Flash Forward

Latest Episodes:

EARTH: The Polar Flip Mar 12, 2019

Show notes

Today we travel to a future where the Earth’s magnetic poles reverse.

→ → → Further reading available here ← ← ←

Guests:Eftyhia Zesta -- Chief of the Geospace Physics Laboratory in the Heliophysics Division at NASAMichael Purucker -- Planetary Magnetosphere Lab chief at NASAAlanna Mitchell -- author of The Spinning Magnet Rory Cottrell -- archaeomagnetism researcher at The University of Rochester Thorsten Ritz -- biophysics researcher at UC Irvine Actors:The Snowglobe Narrator: Brent RoseLenny Haywood: Evan JohnsonFarah Mousterian: Zahra Noorbakhsh, host of Good Muslim, Bad MuslimJohn Jacob Siwa: Joseph JonesJuana Aguilar: Tamara Krinsky, host of Tomorrow’s World TodayRoberta Peary: Avery Trufelman, host of Articles of InterestRamona Byrd: Andrea Silenzi, host of The Longest Shortest Time Flash Forward is produced by me, Rose Eveleth. The intro music is by Asura and the outtro music is by Hussalonia. The episode art is by Matt Lubchansky.

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EARTH: The Sunshade Mar 05, 2019

Show notes

We're back! Did you miss me? Don't answer that please. Today's episode kicks off Season FIVE of Flash Forward. This year, I'm doing things a little bit differently. Instead of doing a new episode every other week, you're getting little mini-seasons. Each little block of five episodes will come out weekly, and center around a theme. This week we're starting our EARTH series. Five episodes, five different future Earths. Buckle up, I hope you're ready for some fun. And some terror. This is Flash Forward after all.

Today we travel to a future where humanity decides to pull the climate emergency break, and spray sulphuric acid into the upper atmosphere.

Guests

Anthony Jones, climate model researcher at University of Exeter

Jane Flegal, climate science and policy advisor, program officer at The Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust

Kate Marvel, climate scientist at Columbia University and NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies

Romaric Odoulami, climate scientist at the University of Cape Town

Prakash Kashwan, political scientist at the University of Connecticut

Actors

The Snowglobe Narrator: Brent Rose

Lenny Haywood: Evan Johnson

Farah Mousterian: Zahra Noorbakhsh

John Jacob Siwa: Joseph Jones

Juana Aguilar: Tamara Krinsky

Thor Surtr: Oliver Blank

Special Thanks

Women's Audio Mission studios, Maryam Qudus, Stephanie Lopez

The Potluck Podcast Collective, The Potluck Podcast studio, Quincy Surasmith

Flash Forward is produced by me, Rose Eveleth. The intro music is by Asura and the outtro music is by Hussalonia. The episode art is by Matt Lubchansky.

Get in touch: Twitter // Facebook // Reddit // info@flashforwardpod.com

Support the show: Patreon // Donorbox

Thanks to PNAS for supporting Flash Forward. Listen to Science Sessions on iTunes today.

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Season Five Coming Soon! Feb 26, 2019

Show notes

In case you think I've been sitting on my butt doing nothing, here's a trailer to let you know that I have been sitting on my butt doing lots of things! Flash Forward returns to your feeds NEXT WEEK, but to get you excited, I wanted to drop in and give you all a little taste of what’s to come.

See you in the future!

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Snip Snip Snip Dec 18, 2018

Show notes

At long last, we’re doing genetic editing. What’s the deal with the recent news about CRISPR babies? What does a future full of human genetic editing look like? And how might CRISPR change the food we eat?

Guests:Sarah Zhang, reporter at The Atlantic Greta Johnsen, weekend anchor at WBEZ, co-host of Nerdette Alice Wong, founder of the Disability Visibility Project Alison Van Eenennaam, researcher at UC Davis→→→ Further reading and sources HERE ←←←

Paper mentioned in the Policygenius ad: “National culture and life insurance consumption”

Flash Forward is produced by me, Rose Eveleth. The intro music is by Asura and the outtro music is by Hussalonia. The episode art is by Matt Lubchansky.

Get in touch: Twitter // Facebook // Reddit // info@flashforwardpod.com

Support the show: Patreon // Donorbox

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Water Would Be Nice Dec 04, 2018

Show notes

What happens when the Rio Grande dries up? The river is often overshadowed, at least in the US, by the Colorado River. But the Rio Grande creates the border between US and Mexico, and the water that flows through it is at the center of a looming geopolitical crisis. So what happens when towns, farms and cities on both sides of the border start to run out of water?

Guests:

Naveena Sadasivam: staff writer at the Texas Observer covering the environment, energy and climate and co-author on the series Shallow Waters

Zoë Schlanger: staff writer at Quartz covering the environment, and co-author on the series Shallow Waters

Flavio Lehner: Climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research

J. Alfredo Rodríguez-Pineda: Water program coordinator at the WWF

Sponsors:

Bombas (use code FLASH at checkout)

Papers mentioned in the ad: Deranged Socks, Sock Matching exercise, Sock sorting

→ → → Links to sources and further reading available here ← ← ←

Flash Forward is produced by me, Rose Eveleth. The intro music is by Asura and the outtro music is by Hussalonia. The episode art is by Matt Lubchansky.

Get in touch: Twitter // Facebook // Reddit // info@flashforwardpod.com

Support the show: Patreon // Donorbox

Subscribe: iTunes // Soundcloud

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The Commute From Hell Nov 20, 2018

Show notes

Getting from one place to another is hard. What if we could just teleport? From the physics of how this would work (it wouldn’t) to the ripple effects it might have on politics, urban development, and tourism, this episode is all about what would happen if we could zip instantly from one place to another.

