Welcome to The Future Is How: Explorations on Creating Your Better Tomorrow—a podcast that invites you to actively shape the future with practical insights and inspiration. Hosted by Dr. Frederik G. Pferdt, author of What's Next Is Now and first and former Chief Innovation Evangelist at Google, Frederik shares insights on building a future-ready mindstate, drawing from his experiences training the brightest minds at Google, Stanford, and beyond.
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The Future Has a Scent | Christophe Laudamiel on Memory, Emotion & Designing the Invisible
Season 3 · Episode 4
Sunday, March 8, 2026 • Duration 37:18
At a glance
In this episode of The Future Is HOW, I sit down with world-renowned master perfumer Christophe Laudamiel to explore one of the most powerful yet overlooked senses shaping our future: smell.
Christophe shares how his journey into perfumery began, what mentors in the fragrance world taught him, and why scent is far more complex than we usually imagine. Together we explore the deep connection between smell and memory, why no scent ever represents just one thing, and how fragrance can be designed to evoke emotions, experiences, and even entire stories.
The conversation moves from the personal to the future: How would you design the scent of a humanoid robot? Why do we crave certain smells, like fruit, yet rarely experience them authentically in fragrance? And what happens when scent becomes personalized, expressive, and deeply human?
From creativity and diversity to memory and imagination, Christophe reminds us that scent is not just chemistry. It is language. It is emotion. It is a way of experiencing the world.
A conversation about the invisible forces that shape how we remember, feel, and imagine what comes next.
Chapters
00:00 The Power of Scent and Memory 02:54 The Journey into Perfumery 03:24 How Christophe discovered smell and entered the industry of parfumery 06:04 I love the variety - you should see my shower! 07:19 What mentors in the parfume industry teach you 08:24 For those who have no mentor and want to create parfumes 09:23 When Frederik's daughter could smell a picture 13:00 There is not one smell, that smells of only one thing 18:16 How Christophe would create the scent of humanoid robots 23:19 Why don't we have more fruit smells though so many people likes fruits 26:05 Designing Scents for Emotions 29:40 Personalized Fragrance Creation 32:05 The Future of Scent and Memory 33:10 Fast Future Questions 34:10 Diversity in Fragrance and Humanity 35:15 Creative Expression Through Scent
Music: Andreas Horchler Producer: Florian Dietrich
Igniting Belief - The Power of Evangelism | Guy Kawasaki
Season 2 · Episode 7
Friday, November 28, 2025 • Duration 52:53
Today on The Future is How, Frederik's guest is Guy Kawasaki. In 1983, when there was no such thing as evangelism in businesses and corporations, he popularized it, while working with the Macintosh Division of Apple. He set standards beyond Apple. Today, Guy is the Chief Evangelist of Canva, the online graphics-design company from Australia. Guy is also the author of fifteen books, New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers. He is a keynote speaker and host of the Remarkable People Podcast, as well as an investor.
In this episode:
• Belief in oneself is the most powerful gift.
• Evangelism is an ethos, not just a title.
• Remarkable people go through growth, grit, and grace
• It's not about how you get your job, but what you do once you're in.
• Showing up for others can have a profound impact.
• Purpose is often created through passion and experimentation.
• An open mind is essential for recognizing wisdom.
• Empowerment can come from simple acts of kindness.
• AI is a transformative force in our lives.
• The future is shaped by our choices and actions.
• A mindstate moment on evangelism
• Underrated and overrated tech-trends
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
04:38 A kick butt-moment: Frederik’s first encounter with Guy at a Steve Jobs Keynote.
