To join us on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow

This week we welcomed comedians Kath Barbadoro (What a Time to Be Alive podcast) and Alex Ptak (Quorators podcast) to go through each letter in the bundle of ideologies. Who invented them, who believes in them, and the impact they are having on our world today.

Transhumanism

Extropianism

Singularitarianism

Cosmism

Rationalism

Effective Altruism

Longtermism

Extra reading/watching:

Intro clip: https://www.tiktok.com/@the.free.press/video/7457615074945944863

The TESCREAL Bundle: https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/13636/11599

Adam Becker:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/03/tech-oligarchs-musk

The Politics and Ethics of Transhumanism by Alexander Thomas:

https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/the-politics-and-ethics-of-transhumanism

TESCREAL overview by Èmile:

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-acronym-behind-our-wildest-ai-dreams-and-nightmares/

Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow

This week we discussed Nick Land's series of essays "The Dark Enlightenment," considered a foundational document for right accelerationists (r/acc) and neoreactionary ideologies (NrX). Plus the Cybernetic Culture Research Unit, Mark Zuckerberg's AI friends, Bryan Johnson's penis de-aging, and AI spirituality.

Additional Resources:

Segment 1: Bryan Johnson

• Vanity Fair: The bizarre journey of Bryan Johnson, his anti-aging endeavors, and his controversial experiment in penile rejuvenation.

  • Don't Die, Tech Mogul: Bryan Johnson's Quest

  • Bryan Johnson’s Blog on Penis De-Aging

Segment 2: AI Is Stealing Your Boyfriend

• Rolling Stone: How spiritual delusions about AI are fracturing human bonds.

  • AI and Human Relationships: A Cultural Shift

Segment 3: Nick Land

• Vox: Neoreaction as a segment of the alt-right

  • The Alt-Right Explained

• Slate: John Derbyshire

  • Derbyshire's "Advice" and the Fallout

• Nick Land's Foundational Text: A dense introduction to accelerationism, emphasizing the destructive potential of speeding up capitalist processes.

  • A Quick and Dirty Introduction to Accelerationism

• Mark Fisher (Tumblr): A reflection on accelerationism from the left

  • Terminator vs. Avatar: Notes on Accelerationism

• Viewpoint Magazine: Dark Enlightenment

  • The Darkness at the End of the Tunnel

• The Guardian: How accelerationism predicted our modern world.

  • Fringe Philosophy that Predicted the Future

• Financial Times: Dark Enlightenment

  • Archived Content

If you'd like to become a subscriber to hear more bonus episodes you can do it here: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow

his Patreon bonus episode with Kenice Mobley about Bezos vs. Musk on space was so fun we decided to unlock it.

Bezos wants us to live in cylinders, Musk wants us to nuke Mars, but both of them want a future where we're all digital beings maximizing value. Some of the wildest information we've talked about so far.

Thanks for being one of our patreon subscribers!

For further reading:

Jason Hickel: https://www.jasonhickel.org/less-is-more

Astrotopia: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/A/bo184287883.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/12/15/forget-musks-martian-ambition-jeff-bezos-thinks-humans-should-live-in-giant-cylindrical-space-stations/

https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/nuke-mars-elon-musk-seems-serious-about-plan-terraform-red-ncna1045181

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/08/science/starship-spacex-explosion-elon-musk.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/11/technology/elon-musk-spacex-mars.html