Futurist(Mom)

Nancy Giordano
  • 5.0 (14)
  • PARENTING
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Parenting for the future shouldn't feel like guessing in the dark. Weaving her experience as a global futurist, TEDx pioneer and mother of three thriving young adults, Nancy Giordano shares tangible perspectives, real-life stories, and the people you need to know in a quest to explore how kids and families can step confidently into life, work and the world ahead. From developing critical thinking and problem-solving in infancy to confidently facing emerging digital and cultural challenges as they grow, the Futurist(Mom) is your insightful companion for preparing your child for a dynamic and unpredictable world. Tune in and join the conversation on how we can best equip our kids for the future, one episode at a time.

  1. MAR 4

    The AI Dependency Trap: Love it or Hate it? | Tara Steele

    As parents, we are caught in a gut-wrenching paradox. We are told that AI is the non-negotiable key to our children’s economic future, yet we are being asked to hand them tools that have the power to hurt them more profoundly than any social media algorithm ever could. How do we navigate this high-stakes dependency? In this episode, Nancy sits down with Tara Steele to dismantle the "innovation at all costs" mindset. Tara reveals why the current AI landscape is an unregulated experiment on the next generation and why "Safety by Design" is the only path forward. We explore the "Three Non-Negotiables" for child safety, the hidden risks of emotional dependency, and how we can move from reactive fear to proactive stewardship—protecting the human core while shaping the tools that are shaping our kids. Why this matters:  Stewardship over Speed: We are currently applying Industrial Age "readiness" metrics to Quantum Age tools. True leadership requires us to prioritize the safety of the "human core" before we accelerate adoption.The New Dependency: AI introduces risks of psychological and emotional dependency that differ from previous tech. If a child’s "best listener" is a chatbot, we risk atrophying the very human skills—empathy and divergent thinking—that the future actually requires.Safety by Design: "Moderation" is a reactive, outdated strategy. We must demand that child protection is baked into the DNA of AI systems before they ever reach a child’s hands

    1h 3m

  2. FEB 25

    The TRICK to Raising Independent, Resilient Kids (And Yes, There's an App for That) | Esther Wojcicki

    What's the secret to raising kids who are both happy and successful? Esther Wojcicki—"The Godmother of Silicon Valley"—has spent five decades figuring it out. As a legendary "teacher of the year” who built one of America's largest high school journalism programs and as the mother of three extraordinarily successful daughters (the CEOs of YouTube and 23andMe, plus a professor of pediatrics), Esther knows something most of us are eager to learn: how to help kids become independent, resilient, fearless creators. Her TRICK method [Trust, Respect, Independence, Collaboration, and Kindness] is the opposite of helicopter parenting. Today, Esther shares the principles that changed thousands of students' lives, how she raised her own daughters, and why her grandchildren help inspire the the "Parenting TRICK" app she’s launching to help parents implement these strategies daily. Why This Matters → We're raising a generation of kids who can't function without us—and it's our fault. Helicopter parenting and doing everything for our children has created dependency, not capability. Esther's TRICK method proves that when we trust kids early, respect their ideas, and give them real independence, they develop the resilience and self-reliance they need to thrive in an uncertain world.. → In the age of AI, human agency becomes the differentiator. As AI handles routine tasks, the humans who thrive will be the ones who can: ask new questions, make judgment calls in ambiguous situations, collaborate across differences, and take ownership of their choices.  → We have the knowledge—but we need the daily guidance. Esther's TRICK method works. Thousands of students and three extraordinarily successful daughters prove it. But most parents struggle to implement it consistently, especially when tired, stressed, or facing a meltdown. The Parenting TRICK app brings Esther into your pocket and offers on-demand coaching/support.

    49 min

  3. FEB 17

    What Our Kids Are Telling Us About the Future (If Only We'd Listen) | Nicolai Sederberg Rottbøll

    We spend a lot of time worrying about the future our children will inherit—but how often do we ask them what they actually want it to look like? Nicolai Sederberg Rottbøll, sustainability leader and founder of Our World 2050, has built a global movement to find out. By gathering the hopes, dreams, and visions of one million children aged 6 to 21 from every corner of the world, he's discovering something remarkable: kids think bigger, more boldly, and more creatively than most adults dare to. Today, Nicolai shares what children are telling us about the future they want to build—and why listening to them, and nurturing their hope and imagination, might be the most important thing we can do as parents. Why This Matters: → We're asking adults to design a future for children without asking children what they want. Global sustainability conversations are dominated by experts, policymakers, and decision-makers—rarely by the young people who will actually live in the world being designed. Our World 2050 is changing that, and parents can too, simply by asking their kids better questions. → Children are natural visionaries—but only if we protect that gift. Students think beyond the limitations that constrain adults. They dream big, free from preconceptions about what's "practically possible." But this natural visionary thinking is fragile. Without adults who nurture it, it fades—and the world loses the very creativity it needs most. → Hope isn't naive—it's necessary. In an era of climate anxiety, economic uncertainty, and relentless bad news, teaching kids to hold onto hope while engaging actively with the world's challenges is one of the most powerful things a parent can do. Nicolai's work shows that when children are invited to envision a better future, they don't just feel better—they start building it.

