The Near Futurist

Periodic look at the impact of future technologies on our lives - what can we do now to prepare for the next few years? Senior journalist Guy Clapperton presents a series of interviews with consultants, technologists and future thinkers in general that takes the shorter-term view rather than forecasting decades ahead. Want this voice at your event? Contact Guy to discuss!

Driving (not just) in my car 03/31/2025

Driving (not just) in my car We all take satellite navigation for granted but maybe we shouldn't - it's finding its way into smart cities, fleet management, delivery and huge amounts of other areas. In this interview Near Futurist Guy Clapperton speaks to Douglas Gilmour, global develpment manager for traffic at TomTom to about how increasingly smart maps are making a huge difference to us. https://tomtom.com /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/35935055

A Little AI Learning - 2 02/14/2025

A Little AI Learning - 2 In part two of this interview, Ten10 co-founder Ash Gawthorp continues his conversation with Guy Clapperton about the impact of sudden innovation in artificial intelligence on people and learning. They cover company culture and the ability to fail, learning patterns, how to avoid burnout - and the impact of sudden technological change on smaller organisations. Find out more about Ten10 at /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/35175455

A little AI learning - 1 02/07/2025

A little AI learning - 1 Artificial Intelligence has been hitting the news even more than usual as Chinese company Deep Seek has turned the market upside down, hitting numerous businesses dependent on the complexity of building AI where it hurts - in the share price. But what about the people using and developing skills in AI? In this episode, Near Futurist podcaster and speaker Guy Clapperton speaks to Ash Gawthorp, chief academy officer and co-founder of consultancy and education company , about what sort of learning culture needs to be in place for businesses to be ready for this and future sudden sea-changes. /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/35164255

From 5G to 6G part 2 01/31/2025

From 5G to 6G part 2 In this second part of the interview with Dimitra Simeonidou of Joiner, the academic project to explore what's coming next in 6G and beyond, Guy Clapperton asks about when to upgrade our devices, what the role of academia is in all this - and gets advised not to try to trademark the term "7G". Which is a shame. More on the work of Prof. Simeonidou . /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/35095485

From 5G to 6G - where networking goes next 01/24/2025

From 5G to 6G - where networking goes next You thought the conspiracy theories over 5G were bad but had stopped - well, we can only hope it won't all happen again because, wait for it, plans for 6G are afoot. Surely, asks Near Futurist podcaster Guy Clapperton. we don't need it, isn't 5G fast enough? That's until our guest, Prof. Dimitra Simeonidou, head of the UK 6G Testbed, called Joiner (website ), reminds him that 5G signals tend to fail immediately you get on a two hour train journey or something. She also explores how the metaverse might actually happen but with a more "real" experience than you'd get from modern networks as well as the role of satellite technology. Tune in here for part 1 of this absorbing interview - part 2 will be here next week. /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/34943460

A Smarter Way To Work part 2 01/17/2025

A Smarter Way To Work part 2 In the second part of this interview with Smartrectuiters CEO Rebecca Carr, near futurist Guy Clapperton explores the advantages of using artificial intelligence for recruitment. AI isn't the whole answer - but it's going to offer a lot of shortcuts! /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/34852165

A Smarter Way to Work 01/10/2025

A Smarter Way to Work Should we be worried about AI in terms of job seeking? Rebecca Carr is a specialist who sees pros and cons. She speaks to Near Futurist Guy Clapperton in. part 1 of this interview. /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/34785740

Mind over technological matter 02/02/2024

Mind over technological matter We keep hearing that we're too stressed because we're always on and we spend too much time in front of screens. No argument there but technology can also help. Dr. Emilia Molimpakis of Thymia explains to Guy Clapperton that monitoring of employees in an anonymised, non-intrusive manner can expose all sorts of behaviours that indicate someone is heading for a crash. But to what extent should employers be monitoring people in this way in the first place - and what should they do with the information? Listen to this episode to find out! /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/29729623

Powering the People 01/05/2024

Powering the People So many myths about selling electricity between neighbours and yet it never seems to happen - meanwhile the cost of living is set to continue skyrocketing this year. Near Futurist podcaster Guy Clapperton speaks to Jo-Jo Hubbard, CEO of Electron, about how the infrastructure and business models are coming around to enable people to trade electricity with each other at last. /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/29186743

AI and women - still an issue? 12/01/2023

AI and women - still an issue? /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/28841723

