Near Future Laboratory Podcast
By Julian Bleecker
nearfuturelaboratory.com
julianbleecker.com
Support this podcast at www.patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory
Near Future Laboratory PodcastMar 10, 2022
N°087 - Taryn O'Neil & Tamara Krinsky
Taryn O'Neil and Tamara Krinsky are the creative force behind Scirens, a creative team working at the intersection of science & storytelling, creative entertainment that encourages curiosity and imaginative thinking to shape a new vision for a rapidly changing world.
They recently produced the trailer for Arizona State University's Center for Science and the Imagination's Climate Action Almanac.
You can see the trailer, called The Assignment over on Youtube.
Thank you to all my patrons who support this podcast and the work amongst the Near Future Laboratory's Discord community. Please consider supporting this work by becoming a Patron over at patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory.
If you're interested in the work we do and how we do it, you will find some useful references and tools over at https://shop.nearfuturelaboratory.com
https://scirens.com/
https://www.climatealmanac.org/
https://csi.asu.edu/
https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory
N°086 - What's for Breakfast In An AI Future Part 2
This is a digest of the 3PM session of General Seminar Season 05 Episode 01 where we discuss possible futures in which AI is as normal, ordinary, and everyday as wheels on luggage and televisions we talk to.
General Seminar is Near Future Laboratory's platform for sense-making in which we excavate artifacts from possible futures rather than make predictions and prognostications. This is the Design Fiction approach to imagining into possible futures.
To learn more about General Seminar sign up for the Near Future Laboratory's newsletter at https://nearfuturelaboratory.com and see past General Seminars at https://generalseminar.com
N°085 - What's for Breakfast In An AI Future Part 1
This is a digest of the 10AM session of General Seminar Season 05 Episode 01 where we discuss possible futures in which AI is as normal, ordinary, and everyday as wheels on luggage and televisions we talk to.
General Seminar is Near Future Laboratory's platform for sense-making in which we excavate artifacts from possible futures rather than make predictions and prognostications. This is the Design Fiction approach to imagining into possible futures.
To learn more about General Seminar sign up for the Near Future Laboratory's newsletter at https://nearfuturelaboratory.com and see past General Seminars at https://generalseminar.com
N°084 - EMERGENCY BROADCAST! THRILLING WONDER STORIES
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, gather 'round for an electrifying journey through the cerebral and speculative realm of "Thrilling Wonder Stories." Listen as we regale you with a tale of imagination, innovation, and intellectual wonder. Our narrative unfolds through a dazzling array of discussions, exploring the intersection of technology, science, and the arts. From the organic to the artificial, from the accidental to the meticulously planned, our speakers weave a tapestry of ideas that challenge the boundaries of reality and fiction. Venture with us into discussions that span the history of consciousness, the marvels of special effects in film, the complexities of artificial intelligence, and the speculative frontiers of science fiction. This transcript is not just a record; it's a gateway to exploring the future's potential, the mysteries of the universe, and the uncharted territories of human creativity. Dive into a world where the wonders of tomorrow are discussed today, where imagination is the currency, and the possibilities are as boundless as the stars. Welcome to "Thrilling Wonder Stories," where every word is a step into the future!
With Liam Young, Matt Jones, Julian Bleecker, Bruce Sterling, and Kevin Slavin
N°083 - Ruth Guerra's Got Social Media Game
In this episode, I chat with the fun, creative, thoughtful Ruth Guerra, a design researcher with a knack for amplifying the questions about design, creativity, research and futures through a wonderful social media presence. We dive into her journey from a theater undergrad to mastering future design, where she champions participatory design with a twist. Ruth shares her passion for storytelling, not just any storytelling, but the kind that shapes our future. She's also getting busy hosting innovative workshops to help people get a sense of how design research and design fiction legible to normal humans. So buckle up, we're exploring how design, values, and a sprinkle of theater can make the world a more engaging place. Spoiler alert: there are no spoilers in here even though we talk for a moment about 'Leave the World Behind.' This is a fun one that just might have you thinking about joining the Near Future Laboratory Discord and supporting this podcast over on patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory
Check out Ruth's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/ridguerra
And definitely her Instagram: https://instagram.com/ridguerra
Check out the episode's sponsored book, Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, the book that came from an adjacent future in which the Sony Walkman failed: https://shop.nearfuturelaboratory.com/products/androids-dream-of-electric-sheep
Last Week from the Near Future N°009 - Weeks 51-52/2023
Some things that happened at the Near Future Laboratory the last weeks of 2023 including a day trip to SFO using a travel voucher that was going to expire at the end of the year, meeting with the NFL gang for an awesome lunch and chat, hanging with Will Carey from https://formation.eco to continue working on the meaning, purpose, and offering of this reinvigorated evolution of Near Future Laboratory. There were also a bunch of (other people's) podcasts that dropped (links below). And it was the 9 year anniversary of OMATA which had me go back and reflect on how I used Design Fiction to help me create a future vision of the company and share that vision with investors who were so enthralled with this vision that they ended up buying the whole company. Links https://formation.eco https://medium.com/design-fictions/why-did-i-write-an-annual-report-from-the-future-849cf12b0687 Reality Plus https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/realitypl-us/id1722133066?i=1000639248112 https://youtu.be/ld6FLoCH3Vw?si=NYJEXdD3jLDIybdg Expedition Works' Journey with Purpose https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/julian-bleecker-a-little-bit-more-curious/id1697389263?i=1000638677720 In Clear Focus / Design Fiction https://bigeyeagency.com/design-fiction-with-julian-bleecker/
N°082 - Shashwath Santosh and The Innovation Crisis
Episode 082 of the Near Future Laboratory Podcast with Julian Bleecker in conversation with Shashwatch Santosh.
https://www.instagram.com/shash.wt/
https://www.instagram.com/kinkykashayam/
Please support this work and join the Near Future Laboratory Discord through Patreon:
https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory
You can also support the work by buying something from the Near Future Laboratory Shop of Futures Artifacts:
https://shop.nearfuturelaboratory.com
In Episode 082, Shash and I dance around the world of design education from Shash’s experiences at Parsons School of Design. He describes the challenging norms and his explorations around the boundaries of speculative design and Design Fiction. Shash reveals that he is a proponent of creative confusion, and shares his journey through design school, emphasizing the importance of breaking away from traditional labels and constraints. We get a candid discussion of the struggle to define his work, moving beyond conventional roles like industrial designer or object maker, and embracing the ambiguous realm of speculative design.
