Future Tense

About the series

Future Tense is an interview segment hosted by anthropologist and author Chris Begley. The series is focused on our future in a post-pandemic world. Each segment features a conversation between Begley and a guest, exploring their unique take on that future. Artists, academics, activists, and politicians discuss where we are, where we are going, what we have learned, and what it means.

Chapter One:  Multidisciplinary artist Bianca Spriggs

Chapter Two:  UK Philosophy Professor Arnold Farr

Chapter Three: Pop culture critic and writer Dahlia Schweitzer

Chapter Four: Former Kentucky Poet Laureate Frank X  Walker 

Chapter Five: Carol Taylor-Shim, Director of Bias Incident Support Services at the University of Kentucky

Chapter Six: Author Silas House shares pandemic observations

Chapter Seven: Lexington chef and community activist Dan Wu on rescuing restaurants as the pandemic dries up business

Chapter Eight: UCLA Egyptologist Kara Cooney on how strange societal behavior is nothing new

Chapter Nine: Dr. Fatima Espinoza-Vasquez: The power of collaboration in the face of disaster among those left to fend for themselves

Chapter Ten: Dr. Phillip Chang, former Asst. Chief Medical Officer, UKHealthcare on the confusion and uncertainty in the early days of the pandemic 

Chapter Eleven: Dr. MyraBeth Bundy, clinical psychologist and EKU professor of psychology: how the pandemic is messing with our minds

Chapter Twelve: Ashley Smith, co-founder, Black Soil: Our Better Nature: connecting Black Kentuckians with their agricultural legacy and heritage

Chapter Thirteen: Gabriela Alcalde, Executive Director, the Sewell Foundation: the disparities revealed by the pandemic

Chapter Fourteen: Drew Boling, Lexington Fair Housing Council: affordable housing and housing affordability