The outline of an abundance foreign policy -- foreignpolicy.com/2026/03/23/a...

In Iran, "Khamenei was arguably one of the few people standing between Iran and nuclear weapons. Internal calls to build the bomb had grown within the regime over the past several years as Tehran’s strategic environment deteriorated." foreignpolicy.com/2026/04/07/i...

Futurist at the movies microreview: "Voyagers," which came out 5 years ago today.

With nuke waste that will be dangerous for 100,000 years, do you mark it with warnings, or hide any trace it's there? whyisthisinteresting.substack.com/p/the-ark-bu...

Setting aside the source, this has some interesting ideas about how to deal with wealth and income if AI proves transformative -- qz.com/openai-robot...

Futurist at the movies microreview: "The Thing from Another World," which came out 75 years ago today. (My alternative school showed this when I was little, and it scared me.)

Earth being eclipsed as Artemis II flies behind the Moon

Futurist at the movies microreview: "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple." This is my least-favorite Alex Garland futurist movie.

Iran's new leaders -- "Not only are they more hard-line and radicalized, they are less risk-averse than the previous leadership. One of the most important criticisms against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was that he was too cautious." foreignpolicy.com/2026/04/01/t...

Futurist at the movies microreview: "The Assessment." This is one of the strongest 2025 films about the future that I've seen so far. Note: it is not "the near future" -- probably late 22nd century or later.

Places that have disappeared in the future due to climate change, in a recent future-set "Simpsons"

Futurist at the movies microreview: "Source Code," which came out 15 years ago today.

Officials who could help destroy American democracy in 2026 or 2028 -- www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Backing up human civilization on the Moon -- www.iftf.org/projects/ift...

@themadstone.bsky.social Thanks for your newsletter. "Project Hail Mary" is worth seeing -- I thought it one of the best films from a futurist perspective in years. This was my microreview --

Three scenarios for future global geopolitics -- foreignpolicy.com/2026/03/23/p...

Futurist at the movies microreview: "Just Imagine," a 1930 movie imagining the strange world of 1980.

Trump's war of choice in Iran is undercutting US military strength in Asia and globally -- www.economist.com/briefing/202...

Futurist at the movies microreview: "World Without End," which came out 70 years ago today. For 1950s sci-fi, it's pretty good.

An extensive review of the science of "Project Hail Mary." medium.com/@umartabbsum...

Dalio gets 2 things wrong: America's rep would be damaged further by trying to control the Strait of Hormuz, as it lacks the capacity (means + will) to achieve this. And he exaggerates consequences: US never had control of the Strait, so we can't "lose" it raydalio.substack.com/p/it-all-com...

In Iran, "If Trump comes to feel trapped or desperate, he might resort to extreme measures that involve reckless deployments of ground troops or even the use of unconventional weapons, leading to a protracted conflict or a wider global war." foreignpolicy.com/2026/03/20/t...

"The odds of Iran becoming a nuclear weapons state are now higher than ever before." -- expert Ali Vaez on "On Point" www.wbur.org/radio/progra...

Futurist at the movies microreview: "Project Hail Mary"

"The school appeared in Iranian business listings. It was visible on Google Maps. A search engine could have found it. Nobody searched. At a thousand decisions an hour, nobody was going to." artificialbureaucracy.substack.com/p/kill-chain

The central faultline of the emerging post-liberal international order will be a geopolitical struggle over what metabolic-industrial system will dominate the 21st century — with smaller powers struggling to avoid total alignment with either bloc. My latest: foreignpolicy.com/2026/03/23/c...

Canadians wargaming Canada's security are considering the "need to address a number of contingencies that could arise if the US continues its present transition from the cornerstone of the Western alliance to a unpredictable and predatory hegemon." paxsims.wordpress.com/2026/03/22/c...

Futurist at the movies microreview: "In the Blink of an Eye." I found aspects of this moving, despite the lack of one of those, uh – what are they called? – plots.

"Allowing the United States to dictate the shape of Cuba’s political future is almost certainly a bridge too far for Havana." foreignpolicy.com/2026/03/17/t...

Futurist at the movies microreview: "Limitless," which came out 15 years ago today.

Some people have wanted war on Iran for a long time -- this is a 10-year-old photo.

How to write prediction market contracts badly. Really badly. goodjudgment.substack.com/p/let-me-get...

Futurist at the movies microreview: "V for Vendetta," which came out 20 years ago today.

War on Iran -- "Continuing the war would mean greater economic havoc ... and a growing political liability. Nor is it clear what more the war can achieve on the ground other than deepening the present economic and strategic dilemmas." www.crisisgroup.org/stm/middle-e...

Maybe he wants house atomics, like the leading families of the Dune universe? www.axios.com/2026/03/16/a...

A blatant First Amendment threat is another data point that soft authoritarianism is a wholly plausible scenario at this point -- www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Futurist at the movies microreview: "War Machine." This is a run-of-the-mill man-vs.-monster, alien invasion movie, but not a bad one, as it avoids the usual pitfalls of Netflix sci-fi.

Military AIs have begun to kill large numbers of innocent people. The question is just whether it is more, fewer, or just different people. www.technologyreview.com/2026/03/12/1...

@geneweingarten.bsky.social Check out both photo captions on this Post article

Six years since this ironic movie announcement from @newamerica.org / Future Tense --

"From a security standpoint, the abrupt collapse of the Cuban state could lead to internal conflict, mass exodus, and expanded trafficking routes in the Florida Straits." foreignpolicy.com/2026/03/10/t...

The Iran war unintended consequences: "terrorist attacks in the West, an oil revenue bonanza for Russia, instability in Iraq, ..., civil conflict or the territorial breakup of Iran, or the rise of a repressive military regime in Tehran." foreignpolicy.com/2026/03/10/t...

Futurist at the movies microreview: "Battle: Los Angeles," which came out 15 years ago today.

"Summary execution of companies for political noncompliance makes for a poor environment for the kind of capital formation that funds frontier AI development at scale." qz.com/anthropic-cl...

I’m struck by how every day the admin is like “whoever could have foreseen these consequences?!” when the consequences thus far — evacuations, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, rise in gas prices, etc. — are all the literal most obvious consequences.

@vermontgmg.bsky.social How likely is it that 2 Ospreys flying NW out of DC the afternoon of the State of the Union were carrying a designated survivor?

Futurist at the movies microreview: "The Adjustment Bureau," which came out 15 years ago today.

Maloney on Iran's future: The regime is deeply embedded and well-armed, and we are likely to end up with a determined rump version of the current regime. www.brookings.edu/events/us-ir...

Vali Nasr: Iran thinks that "if the war went on longer, got bloodier, more complicated, then it would establish a deterrence against further American aggression against Iran down the road" foreignpolicy.com/2026/03/02/n...

Cuba: "If protesters were to be met with a state-led crackdown, Washington could face a chorus of domestic demands for a decisive response, possibly extending to calls for military intervention." www.crisisgroup.org/qna/latin-am...