A condensed version of this interview appears in our 2018 Summer issue, Travel.

On Flash Forward, host Rose Eveleth takes listeners on a journey through possible—and not-so-possible—futures. Each episode probes topics such as the reproductive rights implications of uterine replicators, what would really happen if all the bees died, and space pirates, followed by deep analysis of what might occur if those futures come to pass. We caught up with Eveleth about Flash Forward as it enters its fourth season.

Flash Forward has an unusual format! How did it come to be?

In 2015, Serial happened, and everyone was like “we need a podcast.” Annalee Newitz was running io9 and Gizmodo at the time and she came to me [and said]: “We need a podcast, would you be interested?” I pitched her a couple of ideas, and we both agreed that this one, a mixture of science fiction and journalism, was the one. It was a nice meld of those two places. Talking about the future from all sorts of angles and then incorporating a science fiction element. I started doing it for Gizmodo, and then it turned into its own thing.

What’s it been like transitioning away from Gizmodo to Patreon?

When I first joined, I was really stressed out about it. I’d done Kickstarters before, and it’s really fun and exciting, and then you have to provide the rewards. It can be hard doing all the things you promised. You have to balance what you’re getting and what you’re spending. When I first joined Patreon, I was worried. How do I make sure that I’m offering things people want that won’t take as much time as the episode to make?

I’m an over-researcher, so I did a lot of thinking and researching before I [moved to Patreon]. I [created] a spreadsheet with all the podcasts I could find. How much were they making per episode or per month? I also made this spreadsheet to try and figure out what rewards people would want. Finally, I just sort of asked. Ask your patrons what they want! (Laughs.) A lot of people said: “We don’t really care that much.” A lot of people just want to support things they like.

Also, Patreon is a for-profit company, so their interests may not align with mine. I’m trying not to put all my eggs in one basket on that one. You may remember the big flareup about fees recently. When you’re podcasting, there aren’t easy direct channels for people to respond, whereas if you write an article, tweet, or Facebook, there’s an immediate response button. When you’re listing to a podcast, you’re listening on a platform that isn’t immediately connected. You have to do a little more work to respond. One of the things I want to do is make the patrons feel like they have a community of fellow listeners. I haven’t quite tackled it yet because community management stresses me out a little. It takes time to build a good, healthy, and safe community for everyone.