Urgent Futures with Jesse Damiani

Hosted by Jesse Damiani

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102

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Jun 2026

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About the show

Welcome to the Urgent Futures Podcast, the show that finds signal in the noise. Each episode, I sit down with leading thinkers for dialogues that clarify the chaos, from culture to the cosmos. www.realitystudies.co

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June 16, 20261 hr 4 min

The Geopolitical Crisis Hasn’t Even Started Yet - Adames Global (Juanita Adames & Michelle Sucameli) | Rapid Response #28

What does Strait of Hormuz Crisis fallout mean for you? What does the Donroe Doctrine means for the emerging world order? American soft power on the decline & more from former USAID Project Directors, Adames Global.Support the show by checking out: ProtonVPN (gold-standard VPN—fast and safe. Click the link to get 55% off VPN Plus: $4.49/mo). ZBiotics (Decrease impact of hangovers. Code: JESSEDAMIANI for 10% off), MUD\WTR (43% off starter kits), 1Password (simplify your life and increase digital safety), Mission Farms CBD (healthy, effective CBD for relief, sleep, and wellbeing—25% off with email).BIO:Juanita M. Adames, Chief Strategy Officer at Adames Global, writes and works on one question: what does it actually take to make change stick?Over 15+ years, she’s led humanitarian and development programs across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia - directing multi-country portfolios exceeding $75M, building public-private partnerships from the ground up, and operating in some of the world’s most unforgiving environments. Post-conflict Uganda and DRC. Fragile states like El Salvador, Kenya, and Myanmar. Places where the systems are broken and the stakes are real.Michelle Adames-Sucameli, Chief Executive Officer of Adames Global, leads the firm’s work at the intersection of strategy, systems transformation, and global impact, helping individuals and organizations navigate complexity, scale responsibly, and build institutions designed to endure.With more than 15 years of experience across international development, strategic partnerships, communications, and operations, Michelle has led high-impact initiatives spanning government, nonprofit, and private sector environments across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Her work has focused on translating ambitious ideas into executable strategy for media and business partners, building cross-sector coalitions, and strengthening organizations operating in politically, socially, and operationally complex environments.(Read their longer bios at the full episode page here)CREDITS: This podcast is produced & edited by Adam Labrie & me, Jesse Damiani. Adam Labrie also edited the video version, which is available on YouTube.Find more episodes of Urgent Futures at: youtube.com/@UrgentFutures. Get full access to Reality Studies at www.realitystudies.co/subscribe

June 4, 20261 hr 8 min

How to Live Fully in the Face of Collapse - Sarah Wilson | Rapid Response #27

A lot of writing about collapse ends up feeling abstract—like the authors are writing from a remove about an alien species. But today's guest, Sarah Wilson, has written a collapse book that does something incredibly rare. Listen on to find out, and of course:Grab your copy of I Eat The Stars now!Support the show by checking out: ProtonVPN (gold-standard VPN—fast and safe. Click the link to get 55% off VPN Plus: $4.49/mo). ZBiotics (Decrease impact of hangovers. Code: JESSEDAMIANI for 10% off), MUD\WTR (43% off starter kits), 1Password (simplify your life and increase digital safety), Mission Farms CBD (healthy, effective CBD for relief, sleep, and wellbeing—25% off with email).BIO: Sarah Wilson is a multi-New York Times and Amazon best-selling author, podcaster, social philosopher, international keynote speaker, philanthropist and climate change advisor.Sarah is known globally for founding the I Quit Sugar movement – a digital wellness program with 13 award-winning books that sell in 52 countries – which saw millions around the world transform their health. In 2022 Sarah sold the business and gave everything to charity.Sarah is an experienced journalist and broadcaster. She was previously the editor of Cosmopolitan Australia at age 29; host of MasterChef Australia; was a News Corp journalist and columnist; and has hosted ABC’s Compass, Ten’s The Project and has been a regular panelist and news commentator on Australian, UK and US screens for two decades.Her New York Times bestseller First, We Make the Beast Beautiful is described by bestselling author (The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k) Mark Manson as, “The best book on living with anxiety that I’ve ever read,” and was featured as the book of the year on NBC’s Today Show. It’s published in 27 countries. Sarah’s book, This One Wild & Precious Life, won the 2021 US Gold Nautilus Prize.Sarah is the host of the thought-leading podcast Wild with Sarah Wilson and writes the popular Substack newsletter This is Precious, which has an engaged community of 60,000 subscribers.Most recently, she serialized her book I Eat The Stars on Substack – an exploration of system collapse and how we navigate it, which was acquired by Penguin US and will be released globally across May and June.CREDITS: This podcast is produced & edited by Adam Labrie & me, Jesse Damiani. Adam Labrie also edited the video version, which is available on YouTube.Find more episodes of Urgent Futures at: youtube.com/@UrgentFutures. Get full access to Reality Studies at www.realitystudies.co/subscribe

