Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies (CIFS)
Narrated articles and conversations with the world's foremost futures thinkers, delivered to you by FARSIGHT, a quarterly publication by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies.
On the long history and possible future of Europe's uneasy relationship to American automation. Subscribe to FARSIGHT by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute. Author: Tallulah Richards Narration: August Leo Liljenberg (with ElevenLabs AI) Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
After a long summer break, FARSIGHT co-hosts Casper and August get meta with the Swedish superfuturist, Anders Sandberg, in the studio, reflecting on the future of their profession. What kinds of societal conditions give rise to successful futurists? How has the role of the futurist changed over the past few decades? In what ways might using AI in futures studies either aid (or inhibit) the core tenets of working with the unknown? Hosts: Casper Skovgaard Petersen & August Leo Liljenberg Guest: Anders Sandberg Subscribe to FARSIGHT by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
As generative AI disrupts the balance between effort and reward in writing and creativity, shame nevertheless remains at work, as a hidden mechanism of social control. Might a cultural backlash to generative AI cause widespread 'chat-shaming', and if so, how? Written and narrated by Toke Hanghøj Subscribe to FARSIGHT by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute. Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies.
AI promises a pornography without abuse, without performers, without limits – and, apparently, without much imagination. Might the biggest disappointment of AI porn be how boring it is? This article was first featured in Issue 17: The Future of Vice. Subscribe to FARSIGHT by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute. Author: Josh Sims Narration: August Leo Liljenberg (with ElevenLabs AI) Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies.
Expectations are that AI will automate a significant percentage of the knowledge economy’s workforce and make their jobs redundant. We dig into the futurist toolbox to interrogate this assumption – punctuated by a provocative scenario snippet from 2030. Subscribe to FARSIGHT by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute Author: Toke Hanghøj Narration: August Leo Liljenberg (with ElevenLabs AI) Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
Writing in the ruins of post-war Europe, Dutch futurist Fred Polak argued that societies rise and fall based on the vitality of their images of the future. By that measure, he believed, Western civilization was headed for terminal decline. In his 1953 masterwork The Image of the Future, Polak traced how magnetic visions of tomorrow, whether religious or revolutionary, had pulled history forward since the ancient Greeks. Without them, he warned, civilizations stagnate and collapse. Who was Fred Polak, and how well does his sweeping and pessimistic diagnosis of the modern world stand the test of time? Subscribe to FARSIGHT by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute. Hosts: Casper Skovgaard Petersen, August Leo Liljenberg, Tallulah Richards Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
From the utopian ideals of LSD in the sixties to the grunge-infused nihilism of heroin in the nineties, culture and intoxication seem to have always mirrored each other. Might uncovering the nebulous relationship between drug and zeitgeist help us predict our future high? Subscribe to FARSIGHT by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute. Author: August Leo Liljenberg Narration: August Leo Liljenberg (with ElevenLabs AI) Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
Time and technology are inextricably linked. For the first time since the Industrial Revolution, doing things slowly, inefficiently, and without precision looks existentially preferable. The Information Age is replacing sloth with speed as its new Deadly Sin. Subscribe to FARSIGHT by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute Author: Caitlin van Bommel Narration: Manya Lind (with ElevenLabs AI) Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
Mysticism meets Big Oil in the tale of Pierre Wack, the eccentric French economist who brought scenario planning to the corporate world during the geopolitically turbulent 1970s. Then, as today, a war in the Middle East upset global energy markets, showing the limitations of traditional forecasting. Yet not everyone was equally unprepared. Wack and his team of scenario planners at Royal Dutch Shell had highlighted the risks to Big Oil constituted by the rise of OPEC, public and political backlash to the industry, and other vulnerabilities ahead of the 1973 oil crisis. The story of how Wack and Shell were able to use scenarios to navigate the global shake-up of capitalism has become the mythologised origin point of corporate foresight. Yet Wack’s obsession with the mystical dimensions of scenario writing – his “spiritual documents” – is often glossed over. Subscribe to FARSIGHT by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute. Hosts: Casper Skovgaard Petersen, August Leo Liljenberg, Tallulah Richards Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
Mythical stories of future doom have been supplanted by scientifically grounded ones, with the interconnectedness and complexity of our world-system pushing us closer towards a scenario of inescapable global collapse. Subscribe to FARSIGHT by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute. Author: Christian Kaarup Baron Narration: August Leo Liljenberg (with ElevenLabs AI) Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
