Advice For And From The Future

Can I ask my partner to stop eating so much Soylent? The answer to that question involves pre-chopped garlic, slam poetry, and a little bit of cannibalism.

Should I move to an off-the-grid commune? The answer to that question involves train schedules, queer breakups, and an interview with our future selves.

After four years away, Advice for and from the Future is coming back. New hosts! New questions! New chaos! New episodes drop next week.

Should I sublimate to another dimension? What does that even mean? Are there other dimensions? What about wormholes? And what if, instead of trying to use physics to get away from it all, you actually faced your fears? Featuring physics and metaphysics wisdom from Dr. Katie Mack, author of The End of Everything: (Astrophysically Speaking) and an original poem by Jayne A. Quan, a transmasculine, non-binary writer living in Los Angeles (follow them on Twitter & Instagram).

〰️〰️〰️ More information and show notes here 〰️〰️〰️

Advice For And From The Future is written, edited and performed by Rose Eveleth. The theme music is by Also, Also, Also. The logo is by Frank Okay. Additional music this episode provided by Blue Dot Sessions.

To get even more, you can become a Flash Forward Presents Time Traveler for access to behind the scenes exclusive content, early access to new shows, and other surprises & goodies.

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/futureadvice.
• 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/futureadvice.
• 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: futureadvice 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 futureadvice at checkout today! Purple Carrot, the easiest way to eat more plants!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can I ask my friend to turn off her Alexa when I go to her house? 

To answer that question, Dr. Simone Browne joins the show to talk about privacy, ethics, and whose job it is to convince someone to not opt into surveillance.

〰️〰️〰️ More information and show notes here 〰️〰️〰️

Advice For And From The Future is written, edited and performed by Rose Eveleth. The theme music is by Also, Also, Also. The logo is by Frank Okay. Additional music this episode provided by Blue Dot Sessions.

✨ To get even more, you can become a Flash Forward Presents Time Traveler for access to behind the scenes exclusive content, early access to new shows, and other surprises & goodies. ✨

Episode sponsors:

• The Listener: A daily podcast recommendation newsletter, sending three superb episodes to your inbox every week day. Get 20% off your first year using the code ADVICE20 at checkout at thelistener.co/advice.
• 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/futureadvice.
• 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/futureadvice.
• 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: futureadvice 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 futureadvice at checkout today! Purple Carrot, the easiest way to eat more plants!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The futurology shop is closed for repairs today (pesky robot put a hole in the wall) so please enjoy the first episode of Open World, a new show about hope, the future, and how to get there.

This episode features a reading from The City We Became, by N.K. Jemisin, scored by T.H. Ponders, followed by a conversation with Jemisin and Glitch CEO Anil Dash. We talk cities, hope, and why tech people should read better sci-fi.

Open World is a partnership between Philo’s Future Media and Flash Forward Presents, hosted by TK Dutes and Rose Eveleth, produced by Brittani Taylor Brown and mixed by C. The intro music is Dorica by BlueDot Sessions. Episode art by Walter Parenton.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's question comes from a future where humans live a long, long time. And some of them might want to date. But how do you make sure you're not actually dating someone you're related to? And what's the point of dating anyway?

To find out, I call Dr. Janina Jeff, a geneticist and senior scientist at Illumina, as well as the host of a podcast called In Those Genes. And then after that, we’ll play a little game. 

〰️〰️〰️ More information and show notes here 〰️〰️〰️

Advice For And From The Future is written, edited and performed by Rose Eveleth. The theme music is by Also, Also, Also. The logo is by Frank Okay. Additional music this episode provided by Blue Dot Sessions.

To get even more, you can become a Flash Forward Presents Time Traveler for access to behind the scenes exclusive content, early access to new shows, and other surprises & goodies.

⭐ BUY THE FLASH FORWARD BOOK HERE ⭐

✨ Subscribe to Open World here. ✨

Episode sponsors:

• Skillshare: Skillshare offers 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/futureadavice.
• 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/futureadvice.
• 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/futureadvice.
• 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: futureadvice 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 futureadvice at checkout today! Purple Carrot, the easiest way to eat more plants! 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are bugs the food of the future? Should I start a bug farm? What’s the best way to cook them? All that and more on today’s episode, featuring the amazing Soleil Ho, food critic at the San Francisco Chronicle, host of the podcast Extra Spicy, and founder of the podcast Racist Sandwich.