May 28, 20261 hr 9 min

Decoding Systems of Power & Meaning: Military AI, Epstein, Necropolitics...& Backrooms - Cy Canterel | Rapid Response #26

I was lucky to meet today's guest, Cy Canterel, a few years ago during the downslope of hype around NFTs and web3—a moment we actually dive into during the episode—fully aware of the ways many people will hear those terms an instantly tune out. My hope here isn’t to valorize the aforementioned (though we do discuss how there were seeds of something meaningful that were drowned out by all the grift and greed); I bring it up because it highlights the intellectual curiosity and expansiveness that threads all of Cy’s work across tech, art, culture, power, and philosophy. More than most people I’ve met, Cy trusts her intuition to lead her to new ways of thinking and perceiving, and her intense research practice then creates the scaffolding and texture to give her ideas weight.Support the show by checking out: ProtonVPN (gold-standard VPN—fast and safe. Click the link to get 55% off VPN Plus: $4.49/mo). ZBiotics (Decrease impact of hangovers. Code: JESSEDAMIANI for 10% off), MUD\WTR (43% off starter kits), 1Password (simplify your life and increase digital safety), Mission Farms CBD (healthy, effective CBD for relief, sleep, and wellbeing—25% off with email).All of which is why it’s especially fun for me that Cy has emerged as a leading media theorist and communicator on Substack, with a particular eye toward decoding systems of power and meaning. As you can gather from the title, that includes a whole lot of contemporary concerns as well as more evergreen ones. When I say this conversation is free-wheeling, I mean it; but I’ll let you experience it for yourself.BIO: Cy Canterel, in her own words: Artist. Feral scholar. Raised by computers. Ex-tech (infrastructure, IoT, AI/ML). Alumna: Institute for the Future of the Book. Fmr. visiting scholar @NYU. Decoding systems of power and meaning. Big time crayon fan.CREDITS: This podcast is produced & edited by Adam Labrie & me, Jesse Damiani. Adam Labrie also edited the video version, which is available on YouTube.Find more episodes of Urgent Futures at: youtube.com/@UrgentFutures. Get full access to Reality Studies at www.realitystudies.co/subscribe

May 20, 20261 hr 24 min

Apocalypse Early Warning System? Track the Oligarchs. Creative Tech as Crisis Intervention - Kyle McDonald | Rapid Response #25

