A Visual History of the Future

Decades ago, artists’ imaginings formed high expectations about the world to come. Were these just fantasies–or was it the work of pioneers whose visions of the future actually helped to shape it?
Darren Garrett

Breaking the Cycle

The future of reproductive health in India, from early ideas about population control to on-the-ground interventions happening now, to a world where men and women share contraceptive responsibility.
Hannah Harris Green

A Noxious Problem

Smog in cities and smoke in the home cause a huge range of short- and long-term health conditions. Why is the world’s biggest public health crisis only getting worse?
How We Get To Next

Beats: Space

Space is where we project our dreams–and our nightmares–of the future.

Beats: Food

Food structures our day, and food systems shape our world

Beats: Disability

“Disable” is an active verb, and disability describes the social and environmental barriers that prevent access just as much as an individual body’s physical reality.

Beats: Health

Access to health care is as much a matter of public policy as it is the size of a person’s pocketbook; within a doctor’s office, many factors affect the quality of treatment.

Who Will Invent the Money of Tomorrow?

Forget a global currency–we’ll see more types of digital cash than there are nations.
David Birch
7 min read

U.S. Debt Is Massive and Other Countries Are Desperate to Keep It That Way

The global financial system relies on massive amounts of perpetual national debt–and that’s OK.
Annie Logue
4 min read

When Charts Go Weird: The Joy of Xenographics

Xenographics can be fun alternatives to the classic bar, line, and pie chart trio–but they can also be more effective for certain kinds of data.
Duncan Geere
2 min read