Foresight Friday: Olivia Houghton, insights and engagement director

Every Friday, we offer an end-of-week wrap-up of the topics, issues, ideas and virals we’re all talking about. This week, insights and engagement director Olivia Houghton discusses saving the UK economy, psychedelics research and artificially-enhanced humans.

: I’ve been thinking about Diary of a CEO’s latest podcast – the first in its debate series – featuring economist Gary Stevenson and entrepreneur Daniel Priestley. They discuss the UK economy’s dire state, something Gary predicted 15 years ago when he bet on the collapse of the Western economy. While they agree on the crisis, their solutions differ: Gary advocates taxing billionaires who hoard wealth, while Daniel pushes for an entrepreneurial revolution. It’s a complex issue (too much for a single Foresight Friday) set against a backdrop of trade wars, remote work and rapid technological change.

: At SXSW 2025, Dr Grace Blest-Hopley, founder of Hystelica, touched on the growing synergies between women and psychedelics. Despite a renaissance in clinical and recreational psychedelic use, research still overlooks women – due in part to systemic biases in science. Hystelica is tackling this, advocating for safe and effective use tailored to female biology. With oestrogen linked to neuroplasticity and memory, and progesterone regulating emotions, considering sex as a biological variable could reshape psychedelic research and mental health treatment for women.

: This week on TikTok, shoegate was sparked after a young athlete was barred from racing in Nike’s Vaporfly. It got me thinking about our recent team discussion on a future of performance-enhancing Olympics. In The Synthocene Era, we explored how biotech and neural enhancements are blurring the line between natural and artificial. Innovations such as Arcteryx’s MO/GO trousers, designed to boost mobility by 40%, hint at a future where Olympic apparel becomes a competitive edge.