〰️〰️〰️ More information and show notes here 〰️〰️〰️

Advice For And From The Future is written, edited and performed by Rose Eveleth. The theme music is by Also, Also, Also. The logo is by Frank Okay. Additional music this episode provided by Blue Dot Sessions.

To get even more, you can become a Flash Forward Presents Time Traveler for access to behind the scenes exclusive content, early access to new shows, and other surprises & goodies.

Show sponsors:

• Better Help: Take charge of your mental health with the help of an experienced professional. Get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/futureadvice.
• 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/futureadvice.
• 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/futureadvice.
• 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: futureadvice 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 futureadvice at checkout today! Purple Carrot, the easiest way to eat more plants!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s question is about just how much to trust your boss. Should you let them implant a chip in your hand? 

To answer that question, I talked to Stacy-Marie Ishmael, journalist, editor, and career advice-giver. You can read Stacy-Marie’s newsletter here. 

〰️〰️〰️ More information and show notes here 〰️〰️〰️

Advice For And From The Future is written, edited and performed by Rose Eveleth. The theme music is by Also, Also, Also. The logo is by Frank Okay. Additional music this episode provided by Blue Dot Sessions.

To get even more, you can become a Flash Forward Presents Time Traveler for access to behind the scenes exclusive content, early access to new shows, and other surprises & goodies.

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/futureadvice. 
• 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/futureadvice.
• 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/futureadvice.
• 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: futureadvice 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 futureadvice at checkout today! Purple Carrot, the easiest way to eat more plants!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s episode is about proof, identity and DNA. What are you looking for, when you look for your heritage? What can DNA really tell you? And who decides which forms of proof are required when? 

To answer this question, we spoke with Dr. Alondra Nelson, president of the Social Science Research Council and Harold F. Linder Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study and author of The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation After the Genome.

The voices from our QVC nightmare future were provided by:

• Host 1 — Henry Alexander Kelly: Website, podcast La Lisa: A Latinx Podcast
• Host 2 — Ashley Kellem: Instagram, Website
• Darcy Noelle Apgar — Shara Kirby: Twitter

To get even more, you can become a Flash Forward Presents Time Traveler for access to behind the scenes exclusive content, early access to new shows, and other surprises & goodies.

〰️〰️〰️ More information and show notes here 〰️〰️〰️

Advice For And From The Future is written, edited and performed by Rose Eveleth. The theme music is by Also, Also, Also. The logo is by Frank Okay. Additional music this episode provided by Blue Dot Sessions.

To get even more, you can become a Flash Forward Presents Time Traveler for access to behind the scenes exclusive content, early access to new shows, and other surprises & goodies.

Show 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/futureadvice.
• 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/futureadvice.
• 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: futureadvice 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 futureadvice at checkout today! Purple Carrot, the easiest way to eat more plants!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s trip to and from the future, we’re considering questions of truth, reality, and how to be a good sharer of news. How do you avoid sharing fake information? How do you tell what’s real and what’s not? In this swirling vortex of disinformation, how can you make sure you’re not contributing to the problem? 

To help guide us through the swamp of memes and misinformation, Rose talks to Jane Lytvenenko, a professional debunker at BuzzFeed News. Jane walks us through the steps she uses to verify images and claims. And to get an official answer on one particular coronavirus related image, Rose calls Dr. Amy Lee, a molecular biologist at Simon Fraser University who talks about what it’s like to watch so much scientific misinformation be thrown around amidst a pandemic. 

→ → → IMAGES FOR TODAY'S EPISODE HERE. ← ← ←

Advice For And From The Future is written, edited and performed by Rose Eveleth. The theme music is by Also, Also, Also. The logo is by Frank Okay. Additional music this episode provided by Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to Noah Veltman for help setting up the texting service. 

