Metaviews to the Future

About Metaviews to the Future

Metaviews is a podcast about the big picture and what comes next. As an open source intelligence agency, Metaviews is focused on the future while also grounded in the present. Hosted by Jesse Hirsh and featuring a diverse range of guests, the show looks at the collision of political economy, technology, culture, and society.

Publisher

Metaviews Media Management Ltd.

Category

government · society & culture · technology

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

13 May 2021

Latest episode

11 Feb 2026

Latest episodes

73 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   11 Feb 2026

   73: Are Today’s Militaries Able to Fight Today’s Wars?

   Modern militaries are preparing for the wrong battlefield. While defense budgets expand and recruitment campaigns intensify, the underlying model of the soldier remains anchored in industrial-age assumptions about physical fitness, command presence, and able-bodied strength. But today’s wars are hybrid, informational, algorithmic, and cognitive. They are fought through drones, cyber operations, infrastructure disruption, and narrative warfare. In this episode, we argue that militaries are structurally ableist — and that this isn’t just unjust, it’s strategically obsolete. Speaking from lived experience as a disabled person, this episode explores why disability is not a weakness in modern warfare but an adaptive advantage. From neurodivergent pattern recognition to remote systems operation, the future battlefield rewards perception, resilience, and distributed intelligence — not mass and muscle. With Canada facing rising geopolitical pressure from its long-standing ally the United States, this moment of military reorganization presents an opportunity. Rather than copying American militarism, Canada could pioneer a radically inclusive model of defense — one built on participation, transparency, and cognitive diversity. If war has moved from the field to the feedback loop, then power has moved from the body to the network. The age of the perfect soldier is over. The age of the collective defender has begun. Key Themes: Ableism as a structural feature of modern militaries Hybrid warfare and the shift from kinetic to cognitive conflict Disability as adaptive intelligence Neurodivergence and pattern recognition in intelligence work Canada’s defense posture in an era of American instability Distributed defense and citizen participation Leadership beyond physical command presence Power as cognition, coordination, and code Core Argument: Militaries remain organized around an outdated model of human capability. In an era defined by hybrid war, digital infrastructure, and narrative conflict, excluding disabled people weakens national defense. Radical inclusivity is not charity — it is strategic necessity. Questions Raised in This Episode: What if the definition of “fit for service” is strategically obsolete? How does ableism distort institutional design? Could distributed civilian participation strengthen national defense? What forms of cognitive diversity are currently being filtered out? How should leadership evolve in networked conflict environments? Further Listening / Related Topics: Hybrid warfare and the transformation of sovereignty Epistemic authority and intelligence systems <span...

2. 

   8 Oct 2025

   72: Feeding Possibility: Open Innovation and Resilient Futures for Ontario’s Agri-Food System

   In this episode, Jesse Hirsh explores how Ontario can lead the next era of agri-food innovation through openness, foresight, and resilience. Drawing on his keynote for the Agri-Food 2050 event, he argues that disruption is no longer a storm to weather but the environment we live in — and that trust, literacy, and community are our most vital infrastructures. From AI and automation to open source collaboration and microbial intelligence, Jesse outlines a vision for a food system that learns, adapts, and regenerates. One rooted in shared stewardship, entrepreneurial literacy, and a public commitment to designing systems worthy of the people who depend on them. Key themes: Foresight • AI &amp; automation • Open source • Data integration • Trust • Literacy • Fermentation • Resilience

3. 

   7 Aug 2025

   71: The Power of Language

   In this Metaviews salon, our motley crew dove deep into the wild and wondrous terrain of language—its power, its peril, and its paradoxes. We summoned thinkers like George Lakoff, Noam Chomsky, and Walter Ong to help frame the discussion, but as always, the most revelatory insights emerged from the collective intelligence of the group. We debated the boundaries of language—do animals possess it, or merely the shadows of it? Many argued convincingly that they do, challenging long-held anthropocentric assumptions. Language, after all, may not be exclusive to humans, even if its structures differ across species. We also wrestled with the viral nature of language: its ability to spread, mutate, and infect. Language is a force that inhabits us as much as we wield it—shaping perception, encoding power, and scaffolding our understanding of reality. It is both deeply social and intensely contextual, shifting meaning depending on time, place, and speaker. In a world of proliferating dialects and splintered platforms, we noted how common meaning feels increasingly rare. Language is flourishing in diversity, yet fragmented in cohesion. Are we losing the ability to understand each other even as we gain new ways to express ourselves? It was, once again, a brilliant gathering—part provocation, part poetry. The Metaviews salon continues to prove that spontaneous conversation, when anchored in curiosity and care, can illuminate what formal discourse often obscures.

Who has been a guest on Metaviews to the Future

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Ted Whetstone
• Jeremiah Patterson
• Russell McOrmond
• Russell McOrmand
• Laura Brekelmans

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

25,976

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 51 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

59

Social presence

0

YouTube

76

Engagement

32

Contact Metaviews to the Future

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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