Sound and Fury 11/03/2023

Sound and Fury Noise cancelling headphones work by adding noise. What's more, if you measure the annoyance of someone when a contact centre agent asks them to repeat their contact information more than once, it gets disproportionately high. This matters when it can all be a matter of fixing the audio engagement. In this edition of the Near Futurist, IRIS Technology CEO Jacobi Anstruther explains the issues to Guy Clapperton - and looks into why the music industry still hasn't quite taken it in. Find out more about IRIS at /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/28463921

Shopping Around 10/06/2023

Shopping Around Shopping is changing - we're abandoning cash almost without realising it and you can walk out of an Amazon Go store feeling as if you haven't paid at all. In this edition of the Near Futurist Guy Clapperton speaks to Charlie Hope, retail principal at IT services company BJSS, about what his retail clients are asking - and therefore what we can espect next! Also Guy looks at the Logi Dock to tidy his desktop environment. Find out more about BJSS at and the Logi Dock . And if you wanted to find out more about Guy's media training service you can find the website . /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/28131692

Changing the world a message at a time 09/01/2023

Changing the world a message at a time What's that? There's another social network out there? There certainly is and we don't mean Threads. Guy talks to Sue Fennessy, founder and chief executive of WeAre8, which aims to restore value to the participant (or "citizen" as it calls them), enable them to donate to charities and stop using hateful messages. Also Guy's thoughts on the Amazon Kindle Scribe - the e-reader that also works as a note taking gadget. /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/27467067

Reuse your refuse 09/01/2023

Reuse your refuse We are all making too much rubbish and it's going to landfill. This is generally agreed to be a bad ikdea - so of course we still do it. Chris Williams of ISB Global thinks this is an extremely bad idea and he's prepared to talk about why. His company offers a software solution to managing the disposal of what would otherwise become landfill but he also has some ideas about the sort of things we could all be doing to reduce waste - as well as explanations as to why waste is a bad idea in the first place. He speaks to Guy Clapperton, near futurist podcaster - and Guy also has a look at some of the note taking devices he uses in the new gadget slot. /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/27486660

Your car, your transport of desire 09/01/2023

Your car, your transport of desire Your car isn't just your vehicle any more, says Yasmine King of - it's your workplace in some cases and not in others. You also need a quieter environment for your mental health and the fact that electronic vehicles are silent makes this more difficult, not easier, because of the background noise. MeanwhileOlivier Bessi of has been grappling with in-car payments. Both speak to me, , in this latest episode of the Near Futurist podcast. /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/27625164

Metaverse or metamyth 01/30/2023

Metaverse or metamyth We've all heard of the metaverse by now - but is it a "thing" or a marketing construct? There are no holds barred in this Dividing Lines debate, the series in the Near Futurist sponsored (but never dictated) by Diffusion PR. Futurist.com supremo Nikolas Badminton takes on Based.AF head honcho Robin Schmidt as they consider whether it's more than immersive VR, whether Damien Hirst should have burned his pictures and whether host Guy Clapperton can afford to not buy the NFT of the original lyrics to "Hey Jude". If you enjoy the show please do leave a review on the iTunes store or wherever you came across it! /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/25748619

An office of one's own 12/09/2022

An office of one's own Received wisdom suggests that we're all going to work flexibly and it's going to be great. Winter is coming, however - so will we scurry back to the office to stay warm or do the figures still add up? And what if we suggest that home working is actually less productive than office working anyway? It's a polarising debate but in this episode of Dividing Lines, a series-within-a-series from the Near Futurist supported by Diffusion PR, the positions are nuanced. The University of Essex' Christoph Siemroth and BT's Nicola Millard debate, chaired by me, Guy Clapperton. The paper referred to by Christoph is here: /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/25269195

Power to the People 10/14/2022

Power to the People Dr. Carol Nakhle of the University of Surrey and Robin Peters of Snugg Energy discuss the energy crisis with near futurist Guy Clapperton: * Is the increase in pricing a useful tool to dampen demand? * How long will payback take if people invest in their homes? * Are the high prices prompting the right action? * What practical steps can we take early on? * What's the view on energy from non-Western countries? In association with Diffusion PR /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/24653679

The Near Futurist trailer: Power to the People 10/10/2022

The Near Futurist trailer: Power to the People A preview of Friday's Near Futurist interview: * Dr. Carol Nakhle of Surrey University and Robin Peters of Snugg debate * Is the dice loaded against us reaching Net Zero? Should fuel prices be part of the plan? * What are the obstacles, like payback times? /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/24642174