Shashwatch's insights are insightful and profound, particularly useful for those in or considering design education. I was especially intrigued by his critique of how the term 'speculative design' can inadvertently create aesthetic stereotypes and limit the scope of design projects. He advocates for a design approach that transcends labels, allowing work to speak for itself without being confined by preconceived notions of discipline. This approach, he believes, fosters creativity and opens up a world of possibilities beyond the conventional boundaries of design.
I somewhat echo Shashwatch’s sentiments, and we wonder together and probe the practical aspects of translating expansive and imaginative thinking into viable career paths — where viable means an exchange of value (insight/imagination/creativity for $$$). Shashwatch responds with examples from his own life, discussing the challenges of job hunting and the importance of presenting work effectively to various audiences. He highlights the significance of maintaining technical rigor in projects, which helps in navigating the murky waters of creative industries.
Shashwatch also shares his experience of struggling with familial expectations and the pressures of justifying his unconventional career path. He stresses the importance of finding a balance between creative freedom and economic viability, a dilemma faced by many in creative fields. His journey underscores the need for designers to possess not just creative skills but also the ability to articulate and market their ideas effectively in a commercial context.
You can find Shash’s thesis project 'The Public Library of Usables', a concept born from his exploration of object-oriented ontology. This project challenges traditional object functions, inviting a re-imagination of how objects are used and interact with each other, reflecting his deep engagement with speculative design principles.
Hopefully this Episode provides a compelling narrative on the complexities of design education and practice, highlighting the importance of breaking conventions, embracing ambiguity, and balancing creative aspirations with practical realities. I’d say that Shash's journey and optimism is a testament to the transformative power of speculative design and the value of creative exploration in shaping a unique design identity.
Last Week from the Near Future N°008 - Week 50/2023
1. Postcards from some possible futures, sent to me by Elliot P. Montgomery 2. A Magazine from the Future in which autonomous vehicles are about as normal, ordinary, and everyday as television remote controls, wheels on luggage, and laptop sleeves. 3. Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, our pulp pop-psychology paperback from some future in which Sony's Aibo became as popular as the Sony Walkman and now, well — they're just here, and about as ferocious as a cuddly cute robot dog. https://magazinefromthefuture.comhttps://shop.nearfuturelaboratory.com... * Exploration of Possible Futures through Artifacts: The use of creative artifacts like postcards, magazines, and books to explore and represent possible futures. These artifacts are designed to augment traditional, analytical approaches to future studies with imagination and sensory experiences. * Design Fiction as a Tool: The value of design fiction is that it’s a method that translates ideas and scenarios about the future into tangible, visual forms. You can think of Design Fiction’s translation of research analysis into something engaging as an analog to the way a screenplay becomes an immersive, engaging visual story when it is made into a film. Design fiction serves to make future concepts more relatable and understandable. * Some Examples of Artifacts I've Created * Magazine from a Future with Autonomous Vehicles: Created for a client, this magazine represents a world where autonomous vehicles are commonplace. It was developed through workshops with various researchers and designers, capturing collective hopes, fears, and expectations. * Book from a Future with Ho-Hum Androids: Imagine a world where androids are as common and non-threatening as a Sony Walkman. I created a book from that world — a pop-psychology analysis of the Android psyche. * Imagination and Speculation: It’s important to imagine and speculate about different futures, considering the wide-ranging implications of technological advancements. Design Fiction presents the useful challenge to think beyond the immediate and apparent effects of new technologies. * Cognitive and Sensory Engagement: Design Fiction is a way to create more immersive and sensory engagement with future scenarios, moving beyond traditional, data-driven methods. Design Fiction emphasizes the role of imagination and creativity - the making of artifacts from these futures — in making future studies more accessible and emotionally resonant.
N°081 - Randy Plemel is Expedition Works
Randy Plemel is a design and innovation consultant specializing in solving hard and complex problems for people in elegant, and hopefully simpler ways.
Randy has worked with a wide range of organizations in the public sector on democracy promotion, and the private sector on who their customer might be, including the Knight Foundation to reimagine the civic commons across eight cities, Bloomberg Philanthropies to cultivate city-based innovation in the U.S. and India, AARP to evolve their role in creating livable communities for all, and the City of Los Angeles and NYCHA to make cities better through design.
He’s also completed a range of new products and services with a diverse set of clients—including State Farm, Steelcase, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Tata, Citibank, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, and Walgreens—on a variety of design challenges, from new digital communication tools, to blended digital and physical experiences, to entirely new retail strategy and concepts.
Randy holds a BS in Architecture and Masters of Architecture from the University of Cincinnati.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/randyplemel/
Expedition Works: https://expedition.works/
Journey With Purpose: https://jwp.news/founding/
Avery’s Journey, Randy’s Design Fiction exercise gives purpose to Generative AI tools rather than freaking out or fetishizing and drooling all over them.
https://expedition.works/project/averys-journey
Journey With Purpose Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/journey-with-purpose/id1697389263
(p.s. This ‘Better Bin’ episode with Colin Kelly discussing how his ad-hoc, let’s-see-what-happens submission to get the contract to design the new New York City public trash bin is awesomely inspiring.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/colin-kelly-better-bin/id1697389263?i=1000633101486)
Last Week from the Near Future N°007 - Week 49/2023
Here it is. Another episode of 'Last Week from the Near Future'. This is Episode 007, for Week 49 of 2023.
