In this episode of The Future With Friends, Simon Waller sits down with long-time friend and human connection expert Anneli Blundell to explore the personal and relevant topic: The Future of Meeting Strangers.Anneli shares a future scenario set in the year 2095 — a world where society has been divided into two classes: creators and connectors. In the pursuit of hyper-efficiency and emotional safety, people are funnelled into roles based on whether they’re better at thinking or relating. But in this divided world, something unexpected emerges: an underground movement where creators are learning to connect again — meeting strangers, holding uncomfortable conversations, and rediscovering their humanity.What follows is a rich conversation about what happens when we start opting out of discomfort — and what we risk losing when connecting with others becomes optional. Simon and Anneli reflect on their own experiences of discomfort, the erosion of social skills post-COVID, and how the pendulum of culture might be swinging too far in the direction of avoidance and efficiency.Together, they explore how technology, isolation, and polarisation are reshaping the way we relate — and how we might gently push back. At the heart of the conversation is a call to action: to do the hard thing, embrace discomfort, and find our way back to one another — one stranger at a time.GUEST: Anneli Blundell