Dystopia Now

Dive into the world of neo-reactionary thought with Nick Land's provocative ideas and how they intertwine with accelerationism. Explore bizarre anecdotes about anti-aging experiments and the implications of tech moguls on human relationships. Delve into unsettling discussions on AI, spirituality, and loneliness in a capitalist society. Witness critiques of societal structures, media biases, and how historical ideologies shape modern narratives, all spiced with humor and critical insights.

Kenice Mobley, a comedian known for her sharp wit, dives into the contrasting visions of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk regarding space exploration. She humorously debates Bezos's idea of cylindrical space living against Musk's bold plan to nuke Mars. The discussion touches on the ethical dilemmas of prioritizing space colonization over urgent Earthly issues, explores genetic selection, and questions the morality of utilitarianism. Kenice's comedic insights make complex topics about humanity's future in a digital world both entertaining and thought-provoking.

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 Communities Substack: Equal Justice Under Law Twitter/X: @equalityAlec Bluesky: 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?    

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-parole Why 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-musk Overview 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-details Defective Altruism – Current Affairs https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2022/09/defective-altruism Effective 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-neoliberalism The Geneva School, Hayek, and Neoliberal Nationalism – Jacobin https://jacobin.com/2022/11/neoliberalism-geneva-school-nationalism-mises-hayek Review of Hayek’s Bastards by Quinn Slobodian – The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/books/review/hayeks-bastards-quinn-slobodian.html Race 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-species The Frozen Father of Modern Transhumanism: Upwingers and Downwingers – VICE https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-frozen-father-of-moden-transhumanism/  

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 – Wikipedia Simulation 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 – NPR Shrimp Welfare Project – Official Site Introducing the Shrimp Welfare Project – Effective Altruism Forum Against Speciesism – Jacobin

Dive into the enigmatic world of Sam Altman, exploring topics like the AI Doomer coup and his controversial Worldcoin project that scans retinas. Discover his connections with Peter Thiel and visionary plans for restructuring governance through AI. The conversation also touches on the absurd idea of a Mars trial run on Greenland and critiques the ethics surrounding biometric cryptocurrency. Engage in a critical look at the intersection of technology, ethics, and societal implications—just scratching the surface of a complex figure.

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?       

This week we talked about the "Abundance Agenda" and it's roots in the Effective Altruism movement.  A network of think tanks, Silicon Valley billionaires, and centrist pundits are getting all riled up about zoning ordinances, and possibly trying to take over the Democratic Party? Oh boy.  We explore the dark side of Effective Altruism, men's rights activists, IQ Realists, "race science," eugenicists and more lurking in a movement where the biggest scoundrels in society are mixing with Vox writers- EA! This episode was a wild ride, let us know what you think.  We'll be back with Thiel Part 2 next week but we had to know-- why did an Atlantic writer podcast with a Nazi?    Further reading   By Èmile: https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-acronym-behind-our-wildest-ai-dreams-and-nightmares/   https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/jun/16/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-eugenics-scientific-racism   https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/12/opinion/richard-hanania-eugenics-billionaires.html   https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/09/richard-hanania-origins-of-woke-book/675348/   https://jacobin.com/2023/01/effective-altruism-longtermism-nick-bostrom-racism   https://theintercept.com/2019/09/06/exxon-mobil-progressive-policy-institute-climate/   https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/ruben-gallego-crypto-digital-assets-andreessen-yglesias-1235260013/    

In this episode, we explore Peter Thiel's villain origin story. From his budding commitment to being an edgelord at Stanford to developing the theory that girls ruined everything by voting. Seasteading, blood transfusions, the weird incel parties he throws with Curtis Yarvin. We've got it all. Next week we'll cover the NeoReactionary movement in detail.  Futher reading: https://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-thiel/education-libertarian/ https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/owned-book-peter-thiel-trump-tech-silicon-valley-1235276868/ https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/26/elon-musk-peter-thiel-apartheid-south-africa https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/04/inside-the-new-right-where-peter-thiel-is-placing-his-biggest-bets?srsltid=AfmBOop8TkGouVZ72xamuuLVjtZjqQ8rz2G_SBCykFPkOpQGDtS77-j4 https://www.ft.com/content/02217acf-ac64-49c2-acd5-ef4f107f014c

This week we are joined by Paris Marx, host of the podcast Tech Won't Save Us and a tech critic, journalist, author, and international speaker. We talked about Silicon Valley's changing influence in politics, climate policy, and about reasons for optimism as we think about how to confront Musk and Co. in the political arena. This is somewhat of a sister episode to our conversation last week with Jacob Silverman about the tech right that explores the political ideologies of the tech billionaires shaping our country, including within the Democratic Party. To support us on Patreon (and get bonus eps plus a download of our intro song) go here:  patreon.com/DystopiaNow Please note we generally record these episodes a few days before publishing so Tesla story was still evolving.  Further reading: https://parismarx.com/ https://www.disconnect.blog/ https://www.npr.org/2024/07/12/g-s1-9545/ai-brings-soaring-emissions-for-google-and-microsoft-a-major-contributor-to-climate-change https://www.wired.com/story/true-cost-generative-ai-data-centers-energy/ https://theconversation.com/data-centre-emissions-are-soaring-its-ai-or-the-climate-240137 https://www.versobooks.com/products/2795-road-to-nowhere?srsltid=AfmBOor_bXPpd8aqF9_mHCdTCfJsbfp-V1qFE-ERNFyRVF2RVRfYj365 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cnvze9dzq8vo https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/08/business/elon-musk-tesla-violence-protests-vandalism.html