The New Abnormal
by Sean Pillot de Chenecey
My podcast The New Abnormal focuses on 'Now / Next / Why'. Discussing these subjects has led to some fascinating discussions with activists, philosophers, strategists, writers, psychologists, futurists, etc. I set up the podcast back in 2000, it has over 250,000 downloads and the series has featured a wide range of guests based in locations from Stockholm to Rio, Los Angeles to Abu Dhabi, Beijing to Casablanca, and Toronto to Melbourne. The series is produced in association with the World Futures Studies Federation. A global NGO of leading futurists with a network of members in 60+ countries, it's a forum for the exchange of actionable ideas about alternative futures, through long-term, big-picture thinking and radical change. #TheNewAbnormal podcast series © Sean Pillot de Chenecey 2020. All rights reserved.
Episodes
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Paulo Carvalho 'The Power of the Future(s)'
This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Paulo Carvalho, an expert in Foresight, Strategy and Innovation, with more than 20 years of experience in public and private organisations, working on consulting projects, and also developing teaching, training and research activities in those...
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Nik Badminton "The Hope Engineer's Playbook"
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Nik Badminton, a futurist keynote speaker and AI keynote speaker who helps leaders explore possible futures and make stronger decisions today. His work connects emerging trends with the choices organisations face over the next ten years and…
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Tanja Schindler 'Collective Visioning: From Imagination to Participation'
This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Tanja Schindler, who has over a decade of international experience and deep expertise in the fields of foresight, innovation, strategy, and leadership. As a keynote speaker, she inspires companies, organisations, and individuals to see…
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Fredy Vargas Lama, PhD ‘Beyond Foresight: The Rise of Anticipatory Governance’
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Fredy Vargas Lama, PhD. He’s a renowned senior consultant and advisor in long-term strategy and foresight, focused on government transformation and foresight-informed policy design. His career has taken him from economics and corporate risk into...
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Soha Rashed ‘Rethinking Foresight Through an Arab Lens’
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Soha Rashed, founder of the Arab Futures Society and a research fellow at the Carboun Institute. We spoke about the development of futures thinking across the Arab world and why the global foresight community needs to embrace a wider range of...
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Clare Beaton-Wells "Using Foresight to Reimagine Australia’s Tomorrow"
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Clare Beaton-Wells, based in Melbourne, who is a Strategic Policy Advisor and Future Generations Fellowship Lead at Foundations for Tomorrow. As a leader and specialist driving systems change, intergenerational collaboration, and policy…
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Sabrina Sullivan "Unlocking What's Next"
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features the renowned strategist / futurist / facilitator, Sabrina Sullivan. In our conversation, she discusses her unconventional journey into foresight, the importance of imagination, and the leadership capabilities needed to thrive in an increasingly...
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Marie Stafford 'The Future 100, 2026'
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast feature, Marie Stafford, Global Director, Intelligence at VML. In it, she spoke about the latest edition of VML’s Future 100 report and the broader forces shaping consumers, brands and culture. Unlike many annual trend reports, VML’s research is…
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Geci Karuri-Sebina ‘The African Foresight Network, Post-Activism, and Interconnected Capacities’
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features the Johannesburg-based ‘thinker, researcher, and sometimes do-er’ Geci Karuri-Sebina, who is an Assoc Professor at the WITS Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, Organiser at the Civic Tech Innovation Network, and Chair / Director of the…
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Julian Boulding 'The Cannes Review 2026'
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Julian Boulding, Owner of TheNetworkOne. The organisation works with over 1000 agencies in over 100 countries, providing ‘open-source creativity’ and communications services from independent agencies for a growing number of leading international...
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Clare Stark 'Futures Literacy: Building Better Decisions for an Uncertain World'
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Clare Stark, Head of Futures Literacy and Foresight at UNESCO - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. They’re a specialized UN agency dedicated to promoting world peace and security through international…
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Fatima-Zahra Ma-el-ainin 'Foresight, Social Transformation and Systemic Wellbeing'
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Fatima-Zahra Ma-el-ainin, who is a psychologist, poet, and narrative architect reimagining how societies cultivate wellbeing. Her work sits at the intersection of systems work, knowledge design, and social transformation, informed by more than a...
