Existential Hope Special: Ada Palmer | On How Speculative Worlds Can Help Us Demand A Better Future

"We’ve saved the world so many times throughout history. Now we just have to do it again."

What if speculative fiction could do more than entertain—what if it could reshape how we think about governance, technology, and societal progress? In this episode of the Existential Hope Podcast, historian and sci-fi author Ada Palmer discusses how we can harness lessons from both history and fiction to reimagine what’s possible for humanity.

Ada argues that one of the most critical advantages we have over past generations is our ability to envision a future radically different from our present. Unlike Renaissance thinkers limited by their own history, today’s societies can draw from an endless array of speculative worlds—both utopian and dystopian—to expand the horizons of what we dare to demand.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Ada digs into everything from concrete ideas for how to govern in a more pluralistic, adaptable world, to the importance of storytelling in addressing existential risks, exploring:

• Why pluralism might be the antidote to centralized, one-size-fits-all governance and how speculative fiction shows us ways to make it work.
• How past and present technological advancements—like eradicating malaria—can inspire hope for tackling today’s most urgent challenges.
• What makes despair the ultimate barrier to progress, and how celebrating successes can keep us moving forward.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Existential Hope was created to collect positive and possible scenarios for the future so that we can have more people commit to creating a brighter future, and to begin mapping out the main developments and challenges that need to be navigated to reach it. Existential Hope is a Foresight Institute project.

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

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