Guests

Matt Lubchansky, comic artist and associate editor at The Nib

Zeeya Merali, physicist at the Foundational Questions Institute, author of A Big Bang in a Little Room, cohost of the FQXi Podcast

Peter Norton, historian at the University of Virginia, author of Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City

(Paper from the advertisement: Time to End the Use of Genetic Test Results in Life Insurance Underwriting)

→ → → Sources and more links available here ← ← ←

Flash Forward is produced by me, Rose Eveleth.

The intro music is by Asura and the outtro music is by Hussalonia.

The teleportation attendant from the future was played by Tamara Krinsky. Tamara is the host of the science & technology show TOMORROW'S WORLD TODAY, which you can watch on Amazon, right now.

The episode art is by Matt Lubchansky.

If you want to suggest a future we should take on, send us a note on Twitter, Facebook or by email at info@flashforwardpod.com. We love hearing your ideas! And if you think you’ve spotted one of the little references I’ve hidden in the episode, email us there too. If you’re right, I’ll send you something cool.

And if you want to support the show, there are a few ways you can do that too! Head to www.flashforwardpod.com/support for more about how to give. But if that’s not in the cards for you, you can head to iTunes and leave us a nice review or just tell your friends about us. Those things really do help.

That’s all for this future, come back next time and we’ll travel to a new one.

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What To Expect When You're Expecting In Space Nov 06, 2018

Show notes

If humans want to really have a go at leaving Earth and living in space or on other planets, we’re going to have to figure out a lot of things: spaceships, food supplies, fuel, how to keep everybody from killing one another. But one thing seems to be frequently left out of the picture, when it comes to distant space travel research: reproduction. It turns out we know very, very little about what pregnancy in space might look like, or whether it’s even possible at all.

Guests

Maggie Koerth-Baker: senior science writer at FiveThirtyEight

Kim Stanley Robinson: science fiction author of the Mars trilogy, The Years of Rice and Salt, 2312, Aurora and others, including a new book Red Moon.

Anicca Harriot: PhD student at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, advocate for STEM outreach

→ → → Further reading and sources available at flashforwardpod.com ←←←

Flash Forward is produced by me, Rose Eveleth.

Intro music by Asura

Outtro music by Hussalonia.

Episode art by Matt Lubchansky. Connect with us on: Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram

More about how to support the show HERE.

Go to iTunes and leave us a nice review!

If you think you’ve spotted one of the little references I’ve hidden in the episode, email info@flashforwardpod.com. If you’re right, I’ll send you something cool.

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Farm To Tablet Oct 23, 2018

Show notes

On today’s episode we tackle a future that was once a staple of science fiction: food pills. Instead of shopping and cooking and sitting down to eat meals together, we all simply pop our nutritional pills and move along with our lives. How feasible is this, really? Where did the idea come from? And what does the rise and fall in the popularity of the idea say about our changing relationships to food, culture and politics?

Guests:

Annalee Newitz, science journalist and science fiction author, co-host of Our Opinions Are Correct

Charlie Jane Anders, science fiction author, co-host of Our Opinions Are Correct

Helen Rosner, food correspondent for the New Yorker

Rob McGinley Myers, writer and podcaster

Katie Gordon, associate professor of psychology at North Dakota State University and co-host of Jedi Counsel Podcast

Mike Rugnetta, producer of Reasonably Sound

Soleil Ho, food writer, co-host of Racist Sandwich, host of Popaganda

→→→ For more information about the guests, links, and further reading, go to https://www.flashforwardpod.com/2018/10/21/farm-to-tablet/ ←←←

Flash Forward is produced by me, Rose Eveleth. The intro music is by Asura and the outtro music is by Hussalonia. The voices from the future for this episode were provided by Tony Garcia, Fernando Galdino and Ed Yong. The episode art is by Matt Lubchansky.

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Eyes In The Skies Oct 09, 2018

Show notes

Computers are getting smaller and smaller. But what if we had sensors the size of dust, that could float through the air undetected, talk to one another, gather information, and transmit that information back down to a central place? This is the concept behind smart dust, and it's more plausible than you might think.

Guests:

Amy Webb, quantitative futurist and founder of the Future Today Institute

Faine Greenwood, journalist and drone expert

Stacey Higginbotham, journalist, co-host of the Internet of Things podcast

→ → More information band background reading at flashforwardpod.com ←←

Flash Forward is produced by me, Rose Eveleth. The intro music is by Asura and the outtro music is by Hussalonia. The episode art is by Matt Lubchansky.

That’s all for this future, come back next time and we’ll travel to a new one.

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Money For Nothing Sep 25, 2018

Show notes

What if we just gave everybody money? It sounds simple, but universal basic income is a trendy idea right now and a lot of you have asked for an episode about a future where everybody gets money from the government no matter what. And it turns out that while it sounds simple, just giving everybody money is way more complicated than you might thing.

Guests:Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, Senior editor at The Nation, author of The CosmopolitesShaksam Khosla, graduate student at Johns Hopkins University, author of India’s Basic Income: Bedeviled by the Details Aisha Nyandoro, CEO of Springboard to Opportunity Cara Rose deFabio, special initiatives director at Economic Security Project

→→ Further Reading Here ←←

Flash Forward is produced by me, Rose Eveleth. The intro music is by Asura and the outtro music is by Hussalonia. The human voice from the future was provided by Daniel Tannenbaum. The episode art is by Matt Lubchansky.

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