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Mark Bloomfield 'Making Sense of AI'
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Dr Mark Bloomfield, who has leveraged AI and advanced technology for over fifteen years to drive innovation, transformation, and measurable impact across an array of businesses. Operating at the intersection of business, technology, and academia…
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Tommaso Cesano 'The future role of design'
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Tommaso Cesano, Founder of Osmo, a Strategy+Design studio focused on creating impactful products and experiences, aiming to build products for clients that can 'change their tomorrow'. Based in Italy, this award-winning studio works with ambitious...
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Jonas Drechsel ‘Futurist Archetypes and Futures Thinking’
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features the independent futurist Jonas Drechsel, who is also a member and co-initiator of the dynamic collective practice youngK Berlin; which is interdisciplinary, exploratory, and holistic. His mission as a solo freelance futurist is to make desirable...
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Alice Dimond 'Building Hopeful Futures'
Series Six This episode of The New Abnormal features Alice Dimond, who leads Mō Āpōpō Future-Makers at Tokona te Raki, a project that equips young people to imagine and create better futures. This includes designing a toolkit grounded in Māori perspectives and stories, empowering young people to...
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Marianna Maki-Teeri 'Futures Intelligence and AI-Native Foresight'
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Marianna Maki-Teeri, Director of Foresight at Futures Platform. She’s an internationally recognized futurist with 15 years of experience in strategic foresight & futures studies, and helps organizations around the world make sense of change before...
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Mikko Dufva 'Megatrends 2026 - towards a new social contract'
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Mikko Dufva, the Leading Foresight Specialist at Sitra. Mikko works on projects across an array of areas including those related to the futures of synthetic biology, platform economies, forestry, mining and use of renewable energy. Sitra is a...
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Ramila Khafaji Zadeh 'The liberation of Imagination'
This episode of the New Abnormal podcast features Ramila Khafaji Zadeh, who is a trainer and designer in Futures Literacy at Hanze University of Applied Sciences and part of the UNESCO Chair in Futures Literacy. She leads projects with governments, industry, higher education, and NGOs, and has...
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Warren Hatch 'Superforecasting - how to see the future first'
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features the renowned superforecaster Warren Hatch, CEO of Good Judgement Inc. He joined the organisation as a volunteer forecaster in a research project sponsored by the US government / funded by the intelligence community, where they emerged as the...
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Maija Knutti 'Developing Futures-Orientated Policies'
This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Maija Knutti, a Policy Analyst in the EU Policy Lab Foresight Team, which is part of the European Commission Joint Research Centre. As Maija explains, it's a collaborative place for innovative policymaking, which is intended to help policymakers...
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Muhammad Alaraby 'Futurists & Foresight in the Arab World'
This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Muhammad Alaraby, an award-winning Arab futurist, policy analyst, and editor. He's also Head of Strategic Foresight at the independent think tank Future for Advanced Research and Studies (FARAS), which seeks to enrich public dialogue, support...
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Lisa Giuliani 'Teach the Future: a bridge to action'
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Lisa Giuliani M.A., who is an experienced educator with over ten years of work in higher education, K-12, the private sector, and nonprofits. Dedicated to empowering young people and organizations through futures literacy, Lisa currently serves as...
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Deborah Hayek 'An expert guide to Corporate Foresight'
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Deborah Hayek, who leads Foresight & Innovation at Servus Credit Union, in Canada. She brings over a decade of experience integrating strategic foresight into business strategy within major financial institutions. Previously, at the forefront of...
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Kateryna Ostrovska 'Ukraine, strategic healthcare management, and anticipatory governance'
This episode of #TheNewAbnormal podcast features Kateryna Ostrovska, who is a health policy and systems strategist with a background in family medicine and leadership experience across Ukraine’s public and private healthcare sectors. She's worked in conflict-affected regions of Ukraine as a…
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Petra Hurtado 'Embracing Uncertainty - the 2026 Trend Report for Planners'
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Petra Hurtado, Ph.D. who's the Chief Foresight & Knowledge Officer at the American Planning Association, leading their foresight program and knowledge portfolio; including research, publications, educational content, and career services. With a...