Please support the Near Future Laboratory Podcast and get access to our awesomely vibrant Near Future Laboratory Discord community over on Patreon. Here's what I covered. PDPal: A 20-Year Anniversary I'm taking you on a trip down memory lane as I reminisce about the PDPal project, an emotional GPS I worked on 20 years ago. Discover how it made its way to the Times Square Jumbotron and how this early exploration of technology was an art-led prototyping of the kinds of location-based experiences we now take for granted from mobile devices. What most resonates for me about this project, on reflection, is the critical role of imagination and imaginative art projects in driving innovation. And it occurred to me that this was as good a time as any to reflect on the two major mobile projects I've done in my career, that being PDPal and the OMATA App. Both were done on a bit of a shoestring and with fairly high personal stakes, and both are, I would say and have been told, beautiful and evocative instances of design and engineering. Archigram and Speculative Architecture Archigram! The renowned collective of architects known for their imaginative designs in the 1960s. Consider their speculative architectural practice in contrast to today's world of Generative AI + Architecture, a topic I invite you to join me to discuss in Super Seminar 005 (https://superseminar.school) Patreon and Near Future Laboratory I'm excited to announce our new Patreon, where you can join me and many others in the Near Future Laboratory Discord, along with our weekly office hours. We've had an incredible 190 sessions so far – that's 190 Friday's in a row, as of last week! (https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory) Chris's Employee Handbook Project Chris Butler is the showrunner for this project in the Discord: creating an employee handbook as a Design Fiction archetype in order to explore possible futures of organizations. Book Haul Check out 'The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America' by Julian Montague. This book cleverly treats shopping carts as natural phenomena within our world of stuff – it's a fascinating read. Very kinda Design Fiction-y. Magazine from the Future of AI Project I'm introducing a draft proposal for the 'AI Future Magazine' project. Our goal is to make the AI future more tangible and relatable. If you want to get involved and help create a magazine set in a future where AI is an everyday part of life, join us through Patreon!
Last Week from the Near Future N°006 - Week 48/2023
Here it is. Another episode of 'Last Week from the Near Future'.
Last Week from the Near Future Laboratory - Week 48/2023 This is what I was thinking about. 1. Failure of Imagination: This concept is a common issue in organizations that struggle to envision anything beyond their current operations. Design Fiction can help with imagining and visualizing potential unexpected events and futures or even those that no one is able to grapple with or say out loud for fear of becoming a pariah. Design Fiction does this uniquely, behaving in a way like a court jester in some sense and thus help to avoid this pitfall. 2. AI Futures in Everyday Life: It is important that we imagine AI's impact on ordinary, everyday aspects of life, such as breakfast routines or sports, rather than just focusing on extreme dystopian or utopian scenarios. 3. Material Cultural Artifacts: Creating tangible representations of potential futures, like magazines from an imagined future, not only yield better, richer, more compelling and engaging visualizations of possible futures, the work required to create them is actual design work. Making to think and making to engage in conversations yields a richer way of 'ideating' and yields a deeper appreciation of possible outcomes. 4. Design Fiction: A brief description of the concept of Design Fiction as a tool to bring research to life, transforming dry, prose-based research into tangible, vivid, and relatable artifacts. 5. Importance of Vivid Representations: I try to underscore the value of creating vibrant, imaginative representations of the future, such as illustrations or fictional artifacts, to make future scenarios more relatable and understandable. 6. Near Future Laboratory’s Approach: We here at Near Future Laboratory uses Design Fiction to create artifacts and representations that help people envision and understand potential futures. 7. Future Seminar and Community Platform: We've got SuperSeminar (https://superseminar.school) coming up on Generative AI. 8. Discord: The Near Future Laboratory has a Discord community, now about 3 years old and with over 1000 members. To join, go to https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory
MINISODE: SuperSeminar 005 Sneak Peek with Hassan Ragab
SuperSeminar 005 is our second session on Speculative Architecture and Generative AI. Here's a sneak peek with Hassan Ragab where we get some insights into how GenAI is shaping what architecture is becoming. Do you want to know more? Sign up for SuperSeminar 005 at https://www.superseminar.school/ss005/genai-architecture our platform for learning from the key individuals who are at the vanguard of the transformational potential of new practices, tools, mindsets and approaches. Save 50% on all 3 of our upcoming Generative AI sessions! https://ti.to/near-future-laboratory/super-seminar-004/with/super-seminar-bundle-max
Last Week from the Near Future N°005
Episode N°005, Week Ending Nov 24, 2023 Promotion of Design Fiction for AI Policy Visualization: In this Last Week from the Near Future episode, I emphasize the importance of design fiction as a tool for visualizing and materializing the potential impacts of policies like the AI Bill of Rights. I suggest that design fiction can make complex ideas more tangible and understandable for the general public. Analysis of the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights: I have questions about the current form of the AI Bill of Rights. If it had vivid, illustrative content it could make its implications more relatable to everyday people. I would suggest that this document, while essential, needs to be more accessible and engaging to truly resonate with its audience. Reference to NASA’s “Space Settlements” Report as an Inspirational Model: It's worth drawing a parallel between the AI Bill of Rights and NASA's 1973 report on space settlements. The NASA report used vivid illustrations to effectively communicate complex engineering concepts to the public, suggesting a similar approach could be beneficial for the AI Bill of Rights to make it make sense and also assert an implied policy as to what the world looks and feels like, what the experience of it would be, and what the Administration imagines this world to become should it adhere to the AI Bill of Rights. Need for Engaging and Accessible Communication in Technology Policy: I try to highlight the gaps that exist between complex technological policies and public understanding. I argue for the use of more engaging mediums, like design fiction, to bridge these gaps and thereby make policies more accessible and understandable. Call for Collaborative Effort in Translating AI Policies into Tangible Artifacts: Here's the proposal: A collaborative project to translate the AI Bill of Rights into tangible artifacts like, for example, newspapers and magazines. This approach aims to create a more concrete and relatable representation of what a future shaped by AI policies might look like. Thanks for watching, enduring, supporting and subscribing! Please support this work over on Patreon: https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory or pick something up in the shop! https://shop.nearfuturelaboratory.com Blueprint for an A.I. Bill of Rights: https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/ai-bill-of-rights/ Space Settlements: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/198275204-space-settlements Ezra Klein and Alondra Nelson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFdLxDgFjkk&ab_channel=NewYorkTimesPodcasts More with Rick Guidice, the 'Space Settlements' Illustrator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7UuWRTyx9U&ab_channel=TheWorld%27sFairCo
MINISODE - SuperSeminar 004 Sneak Peek with Drew Wiberg
SuperSeminar 004 is our session on practical uses for Generative AI within the enterprise.