07:31 Evangelism is ethos: the good news on creativity
10:15 Remarkable people: growth, grit, and grace
Harnessing the power of beauty to create a life-centered future | Tim Leberecht
Season 1 · Episode 1
Friday, December 27, 2024 • Duration 01:05:24
How do you envision the future—yours, ours, and the planet’s? Join me, Frederik Pferdt, in the first episode of The Future Is How, as I sit down with Tim Leberecht, the founder of the House of Beautiful Business, to explore how beauty can inspire connection, reimagine the future, and help us live more meaningful lives. Together, we discuss why it’s time to value all life—including AI—and how moving beyond human-centeredness can address some of our biggest challenges.
In our conversation today, we explore the following topics:
• Why you shouldn’t limit yourself to one vision of the future
• Exercises in cultivating intimacy inspired by the artist Marina Abramovic
• Attributes of beauty and how to find it
• Practices for strengthening your imagination muscles
• Why Tim is optimistic about AI’s role in our future
• The cost of human-centeredness and the case for valuing all life
The Art of Starting Before You’re Ready | Tessa Forshaw and Rich Braden
Season 2 · Episode 6
Friday, November 14, 2025 • Duration 53:30
Today on The Future is How, Frederik's guests are Tessa Forshaw and Rich Braden – authors of Innovation-ish: How Anyone can Create Breakthrough Solutions to Real Problems in the Real World
Rich Braden is the founder and CEO of the San Francisco-based consulting firm, People Rocket. For the past 15 years he has been a design educator at universities around the world including Stanford University and Harvard University.
Tessa Forshaw is a cognitive scientist, senior researcher, and co-founder of the Next Level Lab at Harvard University. She teaches design thinking, creativity, and innovation at the Harvard Innovation Lab and Harvard University DCE. She also served on the Teaching Faculty at Stanford’s design school for several years.
In this episode:
• How the Innovation-ish approach can lead to real innovation
• Why hesitation isn't bad and how you can overcome it
• How complex issues can be addressed playfully
• Joint efforts of testing and iterations lead to good results
• Exploration comes first, explaining later
• A mindstate moment with 5 questions about your future
• How to integrate Innovation-ish into your daily life
• AI as a partner for innovation
Chapters
00:00 Intro
02:25 Tessa and Rich's future Bio
05:13 “Ish-ness”: what Innovation-ish is about
08:46 From hesitation to momentum
14:22 Clarity and curiosity: Enjoying the unknown
19:03 Innovation compass: Real life experience with students
How Trust Is The Future | Esther Wojcicki
Season 1 · Episode 12
Friday, June 13, 2025 • Duration 52:44
In this episode, we explore how trust shapes the future — in parenting, education, and leadership.
Esther Wojcicki is known as "The godmother of Silicon Valley", a legendary educator, journalist, and author of How to Raise Successful People. She has taught thousands of students, raised three remarkable daughters (a CEO, a doctor, and a professor), and sparked a global movement with her TRICK philosophy: Trust, Respect, Independence, Collaboration, and Kindness.
“Kids are not luggage — they are human beings,” Esther says. Her message is clear: the next generation doesn’t need more control, they need more trust.
Together, we dive into:
Why respect and independence are key ingredients for raising changemakers
How 20% of time for personal projects (even in school!) unlocks creativity
What happens when we stop helicopter parenting — and start trusting
How TRICK can transform classrooms, companies, and even family dinners
Why children’s ideas might just change the world
We also explore how TRICK applies not just to kids — but to how we lead, live, and even treat our parents.
Plus: A “Mindstate Moment” to help you reflect and activate your own TRICK.
In today’s episode of The Future is How, it's all about growth, from plants to the inner self. And we have a more than special guest: Angela Pferdt. Coming from a background in finance, today she is a Healing Artist, a Reiki Master, a Master Gardener, and she is Frederik's wife, in Frederik's words: one of his greatest teachers. Frederik and Angela spent decades together, building a home and raising three children. “Home is where I grow”, says Angela. This time The Future is How comes straight from Angela's and Frederik's home in the Santa Cruz Mountains, an exchange of experiences, thoughts, callings, insights, and more than that: their future, like a walk together we all can listen to.