Theories that inaccurately observe the present will inevitably fall short in predicting the future. Yet, our dominant frameworks for understanding international relations remain anchored in assumptions about power and sovereignty that no longer hold. If we want to grasp where geopolitics is actually heading, we need a new lens. Dr Parag Khanna argues that lens is entropy: the accelerating dispersal and dissipation of power across the geopolitical sphere, a patchwork of overlapping powers, jurisdictions, and alliances, similar to medieval Europe before the Westphalian concept of the nation state. Khanna is a global strategic advisor and the founder and CEO of AlphaGeo, an AI-powered geospatial analytics platform. In this episode, we explore his theory of the coming entropic world order, the relationship between cartography and epistemology, and which nations are best positioned to deal with the climate disruptions ahead. Subscribe to FARSIGHT in print by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute. Hosts: Casper Skovgaard Petersen & August Leo Liljenberg Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
We are joined by Andrew Maynard, scientist, author, and Professor of Advanced Technology Transitions at Arizona State University, to discuss phase shifts, technological risk, and the accelerating LinkedInification of human expression. Andrew Maynard writes the "future of being human" substack https://www.futureofbeinghuman.com/ and co-hosts the Modem Futura podcast. Subscribe to FARSIGHT in print by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute. Hosts: Casper Skovgaard Petersen & August Leo Liljenberg Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
Political philosopher turned futurist, Bertrand de Jouvenel is one of the foundational figures in futures studies. His life and thought were deeply shaped by the defining upheavals of the 20th century — the rise of fascism, the catastrophe of World War II, and the titanic ideological struggle of the Cold War. Subscribe to FARSIGHT by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute. Hosts: Casper Skovgaard Petersen & August Leo Liljenberg Assistant producer: Tallulah Richards Sources Daniel Knegt: Fascism, Liberalism and Europeanism in the Political Thought of Bertrand de Jouvenel and Alfred Fabre-Luce Jasper Verschoor: "More than Planners, Less than Utopians:" 1960s Futurism and Post-Industrial Theory Daniel Rosenberg: Taming the Minotaur: Bertrand de Jouvenel on Liberty and Authority Brian C. Anderson: Bertrand de Jouvenel's Melancholy Liberalism Bertrand de Jouvenel: On Power Bertrand de Jouvenel: The Art of Conjecture Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
Trains and rail once symbolised progress and modernity in Europe. Today, they have more-so come to represent ideas of social equity and public good – an unassuming but universally accessible means of transport. Could rail reclaim its lost significance and prestige – and if so, what would it take? Subscribe to FARSIGHT by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute. Author: Casper Skovgaard Petersen Narration: Manya Lind (with ElevenLabs AI) Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
Since its invention in the sixteenth century, the idea of 'Utopia' has carried an inherent ambiguity. Suspended between reality and fiction, the emancipatory and the fatal, two conflicting meanings have clung to the word for centuries and continue to do so today, as visions of utopia are making a comeback among tech billionaires and Saudi Arabian royalty alike. Subscribe to FARSIGHT by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute. Author: Mads Vindaal Narration: August Leo Liljenberg (with ElevenLabs AI) Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
Kahn the genius, Kahn the futurist, Kahn the psychopath. The FARSIGHT hosts take a closer look at the life and legacy of one of the 20th century’s most influential futurists and public intellectuals. Subscribe to FARSIGHT by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute. Hosts: Casper Skovgaard Petersen & August Leo Liljenberg Sources Alex Abella: Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the Rise of the American Empire Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi: The Worlds of Herman Kahn: The Intuitive Science of Thermonuclear War Paul Dragos Aligica: “The challenge of the future and the institutionalization of interdisciplinarity: notes on Herman Kahn’s legacy” Herman Kahn: On Thermonuclear War Herman Kahn: The Year 2000 Neil Pickett: A History of Hudson Institute Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
When confronted with the great crises of our time, a sense of hope about the future can seem naïve at best, or even counterproductive if it leads to complacency. Yet thinkers across psychology, behavioural science, and philosophy recognise hope as an essential driver of social and societal change. Far from being a passive sentiment, hope paired with purposeful action enables humans to imagine alternative futures and work their way through tough times. Subscribe to FARSIGHT by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute. Author: Lisa Di Giulio Narration: Manya Lind (with ElevenLabs AI) Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
Most futurists prefer the exploration of multiple potential scenarios over determinate paths. Some will say prediction is entirely impossible – but is this necessarily true? Subscribe to FARSIGHT by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute. Author: Christian Kaarup Baron Narration: August Leo Liljenberg (with ElevenLabs AI) Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
Across wealthy societies, citizens no longer believe the future will be better than the past. The idea of progress as an inevitable historical force was born in the Western world – now it may be drawing its last breath there, too. Subscribe to FARSIGHT by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute. Authors: Casper Skovgaard Petersen & Suus Hulsen Narration: Manya Lind (with ElevenLabs AI) Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
We now understand that the future is not fixed but contingent – it can unfold in an endless number of ways, its outcome hinging on both choice and chance. When did humans discover that the future is undecided, and what did it mean? We’re joined by Thomas Moynihan, a thinker and author interested in X-risk, deep possibility, planetary-scale thinking, and the history of human self-understanding. Thomas Moynihan’s upcoming book is The History of Contingency and Future-Oriented Thought. Subscribe to FARSIGHT in print by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute. Hosts: Casper Skovgaard Petersen & August Leo Liljenberg Guest: Thomas Moynihan Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies