Future Perfect

4.5 (592)
PHILOSOPHY
UPDATED BIMONTHLY

Future Perfect explores provocative ideas with the potential to radically improve the world. We tackle big questions about the most effective ways to save lives, control new and potentially dangerous technology, and address world poverty to create a more perfect future. Good Robot is a new series about AI from Unexplainable and Future Perfect. Produced by Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

MAR 22

Good Robot #4: Who, me?

What can we actually do as our world gets populated with more and more robots? How can we take control? Can we take control? This is the final episode of our four-part series, Good Robot. Good Robot was made in partnership with Vox’s Unexplainable team. For more, go to vox.com/goodrobot Support Future Perfect by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

53 min
MAR 19

Good Robot #3: Let's fix everything

A simple parable about a drowning child sparks a moral revolution. Can AI help us do the most good in the world? Good Robot was made in partnership with Vox’s Unexplainable team. Episodes will be released on Wednesdays and Saturdays. For more, go to vox.com/goodrobot Support Future Perfect by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

49 min
MAR 15

Good Robot #2: Everything is not awesome

When a robot does bad things, who is responsible? A group of technologists sounds the alarm about the ways AI is already harming us today. Are their concerns being taken seriously? This is the second episode of our new four-part series about the stories shaping the future of AI. Good Robot was made in partnership with Vox’s Unexplainable team. Episodes will be released on Wednesdays and Saturdays. For more, go to vox.com/goodrobot Support Future Perfect by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

57 min
MAR 12

Good Robot #1: The Magic Intelligence in the Sky

Before AI became a mainstream obsession, one thinker sounded the alarm about its catastrophic potential. So why are so many billionaires and tech leaders worried about… paper clips? Good Robot was made in partnership with Vox’s Unexplainable team. Episodes will be released on Wednesdays and Saturdays. For more, go to vox.com/goodrobot Support Future Perfect by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

53 min
TRAILER

Introducing: Good Robot

A new series about AI from Unexplainable and Future Perfect Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

4 min
04/28/2021

Sucking the carbon out of the sky

Most of our efforts to fight climate change, from electric cars to wind turbines, are about pumping fewer greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. But what if we could pull out the gases that are already there? Akshat Rathi, a reporter at Bloomberg with a doctorate in chemistry, knows more about this technology, called “direct air capture,” than just about anyone. He follows companies like Carbon Engineering and Climeworks that are trying to figure out how to take regular air and pull carbon dioxide out of it. If their plans work, they could mean a world with net negative emissions: less carbon in the sky than there is right now, and a cooler planet. But his reporting has also highlighted how elusive carbon capture can be, and how tricky it can be to make the tech work at an affordable price. Rathi and Vox’s Dylan Matthews discuss how direct air capture works, how it’s different from capturing carbon at a fossil fuel plant, and the struggles of one direct air capture company in particular. Read more of Akshat’s work here: Inside America's Race to Scale Direct-Air Capture Technology - Bloomberg Crushed Rock Could Capture Billions of Tons of Carbon Dioxide - Bloomberg Britain Is Getting Ready to Scale Up Negative-Emissions Technology - Bloomberg Planting Trees Isn’t a Simple Climate Change Solution It Seems - Bloomberg The story behind the world’s first large direct air capture plant — Quartz (qz.com) The ultimate guide to negative-emissions technologies — Quartz (qz.com) Host: Dylan Matthews (@DylanMatt), senior correspondent, Vox Producer: Sofi LaLonde (@sofilalonde) More to explore: Subscribe to Vox’s Future Perfect newsletter, which breaks down big, complicated problems the world faces and the most efficient ways to solve them. We always want to hear from you! Please send comments and questions to futureperfect@vox.com. Subscribe to Future Perfect on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app to automatically get new episodes of the latest season each week. Follow Us: Vox.com Support Future Perfect by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

44 min
04/21/2021

Should I still have kids if I’m worried about climate change?

