The Future

Latest Articles

The Big Hurt: The Year Ahead

Predicting the future is a little silly.

By DAVID THORPE | December 21, 2012

Back to the future

Welcome to our new world. Or perhaps it's back to the future.
Letter from the Publisher
By STEPHEN M. MINDICH | September 21, 2012

The planet known as California

More future adventures with Karl.
Failure
By KARL STEVENS | September 14, 2012

Pope Cat Visits the Future

"I will have had a long day of sunbathing on Mercury ... "
Failure
By KARL STEVENS | August 17, 2012

Future Fatty Foods(1)

Heart disease, courtesy of ... the future!!
Big Fat Whale
By BRIAN MCFADDEN | June 01, 2012

You've got to hand it to Brit Marling when it comes to audacious premises, both in Another Earth (in which she starred and co-wrote with director Mike Cahill), and in this high concept sci-fi head-scratcher, in which she also stars and co-wrote with di
Audacious premises
By PETER KEOUGH | May 11, 2012

Karl's descendant, Karl VIII

In the year 2312 ...
Failure
By KARL STEVENS | May 04, 2012

As MIT expands eastward, Cambridge officials struggle to balance the allure of tech development with Central Square's gritty soul

A decade from now, the east end of Central Square will look nothing like the west.
Square roots
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | March 09, 2012

Review: Battle Royale (2000)

In a not-so-distant future society that has devolved into chaos, Japan's youth run amok, Clockwork Orange –style, and the government has passed an act decreeing that one unruly grade-school class will face off in a battle from which only one will emerg
A not-so-distant future society
By ALEXANDRA CAVALLO | February 24, 2012

Interview: Wim Wenders takes 3D one step further

Some are surprised that Wim Wenders, like fellow veteran of the '70s New German Cinema Werner Herzog, has embraced something as newfangled as 3D.
Pina envy
By PETER KEOUGH | January 20, 2012

Meme forecast for 2012

When evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins coined the word "meme" in 1976 — meaning "a piece of thought copied from person to person" — he probably didn't realize that, in time, the word would come to be synonymous with cat macros, various advice anima
What pianos will the cats of the future play for us?
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | December 30, 2011

The 2011 "Where's Whitey?" award for Best Animal Actor: the nominees

This has been a great year for performances on screen, especially from animals. Which makes the winner of the annual "Where's Whitey?" Award for Best...
By Peter Keough | December 26, 2011

Gifts for the 1%

They say the best things in life are free. But you know what makes those things even better ? Swag!
Deck the halls with wretched excess
By | December 05, 2011

Review: Real Steel

Charlie Kenton is America.
Boxing robots. Enough said.
By Ann Lewinson | October 07, 2011

URI’s ''Are You Ready For the Future?'' colloquium in brief

The future is about more than the singularity, of course. It's about robots, lab-grown organs, and watching hopelessly as the Chinese pilfer our military secrets.
Robots and lab-grown bladders
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | September 30, 2011

On carpentry and college

Age 30, I quit the Phoenix and ended up with a job as an apprentice to a carpenter. Sawing, chiseling, hammering, nail-gunning, tiling, sanding, slotting, framing, hauling, measuring, and sweeping are less obvious outcomes of an undergraduate career in
Finding reward - and real learning - in the ivory tower
By NINA MACLAUGHLIN | September 02, 2011

The future is boring

More dispatches from the year 2311.
Failure
By KARL STEVENS | August 26, 2011

Just outside the Milky Way

In the year 2311.
Failure
By KARL STEVENS | August 12, 2011

Review: The Future

First of all let me confess that I'm a sucker for a cute, sad little kitten, especially one with a bum leg; like little Paw Paw, a miserable shelter stray with renal problems and a tiny cast, whom I found the most appealing character for much of Miranda
Miranda July's shaggy kitten story
By PETER KEOUGH | August 05, 2011

Miranda July takes a cookie break

July had just nabbed a chocolate-chip cookie from a table set up for a conference of visiting doctors. She was surprised — not only by the fact that one of the physicians had recognized her — but that the woman had also already seen July's latest, which
Meow!
By BRETT MICHEL | July 29, 2011

Review: Another Earth

Apparently it's getting harder to meet compatible partners these days in independent movies.
Twisted psychology
By PETER KEOUGH | July 29, 2011

Review: The Future

I think any movie with an ailing kitten wearing one of those little casts has won me over already.
Heartbreaking stream-of-consciousness
By PETER KEOUGH | April 29, 2011

COMIC: The illustrated history of Boston's future, 2020-2100 AD

We approached this future-Boston project as a sort of moderated "jam comic." Result: post-singularity MBTA robots, Menino clones, Citgo aliens, and donut zombies.
Forget politicians, economists, or inventors -- the future of Boston belongs to the comics
By BOSTON COMICS ROUNDTABLE | January 21, 2011

Local experts predict the Boston of the future

There's more to imagining our city's future than placing bets on when Hizzoner will retire (which is just an exercise in futility at this point).
Best Decade Ever
By CHRIS FARAONE | January 15, 2011

How To Be Good at the Future

One of these days, when the Doc Brown and McFly jokes dry up, you'll have no choice but to start thinking seriously about the future. Not just tomorrow, and the day after, but the next several hundred years, since lifespans are on track to skyrocket.
Tap into technology and make yourself a Master of Tomorrow
By CHRIS FARAONE | January 14, 2011

Slay Bells: The world of Infinite Santa 8000

Episode #1 of Infinite Santa 8000 Go ahead, pick any character, any person (even this guy); put them in a post-apocalyptic dystopia, and you've got...
By Steve Miller | October 29, 2010

Review: Steampunk at the Players' Ring

Since they began gaining mass popularity in the '80s, the antique copper laser-guns, cog-studded corsets and alternate electronic empires of the steampunk genre have been buzzing the cultural circuitry ever more.
Metallic myths
By MEGAN GRUMBLING | October 01, 2010

All aboard electro-pop's Mystery Machine

The experience of watching Stereo Total (pronounced "to-TAL") live is a little like watching one of those old Hanna-Barbera cartoons — say, Scooby-Doo , where one second the gang are driving along in the Mystery Machine and the next second a rock song i
Inside the retro-futuristic world of Stereo Total
By JONATHAN DONALDSON | August 20, 2010

The price is right

For a guy sometimes compared to Philip K. Dick, Alex Irvine took his time in getting around to writing about the future.
Alexander C. Irvine sees a Buyout in your future
By SAM PFEIFLE | April 01, 2009

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[ 05/20 ] "Natural Histories: Photographs by Barbara Bosworth" @ Peabody Essex Museum

[ 05/20 ] Amy Arbus: "After Images" @ Griffin Museum of Photography

[ 05/20 ] Pirates of Penzance @ Loeb Drama Center