FUTURES Podcast
Luke Robert Mason
1 Creator
5.0
(2)
The FUTURES Podcast explores the multitude of possible tomorrows. Meet the scientists, technologists, artists and philosophers working to imagine the sorts of developments that might dramatically alter what it means to be human. Hosted by Luke Robert Mason.
11 Listeners
All episodes
Best episodes
Top 10 FUTURES Podcast Episodes
Best episodes ranked by Goodpods Users most listened

A New Science of Consciousness w/ Anil Seth
FUTURES Podcast
01/05/22 • 76 min
5.0
Neuroscientist Anil Seth shares his thoughts on the role of neuroscience in explaining human consciousness, why our perception of reality might be a controlled hallucination, and how psychedelics are challenging our understanding of the mind.
Anil Seth is a Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, where he is also the Co-Director of the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science. Anil is also a Wellcome Trust Engagement Fellow, Co-Director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Program on Brain, Mind, and Consciousness, and Co-Director of the Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship Programme: From Sensation and Perception to Awareness. Anil edited and co-authored the best-selling 30 Second Brain (Ivy Press, 2014), was consultant for Eye Benders (Ivy Press, 2013; winner of the Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize 2014) and contributes to a variety of media including the New Scientist, The Guardian, and the BBC. Anil also writes the blog NeuroBanter.
Find out more: futurespodcast.net
CREDITS
Produced by FUTURES Podcast
Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason
FOLLOW
Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast
Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast
Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast
7 Listeners
2

Rewiring the Brain w/ David Eagleman
FUTURES Podcast
12/17/20 • 84 min
5.0
Neuroscientist David Eagleman shares his insights into the mystery of neuroplasticity, how modern technology impacts our brains’ development, and the different ways we might soon be able to augment our senses and enhance our cognition.
Dr David Eagleman is a neuroscientist and internationally bestselling author. He teaches brain plasticity at Stanford University, is the creator and host of the Emmy-nominated television series The Brain, and is the CEO of NeoSensory, a company that builds the next generation of neuroscience hardware. The author of seven other books, he lives in California.
Find out more: futurespodcast.net
CREDITS
Produced by FUTURES Podcast
Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason
FOLLOW FUTURES PODCAST
Twitter: @FUTURESPodcast
Instagram: @futurespodcast
Facebook: @FUTURESPodcast
3 Listeners
3

Visions of the Future w/ Pat Cadigan
FUTURES Podcast
11/07/22 • 29 min
Cyberpunk author Pat Cadigan shares her thoughts on the role of science fiction in society, her methods for thinking about the future, and which elements of the cyberpunk genre have become features of our everyday reality.
Pat Cadigan was born in Schenectady, NY, and grew up in Fitchburg, MA. Attending the University of Massachusetts on a scholarship, she eventually transferred to the University of Kansas where she received her degree. Since embarking on her career as a fiction writer in 1987, her Hugo and Nebula Award-nominated short stories have appeared in such magazines as Omni, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine as well as numerous anthologies. Her first collection, Patterns, was honoured the Locus Award in 1990, and she won the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1992 and 1995 for her novels Synners and Fools. Pat Cadigan moved to the UK in 1996 and now lives in London.
Recorded live from the Science Museum, London on 26 October 2022.
Find out more: futurespodcast.net
Credits
Produced by FUTURES Podcast
Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason
Follow Us
Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast
Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast
Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast
1 Listener

Ancestors & Ancient DNA w/ Prof. Alice Roberts
FUTURES Podcast
01/10/22 • 53 min
Biological anthropologist Prof. Alice Roberts shares her insights on how sequencing ancient DNA can provide new evidence to help us understand our ancestors, what the latest archaeological discoveries reveal about the origins of homo sapiens, and how an appreciation of deep history can help us navigate the future.
Professor Alice Roberts is a biological anthropologist, author and broadcaster. She’s interested in the evolution, structure and function of humans, and our place in the wider environment. Having originally studied and practiced medicine, she then became a university lecturer, focusing on biological, evolutionary anthropology. She is passionate about public engagement with university research and teaching, and advocates a wider role for universities in society. She has been Professor of Public Engagement in Science at the University of Birmingham since 2012, and has worked extensively with the Wellcome Trust and other institutions in public engagement roles.
Find out more: futurespodcast.net
CREDITS
Produced by FUTURES Podcast
Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason
FOLLOW
Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast
Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast
Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast
1 Listener

Bursting the Reality Bubble w/ Ziya Tong
FUTURES Podcast
02/01/21 • 53 min
Science journalist Ziya Tong shares her insights into the hidden worlds that exist beyond the limits of the human senses, how illusions contribute to our understanding of reality, and how our collective blind spots are at the core of our current environmental crisis.
Ziya Tong is the Vice-Chair of WWF Canada. She anchored Daily Planet, Discovery Channel’s flagship science programme, until its final season in 2018. Tong also hosted the CBC’s Emmy-nominated series ZeD, PBS’ national prime-time series, Wired Science, and worked as a correspondent for NOVA scienceNOW.
Find out more: futurespodcast.net
CREDITS
Produced by FUTURES Podcast
Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason
FOLLOW FUTURES PODCAST
Twitter: @FUTURESPodcast
Instagram: @futurespodcast
Facebook: @FUTURESPodcast
1 Listener

