From What If to What Next

In 2022, in the Dutch city of Leeuwarden was home to an extraordinary event where, for 100 days, 1000 mature trees were taken for a walk around the city. 4000 volunteers made it all possible, and it was the brainchild of landscape artist Bruno Doedens. You will find a short video of it here. It's a beautiful example of what I call a 'pop up tomorrow', an artistic intervention where the future is drawn through into the present for people to see, touch, feel and smell. Bruno has done many different amazing projects which we discuss in our fascinating conversation. It will inspire you to take a forest for a walk, promise!

Imandeep Kaur, co-founder and Director of Mission and Strategy at Birmingham’s Civic Square, explores radical imagination and community-led climate resilience. She discusses transforming industrial sites into living demonstrations, participatory planning, regenerative urbanism, retrofit, and new models of finance and governance. She also challenges philanthropy to fund bold experiments and celebrates the hidden networks building a more humane, regenerative future.

This month's episode is a conversation with producer Jordan Flaherty about the incredible new Afrofuturist film 'Space to Breathe', of which the promotional material states "Space to Breathe is an Afrofuturist science fiction hybrid documentary, framed with a future where there are no prisons or police. The year is 2070 and Sojourner is a young genderqueer filmmaker who sets out to understand how abolition came to be, through history's archives on the movements of the early 21st Century". See more here. It was a joy to meet him and discuss the film in depth, and in this episode, our Producer Bee Addicott has cut our conversation together with short passages from the film. I'd love to know what you think. It's a film that moved me deeply. Why not organise a screening in your neighbourhood? The film was written by Walidah Imarisha, who appeared in Episode 100 of this podcast.

Kate Pickett, epidemiologist and co-author of The Spirit Level, explores health, inequality and societal wellbeing. She imagines a more equal 2036 rooted in care. She outlines prevention, joined-up spending and wellbeing-focused policies from around the world. She discusses UBI, wealth tax and how hopeful visions can counter extremism.

The second (Episode 102) of my rejuvenated and back-in-your-life podcast, 'From What If to What Next' features my conversation with the fabulous Solitaire Townsend. Following 2025's New York Climate Week online, the key thing that caught my attention was Solitaire standing up and boldly stating 'Fuck Doom'. She told Climate Week "Fuck the sad little "last generation" memes. Fuck climate being served up as clickbait. Fuck the guilt and grief shoved down our throats. Fuck waiting for the end of the world like it's a season finale". In my chair many miles away, I whooped in support. I wanted to find out more. Why does it matter so much that we come out fighting for a liveable future rather than resigning to collapse and disaster? It's a wonderful conversation that goes off in so many directions. In it we discuss her 'F*ck Doom' campaign, William Shakespeare, why she's just written a novel, and why climate activism needs to move beyond, in theatrical terms, 'Act One'. It's brilliant and rich.

It's deeply exciting to be able to present your first new episode of 'From What If to What Next' in almost 2 years. As the months have gone past, I've had a sense that there was more still to do, more conversations to be had. From the research I did for 'How to Fall in Love with the Future' and since, I've come across so many amazing people with stories that you read need to hear, with important things to say at this moment in time. The guest in our first return episode is the person I most wanted in all the 100 previous episodes, the wonderful Rasheedah Phillips, one half of Black Quantum Futurism. Her work is so hugely inspiring, if you haven't come across it already. I will be publishing these now once a month. I'd love to know what you think, your thoughts on this conversation.

Writer, educator, and poet Walidah Imarisha discusses non-linear time, radical imagination, and the transformative power of storytelling in envisioning a more just and equitable society. The conversation explores activism as time travel and the importance of collective care and connectivity in advocating for societal change.

Anne-Marie Culhane, eco-artist and permaculture mentor, and Ruth Ben Tovim, artist-activist and participation specialist, explore imaginative civic invitations. They picture fruit-filled cities, seasonal community hubs, rituals like Salmon Run, and place-based listening. Short, tactile, creative calls to care and long-term civic belonging take center stage.

You're in for a bit of a treat here. In today's episode things are a little bit different: you usual Producer is your host, you usual host is a guest, we've woven some beautiful sound recordings into our episode to make it a sensory experience for you. Our other guest is Andrew Skeoch, sound recordist and author of the excellent book, Deep Listening to Nature. You can find his Listening Earth catalogue of nature soundscape albums here. This episode was such a joy to be part of, I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it, and I hope that you find yourself listening to the world around you with a deeper intensity.

Exploring alternatives to capitalism, guests discuss transitioning to a cooperative future, embracing purpose-driven service, reclaiming power and identity for Indigenous communities, advocating for economic transformation through education and policy reform, and promoting a 'Buffalo Economy' for inclusive economics.