"Nine Months Per Year" | Episode One

“They’re Our Future" | Episode Four

A visit to the emergency room illuminates what resilience means through personal experience. What happens when a European demographic research project asks a Berlin podcaster from the United States to explore their findings? Find out in episode four of Certain Futures. The final episode in this series begins with host Daniel Stern visiting the emergency room. He's inspired to reconsider the meaning of resilience. Reflecting on the journey of Certain Futures unveils a few more interesting twists and interesting complexities. Returning to conversations from previous episodes, Dan finds a hopeful theme for looking at today and into our Future. Episode Four, "They're Our Future" includes new clips from: * Prof. Jakub Bijak [https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/5x6dng/professor-jakub-bijak] * Dr. Miguel Sánchez-Romero [https://legacy.econ.tuwien.ac.at/sanchez/index.php] * Prof. Anna Rotkirch [https://blogs.helsinki.fi/rotkirch/] *  Prof. Arnstein Aassve [https://faculty.unibocconi.eu/arnsteinaassve/] *  Prof. Letizia Mencarini [https://faculty.unibocconi.eu/letiziamencarini/] This limited-series podcast is produced by Radio Spaetkauf [https://www.radiospaetkauf.com] in collaboration with the FutuRes Project [https://futu-res.eu/]. The FutuRes Project brings demographers and economists together with policymakers to advance what we know and how we plan for Europe’s ageing society. You can find all the FutuRes research and other resources for understanding ageing and resilience in Europe on their website: https://futu-res.eu/ [https://futu-res.eu/] or also follow FutuRes on Linkedin [https://linkedin.com/company/futures-of-europe]. Research Links: Europe’s challenges of population ageing: Are migration and automation possible solutions? [https://futu-res.eu/sites/default/files/media/attach/FutuRes_report%2010_Policy%20Paper%20Ageing%20Migration%20Automation%20D4-2.pdf] Additional Credits and links: * Certain Futures Music by: Partefacts [https://linktr.ee/partefacts] - Lani Bagley, Christa Belle Walley and Craig Schuftan * Certain Futures Artwork by: Andy El Kanani www.andyelkanani.com [http://www.andyelkanani.com] * Host and Producer of Certain Futures: Daniel Stern [https://www.sterndaniel.com] * Additional Editing by ** Jeff Emtman** jeffemtman.com [https://jeffemtman.com] * Medical Care by Josephs Krankenhaus [https://www.joseph-kliniken.de] The FutuRes project is funded by the European Union (Grant Agreement # 101094741).

"All That We Want" | Episode Three

Europe's declining fertility rates and the personal choice of becoming a parent. What happens when a European demographic research project asks a Berlin podcaster from the United States to explore their findings? Find out in Episode three of Certain Futures. Episode three takes host Daniel Stern from the playgrounds of Berlin to the parental policies of Finland, and a conversation with demographer/sociologist Anna Rotkirch [https://blogs.helsinki.fi/rotkirch/], a leading researcher and policy advisor on the topic. Why are we having fewer children? A look at the policies, social cues, personal experiences, economic factors and cultural forces that influence our decisions to try and become parents. This limited-series podcast is produced by Radio Spaetkauf [https://www.radiospaetkauf.com] in collaboration with the FutuRes Project [https://futu-res.eu/]. The FutuRes Project brings demographers and economists together with policymakers to advance what we know and how we plan for Europe’s ageing society. You can find all the FutuRes research and other resources for understanding ageing and resilience in Europe on their website: https://futu-res.eu/ [https://futu-res.eu/] or also follow FutuRes on Linkedin [https://linkedin.com/company/futures-of-europe]. Thank you again to our guest in this episode: Anna Rotkirch: https://blogs.helsinki.fi/rotkirch/ [https://blogs.helsinki.fi/rotkirch/], and Population Research Institute (Väestöliitto)/ [https://www.vaestoliitto.fi/en/] Research Links: * "All That She Wants Is Another Baby (publication)" [https://blogs.helsinki.fi/rotkirch/files/2009/03/paper-6-rotkirch-2007.pdf] * "Ten Steps Towards More Baby Friendly Policies…" [https://population-europe.eu/research/policy-insights/low-birth-rates-ten-steps-towards-more-baby-friendly-policies-2024-and] * More Work by Anna [https://blogs.helsinki.fi/rotkirch/articles/] Additional References and links: * Speed 2: Speed 2: Cruise Control on Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_2:_Cruise_Control] * Certain Futures Music by: Partefacts [https://linktr.ee/partefacts]; Lani Bagley, Christa Belle Walley and Craig Schuftan * Certain Futures Artwork by: Andy El Kanani www.andyelkanani.com [http://www.andyelkanani.com] * Host and Producer of Certain Futures: Daniel Stern [https://www.sterndaniel.com] * Additional Editing by ** Jeff Emtman** jeffemtman.com [https://jeffemtman.com] The FutuRes project is funded by the European Union (Grant Agreement # 101094741).

