What's going on here?
I started out as a writer, and thinking through my fingers is still the part I like best. Collision Detector is where I keep doing it in public — analysis too tangential for clients, the residue of projects that won't fit in a talk, reviews that force me to pay attention to what I'm actually consuming, the odd culture post. It runs alongside the day job, not away from it. What gets worked out here goes back in.
And you're who?
Scott Smith — futurist, researcher, writer, based in Barcelona. I studied economic history while the Soviet Union collapsed, then became a financial writer just in time for the sterling crash. Futures work is less about spotting the next collision than reading the one already underway.
I founded Changeist in 2007, after fifteen years of forecasting and strategy work in New York, DC, and London. Clients have run from UNDP to The Economist, the BBC, Samsung, and NYT R&D. I co-lead 10F Consortium, a network of analysts tracking post-globalization shifts.
In 2020 I wrote a book about the future, How to Future. In 2023 Susan Cox-Smith and I wrote another, Future Cultures. I may yet write more. I've been a columnist for Quartz and written for WIRED UK, the Stanford Social Innovation Review, and The Atlantic.
Off the clock: STS history, folk horror, classic giallo, soundtracks. Most of the watching ends up on Letterboxd.
You and who else?
I've opened CD to friends and colleagues who may write here from time to time. More eyes catch more collisions.
Where else can I find you?
If you want to get in touch about anything here, you can find me on:
Follow on the fediverse: @index@collisiondetector.com