Future Tense

Terms like "Gen Z", "Boomer" and "Millennial" are popular, but they have no basis in science. Demographers and social scientists are now pushing back. Generational labelling, they argue, is akin to Astrology and while politicians, journalists and media influencers find them irresistible, they actually promote pseudo-science, sew social division and can reinforce prejudicial stereotypes. So why are generational labels so popular? Original broadcast on February 9, 2025. Guests Professor Bobby Duffy — Director of the Policy Institute, King's College London. Author of The Generation Myth. Professor Philip Coen — Professor of Sociology, University of Maryland Professor Crystal Abidin — digital anthropologist and ethnographer of vernacular internet cultures, Curtin University Professor David Costanza — Professor of Commerce, University of Virginia Further information Philip Coen’s open letter to Pew Research Center on generation labels  Pew Research Center's response

It certainly feels like a very shouty world. But have we really reached a new low point in civility? And, if so, where to from here? We examine what civility really entails and how it can help foster cooperation but also lead to the submission of minorities. And did you know that even the design of our urban spaces can shape and limit acts of civility? So, how can we make our cities more sociable? Original broadcast on March 23, 2025. Guests Dr Eduardo Sadoval — Social Roboticist, UNSW Dr Saara Liinamaa — Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Guelph. Also, co-investigator, Sociable Cities Project Rafi Kohan — US-based freelance writer and author Dr Keith Bybee — Professor of Law and Political Science, Syracuse University Further information Rafi Kohan - Trash Talk: The Only Book About Destroying Your Rivals That Isn’t Total Garbage Keith Bybee - How Civility Works Sociable Cities Project

Rana Sylvatica is an unassuming wood frog with an extraordinary gift. In the depths of winter, it can slow down its metabolism, flood its cells with ice and remain in a state of suspended animation for months. But it's what it might be able to teach us about preserving human organs for transplant that has scientists really excited. Also, the menagerie in an icy test tube — San Diego's Frozen Zoo and the fight to preserve biodiversity. Original broadcast on October 27, 2024. Guests Dr Ken Storey — Professor of Biology and Biochemistry, Carleton University, Canada. Dr Saffron Bryant – Senior lecturer, Department of Physics, RMIT University Marlys Houck – Curator, Frozen Zoo, San Diego Wildlife Alliance Dr Justine O’Brien – Manager, Conservation Science,Taronga Conservation Society Australia Further information Youtube video of a frozen frog thawing

There’s a growing public sense that the current model of the social contract is broken, due in large part to rising inequality and the pursuit of profit over social progress. The “social contract” defines the relationship between citizens, their government and business. Its modern form emerged after WWII and, in western democracies, was largely structured around the principles of the welfare state. It’s about equity, order and trust. So, does the essence of the social contract still have value? And if so, how can it make fit for purpose in the 21st century?  Original broadcast on January 28. 2024. Guests Professor Sandra Sucher – Professor of Management Practice, Harvard Business School  Dave Cook – Department of Anthropology, University College London  Aron Cramer – President and CEO, BSR – Business for Social Responsibility  Professor Marc Fleurbaey – Paris School of Economics  Further information IPSP - International Panel on Social Progress report

Sometimes, despite the hype, despite extensive funding, and despite clever and ingenious thinking, good ideas fail. Or at least don’t live up to their initial promise. There are lessons to be learnt and interesting anecdotes to be told. In this episode we look at four future-focused projects that have never really taken off: Google Glass, solar roads, space tourism and hyperloop technology.  Original broadcast on November 24, 2024. Guests Dr Paul Sutter – Astrophysicist, SUNY Stony Brook and the Flatiron Institute, New York  Sarah Marquart – freelance journalist, editor of From Quarks to Quasars Andrew Hawkins – Transportation editor, The Verge  Quinn Myers – Chicago-based journalist and author 'Google Glass'

This is the program’s final episode and, as such, we look back over the past 17 years. What did the future look like back in 2009 when the show first aired? What have been the major trends during that time? Which predictions came to fruition and which didn’t? And what cautions do our guests have as we look ahead?  Guests Mica Sifry – US-based writer and editor  Neema Singh Guliani – lawyer and policy expert  Cory Doctorow – Canadian-British blogger, journalist and sci-fi author   Professor Michael Mann – climatologist and geophysicist  Associate Professor James Dyke - Earth Systems Science, University of Exeter   Assistant Professor Sven Brodmerkel – Faculty of Society and Design, Bond University  Professor Quassim Cassam – Department of Philosophy, University of Warwick  Associate Professor Laura D’Olimpio – School of Education, University of Birmingham  Effy – chatbot user  Professor Frank Pasquale – Cornell Tech and Cornell Law School

How many of the articles you see on the internet are actually written by AI, not by humans? We'll give you a figure based on the latest research. Also, why is Google moving away from its well-established search-engine algorithm in favour of AI-generated summaries; The importance of remembering that urban planning isn't just about buildings, it's about people and spaces; And how digital technology is opening up a new relationship between humans and animals. Guests Megan Morrone – Tech editor, Axios  Dr Collin Jennings – academic and author  David George Holm – architect and author  Dr David Roberts - Associate Professor of Computer Science, North Carolina State University  Sari – the most adorable, black cat

Designing a futuristic city is a fraught task — a mixture of ambition, state of the art technology, inevitable budget blowouts and the need to not just inspire, but awe. We get an update on the progress of two mega metropolises — Xiongan in China and Neom in Saudi Arabia. Also, how a better understanding of the brain can help deter future conflicts. Guests Dr Andrew Stokols — Assistant Professor of Urban Studies, Singapore Management University Eliot Brown — London-based reporter, Wall Street Journal Dr Nicholas Wright — Neuroscientist, University College London and Georgetown University

The global Covid 19 lockdown may seem like an eternity ago, but the threat of another full-scale pandemic has never resided.  Scientists warn that as the Arctic permafrost continues to melt ancient viruses and bacteria are gradually being freed from the ice. The risks are significant, but researchers are working to identify potential threats and better prepare the world for future pandemics. Uppermost in many minds is the need to ensure future global cooperation in the event of another zoonotic outbreak.  Original broadcast on March 26, 2023. Guests Dr Christine Prat – Director of Operations, European Virus Archive  Dr Jean-Michel Claverie – Emeritus Professor of Medicine, Aix-Marseille University  Dr Aaron Bernstein – Director, The Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health 

Negotiations over a global treaty on microplastics have broken down. So, where to from here for one of the world's biggest environmental threats? We also get an update on new efforts to clean-up the cement production industry; and we look at AI chatbots and the increasing role they're playing as sources of advice and emotional support. Guests Dr Pratik Sachdeva — Senior Data Scientist, D-Lab, University of California, Berkeley Dr Shababa Selim — Senior Technology Analyst, IDTechEX Professor Paul Fennell — Professor of Clean Energy, Imperial College London Professor Jill Newby — Clinical psychologist, The Black Dog Institute, University of New South Wales

It's exactly three years since ChatGPT burst onto the scene. In that short period of time the process of academic assessment has been in upheaval. Across the world educators are trying to address how students should be assessed and whether AI can be used for more than just helping a student to cheat. But a growing number of education researchers say the real emphasis should be on promoting critical thinking and ensuring future students learn how to learn. Guests Professor Dragan Gasevic — Head of the Centre for Learning Analytics, Monash University Professor Neil Selwyn — School of Education, Culture and Society, Monash University Professor Rupert Wegerif — Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge Professor Phillip Dawson — Co-Director of the Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning, Deakin University

In this programme we hear three thoughtful perspectives on the threat digital technologies pose for democracy. Henry Farrell from Johns Hopkins University argues disinformation must be tackled at a group level, not an individual one. Philosopher, John Tasioulas, says modern representative democracy is too easily corrupted by big tech. And AI specialist, Marcus Beard, introduces us to the phenomenon he calls "slopaganda". Guests Professor John Tasioulas — ethicist and immediate former Director of the Institute for Ethics and AI, University of Oxford Professor Henry Farrell — Political Scientist, Johns Hopkins University Marcus Beard — Digital, disinformation and AI specialist, Fenimore Harper Communications Further information Henry Farrell - We're getting the social media crisis wrong John Tasioulas - The classical key to the AI revolution

Long before AI dominated the media hype-cycle, self-driving cars surfed the hyperbolic wave. But fully automated vehicles have now been a long time in development, long enough that we've decided it's time for an update. So, how advanced is the technology and where is the demand? We also find out about consumer attitudes toward the "driver-assist" technologies that are now routinely fitted into modern cars. Surprise, surprise, it seems not everyone wants to be told how to drive. Guests Associate Professor Abdesalam Soudi — Sociolinguist, Department of Linguistics, University of Pittsburgh Professor Michael Milford — Director of the Centre for Robotics, Queensland University of Technology Associate Professor Milad Haghani — Principal Fellow in Urban Resilience & Mobility, University of Melbourne Sönke Iwersen — Co-author of "The Tesla Files". Journalist for German business newspaper Handelsblatt

