Dystopia Now

To become a sponsor and get an extra episode each week, visit us at https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow, This week, we talked about what AI is doing to our emotions and our relationships. From AI Psychosis to AI Boyfriends, AI is breaking our brains and our hearts.  Further reading: https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2025/aug/28/ai-psychosis-could-chatbots-fuel-delusional-thinking-podcast https://futurism.com/paper-ai-psychosis-schizophrenia https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/08/19/ai-psychosis-chatgpt-explained-mental-health/ https://www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/why-you-should-never-use-ai-under https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-enshittification-of-generative-ai/ https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/technology/chatgpt-openai-suicide.html https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ai-spiritual-delusions-destroying-human-relationships-1235330175/ https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ai-chatbot-god-religion-answers-1235347023/ https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/ai-chatbots-concerns-kendra-tiktok-saga-rcna224185   https://www.reddit.com/r/MyBoyfriendIsAI/

To hear the rest of the episode and become a supporter visit us on Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow We are entirely listener supported and we appreciate your contributions so much! This week, we were joined by Rachel Adjogah, of the brilliant Polemics.md blog. discussed The Argument, a new publication funded in part by Open Philanthropy. We also discussed Vox's Future Perfect, and the general problems of having EA/Rationalist aligned reporters cover...themselves. 

This week we are off, so thought I'd unlock one of our Patreon eps from the series we did about the Zizians. We discuss the origins of the Zizian ideology in the Rationalism community, MIRI, CFAR, Roko's Basilisk and Doom Circles. To hear parts 2 and 3 become a subscriber on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow We'll be back on our regular schedule next week. 

This week we answered questions from our Patreon supporters about the Bay Area cyberdelic scene, Church of the Subgenius, the persistence of eugenics, anarcho-primitivism, TESCREAL boardgames and what our personal tech (or tech free?) utopias would be.  To hear the rest of the episode become a sponsor at https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow. We use your $ to edit the podcast.    Further reading:   https://www.thetonearm.com/rhymes-against-reality-with-r-u-sirius-and-his-musical-mindfuckery-2/   https://www.wired.com/2015/07/tech-time-warp-week-wired-eccentric-mondo-2000/   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_SubGenius   https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/07/opinion/genetics-children-noor-siddiqui.html   https://www.vice.com/en/article/john-zerzan-wants-us-to-give-up-all-of-our-technology/   Organizations Mentioned:   https://www.stopai.info/   https://www.stopspying.org/   https://www.eff.org/   https://www.dsausa.org/   https://dair.ai/   Board game:   https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/257732/pax-transhumanity

Become a supporter at https://www.patreon.com/DystopiaNow This week we interviewed astrophysicist and science journalist Adam Becker, author of More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley’s Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity. Becker contends that Silicon Valley’s grandiose fantasies cloak a hunger for control, often rooted in pseudoscience and elitism rather than real science or ethics Adam cuts through the bullshit of Mars colonization, sentient AI and digital immortality to bring us all back down to earth. Where we live. And are going to stay forever. Futher Reading:  More Everything Forever:  https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/adam-becker/more-everything-forever/9781541619593/

To hear the full ep sign up here: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow In the 1990s, at the height of the Grunge Era, a small but ambitious group calling themselves the Extropians dreamed of transcending the limits of the human body and mind, through technology, radical life extension, and an unapologetically libertarian vision of the future. In this episode, we trace their journey from obscure online mailing lists to their outsized influence on today’s transhumanist movement, Silicon Valley techno-utopianism, and AI ideology. We’ll unpack their proactionary principle, ties to effective altruism and longtermism, and the Network State movement.  

