Episodes

  • TESCREAL Overview with Kath Barbadoro and Alex Ptak

    TESCREAL Overview with Kath Barbadoro and Alex Ptak
    May 15 2025

    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/
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • The Dark Enlightenment (Nick Land and Curtis Yarvin)

    The Dark Enlightenment (Nick Land and Curtis Yarvin)
    May 8 2025

    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
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • UNLOCKED: Nuke Mars (Bezos vs. Musk)

    UNLOCKED: Nuke Mars (Bezos vs. Musk)
    May 4 2025

    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
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    49 mins
  • COPAGANDA with Alec Karakatsanis

    COPAGANDA with Alec Karakatsanis
    May 1 2025
    Please join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow For the first half of the episode, we talked about the Semafor reveal of Silicon Valley groupchats and Marc Andreessen’s posting addiction + Èmile’s article on End Times Eschatology. We covered Yudkowsky’s “Fun Theory,” cryogenically freezing your head, and the connection between transhumanists and Christianity. Then, we talked to author and former public defender Alec Karakatsanis about his new book Copanganda and the way we are all propagandized about policing and crime. Alec is the founder of the Civil Rights Corps, an organization designed to advocate for racial justice and bring systemic civil rights cases on behalf of impoverished people. This was such a good interview. Apologies for Kate’s slightly bad audio in this, we had some internet issues and had to record on the phone. Alec Karakatsanis – Resources THE BOOK! The New Press – Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our CommunitiesSubstack: Equal Justice Under LawTwitter/X: @equalityAlecBluesky: equalityalec.bsky.social PDF: The Body Camera by Alec Karakatsanis (Yale Law) Articles and People We Mentioned Truthdig – “The Endgame of Edgelord Eschatology” Vox – “Will AI become God? That's the wrong question.” The Guardian – “Tech guru Jaron Lanier: 'The danger isn't that AI destroys us. It's that it drives us insane'” Wired – “Doug Rushkoff Is Ready to Renounce the Digital Revolution” Semafor – “The Group Chats That Changed America” Harper’s – “A Letter on Justice and Open Debate” Mother Jones – “The Billionaires Who Want to Live Forever” Chesa Boudin Recall Mission Local – $9 Million Spent on the Boudin Recall 48 Hills – GOP Donors & Big Money in the Recall Portugal & Drug Decriminalization Scientific American – Portugal’s Drug Decriminalization Success TIME – What Can the World Learn from Portugal’s Drug Policy?
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    1 hr and 19 mins
  • Q & A Part 1 -- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

    Q & A Part 1 -- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
    Apr 23 2025
    This week we answered some questions from our Patreon supporters. It's like a mini episode on a bunch of different topics, including the worst book I've ever heard of. We covered Èmile's journey out of longtermism, Yudkowsky's Harry Potter fan fic, end-times narratives, and how we will one day beat the tech bros by withholding our labor. If you'd like to hear part 2 become a subscriber here: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow Articles Mentioned in This Episode and Further Reading AI Ethics Louisiana is using a mysterious algorithm to decide who gets parole – The Verge https://www.theverge.com/news/647405/louisiana-tiger-algorithm-paroleWhy Sam Altman wants AI to say "please" and "thank you" – Quartz https://qz.com/open-ai-sam-altman-chatgpt-gpt4-please-thank-you-1851777047 TESCREAL and End Times End Times: How Fascism, the Far Right, Trump, and Musk are converging – The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/apr/13/end-times-fascism-far-right-trump-muskOverview of TESCREAL (by Èmile) The acronym behind our wildest AI dreams and nightmares – Truthdig https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-acronym-behind-our-wildest-ai-dreams-and-nightmares/ Effective Altruism & Scandals The sexual harassment scandal tearing Effective Altruism apart – TIME https://time.com/6252617/effective-altruism-sexual-harassment/Sam Bankman-Fried funded 'woke shit' for transactional purposes, prosecutors allege – VICE https://www.vice.com/en/article/sam-bankman-fried-funded-woke-shit-for-transactional-purposes-prosecutors-allege/The rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried – The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/mar/23/sam-bankman-fried-rise-and-fall-detailsDefective Altruism – Current Affairs https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2022/09/defective-altruismEffective Altruism’s bait-and-switch: From global poverty to AI doom – Techdirt https://www.techdirt.com/2024/04/29/effective-altruisms-bait-and-switch-from-global-poverty-to-ai-doomerism/ Neoliberalism Neoliberalism’s World Order – Review of Quinn Slobodian's Globalists – Dissent https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/neoliberalism-world-order-review-quinn-slobodian-globalists/The Bastards of Neoliberalism – New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2025/04/the-bastards-of-neoliberalismThe Geneva School, Hayek, and Neoliberal Nationalism – Jacobin https://jacobin.com/2022/11/neoliberalism-geneva-school-nationalism-mises-hayekReview of Hayek’s Bastards by Quinn Slobodian – The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/books/review/hayeks-bastards-quinn-slobodian.htmlRace Science, Neoliberalism & Hayek – Jacobin https://jacobin.com/2025/04/race-science-neoliberalism-hayek-slobodian Rationalism Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Methods_of_Rationality Transhumanism Beyond our ape-brained meat sacks: Can transhumanism save us? – The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jun/04/beyond-our-ape-brained-meat-sacks-can-transhumanism-save-our-speciesThe Frozen Father of Modern Transhumanism: Upwingers and Downwingers – VICE https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-frozen-father-of-moden-transhumanism/
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    41 mins
  • Sam Altman Part 2: Doomsday Prepping and Simulation Hypothesis

