Inside the Human Urge to Tinker With Other Species
A conservation researcher responds to Torie Bosch’s “Bigfeet.”
Response
Future Tense Fiction
Bigfeet
An eccentric billionaire claims he has a chance encounter with Bigfoot. When he decides to offer a reward to anyone who can bring him proof of the creature, he opens the floodgates to Bigfoot sightings—and is stuck with the dilemma of how to classify an animal that isn’t supposed to exist.
The Disaster Flaneur
Insurance involves betting on catastrophe, and it’s the main way our economy interacts with short-term disaster and long-term risk. As climate catastrophes accelerate, what happens when insurers walk away from the table?
Response
The Way Out
Drover, a weather analyst, tracks bat data—including heart rate, flight patterns, food intake, and other behavior—to predict extreme weather events. When the bank where his partner works introduces a system that allows people to bet on weather events, he’s forced to reckon with the line between predicting climate catastrophe and profiting from it.
Video
Food, Labor, and the Future of “Luxury”: An Interview With Erin K. Wagner
Professor, medievalist, and writer Erin K. Wagner discusses “The Middle,” her August 2025 short story for Future Tense Fiction.
Extreme Environments and Human Nature: An Interview With Margrét Helgadóttir
In Margrét Helgadóttir’s “Tunnel Fever,” an isolated roadside bar buried in a vast network of tunnels on the floor of the Arctic Ocean is staffed by a claustrophobic waitress who dreams of life above the surface. When a pair of outlaws tries to rob the bar, its patrons and employees are forced to work together […]