To become a Patreon subscriber go here: https://www.patreon.com/DystopiaNow This week we go on a dark journey of TESCREAL parenting with Simone and Malcolm Collins, the rationalist pro-natalism advocates who are raising their kids on an all AI diet. Strap in as we explore their secular religion, their runs for office, and "Future Day." By the end of this episode you may never want to have 10 kids.  We also covered Jim Acosta's interview with an AI Parkland survivor, Elon's sex chatbot, and Èmile's new newsletter, Real Time Techpocalypse.    Further reading Intro https://x.com/jeremyjudkins_/status/1944894110420148723 https://www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/ https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/parents-parkland-shooting-victim-ai-version-son-joaquin-1235400053/   Ritchie Torres https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/01/26/ritchie-torres-cryptocurrency-blockchain-web3-financial-inclusion/ https://ritchietorres.house.gov/posts/led-by-rep-ritchie-torres-20-members-of-congress-urge-congressional-leadership-to-fully-fund-pandemic-preparedness https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/28/cryptocurrency-democratic-party Simone and Malcolm Collins https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/article/2024/may/25/american-pronatalists-malcolm-and-simone-collins https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/of-interest/2025/02/01/malcolm-and-simone-collins-pronatalism/ https://secondvoice.substack.com/p/why-were-surrounding-our-kids-with Birth Rates and Fertility https://jacobin.com/2020/01/full-surrogacy-now-sophie-lewis-review https://jacobin.com/2025/07/socialism-birth-rates-fertility-future https://jacobin.com/2022/08/capitalism-low-birth-rate-labor-abortion-contraceptives-childcare https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/06/birth-rate-population-decline/683333/ https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/09/5-facts-about-how-the-worlds-population-is-expected-to-change-by-2100/ https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/world-population-prospects-2024 https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/apr/20/pro-natalism-babies-global-population-genetics Eugenics https://ksqd.org/predatory-data-eugenics-in-big-tech-interview-with-anita-chan/#gsc.tab=0 https://hardea.org/  

This is the final installment of our series on the Rationalist Death Cult, the Zizians. This three part series unpacks the twisted story of the Zizians, a fringe group born out of the Bay Area rationalist and effective altruism subcultures that descended into violence and murder. Blending a belief in  utilitarianism with extreme accelerationist ideology, the Zizians started with an AI Doom fixation and ended up justifying a string of brutal killings in the name of a supposed greater good.  To hear the series, become a member here: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow In Part 1 "A Cult Within a Cult" We discuss the origins of the Zizian ideology in the Rationalism community, MIRI, CFAR, Roko's Basilisk and Effective Altruism Doom Circles. How did TESCREALism, Bay Area housing costs, and the Human Potential Movement set the stage for a series of horrors?  In part 2 "The Murders Begin," we look at how a group of rationalists becomes a murder cult. This episode takes us from the MIRI/CFAR protest aftermath to the first attack on Curtis Lind and Ziz's faked death. We also cover Timeless Decision Theory, Expected Value Calculations, and Pascal's Mugging. Finally, in Part 3 "The Murder Spree" we discuss how a fringe subculture became a national news story through the killing of a Border Patrol Agent. 

