Near Future Laboratory Podcast

Julian Bleecker

podcasts60+5b753c48@anchor.fm

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Booking Overview

A design-and-futures oriented show where guests (and the host) explore how technology, culture, and speculative thinking shape the near future. It’s a strong pitch for PR pros looking to place founders, researchers, and designers whose work connects ethics, systems, and public-facing impact.

Metrics

Episodes: 112

Frequency: Irregular

Rating: 5.0/5.0

Estimated listeners: 1k-10k

Gender skew: Neutral

Location: USA

YouTube: 1.2k subscribers

Instagram: 6.3k followers

Contact Information

podcasts60+5b753c48@anchor.fm

For verified host and producer emails, sign up to view.

Host

Julian Bleecker - Founder of the Near Future Laboratory and host of the Near Future Laboratory Podcast, where he leads conversations at the vanguard of design, technology, futures, and culture.

Booking Intelligence

Booking Requirements

medium
Typical Credentials:  
Designers, researchers, writers, and educators working in futures/design/technology with credible frameworks or authored work; often also public-facing practitioners (e.g., museum/arts adjacency, innovation consulting, service design, branding/culture analysis).
Required Achievements:  
Published books or original frameworks, Notable public-facing projects (e.g., speculative tools/worldbuilding methods), Leadership roles in service design/innovation consulting or education

Recent Guest Discussions

Sarah Rothberg - More&more Speculative Card-deck And Worldbuilding Framework; Constraints; Imagining Desirable Futures; AI Ethics; Material Responsibility.

Marina Zurkow - More&more Speculative Card-deck And Worldbuilding Framework; Constraints; Imagining Desirable Futures; AI Ethics; Material Responsibility.

Andy Polaine - Structure Vs. Imagination (futures/design Thinking Oriented).

Tom Guarriello - Meaning Of Branded Objects; Brands As Meaning-machines; Culture Brands; Identity And Sense Of Belonging.

Recent Topics

Futures, Design, Technology, Ethics, Innovation

Episodes

Here's the recent few episodes on
Near Future Laboratory Podcast
:

N°104 - Marina Zurkow & Sarah Rothberg

June 25, 2026

The podcast is back from hiatus with a fun one!Episode 104 is a conversation with Sarah Rothberg and my dear old friend and collaborator Marina Zurkow about More&More, their speculative card-deck and worldbuilding framework for making strange, useful futures with other people.We talk about why constraints are better than blank canvases, how a handful of absurd cards can quickly open up a whole social world, and why the point is not to invent dystopias but to imagine worlds you might actua...

N°062 - Structure vs. Imagination with Andy Polaine

March 11, 2026

Andy Polaine is a designer, educator, writer and podcast guy. He hosts the wonderful 'Power of Ten' podcast. Andy is known for his work as a service designer, innovation consultant and professional executive coach.Don't forget — please support the podcast and all the things over at https://patreon.com/nearfuturelaboratory. Your support would be very much appreciated.Oh, also? Please rate and write a review of the podcast over on Apple Podcasts. That stuff really does help!Thank you!Julian

N°103 - Tom Guarriello The Meaning of Branded Objects

December 22, 2025

Please support the podcast on Patreon!Thank you to all of my paid subscribers!My friend Tom Guarriello joins me to unpack a deceptively simple question—why do some things matter more than others?How is it that “brands” are rarely just products. Tom describes how they’re meaning-machines: coffee cups, clothes, grocery aisles, and the everyday objects we carry through life are the things that quietly scaffold identity, aspiration, and sense of belonging.Choice arrives instantly; explanation com...

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