Here's a sneak peek with Drew Wiberg where we hear that he increased efficiency and productivity 40x with Generative AI, and how he used Generative AI to create the actual tooling he needed to bring about those efficiencies.
Do you want to know more?
Sign up to learn more about SuperSeminar at https://superseminar.school
SuperSeminar is our platform for learning from the key individuals who are at the vanguard of the transformational potential of new practices, tools, mindsets and approaches.
Drew Wiberg is a master knowledge navigator, helping Arup, one of the best known design, engineering, and construction services firm with over 18,000 employees — and gigabytes of knowledge data it has to manage.
N°080 - Soil Futures & Tarot Decks with Gabby Morris
Gabby Morris has soil questions — and a tarot deck to help think through those questions.
Check out the Grounded Wisdom Tarot Deck on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gabbyamorris/grounded-wisdom-tarot-deck
https://www.gabbymorris.co.uk/
Don't forget to support the Podcast over on https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory and pick up your copy of It's Time To Imagine Harder, the book that unlocks ways to create more tangible futures: https://shop.nearfuturelaboratory.com/products/design-fiction-small-box-set
N°079 - The Future Will Happen To You with Scott Smith and Susan Cox-Smith
Scott and Susan's new book, Future Cultures, focuses on integrating futures thinking into existing organizational contexts rather than forcing entirely new practices. They emphasize understanding and mapping current networks, language, and processes first and identifying and cultivating diverse champions at multiple levels to spread ideas. In the book, they recommend starting small with regular gatherings to share signals of change. They also provide tactics like writing future scenarios to envision desired cultures. Their framework layers in complexity to meet an organization's specific readiness.
We had a great conversation, discussing the way Future Cultures reveals a practical approach for integrating strategic futures thinking into organizations. It includes case studies and a layered framework, providing leadership with a methodical guide to adopt prospective practices tailored to their existing culture. By starting small to build demand and embedding foresight into operations, executives can complement planning with futures-oriented capacity vital for innovation and resilience.
Please remember to support the podcast over on https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory, and please share with your colleagues, write a review and rate.
N°078 - Circular Economy Futures, a Digest of General Seminar S04E04
This episode is a Digest from General Seminar S04E04 where we went into some Circular Economy Futures and found a bunch of stuff to help us more tangibly imagine what these futures could feel like.
https://generalseminar.com
N°077 - Gemma Jones & School of Critical Design
A conversation with Gemma Jones from School of Critical Design.
Check out the Near Future Laboratory's latest drop - 'Androids Dream of Electric Sheep' - the definitive handbook for understanding the psyche, motivations, desires, fears, and existential quandaries of machine & artificially intelligent intelligences from a slightly adjacent world where AI and their embodiments are about as fearsome, frustrating, and perplexing as a television remote control. Just don't antagonize them, okay? Some of them are well-armed and more than capable of handling themselves if in a rough spot.
Suggestions for folks to come on the podcast? Send me your thoughts.
Want to say thanks? Buy me the equivalent of a coffee and bacon sandwich or just say thanks and give a follow on IG.
https://julianbleecker.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gemma-jones-93b48742/
https://critical.design
https://shop.nearfuturelaboratory.com/products/androids-dream-of-electric-sheep
Last Week from the Near Future E002
Last Week from the Near Future Laboratory Episode 002 The Show where we look at some highlights from, you know _ Last Week in the Near Future Laboratory Let’s Go! 1. • Daniel Schmachtenberger l An introduc... 2. https://www.futures-in-maps.com/san-t... 3. https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/... 4. https://aw.network/2023 5. https://uxdesign.cc/a-smart-home-is-o... 5.5 https://lamemage.com/microscope/ 6. https://github.com/srspear/scifitropes 7. https://restofworld.org/2023/ai-image... 8. https://www.designfictiondaily.com/p/... 9. The Work Kit of Design Fiction Digital Edition Test Session https://lu.ma/8xk3dkql 10. https://daydreambelievers.co.uk/https://vimeo.com/870581365
N°076 - Food (In)Security Design Fiction Futures
Episode 076 is a discussion with Jan Rod and Kenta Kondo from IDEO Tokyo sharing their Project Inari in which created a sushi box as Design Fiction artifact. They collectively imagined a future that considers and reflects upon sustainable harvesting and issues of food security. It is a public project that also served to allow IDEO to explore how Design Fiction can be brought to bear to help clients make sense of their possible futures, whether food futures or any other topic.
Chesterbot 🤖 Says 👇🏽
"confidence": 0.9519705766608136
IDEO designers Jan Rod and Kenta Kondo in Tokyo created a fictional sushi box to explore food security. They made an uncanny metal box resembling disposable supermarket packaging. Inside were sushi pieces they crafted. Details like powdered condiments provoked questions about the fictional 2027 world. Through workshops, the box aligned perspectives on food systems. It activated imagination beyond abstract concepts.
"question": "What was the main purpose of this conversation?",
"answer": "The main purpose of this conversation was to discuss how design fiction and props like the fictional sushi box can help organizations explore potential future problems and spark imagination and alignment among diverse stakeholders. The guests spoke about their experience using a fictional sushi box prop in workshops to get participants to think about future challenges around food systems."
