Flash Forward
Rose Eveleth
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Top 10 Flash Forward Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Flash Forward episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Flash Forward for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Flash Forward episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Double Trouble
Flash Forward
10/13/20 • 49 min
Today we travel to a future where we all have digital replicas of ourselves to deploy at faculty meetings, doctors appointments, and even dates.
Guests:
- Lars Buttler — CEO of the AI Foundation
- Damien Patrick Williams — PhD candidate at Virginia Tech
- Dr. Koen Bruynseels — researcher at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands
- Christel De Maeyer — researcher based in Belgium
- Dr. Robin Zebrowski — professor of cognitive science at Beloit college
- Dr. Duncan Irschick — professor of biology at UMass Amherst and director of the Digital Life initiative
→ → → Further reading & resources here! ← ← ←
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Flash Forward is hosted by, Rose Eveleth and produced by Julia Llinas Goodman. 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 // [email protected]
Support the show: Patreon // Donorbox
Subscribe: iTunes // Soundcloud // Spotify
Episode Sponsors:
- Skillshare: Skillshare is an online learning community where millions come together to take the next step in their creative journey, with thousands of inspiring classes for creative and curious people, on topics including illustration, design, photography, video, freelancing, and more. Start with two free months of Premium Membership, and explore your creativity at Skillshare.com/flashforward.
- Shaker & Spoon: A subscription cocktail service that helps you learn how to make hand-crafted cocktails right at home. Get $20 off your first box at shakerandspoon.com/ffwd.
- Tab for a Cause: A browser extension that lets you raise money for charity while doing your thing online. Whenever you open a new tab, you’ll see a beautiful photo and a small ad. Part of that ad money goes toward a charity of your choice! Join team Advice For And From The future by signing up at tabforacause.org/flashforward.
- Tavour: Tavour is THE app for fans of beer, craft brews, and trying new and exciting labels. You sign up in the app and can choose the beers you’re interested in (including two new ones DAILY) adding to your own personalized crate. Use code: flashforward for $10 off after your first order of $25 or more.
- Purple Carrot: Purple Carrot is THE plant-based subs...
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Give The Land Back?
Flash Forward
11/10/20 • 53 min
Today we travel to a future where the US and Canada give stolen land back to tribes & bands.
Guests:
- Molly Swain — cohost of Métis in Space, studying in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta.
- Chelsea Vowel — cohost of Metis in Space, author of Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit Issues in Canada.
- Matthew Fletcher — law professor at Michigan State University
- Graham Lee Brewer — associate editor at High Country News
- Mike Gouldehawke — writer & activist
The intro scene was written & performed by Molly Swain and Chelsea Vowel, along with Johnnie Jae.
You can donate to Molly & Chelsea’s landback project here.
→ → → Further reading & resources here! ← ← ←
Flash Forward is hosted by, Rose Eveleth and produced by Julia Llinas Goodman. 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 // [email protected]
Support the show: Patreon // Donorbox
Subscribe: iTunes // Soundcloud // Spotify
Episode Sponsors:
- Shaker & Spoon: A subscription cocktail service that helps you learn how to make hand-crafted cocktails right at home. Get $20 off your first box at shakerandspoon.com/ffwd.
- Tab for a Cause: A browser extension that lets you raise money for charity while doing your thing online. Whenever you open a new tab, you’ll see a beautiful photo and a small ad. Part of that ad money goes toward a charity of your choice! Join team Advice For And From The future by signing up at tabforacause.org/flashforward.
- Tavour: Tavour is THE app for fans of beer, craft brews, and trying new and exciting labels. You sign up in the app and can choose the beers you’re interested in (including two new ones DAILY) adding to your own personalized crate. Use code: flashforward for $10 off after your first order of $25 or more.
- Purple Carrot: Purple Carrot is THE plant-based subscription meal kit that makes it easy to cook irresistible meals to fuel your body. Each week, choose from an expansive and delicious menu of dinners, lunches, breakfasts, and snacks! Get $30 off your first box by going to www.purplecarrot.com and entering code FLASH at checkout today! Purple Carrot, the easiest way to eat more plants!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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It's The End Of The World As We Know It
Flash Forward
08/04/20 • 52 min
Today we travel to a future where there is no future, because today we’re considering how the universe ends. Plus: how to cope with feeling freaked out by the end of the world, and what the last party ever should be like.
