--- title: "Films from the Future: Moviegoer’s Guide to Tomorrow" podcast: "Modem Futura" episode: "Episode 48" hosts: "Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard" date: 2025-09-09 audio: https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/018f87c3-4d42-4bc0-9d66-53873b51ec68/episodes/2ef47142-257b-4cba-bffc-dbf14a6991a1/audio/6d235c8f-c381-4e09-b390-387d5d7d19f1/default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=3frRI0HN mirror: https://text.futureofbeinghuman.com/modemfutura/48-films-from-the-future-moviegoers-guide-to-tomorrow.html --- # Films from the Future: Moviegoer’s Guide to Tomorrow Modem Futura · Episode 48 · September 9, 2025 · 82 min · Hosts: Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard Listen: [MP3 audio](https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/018f87c3-4d42-4bc0-9d66-53873b51ec68/episodes/2ef47142-257b-4cba-bffc-dbf14a6991a1/audio/6d235c8f-c381-4e09-b390-387d5d7d19f1/default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=3frRI0HN) · [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/films-from-the-future-moviegoers-guide-to-tomorrow/id1771688480?i=1000725672990&uo=4) · [Spotify (show)](https://open.spotify.com/show/3eFl4hY4t1qTCWE2Bxotrg) · [YouTube (video)](https://www.youtube.com/@ModemFutura) --- In this episode of *Modem Futura*, hosts Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard dive into Andrew’s book *Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies*, and the course it inspired, *The Moviegoer’s Guide to the Future*. Together, they explore how blockbuster films—from *Jurassic Park* and *Minority Report* to *Limitless*, *Ex Machina*, *Elysium*, and *Contact*—become more than entertainment: they serve as mirrors reflecting society’s hopes, fears, and ethical dilemmas around technology. The conversation ranges from the philosophical weight of *Never Let Me Go* and its meditation on mortality, to the prescient warnings of predictive policing in *Minority Report*, and the unsettling manipulations of AI in *Ex Machina*. Along the way, Sean and Andrew highlight how film and media shape our perceptions, act as cultural playgrounds for exploring futures, and inspire debates that spill far beyond the classroom. They also reflect on the communal experience of movies, the tension between science and storytelling, and the importance of using narrative as a vehicle to unpack complex issues like AI ethics, biotechnology, inequality, and human agency. What emerges is not just a tour through iconic sci-fi films, but a passionate argument for why stories matter in helping us navigate the possible, probable, and preferable futures of being human. **Links:** - [The Moviegoer’s Guide to the Future (FIS 338) [Official Course Page]](https://futureofbeinghuman.asu.edu/fis-338-the-moviegoers-guide-to-the-future/) - [Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies [The Book on Amazon]](https://www.amazon.com/Films-Future-Technology-Morality-Sci-Fi/dp/1633539075) - [Films from the Future: an authors note [Andrew's website]](https://andrewmaynard.net/films-from-the-future/) -----Modem Futura is a production of the Future of Being Human initiative at Arizona State University. Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. To learn more about the Future of Being Human initiative and all of our other projects visit - [https://futureofbeinghuman.asu.edu](https://futureofbeinghuman.asu.edu/)Subscribe to our [YouTube Channel: @ModemFutura](https://www.youtube.com/@ModemFutura)Follow us on Instagram: [@ModemFutura](https://www.instagram.com/modemfutura/)**Host Bios:****Sean M. Leahy, PhD** - [ASU Bio](https://search.asu.edu/profile/3183014)\ Sean is an internationally recognized technologist, futurist, and educator innovating humanistic approaches to emerging technology through a Futures Studies approach. He is the Executive Director for the [Future of Being Human Initiative](https://futureofbeinghuman.asu.edu/) and Research Scientist for the [School for the Future of Innovation in Society](https://sfis.asu.edu/) and Senior Global Futures Scholar with the [Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory](https://globalfutures.asu.edu/) at [Arizona State University](http://www.asu.edu/).**Andrew Maynard, PhD** - [ASU Bio](https://search.asu.edu/profile/2670673)\ Andrew is a scientist, author, thought leader, and Professor of Advanced Technology Transitions in the ASU [School for the Future of Innovation in Society](https://sfis.asu.edu/). He is the founder of the ASU [Future of Being Human initiative](https://futureofbeinghuman.asu.edu/), Director of the ASU [Risk Innovation Nexus](https://riskinnovation.org/), and was previously Associate Dean in the ASU [College of Global Futures](https://collegeofglobalfutures.asu.edu/).----- --- *These are the show notes for this episode of Modem Futura (), a podcast hosted by Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard and part of the ASU Future of Being Human initiative (). This file is a text mirror of the episode’s show notes — not a transcript. Listen to the full episode via the links above, or watch it on YouTube ().*