Are you being a good ancestor?

This episode of How We Future features public philosopher Roman Krznaric, author of The Good Ancestor and History for Tomorrow, to explore how we can break free from short-term thinking and start planning in generations, not quarters.

Roman argues we all have two competing forces. The marshmallow brain seeks instant gratification. The acorn brain enables long-term thinking, the kind that built sewers in 19th century London for a much larger future population. History shows what's possible when we activate that capacity.

Roman shares practical steps to become better ancestors, from giving children your vote to building social cohesion through community action. He offers examples of things that went right in history and the importance of recognizing what we should repeat, not just what we shouldn’t.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

• Why long-term thinking is wired into our brains and how to activate it
• What it takes for real transformative change to happen
• Why social trust matters more than technology for our survival

Roman sees signs of change, from the EU creating an Intergenerational Fairness Index to educators teaching students to think like futurists, not just historians. The future is ours to create together.

Links from the episode:

• Roman Krznaric Site
• Roman’s new online course: Long-Term Thinking for a Short-Term World
• Book: The Good Ancestor: A Radical Prescription for Long Term Thinking
• Book: History for Tomorrow: Inspiration from the Past for the Future of Humanity
• Book: Empathy: Why It Matters, and How to Get It
• TED Talk: Lessons from History for a Better Tomorrow
• TED Talk: How to be a Good Ancestor
• New View EDU podcast for school leaders with Roman Krnaric
• Long Now Talk: Roman Kzrnaric and Kate Raworth

The future is a paradox we have to learn to hold.

In this episode of How We Future, Lisa Kay Solomon is joined by Pascal Finette, Co-Founder of radical, an organization that offers strategic advice to help leaders build organizations that strengthen under stress instead of breaking. Over nearly three decades, Pascal has led transformations at eBay, Mozilla, and Google, and he brings refreshing honesty about what it really takes to navigate uncertainty.

The conversation centers on a simple question Pascal asks thousands of executives: "The future is ___." How you fill in that blank reveals everything. Some say bright. Some say terrifying. Pascal argues we need to hold both views at once because the future genuinely is contradictory. He and Lisa talk about the danger of the "official future," that narrow path organizations and people lock themselves into that leaves them brittle when inevitable shocks arrive.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

• Why holding opposing views of the future at once is essential
• Why curiosity is the most important muscle for navigating change
• What anti-fragility means in practice and how it differs from resilience

Pascal encourages listeners to ask more meaningful questions about their role in society rather than just focusing on quarterly profits. The future, he reminds us, is ours to create.

Links from the episode:

• Radical Briefing
• The Heretic x GYSHIDO
• The Official Future Trap
• Pascal’s Disruption Mapping Exercise

The best way to unstick the present is to think further into the future.

In this episode of How We Future, Lisa Kay Solomon sits down with Aditi Juneja, Executive Director of Democracy 2076, to explore how thinking 50 years ahead can break down current obstacles and make seemingly unrealistic hopes feel very possible. Democracy 2076 helps us plan democracy not for the next election cycle, but for the next 50 years.

The conversation reveals how the media we consume shapes our perception of what democracy looks like. From Scandal normalizing election fraud to The West Wing making some viewers think our government is running smoothly, Aditi's research uncovers how TV shows and movies are quietly teaching us civics.

You'll also hear:

• Why a 50-year timeline makes change feel possible instead of impossible
• What happens when people sit down to design constitutional amendments together
• Why we need to give people a menu of possibilities, not just ask them to imagine the future

The episode closes with practical advice for staying resilient in noisy political times. Thank you, Aditi, for joining How We Future!

Links from the episode:

• Democracy 2076
• Report co-authored with Harmony Labs on how media shapes people’s attitudes about the problems facing democracy
• The Long-Term Futures Work of Building a Better Democracy
• A Constitution for 2076
• Pro-Democracy Political Coalitions for 2076