Can movies really predict the future?

While editing an earlier conversation for this podcast, I kept coming back to a question from my guest Olga: how is it that films set years ahead sometimes seem to become strangely familiar?

In this episode, I talk it through with my cousin Kayleigh. We start with Jurassic Park, Star Trek and Minority Report, then move into AI, virtual reality, algorithms, aliens, advertising, free will, and the idea of predictive programming.

I’m not here to prove that a secret group is scripting every future through Hollywood. I’m more interested in a softer question: what if stories do more than reflect the world? What if they give us images of what is possible, normal or inevitable — and some of us eventually try to build them?

We explore:

- Why science fiction can feel prophetic years later

- How films may inspire inventors, designers and entire generations

- Star Trek, Minority Report, Ready Player One, Ex Machina and Wall-E

- Predictive programming: conspiracy theory, cultural influence, or something in between?

- Advertising, subtle influence and free will

- The personalised futures we are fed through films, podcasts, algorithms and social media

This is not an expert investigation or a claim that every coincidence is evidence. It is an experiment in following one question honestly and seeing where it leads.

The question I’m leaving with is this:

What kind of future is this story teaching me to expect — and am I okay with that?

The English Experiment is a podcast about ideas, conversations and thinking out loud in English.

If this episode gave you something to think about, follow the podcast and share it with someone who would enjoy the conversation.

A South African in Russia tries to understand why Victory Day feels so huge here. From tanks and parades to family stories and grief, this episode looks at 9 May through foreign eyes.

I talk about growing up with almost no emotional connection to World War II, what changed when I met Victory Day in Moscow, and how symbols like the Immortal Regiment, St. George ribbons, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier shifted my sense of history and memory. Along the way I share what I’ve learned (and still don’t know) about the Soviet and South African roles in the war, and why I think many of us were never really taught this story at school.

You can listen on the website, YouTube, RuTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Yandex Music, and wherever you get your podcasts:

Website: https://teewchantelle.com/

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-english-experiment/id1869215100

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/282HmOFNdHADDforUoarKU?si=d0941609ea744dbc

Yandex Music: https://music.yandex.ru/album/40403862

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TEEwChantelle RuTube: https://rutube.ru/channel/68411939/

You can also connect with me here:

Telegram: https://t.me/teewchantelle

VK: https://vk.com/teewchantelle

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teewchantelle

Supporting materials for this episode are available on the website.

Sometimes, you just need one small adventure to shake up your usual routine. In this episode, I’m heading to a snow tubing park just outside Moscow with my friend Natalie – my first time ever on a tubing hill.

On the way, Natalie talks about the winters of her childhood, sliding down makeshift hills on plastic bags and pieces of old furniture instead of tubes. We compare those memories with the organised tubing park outside the city and the kind of winter day you can have there now.

You’ll come along as we drive out of Moscow, figure out the first scary–fun run down the hill, and then take a break over tea to talk about expectations, growing up with real winters, and why walking back up the hill can be just as important as sliding down.

If there’s something small and a bit silly you’ve been curious to try, maybe this is your sign to say yes to it.

The intro and outro music for this episode were created with AI music tools.

Supporting materials for this episode are available on the website: https://teewchantelle.com

I’ll also upload a short Russian summary of this episode especially for English learners on VK (it will only be available there): https://vk.com/teewchantelle

You can listen on the website, YouTube, RuTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.