The Documentary Podcast - The Dream Makers

In Christopher Nolan’s 2010 blockbuster Inception, Leonardo DiCaprio’s protagonist is paid to implant an idea into a target’s subconscious. If you look the film up, its genre is listed as being ‘science fiction’ - but could that soon have to be revised?

Dream engineering is an experimental new field - with scientists, dream researchers and engineers pursuing the goal of influencing our thoughts as we sleep.

For some, the idea holds the promise of a bright future, with benefits for our memories, creativity and wellbeing.

On the other hand, though, the ethical issues it causes amid the unregulated world of an emerging technology have led to warnings of a future where our very dreams could be for sale.

Presenter: Anand Jagatia
Producer: Dan Welsh

With special thanks to The MIT Museum, Seth Riskin, The Woodberry Poetry Room at Harvard Library, The Trustees of the E. E. Cummings Trust, Dr. Suzanne Fairless-Aitken at Bloodaxe Books

Credits:
Tomas Tranströmer, New Collected Poems, tr. Robin Fulton (Bloodaxe Books, 2011)
E. E. Cummings, Xaipe (W W Norton & Co Inc, 1997)

In The Dream Makers, Anand Jagatia investigates the fascinating potential and developing concerns over what the future of dream engineering could hold.

Published on Monday, 23rd February 2026.

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