Depending on how you look at it, it is either a great or rough time out there for speculative fiction, as reality continues to bite at the heels of even the most dystopian visions. Jason Tester is a futurist with a knack for telling prescient stories about our imminent urban realities, in a startlingly graphic way. The visually compelling Insurrection: an American Future predicted troop deployments in San Francisco in early January 2025; by June, a real-life version of that story began unfolding in Los Angeles, then Washington, Chicago, and Portland. Tester gazes into the abyss with Unfrozen, in another episode a bit too close for comfort. -- Intro/Outro:“System Error,” by The Cooper Vane -- Discussed: Institute for the Future What Is The Insurrection Act? Here’s What Happens If Trump Invokes Law Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Frogs of Portland Ilana Lipsett Meta Ray-Bans Frend.AI ImmigrationOS San Francisco Proposition E - Police drone authorization The beleaguered Whole Foods on Market ICE Ramming in Chicago Grand juries say no to sandwich crimes DDS Waymo Jam Barbara Walter at UC San Diego: How Civil Wars Start Abyss gazing UrbanistAI One Big Beautiful Bill One Big Beautiful Aftermath