Fated
Aleks Krotoski explores the power of toys and play in shaping our technological future. And asks if the image of what's to come gets stuck in attitudes & expectations of the past?
Aleks Krotoski explores the power of toys and play in shaping our technological future.
Apple's Tim Cook has said he began working on the smartwatch aged 5 after seeing the cartoon character Dick Tracy's wristwatch two way radio. So how much of our technological present has been prescribed by future visions of the past? Clearly many innovators imagination鈥檚 get fired up by childhood experiences but do they end up pursuing technologies that don鈥檛 actually solve the problems we鈥檙e facing? Or worse still, do they lock coming generations into futures where many key decisions have already been made and they鈥檒l end up having to deal with them? Look at climate change.
Aleks explores these ideas with Steven Johnson author of Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World, Jonathon Keats experimental philosopher and founder and curator of The Museum of Future History and Valentina Boretti; a researcher who has been looking at how toys were used to shape the children that would create China鈥檚 industrial miracle.
Producer: Peter McManus
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Jonathon Keats
One of his most recent projects is where he hopes to explore how the past's visions of the future have impacted on both the present and also what's to come.
Photo: Jen Dessinger
Richard Browning
Richard Browning is Founder and Chief Test Pilot of
Gravity Industries designs, builds and flies Jet Suits,聽pioneering a new era of human flight. The company was聽founded in March 2017 to challenge the perceived聽boundaries in human aviation and to inspire others to dare聽to ask 鈥淲hat if?鈥�
Steven Johnson
Here he talks to Aleks about role of play in innovation, something he investigated in his book Wonderland: How play made the modern world.聽
Kirk Demarais
Kirk Demarais is the author of Mail-Order Mysteries: Real Stuff from Old Comic Book Ads聽
In the book he reveals what you actually received if you sent away for any of the marvels adverstised at the back of superhero comics.
When not tracking down x-ray specs and sea monkeys Kirk is an artist, graphic designer, and instructor of Visual Arts at John Brown University.
Dr Sian Jones
Valentina Boretti
Cemil Cihan Ozalevli
Cemil Cihan Ozalevli, co-founder and chief content officer of Twin Science & Robotics and has been focusing on double winged approach on education.聽 One wing represents strong competence in different subject areas. The second wing denotes highly developed 21st century skills with a strong sense of social responsibility. With a mechanical engineering background, Cihan leads Twin Science content development team to cultivate confident individuals.聽
Broadcasts
- Mon 22 Feb 2021 16:30麻豆约拍 Radio 4
- Sun 8 May 2022 21:30麻豆约拍 Radio 4
Podcast
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The Digital Human
Aleks Krotoski explores the digital world