To become a supporter, visit us at https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow   This week we explore the weird world of Mark Zuckerberg and billionaire bunkers. FURTHER READING: Meta, Zuckerberg, and AI Meta Q2 earnings beat forecasts, pushes toward AI “personal superintelligence” deadline.com/2025/07/meta-q2-earnings-beat-forecasts-ai-personal-superintelligence-1236474506/ Inside Meta’s plans for a new AI lab focused on superintelligence nytimes.com/2025/06/10/technology/meta-new-ai-lab-superintelligence.html Meta’s growing dominance in AI bbc.com/news/technology-64075067 Zuckerberg responds to Cambridge Analytica scandal theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/21/mark-zuckerberg-response-facebook-cambridge-analytica How Facebook contributed to genocide in Myanmar systemicjustice.org/article/facebook-and-genocide-how-facebook-contributed-to-genocide-in-myanmar-and-why-it-will-not-be-held-accountable/ Zuckerberg grilled in Congress on Facebook’s origins washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/04/11/channeling-the-social-network-lawmaker-grills-zuckerberg-on-his-notorious-beginnings/ Zuckerberg’s Hawaii Estate and Land Development Mark Zuckerberg’s Hawaii compound includes burial grounds and escape hatch wired.com/story/mark-zuckerberg-secretive-hawaii-compound-burial-ground/ What we know about Zuckerberg’s Hawaii estate wired.com/story/mark-zuckerberg-inside-hawaii-compound/ Zuckerberg’s land deals in Hawaii raise questions ft.com/content/851e7707-1ca3-4fa9-9719-05b66ad5c5cc Hawaii Governor’s housing and development strategy governor.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Housing-2.pdf East Solano and YIMBY California Forever’s East Solano city plan faces delay nytimes.com/2024/07/22/business/economy/california-forever-solano-county-city-on-hold.html YIMBY group’s support for the East Solano Plan cayimby.org/news-events/statement-in-support-of-the-east-solano-plan/ Tech and Trump Big Tech to work with Trump administration on digital health ecosystem techcrunch.com/2025/07/30/big-tech-to-work-with-trump-administration-to-build-digital-health-ecosystem/ Trump, RFK Jr., and tech companies’ digital health ambitions apnews.com/article/trump-ai-rfk-jr-health-tech-fa73703bd1fd557c787ef0b590e151f1 Migrant surveillance expands under new Trump plan theguardian.com/technology/2025/feb/27/migrant-surveillance-trump Palantir and Trump plan to centralize Americans’ data nytimes.com/2025/05/30/technology/trump-palantir-data-americans.html Trump administration shared IRS data with ICE propublica.org/article/trump-irs-share-tax-records-ice-dhs-deportations Gaza and Media Accountability Claims of no starvation in Gaza disputed by data and witnesses pbs.org/newshour/world/israels-leader-claims-no-one-in-gaza-is-starving-data-and-witnesses-disagree New York Times coverage of Gaza starvation nytimes.com/2025/07/24/world/middleeast/gaza-starvation.html NYT public relations statement on Gaza coverage x.com/NYTimesPR/status/1950311365756817690 NYT walks back Gaza baby starvation story after pushback truthout.org/articles/nyt-walks-back-story-on-gaza-baby-starved-by-israel-after-zionist-pushback/ Climate Who is hastening the apocalypse and why bbc.com/future/article/20211014-agents-of-doom-who-is-hastening-the-apocalypse-and-why Limiting global warming to 1.5°C could save billions from extreme heat news.exeter.ac.uk/research/limiting-global-warming-to-1-5c-would-save-billions-from-dangerously-hot-climate/

To become a supporter and keep the show going, visit us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow This week we were joined by Keira Havens of Citizen’s Impeachment and Nicholas Rodelo, a staff researcher at Dropsite News to discuss how tech has assisted propaganda campaigns to further the genocide in Gaza.  Articles and Media Mentioned:  https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/google-acquisition-tech-wiz-israel-gaza-8200 https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/18/politics/cnn-poll-israel-support https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/opinion/no-israel-is-not-committing-genocide-in-gaza.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/opinion/israel-gaza-genocide-scholar-response.html https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/leaked-data-israeli-censorship-meta https://medium.com/@Keira_Havens/box-of-rocks-b8aec0c8710e