Guests:
- Dr. Katie Mack — astrophysicist and author of The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) (also very good on Twitter!)
- Dr. Jana Sadler — clinical psychologist based in Southern California
- Jessie Char — conference organizer & party planner
→ → → Further reading & resources 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.
Support the show: Patreon // Donorbox
Get in touch: Twitter // Facebook // Reddit // [email protected]
Subscribe: iTunes // Soundcloud // Spotify
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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What Is The Future Of Flash Forward?
Flash Forward
06/08/21 • 66 min
Today we do a bit of spelunking into the history of Flash Forward, revisit last year’s anniversary, and talk about how the future sausage gets made.
Things I talked about on today's episode.
- Tamara Krinsky’s work
- The limits of empathy
- A Queen of Sorts
- On the Ice
- Scientists Excited About Humpback Whales Singing In Waters Off New York City
- On the Verge of Extinction, These Whales Are Also Shrinking
→ → → Further reading & resources here! ← ← ←
Flash Forward is hosted by, Rose Eveleth and produced by Julia Llinas Goodman. 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 // [email protected]
Support the show: Patreon // Donorbox
Subscribe: iTunes // Soundcloud // Spotify
Episode Sponsors:
- BetterHelp: Affordable, private online counseling. Anytime, anywhere. Flash Forward listeners: get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/flashforward
- Skillshare: Skillshare is an online learning community where millions come together to take the next step in their creative journey, with thousands of inspiring classes for creative and curious people, on topics including illustration, design, photography, video, freelancing, and more. Start with two free months of Premium Membership, and explore your creativity at Skillshare.com/flashforward.
- Shaker & Spoon: A subscription cocktail service that helps you learn how to make hand-crafted cocktails right at home. Get $20 off your first box at shakerandspoon.com/ffwd.
- Tab for a Cause: A browser extension that lets you raise money for charity while doing your thing online. Whenever you open a new tab, you’ll see a beautiful photo and a small ad. Part of that ad money goes toward a charity of your choice! Join team Advice For And From The future by signing up at tabforacause.org/flashforward.
- Tavour: Tavour is THE app for fans of beer, craft brews, and trying new and exciting labels. You sign up in the app and can choose the beers you’re interested in (including two new ones DAILY) adding to your own personalized crate. Use code: flashforward for $10 off after your first order of $25 or more.
- Purple Carrot: Purple Carrot is THE plant-based subscription meal kit that makes it easy to cook irresistible meals to fuel your body. Each week, choose from an expansive and delicious menu of dinners, lunches, breakfasts, and snacks! Get $30 off your first box by going to www.purplecarrot.com and entering code FLASH at checkout today! Purple Carr...
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The Witch Who Came From Mars
Flash Forward
09/05/16 • 43 min
Today we do something weird, in honor of the end of the second season! Instead of coming up with a future and then finding experts to talk about it, I asked an AI to write a future for us. And the AI apparently wants us to talk about space travel, witches, and the occult.
So here’s what happened in this episode. I asked Mike Rugnetta, the creator and host of PBS Idea Channel and Reasonably Sound, to help me create a script for Flash Forward. Mike had done this for his own channel a few months ago.
Around the same time that Idea Channel video came out there was this short film that came out called Sunspring which was written by an AI named Benjamin. The guys behind Benjamin fed a neural network a huge corpus of science fiction scripts, everything from Avatar to Armageddon to Resident Evil to Spiderman. And they asked that AI to write them a script. And then they spent one day with a cast, filming the movie that Benjamin wrote for them. I totally recommend watching it.
And so I thought, what if, I fed an AI all the future scenes we’ve ever done on this show, and asked it to write one for me? And then, I have to figure out what that future is, and how we would get there. So that’s what we’re going to do on this episode. I compiled all the futures we’ve ever traveled to on this show, and sent them to Mike, and he fed them to this neural network he already had set up to make his video. And he then sent me the results. And what came out that first time was just complete nonsense. Because the system really needs more material than I had to feed it. On the show we’ve traveled to 41 futures, which in the grand scheme of things actually isn’t all that much text. So on top of all the futures we’ve done, I added two big chunks of text: the script for The War of the Worlds, and the script for the 1979 Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy radio play.