"question": How does the topic help people imagine more thoroughly the contingencies and challenges to be faced in the future?
"answer": The topic of using design fiction and props helps people imagine future challenges and contingencies more thoroughly in the following ways:
- The fictional sushi box created a tangible artifact that participants could examine and discuss. This helped ground the speculation in a concrete object.
- The highly detailed prop packaging and labels sparked participants' imaginations about how future food systems might evolve.
- The familiarity of sushi helped participants project their thinking into the future starting from something they knew.
- The prop provided a shared reference point for workshop participants from different backgrounds to discuss future implications.
"question": "What are five key take-aways from this presentation?",
"answer": "Five key take-aways from this presentation are:
1. Design fiction uses props and artifacts to help imagine future scenarios, not propose solutions.
2. Tangible props can align stakeholders by creating a shared object to spark discussion.
3. Design fiction aims to explore future problems worth solving, not just extrapolate the past.
4. Making design fiction practices mainstream involves connecting them to company innovation processes.
5. Detailed props provoke questions about future contingencies and implications."
"question": "What's a good summary of this conversation that can be used to post and share in an email?",
"answer": "The Near Future Laboratory podcast featured IDEO designers discussing how they used a fictional highly detailed sushi box prop in workshops to spark participants' imagination about future food system challenges. The prop packaging and mock sushi helped ground the speculation and align diverse stakeholders in the discussion."
"question": "What's a good summary of this conversation that can be used to as an engaging exciting way to get people excited to listen to the podcast?"
"answer": "Hear how IDEO designers created a fictional sushi box prop to take workshop participants on a imaginative deep dive into future food system contingencies and innovations!"
Last Week from the Near Future Minisode E001
A new show. Last Week from the Near Future — a summary of some interesting things that came through and around the Near Future Laboratory Discord.
1. The Imagine Harder Summit (Detroit, Sept. 22/23, 2023) 2. Dave Eggers is outraged by AI on the Ingenious Podcast https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Ngt80qNlrtDMH3j5jBf3p?si=1e27914d58544887 3. Donna Harawy & Bruno Latour (RIP) at ZKM's "Critical Zones" exhibition https://zkm.de/en/media/video/storytelling-for-earthly-survival-discussion-on-the-film-with-donna-haraway-bruno-latour-and-peter https://www.icarusfilms.com/if-donna 4. Thomas Euyang drops off Green Pages - our magazine from the future of filmed entertainment / Hollywood 5. Androids? They Dream of Electric Sheep? https://shop.nearfuturelaboratory.com/products/androids-dream-of-electric-sheep 6. Evan Raskob shared a link to a podcast he was on, the Ludogogy Podcast (good luck pronouncing that into a microphone.) https://ludogogy.co.uk/evan-raskob-on-speculation/ 7. Don't forget — Office Hours is a great way to get some perspective on Design Fiction, Speculative Design, and all that kind of stuff, and learn more about what we're doing in the Discord! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Tbqg4S7EDM&list=PLLeCmAPS7v1ll9SxykBfosFGju_IihvEU 8. Go pick up something in The Shop — support all the things on Patreon! Do it now! https://shop.nearfuturelaboratory.com https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory 9. Ursula K. Le Guin's Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction — a reflection I had while on a walk. https://otherfutures.nl/uploads/documents/le-guin-the-carrier-bag-theory-of-fiction.pdf
N°075 - Artificially Artfifully Enhanced Rebroadcast
This Episode is a rebroadcast of Episode 030 with Tony Dunne and Fiona Raby, preceded and amended with various explications and questions posed to the Chesterbot container of the conversation's semantics.
**Speculative Design Practice**
Tony Dunne and Fiona Raby's design practice has evolved over time. Initially focused on conceptual models, they now also create prototypes. They find models give more creative freedom. Their work with complex technologies like biotech led them to embrace fiction and modeling. The term 'speculative design' emerged from their critical design work engaging science and tech. They value fiction for its own sake, not just for discussing the future or selling concepts.
**Teaching Speculative Design** Dunne and Raby direct the Design Reality Studio at Parsons, teaching posthumanism, quantum theory and designed realities. They collaborate with faculty and choose their own research. They are writing a book on new ideas and approaches in design.
**Interdisciplinarity and Collaboration** Dunne, Raby and Bleecker value letting disciplines interact in surprising ways while retaining disciplinary roots. Bleecker proposes a 'general seminar' where diverse people make sense of ideas together, as Dunne and Raby have long practiced. They hope design, science, tech and industry collaborate more, though science and tech currently do so more than design. **Representing Imagined Futures** They aim to represent imagined futures expanding beyond the typical narrow range. They explore 'impossible objects' and how constraints limit collective imagination. **Recognition and Validation** Dunne and Raby were delighted to receive the Royal Designers for Industry award, valuing its recognition of their trajectory, not just current work. They appreciate the range of practices recognized. Bleecker sees it as validating their creative practice.
N°074 - Sascha Pohflepp
Sascha Poflepp was a German artist, collaborator, and friend. We dedicated The Manual of Design Fiction to him. It's important not to forget his contributions to creative thinking and making. In that spirit, I managed to extract the audio tape from a panel I organized at SxSW back in 2010 on the topic of Design Fiction in which Sascha contributed a remarkably clear and cogent perspective through his own work.
Also contributing to the panel were Stuart Candy, Jake Dunagen, Jennifer Leonard, Bruce Sterling, and myself.
You can see Sasha's slides cued to his presentation here: https://youtu.be/XDp_TsKqk3o
N°073 - Lila Feldman Emerging Creative Consciousness
Lila Feldman is a designer based in NYC. She received her BA in 3D Design: Product + Furniture from Northumbria University and her MFA in Design + Technology from Parsons School of Design.
https://lilafeldman.com/
Lila and I discussed finding purpose in creative practice and how creativity, imagination, and a futures-oriented mindset can help reinvigorate the potential for bringing about meaningful change through individual as well as team-based design practices.