How can art—especially new media art—be used to intervene in polycrisis? Across projects like Apocalypse Early Warning System, ICEspy, & more, artist Kyle McDonald charts a path.Support the show by checking out: ProtonVPN (gold-standard VPN—fast and safe. Click the link to get 55% off VPN Plus: $4.49/mo). ZBiotics (Decrease impact of hangovers. Code: JESSEDAMIANI for 10% off), MUD\WTR (43% off starter kits), 1Password (simplify your life and increase digital safety), Mission Farms CBD (healthy, effective CBD for relief, sleep, and wellbeing—25% off with email).BIO: Kyle McDonald is an artist working with code. He crafts interactive installations, sneaky interventions, playful websites, workshops, andtoolkits for other artists working with code. Exploring possibilities of new technologies: to understand how they affect society, to misuse them, and build alternative futures; aiming to share a laugh, spark curiosity, create confusion, and share spaces with magical vibes. Working with machine learning, computer vision, social and surveillance tech spanning commercial and arts spaces. Previously adjunct professor at NYU’s ITP, member of F.A.T. Lab, community manager for openFrameworks, and artist in residence at STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at CMU, and YCAM in Japan. Work commissioned and shown around the world, including: the V&A, NTT ICC, Ars Electronica, Sonar, Todays Art, and Eyebeam.CREDITS: This podcast is produced & edited by Adam Labrie & me, Jesse Damiani. Adam Labrie also edited the video version, which is available on YouTube.Find more episodes of Urgent Futures at: youtube.com/@UrgentFutures. Get full access to Reality Studies at www.realitystudies.co/subscribe

May 13, 20261 hr 36 min

How Storytelling & Comedy Expose Corruption & Depict Climate Collapse - Adam McKay | #73

From comedies like Anchorman and Step Brothers to The Big Short, Vice, and 2C—a forthcoming film about climate apocalypse—Adam McKay's evolution as a storyteller and public figure epitomizes the journey we will need many other creative folks to undertake if we're going to survive what's coming. We get into all of it (including teasers about forthcoming projects).Support the show by checking out: ProtonVPN (gold-standard VPN—fast and safe. Click the link to get 55% off VPN Plus: $4.49/mo). ZBiotics (Decrease impact of hangovers. Code: JESSEDAMIANI for 10% off), MUD\WTR (43% off starter kits), 1Password (simplify your life and increase digital safety), Mission Farms CBD (healthy, effective CBD for relief, sleep, and wellbeing—25% off with email).BIO: Adam McKay is an Academy Award-winning writer, director, and producer whose work spans comedy, film, television, documentaries, and podcasting. He won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Big Short and earned additional Academy Award nominations for Vice and Netflix’s global hit Don’t Look Up. His producing credits also include The Menu, Booksmart, Hustlers, The Chair Company, and HBO’s acclaimed series Succession, for which he directed the pilot and won a Directors Guild Award.Before becoming one of Hollywood’s most influential filmmakers, McKay made his name in the comedy world as a founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade. In 1995, McKay and Will Ferrell happened to start on the same day at Saturday Night Live, where he became Head Writer. McKay and Ferrell’s time at SNL led to collaborations that established their unique absurdist style on Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) followed by Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), Step Brothers (2008), The Other Guys (2010) and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013).Beyond film and television, McKay is also an active producer of documentaries and podcasts focused on politics, culture, sports, and social issues. In 2023, he founded Yellow Dot Studios, a nonprofit media organization dedicated to combating climate misinformation through comedy and storytelling.In 2016, McKay joined the Creative Council of Represent Us, the largest grassroots anti-corruption campaign in the US to pass laws that stop political bribery, end secret money and give voters a stronger voice. He is passionate about the climate crisis and is affiliated with numerous climate organizations, including the Climate Emergency Fund to whom he donated $4M in 2022. In addition to aiding the movement General Strike for Resignations (GS4R), a group that helps finance strike-support platforms across labor unions, climate organizations and social justice groups, McKay supports DSA LA, Homeless Health Care LA and Amnesty International.CREDITS: This podcast is produced & edited by Adam Labrie & me, Jesse Damiani. Adam Labrie also edited the video version, which is available on YouTube.Find more episodes of Urgent Futures at: youtube.com/@UrgentFutures. Get full access to Reality Studies at www.realitystudies.co/subscribe

