Dan Blumberg is ditching the past tense. The independent technologist and former NPR journalist announced today that his three-time Webby Award-honored podcast CRAFTED. is rebranding as Future Around & Find Out, marking a strategic pivot toward helping builders navigate AI and emerging technologies.
The rebrand represents a shift away from retrospective case studies toward real-time analysis of what technologists are building next. The new show, abbreviated as FAFO, launches its first season Feb. 3 with Emmy-nominated storyteller Baratunde Thurston as the debut guest.
“Hey, you know what would be awesome? If we could build the future we want, before we f*ck it up,” Blumberg said. “We can do it… we are building amazing things right now… but there’s also this dread a lot of us feel. I mean the headlines say AI is either going to put us all out of work – or straight up kill us – or lead to heaven on Earth. So, what do you think? Well, I think we have the power to build the future we actually want.”
The announcement comes as tech podcasts increasingly split between extreme pessimism about AI’s dangers and venture capital-backed hype. Blumberg positions Future Around & Find Out as occupying middle ground, applying journalistic rigor and his product management experience at LinkedIn, The New York Times, banks and startups to help founders and tech leaders think clearly about emerging technologies.
Format and Focus
The show will air Tuesday interviews with founders, makers and innovators building products and companies, plus FAFO Fridays featuring futurist Kwaku Aning in what the show describes as “an entertaining, sharp recap of the week’s most amazing and strange tech news.”
Content will center on AI’s impact across work, education, startups and daily life, while also covering innovations in deep tech, biotech, climate tech, robotics and quantum computing that often get overshadowed by AI-focused coverage.
Blumberg describes the show as targeting builders including founders and product, technology, design and data leaders who need actionable insights beyond theoretical discussions.
“The best way to predict the future is to make it,” Blumberg said. “We’re here to help builders think clearly so they can decide what to build next.”
Guest Lineup
Previous CRAFTED. guests included founders and chief product or technology officers from Google, X, AWS, GitHub, Gusto, BNY Mellon, Khan Academy and multiple early-stage AI startups.
Upcoming Future Around & Find Out guests include:
Baratunde Thurston (Feb. 3) — Emmy-nominated storyteller, technologist and comedian discussing how to live well with technology.
Azeem Azhar — Analyst and investor examining why AI must demonstrate return on investment in 2026.
Henrik Werdelin — Entrepreneur exploring how AI could unlock new forms of capitalism.
Beth Shapiro — Colossal Biosciences chief science officer on efforts to de-extinct the woolly mammoth and other species.
Eben Bayer — Climate tech entrepreneur discussing planetary protection strategies.
A trailer is available at FutureAround.com. The first episode drops Feb. 3 on all podcast platforms and YouTube.
Webby Recognition and Host Background
The Webby Awards recognized CRAFTED. as a top tech podcast three consecutive years. The honors underscore the show’s influence in tech media, where the Webbys are considered among the internet’s most prestigious awards.
Blumberg brings dual experience as both journalist and practitioner. His NPR background provides editorial standards and interview skills, while his product management roles at major tech companies and startups offer insider perspective on how technology products get built and scaled.
That combination shapes the show’s approach to examining AI and emerging tech through multiple lenses: what’s technically possible, what’s being built, what could go wrong, and what builders should prioritize.
Podcast Positioning
The rebrand reflects broader questions facing the tech industry about AI’s trajectory. Media coverage swings between utopian visions of AI solving humanity’s problems and dystopian warnings about job displacement or existential risk.
Future Around & Find Out aims to help technical audiences navigate that polarization by grounding discussions in what’s actually happening in labs, startups and established tech companies.
The show’s target audience includes people making decisions about which technologies to adopt, how to build products incorporating AI, and where to invest resources amid rapid technological change.
By featuring builders currently working on emerging tech rather than just commentators analyzing it from outside, the podcast positions itself as providing practical intelligence for technical decision-makers.
Tech Podcast Landscape
The rebrand enters a crowded podcast market where tech shows compete for audience attention. Established programs like This Week in Tech, The Vergecast and Acquired have loyal followings, while newer AI-focused podcasts have proliferated as the technology captured mainstream attention.
Future Around & Find Out’s differentiation lies in Blumberg’s hybrid background and the show’s stated commitment to balanced coverage that acknowledges both AI’s potential and its risks without leaning fully into either narrative.
The Friday recap segments with Aning add an entertainment element designed to make dense technical topics more accessible while still serving an audience of practitioners who need substantive analysis.
What’s Next
The podcast will maintain a Tuesday-Friday release schedule, with interviews on Tuesdays and news recaps on Fridays. Episodes will be available wherever podcasts are distributed, plus video versions on YouTube.
Blumberg plans to cover technologies beyond AI including developments in quantum computing, blockchain, robotics and biotech that he argues deserve more attention than they currently receive in tech media dominated by AI coverage.
The show will continue examining how emerging technologies affect work, education, startups and society while maintaining focus on actionable insights for builders deciding what to create next.
For technical professionals navigating rapid technological change, Future Around & Find Out offers a middle path between dismissing AI’s significance and accepting tech industry hype uncritically. Whether that balanced approach resonates with audiences will become clear as the show’s new season unfolds.
The first episode with Thurston discussing technology and wellbeing arrives Feb. 3 across all podcast platforms.
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