FARSIGHT

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.

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24 episodes
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English

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Yesterday · 15 min
How Close to the Sun?
In the 14th century, Ibn Khaldûn opined that history moves in a cyclical formation, governed by the deterioration and rebirth of dynasties and civilisations. Other macrohistorians since have attempted to parse the rhythm of history. Grand historical narratives promise a future we can see coming. That is both their attraction and their defect. Subscribe to FARSIGHT by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute. Author: Casper Skovgaard Petersen Narration: August Leo Liljenberg (with ElevenLabs AI) Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
September 16 · 18 min
In Praise of Folly
The history of ideas is a history of error. Prominent scientists once believed people lived on the surface of suns — a view we now find absurd. But folly comes in many forms, and its history may be less a catalogue of embarrassments than an unlikely guide to how far we have yet to go. Subscribe to FARSIGHT by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute Author: Thomas Moynihan Narrator: August Leo Liljenberg (with ElevenLabs AI) Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
September 14 · 15 min
Have we enslaved the machines?
The 20th century French philosopher Gilbert Simondon believed that humankind harbours a primitive and xenophobic attitude to the technologies it creates. Today, we are surrounded by conversations about acceleration and automation, with the philosopher’s thought offering a uniquely provocative take on alienation in the future Subscribe to FARSIGHT by becoming a Futures Member at the Institute Author: August Leo Liljenberg Narrator: August Leo Liljenberg Published by the Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies
August 28 · 15 min
Enslaved to the mechanical idea?
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
August 13 · 47 min
The Future of Being a Futurist w/ Anders Sandberg
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
August 4 · 10 min
Chat-shaming
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.
July 13 · 16 min
Porn Without People: The Promise and Failure of Sex-Tech
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.
July 1 · 20 min
What needs to be true for the AI predictions to unfold?
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
June 3 · 1 hr 14 min
History of the Future: Fred Polak
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
May 20 · 17 min
What is the drug of the future?
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
April 27 · 11 min
Short-form Futures
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
April 20 · 1 hr 5 min
History of the Future: Pierre Wack
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
April 7 · 10 min
A World Falling Apart
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
April 1 · 1 hr
The Coming Entropic World Order w/ Parag Khanna
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
March 26 · 47 min
Technological Tipping Points and the LinkedInification of Identity w/ Andrew Maynard
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
March 12 · 1 hr 9 min
History of the Future: Bertrand de Jouvenel
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
February 18 · 13 min
Trains Across Europe
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
February 5 · 24 min
The Ambiguity of Utopia
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
January 21 · 45 min
History of the Future: Herman Kahn
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
January 18 · 11 min
The Case for Critical Hope
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

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