To get even more, you can become a Flash Forward Presents Time Traveler for access to behind the scenes exclusive content, early access to new shows, and other surprises & goodies.

Episode sponsors:

• Sun Basket: Stay healthy at home with chef-crafted meals full of organic produce & delicious flavors. Get $35 off your order when you go right now to sunbasket.com/futureadvice and enter promo code futureadvice at checkout.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's advice question: Should you cryopreserve your dog? To answer that conundrum, Rose spoke with Ace Tilton Ratcliff, a writer and the co-founder of Haper's Promise. Ace wrote about their experience with pet cryopreservation here: "Cryonics, Dakota the Dog, and the Hope of Forever."

Advice For And From The Future is written, edited and performed by Rose Eveleth. The theme music is by Also, Also, Also. The logo is by Frank Okay. Additional music this episode provided by Blue Dot Sessions. 

The voices from the future were played by:

• Science Dog — Shara Kirby: Twitter
• Lead Dog — Henry Alexander Kelly: Website, podcast La Lisa: A Latinx Podcast
• Cryodog 1 — Ashley Kellem: Instagram, Website
• Cryodog 2 — OJ Carrasco (Flash Forward Patron) 
• Cryodog 3 — Brian Downs (Flash Forward Patron)
• Human 1 — Rose Eveleth (surprise!)
• Human 2 — Brett Tubbs: Twitter, Instagram, Website 

To get even more, you can become a Flash Forward Presents Time Traveler for access to behind the scenes exclusive content, early access to new shows, and other surprises & goodies.

Episode sponsors:

• BetterHelp: Affordable, private online counseling. Anytime, anywhere. Sign up at betterhelp.com/futureadvice, you get 10% off your first month.
• Sun Basket: Stay healthy at home with chef-crafted meals full of organic produce & delicious flavors. Get $35 off your order when you go right now to sunbasket.com/futureadvice and enter promo code futureadvice at checkout.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is it okay to bring a child into the world, if the world is on fire both literally and figuratively? What are the ethics of having babies given climate change? Should I, personally, have a kid? This question has become more and more common, and on today’s episode Rose talks to Meehan Crist, writer-in-residence in Biological Sciences at Columbia University. Meehan recently wrote an essay about these very questions, which you can read here. 

And in the crystal ball coda, we consider babies, dinosaurs, fear and secrets. And if you can’t get enough of this question, check out last week’s episode of Flash Forward, about a global one-child policy, and what that might look like. 

Advice For And From The Future is written, edited and performed by Rose Eveleth. The theme music is by Also, Also, Also. The logo is by Frank Okay. Additional music this episode provided by Blue Dot Sessions. Thanks to Sara Rivera and Kathy Randall Bryant for your thoughts on having children. 

To get even more, you can become a Flash Forward Presents Time Traveler for access to behind the scenes exclusive content, early access to new shows, and other surprises & goodies.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when your partner wants to flee this planet, and you want to stay? Is wanting to go to Mars basically saying you want to break up? Can you have a long, long, long distance relationship? Is a five-year date a terrible idea?

To answer this interplanetary conundrum, Rose calls up Andrea Silenzi, host and creator of the dating podcast Why Oh Why. Plus, an original song by the Song Salad team!

Advice For And From The Future is written, edited and performed by Rose Eveleth. The theme music is by Also Also Also. The logo is by Frank Okay. Additional music this episode provided by Blue Dot Sessions.

To get even more, you can become a Flash Forward Presents Time Traveler for access to behind the scenes exclusive content, early access to new shows, and other surprises & goodies.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Should I follow my boyfriend to Mars? Can I ask my friend to turn off her Alexa when I come over? Is it okay to have kids? You have questions, and on Advice for and from the Future, we have answers. And when we don’t have answers, we have educated guesses. With the help of experts, time travelers, and a handful of inanimate objects, we'll take on your most pressing future questions.

Have a question? Send a voice memo with your quandry to [email protected] or call and leave a voicemail (347) 927-1425! No issue is too small, or too strange.

Full episodes start entering the timestream June 2nd. The future is going to be weirder than we can even imagine. Let’s get ready for it together.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices