The world’s in a pretty miserable place lately, but looking to the future can help inspire us to build a better tomorrow for us all — and novelist, Hugo-Award winning podcaster, and former editor of io9 and Gizmodo Annalee Newitz is here to help!
Gizmodo is extremely excited to announce Deep Futures, a six-episode podcast miniseries from Mailchimp Presents and Campside Media. Hosted by Newitz, each episode runs roughly 20-30 minutes long, as they invite a guest to ask a simple, science-fictional question: How do we get to tomorrow in the first place?
From questions of architecture to medical advancements, from environmental concerns to the future of labour, each episode tackles a different concept alongside a different expert to imagine just what our world could look like in the next century and beyond.
“I spent most of my pandemic year in 2020 working on it with the fantastic producer Maya Kroth. We were trying to imagine how to get to a better world from what felt like a worst-case scenario for humanity,” Newitz told Gizmodo over email. “Each episode dives into the life of one person who is trying to improve our chances of survival — whether that’s by inventing 3-D printed kidneys, unionizing farmworkers, rebuilding democracy, or solving crimes. Once they told me about their work, I asked each guest to do something science-fictional: describe what they hope the world will be like in the distant future.”
“The scenarios they came up with were incredible,” they continued. “A museum curator imagined art shows designed by and for non-neurotypical people; an archaeologist described a city indistinguishable from nature; and a forensic chemist warned us about how unregulated synthetic foods of the future might become deadly. I had a blast making this show from my pandemic cloister at home, and it honestly kept me sane to talk to people about why we need to keep fighting for a better world. Plus, it was fun and weird and I learned a lot.”
You’ll be able to listen to all six episodes of Deep Futures starting today, March 31 — either through Mailchimp Presents or wherever all good podcasts are available.