I’m honoured that the focus of this episode of ‘The New Abnormal’ podcast is Jim Dator, who’s had an extraordinary impact on futures-thinking.

Indeed, I believe one would struggle to find someone else who could today be genuinely given the title of “the world’s leading futurist”. Although Jim is far too self-effacing to bestow that title on himself, it’s an accolade he thoroughly deserves.

His career has been a lifelong invitation to ‘think differently about tomorrow’, with his intellectual rigor and curiosity expanding what it means to study “The Future.” Professor Emeritus and former Director of the Research Centre for Futures Studies, Dept of Political Science, at the University of Hawaii; he more or less invented futures studies during his time teaching at university in Japan in the 1960’s, before returning to the US and introducing the first course there. He’s also taught at universities in Canada, Yugoslavia, France, and Korea. And he’s the former President of the World Futures Studies Federation.

For this podcast, we agreed to mainly focus on his latest book “Living Make-Belief: Thriving in a Dream Society” in which Jim illuminates his ideas about the past, present, and futures of modes of communication and social change. But we naturally also allude to his other books, articles and staggeringly wide array of intellectual viewpoints, in a podcast where, while he supplied the script, as he’s over ninety years old, Jim asked me to voice the episode on his behalf.

It was incredibly kind of him to allow me to tell his story (or at least some of it) and I’m delighted that he was so pleased with the results.

And, of course, I hope you enjoy the episode as well.

He really is a genius.

This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features the famous physicist and futurist Dr Joseph Voros, who helps people and organisations think about the future in serious ways through futures-orientated intelligence and strategic foresight capability-building.

He’s been a professional futurist for over 25 years, initially as a practitioner of and lecturer in strategic foresight, but increasingly in the Defence and National Security context, including participation in NATO’s Strategic Foresight activities.

We therefore discuss his views on issues including the various categories of futurists (with a nod to 'Synoptic Generalists'), linkage between futurists and intelligence analysts ('cousins or twins?'), why futurists are lucky that they don't have to persistently deal with counterintelligence, and a thought-leadership paper he's just presented to a gathering of officers from that sector.

Joseph has a strong belief in the need for both rigorous intellectual discipline as well as practical pragmatic utility in ‘real world’ contexts, and this belief lies at the heart of his renowned approach to Futures Studies and strategic foresight.

And before you ask, yes we do discuss the “Futures Cone” that he so popularised, regarding a range of ‘nested class’ futures i.e. Potential, Preposterous, Possible, Plausible, Probable, Preferable, Projected, and Predicted. Meanwhile, and indeed as what was satire becomes ever more a lived reality, Joseph stresses that one must never forget Wildcards…

So, we cover all of the above, in what I hope you’ll agree is a fascinating interview.

In this episode of The New Abnormal podcast, I interview Neil Shearing, the Group Chief Economist at Capital Economics, where he leads a world-class team of economists and oversees the firm’s global research agenda.

A trusted voice in international finance, Neil is known for his clear, insightful analysis of the global economy - insights that regularly feature in the Financial Times and other major publications, as well as on TV and radio.

Earlier in his career, he served as an Economic Adviser at HM Treasury, working on fiscal policy and global economics.

In the interview, we discuss his new book 'The Fractured Age' in which he describes how the tectonic plates of the global order are shifting, creating new pressures that will strain long-standing financial structures. Neil explains where the world's new economic fault lines will emerge, and how disruptive they'll be...