TRASHFUTURE

Note: this episode was recorded on August 1, prior to far-right attacks that took place across the UK at the weekend. Science has done it all: it’s created Woke Algeria to oppress the Italians, it’s created a Labour party that can only concede to the right no matter what the issue, and it’s created the purest expression of Hussein dropping in with a joke that obliterates the entire cast with absol...

For this week’s bonus, we’re joined by friend of the show and astute tech commentator Ed Zitron to discuss the recent CrowdStrike update debacle, the resulting infinity blue screens, the fact that this doesn’t seem to have an impact on Wall Street’s assessments of these kinds of companies, and the Marc Andreessen / Nick Land handshake on the topic of banning…corporate risk management? For being ‘w...

Patrick Wyman rejoins the gang to discuss further historical parallels - this time, we’re looking at the history of calls for an “American Caesar” to sweep away the decrepit institutions of the late Republican period… but even a cursory scratch beneath the surface reveals that there’s less to be understood about this movement from its ostensible associations with the troubles of Ancient Rome, and...

For this week’s bonus, it’s Riley, Milo, Hussein, and November speaking with journalist Ethan Shone ( @ejshone93 ), author of The Dark Arts newsletter, about the sheer volume of lobbyists in Parliament and their influence on UK politics. Safe to guess that it’s completely benign, and actually good? Check out Ethan’s work at OpenDemocracy here: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/author/ethan-shone/ C...

We've heard that any political issue in the United Kingdom is 'just like The Thick of It' and as such we've sought to verify. By watching the 2000s BBC sitcom, or at least one episode of the show, and addressing what it says about British politics? To be honest, it definitely says a lot about Armando Iannucci and the liberal conception of the world. But also: swearing. Get the whole episode on Pat...

For this week’s free one, we discuss the weird shadowbanning fixation of miserable American conservatives like J.D. Vance and the fact that the entire line of argument stands on the shoulders of one particular giant: Gregg Steube. However, we also discuss the anti-trans Discord server of a particularly cruel and disturbing organisation, the Bayswater Support Group, which is the subject of a great...

For this week's bonus, we've got a Balthasar Speedboat recorded in Australia featuring comedian Freddie McManus, in which Riley determines his dream sponsor for the podcast is a wine grower that makes wine you can't buy, Milo tells the story of Russian cops' elaborate ambushes to bother people going to raves, and the group determines how to deploy an erotic edge to win a badminton match. The world...

It’s a chaos configuration while Riley is away on holiday, with this week’s free episode featuring Milo, Hussein, and November on the topic of… weirdly sexual Keir Starmer-related columns in British newspapers. And also an AI startup that’s apparently very prone to abuse, and a Tony Blair Institute conference that—you guessed it—demands ID cards for Britain. Plus some Euros-themed content that 100...

We recorded a live show at Between the Bridges in London on May 29 with friend of the show Nish Kumar, who has been doomed to listen to us read terrible political books to him until the end of time. And in this instance we’re reading TEN YEARS TO SAVE THE WEST by former Prime Minister and bathrobe despoiler Liz Truss. You are not prepared for how deeply stupid this book is. Get the full episode on...

As Labour takes a landslide victory on fewer votes than they received in 2019, we reflect on the concepts and articles that are time travelling here from 1997 and how the right is going to respond and rebuild. Also, we talk about universities, the state, and private capital combining to surveil students protesting for Gaza… which we can only assume will intensify! If you want access to our Patreon...

For this week’s bonus, it’s Riley, Hussein, and November discussing: Masayoshi Son’s desire to create AI God (actual), Labour’s march towards total alienation of everyone in hopes of governing from the void, a bizarre profile of Keir Starmer in which he seems to suggest he has never read a book, and a very strange encounter with Reform UK’s argument that any negative press it receives is because o...

It’s the free one for the week and we’re discussing Balaji Srinivasan, and the Network State freaks of the Bay Area, with extremely experienced California journalist Gil Duran ( @gilduran76) . However, we’re also discussing the indentured-servitude coding boot camp that got hemmed up by the CFPB, as well as a story where McDonald’s had to shelve its AI ordering assistance experiment after it went...

For this week's TF bonus, we're speaking with Welsh journalist Becca Wilks about the Welsh government's usage of automatic facial recognition, the privacy nightmare it creates, and their frankly bonkers justifications for why they want to use it everywhere. Don't worry, it won't cause any.....actually we're just getting an update that it's already being used to stifle protests? The episode is avai...

