On this week’s episode of Grumpy Old Geeks, we kick things off with the glorious meltdown of two of our least favorite Bond villains: Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Not only is their public pissing match tanking Tesla’s market cap, but now Trump’s launching a crypto wallet to… fund freedom? Or at least funnel it straight to his latest shell game. Meanwhile, someone at DOGE admitted the U.S. government wasn’t entirely incompetent, so naturally, they got fired. Efficiency is un-American, after all.
In the news, Ukraine leveled up with an unprecedented drone blitz on Russian airbases using—you guessed it—open source software. GitHub just became a geopolitical weapon. Back home, Nebraska wants to unplug your kids, Florida’s trying (and failing) to legislate dopamine, and Tesla’s panicking that their crash data might expose how their “Full Self-Driving” is really just short bus autopilot. And because the AI dystopia train never stops: OpenAI’s bot is recommending meth to recovering addicts, Meta’s replacing humans with risk-assessing algorithms, and one “AI startup” turned out to be 700 dudes in Bangalore with a decent VPN. Cue the dramatic zoom on Diabolus Ex Machina.
Media Candy this week is a buffet: Downton Abbey finally closes up shop, Stranger Things 5 sets a date, and Foundation still sucks. Marc Maron’s locking the gates for good, Garbage drops a surprisingly optimistic album, and Hollywood’s quietly been using AI like it’s a studio intern who doesn’t need sleep. Over in The Library, Jason’s back with Hitchhiker’s Guide and Brian dives in to Michael Palin’s Python diaries—because reading actual books is still a thing, damn it. Plus: Dave Bittner wants to “go antiquing” with Amy Sedaris with a Ben Franklin playbook. Closing shout-outs go to the legendary Loretta Swit—Hot Lips forever—and yes, we finally answer the question nobody asked: what is under a Jawa’s hood?
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Show notes at https://gog.show/700
FOLLOW UP
Trump Threatens to Cut Elon Musk's Government Contracts as Feud Escalates
Elon Musk’s Feud With President Trump Wipes $152 Billion Off Tesla’s Market Cap
Trump to launch branded crypto trading application
DOGE Fires Operative After He Admits the Government Was Already Pretty Efficient
IN THE NEWS
Ukraine destroys 40 aircraft deep inside Russia ahead of peace talks in Istanbul
A surprise drone attack on airfields across Russia encapsulates Ukraine’s wartime strategy
Explained: Ukraine’s Unprecedented Drone Attack on Russian Warplanes
Ukraine's Massive Drone Attack Was Powered by Open Source Software
How Ukraine’s Killer Drones Are Beating Russian Jamming
The terrifying new weapon changing the war in Ukraine
A new Nebraska law wants to make social media less addictive for kids
Florida's social media law has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge
Tesla is trying to stop certain self-driving crash data becoming public
Tesla admits it would ‘suffer financial harm’ if its self-driving crash data becomes public
Therapy Chatbot Tells Recovering Addict to Have a Little Meth as a Treat
OpenAI featured chatbot is pushing extreme surgeries to “subhuman” men
Meta will reportedly soon use AI for most product risk assessments instead of human reviewers
Perplexity received 780 million queries last month, CEO says
The FDA rolls out its own AI to speed up clinical reviews and scientific evaluations
AI company files for bankruptcy after being exposed as 700 Indian engineers
Meditation And Mindfulness Have a Dark Side We Often Overlook
MEDIA CANDY
DOWNTON ABBEY: The Grand Finale
Stranger Things 5 finally has its release date
Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders
American Manhunt: Osama Bin Laden
How George Clooney’s ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’ Is Preparing to Go Live on CNN
Hollywood Already Uses Generative AI (And Is Hiding It)
Lionsgate Explores AI for Content Adaptation and Production Efficiency
Marc Maron Will Lock The Gates One Last Time
Garbage: Let All That We Imagine Be the Light
AT THE LIBRARY
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Michael Palin Diaries 1969–1979: The Python Years (Michael Palin Diaries Book 1)
THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE
250th Anniversary of the U.S. Army Grand Military Parade and Celebration
Advice to a Friend on Choosing a Mistress
Disney Pulls Back the Curtain on Its New 'Cars' Land
"Thank You, Muppet*Vision 3D" — Official Music Video
Peli is REALLY familiar with Jawas... The Book of Boba Fett - E5
Star Wars: What's Beneath a Jawa's Hood? The Stuff of Nightmares
CLOSING SHOUT-OUTS
Loretta Swit, Who Played Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan on MAS*H, Dead at 87
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