Futurology Wins Gold at the 5th Annual Signal Awards
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 20, 2026 – Futurology, the Berggruen Institute’s podcast about the forces reshaping how we live, think and govern ourselves, has won Gold in the Conversation Starter category of the 5th Annual Signal Awards, announced today.
Each week, Futurology hosts conversations that illuminate how the concepts changing our world every day have outrun the words we have to describe them.
Those conversations span science, philosophy, technology, politics, and culture. Episodes have taken up the fate of the liberal world order, the search for life beyond Earth, the ethics of rewriting the human genome, the economics of attention, the nature of consciousness, and what organized religion makes of artificial minds.
In its first year, Futurology has put more than 50 thinkers on the record in front of millions of viewers and listeners. Guests have included political scientist Francis Fukuyama, Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna, mathematician Terence Tao, novelist Elif Shafak, philosopher Michael Sandel, and AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li.
“At the Berggruen Institute we have always believed that the paradigms of our new world will come from the world of ideas. This recognition by the Signal Awards tells us that we are not alone in that thinking, that audiences are hungry for something deeper and longer-term than the news cycle. This is meaningful. The credit goes to our team, the thinkers, guests, and listeners who gave us their time and their curiosity,” said Nicolas Berggruen, co-founder of the Berggruen Institute and executive producer of Futurology.Winners are selected by the Signal Awards Judging Academy, a collective of the architects, instigators, and trailblazers of the medium. The Conversation Starter award recognizes a show as a whole, the dialogue it has sustained across every episode rather than any single one; this recognition comes as the news keeps catching up to the questions Futurology and the Institute exist to ask: what becomes of political, economic, and social institutions designed for a world that no longer exists.
“Podcasting is no longer defined by a single format, platform or approach to storytelling, and this year’s submissions make that evolution impossible to ignore,” said Jemma Brown, general manager of the Signal Awards. “Charts and download counts can only tell us what’s popular. At Signal, our role is to notice the creative risks that are quietly changing what everyone else makes next. This year’s winners offer a first look at podcasting’s next chapter.”
About Futurology
Futurology is produced by the Berggruen Institute’s Studio B with Wavland. Dawn Nakagawa hosts, with interviewers from across the Institute, and guests come largely from its worldwide network of scientists, philosophers, technologists, policymakers and artists. The show launched in June 2025 and releases new episodes every week in audio and video.
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About the Berggruen Institute
The Berggruen Institute develops foundational ideas for the political, economic and social institutions of the 21st century. Founded in 2010 by Nicolas Berggruen and Nathan Gardels, it convenes thinkers across cultural and political divides from its centers in Los Angeles, Venice and Beijing. Its work includes Noema Magazine and the $1 million Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture.
About The Signal Awards
The Signal Awards recognizes the podcasts that define culture. The awards body is mission-focused on uplifting the podcast medium by recognizing the most potent, meaningful and unprecedented audio projects being made today as decided by The Signal Awards Judging Academy.