Episode Overview

Podcast: New Books Network
Episode: Matthew Benjamin Cole on "Fear the Future: Dystopia and Political Imagination in the Twentieth Century" (University of Michigan Press, 2025)
Host: New Books
Guest: Matthew Benjamin Cole, political theorist, Binghamton University
Release Date: September 13, 2025

This episode features an enlightening conversation with Matthew Benjamin Cole about his new book, "Fear the Future: Dystopia and Political Imagination in the Twentieth Century." Cole and the host explore how dystopia, far from being merely a literary genre, has shaped modern political thought and continues to shape our political imagination, anxieties, and agency. The episode traverses the rise of dystopian thought, the constructive power of dystopian warnings, the dangers of both unchecked utopianism and technocracy, and the tasks of critical citizenship in a polarized, digitally-mediated world.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Origins and Motivation for the Book

[03:33–10:23]

• Cole’s book emerged from his dissertation at Duke, originally inspired both by his love of literature and pressing political anxieties surrounding technology, oligarchy, and authoritarianism.
• He noticed a trend where “even writers rooted in realism or historical fiction, like Ishiguro and Atwood, were drawn to dystopian, apocalyptic futures.” This, for Cole, signaled a transformation of the collective political imagination.
• The project gained urgency post–2016 (Brexit, Trump), as readers and scholars turned to classic dystopias like The Handmaid’s Tale and 1984 to make sense of the present.
• The book cover’s creation involved collaborating with LA-based artist Cleon Peterson, whose art, as Cole describes, “emblematizes issues about technology, social control, the connection between the mind and the external social environment—a mindscape as cityscape” ([09:45]).

Beyond Genre: Dystopia as Political Imaginary

[10:27–15:10]

• Cole distinguishes between dystopia as literary genre and the “dystopian imagination” as a social heuristic and political mode.
• Dystopian thinking, he argues, is not strictly fiction: “It’s doing real work in political vocabulary…not just references to novels but as a way we picture possible futures—or even the present” ([11:02]).
• Classic dystopian literature is intertwined with non-fictional polemics (e.g., Orwell’s journalism), heightening the direct political function of these works.
• He references Habermas: “People don't fight for abstractions, but they do battle with images” ([14:03]).

The Rise of Dystopian Thought: A Pivotal Event

[15:10–17:12]

• Cole emphasizes that the modern era brought radically new views of the future—shifting from static or cyclical views to an open, anxiety-laden horizon of possible futures.
• Dystopian thinking, thus, is historically contingent: “Why has dystopia become our default heuristic for politics? Can we get clear about its affordances and limitations?” ([16:05]).

Constructive Uses of Dystopic Thinking

[17:12–25:48]

• The “cautionary” purpose of dystopias is prominent; they are warnings, not fatalistic prophecies.
• Cole pushes back against critics who see dystopian thinking as apolitical or paralyzing (e.g., Jill Lepore): “It seemed to me that the people who were forewarned were then willing to fight to avert those futures—they weren’t just curling up and crying” ([18:27]).
• He quotes Lewis Mumford: “A pessimist about probabilities, but an optimist about possibilities” ([20:43]), and references Orwell’s “duty to try and save the patient.”
• J. G. Ballard’s “marriage of reason and nightmare” opens the book, illustrating how dystopias express both didactic warnings and a “psychological architecture”—where cityscapes externalize internal crises of meaning and agency.

The Modern Space of Possibilities

[37:02–41:18]

• Cole introduces his term “space of possibilities,” akin to Reinhart Koselleck’s “horizon of expectations”—the set of futures imaginable at a given time.
• For most of history, the imaginable future was narrow; only with modernity do people expect radical change, for good or for ill.
• This openness is twinned with the anxiety of “mastery”—the sense that “the world of tomorrow is going to be different, and we can make it so.”

From Utopian Optimism to Dystopian Anxiety

[41:18–50:56]

• Close reading of Mercier’s L’An 2440 (the utopian future as Enlightenment fulfillment) and Zamyatin’s We (the archetype of the dystopian future).
• Dystopia is not merely a reaction to world wars, but emerges as progress narratives are destabilized by Darwin, Nietzsche, early technocratic fears, and more—a crisis of “futurity and mastery.”

Dystopia, Utopia, and Totalitarianism

[50:33–59:36]

• Postwar liberals (like Berlin, Popper) saw utopianism as naïve or dangerous—a precursor to totalitarianism.
• Cole: “I don't think this is the point that dystopian writers were making.” Rather, dystopia can actually “exercise stewardship over the utopian imagination,” warning against both naïve blueprinting and surrender to fatalism.
• Dystopias can defend imagination and “the constructive essence of the utopian vision.”

Dystopia as Mirror and Warning for Today

[59:36–71:02]

• Orwell's diagnosis is particularly resonant: domination for its own sake, rather than misguided social engineering; the pursuit of cruelty and hierarchy in themselves.
• Cole is more wary of “techno-oligarchy or techno-authoritarianism” than of superintelligent AI.
• He warns about Silicon Valley “utopians” whose visions mask private power grabs: “Anyone even remotely sincere about utopia would see it as something we all participate in—the people building AIs don’t want public oversight or control” ([69:30]).

