Future Around & Find Out
Dan Blumberg
You know what would be awesome? If we could build the future we want — before we muck it up.
Future Around & Find Out helps builders think clearly about AI and emerging technologies, grapple with the implications, and decide what to build next.
Independent technologist and former NPR journalist Dan Blumberg speaks with founders, makers, and you to celebrate breakthroughs, call BS on the hype, explore how things might go sideways — and how we can steer the future in the right direction.
The Webby Awards have honored the show (formerly known as CRAFTED.) as a top tech podcast three years in a row!
On Tuesdays, we feature interviews with the builders changing how we work, live, and play.
On FAFO Fridays, futurist Kwaku Aning joins Dan for a playful recap of the week in tech, including the amazing, the scary, and the strange.
You’ll also hear about innovations that too often get overshadowed by AI, including in deep tech, biotech, fintech, quantum computing, robotics, blockchain, and more.
Across it all, you’ll hear sharp takes on what comes next and what builders need to know now.
So let’s Future Around & Find Out together!
https://www.FutureAround.com
Future Around & Find Out helps builders think clearly about AI and emerging technologies, grapple with the implications, and decide what to build next.
Independent technologist and former NPR journalist Dan Blumberg speaks with founders, makers, and you to celebrate breakthroughs, call BS on the hype, explore how things might go sideways — and how we can steer the future in the right direction.
The Webby Awards have honored the show (formerly known as CRAFTED.) as a top tech podcast three years in a row!
On Tuesdays, we feature interviews with the builders changing how we work, live, and play.
On FAFO Fridays, futurist Kwaku Aning joins Dan for a playful recap of the week in tech, including the amazing, the scary, and the strange.
You’ll also hear about innovations that too often get overshadowed by AI, including in deep tech, biotech, fintech, quantum computing, robotics, blockchain, and more.
Across it all, you’ll hear sharp takes on what comes next and what builders need to know now.
So let’s Future Around & Find Out together!
https://www.FutureAround.com
Episodes
Mentioned books
Apr 3, 2026 • 35min
The Fart App Era of AI Is Over. Now What? | FAFO Friday Vibes From SXSW Rooftop With Rob Kenedi
Rob Kenedi, founder of Decelerator Media and podcaster, drops by to revisit his “fart app era” quip and map where AI goes next. They probe product personality, creator economy defensibility, trust as a new moat, and practical product thinking for founders. Casual SXSW rooftop vibes keep it lively.
Mar 31, 2026 • 36min
Cooling Earth with everything from mushroom bacon to giant sky parasols | Eben Bayer (climate-tech founder)
Eben Bayer, climate-tech founder who builds mycelium materials and MyBacon, explores radical ways to protect Spaceship Earth. He talks mushroom-based foods and materials, and an audacious plan for stratospheric parasols offering “shade-as-a-service.” Short scenes cover the science, engineering tradeoffs, business model for utilities, and why active climate control deserves serious consideration.
Mar 28, 2026 • 34min
Melania's Humanoid Guest, Robot Teachers, and What We Lose When Learning Is "Instant"
A spicy take on the White House humanoid photo op and why robot teachers may be more spectacle than solution. A debate over Melania’s “instantaneous” learning vision and what gets lost when struggle disappears. Questions about whether education needs human-shaped robots and where embodied machines might actually help. Tangents about deepfakes, student misuse, and what AI should automate versus what we should practice.
14 snips
Mar 24, 2026 • 47min
What should kids study? How should AI help? Khan Academy's learning chief on productive struggle
Kristen DiCerbo, Chief Learning Officer at Khan Academy and AI-in-education expert, discusses what kids should study now: fundamentals plus AI literacy and critical thinking. She explores when AI should prompt reflection versus give answers. Topics include productive struggle, personalized learning with Khanmigo, low edtech adoption, scenario planning for AI in schools, and practical questions parents should ask.
Mar 20, 2026 • 33min
Glimpsed at SXSW: Robot Soccer, AI Sweet Nothings, and Pants That Do the Walking | It's FAFO Friday
A rooftop roundup from SXSW covering robot soccer and the race for humanoids to beat humans. They riff on wearable augmentation like e-bike pants and the cost of outsourcing feelings to AI. Conversations touch on the mental tax of managing many AI agents and the odd economics of falling for AI-powered services.
Mar 17, 2026 • 31min
"Train the Monkey First" — How Google Built a Moonshot Factory | Astro Teller (Captain of Moonshots)
Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots at X and leader of the lab behind Waymo and Google Brain, shares how to systematize audacious innovation. He explains greenlight everything then kill fast, setting kill criteria, blending audacity with humility, and why diverse teams and prototyping accelerate breakthroughs. He also discusses bets in biology, the electric grid, and AI as foundational infrastructure.
Mar 13, 2026 • 4min
BONUS: A quick riff on that weird Anthropic graph with Paul Ford | FAFO Friday
Paul Ford, writer and founder of Aboard known for sharp tech commentary. He and Dan riff on that viral, Rorschach-like Anthropic radar graph and why people share it for looks rather than clarity. They geek out on a taco-themed AI remake, explain why radar charts mislead, and talk about how AI can quickly materialize bad ideas.
Mar 10, 2026 • 42min
"It Sounds Like Something From Marvel" — Building an Antivirus for AI... With AI | Daniel Hulme (Founder, Conscium)
Daniel Hulme, founder of Conscium and WPP’s Chief AI Officer, studies AI, consciousness, and neuromorphic computing (he even researched bumblebee brains). He discusses building AI that can detect suffering, creating AI as an “antivirus” for unsafe agents, neuromorphic paths to huge energy gains, testing and verifying agent behavior, and a vision of AI-driven abundance that reshapes society.
Mar 6, 2026 • 42min
Choose Your Own Adventure | It's FAFO Friday
They laugh through a victory lap of predictions that came true and riff on OpenAI's bar‑fly energy. Quantum computing gets a choose‑your‑own‑adventure treatment. Waymo, robot choreography, and debates about humanoid designs come up. Politics, regulation, and the timing of self‑driving cars in New York get hashed out. Plus SXSW plans, moonshot spinoffs, and an AI fact‑checking mishap about Velcro.
Mar 3, 2026 • 33min
Dead as a Dodo? Maybe Not! Colossal's Beth Shapiro on the Science of De-Extinction — and Moonshots
Beth Shapiro, Chief Science Officer at Colossal Biosciences and ancient DNA researcher, explains why bringing back extinct species can solve broader conservation and biotech problems. She describes the dire wolf births, the choices behind genetic edits, moonshot-driven lab innovations, and an ethics framework for risky science. Short, vivid tales of mammoth mysteries and reproductive biology round out the conversation.
