It's all riffs and no theme, and this time it's featuring comedians Tom Ballard and Marjolein Robertson on the subject of: the Shetland Islands, Toronto nightlife, inviting spiders into your house, and an encounter with the Finnish Hells Angels. Check out Tom's show 'Good Point Well Made' at the Fringe here: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/to…

Brian Merchant (@bcmerchant) returns to discuss Elon Musk’s frantic UK civil war wishposting, and the role of his particular personality in encouraging right wing insurrection around the globe. Then, we move on to discuss Brian’s piece for Wired about what AI is already doing to the games industry—deskilling and displacing artists, and driving down…

For this week's bonus, it's Riley, Hussein, Nate, and November discussing the recent events in the UK and why just about every MP and journalist seems to be falling all over themselves to explain how some of the far-right attacks come from a place of 'legitimate concerns.' Okay? What are they, then? Get the whole episode on Patreon here: https://ww…

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 …

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 …

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 as…

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:…

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…

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 Bayswat…

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 …

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 fo…

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 d…

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…

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 argumen…

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 …

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 …

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'…

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 …

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 i…

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 maneuv…

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 se…

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 …

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 tha…

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, digita…

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…