Continuum College University of Washington

Introducing
Learn/Earn/ReLearn

Imagine living to one hundred years or more! Thanks to technological advances, a 25-year-old living in the United States today is likely to do just that. Sustaining this extended lifespan presents all kinds of challenges — and compelling opportunities.

Younger generations will have to “re-boot” professionally every few years. What will it mean to support and sustain multiple livelihoods? What tools do we need to see the disruptions that are coming, and what resources are out there to help us adapt? It’s time to reimagine what we mean by “career.”

In each episode of Learn/Earn/Relearn, University of Washington Continuum College Vice Provost Rovy Branon and UW Communication Leadership Co-Founder Hanson Hosein explore with national experts the essential skills, credentials, and vocational credibility necessary to thrive throughout a longer life.

Be sure to subscribe now, wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have comments about past episodes or questions you'd like us to answer in a future episode, please email them to learnearnrelearn@uw.edu.

Episodes

Episode 7: A Conversation That Can't Wait About Higher Education

The future of education extends beyond the classroom — in a live event: the inaugural Continuum Convenes, we gathered regional business and community leaders to explore what changes need to happen in higher ed to meet current and coming challenges. Listen in as Hanson, Rovy and Jessie Woolley-Wilson, former CEO of DreamBox Learning and now operating partner of educational technology firm Owl Ventures, discuss whether higher education can keep up with the pace of change and produce curricula that have practical applications to career advancement. 

Episode 6: Learn/Earn/Relearn/Our Turn — Team Reflections

In this bonus sixth episode of Learn/Earn/Relearn, the podcast team looks back on the series — lessons learned, concerns uncovered, inspiration, excitement and opportunities revealed. Rovy and Hanson also connect dots between our five episodes and the continuing questions: How do educators prepare the workers of the future? And how will the very nature of education have to change in response to advances in technology and longevity?

Episode 5: End of the Beginning — The Genesis of Our New Future

Petri-dish grown “meat,” bio-engineering, synthetic DNA, and life extension are just a few trending topics that lead to critical and sometimes uncomfortable conversations. How do educators, parents and workers prepare themselves and others for such a complex and unknown future? Co-hosts Rovy Branon and Hanson Hosein speak with renowned quantitative futurist and author Amy Webb about what the future might look like and how we need to think and prepare so that we’re ready for it.

Episode 4: Learn for Life — When is it Time to Go Back to School?

Transitioning into an ambiguous future — whether your own or your organization’s — is tricky. Hosts Rovy Branon and Hanson Hosein say given increasing life spans and the acceleration of technology and its impacts on our work lives, well, institutions of learning may need faster revolving doors. Guests Anne Szeto and Danial Powers spend a lot of time thinking about how to help others prepare for a future that may not exist today. What are recruiters looking for? And how can education prepare future leaders with so many unknown variables in play?

Episode 3: Reskilling & Upskilling — Learn Long and Prosper

Explore what it means to reskill, upskill and shift industries. Are institutions of higher education meeting students where they are and when they are ready? In this episode, Rovy Branon and Hanson Hosein are talking with guests Asha Aravindakshan and Paul Fain about just that — meeting students where they are, personally and professionally.

Episode 2: Tech, AI, and the Speed of Change

Can we hack our biology for longer lives or instantaneous access to information? Will your kid need a flyer’s license in addition to (or instead of) a driver’s license? And on a somewhat more serious note, should we fear that AI is coming for all our jobs? In this episode, Rovy Branon and Hanson Hosein discuss these ideas and more with guests Elizabeth Scallon and Kence Anderson.

Episode 1: (Re)Skills Lab — Andrew Scott & The 100-Year Life

In this episode, UW’s Rovy Branon and Hanson Hosein speak with longevity expert Andrew Scott about the changes and the opportunities this new reality presents. His ground-breaking work on longevity, economics, and the value and effect technology and longevity combined will have on the wider society, is shaped by his professional connections to academia, industry, social pioneers and policymakers around the world.