Future Tense is excited to announce a new partnership with Letras Libres, one of the most influential ideas magazines in the Spanish-language world, founded in 1999 by Enrique Krauze. Letras Libres, based in Mexico City and publishing a separate edition in Spain, will publish a translated Future Tense article each week, starting with Cory Doctorow’s essay on the power of science-fiction not only to predict, but to shape, the future. The collaboration builds upon a pre-existing content-sharing agreement between Slate and Letras Libres.
No country’s experience—or future—is as intertwined with ours as is Mexico’s, and within Mexico there is no smarter or more discerning source of rigorous thinking about the current state of the world and its future than Letras Libres.
“We are very happy and look forward to collaborating with Slate, Arizona State University, and New America on their Future Tense project, jointly exploring how technology impacts the way we live, and our future. This is a pressing question for our readers and for our magazine, which is why publishing Future Tense content will greatly benefit our Spanish-speaking audience,” Daniel Krauze, editor of Letras Libres, told me.
The future of Future Tense is increasingly global, as we seek to engage new audiences. When Arizona State University, New America, and Slate first launched Future Tense, the collaboration was conceived of as a bridge between academics, Silicon Valley types, and policymakers seeking a better understanding of emerging technologies. But over time, our “Citizen’s Guide to the Future” has become a broader inquiry on what technological and scientific breakthroughs mean for the rest of us. And when we talk about “citizens” and “the rest of us,” it makes little sense to talk about any one nationality in isolation.
If there’s one thing we know about the future, it’s that we’re all in it together. And for that reason, Future Tense will be looking for other partners of the caliber of Letras Libres around the world. Stay tuned.
