FARSIGHT

Sohail Inayatullah is a pioneer in futures studies, most famous for developing the Causal Layered Analysis - a technique for investigate the role of myths, metaphors, and narratives in constructing and imagining possible futures.

He us joins us to discuss the centrality of language in futures thinking, the connection between macrohistory and futures studies, and the role of the futurist in today's world.

Sohail Inayatullah is a Professor at Tamkang University and UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies at the Sejahtera Centre for Sustainability and Humanity.

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Guest: Sohail Inayatullah

Hosts: Casper Skovgaard Petersen

Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies

As the summer break winds down, journalist and trend forecaster Jenny Southan joins us to explore the futures of travel and tourism. We discuss the differences between the two, what measures dense urban centres might adopt to mitigate overtourism, how climate change and ageing populations could reshape travel patterns, and whether the Katy Perry really deserved being vilified in the press for going to outer space...

Jenny Southan is the editor and founder of Globetrender, the UK’s leading travel trend forecasting agency and online magazine dedicated to the future of travel. Jenny Southan and Globetrender are not affiliated with the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies.

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Guest: Jenny Southan

Hosts: Casper Skovgaard Petersen, August Leo Liljenberg

Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies

In the second half of the twentieth century, microchips quietly became as vital to global stability and human progress as oil. To better understand Europe’s future role in the semiconductor industry, we speak to Chris Miller, author of Chip War, for his insights.

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Author: Caitlin van Bommel

Narration: Manya Lind (with ElevenLabs AI)

Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies

Studying the future was never a value-neutral project. The origins of modern futures research (known in the 1950s and 60s as ‘futurology’), lies in the ideological struggle between capitalism and communism during the Cold War. On both sides of the Iron Curtain, the future was something to be managed and controlled in the service of a dominant ideology. That briefly changed in the 1970s with the emergence of more global, emancipatory futures projects like the Club of Rome and the Peace Movement. Why didn’t it last? And what ideological baggage does futurism carry with it from itsformation during the Cold War?

We discuss this fascinating history with historian Jenny Andersson, author of Future of the World: Futurology, Futurists, and the Struggle for the Post Cold War Imagination.

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Hosts: Casper Skovgaard Petersen & August Leo Liljenberg

Guest: Jenny Andersson

Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies

Three of the Institute’s resident futurists engage in a classic scenario-planning exercise, crafting four distinct snapshots of the continent’s future along two axes of uncertainty: European cohesion and global collaboration.

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Authors: Daria Krivonos, Patrick Henry Gallen, and Carsten Beck

Narration: August Leo Liljenberg (with ElevenLabs AI)

Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies

Author and existential risk researcher Luke Kemp joins us to discuss how to avoid the end of the world – and why the techno-utopianists may send us barrelling towards global disaster. Kemp’s upcoming book is Goliath’s Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse.

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Guest: Luke Kemp

Hosts: Casper Skovgaard Petersen & August Leo Liljenberg

Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies

For most of human history we believed that everything that could happen, had already happened, and would happen again – ad infinitum. The rise of novel media technologies would change that. From books to computers, the medium with which we record and process information grants us access to history's forking paths.

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Author: Thomas Moynihan

Narrator: Manya Lind (with ElevenLabs AI)

Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies

What goes on in our brains when we think about the future – and why are some individuals and cultures more adept at dealing with ambiguity, uncertainty, and risk? Our guests are Kerstin Presuchoff and Ewa Lombard, neuroscientists at LUCID (Laboratory for Uncertainty, Collective Intelligence & Decision Making) in Geneva. 

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Guests: Kerstin Preuschoff & Ewa Lombard

Hosts: Casper Skovgaard Petersen & August Leo Liljenberg

Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies

The ‘carbon coin’, first proposed in 2019, then popularised through science fiction, is a proposal for making carbon capture and mitigation profitable – the carrot to carbon taxing’s stick. All it takes is getting the world’s governments and central banks on board. We spoke to Delton Chen, the Australian civil engineer and geo-hydrologist who first thought of the idea.

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Author: Caroline Zielinski

Narration: August Leo Liljenberg (with ElevenLabs AI)

Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies

From Socrates’ warnings about writing leading to forgetfulness, to today’s anxieties about AI-induced brainrot, every new media technology has sparked fears of cognitive decline. But does generative AI pose a uniquely profound threat to our ability to think for ourselves?

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Author: Casper Skovgaard Petersen

Narrator: Casper Skovgaard Petersen

Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies