Back to the F**kture: Devon Powers on Pandemic Futures

Season 1, Episode 1,   Jul 09, 2020, 03:43 PM

Our new Back to the F**kture series asks renowned thinkers to put foresight predictions under the hindsight spotlight. This month Martin Raymond and Devon Powers discuss why forecasters failed to spot Covid-19.

In this episode, The Future Laboratory's co-founder Martin Raymond talks to world renowned academic Devon Powers about why so many forecasters failed to anticipate the global pandemic and what this means for the future of the industry.

Devon Powers is the associate professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at Temple University. She is the author of 3 books, the most recent of which is On Trend: The Business of Forecasting the Future. Her research explores branding, promotion, and how culture moves through the world. Powers' work has appeared in Journal of Consumer Culture, New Media & Society, Critical Studies in Media and Communication, and Popular Communication.