Where Are We Going? The Future of the Future

More from Past Present Future

1. 

   S5 · E309 · 15 Jul 2026 · 57 min

   The History of Bad Ideas: Deliverism

   Today’s episode is about a bad idea with a very recent history: David talks to political historian David Klemperer about the dangers of deliverism. When did the view that delivering for the voters is a good idea become so controversial? What does it get right and what does it get wrong about how elections are decided? Has politics become more about telling the right story than about delivering the right benefits? And is Andy Burnham a deliverist, a post-deliverist or something else? Out now on PPF+ a bonus episode to accompany this series: David talks about what’s wrong with the idea of ‘the…

2. 

   S5 · E308 · 12 Jul 2026 · 56 min

   The History of Bad Ideas: Narrative History

   Today’s bad idea is a way of doing history: David talks to historian Alec Ryrie about the seductions and pitfalls of narrative history. Why do we need more Herodotus and less Thucydides? What makes so many historians believe that the meaning of a story is determined by its end? How does narrative history distort our understanding of contemporary events? And how can podcasts do it better? Out tomorrow on PPF+ a bonus episode to accompany this series: David talks about what’s wrong with the idea of ‘the news’ and how it corrupts us all. To get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free…

3. 

   S5 · E307 · 8 Jul 2026 · 59 min

   The History of Bad Ideas: Hysteria

   For the first in a new set of episodes about bad ideas with interesting histories David talks to the writer and broadcaster Helen Lewis about hysteria, an ancient idea that became a very modern diagnosis. Why was hysteria associated with both madness and saintliness? How did Charcot and then Freud use hysteria to rationalise otherwise baffling female behaviour? What happens when group hysteria takes hold? And why do we still find it so hard to do without these kinds of labels? You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and…

4. 

   S19 · E305 · 1 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 1 min

   Where Are We Going? The Idea of the Future

   Today’s episode is the first of two with writer and political scientist Ivan Krastev exploring what has happened to our ideas of the future. When did thinking about the future become the way we defined our present? What goes wrong with democracy when we start to lose our faith in the future? Why did the end of history turn out to be an illusion? And how has Trump changed the way we experience political time? You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website…

5. 

   S16 · E304 · 28 Jun 2026 · 56 min

   Live Film Special: Never Let Me Go w/Adam Rutherford

   Today’s episode was recorded in front of a live audience at the Regent Street Cinema in London: David talks to the geneticist and science writer Adam Rutherford about Mark Romanek’s 2010 film of Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2005 novel Never Let Me Go. A story of cloning and organ donation that explores the meaning of mortality, is it science fiction, speculative fiction or something else entirely? How can a film set in a wholly familiar version of late 20th-century Britain feel so otherworldly? And are we ultimately meant to pity the donors we are watching or to identify with them? Out now on PPF+: part…

6. 

   S25 · E333 · 7 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 2 min

   The History of Transhumanism: Origins

   Today it’s the first episode in a new series about the weird and wonderful world of transhumanism: the idea that human beings can be transformed by technology and machines. David talks to historian of ideas Duncan Bell about transhumanism as science and as science fiction, as accurate prophecy and as outright lunacy. How did the idea have its origins in Darwinism? Why did the early transhumanists tend to be socialists? What made H. G. Wells such an influence on supposedly respectable scientists? And how does all this foreshadow the world of Silicon Valley today? A reminder that we have a…

7. 

   S24 · E332 · 4 Oct 2026 · 54 min

   An Ageing World: Simone de Beauvoir on Old Age

   For the final episode in our series on living in an ageing world David talks to Lyndsey Stonebridge about one of the most interesting and challenging of all writers on the subject of old age – Simone de Beauvoir. Why did Beauvoir believe that we are all duplicitous about the elderly? How did she experience her own ageing body and the prospect of her own death? What did she learn from watching Sartre age and die? And what makes her a prophet for the world we live in today? Lyndsey Stonebridge’s 'Old Women: A History of Our Future' will be published next year. Out now on PPF+: part two of…

8. 

   S24 · E331 · 30 Sep 2026 · 59 min

   An Ageing World: The Problem of Gerontocracy

   In today’s episode for our series about living in ageing societies, David talks to historian and legal scholar Samuel Moyn about the problem of gerontocracy, aka the rule of the old. Why do older generations now have so much wealth and so much power? Why is this particularly true in the United States? Is the real problem elderly politicians or elderly voters? Do the young stand a chance any more? Out tomorrow on PPF+: part two of this conversation in which David and Sam try to move from diagnosis to cure. How can older people be encouraged to stop hoarding wealth and power? Is socialised…

9. 

   S24 · E330 · 27 Sep 2026 · 58 min

   An Ageing World: The Meaning of Death

   In today’s episode of our series about the significance of longer human lives David talks to the doctor and writer Richard Coker about the meaning of the event that comes for all of us in the end: death. Are we finding it harder to talk about and face up to mortality? How do doctors think about death, having seen so much of it? Is the line between life and death getting harder to draw? What is the price we pay for putting off death as long as we can? Richard Coker’s Timor Mortis: How We Live With Death is available wherever you get your books https://bit.ly/4yTUeE4 Available now: a pair of…

10. 

    S24 · E329 · 23 Sep 2026 · 56 min

    An Ageing World: Lifespan vs Healthspan

    To start our new series about what it means to live in a world of ageing populations, David talks to geneticist Adam Rutherford about the benefits and pitfalls of increasing longevity. Are GLP-1s – drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro – miracle cures that will extend human lifespans? What happens if longer lives do not coincide with better health? How far can life extension be pushed? And who wants to live forever anyway? Available now: a pair of new educational courses to accompany two of our series – The Great Essays and The Lives of the Philosophers. These courses are free for anyone…

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