May 12, 202651 min

From Palantir Employee to Digital Rights Advocacy: Starting a People’s Movement Against AI Risks - Juan Sebastián Pinto | Rapid Response #24

By now, the company Palantir has probably entered your field of view—but many still don’t quite get the scope and scale of what they’re building and why. Juan, today's guest, formerly worked at Palantir and other AI companies, and has now emerged as leading advocate for a people’s movement to regulate AI and promote liberatory futures. So listen/watch on to understand into the invisible dangers of Palantir’s tools and what we can do to keep them (and other harmful aspects of AI rollout) in check.Support the show by checking out: ProtonVPN (gold-standard VPN—fast and safe. Click the link to get 55% off VPN Plus: $4.49/mo). ZBiotics (Decrease impact of hangovers. Code: JESSEDAMIANI for 10% off), MUD\WTR (43% off starter kits), 1Password (simplify your life and increase digital safety), Mission Farms CBD (healthy, effective CBD for relief, sleep, and wellbeing—25% off with email).BIO: Juan Sebastián Pinto is a designer and writer currently working at the intersection of civil rights and technology. His writing appears in The Guardian, Forbes, Dwell Magazine, and Substack. His work and advocacy has been featured in WIRED, NPR, The Washington Post, Democracy Now!, and the BBC.In the past Juan led content/creative for various leading AI startups and worked and collaborated with many architecture firms as a strategist, writer, and graphic designer. He completed his BA and MA in English at the University of Pennsylvania.Juan also runs Ziggurat on Substack—be sure to subscribe!CREDITS: This podcast is produced & edited by Adam Labrie & me, Jesse Damiani. Adam Labrie also edited the video version, which is available on YouTube.Find more episodes of Urgent Futures at: youtube.com/@UrgentFutures. Get full access to Reality Studies at www.realitystudies.co/subscribe

May 6, 20261 hr 27 min

The Most Consequential Story in Earth's History - Peter Brannen | #72

If you spend enough time learning about climate change, you come to regard the molecule carbon dioxide—abbreivated to CO2—with fear and frustration. After all, the long accumulation of CO2 is behind roughly 75% of Earth’s warming. Leaving aside the fact that we’re the species that put all that CO2 in the air, we’re also not viewing the bigger picture. That bigger picture is the subject of today's guest's modestly titled new book, The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything. Read on...Support the show by checking out: ProtonVPN (gold-standard VPN—fast and safe. Click the link to get 55% off VPN Plus: $4.49/mo). ZBiotics (Decrease impact of hangovers. Code: JESSEDAMIANI for 10% off), MUD\WTR (43% off starter kits), 1Password (simplify your life and increase digital safety), Mission Farms CBD (healthy, effective CBD for relief, sleep, and wellbeing—25% off with email).The book amply earns the big claim of the title, helping readers like me understand that the carbon cycle is one of the most miraculous things on Earth—and also one of the most consequential.Buy The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything here.Don’t get the wrong idea: Story of CO2 is not a starry eyed greenwashing affair. If anything, the book is asking us to approach the subject with humility. The carbon cycle may be miraculous, and a driving part of why life emerged on Earth, but that doesn’t mean it’s unchangeable. In continuing to burn fossil fuels, we’re tampering with that system, and at an alarming rate. Insofar as we’re already witnessing some of the consequences, we also have no way of knowing the full regimen of changes that might be occurring across the Earth system. To that, Peter employs some of the same time travel he used in The Ends of the World—which we discussed in an earlier episode—taking us on a journey through deep time to understand how the story of CO2 really did become the story of everything—at least as we understand it on our one precious planet.BIO: Peter Brannen is an award-winning science journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Scientific American, and The Guardian among other publications. He is the author of The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything and The Ends of the World. Peter was a 2023 visiting scholar at the Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, and is an affiliate at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado-Boulder. He was formerly a 2018 Scripps Fellow at CU-Boulder, a 2015 journalist-in-residence at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center at Duke University, and a 2011 Ocean Science Journalism Fellow at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, MA. His essays have been featured in the Best American Science and Nature Writing series and in The Climate Book by Greta Thunberg. Peter is particularly interested in geology, ocean science, deep time, the carbon cycle and the Boston Celtics. Peter splits time between Cambridge, MA and Damariscotta, ME and is a placental mammal.CREDITS: This podcast is produced & edited by Adam Labrie & me, Jesse Damiani. Adam Labrie also edited the video version, which is available on YouTube.Find more episodes of Urgent Futures at: youtube.com/@UrgentFutures. Get full access to Reality Studies at www.realitystudies.co/subscribe