Become a subscriber and join our listener chat: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow This week, we explored the tech billionaire fixation with cryonics, mind uploading and life extension. We’re just a couple of decel deathists! (You’ll see what we mean) In the intro this week, we talked about Superman’s critique of tech billionaires, Mountainhead, and we read a very special poem.  Plus, a Meta AI data center in Georgia leads to rationing of water for local residents. Who needs a shower when you can have a bad search engine?  FURTHER READING: Billionaire Immortality and Cryonics How Billionaires Are Freezing Themselves to Cheat Death https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/jul/10/billionaires-freezing-cryopreservation-riches-lawyers-life The Quest to Reverse Aging Among the Ultra-Rich https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/feb/17/if-they-could-turn-back-time-how-tech-billionaires-are-trying-to-reverse-the-ageing-process Inside the Billionaire-Led Race for Immortality https://theweek.com/science/the-billionaire-led-quest-for-immortality Deathism  https://transhumanism.fandom.com/wiki/Deathism Wikipedia: Alcor Life Extension Foundation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcor_Life_Extension_Foundation AI and Tech Power Jaron Lanier on the Cult-Like Belief in AI https://www.vox.com/the-gray-area/407154/jaron-lanier-ai-religion-progress-criticism Let’s Think About Slowing Down AI by Katja Grace https://worldspiritsockpuppet.substack.com/p/lets-think-about-slowing-down-ai AI Hallucinations and the Fragility of Tech Trust https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/technology/ai-hallucinations-chatgpt-google.html Chat GPT is Bullshit https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10676-024-09775-5 Elon Musk's Grok AI and U.S. Defense Links https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/07/14/elon-musk-grok-defense-department/ Climate and Water The AI Boom's Growing Carbon Footprint https://www.npr.org/2024/07/12/g-s1-9545/ai-brings-soaring-emissions-for-google-and-microsoft-a-major-contributor-to-climate-change Meta’s AI and the Fight Over Water https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/technology/meta-data-center-water.html Poetry https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/04/world/middleeast/04stext.html

To join us on Patreon, go here: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow This week we talked to professors Kyle Keeler and Nathaniel Otjen about the Breakthrough Institute, ecomodernism nuclear energy and AI. Does nuclear come with some downsides? (Yes) Futher Reading: Links between AI, tech, nuclear energy “Continued Propaganda About AI and Nuclear Power” “Nuclear Power Is Hard. A Climate-Minded Billionaire Wants to Make It Easier” “Here are the Nuclear Fission Startups Backed by Big Tech” “Meta signs 20-year deal with nuclear plant, signals AI’s growing energy needs” “Three Mile Island nuclear plant will reopen to power Microsoft data centers” “President Donald J. Trump Deploys Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security” How Nuclear Got a Positive Image “Nuclear Injustice: Why a Nuclear Renaissance is the Same Old Colonial Story” “A Degrowth Response to an Ecomodernist Manifesto” “The Stories Michael Shellenberger Tells” “The New Denial is Delay” “‘Anti-Censorship’ Shellenberger Tried To Censor, Harass and Intimidate Wikipedia Editor”    Issue with nuclear power and AI “Physicist MV Ramana on the problem with nuclear power” “Environmental Justice in the 21st Century: Race Still Matters” “What Environmental Justice Means in Indian Country” “‘How come I can’t breathe?’: Musk’s data company draws a backlash in Memphis” “AI is taking water from the desert” Degrowth “Degrowth can work — here’s how science can help” “A Red Deal” “Mining for the Climate” podcast Climate and Community Institute   Intro Topics:    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/03/natal-conference-austin-texas-eugenics https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/07/cremieux-race-science-new-york-times/683474/ https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/jun/16/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-eugenics-scientific-racism https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35902104 https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/magazine/12ginsburg-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/23/books/review/san-fransicko-michael-shellenberger.html

To become a supporter and help keep our show going: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow (An earlier version of this show was posted, we fixed a sound problem with the file and reposted) Back from our short break. This week we analyzed Peter Thiel's interview with Ross Douthat and then sat down with Will Menaker from Chapo Trap House to talk about Zohran and fighting the tech billionaires. Further Reading: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/us/politics/democrats-project-2029.html https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/28/europe/jeff-bezos-wedding-protest-venice-latam-intl https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/opinion/peter-thiel-antichrist-ross-douthat.html https://www.truthdig.com/articles/machine-learning-maga-rise-of-the-christian-cyborg/ https://www.uvm.edu/~gflomenh/courses/ENV-NGO-PA395/articles/Lynn-White.pdf https://www.thenation.com/article/economy/abolish-venture-capitalism/ https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/11/30/how-venture-capitalists-are-deforming-capitalism https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/nyregion/mamdani-wins-mayor-primary-nyc.html https://www.thenerdreich.com/is-peter-thiel-the-antichrist-nyt-didnt-think-to-ask/ https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/01/kirsten-gillibrand-zohran-mamdani-00436031 https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/welcomefest-dispatch-centrism-abundance/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/919-abruendance-agenda-feat-madinah-wilson-anton-matt/id1097417804?i=1000700707105&l=ru

