Ep. 340

Andrew Slack, comedian and writer of Orphans, Empires, and the Search for a Better World, discusses the hidden history of corporate power, the mythic roots of American identity, and how hope - and solar panels - might just save us all.

Ep. 339

Cory Doctorow, author of Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It, unpacks the systemic forces behind digital monopolies, regulatory capture, the erosion of user rights, and how collective action and policy change can reclaim technology for the public good.

Ep. 338

Rushkoff offers a new way to interpret what appears to be the intentional dismantling of society as we know it: an elite who have lost faith in the system that has served them until now, and who believe a controlled demolition of government and the economy will position them better for the chaos ahead. He argues that just because the elite are committed to the end of the world, Team Human doesn't have to be. 

Ep. 337

Luke Kemp, author of Goliath’s Curse, explores why civilizations fall, what history gets wrong about collapse, and how distributed, cooperative societies have often thrived where empires failed.

Ep. 336

Nate Soares, computer scientist and author of If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies, discusses the existential risks posed by artificial intelligence, the possibility that untethered AI development can lead to catastrophic outcomes for humans, and what it might mean for AI development to outpace human control.

Ep. 335

Rushkoff invites us to join him in metabolizing the challenges and opportunities of our AI-driven moment. In this monologue, Rushkoff highlights the dangers of treating LLMs as all-knowing beings and the ways they reinforce our biases and narcissism.

Ep. 334

R.U. Sirius, Founding Editor of Mondo 2000 and author, discusses how intentional weirdness is a powerful tool for community and resistance when the fight for reality is being waged.

Ep. 333

Rushkoff explains why borrowing a drill is a revolutionary act. 

Ep. 332

 Writer, editor, and Founder of Pleasure-Seeking.com, and host of the Pleasure Seeking podcast Camille Sojit Pejcha explore Pejcha’s recent sex trend forecast how sex has become a new subversion.

Ep. 331

Liana Gillooly,  an advocate for purpose-built ecosystems and psychedelics, joins Rushkoff for a conversation about the evolving landscape of psychedelics. Gillooly discusses how to integrate activism into psychedelic use, the importance of ritual, and why sobriety and connection might be the future of psychedelics. 

Ep. 330

Douglas Rushkoff reflects on the importance of joy and human connection amid vast global suffering. He offers a poignant reminder to follow our bliss.

Ep. 329

Matthew Remski, Host of Conspirituality and author of the forthcoming Antifascist Dad, helps us find a new kind of resistance to the atmosphere of violence in which we're living –  the sweet spot for a new movement of mutual support.

Ep. 328

Duncan Trussell, comedian and Host of the Duncan Trussell Family Hour, joins Rushkoff to explore how we can best metabolize rising geopolitical tensions, the ways billionaires view the power of the AIs they’ve developed, the relationship between comedy and fascism, and the importance of human connection and community. 

Ep. 327

Eliott Edge revisits his first book, Three Essays in Virtual Reality, while giving us a sneak preview of his thinking for his upcoming opus on Simulation theory. Edge is a critically-acclaimed author, artist, and international speaker. Edge has published and presented through The Institute of Ethics and Emerging Technologies, The University of Melbourne, Stevens Institute of Technology, Anthology Film Archives, The C.G. Jung Center, The Fenris Wolf, The Museum of Computer Arts, VRTO, Block Seoul, and Disinformation.

Ep. 326

Each supposed AI “problem” stems from a lack of imaginative capacity from us. We are refusing the opportunity to rethink more fundamental assumptions about the systems under threat.

Instead of acting like tech bros and reinforcing obsolete institutions in order to further entrench their extractive and inhumane monopolies, we can go deeper to discover what cracks are being revealed in this new media environment. Don’t shoot the messenger. 

Ep. 325

De Kai, the man who built the world’s first global translators and AI systems, says we better learn to parent our AI offspring before it’s too late. The author of Raising AI argues how we behave in front of AI’s matters more than whatever we tell them.

Ep. 324

Playing for Team Human today, LatinX professor, and the author of Hospicing Modernity as well as the upcoming book Outgrowing Modernity, my favorite civilizational doula, Vanessa Machado de Oliveira.

Ep. 323

Playing for Team Human today, the author of Techgnosis, High Weirdness, and the just released history of the LSD medium Blotter, esoteric scholar Erik Davis.

Ep. 322

Insights, as wonderful as they are? They’re the booby prize. Up there in the idea space. Where you can be right, and someone else can be wrong. Where there’s cause and effect, guilt and blame, victim and perpetrator or even problem and solver.

Ep. 321

Playing for Team Human today, Canadian pop artist, author, journalist, magician, and CEO of VOID Collective, Alex Kazemi.