What The F*** Is The Metaverse?

Filmmaker Brett Leonard and his producer-editor son Shannon hit record the moment they step into a Waymo in Santa Monica, Brett’s first time trusting a car with no human at the wheel. What starts as raw, real-time nerves quickly becomes a lively, inter-generational look at why robotaxis already log millions of safer miles and what that means for city life, safety, and culture. As LA traffic rolls...

Recorded February 2025. OpenAI’s brand-new O3 Mini drops just as China’s DeepSeek reasoning model grabs headlines, setting off a fresh round in the global race to AGI. Shannon Leonard and director Brett Leonard unpack what makes these models different, why agentic AI matters, and how O3 Mini already lets a non-coder spin up production-ready software in days. They trace the knock-on effects for med...

In this episode, Shannon and Brett once again explore the rapidly evolving world of AI, this time diving deep into the rise of AI companions, Apple's focus on privacy with its "Apple Intelligence," and the imminent arrival of reasoning AI. (NOTE: This was recorded about a week before OpenAI’s o1 launch). From AI-driven friends designed to reduce loneliness to Apple's strategic privacy innovations,...

In a riveting podcast episode, Brett Leonard, the director behind "The Lawnmower Man," proclaims "Hollywood will change radically within the next five years," setting the stage for a deep dive into the transformative technologies of Sora and Apple Vision Pro. Brett draws thought-provoking comparisons between the once unparalleled IMAX experiences to the burgeoning realm of virtual reality—a transi...

This episode ventures deep into the tech vortex of 2023, dissecting the trends that have transformed the buzzword 'metaverse' into a tangible digital frontier powered by AI. Hosts Shannon and Brett navigate through the year's pivotal moments, from the rise and fall of tech lingo to the ethical conundrums posed by AI's advance. They examine the intersection where technology meets humanity, ponderin...

AI Acceleration and Tech's New Era! Brett and Shannon dissect the tumultuous events surrounding OpenAI, focusing on the firing and reinstatement of Sam Altman. The discussion also touches on Microsoft's growing influence in OpenAI's direction, highlighting the complexities of corporate interests in the rapidly advancing field of artificial intelligence. The conversation further delves into OpenAI'...

In this wide-ranging conversation, father and son co-hosts compare perspectives across generations and dive deep into how AI is fueling the digital world’s rapid evolution. They discuss innovative technologies like the Apple Vision Pro, Meta Quest 3, GPT-4, DALL-E 3, and AlphaFold, reflecting on how quickly these hardware and software tools are transforming fields like medicine, science, and the a...

Brett discusses artificial intelligence and its impact on filmmaking, technology, and society. Reflecting on his own work, including the film The Lawnmower Man, Leonard discusses the iconic line "I am God" and its significance in illustrating the theme of humans merging with machines. Drawing on inspiration from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, the conversation delves into the idea of huma...

We explore the impact of GPT-4 on the digital landscape, discuss the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, and examine some wild predictions from Balaji Srinivasan (the former Chief Technology Officer of Coinbase, and former general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz) about Bitcoin and the future of the banking system. We'll explore how GPT-4 marks a significant leap forward in nat...

Exploring the Power of AI: Hype or Reality? Welcome to another episode of our intergenerational podcast, where we explore the latest trends and innovations in the Metaverse era. In this episode, we're shifting our focus to the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and asking the question: is AI all hype, or is it the future of computing? As AI technology continues to advance at an unprecedented r...

We’re back! Today we discuss how the “Metaverse” buzzword lost it’s cool factor, Meta’s stock price crash and layoffs, the collapse of the second largest crypto exchange, and Elon Musk's recent acquisition of Twitter. Plus, we'll delve into the buzz surrounding generative AI and explore the potential of ChatGPT as the future of human-AI interaction. This is an intergenerational podcast about all t...

Special guest Gregg Leonard joins this episode to discuss the future of digital accessibility and AI content generation. Gregg and his wife Astrid Reed are co-founders of AVA Inclusivity, Inc. The AVA Inclusivity team combines their expertise in audio/visual technology and historic site preservation to create virtual accessibility solutions that allows the highest quality experience for both onsit...

