When you get behind the wheel of a car, throw or catch a ball, change jobs, or move to a new country, you are making a series of predictions about what will happen next in your life and in the world. But what do we really mean when we talk about “the Future”? Is it something that is fixed or open? Can we genuinely know something about the world in twenty-five, fifty, or a hundred years? Are all predictions of the future equally likely to be right or wrong, and how can we make our predictions more accurate? Professor David Christian investigates.

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The writer Helen Macdonald is best known for the award winning memoir H is For Hawk and other distinguished works exploring our relationship to the natural world; their new novel Prophet is something very different but no less compelling - a speculative novel of ideas that will appeal to fans of literary science fiction and action thrillers as well as fans of Helen's earlier work. Written in collaboration with the Irish-American musician and writer Sin Blaché, the novel tells the story of a biochemical weapon that creates physical manifestations of nostalgic memories - with consequences that are equal parts surrealist, horrifying, and politically explosive. We caught up with both authors last week and took the plunge into this thrilling new work of imaginative fiction.

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Julia Cameron is the author, poet, and screenwriter whose book The Artist's Way is one of the most influential creativity manuals ever written. Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of many books including most famously, Eat, Pray, Love - a memoir she says would not have been written without the guidance offered by The Artist Way. At the start of the pandemic, we brought Julia and Elizabeth together virtually to celebrate the power and value of the human imagination.

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Alan Philps is the former foreign editor of the Daily Telegraph and an expert on Russian politics. He's the author of a new book called The Red Hotel, which tells the story of Moscow's Metropol Hotel and the journalists and translators who stayed there in WWII. The book reveals both the scope and sophistication of Stalin's propaganda machine and the heroism of the translators who fought to expose the truth about life in the Soviet Union. We sat down with Alan earlier this year to find out more, and to ask for his thoughts on the relevance this history has for Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

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Marie Kondo became a global superstar when she introduced the world to the life-changing magic of tidying up. Now Marie joins us to share the art of kurashi – or “way of life.” She elevates her focus from the physical act of tidying to include a more holistic and personal approach to transforming our homes into spaces of calm. As a mother of three young children, Marie not only reveals a personal glimpse of her own way of living and an enhanced approach to the pursuit of joy, but also how we can find that joy for ourselves too.

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“Mourning a place is even more difficult than mourning a person,” writes Victoria Belim in The Rooster House. Her book is part-memoir, part-detective story as she returns to her birth country of Ukraine in 2014 to uncover the mystery of her missing great-uncle; but it is also a hymn to the beauty of Ukraine and a paean to her lost land. For as seasons pass and Victoria learns more about her family, she also becomes one with the land her grandmother tends and reconnects with the unbreakable spirit of Ukraine and its people. In this episode, Victoria speaks to Esme Bright about this period of self-discovery and shares her love for Ukraine’s rich history of art, craft and cooking. Their conversation touches on the nature of memory, the value of craftsmanship, how food can unite and the resilience of art in times of war.

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Leading psychiatrist Dr Pooja Lakshmin knows first-hand how toxic the wellness industry can be. In search of radical answers to her own personal experience of burnout and depression, she bought into the cult of wellness and faux “self-care” and found an industry rigged against women’s real interests. Now she joins us with an alternative framework for achieving true wellbeing. Using case studies, clinical research and actionable strategies, Dr Pooja is a leading a personal and social revolution that provides effective solutions to our society’s mental health crisis.

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Revisiting one of our favourite episodes of last year, the Booker Prize winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo shares his idiosyncratic take on the human condition.

George Saunders’ first new collection of stories in ten years is a powerful reminder of why he is widely considered to be the greatest short story writer in the English language. In Liberation Day, we meet the disillusioned employees of a Hell themed underground theme park, the artistic patrons of a dystopian near-future America, and brainwashed political protesters for hire. Mixing satirical fantasies with razor-sharp observations of human nature, Saunders’ new stories walk a fine line between comedy and pathos, realism and playfulness. He joins us on the podcast for a journey inside his creative process and dazzling imagination.

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How did the suburb of Palo Alto become the epicentre of a global tech revolution, changing not just American capitalism but the world?

Malcolm Harris was raised in Palo Alto, the heartland of Silicon Valley, home of Stanford University, and the birthplace of the digital age. We live in the world created by The Palo Alto System - a set of 19th century ideas for innovation that have subtly shaped the way that business is still done in the Valley today. Malcolm's new book Palo Alto offers a critical history of the town and its hugely influential residents. Featuring robber barons, eugenics, murder, missiles, mining, and an infamous President, this is a startling look at the making of the contemporary world.

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Our guest on this episode is Amy Shah, a physician who trained at Cornell, Columbia and Harvard. She specialises in nutrition and the mind-body connection that leads to hunger and cravings. Her new book on that subject is called I'm So Effing Hungry. She joined Hannah MacInnes earlier this year to tell us all about it.

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