Today, we talk about: • The power of Reiki and how it helps to become more present
• Plant based medicine and how psychedelics can help opening up and finding love and answers inside • Long standing myths on psychedelics • How gardening and personal growth are deeply interconnected
• Finding patience and presence
Where to find Angela Pferdt: https://www.santawoodz.com
Harnessing the power of imagination to create a better future | Lisa Kay Solomon (Stanford)
Season 1 · Episode 4
Friday, February 7, 2025 • Duration 56:06
In today’s episode of The Future is How, futurist Lisa Kay Solomon joins me. Lisa is a designer in residence at the Stanford d.school. Lisa focuses on bridging the disciplines of futures and design thinking, creating experiences like “Vote by Design: Presidential Edition” and "The Future’s Happening" to help students learn and practice the skills they don’t yet know they need. At the d.school, she teaches classes such as Inventing the Future, where students imagine, debate, and analyze the 50-year futures of emerging tech.
In our conversation today, Lisa emphasizes the importance of being future-forward and leveraging our imaginations to shape a better world. We explore topics such as:
• The value of developing a ‘futurist’ mindset, and strategies for long-term thinking
• How to expand your perspective by engaging in wider learning and learning from others
• The games, approaches, and activities Lisa uses to help her students visualize the future
• Lisa’s work with Vote By Design and how a futurist approach allows us to build a better world
• Why Lisa leans into curiosity and openness
• A mindfulness practice engaging your imagination to visualize your future in five years
Today in The Future Is How: Francesco Ciccolella. His illustrations don’t just decorate the page– they challenge how we see the world. Francesco is a Vienna-based artist, illustrator, and designer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The New Yorker, MIT Technology Review, and on the covers of books and ideas that have shaped our thinking. He also brought Frederik's ideas to life , through incredible sketches, including the one-line illustrations in Frederik's book What’s Next Is Now. Francesco's illustrations hold up a mirror to our culture–showing us not only what is, but what could be.
Today, we talk about:
• The Power of Visual Thinking
• Making the complex visually accessible through empathy • The power of reduction • Between the lines-Francesco´s book, a visual philosophy
• Everyone Is an Artist (as long as we overcome our fears)
• A well of inspiration—exploring world views and travelling
Enriching our lives and work with the power of storytelling | Kalle Ryan
Saturday, March 8, 2025 • Duration 59:28
In today’s episode of The Future is How, I am thrilled to be joined by my friend Kalle Ryan. Kalle is an award-winning writer, poet, and founder of Poetic, a creative consultancy dedicated to crafting compelling narratives, solving communication challenges, and unlocking creativity for organizations of all sizes.
Before founding Poetic, Kalle refined his storytelling and communication skills at Google and Meta. At Meta, he led internal communication strategies that connected employees globally through creative content. At Google, he drove Cloud9, EMEA's innovation hub, launching initiatives to foster employee creativity.
In our conversation today, we dive into the captivating world of creativity and storytelling, covering topics such as:
• What sparked Kalle’s love of storytelling
• The tale of "Bringing Batman to Work"
• The pivotal role creativity played in propelling Kalle’s career to new heights
• Viewing the world through a creative lens
• A creativity practice inspired by Pam Houston’s concept of "glimmers"
• Using your creativity to live more intentionally
• The essence of great storytelling: making people feel
• Building human connections through stories
• Kalle’s perspective on AI tools and why he remains optimistic for the future of creatives
The secret to a long and happy life | Dr. Robert Waldinger (Harvard)
Season 1 · Episode 3
Friday, January 24, 2025 • Duration 42:30
In today’s episode of The Future is How, I explore the topics of relationships and happiness with Dr. Robert Waldinger. He is a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development at Massachusetts General Hospital, and co-founder of the Lifespan Research Foundation.
He is also a Zen priest and co-author of the book, The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness.
