Galaxy Brain The Internet Is a Misery Machine
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Nov 14, 2025 
Hank Green, a longtime internet creator and cofounder of educational media company Complexly, joins to discuss the current state of the web. He reflects on a time when the internet felt personal and serendipitous, contrasting it with today's algorithm-driven misery machine. They explore the rise of outrage in content, the trust shift from institutions to creators, and how TikTok's algorithms impact user experiences. Green advocates for joy and authenticity as a counter to online negativity, leaving listeners cautiously hopeful about the future of the internet.
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Early Web Felt Like A Small Community
- Hank remembers early YouTube as small, collaborative, and special before platforms scaled.
- That early closeness made creators feel like a community rather than a mass market.
Algorithms Favor Outrage And Misery
- Algorithms amplify what keeps attention, which tends to be outrage and moral-stain narratives.
- That selection pressure turns platforms into engines that prioritize misery-inducing content.
Title Shifted To Fit Viral Narrative
- Hank recounts his brother's tuberculosis video failing until they retitled it to tie into an existing narrative.
- They renamed it to "Elon canceled this" to get attention despite the original public-health focus.