Monika Bielskyte is a futures researcher and designer currently based in South Africa by way of Lithuania. She conveys to Brett and Rob her vision for a radically inclusive and more hopeful future. As Monika’s frames it, her Protopian concept of the future presents a distinct alternative to the utopian -vs- dystopian binary that prevails in science fiction and popular culture. Monika draws on the Bantu-origin concept of Ubuntu to characterize her approach to future scenario planning, and she relates it to a wide range of current issues through the lens of equality, fairness and empathy.

We’re back this week with the final part of the amazing interview with world-leading futurist and science fiction legend Kim Stanley Robinson. We delve into generational thinking around economics and why the Martians of KSR’s space opera series have largely abandoned capitalism and traditional 20th century industrial thinking. We return to the topic of climate adaptation, and generally discuss the future of human society. Our favorite episode of the year with Brett, Katie and Rob hosting.

This week The Futurists hosts Brett, Rob and Katie host a guest that NY Times calls “one of the world’s most acclaimed living science fiction writers” – Kim Stanley Robinson. We dive into the Mars Trilogy and interplanetary colonization and exploration, we tackle climate shift and the economics of the world of the future. We get some background on his early career in sci-fi, we delve into KSR’s world building and how real world places influenced story settings, his interest in fields like terraforming, geology and even genetics. This is part 1 of a two part special episode. You’re going to love it, we did!