Imagining a Radically Different World of Work

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Strange New Work

Tara McMullin

9 episodes

7 months ago

Lots of people are talking about the future of work today: remote work, artificial intelligence, white-collar unions, robots, 4-day workweeks... But those things are either here already or will be soon. What about the far future of work? What alien advancements await the office of the future? This podcast wants to boldly go where no other future-of-work podcast has gone. Host Tara McMullin (What Works) brings this limited series about how speculative fiction can help us imagine strange new ways of working and understanding ourselves. We'll explore questions about how we can transform work to be more humane and inclusive. We'll imagine new ways of working together, managing the economy, and providing for others.

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Imagining a Radically Different World of Work

Strange New Work

27 minutes

2 years ago

Imagining a Radically Different World of Work

The future of work doesn't have to be an extension of today's reality.

This is the first installment in Strange New Work, a new series from What Works about imagining radically different ways of working and doing business.

In this episode, I take a closer look at speculative fiction and its role in the collective imaginary. Is science fiction all space operas and apocalyptic battles? Not hardly. Science fiction isn't really about the future. It's a commentary on and reimagining of the present.

Footnotes:

All of the books I mention in this series can be found here.
- No Time to Spare by Ursula K. Le Guin
- The Immortal King Rao by Vauhini Vara
- The Jewel-Hinged Jaw by Samuel Delaney
"The Epistemic Value of Speculative Fiction" by Johan de Smedt and Helen de Cruz
"Sci-Fi Idea Bank" by Packy McCormick
Ursula K. Le Guin in conversation with The Nation on YouTube
Vauhini Vara on Amanpour and Company on YouTube
"The Measure of a Man" Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 2, Episode 9)

Each installment in Strange New Work is published in essay form at WhatWorks.FYI

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