Welcome to this week’s edition of Simon Sees!
This one was sparked by our latest Future With Friends podcast, where I teamed up with the wizard himself, Dr Jason Fox, to explore ‘The Future of Continuity.’ Jason crafted a two-part scenario for the future, and we’ve turned it into a special double feature podcast — and now, a special double edition of Simon Sees!
Part 1 is for those after a quick fix: a handful of short articles I’ve found that serve as intriguing signals of where things might be headed. From Pentagon pizza orders as a metric for impending armageddon, to workplaces deciding they want their ‘human’ workers back, these pieces are a snapshot of the tensions we’re grappling with right now.
Part 2 is for those who want to slow down and go deeper — an exploration of the ideas behind the podcast that helped shape the conversation. Here you’ll find three books that have been pivotal in how I think about continuity, agency and the kind of future we might choose to design.
Whether you’re after a quick spark or a longer reflection, this double feature is an invitation to think more creatively, critically and intentionally about the future — and your role in shaping it.
FUTURISM
You Can Tell When War Is Breaking Out Because the Pentagon’s Pizza Orders Spike Drastically
“A flurry of activity at pizza delivery outlets near the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, is a surprisingly accurate predictor of war, as hungry military leadership hunkers down to monitor unfolding military activities.“
FUTURISM
Company Regrets Replacing All Those Pesky Human Workers With AI, Just Wants Its Humans Back
“From a brand perspective, a company perspective, I just think it’s so critical that you are clear to your customer that there will be always a human if you want,” admitted Sebastian Siemiatkowski, the Swedish fintech’s CEO
THE REGISTER
US Navy backs right to repair after $13B carrier crew left half-fed by contractor-locked ovens
“I am a huge supporter of right to repair,” Phelan told the politicians. “I went on the carrier; they had eight ovens — this is a ship that serves 15,300 meals a day. Only two were working. Six were out.”
Books
Jason Fox
How to Lead a quest
In a world where everyone’s busy and strategy’s become a paint-by-numbers exercise, How to Lead a Quest is a call to something deeper. Written by Dr Jason Fox—yes, that Jason Fox, who joins me on this week’s Future With Friends podcast—it’s a book for leaders willing to sit with complexity, challenge the defaults, and trade the comfort of certainty for the possibility of real progress. Because the future won’t be shaped by templates—and it definitely won’t wait.
Tyson Youngaporta
Sand talk
What if the systems that shape our world were viewed through an Indigenous lens?
In Sand Talk, Tyson Yunkaporta invites us to see things differently—through story, symbol and deep listening. From cosmology to cooking, echidnas to economics, it’s a book that challenges the way we think about knowledge, power and progress. It’s not just a new perspective—it’s a whole new pattern for making sense of the world.
Oliver Burkeman
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
You get about four thousand weeks on this planet. So… how do you want to spend them?
In Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman reminds us that time isn’t something to optimise—it’s something to pay attention to. Drawing on philosophy, psychology and a bit of humour, this book offers a thoughtful (and slightly confronting) invitation to embrace our limits, let go of the productivity trap, and start building a life that actually feels like living.
THE FUTURE WITH FRIENDS PODCAST
Ep 7 and 8: The Future of Continuity
In this special two-part episode of The Future With Friends, Simon Waller and Dr Jason Fox explore two contrasting futures set in 2043.
Part 1 – The Future of Continuity (Of the Machine): imagines a world dominated by AI, where optimisation and algorithmic control challenge human creativity and connection.
Part 2 – The Future of Continuity (Of Life): shifts the lens to a future led by human agency, where decentralised systems, meaningful work, and collective purpose shape a more life-affirming path forward.
Also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Simon
