Future Imperfect

Jason Kingsley is a technologist who started one of the UK's most exciting games companies, Rebellion. He's also fascinated by the past. In this podcast he talks to historians, scientists, and experts from all fields about what we the future might hold, and what we should do to prepare for it.<br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

What's the oldest pub in England?

On this episode, Jason is joined by James Wright a buildings archaeologist who specialises in mediaeval myth-busting. He talks us through the legends about a lot of England's old buildings, and what the truth actually is.Producer: Natt TapleyAudio: Pete Dennis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

09-14
01:01:17

HIGHLIGHTS EPISODE

We've had a lot of new listeners over the summer - so we thought we'd look back at some of the highlights of some of our older episodes.Presenter: Jason Kingsley, CBEProducer: Natt Tapley Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

09-07
47:36

Did people in the Middle Ages believe in fairies?

Did people in the Middle Ages believe in fairies? Jason talks to Dr Francis Young about mediaeval beliefs in non-Christian entities and his book, Twilight of the Godlings.Producer: Natt TapleyAudio: Pete Dennis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

08-19
49:32

How many seasons were there in the mediaeval year? (The answer may surprise you!)

In this episode, Jason talks to Eleanor Parker about her book Winters In The World: A Journey Through The Anglo-Saxon Year.Producer: Natt TapleyAudio: Pete Dennis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

08-09
36:22

How did people in the Middle Ages think about sex?

Dr Eleanor Janega comes back to the podcast to talk to Jason Kingsley, CBE, about sex and gender in the Middle Ages and her new book The Once and Future Sex.Producer: Natt TapleyAudio: Pete Dennis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

08-02
44:41

How can we live chivalrously?

In a change of format, we talk to Jason Kingsley, CBE, himself. We dig deep into what chivalry means, why Jason is fascinated with mediaeval history, and how is affects his life and the way he runs his business.Producer: Natt TapleyAudio: Pete Dennis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

07-24
44:35

How can we fix our oceans?

Professor Guy Standing is an economist who has a radical way to fix the problems in our oceans, one from the past. He wants to see them held in common, as mediaeval resources often were. He talks to Jason about how this would work.Producer: Natt TapleyAudio: Pete Dennis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

12-01
52:18

What does genetic engineering mean for our futures?

Gene editing therapies are just starting to be used to treat conditions. In this episode, Jason talks to Matthew Cobb, Professor of Zoology at the University of Manchester about how we got here, and what it could mean for each of us in the future.Producer: Natt TapleyAudio: Pete Dennis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

11-23
56:57

How did gift-giving work in the past?

When European settlers arrived in the Americas they found many economies based on gift-giving. Jason talks to Brian Owensby about how this worked, how it didn't work, and how this could have led to conflict between the Old World and the New.Producer: Natt TapleySound: Pete Dennis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

11-14
47:17

What is the digital mediaeval?

Jeremy Silver is the CEO of Digital Capital, and he believes that we are living in our 'digital mediaeval period'. He joins Jason today explain what he means by that, what problems it poses, and what we need to do to move to a 'digital renaissance'.Producer - Natt TapleySound - Pete DennisPhoto by Bingqian Li: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-near-castle-and-scaffolding-16105790/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

11-07
39:04

How did they deal with pandemic disease in the 1660s?

Jason talks to Rebecca Rideal about 1666, and pandemics, great fires, and wars.Producer: Natt TapleyAudio: Pete Dennis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

10-16
33:58

How big were mediaeval warhorses?

Jason talks to Alan Outram and Oliver Creighton who have done the most extensive study of mediaeval warhorses ever made.Producer: Natt TapleyAudio: Pete Dennis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

09-12
58:53

Why are our trees going north?

Ben Rawlence joins Jason to explain how the tree-line is moving, what that means for us, and what we can do about it. Produced by: Natt TapleyAudio: Pete Dennis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

08-10
40:55

How can we bring back action comics?

Jason talks to comics legend Garth Ennis about war, computer games, history, and how to bring back comics of the past.Producer: Natt TapleyAssistant Producer: Abi RobinsonAudio: Pete Dennis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

06-17
39:57

Can we geo-engineer our way out of climate change?

In this episode Jason talks to Gernot Wagner about the damage we're doing to our limate and whether or not it's on our power to reverse it.Producer: Natt TapleyAssistant Producer: Abi RobinsonAudio: Pete Dennis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

06-02
37:56

Are we going to run out of soil?

Jason talks to Jo Handelsman, the Director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery at University of Wisconsin, about the role soil has played in the historical invasions of Ukraine, how fast we're running out of soil and what will happen when we do.Presenter: Jason KingsleyProducer: Natt TapleyAssistant Producer: Abi RobinsonAudio: Pete Dennis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

05-21
44:19

Is the world coming to an end?

Professor Nicholas Guyatt joins Jason to talk about apocalyptic cults, beliefs in the end of the world, and what that might look like.Producer: Natt TapleyAssistant Producer: Abi RobinsonAudio: Pete DennisImage: St Jean de Montmartre 4th Horseman of Apocalypse by Peter Haas licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

04-28
54:48

Were the Dark Ages dark?

Jason talks to David Perry & Matt Gabriele about their new book, The Bright Ages, which tries to reassess the period after the fall of the Roman empire (if that even happened).Producer: Natt TapleyAudio: Pete DennisAssistant Producer: Abi RobinsonPhoto by Ali Khalil from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/columns-and-dome-of-hagia-sophia-7542061/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

04-01
48:15

When did we invent love?

Jason talks to Professor Suzannah Lipscomb about how we find out about mediaeval women in the past, how marriages worked, and whether or not Henry VIII was the ultimate romantic?Producer: Natt TapleyAudio: Pete DennisAssistant Producer: Abi Robinson Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

03-13
41:28

How does bias change the world?

Jason talks to Jessica Nordell , who showed how small amounts of bias can have huge impact on large organisations.Producer: Natt TapleyAudio: Pete DennisAssistant Producer: Abi Robinson Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

03-06
49:31

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