Future Imperfect
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Update frequency
- every 10 days
- Average duration
- 44 minutes
- Episodes
- 50
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
How did they deal with pandemic disease in the 1660s?
Jason talks to Rebecca Rideal about 1666, and pandemics, great fires, and wars.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Pete Dennis
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
How big were mediaeval warhorses?
Jason talks to Alan Outram and Oliver Creighton who have done the most extensive study of mediaeval warhorses ever made.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Pete Dennis
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy …
Why are our trees going north?
Ben Rawlence joins Jason to explain how the tree-line is moving, what that means for us, and what we can do about it.
Produced by: Natt Tapley
Audio: Pete Dennis
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy…
How can we bring back action comics?
Jason talks to comics legend Garth Ennis about war, computer games, history, and how to bring back comics of the past.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Assistant Producer: Abi Robinson
Audio: Pete Dennis
Hosted on…
Can we geo-engineer our way out of climate change?
In this episode Jason talks to Gernot Wagner about the damage we're doing to our limate and whether or not it's on our power to reverse it.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Assistant Producer: Abi Robinson
Audio: …
Are we going to run out of soil?
Jason talks to Jo Handelsman, the Director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery at University of Wisconsin, about the role soil has played in the historical invasions of Ukraine, how fast we're r…
Is the world coming to an end?
Professor Nicholas Guyatt joins Jason to talk about apocalyptic cults, beliefs in the end of the world, and what that might look like.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Assistant Producer: Abi Robinson
Audio: Pete …
Were the Dark Ages dark?
Jason talks to David Perry & Matt Gabriele about their new book, The Bright Ages, which tries to reassess the period after the fall of the Roman empire (if that even happened).
Producer: Natt Tapley
Au…
When did we invent love?
Jason talks to Professor Suzannah Lipscomb about how we find out about mediaeval women in the past, how marriages worked, and whether or not Henry VIII was the ultimate romantic?
Producer: Natt Tapley
…
How does bias change the world?
Jason talks to Jessica Nordell , who showed how small amounts of bias can have huge impact on large organisations.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Pete Dennis
Assistant Producer: Abi Robinson
Hosted on Aca…
Why do we have to work?
In this episode, Jason talks to Professor Jan Lucassen about the different roles work has played in human history. Have we always worked? Will we always work? How do we define work?
Producer: Nathanie…
Should we worry about World War III?
Recorded last month, Jason talks to Cold War historian Alex von Tunzelmann about tensions between Russia and the West, and whether or not we're all likely to die in a Third World War.
Producer: Natt T…
Do plants have souls?
Hildegard of Bingen was a mediaeval abbess who was famous in her own time for her thoughts about the natural world. Michael Marder talks to Jason about what her philosophy can teach us today about th…
Are we entering new Fire Age?
Are we entering a new Age of Fire? Emeritus Professor Stephen Pyne believes that we have altered the geological age through our control of fire. Jason talks to him about our past manipulation of fire…
How can we beat our unconscious biases?
Jason talks to Pragya Agarwal about unconscious bias, brain structures and what we can do to combat our own unconscious biases.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Sound: Pete Dennis
Photo by Daniel Reche from Pexels
…
Is there life on Mars?
…
How can we communicate science better?
Simonyi Professor for the Understanding of Science, Marcus du Sautoy joins Jason to talk about what we need to know about science, why it's important, and how we can improve our understanding.
Produce…
What can ancient Greeks teach us about resisting tyranny?
Overbearing governments have been with us throughout time. Professor Emily K. Anhalt believes that the ancient Greeks left us good advice in their poetry to tell us how to resist tyranny, and tells J…
What does ancient Egyptian bread taste like?
Jason talks to Seamus Blackley, the father of the Xbox about gaming, technology, being fascinated with the past, and how to collect ancient Egyptian yeasts.
Producer: Natt Tapley
Audio: Pete Dennis
Hos…
How do the aristocracy hold onto political power?
This week, Jason is joined by Hannah Greig to discuss how the aristocracy have held onto their land and power for almost a millennium in England.
Produced by: Natt Tapley
Audio by: Pete Dennis
Hosted o…