Live! From Tomorrow

Join us for a conversation with creator/host Matt Hooper, songwriter/composer Ben Easton, and songwriter/performer Mark Levy for an in-depth chat about the evolution of "Live! From Tomorrow" from tech meetup to musical podcast. In this bonus episode, we invite listeners behind-the-scenes to hear the stories of their favorite songs from the show, as well as anecdotes about when, why and how a popular live event series in New York City became an audio event streamed all over the world. With clips from performances from 2017-2021, this is a special episode for our long-time fans--enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the season finale! We recorded this entire season virtually, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, an election, and a coup. And while we set out to explore a wide array of 'Tomorrows' on this show, more often than not, we found ourselves connecting our guests' stories to the tumult of 'Today'. In this episode, we reflect on the courage it requires to anticipate 'Tomorrow' at all, as we travel back with Matt and Sally to 2001 in our opening sketch, and conclude once more in the near future. Tomorrow hasn't happened yet; it's ours to seize, to shape, and to make better and fairer than today. So, let's take a leap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the eve of Joe Biden's inauguration, and two weeks after a 'mass delusional event' featured a mob of Trump supporters storming the U.S. Capitol, it's clear that whatever 'Tomorrow' brings, it will be powered by throngs of true believers--but what if the 'Tomorrow' you believe in is a lie? What if faith alone isn't enough? And do faith and truth have to be compatible? In this episode, Matt explores these questions of faith through sketches that look back to the Old Testament and ahead to summer 2021, and in conversation with John Lynn, co-founder and CEO of Cela, to discuss what faith is required to build an innovation ecosystem. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is our children learning? Nearly twenty years after President George W. Bush first asked this question, we are still trying to figure out the future of education. With modular, personalized digital learning even more popular in the wake of the pandemic, Matt sits down with Matthew Cantwell, Chief Strategy Officer, International Division at McGraw-Hill Education to try and understand just how a publishing company can become an education technology company. And later, in a future without guided learning, Matt finds himself shopping for new facts when his 'Fact Sheet' requires maintenance at the Stable Genius Bar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How can big corporations innovate today while planning for tomorrow? After all, given their employers' legacies, rules and processes, corporate innovators are never able to start from scratch. In an episode that takes us from the SAAS rush of the mid-2000's to a post-COVID future, Matt relates the story of a (fictional) corporate innovator, Martha Witherspoon, and sits down to interview another (very real) innovator, Olivia O'Sullivan, Director of Corporate Innovation and Partnerships at Acceleprise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When do you know that your business must change? Matt sits down to chat with Alex Trotta, Manager, Product Development and Innovation at Mastercard Labs, to discuss corporate innovation best practices. Later, Kris Kringle (yes, that Kris Kringle) worries about the future of his workshop, and requires an innovation strategy of his own. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who will be the 21st century’s global superpower? With a new U.S. President weeks away from inauguration, it’s time to better understand how the future of the U.S.-China relationship will affect the innovation ecosystem. In Part 2 of a two-part episode, Matt sits down to chat with Michael Zhu, Managing Partner of Accathon Capital and a champion of cross-border collaboration between U.S. and Chinese startups and corporations. Meanwhile, Matt looks back to the founding of the United States via flashback to the creation of the electoral college, and an interview with George Washington, the original practitioner of a peaceful transition of power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who will be the 21st century’s global superpower? With a new U.S. President weeks away from inauguration, it’s time to better understand how the future of the U.S.-China relationship will affect the innovation ecosystem. In Part 1 of a two-part episode, Matt sits down to chat with Michael Zhu, Managing Partner of Accathon Capital and a champion of cross-border collaboration between U.S. and Chinese startups and corporations. Meanwhile, Matt reflects on the past thirty years of American cultural and economic dominance, and wonders what New York City might look like in the 2030’s if it is no longer a global capital.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What will the bank of tomorrow look like? In this Thanksgiving-themed episode, Matt and Sally sever ties with their existing bank in order to work with two younger, leaner financial technology startups. This decision puts a strain on their marriage—proof that breakups, whether with humans, or with financial institutions, are never easy. Later in the episode, Matt sits down with Scarlett Sieber, a leader in bank innovation, to discuss the rise of neobanks, digital banking in the COVID era, and whether or not banks are technology companies.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why do we crave certainty? One week after the election, we’re still wondering how the polls were so wrong— but hasn’t this need for certainty been with us since the dawn of humanity? In this episode, we take a trip back in time to meet a few of our Paleolithic ancestors struggling in the face of some very era-specific uncertainty, before leaping forward in time to experience a most unusual game show. Meanwhile, Matt sits down with David Robinson, principal data scientist at Heap, to discuss probabilistic modeling, the rise of prediction markets, and why the future may be uncertain, but that doesn’t mean it’s scary.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you make a living with your ideas? When her startup hits a financial snag, Sally wonders if anyone will pay her for her creativity. In a dystopian future where unimaginative billionaires hire artists to take residence in their brains, Sally learns how to survive as a creative professional. Meanwhile, Matt sits down to chat with B. Jeffrey Madoff, director, designer, playwright, and author of the book "Creative Careers: Making A Living With Your Ideas". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you still outraged as you scroll through the endless bad news, or have you become numb? With only a few days left before the most important election of our lives, Matt wonders whether or not our constant state of stress has paralyzed us--and anticipates what this endless doom consumption portends for democracy. Later, he sits down with artist and creative technologist, Mike Bodge (Webby Awards, Google) to figure out just how the heck we can unplug. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Gen Z enters the workforce, how will these digital natives re-shape business values and practices? Matt is forced to confront his 'aging millennial' status when he meets a leader of this new generation, who, like her peers, values authenticity above all else. Later, he sits down with Josephine Monberg, Head of Communications for the Global Industry and Value Advisory Teams at SAP. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is it too late to fight back against an internet overrun with false headlines, propaganda and misinformation? A double date goes awry when Matt and Sally are joined by their old buddy Gary and his new girlfriend, Roberta May, a literal advertisement. And later, Matt sits down to chat with Chelsey Delaney, a leader in user experience and service design (IBM; Planned Parenthood) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How can American millennials, the first generation that will earn less money than their parents, hope to build a financial future? Matt's anxiety flares up when he considers laying a 'nest egg' for his family. And later, he sits down to chat with Anna N'jie-Konte, founder and CEO of Dare To Dream Financial Planning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does it mean to build a workplace around radical inclusivity? Sally's perception of herself as an empathetic and inclusive co-worker is put to the test when her mother, Muriel, arrives from West Virginia seeking a new job. Meanwhile, Matt sits down to chat with Kit Krugman, Head of Organization and Culture Design at co:collective; former ED, Women In Innovation.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt arrives in Copenhagen to meet the MFB team, accompanied by his ex-fiancee Sally Skalski. Their hotel, built by a company called LikeLyfe, is sentient, powered by an advanced AI and subsidized by advertising. Matt grows suspicious of the hotel, while Sally comes to love the advantages of a totally personalized hospitality experience. Matt’s paranoia grows when it is revealed that the livestream itself is just meant to advance the career of a single MFB executive. He and Sally head back to New York where they move into the newest LikeLyfe apartment building, and their lives are ruined by a constant barrage of highly-targeted advertisements. Matt and friends learn to push back against the comfort and convenience of this late capitalist nightmare, taking back their identities and their independence. Written by Matt Hooper Music & Lyrics By: Ben Easton & Mark Levy All Songs Performed By: Ensemble & The Academy Blues Project (Jim Bloom, Trevor Brown, Ben Easton, Mark Levy) Score By: Ben Easton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eager to build his audience, Matt takes Live! From Tomorrow on the road: to Dover, Delaware! And while this small city may not be considered a ‘hub’ of innovation, there is apparently an enthusiastic community of tech experts, or so Matt thinks. In the wake of his first public failure, Matt heads to a bar next door, where he meets Feldman, a journalist, who may just be the only fan he has tonight; alas, Feldman’s boyfriend joins them later in the evening. Matt heads back to New York, downtrodden, to interview pop star Akon and Reverend Jesse Jackson, where they discuss Akoin, a new cryptocurrency designed for use across all of Africa. Here, inspired by these two icons, Matt realizes that this is what he’s been missing: the power of belief in his own work. Live! From Tomorrow means something to audiences -- it makes people laugh, and it offers them the chance to learn. By episode’s end, he is ready for Copenhagen! Written by Matt Hooper Music & Lyrics By: Ben Easton & Mark Levy All Songs Performed By: Ensemble & The Academy Blues Project (Jim Bloom, Trevor Brown, Ben Easton, Mark Levy) Score By: Ben Easton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Matt’s old mentor Pat Dreyfuss arrives backstage at his second show, Matt invites him to visit a co-working space, where Pat discovers how much the working world has changed. Open floor plans, flavored water, phrases like ‘circle back’ and ‘level set’ -- the millennial workplace is foreign to a Boomer like Pat, who struggles to steady himself. Meanwhile, Matt heads downtown to interview presidential candidate Andrew Yang, whose thoughts on the coming automation crisis hit Pat like a tide pod to the head. With Pat pushing Matt’s ‘Dad joke’ threshold to its limit, the pair still manage to work together: for Pat, it’s pivoting hard into the information economy; for Matt, it’s getting back into the dating game. Written by Matt Hooper Music & Lyrics By: Ben Easton & Mark Levy All Songs Performed By: Ensemble & The Academy Blues Project (Jim Bloom, Trevor Brown, Ben Easton, Mark Levy) Score By: Ben Easton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Becoming a host takes practice, and Matt has next to none. With hundreds of public officials in New York for the UN Global Goals Week, Matt manages to secure a few guests to help him hone his craft. Tensions rise when his ex-fiancee, Sally Skalski, arrives with her parents, West Virginia coal miners turned cryptocurrency miners-- a new way to make money that still harms the planet. Finding themselves on opposite sides of the climate ‘debate’, Matt and Sally, an innovation evangelist and a crypto miner’s daughter, must settle their differences by duetting across the rooftops of New York City. Written by Matt Hooper Music & Lyrics By: Ben Easton & Mark Levy All Songs Performed By: Ensemble & The Academy Blues Project (Jim Bloom, Trevor Brown, Ben Easton, Mark Levy) Score By: Ben Easton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices