This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Fredy Vargas Lama, PhD. He’s a renowned senior consultant and advisor in long-term strategy and foresight, focused on government transformation and foresight-informed policy design.

His career has taken him from economics and corporate risk into government, where he became Peru’s national director for foresight and long-term vision, before moving into academia, consultancy and international foresight networks.

A central theme that he covered in our conversation is the development of futures thinking in Latin America. Fredy argues that long-term planning was historically constrained by political perceptions. The greatest barriers today are institutional and cultural. Governments frequently lack structures encouraging officials to think beyond electoral terms; long-term initiatives are abandoned when administrations change, which makes sustained action particularly difficult.

Fredy also distinguishes anticipatory governance from conventional foresight. Rather than simply exploring possible futures, it links anticipation directly to decision-making, embeds future-oriented thinking continuously within institutions, and builds policymaking and public administration around a future-facing perspective. The objective is therefore institutional capability rather than simply better forecasting.

Our discussion also included the OECD and World Economic Forum, whose value Fredy sees in connecting int’l expertise, generating multidisciplinary perspectives and enabling those advising govts and major organisations to exchange ideas about emerging technological, geopolitical and societal change. He also highlights the need for a renewed social contract capable of supporting societies through profound change.

Philosophy has an important role here: he argues that futures thinking should reconnect with deeper questions about time, society and humanity rather than concentrating excessively on methods. Finally, our conversation concluded with a three-level challenge...

This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Soha Rashed, founder of the Arab Futures Society and a research fellow at the Carboun Institute.

We spoke about the development of futures thinking across the Arab world and why the global foresight community needs to embrace a wider range of cultural perspectives.

Soha describes her journey into futures studies, from studying at the Turku School of Economics in Finland to working with UNDP's global horizon-scanning network. Meeting Arab futurists internationally led her to recognise that foresight activity across the region was far richer than she had initially assumed, but often fragmented and difficult to discover. This inspired the creation of the Arab Futures Society, which aims to connect practitioners, make Arabic futures literature and terminology more accessible, and build upon existing knowledge rather than repeatedly ‘starting from scratch’.

A central theme she described is the need to challenge the idea that futures thinking is principally a Western intellectual tradition. Soha discusses historical examples of long-term thinking within Islamic societies and makes an important distinction between Arab foresight and Islamic foresight. She is particularly interested in how Arab cultural perspectives, language, religion and concepts of time might influence distinctive ways of thinking about futures.

This feeds into a broader discussion about decolonising futures. For Soha, generating several scenarios through a single worldview does not fully deliver the plurality implied by ‘futures’. The discipline becomes richer when African, Arab, Latin American, Asian-Pacific and other perspectives contribute their own frameworks and assumptions…

This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Clare Beaton-Wells, based in Melbourne, who is a Strategic Policy Advisor and Future Generations Fellowship Lead at Foundations for Tomorrow.

As a leader and specialist driving systems change, intergenerational collaboration, and policy innovation, she works across civil society, government & academia to drive impactful policy and projects that advance long-term thinking, sustainability and equity.

With deep experience across government relations, policy leadership & advocacy, and cross-sectoral partnerships, Clare brings a dynamic approach to addressing complex global challenges. An accomplished public speaker, Clare has shared insights on long-term governance, sustainable development and future generations policy at high-level events, including internationally at the UN Summit of the Future.

Clare is passionate about amplifying diverse voices, fostering intergenerational collaboration and driving long-term models of governance, and her work has been recognised with several awards.

So, we discuss all of the above and more, in a dynamic conversation which I hope you’ll enjoy!

This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features the renowned strategist / futurist / facilitator, Sabrina Sullivan.

In our conversation, she discusses her unconventional journey into foresight, the importance of imagination, and the leadership capabilities needed to thrive in an increasingly uncertain world.

Sabrina traces her career from consulting and sustainability into strategic foresight, describing how graduate work on climate scenarios revealed that organisations often prefer comfortable summaries over genuinely provocative futures. This insight has shaped her career: helping leaders embrace uncertainty rather than avoid it. She discusses her work at Ford Motor Co, where foresight was embedded into strategic planning, innovation, product development and executive decision-making through scenarios, signals, and "orthodoxy flipping" to identify new opportunities.

A major theme is the need to rethink leadership itself. She explains her ‘Leaders for Humanity’ game, which uses playful future scenarios to help leaders explore uncertainty, challenge assumptions and develop imagination rather than search for "correct" answers. The conversation also explores imagination as an increasingly vital capability. Sabrina argues that while organisations recognise its importance, few actively cultivate it. She highlights work with schools, executives and civic leaders to build futures literacy from an early age and create greater agency in shaping the future.

Throughout the discussion, she emphasises that futures thinking is less about predicting tomorrow than developing the mindsets, relationships and confidence needed to navigate uncertainty. Sabrina concludes by encouraging individuals and organisations to become "future shapers" rather than passive "future takers"…

This episode of The New Abnormal podcast feature, Marie Stafford, Global Director, Intelligence at VML. In it, she spoke about the latest edition of VML’s Future 100 report and the broader forces shaping consumers, brands and culture. Unlike many annual trend reports, VML’s research is continuously updated, allowing the team to identify meaningful shifts rather than seasonal observations.

The discussion centres on five macro themes underpinning this year’s report. The first, ‘Disoptimism’ captures a paradoxical mindset: people clearly recognise the political, economic and environmental challenges facing society, yet remain personally optimistic about their own futures. Closely connected is ‘Resilience Rising’ which argues that resilience has evolved from a reactive survival mechanism into an intentional life skill. The third theme ‘Metamorphic Lives’ reflects consumers’ growing desire for experiences that actively transform them. The fourth ‘Story Worlds’ explores the shift from passive media consumption towards immersive participation. The final macro theme ‘Future Archaeology’ examines how brands and consumers are rediscovering heritage, indigenous knowledge and craftsmanship as sources of innovation.

The conversation then shifted to Marie’s observations from the latest Cannes Lions Festival. She identified several dominant themes emerging across the industry: first is a call to escape what she describes as the #AgeOfBeige. A second major theme focused on preserving uniquely human capabilities in the age of AI. Marie also highlights the growing strategic importance of creators. Another discussion centred on the value of ‘creative friction’. Finally, she illuminated how the debate around brand purpose has evolved. Throughout the discussion, Marie argues that while technology continues to transform every industry, the greatest opportunities lie in combining innovation with authentic human insight, creativity, resilience and cultural understanding. These qualities, she concludes, will define the brands best equipped to thrive amid continuing uncertainty…

So, I hope you enjoyed listening to her as much as I did!

This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features the Johannesburg-based ‘thinker, researcher, and sometimes do-er’ Geci Karuri-Sebina, who is an Assoc Professor at the WITS Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, Organiser at the Civic Tech Innovation Network, and Chair / Director of the Southern African Node of the Millennium Project.

In what I hope you'll agree is a fascinating conversation, she discussed rethinking futures, activism, and development through more pluralistic and imaginative approaches. Drawing on her interdisciplinary background across technology, urban studies, and foresight, Geci explained her shift towards post-activism, arguing that conventional responses to crisis often reproduce the very systems they seek to change. Rather than prioritising action alone, she advocates deeper understanding, experimentation, and humility in the face of complexity.

She also illuminated the emerging African Foresight Network, which seeks to cultivate futures thinking rooted in African and Global South perspectives, indigenous knowledge systems, and diverse conceptions of time. Geci discussed challenging linear, Western models of futures thinking and encouraging more culturally grounded approaches - she also critiques the dominance of reductionist foresight methods (e.g. the 2x2 scenario matrix) calling for richer, more inclusive epistemologies and methodologies.

Turning to urban futures, Geci outlined her work on a decolonial critique of urban studies, arguing that African cities are often constrained by limiting narratives. She advocates moving beyond these imaginaries through experimentation and new narratives. The discussion concluded with her work on AI, development models, and an "Alt Lab" for social experimentation. Finally, she explained how creating better futures depends on strengthening imagination, inclusion, and institutional transformation...

This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Julian Boulding, Owner of TheNetworkOne.

The organisation works with over 1000 agencies in over 100 countries, providing ‘open-source creativity’ and communications services from independent agencies for a growing number of leading international marketing companies. They also help independent agencies develop their own business internationally, through providing international partners, consulting resources and professional development programs.

A renowned industry figure, each year Julian produces a much-quoted review of the annual Cannes Lions Festival, and this podcast was recorded on the day of its 2026 release. In it, Julian illuminates a range of the key talking points from the event, in what was a challenging year for the Lions…

So, I hope you enjoy listening to him as much as I did, in what I hope you'll agree is a very insightful conversation!

This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Clare Stark, Head of Futures Literacy and Foresight at UNESCO - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

They’re a specialized UN agency dedicated to promoting world peace and security through international collaboration in education, arts, sciences, and culture. Headquartered in Paris, its mission spans 194 member states and encompasses several focus areas. Key Initiatives include World Heritage Sites, Global Education, Scientific & Ethical Standards, and Cultural Heritage Safeguarding.

Clare is a dedicated professional with more than 20 years of experience in international development cooperation, she’s passionate about ensuring that technology leads to positive social transformations, and using futures literacy and foresight to inspire collective action to shape the futures we want, using evidence-based approaches to enhance anticipatory capacities.

She covers a lot of ground in the podcast, including UNESCO's role in advancing futures literacy and anticipatory governance / Embedding foresight into national and int’l policymaking / The Global Anticipatory Policy Coalition / AI governance, AI readiness and responsible deployment / Climate anxiety & information anxiety / Trust, democracy and misinformation / Leadership through collective intelligence and collaboration / The importance of culture, history and indigenous knowledge in shaping future policy / Participatory foresight involving young people, educators and citizens / The future of education, creativity and public policy in an AI-enabled world.

So, I hope you enjoy listening to her as much as I did, in what I hope you'll agree is a fascinating conversation re: the growing importance of anticipatory governance and futures thinking in addressing today's global challenges.