If you want to hear more of these types of conversations, become a Patron over at https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory.
If you want to read more about creative practice and the approach I use here at Near Future Laboratory, check out all the books and artifacts from the future over at https://shop.nearfuturelaboratory.com, especially "The Manual of Design Fiction" and my follow-on book just released the other day, "It's Time To Imagine Harder: The Reader's Guide To The Manual of Design Fiction". (Plus there's the 10th Anniversary printing of a rejuvinated "TBD Catalog" — the product catalog from the future.
Thanks for listening!
_Julian
N°072 - Che-Wei Wang CW&T
If you're curious to hear about what it takes to dream into, create, build, grow, maintain an independent creative studio and practice, you'll want to listen to this conversation with Che-Wei Wang and myself. We talk about the importance of creativity and how it can be used to create meaningful change, and the need for a balance between creativity and structure and how to create an environment that fosters collaboration.
https://cwandt.com
If you want to hear more of these types of conversations, become a Patron over at https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory.
If you want to read more about creative practice and the approach I use here at Near Future Laboratory, check out all the books and artifacts from the future over at https://shop.nearfuturelaboratory.com, especially "The Manual of Design Fiction" and my follow-on book just released the other day, "It's Time To Imagine Harder: The Reader's Guide To The Manual of Design Fiction". (Plus there's the 10th Anniversary printing of a rejuvinated "TBD Catalog" — the product catalog from the future.
Thanks for listening!
_Julian
N°071 - Geoff Manaugh (CGI Ghosts and Defensive Grappling In Zero G)
This episode is a conversation with writer and noted architecture critic Geoff Manaugh, who has written for the The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Wired, The New Yorker, The Guardian, The Financial Times Magazine, New Scientist, Cabinet Magazine, The Daily Beast, Wired UK amongst many other publications.
He also co-authored with Nicola Twilley the book ‘Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine, and A Burglar’s Guide to the City on the relationship between crime and architecture. And most recently, a ghost story he wrote called ‘Ernest’ back in 2017 was adapted for film and recently released on Netflix under the title ‘We Have A Ghost’, which was beautiful and fun and clever and I recommend you watch it after listening to this episode.
Don't forget to like, write a review and share the podcast amongst your friends and colleagues, and support the podcast on https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory
Find all of our artifacts from the future, including 'The Manual of Design Fiction' over at https://shop.nearfuturelaboratory.com
Thank you for listening!
N°070 - Juliana Schneider — More.Than.Human-Centered Design
Juliana Schneider is a trend researcher, futures designer and creative strategist with diverse and extensive experience in the creative industry. She helps people and businesses make sense of the world around them and build stories and strategies that inspire us to engage with the challenges of a rapidly changing world.
https://julianajschneider.com/
Please support the podcast over at https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory and don't forget to pick up your copy of The Manual of Design Fiction, now in its second printing. Published fiercely independently by Near Future Laboratory.
http://shop.nearfuturelaboratory.com
Thank you!
N°069 - Dr. Delfina Fantini van Ditmar — A Not Too Comfortable Future
Dr Delfina Fantini van Ditmar is a biologist, design researcher and Senior Lecturer. Her practice is concerned with ecological thinking, reflective practices, epistemological paradigms and alternative futures.
https://www.rca.ac.uk/more/staff/dr-delfina-fantini-van-ditmar/
Please support the podcast over at https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory
Thank you!
_ Julian
N°068 - Futures of Fashion, a Digest of General Seminar S04E01 (29)
This is a digest of General Seminar S04E01 where Drew Wiberg, Kempe Scanlan and I took about 30 folks into the Futures of Fashion had a look around, and we brought back some Design Fiction artifacts from that future to share with you!
General Seminar is the platform I created for sense-making against the beautiful confusion of all the new 'futuristic' things we confront seemingly every day. So in General Seminar we take on these topics, with none of the hubris that one puts on to try and 'predict' the future, and wander around to see what we see and reflect on the way the world is becoming. I've boiled down 90 minutes to about 45 to give you a sense of some corners of the conversation.
If you want to find out more about General Seminar and all the other things going on over at the Near Future Laboratory join our email list: https://tinyurl.com/nfl-newsletter.
And don't forget — please support the podcast and all the things over at https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory. Your support would be very much appreciated.
N°067 - Tucker Viemeister (The Last Industrial Designer)
Tucker Viemeister is an American industrial designer, and founder of Viemeister Industries in New York City.
Please consider supporting this podcast and joining us here at Near Future Laboratory by getting behind all of this over at https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory
N°066 - Your Daily Design Fiction Exercise Regimen
My special guest Dré Labre, proprietor over at https://www.designfictiondaily.com/ discusses how he has been training for the Imagine Harder marathon later this year, and how he uses the new 2023 Work Kit of Design Fiction, which drops in a limited release on April 20th 2023!
https://www.designfictiondaily.com
https://shop.nearfuturelaboratory.com/products/the-work-kit-of-design-fiction-2023-mj-edition
Support the podcast over on Patreon: https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory — every Patron gets a legit invite to the Near Future Laboratory Discord!
Thank you for your listening!
- Julian
N°065 - A Magazine from the Autonomous Future, A Design Fiction Project Debrief
How does Design Fiction do the work of reporting on the future? Most futures reports are heavily analytic, styled to be read analytically and interpreted as data. Very seldom if at all is there any point of entry to create a sense of the future as something the report has come from. And this is important because the artifact itself — the report — provides little opportunity to experience the future as it could possibly be.
This is where Design Fiction provides an opportunity for teams and organizations that are working towards a future to gain a more full spectrum sense of possible futures that can tie directly in to their day-to-day work.
