As a new year begins, we take a moment to look at the future.

This episode features two fascinating conversations. First we talk with Futurist JT Mudge about how understanding changes helps us imagine, design, and prepare for the cities of tomorrow. Then Seattle based historian, Feliks Banel, highlights how the lense through which we imagine a future can shape the world of tomorrow.

JT Mudge is an award-winning futurist passionate about sustainability, ethics, and ancestral futures. He holds a masters of science in foresight from the University of Houston, where he is an adjunct professor teaching foresight and change theory. He currently serves as a Senior Strategic Foresight Advisor for The United Nations Development Programme.

The ideas and opinions JT expresses in this conversation are his own, and do not necessarily reflect The University of Houston, the UNDP, or any other organization JT is affiliated with.

Feliks Banel is a Seattle-based historian, radio producer, and longtime contributor to public radio, where he specializes in Pacific Northwest history and civic memory. His work often explores how major moments—like the 1962 Century 21 Exposition—continue to shape the identity, culture, and physical landscape of Seattle today.

(Extended conversation with Feliks available here)

JT Mudge

United Nations Development Programme

Metropolis

The Toynbee Convector

Feliks Banel - Cascade of History

Seattle Worlds Fair

Downtown Seattle Association