And here’s what the AI wrote. You can see the full script (and leave your interpretation of the AI future) here.
I will confess that my first thought when I read the script was: “what the hell am I supposed to do with this?” But, I am never one to back down from a challenge, even if that challenge is self imposed, so I sent this little intro to a bunch of smart people, and asked them what future they saw here.
First we talk to Miriam Kramer, the senior space reporter at Mashable, about how easy (or hard) it would be for witches to travel to and from Mars.
Then I called up Annalee Newitz, to get her take on the witches and how the themes in this scene fit in with the broader science fiction landscape. (Fun fact, Annalee is the person who first asked me to do a podcast for Gizmodo, and thereby birthed Flash Forward! Yay Annalee!)
Then we turn our attention to the witches, and bring back Damien Williams, who you heard on our episode about conscious AI. Damien writes a lot about technology and the occult (I recommend this 2015 Theorizing the Web panel about it, featuring him and lots of other smart people) and he weighs in on the future of witches, how tech and magic aren’t all that different, and what the AI might mean by “behanding.”
And last but not least, we talk to the brains and voices behind Spirits Pod, a new podcast about mythology. Julia Schifini and Amanda McLoughlin have been best friends since childhood, and co-host a podcast all about myths and legends that I very much enjoy. And the two of them had all sorts of fun and interesting stuff to say about this witchy future.
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Dr. Doolittle
Flash Forward
08/14/18 • 56 min
~~~~ TAKE THE SURVEY! (Please) ~~~~
Today we tackle the age-old question: what if animals could talk? Or, more precisely, what if we could actually understand what animals are saying?
Guests:
Con Slobodchikoff, professor at Northern Arizona University, CEO of Zoolingua, and author of Chasing Dr. Doolittle: Learning the Language of Animals.
Irene Pepperberg, professor of psychology Harvard University, author of Alex and Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence-and formed a Deep Bond in the Process
Alexandra Horowitz, professor at Barnard, head of dog cognition lab, author of Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know
Ashley Shew, professor at Virginia Tech, author of Animal Constructions and Technological Knowledge
Keri Cronin, professor at Brock University, author of Art for Animals: Visual Culture and Animal Advocacy, 1875-1914
Further Reading:
The “Clever Hans Phenomenon” revisited
Lost in Translation: Koko the gorilla and language research
The Alex studies: cognitive and communicative abilities of grey parrot
Animal language studies: What happened?
“‘Can’t You Talk?’: Voice and Visual Culture in Early Animal Welfare
(more reading at Flash Forward's main site)
Learn more about Twenty Thousand Hertz here
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
EARTH: The Cement Ban
Flash Forward
03/26/19 • 49 min
Today we travel to a future where we try to break up with cement. Can it be done? How did cement because so ubiquitous? And what’s so bad about cement in the first place? Guests:Grady Hillhouse: civil engineer and host of Practical EngineeringRobbie Andrew: senior researcher at CICERO Center for International Climate ResearchAmy Slaton: historian at Drexel University and author of Reinforced Concrete and the Modernization of American BuildingDavid Stone: inventor of Ferrock→ → → Further reading & full transcript ← ← ←
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 TodayKevin Macklin: Lawrence Carter Long
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 // [email protected]
Support the show: Patreon // Donorbox
Subscribe: iTunes // Soundcloud // Spotify
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Moon is a Harsh Second Mistress
Flash Forward
05/19/15 • 15 min
What would happen if the Earth suddenly had a second moon? This week, we work through the impact an additional satellite would have on our planet, from tides, to the night sky, to the potential destruction of Earth. Oh also there are space pirates.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Space Roomba
Flash Forward
06/19/18 • 50 min
This episode we take on a future where space junk has gotten so bad, that active spacecraft are constantly having to maneuver around it, which wastes fuel and cuts down on operation time. And humans decide to finally do something about it. But what?
