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Eight-year-old Hertfordshire boy launches podcast
From the future of science, technology and inventions, to global issues affection our planet. Jack To The Future is a fortnightly podcast for children and grown-ups, created by eight-year-old Jack.
Primary Times spoke with Jack to ask what inspired him to make this podcast and what plans he has for his own future.
1. What inspired you to start your Jack To The Future podcast?
It’s called Jack To The Future because my favourite film is Back To The Future and I just changed the name!
I like the bit in the film when they visit the future in 2015 and all of the changes that they see compared to 1985- but actually we know now that we're in 2021 that pretty much none of these things have actually happened or have worked well enough - you don’t see many floating hoverboards on your way to school for example!
It shows how nobody can really predict the future (unless of course you do have a time machine!) and so I spoke to some of my friends and they said that they imagine things like flying cars, robots, that kind of thing. I thought the same but I wondered what grownups thought. I like asking questions.
During lockdown, we wanted something fun to do and to keep in touch with other people. I had told a few jokes and had a chat on a local radio station; really enjoyed it and had loads of my own ideas, so we just went for it!
2. What got you interested in the future of our world?
I’m a fan of inventors and engineers and like watching channels like Kids Invent Stuff and Colin Furze, where they create crazy inventions that could exist in the future. Dad and I watch the Kurzegesagt videos, which answer questions about space, our Earth, the universe etc and it got me thinking. I love science and technology and I am really keen to know what might happen in the future. I have some great ideas for inventions and how they may change the world so thinking about the future links to that too.
I read a book from the library called science vs. climate change and it got me thinking. Technology and science could really help our planet in the future, but not always, so as well as being excited about the future and all the cool things that may happen and exist, we need to think about the effect on the environment, so that's the other side to my podcast, a kind of eco side, about how we can make a difference in the future and it makes people think about how we are looking after our planet.
3. What are you favourite topics to talk about and why?
Probably STEM subjects really, because I think maybe those are the subjects that might change the most in the future and they link into everything. For example, in my episode on theatre, we talked about how VR and AR technology might change how we watch shows in the future. Maths is behind all technology so that’s also relevant. Whatever the topic, I usually manage to link it back to an invention I’ve come up with or some futuristic tech!
4. You talk with local expects frequently in your podcasts, do you find this helpful with your episodes?
I find it very helpful indeed. I do research with mum before the episode but often people talking about their knowledge helps me to understand the theme more and because they are local, it seems more relevant to me. It also helps me to think about my own ideas for the future and ask myself (and my listeners) questions. I’m learning about all different areas - I’m learning so much, I can’t even describe how much!
5. What does the future of Jack look like? – Do you have future podcast ideas? A dream job?
I would definitely like to carry on with the podcast because I really enjoy it and although it doesn’t make money, I’m hoping that I can speak to more and more people and maybe even celebrities in the future!
I’d like to do an episode on the future of space - if NASA would talk to me that would be incredible! I’d also like to do an episode on the future of biology - specifically the future of our bodies - will they evolve further? So for example, in the Stone Age we were really hairy and now we don’t need hair as much because we have proper clothes. I watched a video that talked about how we may not have our little toes in the future, so that would be quite interesting to research, talk about and make guesses for the future.
My dream job is actually not to be a podcaster, that's more of a hobby, but I'd love to be an inventor, an engineer, a physicist, a chemist and biologist. I'd love to work for CERN in Switzerland and do research in their lab. Everything in the world is made up of atoms, and the research that CERN do helps to discover what the universe is made of and how it works and that's right up my street.
To listen to a Jack to the Future podcast visit: linktr.ee/Jtothefuture
The podcast is available on all major platforms.
To find Jack to the Future on Facebook and Instagram visit: @jtothefuture