    Sam Altman Part 2: Doomsday Prepping and Simulation Hypothesis
    Apr 17 2025
    Please consider becoming a subscriber on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/dystopianow/membership This episode we began with a discussion of Peter Singer and eugenics ideas in the Effective Altruism community. And more Sam Altman-- his firing at Open AI, his doomsday prepping and his version of utopia. Sam Altman & OpenAI Moore’s Law for Everything – Sam Altman’s Blog OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Is a Survivalist Prepper – Futurism Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny – The New Yorker The Most Powerful Man in AI – New York Magazine OpenAI Controversy The Real Story Behind Sam Altman's Firing From OpenAI – WSJ Former OpenAI Employee Sounds Alarm on Altman – Futurism Sam Altman Reinstated at OpenAI – The Guardian Tech Utopias & Praxis Altman-Backed Praxis Eyes Kyiv and Athens for Tech Utopia – Bloomberg Praxis: Tech Dystopia as the Next America – The Nerd Reich Science, Ethics & Philosophy Dyson Sphere – WikipediaSimulation Hypothesis – Wikipedia The Matrix as Reality: Simulation Hypothesis Explained – Vox Longevity & Biohacking Sam Altman Invested $180M in Anti-Aging Startup Retro Biosciences – MIT Technology Review Ethics, Exploitation & Effective Altruism Red Cobalt: Mining in the Congo – NPRShrimp Welfare Project – Official Site Introducing the Shrimp Welfare Project – Effective Altruism Forum Against Speciesism – Jacobin
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    1 hr and 16 mins
  • Sam Altman Part 1: Building God, Scanning Eyeballs

    Sam Altman Part 1: Building God, Scanning Eyeballs
    Apr 10 2025

    Become a member on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow

    This week, we begin to explore the mystery that is Sam Altman of Open AI. We cover the AI Doomer coup, Sam's Worldcoin metal orb that scans your retinas, his friendship with Peter Thiel, and his views on restructuring our government with AItopia. We also talked about the weirdo tech billionaire plot to do a Mars colonization trial run on Greenland. An hour in, we had barely scratched the surface of Sam, so we'll be back with a Part 2.

    Further Reading on Sam Altman:

    The Inside Story of Sam Altman’s Ouster—and Reinstatement—at OpenAI – TIME
    https://time.com/6551117/sam-altman-openai-ouster-return/

    Sam Altman’s Worldcoin Launches Amid Privacy Concerns – The Verge
    https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/24/23805254/worldcoin-sam-altman-iris-scanning-launch-privacy

    Sam Altman Has a Big, Scary Plan for the World – The Atlantic
    https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/08/sam-altman-worldcoin-openai-ai-ethics/674928/

    Sam Altman’s Secret Fundraising Spree – The Information
    https://www.theinformation.com/articles/sam-altmans-secret-fundraising-spree

    OpenAI Drama: What Really Happened with Sam Altman – New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/22/technology/openai-sam-altman-chaos.html

    The Worldcoin Controversy Explained – MIT Technology Review
    https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/07/25/1076412/worldcoin-biometric-id-sam-altman/

    Praxis & Greenland Articles

    Greenland 'Freedom City'? Rich donors push Trump for a tech hub up north – Reuters
    https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/greenland-freedom-city-rich-donors-push-trump-tech-hub-up-north-2025-04-10/

    I Went to Greenland to Try to Buy It – TechCrunch
    https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/15/i-went-to-greenland-to-try-to-buy-it-meet-the-founder-who-wants-to-re-create-mars-on-earth/

    Peter Thiel Thinks the Next Great City Should Be in Greenland – InsideHook
    https://www.insidehook.com/internet/peter-thiel-praxis-next-great-city-greenland

    Cybercity of the Future: How an Ambitious 29-Year-Old Plans to Build Praxis – NY Post
    https://nypost.com/2025/04/06/world-news/robo-cops-ai-schooling-food-from-3-d-printers-and-post-work-future-are-anticipated-for-praxians/

    Tech Utopian Project Praxis Gets $525 Million in Commitments – Wall Street Journal
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/tech-utopian-project-praxis-gets-525-million-in-commitments-for-planned-heroic-city-f4623e98

    Altman-Backed Praxis Scouts Kyiv, Athens for Tech Utopia Base – Bloomberg
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-08/altman-backed-praxis-scouts-kyiv-athens-for-tech-utopia-base
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    53 mins
  • Curtis Yarvin

    Curtis Yarvin
    Apr 4 2025

    To become a Patreon subscriber and hear our bonus eps: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow

    This week we talked about Curtis Yarvin and his vision of CEO/Monarchies, Network States for Tech Bros-- in the US. And Ezra Klein's more minor tech backed reforms.

    How much democracy should we have?

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    1 hr and 3 mins
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