Future Imperfect

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 Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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: Pete Dennis

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 running out of soil and what will happen when we do.

Presenter: Jason Kingsley

Producer: Natt Tapley

Assistant Producer: Abi Robinson

Audio: Pete Dennis

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Dennis

Image: St Jean de Montmartre 4th Horseman of Apocalypse by Peter Haas licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

Audio: Pete Dennis

Assistant Producer: Abi Robinson

Photo by Ali Khalil from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/columns-and-dome-of-hagia-sophia-7542061/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

Audio: Pete Dennis

Assistant Producer: Abi Robinson

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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: Nathaniel Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

Assistant Producer: Abi Robinson

Photo by Yury Kim from Pexels

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

Assistant Producer: Abi Robinson

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 the way in which we interact with plants and what it could mean for our future.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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, and what the world is likely to look like in this new Fire Age.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

Photo: Eric Chistov

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Jason all about it.

Producer: Nathaniel Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mo Gawdat was the Chief Business Officer for Google[X], creating some of the most advanced artificial intelligences in the world. Now, he devotes himself to increasing human happiness. He talks to Jason Kingsley about algorithms, AIs and whether we can learn to live with the machines.

Produced: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What we know about the mediaeval period comes, in large part, from what people wrote down about themselves and others. How do we find out about less-literate societies, like the Vikings? Cat Jarman has spent the last few years working on the the remains of the Great Army at Repton and the material artefacts they left behind. In her new book - River Kings she talks about the huge leaps archaeology has made with new technologies and all we can now learn from their teeth, jewellery, and even the metals of the Vikings. Welcome to Future Imperfect!

Producer: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jason talks to Margaret Heffernan about what use prediction is in an unpredictable world. What can we predict, and what can we just not know?

Produced by Natt Tapley

Sound by Pete Dennis

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today the law can feel arcane, complicated, and forbidding. In the past - with trial by ordeal and trial by combat - it could be simpler and more direct. Today, Jason talks to Daniel Shen Smith, a barrister and expert in martial arts, about trial by combat, how it worked, and what remnants of it are left today.

Produced by Natt Tapley

Audio by Pete Dennis

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What role do theories of race play in science? For years, we thought that eugenic ideas about race had fallen out of fashion, but recently they seem to be making a comeback. In today's podcast, Angela Saini talks to me about why this is happening. She's speaking to us from New York, so excuse the sound of real Manhattan traffic or the occasional transatlantic internet wobble. Welcome to Future Imperfect!

Produced by: Natt Tapley

Sound by: Pete Dennis

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jason talks to Dr Eleanor Janega about how fascinating and compelling the mediaeval period is. They talk about jousting, battles, and exactly how colourful everyone's trousers were.

Produced by: Natt Tapley

Audio: Pete Dennis

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It seems like we're getting bad news about the planet every day, but one of the most worrying signs is the decline in our pollinating insects. In this episode, Jason Kingsley, OBE, talks to Dave Goulson from the University of Sussex about whether or not we can save the bees, and what might happen if we don't.

To find out more visit Dave's Youtube channel or buy his new book.

Produced by: Natt Tapley for Gloaming Productions

Audio by Pete Dennis

Cover Image by Richard Bartz, licensed from Wikimedia Commons on a Creative Commons Share-Alike 2.5 licence

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Elaine Kasket talks to Jason about what ownership means in the 21st century. What happens to our digital possessions after we die? Who is in charge of our data when we pass on? And does privacy end after death?

Produced by: Natt Tapley for Gloaming Productions

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dan Snow is a writer, broadcaster, and a historian who's had an incredible career of amazing experiences. In this episode, he and Jason talk about what life was really like on the battlefields of the past, why bullet points are the secret of history, and why showers are amazing.

Produced by: Natt Tapley for Gloaming Productions and Rebellion

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.