The History of the Future

Visions of a technology-driven future fueled the imagination of 20th century America. While some predictions, such as driverless cars, have become a reality, innovations like cities on the moon remain out of reach.

Regardless of their accuracy, past visions of the future provide us invaluable insight about the hopes, values and anxieties of their creators and about the times and places from which they sprung. What can kitschy visions of robotic kitchens tell us about how we envisioned a post-World War II domestic life? How did film and television influence our understanding of emerging technologies? 

Join Future Tense to explore yesterday's visions of today, and their lessons for tomorrow. 

Lunch will be served. 

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America and Arizona State University. This event will be livestreamed on this page. Follow the conversation online with #HistoryOfTheFuture and @FutureTenseNow.

Agenda: 

Noon to 12:15 p.m.
A Brief History of Thinking about the future

Neal Gabler: Author, "Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination;" visiting professor, Master of Fine Arts, Creative Writing and Literature Program at SUNY Stony Brook 

12:15–12:45 p.m.
Envisioning the Future 

• "How We’d Get Around" 
Joey Eschrich, @JoeyEsch: Editor and program manager, Center for Science and the Imagination, Arizona State University 

• "How We’d Work" 
Ytasha Womack, @ytashawomack: Author, "Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture and Post Black: How a New Generation is Redefining African-American Identity;" director, "A Love Letter to the Ancestors from Chicago"

• "How We’d Live"
Katherine Mangu-Ward, @kmanguward: Editor in chief, Reason; Future Tense Fellow, New America 

1:15-1:25 p.m.
Does the Future Have a Future in Washington?

Andrés Martinez: Editorial director, Future Tense; professor of practice, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at ASU