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Klaus Dodds 'Unfrozen: The Fight for the Future of the Arctic'
This episode of #TheNewAbnormal podcast features Klaus Dodds, a leading geopolitical analyst specialising in polar affairs, territorial sovereignty, border disputes and great power competition, with over 30 years of experience bridging academic research and strategic policy advice. Klaus analyses...
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Marie Roussie 'Future of Conflicts: A Vision of What Is to Come'
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Marie Roussie, a futurist from the Paris-based collective Making Tomorrow. Marie has spent the past three years examining approaches to the future development of the French armed forces. In this interview we discuss her work and in particular, the...
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Lena Tunkers 'Exploring futures with collective imagination'
This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Lena Tunkers, a renowned independent futurist and facilitator, who has a mass of experience in applying Futures Literacy, Experience Design and innovation methods to navigate change. She's worked with a range of communities, institutions and...
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Riel Miller 'Why futures literacy is so important today...'
Series Six The episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast featured Riel Miller, who for over forty years has been co-creating innovation, leadership and transformation in both the public and private sectors around the world. He pioneered the 'discipline of anticipation' as one of the leading tools for...
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Jost Wagner 'Countering the Futures-Thieves'
Series Six This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Jost Wagner, Managing Director of The Change Initiative and Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific Futures Network, the largest network of futurists in the region. Over the last 20 years, he's designed and facilitated over 600…
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Jan Berger 'How to steer organisations towards better futures'
Series Five This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Jan Berger, who advises business leaders on how to steer their companies towards a profitable future. He's the Founder & CEO of the renowned Themis Foresight in Berlin, which he founded to anticipate the economic, technological…
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Stephen Dupont 'Anticipating Change re: Opportunities and Risks'
Series Five This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Stephen Dupont, Principal at Dupont Foresight, who brings a futures mindset to marketing/communications planning and strategy. He also serves on the board of the nonprofit 'Teach the Future' and is a Future Fellow of the United…
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Erik Ostergaard 'Futures Thinking and Anticipatory Leadership'
Series Five This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Erik Korsvik Ostergaard, who is a futures-thinker and strategic foresight consultant. He uses futures-thinking to be curious about current and coming trends, and to turn them into strategies. He focuses on transformation and the…
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Isabella Hermann 'Sci-fi re: New Technologies and Socio-Political Value Systems'
Series Five This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Dr Isabella Hermann, a political scientist who analyses and speaks on the subject of science-fiction. She focuses particularly on how the genre reflects emerging technologies, socio-political value systems, and global politics. This...
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Cynthia Scharf 'Climate Tech - The Technologies of Desperation'
Series Five This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Cynthia Scharf, a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Future Generations, a European think tank, leading their work on Climate Interventions. Issue of trust, global equity, behavioural psychology, archetypes and narrative are key to…
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Diana Stafie "Don't wait for the future - actively create it"
Series Five This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Diana Stafie, founder of Future Station, the renowned strategic foresight consultancy that empowers organizations to navigate change, identify emerging trends, foster innovation, and effectively prepare for the future. Future Station...
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Velislava Petrova 'We shape the future - so shape it well'
Series Five This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Velislava Petrova, Chief Programme Officer at the Centre for Future Generations. She oversees CFG's technical and cross-cutting programs, monitoring impact, aligning with political priorities and identifying strategic directions....
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Jonathan Barth 'Escaping Collapse - What Killed Economic Liberalism and What To Do Next'
Series Five This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Jonathan Barth: Founder, Think-Tanker, Brussels Expert and Author of the forthcoming book #EscapingCollapse. His passion is to illuminate how Europe needs to respond to the geopolitical turn and make our institutions ready for a...
