The Secret History of the Future

From Slate and the Economist.

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About the Show

Journey into the past and you’ll discover the secret history of the future. From the world’s first cyberattack in 1834, to 19th-century virtual reality, the Economist’s Tom Standage and Slate’s Seth Stevenson examine the historical precedents that can transform our understanding of modern technology, predicting how it might evolve and highlighting pitfalls to avoid. Discovering how people reacted to past innovations can also teach us about ourselves.

Hosts

New Media, Old Story

What can new forms of media (like podcasting!) learn from the evolution of radio in the early 20th century?

A Brief History of Timekeeping

The history of timekeeping is a history of control—a duty to be “on time.” Could a new kind of clock change our relationship with timekeeping, forcing us to think not of hours and obligations but of eons and possibilities?

Salvation in the Air

Could we pull the solution to climate change out of thin air? An oft-forgotten but hugely important scientific technique from the early 20th century suggests the idea isn’t crazy.

Bug in the System

What can a mistake in a computer program from 1843 tell us about modern-day biases in software algorithms?

Dots, Dashes, and Dating Apps

What can modern online daters learn from 19th-century telegraph romances?

Mars on Earth

What can Victorian-era polar exploration teach us about space travel?

Meat and Potatoes

What can the potato—the superfood of the past—teach us about new efforts to create the superfoods of tomorrow?

Unreliable Evidence

In assuming DNA evidence is infallible, are we making a mistake identical to the one we made 100 years ago with fingerprinting?

A Second Wind

Could we go back to wind-powered ships—and eliminate commercial shipping’s carbon emissions—by rediscovering a clever nautical innovation that we abandoned a century ago?

Dig Into the Past and Discover the Secret History of the Future

In Season 2 of our technology podcast, potatoes offer potent warnings about modified food, and bicycles are the dating apps of the 19th century.

Infinite Scroll

Tables of contents, indexes, and encyclopedias were invented to let us keep up with a deluge of information. What new inventions can help us today?

A Little Less Conversation

Some people thought the trans-Atlantic cable would bring world peace. It didn’t.

VR or It Didn’t Happen

The Victorians used plaster casts to preserve important artifacts in 3D. Can virtual reality do the same for us?

A Clock in the Sky

In 1714, the British government offered a huge prize for a way to determine longitude at sea. Can prizes spur innovation today?

From Zero to Selfie

What happens the first time people see themselves in photos?

Human Insecurity

The French telegraph system was hacked in 1834. What does the incident teach us about modern-day network security?

The Fault in Our Cars

What can the advent of horseless carriages a century ago tell us about our driverless future?

Fork Fashions and Toilet Trends

It took a long time for the fork to go from oddity to ubiquity. What does that say about Google Glass?

The Body Electric

Ever since the Romans put electrogenic fish on their heads to cure migraines, we’ve wondered what electric shocks can do to our brains.

The Box That AI Lives In

How could an 18th-century robot win at chess? By using a trick that big tech firms still pull on us today.