TRASHFUTURE

We all saw the story about the weird A.I.-generated Wonka-themed event in Glasgow. But we also think it’s a harbinger of other things to come re: the only things that make it endearing at all are the difficult-despite-it-all attempts to work with terrible material—attempts that humans have to make!—when the computer says to do something stupid. We also talk about Johnny Mercer’s strange quantum st...

  For this week's bonus, Riley, Milo, Hussein, and November gather to discuss some recent news: British media pretending to care about Islamophobia being said too loudly, Americans pretending to care about mental health if it means they can shame criticism of Israel, and Liz Truss pretending to have a future in American conservative politics. But also we discuss a hypothetical Batman movie where t...

The little story of a London wine bar heir who decided to create a company that will scan your face constantly to see if you belong on a shoplifting database. And if you pop up, it’ll encourage Tesco employees to… annoy you? We’re not making this up. If you want access to our Patreon bonus episodes, early releases of free episodes, and powerful Discord server, sign up here: https://www.patreon.com...

We're joined by friend of the show and repeat guest Ed Zitron ( @edzitron ) to discuss some recent AI 'products,' the total failure of another hyped tech business, a Turkish magician's journey through the world of scamming an entire biotech company, but—and this is very important—we finally talk about Bill Ackman and why he does that. Check out Ed's newsletter here: http://wheresyoured.at And chec...

For this week’s free episode, Riley, Milo, Hussein, and November join special guest Abigail Thorn ( @PhilosophyTube ) to discuss three disparate incidents in the UK that expose the relentless march of the War on Being Normal. That’s right—three incidents in British politics that show the implacably deranged tenor of anti-trans politics in Britain, a position fully accepted by both major parties an...

For this month's first Britainology, we're joined by music journalist and genre aficionado Dan Hancox, the author of 'Inner City Pressure: the Story of Grime.' But we're not talking about Grime today (that'll come later!)—rather, we're talking about a genre close to Milo's heart, the Essex-born-and-raised '90s/'00s subgenre Garage. Which Nate has absolutely no point of reference for whatsoever, de...

Nothing but riffs. Nothing but jokes. Noting but Riley revealing more about himself and everyone saying 'I'm confused' or 'oh, that makes sense.' And this one features friend of the show and repeat guest Alex Haddow as well. Get the whole thing on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/98508016 *STREAM ALERT* Check out our Twitch stream, which airs 9-11 pm UK time every Monday and Thursday, a...

In this special episode, we revisit an old startup from 2019 that’s still getting huge government contracts to provide a service we can only describe as ‘the ambulance driven by clowns that drops you off in the middle of the woods.’ This is not an exaggeration. If you want access to our Patreon bonus episodes, early releases of free episodes, and powerful Discord server, sign up here: https://www....

This week, Riley, Milo, and Alice join special guest (and beloved friend of the show) Paris Marx of the Tech Won’t Save Us podcast for a discussion about Apple Vision Pro. Yes, the ridiculous snowboarding goggles that let you see pop up ads everywhere, the next iteration of Google Glass (but worse, and weirder). Our message to you is: bully anyone wearing these things. Check out Tech Won’t Save Us...

This week, it’s an all-dessert episode hosted by Alice with Milo and Hussein. We discuss Peter Thiel and his acolytes’ plan to make the drugs Olympics in which you take as many performance enhancers as possible and turn into Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star. However, the real icing on the cake is a Telegraph article that claims Switzerland possesses an eternal martial spirit, but Britain is to...

For this week's bonus, Riley, Milo, Hussein, and Alice discuss an offshore oil rig theme park that Saudi Arabia is building (it just sounds like an oil rig). We also discuss the recent ICJ proceedings, and examine the contradictions in what liberal democratic states say about international law when confronted with potentially having to apply it to their client states. In the words of Bryan Ferry,...

This week, we’re talking about a terrible surveillance startup, an anti-DEI Ackman guy running to primary Joe Biden (he also sucks), and the recent news that the Israeli government is using what you might call Combat Tweetdeck to try to suppress or overwhelm all the negative attention it’s getting from… things that its own soldiers share on social media. Call it the ‘posting through it’ school of...

Riley, Milo, Hussein, and Alice speak with Goldsmiths researcher Dan McQuillan, the author of 'Resisting AI: An Anti-fascist Approach to Artificial Intelligence' regarding the breathless optimism of politicians in the UK and elsewhere (particularly in Queensland, Australia) claiming they'll use AI to administer state benefits and services. Probably not a good idea! You can purchase Dan's book here...

