Flash Forward
Flash Forward is a show about possible (and not so possible) future scenarios. What would the warranty on a sex robot look like? How would diplomacy work if we couldn’t lie? Could there ever be a fecal transplant black market? (Complicated, it wouldn’t, and yes, respectively, in case you’re curious.) Hosted and produced by award winning science journalist Rose Eveleth, each episode combines audio drama and journalism to go deep on potential tomorrows, and uncovers what those futures might really be like. The future is going to be weird, so let's get ready for it together.
126
Piraceuticals
This episode we go to a future with pirates! There always has to be at least one pirate episode per season. This time it’s pharmaceutical pirates.
27 min
127
After Life
This month’s episode is about what it would take to sterilize the Earth, and why you might want to figure that out in the first place. - First we talk to the authors of a paper that tries to figure out this exact question.
24 min
128
Down For Everyone Not Just You
This episode is a little different than other episodes. As many of you know, Flash Forward is my second job. My first job is at ESPN, where I recently helped launch an audio documentary series called 30 for 30 Podcasts. Please go check that out,
37 min
129
Love On The Brain
This episode, we travel to a future where your romantic partners aren’t chosen by questions or swipes, but rather by your brainwaves. - This future is based on an idea from Shelly Ronan and Ernesto D. Morales and their project Object Solutions.
31 min
130
Mons Voyage
This episode, we go on another vacation! Can you tell I need a vacation? Anyway, back to the episode. What would it be like if you could hop on a space cruise ship, and take a trip to Mars? - This is a special episode because our little future int...
30 min
131
Back to the Future: A Womb Away From Home
Long time listeners of Flash Forward might feel like this future is kind of… familiar. And it is. It’s actually the first future we ever traveled to on this show. A future where humans have invented artificial wombs.
21 min
132
Robocop
In this future there are no more human police officers. Is that even possible? - The future of policing is a really really complicated topic. And it’s also, and this might be the understatement of the year, a controversial one.
32 min
133
Unreel
This month on Flash Forward, we go to a future where anybody can make a video of you doing anything they want. And that technology is cheap and easy to access. What happens?
41 min
134
California Dreaming
California has one of the largest economies in the world. So what would happen if it broke away from the United States? Could California ever go independent? And if it did, what would that look like?
38 min
135
Greetings From Paradice
Every year, over 20 million people get on a cruise ship and set sail for a seafaring vacation. Most of those cruises take their vacationers to warm, sunny climates. But thanks to climate change, a new hoard of ships might start sailing North rather tha...
34 min
136
Robocrop
Today’s episode is about a future where nobody works on farms anymore, all farming is done by robots. Is it possible? Probably not. But it might be closer than you think. - Today’s episode features: Curtiz Marez,
34 min
137
Extra! Extra!
This week we travel to a future where there is so much fake news that nobody can tell what is real anymore. Are we already there? What happens next? - This week's guests include: - Amy Webb — Founder of the Future Today Institute,
30 min
138
How is Babby (Not) Made
Hello! And welcome to SEASON THREE of Flash Forward! I know I’ve been away for a bit, but I’m really excited for this season, I have some really fun futures planned for you. And some scary ones. But also fun ones! I promise, it’s a good mix. -
37 min
139
The Witch Who Came From Mars
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,
43 min
140
Where’s the Beef?
Today we go to a future where animal products are banned. It’s one that lots of listeners have asked for so here you go. We talk about what happens to the land, the animals and the humans in this equation. -
37 min
141
Revenge of the Retweet
Today we try to figure out what happens when our future presidential candidates have thousands of Tweets and Tumblr posts and Instagrams in their online record. - What happens, when today’s teens start running for office?
33 min
142
The Altered State
Today we travel to a future where all drugs are legal. Just roll up to the store, and get yourself some cocaine! - We start with some history: for centuries a world without drug laws existed. Mark Kleiman,
36 min
143
Bot for Teacher
Today a future without schools. Instead of gathering students into a room and teaching them, everybody learns on their own time, on tablets and guided by artificial intelligence. - First, I talk to a Ashok Goel,
37 min
144
Kaboom
Today week we take on a doomsday future! We haven’t done one of those this season. So, what would happen if all the active volcanoes in the world erupted at the same time? The short answer is: bad things. The long answer is, well,
29 min
145
Popnonymous
Today we go to a future where all pop stars use avatars, clones, robots or cartoons instead of their real bodies and faces. What does that do to music? Can everybody pull off an avatar? And why would any pop star even want that? -
45 min
146
Expiration Date
Today we travel to a future where it’s possible to know exactly when you will die. Do you chose to find out? - Now, this is, impossible. Totally impossible. And I’m not even going to try and come up with some strange pseudoscientific explanation f...
47 min
147
Omnibot
Today we travel to a world with universal translation devices. Where the babelfish from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comes true (although probably not in the form of an evolved organism, but let's not fret about the details).
33 min
148
Swipe Right For Democracy
Today we travel to a future where America has converted to a direct democracy. Everybody votes on everything! - Hey, did you know it was an election year in the United States? I know, you've probably not really heard about this,
27 min
149
Rude Bot Rises
Okay, you asked for it, and I finally did it. Today’s episode is about conscious artificial intelligence. Which is a HUGE topic! So we only took a small bite out of all the things we could possibly talk about. - We started with some definitions.
29 min
150
Tree Free
Today we travel to a fully digital world, a world where paper is a thing of the past. - On this show we’ve tackled a huge range of futures — we’ve talked about things that are extremely likely, like, antibiotic resistance,
25 min