Guests:
Loren Grush, science reporter at The Verge
Lisa Ruth Rand, historian of science technology and the environment.
Tiago Soares, systems engineer for ESA’s Clean Space program
Andrew Wolahan, systems engineer for ESA’s e.deorbit program
Alice Gorman, space archaeologist at Flinders University
Jill Stuart, space policy & law expert at the London School of Economics
Further Reading:
How can humans clean up our space junk?
The Space Junk Problem is About to get a Whole Lots Gnarlier
Orbital Decay: Space Junk and the Environmental History of Earth’s Planetary Borderlands
The Forgotten Cold War Plan That Put A Ring Of Copper Around The Earth
Project West Ford, NASA Repository
Japanese mission to clear up space junk ends in failure
This is what happens when a tiny piece of flying space debris hits the ISS
The Outer Space Treaty has been remarkably successful – but is it fit for the modern age?
Flash Forward is produced by me, Rose Eveleth. The intro music is by Asura and the outtro music is by Hussalonia. The space dispatcher from the top of the episode was played by Andrew Hackard. 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 [email protected]. 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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Could Humans Become Nocturnal?
Flash Forward
07/20/21 • 42 min
Today’s episode is about a future where humans get weird with sleep. First, what if we tried to take shifts all day, every day? Second, what if we tried to become nocturnal?
Guests:
- Dr. Matthew Wolf-Meyer, an associate professor of anthropology at Binghamton University and author of The Slumbering Masses: Sleep, Medicine, and Modern American Life.
- Sarah Kaplan, a science reporter at the Washington Post who’s worked the night shift.
- Dr. Bala Koritala, a researcher at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
- Alexandra Mariani, a listener who works the night shift at a hospital.
- Kelton Minor, a PhD student at the University of Copenhagen Center for Social Data Science.
- Dr. Kaitlyn Gaynor, a researcher at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis.
Voice Actors:
→ → → Further reading & resources here! ← ← ←
Flash Forward is hosted by, Rose Eveleth and produced by Julia Llinas Goodman. 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 // [email protected]
Support the show: Patreon // Donorbox
Subscribe: iTunes // Soundcloud // Spotify
Episode Sponsors:
- REALM: Part podcast studio, part magical refuge. One of their most recent series is Spider King. After taking the rap for a crime he didn’t commit, an incarcerated Black man makes a dangerous bargain to earn his freedom. For fans of Jordan Peele and Lovecraft Country, this poignant and intimate body-horror narrative eviscerates the prison industrial complex while exploring the traumas that arise as a result of it.
- Shaker & Spoon: A subscription cocktail service that helps you learn how to make hand-crafted cocktails right at home. Get $20 off your first box at shakerandspoon.com/ffwd.
- Tab for a Cause: A browser extension that lets you raise money for charity while doing your thing online. Whenever you open a new tab, you’ll see a beautiful photo and a small ad. Part of that ad money goes toward a charity of your choice! Join team Advice For And From The future by signing up at tabforacause.org/flashforward.
- Tavour: Tavour is THE app for fans of beer, craft brews, and trying new and exciting labels. You sign up in the app and can choose the beers you’re interested in (including two new ones DAILY) adding to your own personalized crate. Use code: flashforward for $10 off after your first order of $25 or more.
- Purple Carrot: Purple Carrot is THE plant-based subscription meal kit that makes it easy to cook irresistible meals to fuel your body. Each week, choose from an expansive and delicious menu of dinners, lunches, breakfasts, and snacks! Get $30 off your first box by going to www.purplecarrot.com and entering code FLASH at checkout today! Purple Carrot, the easiest way ...
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FAQ
How many episodes does Flash Forward have?
Flash Forward currently has 186 episodes available.
What topics does Flash Forward cover?
The podcast is about Podcasts and Science.
What is the most popular episode on Flash Forward?
The episode title 'Double Trouble' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Flash Forward?
The average episode length on Flash Forward is 35 minutes.
How often are episodes of Flash Forward released?
Episodes of Flash Forward are typically released every 13 days, 17 hours.
When was the first episode of Flash Forward?
The first episode of Flash Forward was released on May 12, 2015.
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