April 29, 20261 hr 3 min

Extreme Heat: What City-Dwellers Need to Understand - Vivek Shandas | #71

When you think of threats from heat, your mind probably goes to wildfire threats. And don’t get me wrong, having lived through wildfires firsthand, they’re not to be underestimated! But the headline-grabbing nature of fires might overshadow the fact that plain old heat can be a real threat to your health. In fact, extreme heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S.; more than hurricanes and floods.Support the show by checking out: ProtonVPN (gold-standard VPN—fast and safe. Click the link to get 55% off VPN Plus: $4.49/mo). ZBiotics (Decrease impact of hangovers. Code: JESSEDAMIANI for 10% off), MUD\WTR (43% off starter kits), 1Password (simplify your life and increase digital safety), Mission Farms CBD (healthy, effective CBD for relief, sleep, and wellbeing—25% off with email).And this is pronounced in urban spaces, where a deadly cocktail of heat-exacerbating building materials and careless urban planning has created a situation in which, during heat events, cities can become especially dangerous. Today’s guest is an expert in the phenomenon of urban heat islands, areas that are significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas. Tree cover is one of the key interventions, but unfortunately, US cities are actually losing tree cover. A study from the Forest Service in 2018 found that US cities were losing trees at a rate of 36 million per year. And worse, what Vivek has found in his research is that many of the hottest neighborhoods in cities—those that already lack sufficient tree cover—are also losing trees at the fastest rates. While I absolutely hate this fact, it’s why I especially appreciate Vivek’s approach, weaving together sustainability, environmental justice, and urban planning—and doing so in such a clear-eyed, accessible way.I know this is not light fare, but given that we’re also potentially heading into what experts have literally called a “super-duper” El Niño, which they believe will produce new record-setting temperatures, I feel strongly that you need to familiarize yourself with this subject so that you’re best able to prepare and help do what you can to advocate for better heat planning in your hometowns. BIO: Vivek Shandas is a researcher, professor at Portland State University, and advisor helping cities navigate climate and public health challenges. Over two decades, he has worked with governments and communities to improve urban environments through data-driven, equitable strategies. He has authored 100+ journal articles and five books, and his work on urban heat, air quality, and environmental justice has been featured in major outlets including The New York Times and National Geographic. In 2023, he was appointed to the USDA’s National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council. He is also the lead scientific advisor to CAPA Strategies and enjoys the mountains and water of the Pacific Northwest, where he lives with his family.CREDITS: This podcast is produced & edited by Adam Labrie & me, Jesse Damiani. Adam Labrie also edited the video version, which is available on YouTube.Find more episodes of Urgent Futures at: youtube.com/@UrgentFutures. Get full access to Reality Studies at www.realitystudies.co/subscribe