"Ageing Alla Milanese" | Episode Two

Rain Clouds and Silver Linings What happens when a European demographic research project asks a Berlin podcaster from the United States to explore their findings? Find out in Episode two of Certain Futures. In this episode host Daniel Stern's journey into demography takes him to Milan, where he explores working, ageing, and dying with experts at Bocconi University, as well as a few Milanese out enjoying the evening. These anecdotes and expert insights reveal a few paths to building supportive networks and resilient, hopeful futures. This limited-series podcast is produced by Radio Spaetkauf [https://www.radiospaetkauf.com] in collaboration with the FutuRes Project [https://futu-res.eu/]. The FutuRes Project brings demographers and economists together with policymakers to advance what we know and how we plan for Europe’s ageing society. You can find all the FutuRes research and other resources for understanding ageing and resilience in Europe on their website: https://futu-res.eu/ [https://futu-res.eu/] or also follow FutuRes on Linkedin [https://linkedin.com/company/futures-of-europe]. Thank you again to the guests in this episode: *  Arnstein Aassve [https://faculty.unibocconi.eu/arnsteinaassve/] *  Letizia Mencarini [https://faculty.unibocconi.eu/letiziamencarini/] *  Aleksandra Torbica [https://faculty.unibocconi.eu/aleksandratorbica/] * Plus Valentina and Paolo. Music by Partefacts [https://linktr.ee/partefacts]; Lani Bagley, Christa Belle Walley and Craig Schuftan Artwork by: Andy El Kanani www.andyelkanani.com [http://www.andyelkanani.com] The FutuRes project is funded by the European Union (Grant Agreement # 101094741).

"Nine Months Per Year" | Episode One

How do we know how old we are? What happens when a European demographic research project asks a Berlin podcaster from the United States to explore their findings? We find out in Episode one of Certain Futures: "Nine Months Per Year" Host Daniel Stern begins his journey into demography and takes a peek at what ageing might mean for himself, and for Europe. We find out the origins of demography and look at how the science has evolved. We also see how confronting ageing isn't just policy and percentages - it is also very personal. This limited-series podcast is produced by Radio Spaetkauf [https://www.radiospaetkauf.com] in collaboration with the FutuRes Project [https://futu-res.eu/]. The FutuRes Project brings demographers and economists together with policymakers to advance what we know and how we plan for Europe’s ageing society. You can find all the FutuRes research and other resources for understanding ageing and resilience in Europe on their website: https://futu-res.eu/ [https://futu-res.eu/] or also follow FutuRes on Linkedin [https://linkedin.com/company/futures-of-europe]. Thank you again to the guests in this episode: * Professor Jakub Bijak: University of Southampton [https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/5x6dng/professor-jakub-bijak] * Professor Alexia Fürnkranz-Prskawetz: TU Wien [https://legacy.econ.tuwien.ac.at/prskawetz/index.php] * Dr. Miguel Sánchez-Romero: TU Wien [https://legacy.econ.tuwien.ac.at/sanchez/index.php] * and the voice from Bocconi University is Letizia Mencarini [https://faculty.unibocconi.eu/letiziamencarini/]. Referenced Publications: * Jakub: “Towards Bayesian Model-Based Demography [https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-83039-7]” (open access) * Alexia & Miguel: “Theoretical foundation of the dynamic general equilibrium model… [https://futu-res.eu/sites/default/files/media/attach/FutuRes_report%2001_Theoretical%20foundation%20dynamic%20general%20model%20Sanchez-Romero%20Zettler%20Prskawetz.pdf?]” (PDF) Music by Partefacts [https://linktr.ee/partefacts]; Lani Bagley, Christa Belle Walley and Craig Schuftan Artwork by: Andy El Kanani www.andyelkanani.com [http://www.andyelkanani.com] The FutuRes project is funded by the European Union (Grant Agreement # 101094741).

Certain Futures - Teaser

Subscribe Now - Coming Soon A podcast from the FutuRes Project [https://futu-res.eu] and Radio Spaetkauf. Join in on a forward thinking conversation between host Daniel Stern and leading researchers from all across Europe. Coming July 2025