Climate scientist Kimberly Nicholas co-led a study that showed the single most effective thing an individual can do to decrease their carbon footprint is have fewer kids. Despite that finding, she still says that people who really want to have kids should go ahead with their plans. She explains how she squares that circle to Vox’s Sigal Samuel, and the two discuss how to think about the decision to have kids or not and how to make meaning in a warming world. Read more of Sigal’s climate reporting: Having fewer kids will not save the planet Where to donate to improve climate policy It’s not just Big Oil. It’s Big Meat too. More information about Dr. Kimberly Nicholas Find her new book here Read more of her writing on her website The podcast she recommended called So Over Population Host: Sigal Samuel (@SigalSamuel), staff writer, Vox Producer: Sofi LaLonde (@sofilalonde) More to explore: Subscribe to Vox’s Future Perfect newsletter, which breaks down big, complicated problems the world faces and the most efficient ways to solve them. We always want to hear from you! Please send comments and questions to futureperfect@vox.com. Subscribe to Future Perfect on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app to automatically get new episodes of the latest season each week. Follow Us: Vox.com Support Future Perfect by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1h 3m
04/14/2021

Engineering our way out of the climate crisis

In an ideal world, cutting carbon emissions would be enough to stop global warming. But after dithering for decades, the world needs a back-up plan. Kelly Wanser is the leader of a group called SilverLining that works to promote research into what it calls “solar climate intervention.” Also called “solar geoengineering,” this approach involves putting particles into clouds that reflect back the sun, directly cooling the earth. It’s a novel and potentially hazardous policy — but one that Wanser and other experts argue could hold a lot of promise as the world braces for catastrophic climate impacts. Wanser and Vox’s Dylan Matthews discuss how solar climate intervention works, how it could be implemented, and where it fits in with the goal of cutting emissions. References: Kelly Wanser is the executive director of SilverLining. You can find more information at Silverlining.ngo, including its 2019 report on climate intervention research. You can also hear more from Wanser in her 2019 TED Talk. Host: Dylan Matthews (@DylanMatt), senior correspondent, Vox Producer: Sofi LaLonde (@sofilalonde) Special thanks to Efim Shaprio (@efimthedream) More to explore: Subscribe to Vox’s Future Perfect newsletter, which breaks down big, complicated problems the world faces and the most efficient ways to solve them. We always want to hear from you! Please send comments and questions to futureperfect@vox.com. Subscribe to Future Perfect on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app to automatically get new episodes of the latest season each week. Follow Us: Vox.com Support Future Perfect by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

36 min

See All (47)

TRAILER

Introducing: Good Robot

A new series about AI from Unexplainable and Future Perfect Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mar 5

•

4 min

Dylan Matthews

Host

4.5

out of 5

592 Ratings

Yes!! Thank you!!

08/13/2021

Auzzie T

Thank you this is amazing!! I especially love the rethinking meat episodes. Keep spreading the word. Thanks y’all :)
Great podcast! A must-listen on topics that matter.

11/19/2020

Viveca1

Byrd Pinkerton, Sigal Samuel, and Dylan Mathews are enormously talented producers and storytellers — exceptionally well researched, thoughtful, captivating, funny, and often profound. I look forward to these episodes, have learned a lot by listening, and recommend subscribing to everyone. A must-listen.
How to prevent a factory farmed pandemic

06/23/2021

makeupmyname

For obvious reasons, this subject is hugely important, not to mention heartbreaking in terms of how we treat animals. So why do the women — both interviewer and interviewee — laugh throughout that segment? Is there some weird need to lighten the mood? I know a lot about this subject but was still willing to strap myself in to learn additional excruciating details but was unable to continue due to the offensive presentation. You can’t expect to be taken seriously if you do not do the same for yourself, particularly when the subject matter requires adult conversation and serious journalism.
Classic neoliberal talking points

06/06/2021

R23ndwp

Interviewers fall into neoliberal ideological traps and often fail to understand their guests. Basic climate podcast, check out Hot Take if you want actual climate reporting.

Future Perfect explores provocative ideas with the potential to radically improve the world. We tackle big questions about the most effective ways to save lives, control new and potentially dangerous technology, and address world poverty to create a more perfect future. Good Robot is a new series about AI from Unexplainable and Future Perfect. Produced by Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network.