Freezing drizzle and icy travel conditions through Friday morning

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

At the beginning of the new year, we take a look at the future.

Neal Conan explores three aspects of our future: the impact of climate change, the expansion of unmanned drone warfare and autonomous vehicles, and the changing destiny of East Asia and the Pacific Rim. 

" series, the "Foreseeable Future" edition.

 is the Director of HAL (Humans and Autonomy Lab) at Duke University, where, among the positions she holds, she is professor of engineering and computer science. Professor Cummings serves as the co-chair of the World Economic Forum's Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Committee. From 1988 to 1999 Cummings was a Navy fighter pilot, one of the first female fighter pilots in the United States. Cummings earned her undergraduate degree at the US Naval Academy and her Ph.D at the University of Virginia. 

 holds several appointments at Penn State University, including Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science and the director of the the Earth System Science Center.  Professor Mann has authored more than 200 articles and is the author of three books. His most recent book is "The Madhouse Effect: How Climate Change Denial is Threatening Our Planet, Destroying Our Politics, and Driving Us Crazy," which includes cartoons by the Washington Post's Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Tom Toles. Mann has worked extensively with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore.

 is an associate professor of Journalism at Columbia University. He is a former bureau chief for the New York Times for Central America and the Caribbean, West and Central Africa, Japan, the Koreas, and China. Professor French has been nominated twice for a Pulitzer Prize and is the author of several books. His most recent book is "Everything Under the Heavens: How the Past Helps Shape China's Push for Global Power."

To listen to the program, click the audio player above.

How do civil wars end?

A history of the FBI and former American presidents

Science

Environmental News

Shows

MPR News Presents

MPR News Staff

Author

An exploration of three aspects of our future: the impact of climate change, the expansion of unmanned drone warfare and autonomous vehicles, and the changing destiny of East Asia.

Neal Conan special: The foreseeable future

Go Deeper.

Like this?