Ensuring Humanity's Survival w/ Lord Martin Rees
FUTURES Podcast
10/28/20 • 81 min
Astronomer Royal Lord Martin Rees shares his insights into the existential threats facing humanity, what it means to be a techno-optimist, and how we can plan for the long-term future.
Lord Martin Rees is a leading astrophysicist as well as a senior figure in UK science. He has conducted influential theoretical work on subjects as diverse as black hole formation and extragalactic radio sources, and provided key evidence to contradict the Steady State theory of the evolution of the Universe.
Martin was also one of the first to predict the uneven distribution of matter in the Universe, and proposed observational tests to determine the clustering of stars and galaxies. Much of his most valuable research has focused on the end of the so-called cosmic dark ages — a period shortly after the Big Bang when the Universe was as yet without light sources.
As Astronomer Royal and a Past President of the Royal Society, Martin is a prominent scientific spokesperson and the author of seven books of popular science. After receiving a knighthood in 1992 for his services to science, he was elevated to the title of Baron Rees of Ludlow in 2005.
Find out more: futurespodcast.net
CREDITS
Produced by FUTURES Podcast
Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason
FOLLOW FUTURES PODCAST
Twitter: @FUTURESPodcast
Instagram: @futurespodcast
Facebook: @FUTURESPodcast
1 Listener
1

God in the Machine w/ Dr. Beth Singler
FUTURES Podcast
01/31/22 • 70 min
Anthropologist Dr. Beth Singler shares her thoughts on the misconceptions surrounding artificial intelligence, the dangers of treating humans like machines, and whether virtual reality could provide us with quasi-religious experiences.
Dr Beth Singler is the Junior Research Fellow in Artificial Intelligence at Homerton College, University of Cambridge, where she is exploring the social, ethical, philosophical and religious implications of AI. As an associate fellow at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence she is collaborating on the AI Narratives and Global AI Narratives projects, as well as co-organising a series of Faith and AI workshops as a part of the AI: Trust and Society programme.
She has also produced a series of short films on the questions raised by AI, and the first, Pain in the Machine, won the AHRC Best Research Film of the Year Award in 2017. Beth has appeared on Radio4’s Today, Sunday and Start the Week, spoken at the Hay Festival as one of the ‘Hay 30’, the 30 best speakers to watch, as well as speaking at New Scientist Live, Edinburgh Science Festival, the Science Museum, Cheltenham Science Festival, and Ars Electronica. She was also one of the Evening Standard’s Progress 1000, a list of the most influential people, in both 2017 and 2018.
Find out more: futurespodcast.net
CREDITS
Produced by FUTURES Podcast
Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason
FOLLOW
Twitter: twitter.com/futurespodcast
Facebook: facebook.com/futurespodcast
Instagram: instagram.com/futurespodcast
1 Listener

Birth, Food, Sex & Death w/ Jenny Kleeman
FUTURES Podcast
09/08/20 • 53 min
Journalist Jenny Kleeman shares her thoughts on developments in the emerging fields of sex robotics, lab-grown meat, artificial wombs, and assisted dying.
Jenny Kleeman is a journalist and documentary filmmaker who travels the world finding eye-catching, thought-provoking stories and compelling characters. Her articles appear regularly in the Guardian and also in the Sunday Times (London), The Times of London, The New Statesman and VICE. She has reported for BBC One’s Panorama and HBO’s VICE News Tonight. She won the One World Media Television Award for her work on Unreported World and was nominated for the Amnesty International Gaby Rado Award. She lives in England.
Find out more: futurespodcast.net
CREDITS
Produced by FUTURES Podcast
Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason
FOLLOW FUTURES PODCAST
Twitter: @FUTURESPodcast
Instagram: @futurespodcast
Facebook: @FUTURESPodcast

Humankind w/ Rutger Bregman
FUTURES Podcast
09/14/20 • 83 min
Historian Rutger Bregman shares his insights into why we have such a pessimistic view of human nature, what it means to be evolutionarily hardwired for kindness, and how radical ideas and stories can shape the future.
Rutger Bregman is a historian and author. He has published five books on history, philosophy, and economics. His book Utopia for Realists was a New York Times Bestseller and has been translated in 32 languages. Bregman has twice been nominated for the prestigious European Press Prize for his work at The Correspondent. His new book, Humankind, will be published in May 2020. Rutger lives in Holland.
Find out more: futurespodcast.net
CREDITS
Produced by FUTURES Podcast
Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason
FOLLOW FUTURES PODCAST
Twitter: @FUTURESPodcast
Instagram: @futurespodcast
Facebook: @FUTURESPodcast

Astronomical Endeavours w/ Kathy Sullivan
FUTURES Podcast
12/02/20 • 67 min
Former NASA Astronaut Kathy Sullivan shares her insights into what it was like to be part of the team responsible for the launch of The Hubble Space Telescope, the scientific and societal importance of space exploration, and how to create the ideal conditions for innovation to thrive.
Kathy Sullivan is former NASA astronaut and the first American woman to walk in space. She has been a crew member on three Space Shuttle missions as a geologist, and subsequently served as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the Obama administration. Most recently, she is the Charles A Lindbergh Chair of Aerospace History at the Smithsonian Institute, and is an inductee in the Astronaut Hall of Fame.
Find out more: futurespodcast.net
CREDITS
Produced by FUTURES Podcast
Recorded, Mixed & Edited by Luke Robert Mason
FOLLOW FUTURES PODCAST
Twitter: @FUTURESPodcast
Instagram: @futurespodcast
Facebook: @FUTURESPodcast
Show more
Comments
5.0
out of 5
2 Ratings
Review or comment on this podcast...
Post
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this
Copy