For this month's first Britainology, we've watched the season of the military-themed and emphatically strange UK reality TV show "Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins," featuring....Matt Hancock. It's exactly what you think it is. Get the whole episode on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/britainology-85-106954905 *EDINBURGH LIVE SHOW ALERT* We're going to be live at Monkey Barrel comedy at the...

We've unlocked our discussion of Master and Commander to the free tier, and we've unlocked the sequel, Post Captain, to the $5 tier... so check them out, and if you like them, you can check out the next instalment - HMS Surprise - now on the $10 tier! November and Riley read the first in Patrick O'Brian's Aubery-Maturin series, and what follows is just under an hour of November and Riley loudly lo...

For this week’s free one, we’ve Riley, Milo, and November discussing the Reform manifesto, which reads like a handful of Volk-centred social democracy policies with a lot of what you can only called overt fascism. Great to know that this will be “sensible politics” in about five years. We also read a paean to Nigel Farage’s f**kability. Of course it’s in the Spectator, but you are simply not prepa...

For this week's bonus, we're talking EU elections and weird European politics with Corner Späti's Ciarán Dold. Learn about Ursula Von Der Leyen's anti-wolf vendetta, Cypriot Mr. Beast somehow getting a parliamentary seat, the hypothetical return of François Hollande in a move they're calling Opposite Day PASOK, and Riley's conjecture about a maneuver known only as the Reverse Kennedy. It's a whole...

For this week’s free one, we’re talking about a Thiel-funded startup to invent future guns that is apparently run by a 9-year-old. We’re also talking about AI Steve, the strange but 100 percent not made up story of a guy who’s claiming he’ll make an AI chatbot and represent its views in parliament if elected. However, we’ve also got an interview segment where Riley speaks with Priyanka Raval of th...

For this week's bonus, we're joined by US politics observer Josh ( @ettingermentum ), who runs the Ettingermentum newsletter. We're talking Bidenism, Starmerism, Bidenism Without Biden, the UK now having two parties who refuse to govern, Third Way guys advising the Labour Party on how to be more right-wing, and much more.   Check out Josh's newsletter here: https://www.ettingermentum.news   Get th...

Josh ( @Boshj ) from The Worst of All Possible Worlds joins the gang to discuss the Humane AI Pin's latest new feature (gets really hot), Lars Windhorst's latest personal update ("I am not on the run"), and the return of Nigel Farage to frontline politics. Then, for our main discussion - a hot new company that intends to be the Netflix of AI, but that so far is only able to make different iteratio...

We continue to follow the election with stony faced horror, as the decision is put to the country: “which group of sociopathic bigots do you want to be in charge of pushing the nuclear button, which they have promised to push”? Then, a reading from the Tony Blair Institute on their plan to circumvent the need for democracy by creating a new, digital England entirely under their control. Get the fu...

For this week’s free episode, we’re joined by returning guest and author Dan Davies, whose recent book “The Unaccountability Machine: Why Big Systems Make Terrible Decisions - and How The World Lost its Mind” inspired a discussion of bad AI getting used at the DWP, the post-1970s shareholder revolution, and an incident involving Dutch airport cargo handlers managing to somehow deliver a horrible f...

For this week's bonus, Jathan Sadowski of This Machine Kills podcast joins the gang to talk about the “new” generation of AI models announced by Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, and others - all of which seem to want to imitate the movie Her. The value proposition of this to a normal person is unclear. Get the whole thing on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/american-x-feat-105234291   *EDINBU...

The cast joins guest Jason Koebler of 404 Media to discuss the recent downward spiral of Facebook, a platform currently being destroyed by AI and a total lack of content moderation that cannot admit the causes of its crisis because it, too, is dumping money into AI. And yet it is among the notionally most valuable companies on earth. But don’t worry—if you die, your account can be hacked and used...

For this week's bonus, it's Riley, Milo, Hussein, and November discussing the recent news about ICC arrest warrants (and US/UK politicians statements about wanting to bomb the Netherlands as a result), but we're also discussing a very strange UK business claiming it's going to build a sort of British Neom in a Napoleonic-era fortress in Dover. That was also a borstal and a refugee deportation cent...