The History of the Future

Why did we stop believing in utopia? By the late 19th century, many Americans had come to believe that the future would be defined by peace, prosperity, and moral progress. But over the next century, optimism gave way to fear—war, nuclear weapons, and runaway technology began to reshape our vision of what was possible. In this episode of Context, we explore how our ideas about the future have evolved—from Edward Bellamy's best-seller Looking Backward (1888), to H.G. Wells' The Shape of Things to Come (1933), to The Terminator series (1984), and finally to Brian Christian's The Alignment Problem (2020). Along the way, we trace the rise of techno-utopianism, the shock of dystopian realism, and the ethical dilemmas now posed by artificial intelligence. The history of the future has never mattered more. To support the show and access bonus episodes, join me on Patreon or

You can listen to The History of the Future online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The History of the Future is an episode from Context with Brad Harris by Brad Harris.

This episode is 19:55 long.

This episode was published on Jul 28, 2025.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Context with Brad Harris when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.