Futur-ish

• 009: The Teens Rejecting AI Gimmicks for See-through Plastic Blocks

  It used to be that the plastic blocks most teens might be interested in were multicoloured and used for stacking on top of each other. Now they’re transparent and vaguely-phone shaped, designed as addiction aids and symbols of protest. Add in to this the growing popularity of Luddite movements across university campuses and charities, signals of democratic legislation banning phones and a proliferation of AI-powered gizmos that seem to distance themselves from the economy and interactions of social media and Radha has an idea that she’s on to something new. Maybe this does mark a new phase in our digital economies but, truly, nothing is new, and everything has happened before..LInksPRX, The Teens Are Offline: https://exchange.prx.org/pieces/478234Exploring the Social Life of Urban Spaces through AI: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2424662122The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QkJkT3M-UsAskCatGPT, Social Experiments with Methaphones: https://www.tiktok.com/@askcatgpt/video/7504849538209860906Rabbit R1: https://www.rabbit.tech/rabbit-r1?srsltid=AfmBOopyARX2j2eXeBcZttRbOb7TyeQr00XRh8hzPQKfMuguf8TRyUfkHumane Inc.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humane_Inc.Terra Compass: https://modemworks.com/projects/terra/The Luddite Club: https://www.theludditeclub.org/about Lamp Club, a Luddite Group, Has Come to Free the ‘IPad Babies’, New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/style/lamp-club-luddites.html The Gnomes are Taking Over New York City, The Blue and White: https://www.theblueandwhite.org/post/the-gnomes-are-taking-over-new-york-cityAI is Reshaping Childhood in China, Rest of World: https://restofworld.org/2025/ai-china-childhood/Fighting the smartphone ‘invasion’: the French village that voted to ban scrolling in public, The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/10/fighting-the-smartphone-invasion-the-french-village-that-voted-to-ban-scrolling-in-publicAustralia approves social media ban on under-16s, BBC News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c89vjj0lxx9oSilicon Valley parents are raising their kids tech-free — and it should be a red flag, The Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/tech-free-silicon-valley-parents-raising-children-red-flag-a8256166.html TikTok’s enshitification, Pluralistic: https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys ‘It’s Hurting Like Hell’: AI Companion Users Are In Crisis, Reporting Sudden Sexual Rejection, VICE: https://www.vice.com/en/article/ai-companion-replika-erotic-roleplay-updates

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• 008: The Most Futuristic Little Town in Middle England

  The future comes at you at unexpected ways. If the bullish pronouncements of tech bros are to believed it’s in the gadgets, gizmos and gimmicks dominating our feeds. Meanwhile, the future is coming fast for a tiny town in the middle of England.Flooding comes at a terrible cost but what are we willing to pay? As the water reaches up to swallow Middle England, more and more places with hundreds of years of history are going to face grim choices about what’s worth preserving and what should be taken by the waters.LinksMP's anger as flood defences cash deadline missed, BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c77zl24rm5eoThe flood-prone Worcestershire town being abandoned by insurers, Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/14/tenbury-wells-flood-prone-worcestershire-town-abandoned-by-insurersDramatic Moment North Carolina Homes COLLAPSE into Ocean from Hurricane Winds, YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3qplCLqppA‘This is a wake-up call’: the villagers who could be Britain’s first climate refugees, The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/18/this-is-a-wake-up-call-the-villagers-who-could-be-britains-first-climate-refugees

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• 007: The Discord Server that did a Dungeon Raid on a Government

  The next time you’re desperately casting heal on your paladin, spare a moment to think about the young revolutionaries using your dress-up-and-pretend world to overthrow their governments. Reddit threads, discord servers and game worlds are increasingly taking on the shape of unions, guilds and cadres as these relatively flexible, heterogenous structures feature more and more heavily in the political organising of the day. Whether it’s K-Pop stans driving consumer shocks, reddit communities playing the market or discord servers electing leaders it’s increasingly likely that these things become the new political institutions and we’re here to talk about what that means.LinksBTS's Jungkook Runs Into Unexpected Consequence From Mention Of Fabric Softener, Soompi: https://www.soompi.com/article/1296197wpp/btss-jungkook-runs-unexpected-consequence-mention-fabric-softenerBTS’s Endorsement Was So Powerful That Hyundai Is Literally Struggling To Keep Up With Demand, Koreaboo: https://www.koreaboo.com/news/bts-hyundai-palisades-demand-struggle/Kpop Stans Trump Prank Rachets p the Internet Wars, Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-23/k-pop-stans-trump-prank-ratchets-up-the-internet-wars-kbrsyl17Black Lives Matter meets Animal Crossing: how protesters take their activism into video games, The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/games/2020/aug/07/black-lives-matter-meets-animal-crossing-how-protesters-take-their-activism-into-video-gamesKids are attending pro-Palestinian protests on Roblox, CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/26/kids-are-attending-pro-palestinian-protests-on-roblox.htmlStop playing politics or face a ban, Nintendo warns Animal Crossing gamers, HKFP: https://hongkongfp.com/2020/11/21/stop-playing-politics-or-face-a-wan-nintendo-warns-animal-crossing-gamers/A Staggering Number Of People Saw Fortnite’s Travis Scott ‘Astronomical’ Event, Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2020/04/28/a-staggering-number-of-people-saw-fortnites-travis-scott-astronomical-event/Fortnite's Travis Scott virtual concert watched by millions, BBC News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52410647Joe Biden’s campaign made a custom Fortnite map, Polygon: https://www.polygon.com/2020/11/2/21545771/joe-biden-fortnite-campaign-creative-map/Joe Biden has his own island on ‘Animal Crossing’ where you can learn about his campaign, CNN: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/18/business/biden-animal-crossing-island-trndYouths Against Corruption: https://youthagainstcorruption.com/Nepal’s Social Media Ban Backfires as Politics Moves to a Chat Room, The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/world/asia/nepal-protest-genz-discord.htmlSushila Karki: How Gen Z protestors chose Nepal’s first woman prime minister on Discord, The Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/south-asia/nepal-sushila-karki-new-prime-minister-discord-protests-b2826473.htmlGameStop’s wild ride: how Reddit traders sparked a ‘short squeeze’, The Financial Times: https://www.ft.com/content/47e3eaad-e087-4250-97fd-e428bac4b5e9Taiwan's digital revolution: Healing polarization and strengthening democracy, Harvard Business School: https://www.hbs.edu/bigs/taiwans-digital-revolution-audrey-tang

