Thinking about the future is a natural habit: We predict. We muse. We plan. We make bets on how we think our lives will turn out. But the future seems much less familiar than it once did, and if last year taught us anything, it’s that many of the things we took for granted are at risk.
Are we slipping toward a dystopian future where hate continues to thrive, or have recent watershed moments, movements, and discoveries set us on a road toward a fairer, more utopian environment? Should we, in short, be terrified or optimistic? These are questions we pose in our Dystopia and Utopia Issue, though there’s no right or wrong answer.