Cargo Cult

We consider how the gamification of love affects our sanity and the shape online dating might take in the future. We also investigate how Match Group (parent company of Tinder, Hinge, OKCupid, and more) dominates the dating app industry and discover a new conservative-only dating app funded in part by Peter Thiel. Then we investigate the bizarre and untimely death of Peter Thiel's side piece....

Netflix is raising prices, cracking down on password sharing, and adding an ad tier. Here we cover this sea of changes at the company, discuss why it's a target of the writers' strike, and investigate its founders, Marc Bernays Randolph and Reed Hoffman. How to support the WGA writers: https://www.wgacontract2023.org/take-action/stand-with-writers

We track Google's journey from the Stanford University dorms to Davos. We also cover a few poignant flashpoints in the relationship between Google and the CIA, like trying to help overthrow the Syrian government in the 2010s and creating Intellipedia (Wikipedia for spooks). Take a shot every time Michele says “apparatus.”

In-Q-Tel is a strategic venture capital firm created in 1999 to invest in technologies that serve the mission needs of the CIA and the broader intelligence community, including the FBI, NSA, and DHS.

Did you know that SpaceX owes its life to the former head of In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture capital arm? In this episode, we explore Elon Musk's rocket ambitions and the imperialist origins of SpaceX's satellite business. We also discuss the destructive effects of SpaceX's recent 4/20 Starship rocket launch in Southern Texas.

Oracle is the world's second-largest software company by revenue (behind Microsoft). We explain Oracle's role as the database of all databases and explore the company's relationship with the U.S. government. We also discuss Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison's recent run-in with the Hawaiian police. Then, we mourn the loss of Cash App founder Bob Lee and the equally tragic loss of Nao...

We chat about how robots are infiltrating the workforce in Japan, stealing jobs from baristas and caregivers alike. Then, we dive into Apple's recently announced wearable AR/VR headset (it looks like a pair of ski goggles) and explore the privacy implications of this new tech.

Get to know all the chatbots, from Joseph Weizenbaum's 60s-era "therapist bot" named Eliza to today's infamous ChatGPT by OpenAI. And you might as well since one will probably be your boss soon.

A nation uploads itself to the Metaverse. The U.S. military develops stupid robots and terrifying insects. We discuss all this and react to TikTok e-girls in face-altering filters, telling Zoomers to "man up" and join the army.

We can't stop talking about "The Line," the coming tech-centric smart city technically located on Saudi Arabian land but not governed by KSA law. In this episode, we look at some of The Line's weirdest features, including the unusual way younger residents will commute to school, and explain why Neom is more of an international capitalist project than a Saudi one.

Neom is a smart "gigacity" in Saudi Arabia that puts all other smart cities to shame. Here we look into designs for "The Line," one of Neom's cities that project spokespeople are heralding as the "future of urban living." Complain at cargocultpod@gmail.com.

We ask the burning question of our time: "Is TikTok sus?" Then, we learn how eBay executives stalked and blackmailed an elderly indie journalism power couple. This episode also includes ChatGPT's vision of a debate between a 9/11 conspiracy theorist and a "normal person." Complain at cargocultpod@gmail.com.