To join us on Patreon go here: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow This week we were joined by Briahna Joy Gray to talk about natalism and Efilism. We also had a great discussion about the philosophy of human extinction. Bad Faith Podcast / Briahna Joy Gray Bad Faith Podcast: “Episode 479: Promo — Truth in Fiction w/ Cory Doctorow” https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-479-promo-truth-in-fiction-w-cory-doctorow/id1531192509?i=1000710888262 Bad Faith Podcast: “Episode 445: Promo — From Merit to Eugenics: Elon Musk’s…” https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/episode-445-promo-from-merit-to-eugenics-elon-musks/id1531192509?i=1000688606822 Pronatalism / Natalism Discourse Mother Jones — “This Is a War, and Natalism Is Our Sword and Shield” https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/03/this-is-a-war-and-natalism-is-our-sword-and-shield-my-weekend-with-the-pronatalists/ The Guardian — “Natal Conference in Austin, Texas, and Eugenics” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/03/natal-conference-austin-texas-eugenics The Guardian — “What Is Pronatalism? Right-Wing Republican Movement” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/11/what-is-pronatalism-right-wing-republican The Guardian — “Elon Musk, Pronatalism, and Motherhood on Social Media” https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/25/elon-musk-pronatalism-mothers-social-media-parenting CNN — “Pronatalism, Elon Musk, and Birth Rates” https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/10/us/pronatalism-elon-musk-birth-rates-cec Vox — “JD Vance, Pronatalism, and Population Decline” https://www.vox.com/policy/363543/pronatalism-vance-birth-rates-population-decline-fertility New York Times — “Liberals and Falling Birth Rates: Anastasia Berg Op-Ed” https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/16/opinion/anastasia-berg-falling-birth-rates-liberals.html New York Times — “Natalism, Liberalism & Parenthood” https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/10/opinion/natalism-liberalism-parenthood.html The Atlantic — “Democrats and Pronatalism: Family Policy Debates” https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/democrats-pronatalism-family-policies/681827/ Liberal Currents — “Liberal Pro-Natalism” https://www.liberalcurrents.com/liberal-pro-natalism/ The New Yorker — “How Liberals Talk About Children” https://www.newyorker.com/news/fault-lines/how-liberals-talk-about-children Current Affairs — “We Should Be Neither Anti-Natalist Nor Pro-Natalist” https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/we-should-be-neither-anti-natalist-nor-pro-natalist The Guardian — “Birthstrikers and Climate Change” https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/mar/12/birthstrikers-meet-the-women-who-refuse-to-have-children-until-climate-change-ends People — “All About Elon Musk’s Children” https://people.com/all-about-elon-musk-children-11678749 New York Times — “Trump, Musk, and Birthrate Proposals” https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/us/politics/elon-musk-trump-birthrate.html New York Times — “Trump’s Birthrate Proposals” https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/us/politics/trump-birthrate-proposals.html Axios — “Elon Musk, Ashley St. Clair, and Baby Influencing” https://www.axios.com/2025/04/17/elon-musk-babies-ashley-st-clair Conversations with Tyler — Ezra Klein Interview https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/ezra-klein-3/ Efilism / Anti-Natalism Extremism The Intercept — “Efilism and the Palm Springs Bomber” https://theintercept.com/2025/05/19/efilism-palm-springs-bomber-fertility-clinic/ NBC News — “Reddit Bans Anti-Natalists After Explosion” https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/reddit-bans-anti-natalists-palm-springs-explosion-rcna207677 The Guardian — “Palm Springs IVF Clinic Bombing and Online Extremism” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/21/palm-springs-ivf-clinic-bombing-online-extremism Eugenics, Longtermism, Effective Altruism Truthdig — “Nick Bostrom, Longtermism, and Eugenics” https://www.truthdig.com/articles/nick-bostrom-longtermism-and-the-eternal-return-of-eugenics-2/ Truthdig — “A Short History of Eugenics” https://www.truthdig.com/articles/a-short-history-of-eugenics-from-plato-to-nick-bostrom/ The Guardian — “Pro-Extinctionists and Effective Altruism” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/22/pro-extinctionis-longtermim-effective-altruism-human-extinction-emile-torres Utilitarianism: For and Against (PDF) https://www.utilitarianism.com/utilitarianism-for-and-against.pdf LessWrong — Computronium Page https://www.lesswrong.com/w/computronium Political News / Commentary AP News — “Trump’s Army Parade and Protests” https://apnews.com/article/trump-army-parade-troops-tanks-birthday-protests-4cca4da0e89908d39c820240744375a1 New York Times — “Andrew Cuomo and Nursing Home Deaths During COVID” https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/09/nyregion/cuomo-pandemic-nursing-home-deaths.html Social Media & Commentary Instagram Reel https://www.instagram.com/reel/DK-VjqwxisA/ Twitter — Nathan J. Robinson https://x.com/NathanJRobinson/status/1890845684061847836 Twitter — David Sirota https://x.com/davidsirota/status/1921259098516918382 Miscellaneous Zohran Mamdani Campaign Site https://www.zohranfornyc.com/ Hacker News Thread https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10812804