    53 min

  4. FEB 10

    Why Creativity Is the Job of the Future (And How to Raise Kids Who Have It) | Doreen Lorenzo

    We tell our kids to be creative, but do we really know what that means—or how to cultivate it? Doreen Lorenzo, former President of frog design and now Assistant Dean at UT Austin's School of Design and Creative Technologies, has spent decades helping Fortune 100 companies innovate and is now transforming how we educate the next generation. Through her podcast "Creativity is the Job of the Future," she's exploring a crucial thesis: in an uncertain, AI-driven world, creative thinking isn't just nice to have—it's the essential skill. Today, Doreen shares what she's learned from design legends, ultramarathon runners, and unconventional creatives about how creativity actually works, why schools often kill it, and most importantly, how parents can nurture it at home. Why This Matters → Creativity isn't what we think it is—and that's the problem. Most parents equate creativity with arts and crafts,  rather than with the ability to tackle challenges, find unexpected solutions, and adapt to rapid change. If we're nurturing the wrong thing, we're not preparing our kids for the future they'll actually face. → Traditional education is systematically killing creativity—even as it becomes more essential. Schools reward conformity, right answers, and standardized thinking precisely when the world needs divergent thinking, experimentation, and the courage to fail. Unless parents actively counterbalance this, kids lose their natural creative capacity by the time they hit middle school. → AI makes creativity more valuable, not less. As AI handles more routine cognitive work, the uniquely human ability to ask new questions, make unexpected connections, and imagine possibilities becomes the differentiator. Kids who can't think creatively won't just struggle to find jobs—they'll struggle to find meaning and agency in a rapidly changing world.

    57 min

  5. FEB 4

    Letting Go of the Future You Imagined: Feeling the Grief, Finding the Joy | Juli Rush

    Every parent holds a vision of the future their children will inherit—but what happens when that future is no longer possible? Juli Rush is both a futurist and a death doula, uniquely positioned to help us navigate what she calls "futures' death"—the grief that comes when the world we expected for our kids fundamentally changes.  Juli teaches foresight thinking to both graduate students and middle schoolers, helping them learn to think—and feel—about multiple possible futures. Today, she guides us through the emotional work of letting go, the importance of honoring our grief, and how to help our children build hope and agency even as they inherit unprecedented uncertainty. Why This Matters: → Parents are grieving a future that will never exist—and we're not talking about it. We imagined a certain world for our children: stable careers, predictable milestones, maybe a better version of what we had. That future is dying or already dead. Until we acknowledge and process this loss, we can't help our kids navigate what's actually ahead. → Our kids can feel our unprocessed grief—and it shapes how they see their own future. When parents carry unexpressed disappointment, anxiety, or sadness about the future, children absorb it. If we don't do our own emotional work around letting go, we risk projecting our fears onto them or clinging to expectations that no longer serve them. → Foresight isn't just about thinking—it's about feeling. Teaching kids (and ourselves) to engage with the future means holding both grief and joy, loss and possibility. Juli's work shows that we can honor what's ending while building the capacity to imagine and create what comes next. This isn't toxic positivity—it's the necessary emotional literacy for navigating uncertainty.

    49 min
  6. Pausing the Race to College for a "Launch Year" of Deeper Wisdoms | Abby Falik

    JAN 27

    Pausing the Race to College for a "Launch Year" of Deeper Wisdoms | Abby Falik

    What if the straight path from high school to college isn't the best way to prepare our kids for life? Abby Falik graduated from Stanford exhausted and burnt out—despite playing the academic game perfectly. That experience led her to spend two decades creating alternatives, founding Global Citizen Year and raising over $65 million to help thousands of young people take transformative bridge years. Now, with The Flight School, Abby is challenging the entire paradigm. She believes our kids are missing something essential: wisdom, a sense of what it means to be human, and the capacity to navigate uncertainty. Through immersive experiences and "the power of the pause," she's reimagining the transition from high school into a rebellious rite of passage that builds a compass, not just credentials. And she also regularly shares her emerging observations and wisdoms via substack.  Why This Matters → The race to college can create hollow achievers rather than wise humans. Many kids work hard to be accepted to college only to arrive exhausted, directionless, and disconnected from any deeper sense of purpose or meaning. Achievement isn't the same as wisdom, and credentials don't teach you what it means to be human. → The world our kids face requires a different kind of preparation. In an era of unprecedented uncertainty and rapid change, following a predetermined path won't serve them. They need to develop their own internal compass, learn to navigate ambiguity, and discover what they actually care about; that requires a new approach.  → The pause isn't a detour—it's the point. Taking time between high school and college isn't falling behind; it's an intentional rite of passage that can fundamentally change a young person's trajectory. When we give kids permission to step off the treadmill and into the unknown, they discover who they are and what matters—which changes everything that comes after.