80a. Education, education, education transcript 06/22/2022

80a. Education, education, education transcript Transcript of interview with Alexa Joyce from Microsoft /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/23496569

80. Education, Education, Education 06/22/2022

80. Education, Education, Education Education was doomed and schools would universally suffer as a result of the pandemic, we were told. It's certainly changed stuff. but has the disaster rteally happened and what part has technology played? Alexa Joyce of Microsoft discusses with Guy Clapperton. If you enjoy this or would like to feed back/suggest future guests why not join the LinkedIn group? Also the podcast has its own website at nearfuturist.co.uk - and if you liked it, it would be really helpful to leave a review on whichever platform you found it - thank you! - GC /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/23495789

79a: Are we ditching the doctor too soon (transcript) 05/27/2022

79a: Are we ditching the doctor too soon (transcript) /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/23164442

79: Are we ditching the doctor too quickly? 05/27/2022

79: Are we ditching the doctor too quickly? We all have a lot of information about our bodies - we might own smartwatches or phones that count our paces or measure our pulse rate, we may have a blood pressure monitoring machine and there are apps and devices to help with diabetes. Is it all too much, though? Has self-diagnosis gone too far? In this debate I speak to Dr. Gigi Taguri of LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor and Hamish Grierson of Thriva about whether we have too much data and when we need to get advice from a human. If you enjoy this or would like to feed back/suggest future guests why not join the LinkedIn group? Also the podcast has its own website at nearfuturist.co.uk - and if you liked it, it would be really helpful to leave a review on whichever platform you found it - thank you! - GC /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/23164373

78a: Nice_to_Meat_You_-_Near_Futurist_transcript.pdf 04/22/2022

78a: Nice_to_Meat_You_-_Near_Futurist_transcript.pdf /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/22864940

78: Nice to Meat You 04/22/2022

78: Nice to Meat You Lab-grown meat or factory-made fillets - is the future of meat away from the farm? Daan Luining of Meatable thinks the balance could change while Tim Bonner of the Countryside Alliance in the UK thinks otherwise. Guy Clapperton presents the latest in the Dividing Lines mini-series within the Near Futurist podcast, sponsored by Diffusion PR. If you enjoy this or would like to feed back/suggest future guests why not join the LinkedIn group? Also the podcast has its own website at nearfuturist.co.uk - and if you liked it, it would be really helpful to leave a review on whichever platform you found it - thank you! - GC /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/22855379

Nice to Meat You 04/22/2022

Nice to Meat You Lab-grown meat or factory-made fillets - is the future of meat away from the farm? Daan Luining of Meatable thinks the balance ay change while while Tim Bonner of the Countryside Alliance in the UK thinks otherwise. Guy Clapperton presents the latest in the Dividing Lines mini-series within the Near Futurist podcast, sponsored by Diffusion PR. If you enjoy the Near Futurist why not leave a review on the iTunes Store - or join the LinkedIn group? Just search for Near Futurist Podcast, see you there! /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/22855385

77a: Space_Garbage_transcript.pdf 03/25/2022

77a: Space_Garbage_transcript.pdf /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/22479068

77: Space Garbage 03/18/2022

77: Space Garbage It's been an exciting 12 months for astronomy enthusiasts - Jeff Bezos actually took Captain Kirk to outer space! But in the past we've jettisoned a lot of parts of our spacecraft, so how much junk is there out there? And is it a problem? Prof. Moriba Jah of the University of Texas and Privateer is tracking the issue and discusses how it's become difficult and why it matters. See his image of all the space junk at If you like what you hear, why not leave a review on the iTunes Store or wherever you picked this podcast up? Also you'd be welcome to join its new LinkedIn group: /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/22478825

76a: Near_Futurist_working_in_the_new_environment.docx 02/25/2022

76a: Near_Futurist_working_in_the_new_environment.docx /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/22252802

Working in the new environment 02/25/2022

Working in the new environment We've all heard about the Great Resignation and in this episode of the Near Futurist, Vodafone's chief HR officer Leanne Wood tells Guy Clapperton there is culture as well as technology in play. If you like what you hear, why not leave us a review on the iTunes Store or wherever you found us? /episode/index/show/nearfuturist/id/22244756

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