution. Johnson’s new book is “What If We Get It Right? Vision of Climate Futures.”