Technocracy, Populism, and Democratic Agency

[71:02–82:36]

• Expertise’s double edge: essential for problem-solving, but a potential source of alienation and exclusion.
• Cole calls for “citizen technocracy,” engagement rather than elite rule: “Ultimately…the criteria of policy…has to be democratic legitimacy, not expert endorsement” ([76:20]).
• Exclusion breeds ignorance (“a self-fulfilling prophecy”)—active, informed participation is key.

Media, Narrative, and the Public Sphere

[82:36–96:19]

• Indifference and quiescence can be as durable as ideological support—citing studies of depoliticization in Russia, and seeing parallels in US reality-television politics.
• Echoes of Hannah Arendt: “Part of the core issue is alienation from the common world…we’re all consuming media on our screens in isolation…and we’re no longer talking about a common reality” ([86:37]).
• Habermas’s warnings about the “refeudalization of the public sphere” are more salient than ever, but narrative can work both as tool of deception and as means of imaginative reality-building—Jenny Odell’s notion of “context collection” offers a path to rebuilding shared worlds.

Dystopian Drift: Amusing and Repressing Ourselves

[96:19–101:38]

• Does Huxley or Orwell have the better diagnosis? Cole: “The outcomes are similar—our attention is the battleground.” But now, “cruelty becomes immersive entertainment…sadism as mass meme and spectacle.”
• Algorithms can pacify some, radicalize others: “These technologies do not simply seek to pacify; they can also be technologies of recruitment and incitement.”

Final Reflection: Questions for Readers

[101:38–107:18]

• Cole hopes readers keep asking: “What now? What next? And: What else?” Even “building a bulwark” (holding the line against decline) matters.
• Cites Arendt: “The essence of human freedom was our ability to start something new…We should seek out alternatives in the here and now…even if they seem marginal, they may seed different modes of thought and action.”
• Encourages seeing ourselves as “future ancestors,” asking how we “construct and leave” possibilities for those who follow.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Dystopian Thinking’s Constructive Purpose:
  "In issuing a warning, a dystopian writer has to emphasize there’s still capacity for choice. The future hasn’t been determined yet, and we may yet be able to change course." —Cole [18:54]

• On Hope and Possibility:
  "Lewis Mumford ... once described himself as a pessimist about probabilities, but an optimist about possibilities." —Cole [20:43]

• On Technocratic Elitism:
  "Ultimately…the criteria of policy…has to be democratic legitimacy, not expert endorsement." —Cole [76:20]

• On the Dystopian Present:
  "Anyone even remotely sincere about utopia would see it as something we all participate in…You don’t engineer a utopia and then tell everyone else to live in it like they’re characters in your SimCity game." —Cole [70:43]

• On Civic Engagement:
  "We can give…less of our attention [to extractive technologies] …and more importantly, direct that time and effort into forms of association more rooted in space and place and community…even if they may seem marginal, they may incubate different modes of thought and action." —Cole [103:10]

• On the Core Takeaway:
  "Maybe it’s two questions. What now? What next?... And maybe a third: What else? Where can we go instead of dystopia?" —Cole [102:03]

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------| | Origins & Book Context/Cover Art | 03:33–10:23 | | Dystopia as Political Imagination | 10:27–15:10 | | Constructive Power of Dystopian Warnings | 17:12–25:48 | | Ballard and the Psychological Architecture of Dystopia | 21:50–25:48 | | Modern “Space of Possibilities” | 37:02–41:18 | | Utopian Optimism → Dystopian Anxiety (Mercier to Zamyatin) | 41:18–50:56 | | Limits of Anti-Utopian Critique | 50:33–59:36 | | Orwell, Huxley, and Dystopia's Relevance for Today | 59:36–71:02 | | Technocracy, Populism, and Democratic Legitimacy | 71:02–82:36 | | Media, Disinformation, and the Breakdown of the Public Sphere | 82:36–96:19 | | Postman: Entertainment and Passivity | 96:19–101:38 | | Final Questions for Readers: What Now, What Next, What Else? | 101:38–107:18 |

Tone and Language

Matthew Cole’s tone throughout the interview is thoughtful, nuanced, and self-aware, balancing optimism about possibilities with sober realism about probabilities. He channels a scholarly but accessible register, regularly pausing to clarify scholarly jargon, reference both classic and contemporary authors, and offer relatable analogies (“SimCity game,” “algorithmic newsfeeds,” etc.). The host maintains an engaged, reflective style, inviting Cole to expand on his most provocative points and linking his arguments to pressing present-day concerns.

For Listeners

Whether you’re a scholar, student, or curious citizen, this episode offers a comprehensive roadmap to understanding how dystopian stories—and the imagination more broadly—shape, distort, and sometimes empower our collective politics. With reference to Orwell, Huxley, Ballard, philosophers like Arendt and Habermas, and recent events from Trump to TikTok, Cole challenges us not only to diagnose our era’s malaise but to imagine and enact alternatives—however modest—in our own communities.

Final Reflective Note:
"The process of grappling with … dire trajectories of our political landscape is ongoing. But we have to keep asking … what can we start to make instead? … Even if some alternatives seem marginal, they may serve us well in the years ahead." —Matthew Cole [102:03, 103:22]