April 23, 20261 hr 8 min

Prepper Camp, But Make it Fun & Community-Focused - Sam Bloch (DoomsDaddy) | #70

What happens when a veteran humanitarian and disaster relief specialist founds a camp for building resilience and community? Listen on...Support the show by checking out: ProtonVPN (gold-standard VPN—fast and safe. Click the link to get 55% off VPN Plus: $4.49/mo). ZBiotics (Decrease impact of hangovers. Code: JESSEDAMIANI for 10% off), MUD\WTR (43% off starter kits), 1Password (simplify your life and increase digital safety), Mission Farms CBD (healthy, effective CBD for relief, sleep, and wellbeing—25% off with email).As I’ve discussed in a few other episodes, I’m of the mind that we need to reclaim the notion of prepping and shift it away from a stock stereotype about loner survivalists (though, hey, good for them). Rather, I’m excited by the version of prepping that’s growing out of the mutual aid movement, which foregrounds community care and self-empowerment. I did a collaborative video with forecasting agency Death to Stock outlining some of these ideas, which went a little viral, and beyond vanity, I’m glad it did; it led me to meet Sam Bloch, founder of Camp DoomsDaddy. What Sam is doing is precisely what I see as the potential of turning preparedness and resilience into commonplace aspects of our lives. Essentially, he moves from the twinned premise that community is a superpower and resilience should be fun. He’s run two camps already—and has one coming up in May that, if you can go, you really should!—and if the documentation of their time is to be believed, they really did have a blast. All while learning critical skills to navigate volatile futures.And Sam is the perfect person to do this; he’s a sort of preparedness and disaster relief auto-didact, having kicked off his career in Southeast Asia two decades ago, and becoming a leading figure in humanitarianism along the way. He sensed—rightly, in my estimation—that while disaster relief remains critical, a missing piece is building communities of people who have learned how to prepare in advance.BIO: Sam Bloch is the founder and lead trainer at Camp DoomsDaddy. Sam comes with 20+ years of emergency response experience at the front-lines of disasters worldwide, from tsunamis and earthquakes to wildfires and war zones. A co-founder of Communitere International and former Director of Emergency Response at World Central Kitchen, he has led response efforts in more than 50 countries and worked at the epicenter of them in more than 30 U.S. disasters alone. After decades helping people who weren’t prepared, Sam is now focused on ensuring individuals and communities have the skills they need to take care of themselves and each other before disaster strikes. Sam is also on the Advisory Board of Watch Duty, and a trained wild land firefighter.CREDITS: This podcast is produced & edited by Adam Labrie & me, Jesse Damiani. Adam Labrie also edited the video version, which is available on YouTube.Find more episodes of Urgent Futures at: youtube.com/@UrgentFutures. Get full access to Reality Studies at www.realitystudies.co/subscribe

April 21, 202656 min

Orbán’s Loss is a Big Deal. Explaining the Future of Hungary, the EU, & Geopolitics - Eric Czuleger | Rapid Response #23

Viktor Orbán is widely regarded as having written the playbook for 'illiberal democracy' that has been used by those aspiring to turn democracies into autocracies—including Donald Trump. But last week, he lost the election—and miraculously, actually stepped down. What should we make of all this? What does it mean for Hungary, the EU, and the world? I chat with friend of the pod Eric Czuleger to find out.Support the show by checking out: ProtonVPN (gold-standard VPN—fast and safe. Click the link to get 55% off VPN Plus: $4.49/mo). ZBiotics (Decrease impact of hangovers. Code: JESSEDAMIANI for 10% off), MUD\WTR (43% off starter kits), 1Password (simplify your life and increase digital safety), Mission Farms CBD (healthy, effective CBD for relief, sleep, and wellbeing—25% off with email).BIO: Eric Czuleger is a geopolitical analyst and journalist who has worked across 45+ countries. Trained under George Friedman at Stratfor, he holds a Master's in National Security from the RAND School of Public Policy and an MSt in Creative Writing from Oxford. He is the author of You Are Not Here: Travels Through Countries That Don't Exist. A returned Peace Corps volunteer (Albania, 2011–2013) and former ambassador from Liberland to Somaliland, he splits his time between Tirana, Albania and Los Angeles.Find more episodes of Urgent Futures at: youtube.com/@UrgentFutures. Get full access to Reality Studies at www.realitystudies.co/subscribe

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