Bungacast /539/ Reading Club: Where's Our Flying Cars?
Mar 13, 2026
Leigh Phillips, science writer and editor specializing in technology and geology, joins to interrogate why the future looked different. They debate Graeber’s claim of slowed technical progress. Short takes cover transport plateaus, the role of states and war, whether software and biotech count as real progress, and what this means for political choices.
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Leigh Phillips Back From The Boonies
- Leigh Phillips mentions returning from north central British Columbia and being 'back from the boonies' as a personal aside.
- This brief anecdote establishes his recent field absence before joining the discussion.
Perception Of A Technological Slowdown Masks Rising R&D
- Technological progress perception changed after 1970 when visible physical advances (speed, supersonic travel) plateaued despite earlier exponential gains.
- Alex Hochuli points out global R&D spending rose post-2013, driven by China and higher US R&D, complicating the slowdown story.
The Missing Future Became A Cultural Conversation In The 2010s
- Graeber's essay joined a wider mid-2010s discourse about the 'missing future' alongside Fisher, Edgerton, Thiel debates and pop works like Where's My Jetpack.
- Alex Hochuli situates Graeber as central to leftward adoption of the slowdown thesis.