    43 min
  7. How to Talk to Your Kids About Everything—Including the Future | Jen Davidson Shoemaker

    JAN 20

    How to Talk to Your Kids About Everything—Including the Future | Jen Davidson Shoemaker

    When your kids hit the teenage years, the conversations get harder—and more important. How do you talk about sex, failure, relationships, money, and yes, the uncertain future they're inheriting? Jen Shoemaker Davidson, author of Keep Talking: Conversations with Our Kids When They Want Us Least but Need Us Most, isn't a clinician or parenting expert—she's a mom who figured out how to stay connected to her teens even when they pushed back. Through her "life lesson lunches" and commitment to showing up for the awkward conversations, Jen developed a practical approach to building trust and maintaining open communication. Today, she shares strategies for tackling the topics that matter most—including how to help kids process their hopes, fears, and expectations for a future that looks nothing like ours. Why This Matters → The hardest conversations are the most important—and most parents are avoiding them. When kids enter their teens, many parents retreat just when kids need them most. Without open dialogue, kids fill the void with peers, social media, AI chatbots, or silence—none of which prepare them for what's ahead or keep them safe from emerging threats like online exploitation, gambling debts, or worse. → The threats our kids face have evolved far beyond "the talk." While we're still focused on condom conversations, our kids are navigating AI companions, online predators, sexploitation, gaming and gambling debts, cyberbullying, and levels of anxiety and dread that can lead to suicidal ideation. Surveillance isn't the answer—real communication is. → Kids today are inheriting unprecedented uncertainty—and they need us to talk about it. Climate change, economic shifts, AI disrupting careers, rapidly changing social norms—our kids face a future we can't fully predict. If we can't create space to discuss both the everyday challenges and their fears about tomorrow, we're leaving them to process it alone—or with AI companions that can't provide what a trusted parent can.

    50 min
  8. How to Raise (and Support) a Real Life Superhero | Yarrow Kraner

    JAN 13

    How to Raise (and Support) a Real Life Superhero | Yarrow Kraner

    How to Raise (and Support) a Real Life Superhero | Yarrow Kraner As the world changes faster each day, how can we raise and support superheroes ready for the task? Said another way, what if a child’s challenging traits aren't a problem to fix but a superpower waiting to emerge?  In 1999, Yarrow Kraner launched one of the world's earliest social networks built on a radical belief: everyone has unique gifts that can change the world—especially in children—galvanizing 1.5 million youth into action. In 2004, he founded HATCH, connecting and cross-pollinating diverse global influencers and NextGen youth leaders to accelerate collaborations and solutions for the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. By bringing together today's real-life superheroes—from astronauts to composers, inventors to software engineers—HATCH has led to thousands of collaborations, companies formed, and systems change at the policy level. The results have impacted the lives of 100 million people.  Yarrow shares how he sees human potential and how we can all recognize the visionary traits in children before the world carves away their gifts. As well as ways we can create the conditions where superpowers such as empathy and creativity can flourish.  Why This Matters: → Your child’s misunderstood traits might be their greatest strength. What looks like defiance, distraction, or impracticality could be visionary thinking in disguise—but only if we learn to recognize and nurture it. → We're accidentally crushing curiosity. Preschoolers ask over 100 questions a day; by middle school, that curiosity has nearly vanished. This dramatic drop is what happens when wonder meets a world that doesn't know how to hold it. → Society desperately needs more visionaries—but many never bloom. The environments we can create (or not) can be the difference between those superpowers emerging or being shut down forever.

    53 min
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5
out of 5
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About

Parenting for the future shouldn't feel like guessing in the dark. Weaving her experience as a global futurist, TEDx pioneer and mother of three thriving young adults, Nancy Giordano shares tangible perspectives, real-life stories, and the people you need to know in a quest to explore how kids and families can step confidently into life, work and the world ahead. From developing critical thinking and problem-solving in infancy to confidently facing emerging digital and cultural challenges as they grow, the Futurist(Mom) is your insightful companion for preparing your child for a dynamic and unpredictable world. Tune in and join the conversation on how we can best equip our kids for the future, one episode at a time.

Information

  • Creator
    Nancy Giordano
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    17
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025