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• 006: The Rumour That Cost Thirty-Five Billion Dollars and Created A Data Center Radar

  Truly, nothing is new and everything has happened before and so we find ourselves, amidst a collapsing geopolitical order with some very fancy gadgets (an expensive plane and some chips) going wanting and going missing. What connects them? A rumour that, coincidentally, started about the same time that JD Vance turned up in Munich to shake the NATO tree. To some it might be conspiracy, but never mistake for malice what is better attributed to complacency. Instead what we have here is a great example of one of the most interesting phenomena in futures and the fact that truly, nothing is new, and everything has happened before. Links:The End of History and the Last Man, Francis Fukuyama: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_History_and_the_Last_ManSpain, Switzerland Cancel F35 Jet Order Over Trump’s Europe Policy, Defense Mirror: https://www.defensemirror.com/news/40014Three reasons Canada and Portugal may cancel order for US-made fighter jets. The Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/news/europe-canada-portugal-f35-fighter-jets-trump-eurofighter-b2718770.htmlIndia rules out F-35s as defense ties with US face new turbulence. AeroTime: https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/india-rules-out-f-35s-as-defense-ties-with-us-face-new-turbulenceThe F-35 ‘Kill Switch’: Separating Myth from Reality, The Aviationist: https://theaviationist.com/2025/03/10/f-35-kill-switch-myth/DIY Tractor Repair Runs Afoul Of Copyright Law, NPR: https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/08/17/432601480/diy-tractor-repair-runs-afoul-of-copyright-lawUS farmers win right to repair John Deere equipment, BBC News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64206913Inside the Biden Administration's Gamble to Freeze China’s AI Future, WIRED: https://www.wired.com/story/chips-china-artificial-intelligence-controlsCotton Introduces Bill to Prevent Diversion of Advanced Chips to America’s Adversaries and Protect U.S. Product Integrity, Tom Cotton: https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-introduces-bill-to-prevent-diversion-of-advanced-chips-to-americas-adversaries-and-protect-us-product-integrityCan “Location Verification” Stop AI Chip Smuggling?, AI Frontiers: https://ai-frontiers.org/articles/location-verification-ai-chipsKilling machines: how Russia and Ukraine’s race to perfect deadly pilotless drones could harm us all, The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/25/ukraine-russia-autonomous-drones-aiU.S. Army Tests Robotic Vehicle near Russia, Defense Blog: https://defence-blog.com/u-s-army-tests-robotic-vehicle-near-russia/1966: Children Imagine Life in the Year 2000, BBC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS8xX3usi4c Ghosts of My Life, Mark Fisher: https://burleyfisherbooks.com/products/9781780992266

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• 005: Love Islands? Come and Get Your Sovereignty On

  We’ve all wanted our own patch of land to do what we want, right? Little bit of crypto? Pharmaceutical experiments? Human cloning? Well the manifest destiny trolley has come back around again and they’re serving up ‘freedom cities.’ Now your little slice of paradise comes with a big helping of deregulation fantasies and a promise to build, build, build! If you can even get it off the ground, that is. This isn’t the first, second or third time that starry-eyed men have grabbed an island, called it home and installed a server farm and a crypto conference to the chagrin of the state that actually claims dominion. Will this time be any different for these plucky micronations? Links:Prospera: https://www.prospera.co/en‘Startup City’ Groups Say They’re Meeting Trump Officials to Push for Deregulated ‘Freedom Cities,’ WIRED: https://www.wired.com/story/startup-cities-donald-trump-legislation/California Forever: https://californiaforever.com/Trump’s “Freedom Cities” Are a Devious Scam, The New Republic: https://newrepublic.com/article/192741/trump-freedom-cities-company-towns Let’s Buy An Island: https://letsbuyanisland.com/The Principality of Sealand: https://sealandgov.org/Seeing Like A State, James C. Scott: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeing_Like_a_StateCareless People, Sarah Wynne-Williams: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Careless_PeoplePeckham Outer-Space Initiative: https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/peckham-outer-space-initiativeThe Dawn of Everything. David Graeber & David Wengrow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dawn_of_Everything

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