This is how Design Fiction has always functioned. From the seminal TBD Catalog (10th Anniversary Edition coming soon!) to IKEA Catalog and the scores of other Design Fiction projects the Near Future Laboratory has done for commercial clients over the years. Design Fiction brings the future to you, rather than simply projecting into it.
In this episode Patrick Pittman and I discuss a recent client project where we created a Magazine from the Future, in this case we took our client to the autonomous vehicle future, took a look around, found a trade magazine for autonomous vehicle enthusiasts, and brought it back. It's full of context.
Visit https://magazinefromthefuture.com to find out more and schedule a call to get more details.
Also, consider supporting the podcast and the Near Future Laboratory Discord community over at patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory
Thank you for listening!
- Julian
https://tbdcatalog.com
https://ikea.nearfuturelaboratory.com/
https://magazinefromthefuture.com
https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory
N°064 - From Collectors to Creators: A Design Fiction Debrief with Thomas Euyang
This is a Episode 64 of the Near Future Laboratory Podcast, a Design Fiction Debrief with Thomas Euyang, where we breakdown his Design Fiction project 'From Collectors to Creators'.
From Collectors to Creators is a design fiction where our relationship with clothing, especially footwear is fundamentally different. Using found footage from cobblers and sneaker redesigners, a documentary offers a glimpse into an alternative world where the importance of newness is replaced with heritage, disposability with repairability, and mass production with craft.
Please support the podcast over on Patreon. Every patron gets an invitation to the Near Future Laboratory Discord, which is really where all the action is happening!
https://euyang.info/Future-of-Cobbling
https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory
N°063 - Imagining the Future of the Imagination Academy with Will Richardson
Will Richardson is a life-long educator and co-founder along with Homa Tavangar of The Big Questions Institute, was was created to help educators use 'fearless inquiry' to make sense of the complex moment and uncertainty felt around the future. In this episode we focus specifically on the ebook he and his co-founder recently created called 'One Foot In The Future' containing new frameworks, tools, and lenses to help educators imagine what comes next.
https://bigquestions.institute/
https://bigquestions.institute/onefootebook/
Please consider supporting the podcast over on Patreon at https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory. Your support goes a long way towards keeping these episodes going, largely by signaling to me that you find value in what's being discussed in here. Support is pretty easy, and generally affordable — there are two tiers at the moment: $8/month ($2 per week!) or $25 for those who can afford more. Every patron gets an invitation to the Near Future Laboratory Discord, where the magic seems to happen daily!
Thanks!
Julian
N°062 - Structure vs. Imagination with Andy Polaine
Andy Polaine is a designer, educator, writer and podcast guy. He hosts the wonderful 'Power of Ten' podcast. Andy is known for his work as a service designer, innovation consultant and professional executive coach.
Don't forget — please support the podcast and all the things over at https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory. Your support would be very much appreciated.
Oh, also? Please rate and write a review of the podcast over on Apple Podcasts. That stuff really does help!
Thank you!
Julian
N°061 - The Machines Make The Spoons with Simone & Matteo
Simone Rebaudengo and Matteo Loglio are founders of the fun, eclectic, speculative design studio OiO. We had a fun chat about their latest conjuring, 'Spawns' where they taught a machine to make spoons, and then manufactured them in one of the oldest silverware factories in Italy.
https://oio.studio/
https://oio.store
http://www.simonerebaudengo.com/
https://matlo.me/
If you want to find out more about the Near Future Laboratory join our email list: https://tinyurl.com/nfl-newsletter.
And don't forget — please support the podcast and all the things over at https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory. Your support would be very much appreciated.
Oh, also? Please rate and write a review of the podcast over on Apple Podcasts. That stuff really does help!
Thank you!
Julian
N°060 - ChatGPT Futures, a Digest of General Seminar S03 E26
This is a digest of General Seminar S03 E26 where we traveled into the ChatGPT future, had a look around, and brought back some Design Fiction artifacts. General Seminar is the platform I created for sense-making against the beautiful confusion of all the new 'futuristic' things we confront seemingly every day. So in General Seminar we take on these topics, with none of the hubris that one puts on to try and 'predict' the future, and wander around to see what we see and reflect on the way the world is becoming. I've boiled down 90 minutes to about 35 to give you a sense of some corners of the conversation.
If you want to find out more about General Seminar and all the other things going on over at the Near Future Laboratory join our email list: https://tinyurl.com/nfl-newsletter.
And don't forget — please support the podcast and all the things over at https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory. Your support would be very much appreciated.
Oh, also? Please rate and write a review of the podcast over on Apple Podcasts. That stuff really does help!
Thank you!
Julian
https://www.generalseminar.com/season-03-episode-26
https://tinyurl.com/nfl-newsletter
N°059 - The Year In The Rear View
Got together with Nicolas Nova (who was sitting on his living room sofa in Geneva) and Zach Hyman (who was sitting in a hotel lobby in Singapore) to reflect on what we think of when we think of 2022.
Please support the podcast over on Patreon at https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory and write a review of the podcast over on Apple Podcasts! It really does help!
Pick up your copy of The Manual of Design Fiction over at http://themanualofdesignfiction.com
And get one of the last remaining Work Kits of Design Fiction over at https://nearfuturelaboratory.myshopify.com/products/the-work-kit-of-design-fiction-2023-product-design-work-kit
N°058 - We Are Hypercollaborative with Toby Barnes
Toby Barnes (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobybarnes/) is a design strategist with a range of experiences and interests, including at AKQA, Nike, and now Amazon. Toby and I have been longing for a revival of the kinds of creative community experiences, gatherings, retreats, and workshops that flourished around the turn of the century, and that is what motivates the conversations we've been having over the last several months, including looking at the Near Future Laboratory community as an experiment in Hypercollaboration.