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Loes Damhof 'Times are urgent - we must slow down'
Series Five This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Loes Damhof - UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies, award-winning pioneer in higher education, and TEDx speaker. As UNESCO Chair Futures Literacy in Higher Education, she designs, facilitates and researches learning spaces that are...
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Nardia Haigh 'Scenario Planning for Climate Change'
Series Five This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features the author, academic and consultant Nardia Haigh, who has spent nearly two decades helping people navigate uncertainty using scenario planning. She has taught hundreds of people how to apply scenario planning methods, and advised...
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Bulent Duagi 'Exploring new thinking and connecting the dots'
Series Five This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Bulent Duagi, a 'cross-pollinator' in the Romanian futurists-ecosystem. He works with high-stakes decision makers, facilitating strategy execution and acting as a guide for organisations tackling tough challenges. He also works as a...
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Jordi Serra del Pino 'Postnormal Times and the Three Tomorrows...'
Series Five This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Jordi Serra del Pino, who is a consultant with more than 40 years experience in foresight, strategy and intelligence. As a professor, he’s participated in numerous academic programmes and currently holds several positions:Deputy…
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Andre Spicer 'The Art of Less'
Series Five This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Andre Spicer, Dean and Professor at Bayes Business School, City St George's, University of London. He's an expert in the fields of organisational behaviour, leadership and corporate social responsibility, and is the founding director…
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Emma Briant 'Exposing the Propaganda Machine'
Series Five This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Dr Emma Louise Briant, an internationally recognised expert and professor of information warfare & propaganda. She helps policymakers, governments, business leaders, journalists and the public understand and respond to the challenge of...
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Jim Dator 'Living Make-Belief: Thriving in a Dream Society'
Series Five I’m honoured that the focus of this episode of ‘The New Abnormal’ podcast is Jim Dator, who’s had an extraordinary impact on futures-thinking. Indeed, I believe one would struggle to find someone else who could today be genuinely given the title of “the world’s leading futurist”....
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Dr Joseph Voros 'Futures Thinking in Real-World Contexts'
Series Five This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features the famous physicist and futurist Dr Joseph Voros, who helps people and organisations think about the future in serious ways through futures-orientated intelligence and strategic foresight capability-building. He’s been a professional...
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Neil Shearing 'The Fractured Age: how the return of Geopolitics will splinter the Global Economy'
Series Five In this episode of The New Abnormal podcast, I interview Neil Shearing, the Group Chief Economist at Capital Economics, where he leads a world-class team of economists and oversees the firm’s global research agenda. A trusted voice in international finance, Neil is known for his…
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Gergely Nemeth 'Strategic Foresight and Defence Innovation'
Series Five This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Gergely Nemeth, former Head of Strategic Foresight at NATO and now CEO of Hungary’s Defence Innovation Research Institute (VIKI), who reflects on a career ‘impacted by coincidence’ but marked by increasing responsibility in defence...
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Lourdes Rodriguez 'Embodied Futures - the next evolution in foresight'
Series Five This episode of The New Abnormal features Lourdes Rodriguez, a Strategic Foresight Consultant with the European Commission and Co Exec Director at Teach the Future. With a background in Psychology, her work has been focused on trends research and foresight for more than 15 years, and...
About this show
My podcast The New Abnormal focuses on 'Now / Next / Why'. Discussing these subjects has led to some fascinating discussions with activists, philosophers, strategists, writers, psychologists, futurists, etc. I set up the podcast back in 2000, it has over 250,000 downloads and the series has featured a wide range of guests based in locations from Stockholm to Rio, Los Angeles to Abu Dhabi, Beijing to Casablanca, and Toronto to Melbourne. The series is produced in association with the World Futures Studies Federation. A global NGO of leading futurists with a network of members in 60+ countries, it's a forum for the exchange of actionable ideas about alternative futures, through long-term, big-picture thinking and radical change. #TheNewAbnormal podcast series © Sean Pillot de Chenecey 2020. All rights reserved.
Hosted by
Sean Pillot de Chenecey