For this week’s free episode, Riley, Milo, Hussein, and Nate discuss the recent news that ChatGPT has both dropped its official guidelines around working with weapons systems and also entered into a partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense. This is notionally to help reduce veteran suicide, but as Riley indicates, there are plenty of combat uses that are probably going to get integrated, ev...

For this month's first Britainology, we bring on Hussein Kesvani—our special guest with whom we've never done another podcast—to discuss the recent UK Government ban on XL Bully dogs, British dog ownership culture in general, kissing your dog on the mouth, and much more.  If you'd like to hear the rest of the episode, you can find it on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/britainology-77-9...

This week, we’ve got Riley, Milo, Hussein, and Alice discussing a bathroom-related AI startup, the impending election year in the UK, new Government policy facilitating the sell-off of all local council assets and properties, and a recent speech by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer KC about why we cannot actually solve any problems. If you want access to our Patreon bonus episodes, early releases of...

For this week's bonus, Justin Roczniak of the Well There's Your Problem podcast joins the assembled cast of Riley, Milo, Hussein, and Alice to discuss the formal and total shuttering of HyperLoop. Because it was never a real thing, but it sure did make a lot of annoying people and related billionaires claim we didn't need high-speed rail! Listen to the whole episode on Patreon here: https://www.pa...

Alice and Riley talk with Seamus Malekafzali about Israel’s ever-expanding war with Palestine, and the ramifications on its neighbours near and far. If you want to read Seamus' work, check out his newsletter here: https://www.seamus-malekafzali.com/ If you want access to our Patreon bonus episodes, early releases of free episodes, and powerful Discord server, sign up here: https://www.patreon.com/...

It's all riffs and no theme. It's Tom Walker and Demi Lardner of the bigsofttitty.png podcast and many other venues joining us to discuss z-grade robot toys, counterfeit Spider-Man, reinterpreting Goatse for the modern age, and much more. We hope your enjoy.   Get the whole episode on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/balthasar-spider-95950425   *STREAM ALERT* Check out our Twitch stream...

This week’s episode is the first free one of 2024 and was recorded before the new year; it features Riley, Milo, and Alice discussing the UK government’s attempts to make schools officially practice cruelty to trans kids as a matter of policy. Also discussed: an AI startup that wants to automate the entirety of business from start to finish, and a separate segment where Riley and Dr Gareth Fearn d...

In this unlocked bonus episode, Alice, Milo, Nate and Hussein are once again LIVE at Between The Bridges, sadly without Riley because Nadine Dorries' book destroyed his gastrointestinal system. However, undeterred, Alice read the book and her stomach was made of stronger stuff. Milo was also able to simulate Riley using Chat GPT so it's almost like he's there... Please support Medical Aid for Pale...

Woslam’s Reverse Hierarchy of Needs feat. Mattie Lubchansky It's the last regular episode of the year and we've brought on friend of the show and premium points member Mattie Lubchansky to discuss...well, a lot of things: Adam Neumann's new sensitive landlord venture that's totally not a cult, the sentencing statement of Nikola electric truck company CEO Trevor Milton after his conviction for secu...

For this month's first Britainology, Nate and Milo discuss the now-timeless 2003 Richard Curtis film LOVE ACTUALLY, and what it says about Britain. Milo loves it, Nate's wife loves it, Nate is lukewarm on it but it did make him laugh, and Boris Johnson Voice makes an appearance. Get the whole episode on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/britainology-75-94727172 *STREAM ALERT* Check out o...

We revisit our old pal Bill Ackman, who was one of Wall Street's most notorious activist investors, to become the SPAC king, to finally settling into his new role as a billionaire culture warrior. Also, we discuss the suspension of a delightfully moronic Tory MP, and check out how Neom is finally building some stuff that's not just different shaped hotels. CHRISTMAS ANNOUNCEMENT: The TF team will...

For this week's bonus, it's full-court press of useless tech: reactionaries' trying and failing to turn Elon Musk's ultra gen X large language model transphobic; Wes Streeting getting dazzled by an app in Singapore, and a surveillance tech company riding the wave of teen vape interdiction and kicking people out of public housing. The name of the podcast isn't ironic.  Get the whole episode on Patr...