Ex-Apple engineer Tony Fadell says "f--- the metaverse" and "the metaverse is wrong." - Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg is cutting back on his metaverse-focused AR/VR division. Meta will “slow the pace of some of our investments” due to slower growth than what was forecasted. However, Meta still plans on a 2022 launch of “Project Cambria”, its high-end VR headset focused on mixed reality. Also discusse...

A variety of topics are discussed including “algospeak”, metaverse interoperability, creating a digital twin of the earth, LEGO’s new metaverse investments in collaboration with Epic Games, centralized vs decentralized moderation, new smart cities integrating the metaverse, how Apple may have an advantage over Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, and more! Send us your questions on Twitter @directorleonard and...

This week, Citibank analysts predict that the metaverse economy could be worth $13 trillion by 2030, Wendy's has entered the metaverse, AR/VR has starting consuming reality, and augmented reality glasses startup “Nreal” has raised $60M in funding led by Alibaba. Also, Brett explains the future of linear narrative and "Storyworlding" - these topics and more on this week’s episode! Send us your ques...

On this episode, we discuss how the Oscars could be broadcasted from the metaverse, how the Oscars could utilize advanced AI technology and/or decentralized autonomous organizations, a mind reading tech startup recently acquired by Snap, the latest crypto theft, the development of environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies, and the implications of living forever in the metaverse! Send us your quest...

Big metaverse news this week! We discuss a reported $1 billion investment from Google into an augmented reality startup, Accenture weighing in on the metaverse and even Heineken Beer doing a marketing stunt inside Decentraland. Plus, other metaverse-related topics! Send us your questions on Twitter @directorleonard and @shannonleonard. Thanks for listening! New episodes every week. Brett Leonard i...

It’s a metaverse land rush! On this episode of the podcast, top metaverse news is discussed, such as CVS and Red Bull’s recent metaverse trademarks. Father and son also debate the pros and cons of NFT’s, why prominent tech reporters think that the metaverse may never exist, and the health opportunities - and impacts - of metaverse technology. In this wide-ranging conversation, the immersive digita...

Director Brett Leonard celebrates the 30th Anniversary of his film Lawnmower Man with son Shannon in a discussion about its themes, and how it relates to the true nature of the emerging Metaverse. Father and son also unpack Mark Zuckerberg’s recent lengthy interview on Lex Fridman’s podcast , and Brett reveals publicly for the first time how he plans for a democratized Metaverse to be at the cente...

Putin’s horrific attacks on cities and civilians in Ukraine weighs heavy on the hearts of Brett and Shannon. In this episode, father and son discuss the relevance of the "digital world" during wartime. The conversation leads into AI moderation, the importance of developing ethical frameworks, and how different generations receive news in the “Metaverse” era. Brett Leonard is a veteran Hollywood fi...

Disney has announced it is investing in the metaverse, believing it to be the next stage of its nearly 100-year-old storytelling tradition! J.P. Morgan claims that it’s the first bank in the metaverse! In addition to covering the latest metaverse news, father and son co-hosts debate the implications of young children using VR to enter the metaverse. Brett Leonard is a veteran Hollywood film direct...

Brett Leonard and his son Shannon discuss YouTube’s announcement of potential “Metaverse” features… and explain what that actually means! Also, father and son share their viewpoints on last week’s huge $450 million investment into Web3 “decentralized technology”. Brett Leonard is a veteran Hollywood film director known for introducing the concept of Virtual Reality to popular culture with his hit...

In the first episode of “What The F*** Is The Metaverse?” father and son discuss the motives of Mark Zuckerburg, Meta’s investment into virtual reality technology, and setup the show with some key questions and perspectives! Brett Leonard is a veteran Hollywood film director known for introducing the concept of Virtual Reality to popular culture with his hit film Lawnmower Man. Apart from directin...