Please support our show at patreon.com/dystopianow This week, we explore the growing relationship between Christianity and transhumanism and how they may be merging in the MAGA movement into an end-times fantasy that can satisfy everyone! Surveillance, Policing, and Immigration Tech Waymo Faces Data Privacy Protests in Los Angeles https://www.wired.com/story/waymo-data-privacy-protests-los-angeles/ Waymo's Driverless Cars Revealed to Be Narcs as Cops Use Them to Probe Crimes https://gizmodo.com/waymos-driverless-cars-revealed-to-be-narcs-as-cops-use-them-to-probe-crimes-2000590426 Los Angeles ICE Raids Spark Concerns Over Immigration Conditions https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/11/la-ice-raids-immigration-conditions Democrats Face Backlash Over Resolution Thanking ICE https://www.newsweek.com/democrats-ice-gratitude-resolution-backlash-2084004 Trump Leans on Palantir to Build Massive Database of Americans https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/technology/trump-palantir-data-americans.html Greta Thunberg https://x.com/GozukaraFurkan/status/1932462605928464469 AI, Religion, and the Tech-Spiritual Convergence Machine Learning MAGA: Rise of the Christian Cyborg https://www.truthdig.com/articles/machine-learning-maga-rise-of-the-christian-cyborg/ Silicon Valley’s Obsession with AI Looks a Lot Like Religion https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/silicon-valleys-obsession-with-ai-looks-a-lot-like-religion/ AI’s Spiritual Delusions Are Destroying Human Relationships https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ai-spiritual-delusions-destroying-human-relationships-1235330175/ Excerpt from The Rapture of the Nerds https://www.npr.org/2012/08/24/159996462/excerpt-the-rapture-of-the-nerds Three Out of Four Pastors Believe God Can Work Through AI https://relevantmagazine.com/culture/tech-gaming/three-out-of-four-pastors-believe-god-can-work-through-ai/ Faith Sermon AI Generator https://www.verble.app/faith-sermon/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22426629834&gbraid=0AAAAAp5jAe4rAOh1sg8xXRKGQlFjiGUdB&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0qTCBhCmARIsAAj8C4bpBxsXcD1_Ks4M9IFWA0FpEcdv1YbwNoHYFx6YojGR8dga7TQk-gEaArfQEALw_wcB Free AI-Powered Sermon Generator https://speechgenerator.co/free-sermon-generator/ AI Sermon Generator Tool by Vondy https://www.vondy.com/ai-sermon-generator--sAqpPa5L Christianity and the Tech Elite Are Merging in San Francisco https://sfstandard.com/2024/11/09/christians-tech-religion-sf/ In Silicon Valley, Christianity Finds a New Following https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/business/silicon-valley-christianity.html Joe Rogan, Tech Bros, and the Rise of Austin Church Culture https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/joe-rogan-austin-church-bros-20349767.php Why Elon Musk and Other Tech Leaders Are Embracing Christianity https://theconversation.com/elon-musk-says-hes-a-cultural-christian-why-some-leading-thinkers-are-embracing-christianity-233601 The Real Origins of the Religious Right https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/religious-right-real-origins-107133/ Julian Huxley: The Man Who Put Eugenics Into UNESCO https://aeon.co/essays/julian-s-huxley-the-man-who-put-eugenics-into-unesco Centrism, Tech Politics, and Abundance Ideology Dispatch from Welcomefest: Centrism, Abundance, and the New Tech Politics https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/welcomefest-dispatch-centrism-abundance/ Nuclear Armageddon and Christianity Castle Bravo: The Largest U.S. Nuclear Explosion https://www.brookings.edu/articles/castle-bravo-the-largest-u-s-nuclear-explosion/ ‘Armageddon View’ Prompts a Debate Among Evangelicals and Policy Experts https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/24/us/armageddon-view-prompts-a-debate.html Armageddon: Reagan-Era Beliefs and Political Impact https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/10/24/armageddon/8b364a1c-fadc-41e1-b2d1-b262aa08eb46/

