Star Trek–loving inventors who 3D print in space, vegan researchers who replicate the composition and chemical structures of meat in a lab, and mad scientists who save humans from terrible disorders by cutting and pasting genes like letters in a document. These are a few of the remarkable stories featured in Next, an in-depth look at the coming global challenges and the transformative innovations that will help make our world a better place.

Imperiled by hunger, pollution, and global warming, we are more at risk of driving ourselves into extinction than ever before. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Despite this existential crisis, we’re in an era of remarkable wealth and innovation that could allow us to fundamentally change our destiny—to cure the sick, feed the hungry, and help the needy.

Next tells the story of 13 inspiring innovators around the world who are already tackling these challenges and transforming our species. Call it Humanity 2.0. Every individual and venture featured in Next is having an outsized impact on human history. Their stories show what the future might look like. But most of all, they will give listeners hope.

As the science fiction writer William Gibson once put it: “The future is already here. It is just not very evenly distributed.”