Back to the Future

Claire Petulengro didn’t exactly predict me a positive future… while Tom is too smug for words ;)

In this New Year's Eve programme, Tom and I look at what history has had to say about the future. They explore when "the future" emerged as a concept and why some people thought they could foretell it.

This episode is full of the deep questions about when did the future became political? What we can know about our ancestors' fears from the science fiction they produced… but it also involved us eating fortune cookies (I had about seven) and getting our palms read… which was deeply infuriating - not just because mine was a bleak reading but also because she was so nice about Tom! The future is a fix!

The brilliant Owen Davis

I really enjoyed my interview with Owen Davis talking about mediums and fortunetellers during the Great War. I’ve been fascinated by both mediums (been an active member of Skeptics In The Pub) and have always advocated science and reason throughout my younger years. But at the same time, I can’t help but see that being a medium or fortuneteller is about the only self employment a woman could do at the time that didn’t involve huge start up costs, allowed her a family and didn’t require the selling of her body. I also have written in the past about my concern that a lot of the skeptic movement is ridden with misogynistic tendencies - possibly because so much ‘woo’ is peddled by women. The history of it fascinated me. So much so I once spent waaaay too much time making little youtube videos about mediums of the past:

I do hope you’re liking the series. You can listen on BBC Sounds and provide feedback by following this link .If you have a moment, that would be excellent of you. I’m dead proud to be part of it!