An interviewbundle, featuring Arnon Grunberg, Fidan Ekiz, Rutger Bregman, Lucy Woesthoff and Jan Drost and others.

Roanne van Voorst is an anthropologist of the future. She previously wrote about the future of our eating behavior in Once we ate Animals and about the future of how we love, in Six of in a bed. With the daily reports on climate, poverty and conflict, the future does not always look very rosy. Is it wise to start having children, Van Voorst – mother of a daughter- wondered?

How does one’s vision of the future change with a child? What concerns do modern parents have? And what can we do?

In this book, Roanne van Voorst interviews well-known Dutch thinkers, essayists and philosophers about the future of their children. Concerns about climate change, polarization, racism, exclusion and the exhausting pursuit of optimalization are never far away. But there is always hope, hope for the future and the children who will shape it, because in the end it turns out: new life requires hope.

A must-read for all parents-to-be.

A nuanced and diverse picture of the future, including Arnon Grunberg, Fidan Ekiz, Rutger Bregman, Lucy Woesthoff and Jan Drost.

This book is available in Dutch

To love is to be human; it is an experience that robots and algorithms can imitate, but are not yet able to experience. Love is one of the most compelling, guiding forces in our existence: we commit crimes for love, take risks, break hearts, as well as our own boundaries.

Loving and being able to connect with others is the essence of being human: it makes us who we are. But the experience of love is changing. Medicines are currently being invented that can make you fall in love; there are robots to befriend and avatars that promise to be your perfect partner. Polyamory is on the rise; people have longer, healthier sexlives, thanks to new technology you can date anyone, everywhere, and at the same time there is a growing group of people who consciously live alone: the sologamists.

In With Six in a Bed, future anthropologist Roanne van Voorst investigates first-hand how love is changing. In the clear manner that characterizes her work, she discusses sociological and philosophical literature, shares her interviews with futurists, experiential experts, inventors and above all, gives an insight of her own, longterm anthropological research. From the time she hired a sex doll to the day she tested and matched her DNA with her partner's; from experiencing what it's like to have a digital partner to the testing of all sorts of love drugs; from sexwork to genderfluidity: Van Voorst offers a fascinating and titillating preview of the future of love and intimacy.

This book is availabe in Dutch (2023, Podium) and English (2024, Polity Press)

Combining the ethical clarity of Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals with the disquieting vision of Alan Weissman’s bestseller The World Without Us, a thought-provoking, entertaining exploration of a future where animal consumption is a thing of the past.

Though increasing numbers of people know that eating meat is detrimental to our planet’s health, many still can’t be convinced to give up eating meat. But how can we change behavior when common arguments and information aren’t working?

Acclaimed anthropologist Roanne Van Voorst changes the dialogue. In Once Upon a Time We Ate Animals, she shifts the focus from the present looking forward to the future looking back—imagining a world in which most no longer use  animals for food, clothing, or other items. By shifting the viewpoint, she offers a clear and compelling vision of what it means to live in a world without meat.

Hopeful and persuasive, Once Upon a Time We Ate Animals offers a tantalizing vision of what is not only possible but perhaps inevitable.

A massive shift is already taking place—everything van Voorst covers in this book has already been invented and is being used today by individuals and small organizations worldwide.

This book is available in English (Harper Collins), Dutch (Podium), German (Penguin Random), Japanese, Portugese (Companhia Editora Nacional) and Spanish (Ediciones Destino).

A non-fiction work about the unsustainability and inequality of modern cities, based on Roanne’s long term fieldwork in one of the most poor and dangerous slums of Jakarta, Indonesia. She narrates the inventive, creative and often hilarious strategies that slumdwellers use to cope with recurrent risk. Above all, she asks the question what we really need to live a good life? (hint: lots of mango’s, a reasonable amount of pubic hair, and a Jacuzzi)

A shocking and urgent novel, about camaraderie, loneliness, love and anxiety about the unknown, based on true stories of soldiers and veterans. This novel explores the increasing fear of refugees, characterizing modern politics.

Modern times are characterized by uncertainty. If there is one skill that we need to thrive in the nearby future, it is how to deal with stress and the unknown. In this interview bundle, some of the most courageous people in this world share their lessons on courage-building and goal-setting in fragile situations. From self-hypnosis to visualization to rational analyses – the interviewees tested the most effective strategies to overcome anxiety, and share their formula for success in this book. Featuring Alex Honnold, Lynn Hill, Catherine Destivelle, ‘Spiderman’ Alain Robert, Cedric Dumont, Steph Davis and many more.

To impress his superiors from the Ministry of Housing, an ambitious social worker organizes an event for top officials and neighbours in a deprived neighbourhood. He tries to make the area in which he works clean, modern and safe, but gradually he finds out that he has been missing something crucial…

A psychological novel that takes place in a modernist setting, criticizing the idea that cities can be completely planned, inspired by Le Corbusier and one of his greatest critics: sociologist James C. Scott.