In our conversation today, we talk about the following topics:
• The surprising finding from Dr. Waldinger’s research about connection’s impact on longevity
• What social fitness is, and advice on how to practice it
• Why you should try talking to a stranger and tips for getting started
• Dr. Waldinger’s daily practices that promote health and happiness
• Tips for building better relationships and the best way to make new friends
• How to maintain connection and stay positive in our polarized world
(00:00) Intro (02:36) Esther's future bio: A world of respect and trust for children
(05:53) A future with TRICK- Trust Respect Independence Collaboration Kindness (11:40) Balancing Structure and Freedom-Raising children today (15:07) Kid's shopping experience-building trust and independence (18:00) Kids are not luggage-what parents get wrong about children (19:51) Frederik on the road-let the kids do the travel planning (20:40) Worries and things we can do to shape our future
(24:50) Belts for the homeless-how children's ideas help (26:36) Showing up for children with TRICK-empower education
(29:53) A better school-play, take time, explore
(33:09) In it together-Having patience, as kids and as parents
(35:49) Lost kids-The Helicopter Parenting crisis
(40:04) A Mindstate Moment with Frederik (42:47) TRICK for companies and leaders-mistakes and room for creativity
(47:45) We are all children-what we can offer our parents through TRICK
(00:00) Intro (02:57) Angela's future bio: Who Angela is becoming how she's building a future around Reiki, energy work and plant medicine, and becoming more present (05:50) Reiki and being present (07:17) How Reiki works (08:29) Angela's journey to Reiki (10:28) Energy & Healing & Well-being: Why people are coming to Angela's Reiki studio (13:05) The journey guide: Plant medicine and digging deeper solving crises (17:45) The integration phase: Life completely different, opening up, the answer inside, and love
(20:53) Plant based medicine: Is it for me? (23:00) Time to grow: It begins in the soil
(25:11) A Mindstate Moment with Frederik (28:14) Growth and Gardening: Nourishment, minds and communities
(29:35) Psychedelic myths: Breaking addictions instead of creating addictions
(32:06) It's not exclusively about trauma or seeing colors: Psychedelics can break patterns, accessing the unconscious
(33:54) Patience and presence: How her children benefit from Angela's work
(36:10) Words of encouragement: if you can imagine it, you can achieve it, if you can dream it, you can become it.
(00:00) Intro (03:13) Francesco's future bio: A space between words and images
(05:45) Complexity in one image—empathy and the visual vocabulary (08:07) The viewer's shoes—a repertoire of different angles (09:01) Stripped to the essence—the Zen garden story and finding beauty in reduction (11:59) Creative challenges—quick pace and the flow mode (14:55) Between the lines—Francesco's book on dealing with mental health crises (17:34) Discovering the inner artist—it's about taking away the fear (or: there are no perfect lines)
(21:03) A Mindstate Moment with Frederik (25:31) A three word-game-visual creativity from scratch
(27:30) Finding inspiration—travelling, exploring world views, new paths
(03:47) How our connections keep us healthier and living longer
(04:47) How to keep your relationships strong
(08:55) A case for talking to strangers
(10:52) Tips for connecting with strangers
(13:20) Why you should join a group activity doing something you like
(16:01) Quality vs. quantity in friendship—and the type of relationships you’re better off without
(18:13) How Zen has influenced Dr. Waldinger’s idea of happiness and relationships
(19:55) Dr. Waldinger’s daily practices that help him live his best life
(23:04) Challenges Dr. Waldinger faces
(25:10) The importance of not trying to fix everything about yourself or others
(27:57) How Dr. Waldinger dealt with a colleague who gave painful feedback
(32:04) A moment of presence
(35:32) Ways Dr. Waldinger is sharing his mission of happiness and connection
(36:57) Top ways to nurture our current relationships and happiness
(40:40) Closing
—
Music: Andreas Horchler
Art Design: Stefan Schuster, Dino Hohos, Flo Dietrich
Production: Jordan & Adam Bornstein
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