While technology platforms increasingly dictate the way we write and converse, language is being modified to fight back, to subvert the platforms. In this show we examine the growth of "algospeak". And if you want to know how we'll all be communicating in the future, just listen to the way teenage girls speak, because young women lead the ongoing development of language. Original broadcast on July 7, 2024 Guests Dr James Cohen – Assistant Professor, Media Studies, Queens College, City University of New York Dr Sali Tagliamonte – Professor of linguistics and Chair of the Department of Linguistics, University of Toronto Philip Seargeant – Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics, Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, Open University UK Further information Philip Seargeant's book "The Future Of Language"

We build more and more homes for growing urban populations. But doing so without providing much needed amenities doesn't serve our suburbs and the people who live in them. It risks confounding social isolation and urban sprawl. There's also climate change to consider. In a heating world, how do we plan our suburbs to deal with higher temperatures? Are the cities and suburbs of the future going to be livable for our children and our children's children? Rob Kelly investigates Guests Andrew Crowe — Demographer for Australian Bureau of Statistics Dr Annette Kroen — Senior Research Fellow at RMIT University Professor Sebastian Pfautsch — Professor of Urban Planning and Management at Western Sydney University and co-lead in People-centred Sustainable Precinct Design at the Urban Transformations Research Centre Dylan Reid — Urbanist, editor, writer and co-founder of Spacing Magazine

The remote Canadian island of Oikiqtaruk is disappearing fast, but its cultural and environmental heritage is being captured in digital form. We talk to those involved in the project about its ambition and their success to date. Also, recreating long lost cultural artefacts. For the Madrid-based organisation Factum Foundation it's a journey of reconnection — a way that future generations can celebrate and cherish the character of their past. Guests Richard Gordon — Senior Park Ranger, Herschel Island-Qikiqtaruk Territorial Park, Canada Professor Peter Dawson — Dept. of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary Adam Lowe — Director of Factum Arte and founder of Factum Foundation for Digital Technology in Conservation Further information Factum Foundation Digitally Preserving Herschel Island-Qikiqtaruk Territorial Park

Australian rooftops are resplendent with solar panels, but sustainability expert, Martin Brueckner, warns the popular notion that we're rapidly transitioning away from fossil fuels is deceptive. When you add Australia's fossil fuels exports to our domestic energy usage, he says, it's clear that "decarbonisation is yet to begin in earnest". Also, whatever happened to the dream that Australia could become a world leader in Green Hydrogen production? Guests Alison Reeve — Energy and Climate change Program Director, Grattan Institute Adjunct Associate Professor Madoc Sheehan — Researcher, James Cook University Professor Matthew Hill — Head of Materials Science and Engineering, Monash University Professor Martin Brueckner — Pro Vice Chancellor Sustainability, Murdoch University

Globalisation isn’t what it used to be thanks to the legacy of the Covid-19 lockdown and, more recently, Donald Trump’s weaponisation of tariffs. But while it’s often given a bad rap, globalisation is about more than just trade, it’s also about the international exchange of ideas and talent. So, is it dying, withering or simply transforming?  Listen to Future Tense - How to start your own golden age Guests Professor Richard Baldwin – International Economics, IMD Business School, Switzerland  Professor Nick Bisley – International relations, La Trobe University  Guy Miller – Chief Market Strategist and Economist, Zurich Insurance Group  Ariel Kastner - Head of Geopolitical Agenda, World Economic Forum 

The European Union is implementing a groundbreaking new tax: a carbon border tax. It's meant to prevent distortions between countries with differing emissions standards and so to reduce emissions. But will it work? The same can be asked about the International Maritime Organisation's proposed new carbon levy on shipping. Also on the show, an update on the Great Green Wall — China's mass-tree-planting project; and measuring stress in trees to improve resilience. Guests Associate Professor Anna Trugman — Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara Honorary Professor Peter Bridgewater — Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies, Australian National University Professor Michael Brear — Director, Melbourne Energy Institute, University of Melbourne Dr Sanjay Patnaik — Director, Center on Regulation and Markets, Brookings Institute

Existential risks to human life abound, from the threat of nuclear Armageddon; to an uninhabitable planet; or an AI-induced apocalypse. Understanding such risks and how we can best respond to them is the preoccupation of S. J. Beard. But the Cambridge University researcher also speaks of "existential hope", a way of addressing our fears without the doom and despair. Also, Monash University's, Neil Selwyn, makes the call for what he terms "digital degrowth" — decoupling our online world from the shackles of consumer capitalism. Guests Dr S. J. Beard — Senior Research Associate, Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, Cambridge University Professor Neil Selwyn — Faculty of Education, Monash University Further information S.J. Beard - Existential Hope Neil Selwyn - Digital Degrowth: Radically Rethinking our Digital Futures