Please support the Podcast by either becoming a Patron (https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory) and rating and writing a review of the podcast over here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/near-future-laboratory-podcast/id1546452193
Want to know more? Have a listen, and get in touch: https://linktr.ee/bleeckerj
-Julian
N°057 - Design Fiction with Domus Academy & Speculative Futures Milan
Thank you to Gabriele Ferri, the staff and students who participated from Domus Academy and Speculative Futures Milan, especially Silvio Cioni for organizing.
You can support this podcast at patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory — your support is very much appreciated!
Also, you can purchase your copy of the first printing of The Manual of Design Fiction here: http://themanualofdesignfiction.com
Please subscribe, rate the podcast, and write a review! It all really helps!
Thank you!
https://www.domusacademy.com/
https://twitter.com/Futures_Milan
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cioni/
https://www.gabrieleferri.com/
N°056 - The Manual of Design Fiction with Patrick Pittman and Chris Frey
A conversation with Patrick Pittman and Chris Frey who are collectively https://no-media.co/who are the folks who shepherded us through the design, writing, editing, production of The Manual of Design Fiction, which is still available for pre-order! http://themanualofdesignfiction.com
Please support the podcast over at https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory!
And rate and write a review, please!
Want to chat? Let's grab a coffee! https://calendly.com/julian-bleecker/coffee-chat
N°055 - The Manual of Design Fiction with Nicolas Nova
A short discussion with Nicolas Nova on his take on our recently completed book 'The Manual of Design Fiction'.
You can find more about Nicolas here: http://www.nicolasnova.net/
And order The Manual of Design Fiction here: http://themanualofdesignfiction.com
Please consider supporting the podcast at: https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory and writing a review on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
Contact me at https://julianbleecker.com for a chat!
N°054 - Design Fiction Imagining for Autonomous Vertical Takeoff with Dave Gray
Dave Gray uses visual tools and techniques known as "drawing" in order to unlock the potential of imagining possible worlds. He founded XPLANE in 1993 as a platform to his life-long commitment to the ineluctable fact that analytic thinking on its own cannot solve the challenges most organizations and societies face. Visual imagining and images are the counterpoint to balance an over-reliance on analytics, and allows us to sense into possibilities in a uniquely powerful way.
N°053 - Design Fiction for the Master of Business Administration with Mathieu Aguesse
Oh, by the way – we wrote a manual of design fiction called, conveniently, The Manual of Design Fiction! You can pre-order it now (shipping early November!) over at themanualofdesignfiction.com
Please consider supporting the podcast over on patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory — you support comes with access to the Near Future Laboratory Discord, our experiment in hypercollaboration. You won't want to miss all of that.
N°052 - Speculative Futures as a Design Approach with Johanna Hoffman
My guest this episode is Johanna Hoffman, who's book 'Speculative Futures: Approaches to Navigate Change, Foster Resilience, and Co-Create the Cities We Need" is now available. Johanna is an urbanist working in the space between design, planning, fiction and futures. The Co-Founder and Director of Planning at Design for Adaptation. We discuss her introduction to design fiction and speculative futures practices, as well as the topics she covers in the book.
Please support the podcast over at patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory
And don't forget — The Manual of Design Fiction is now available for pre-order shipping early November! You can pre-order over at http://themanualofdesignfiction.com
N°051 - After Action Report / ASU's Design Fiction as Science Fiction Panel
This is a lightly edited after action report we did reflecting back on the ASU Applied Science Fiction panel (https://csi.asu.edu/calendar/events/designing-the-future-with-applied-sci-fi/) during the Near Future Laboratory Discord's regular Friday Office Hours. The panel sparked lots of insights, considerations, and ideas that we naturally wanted to discuss. In attendance were Isabella, Dré, Nick M., Nic, Kempe, and myself.
Please support the podcast at patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory and rate the podcast over on https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/near-future-laboratory-podcast/id1546452193
Thank you for your support!
N°050 - A 21st Century Enlightenment with Joe Lindley Windermere Tapes Box 050 Tape 05
Joe Lindley runs Design Research Works, a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship which aims to understand, gather evidence about, and promote leadership for Design Research. I'm particularly interested in the role that Design Research plays in understanding rapidly-changing relationships between individuals, society, and technology.
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/security-lancaster/about/all-staff/joseph-lindley
Please support the podcast at patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory and rate the podcast over on https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/near-future-laboratory-podcast/id1546452193
Thank you for your support!
N°049 - Windermere Tapes Box 050 Tape 04 with Paulina Yurman: The Design Innovators' Design Dilemma
Paulina Yurman, Ph.D. is a a designer, researcher and lecturer who works in design research, and has a background in engineering and industrial design.
Please support this podcast over on patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory and rate on Apple Podcasts, write a review, and share widely! Together, we can reinvigorate design practices and put creativity and curiosity into the service of meaningful, purposeful directions that will make the world a more habitable place.
N°048 - Windermere Tapes Box 050 Tape 03 with Alan Hook: Designing Augmented Alternate Reality When Every Community Is Its Own Private QAnon
This is from the Windermere Tapes Box 050 Tape 03 with Alan Hook, a Lecturer in Interactive Media and a Researcher in New Media and Play at Ulster University. Alan teaches Games Studies and New Media Studies within the School of Media Film and Journalism.
Please support this podcast over at Patreon. Support comes with access to the bustling design fiction oriented Near Future Laboratory community on Discord.
Also, please rate and write a review on whatever platform you happen to be listening!
Thank you for listening!
Julian
N°47 — The 'Third Space Conversation' Windermere Tapes Box 050 Tape 02 with Futures Designer Laura Dudek
Alt-Academia, Alt-Industry, Alt-R&D with Laura Dudek at the Design Research Works Jamboree, Brathay Hall, Windermere, UK
https://2021.rca.ac.uk/students/laura-dudek
https://jamboree.designresearch.works/
If you feel that this work contributes some meaningful value to your day, please take a moment to support the work over at https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory, and then write a review, rate, and share it widely so more listeners can feel the same. Thank you!
- Julian