To become a supporter and join our group chat, visit us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DystopiaNow This week we chatted with Dr. Alexander Thomas, author of The Politics and Ethics of Transhumanism: Techno-Human Evolution and Advanced Capitalism. Dr Alexander Thomas is a multi-award-winning film director and screenwriter. His academic research questions what it means to be human when cultural, cybernetic and biotechnological developments undermine the notion of the human as a cogent and eternal category. This episode is a great pairing to last week's episode with Quinn Slobodian.  We mentioned a lot of texts and authors in this episode that we've included below. Inclusion does not mean agreement in all instances.  Critical Analyses of Transhumanism & Longtermism University of East London: A Critical Look at the Rise and Risks of Transhumanism Emile Torres in The Guardian: Pro-Extinctionists and the Longtermist Threat Torres in Aeon: Why Longtermism Is the World’s Most Dangerous Secular Credo Boston Review: The New Moral Mathematics New Statesman: The Longtermist Threat to Humanity Slate: Existential Risk vs Human Apathy Economics Papers: Is Longtermism Dangerous? Tyler Austin Harper thread on X: Post Books & Research on Transhumanism Posthuman Bliss? by Susan B. Levin: Oxford University Press The Proactionary Imperative by Steve Fuller: Palgrave Macmillan Citizen Cyborg by James Hughes: Westview Press James Hughes lecture: What Is Transhumanism? (PDF) Nietzschean Meditations by Stefan Lorenz Sorgner: Amazon Future Superhuman by Elise Bohan: Amazon Mind Children by Hans Moravec: CUNY Commentary Research paper: Transhumanism: A Progressive Vision or Capitalism's Last Ideological Resort? Transhumanism: The Future of Humanity (book): Hudson Booksellers IAI Essay: The Irrationality of Transhumanists Literal Magazine: Transhumanism: Bostrom and Pearce Interview Futurism, Accelerationism & Up-Wingers Wired (1994): The Extropians The Breakthrough Institute: Rise of the Up-Wingers AEI: Up-Wing America Slate: Reframing Environmental Policy Aeon: Up vs Down Politics F. M. Esfandiary’s Manifesto: Up-Wingers (Book) The Guardian: Accelerationism Explained Philosophy, Politics & Theory Achille Mbembe: Necropolitics (PDF) MIT Press: Cybernetics by Norbert Wiener Mark Fisher’s Capitalist Realism: Book New Statesman: On K-Punk and Fisher Dan Paul Zimmer website: Main | Research Billionaires NYT: Elon Musk, Trump, Drugs, and Children Sam Altman: Moore’s Law for Everything

