A Brief History of PBS Docu Series ‘A Brief History of the Future’ with Futurific Studios’ Ari Wallach and Kathryn Murdoch
04.04.2024 - 18:31
/ variety.com
Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Ari Wallach has made his living as a professional futurist for more than 20 years. What does that mean? “I work with really large organizations, mostly helping them think about tomorrow — the far-off tomorrows,” Wallach explains on the latest episode of Variety podcast “Strictly Business.” Wallach’s forward-looking intellect is on display in the new PBS docu series “A Brief History of the Future,” which premiered April 3 on PBS in the U.S. He hosts the series and is an executive producer with Kathryn Murdoch, Wendy Schmidt and DreamCrew, the production banner headed by hip hop superstar Drake.
Wallach and Murdoch are partners in Futurific Studios, which makes its debut with “Brief History.” The six-part series studies inventors, entrepreneurs, activists, artists and others who are pursuing innovative solutions to a range of social ills. Notable participants include French president Emmanuel Macron, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and famed French soccer star Kylian Mbappé. Futurific Studios was founded with the unabashed goal of developing content designed to promote positive portrayals of the future.
Murdoch, who is president and co-founder with her husband, James Murdoch, of the Quadrivian Foundation, calls it a “protopian” perspective and says she has been dismayed by the deficit of hope that she has found in contemporary storytelling, particularly when it comes to young adult fiction. “For some reason, we’ve stopped telling hopeful stories. And we only tell the story about how awful it’s all going to be,” Murdoch says.
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