To join our group chat or become a subscriber, go here: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow This week we chatted with historian Quinn Slobodian, a professor of international history at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University. His books, which have been translated into ten languages, include, most recently, Hayek’s Bastards: Race, Gold, IQ and the Capitalism of the Far Right and Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World without Democracy.  Intro Anthropic: AI deception risk Patreon: Join Community Chats Quinn Slobodian Tech bros, Trump, and the Silicon Valley nation-state – The Guardian The Bastards of Neoliberalism – New Statesman Elon Musk and the Demography Agenda – New Statesman Crack-Up Capitalism Interview – Jacobin The Bastards of Neoliberalism – New Statesman The Inhuman Future of Intelligence – The Guardian Other  Balaji’s Private Island School – TechCrunch  

This week is Part 1 of our Patreon supporter only series on the Zizians. We discuss the origins of the Zizian ideology in the Rationalism community, MIRI, CFAR, Roko's Basilisk and Doom Circles. To become a subscriber, visit us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow

To become a Patreon supporter go here: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow With guest Nathan Robinson, Editor of Current Affairs, we dive into the career and ideology of Matt Yglesias and his confidently wrong opinions about everything. Yglesias has helped shift mainstream liberalism toward a colder, more cynical worldview that prioritizes elite consensus and data-driven “pragmatism” over solidarity and human dignity. From Sam Bankman-Fried and crypto, to housing, to Palestine, he’s the voice of technocratic centrism beloved by Silicon Valley elites. His views reflect a shallow utilitarianism that strips politics of moral urgency and empathy, and we are here to drag that shit. We explore how Yglesias has become a key ideological bridge between neoliberal Democrats and the techno-libertarian right. Nathan J. Robinson – Articles & Book The Opinions of Matt Yglesias Should Be Ignored – Current Affairs Why Effective Altruism and Longtermism Are Toxic Ideologies – Current Affairs We Should Be Neither Anti-Natalist Nor Pro-Natalist – Current Affairs The Dangerous Ideas of Longtermism and Existential Risk – Current Affairs The Myth of American Idealism – Book by Noam Chomsky & Nathan J. Robinson Articles Mentioned in Intro: Democrats, Influencers, and Trump – NYT Charity for Shrimps? Ronny Chieng Explores the Limits of Effective Altruism | The Daily Show Biden’s PSA Test and Political Fallout – NYT Matt Yglesias – Writings & Critiques The Troubling Rise of Hitler Revisionism – Slow Boring Some Thoughts on the FTX Implosion – Slow Boring Reds in the Family – Slow Boring Matt Yglesias’s Crypto Opinions – Revolving Door Project Matt Yglesias in Biden’s Washington – Washington Post Embarrassing Fans of the Super Rich – Jeet Heer Silicon Valley Patronage – Citations Needed Group Chats That Changed America – Semafor Sam Bankman-Fried & Effective Altruism FTX’s Collapse and Media Fallout – Semafor How SBF Sweet-Talked the Media – NY Mag Inside the Crazy World of FTX – The Guardian SBF Guilty Verdict – Semafor EA Group Debated SBF’s Ethics in 2018 – Semafor Breakthrough Institute Homelessness Meets Cluelessness – Prospect on Michael Shellenberger Ted Nordhaus – The Breakthrough Institute Bad Science in Apocalypse Never – Yale Climate Connections Empathy, Musk Elon Musk on Empathy – CNN The Christian Right’s War on Empathy Additional Resources Solidarity – Book by Leah Hunt-Hendrix & Astra Taylor (N+1) International Factory Safety – Slate      

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/