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PODCAST

Dystopia Now

Kate Willett and Emile Torres

Dystopia Now is a show where a comedian (Kate Willett) and an academic (Emile Torres) explore the philosophies and religions of Silicon Valley and tech billionaires shaping our country, our world, and our future.

society & culture tech news

All Episodes

01:05:57

Big Tech is Watching You with Taylor Lorenz

Dystopia Now ·

2026/04/04

Journalist Taylor Lorenz joins us to discuss Section 230, how Big Tech is already tracking everything from eye movements to finger presses, the ongoing erosion of online privacy through right-wing tech policy and identity verification. Find Taylor on YouTube @TaylorLorenz and her publication UserMag on Substack. Further Reading Taylor Lorenz, Usermag, The Media Lied About the Social Media Addiction Trial Taylor Lorenz, The Biggest Lies About Section 230 Mick Masnick, TechDirt, Everyone

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55:08

Understanding the U.S. Blockade on Cuba with David...

Dystopia Now ·

2026/03/25

David Ramírez Álvarez, secretary at the embassy of Cuba in the US, joins us to understand the escalating blockade on Cuba.

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56:27

The Ethics of Human Extinction Part 1

Dystopia Now ·

2026/03/20

Find Part 2 coming soon on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow This week we dive into Emile's area of expertise, the ethics of human extinction and how these ethics are shaping Silicon Valley. Further Reading https://www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/making-sense-of-the-human-extinction Books Mentioned The Last Man, Mary Shelley Human Extinction: A History of the Science and Ethics of Annihilation, Émile Torres

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01:03:13

Data Centers in My Backyard with Dylan Gyauch-Lewis

Dystopia Now ·

2026/03/05

Support the show at https://patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow Researcher and journalist Dylan Gyauch-Lewis joins us this week to discuss the views behind ongoing data center buildout for AI despite community resistance. Find Dylan's work at the American Prospect and https://therevolvingdoorproject.org Further Reading Dylan Gyauch-Lewis for The American Prospect: More AI Means More Cancer Dylan Gyauch-Lewis for The Revolving Door Project: Support for Data Centers in Shor Supply

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01:10:03

Gilded Rage with Jacob Silverman

Dystopia Now ·

2026/02/23

Find Jacob Silverman on Substack at https://substack.com/@jacobsilverman or Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/jacobsilverman.com Further Reading from Jacob * The Shady Financial Past of a Major Trump Crypto Investor: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/andrei-grachev-dlw-labs-world-liberty-financial-trump/ * The President Took A $75 Million Bribe And We All Saw It: https://www.jacobsilverman.com/p/the-president-took-a-75-million-bribe Books Mentioned Gilded Rage, Jacob Silverman Easy Money,

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01:14:11

The Unabomber

Dystopia Now ·

2026/02/05

This week, we discussed the biography of the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and his brand of tech doomerism. Further Reading Émile's article: https://www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/eliezer-yudkowsky-and-the-unabomber

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01:00:07

Four Companies, Under AGI

Dystopia Now ·

2026/01/26

While profit motivates all companies under capitalism, why are the wealthiest tech companies so focused on AGI? This week, we dive into the relationships, ideologies, and claims behind the four biggest players claiming to build artificial general intelligence: Google DeepMind, OpenAI (partly owned by Microsoft), Anthropic, and Elon Musk's xAI. Further Reading https://www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/tescrealism-and-the-race-to-build Book mentioned The AI Con - Emily Bender & Alex Hanna

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01:00:54

LARPing into Authoritarianism with Dr. Alexander Thomas

Dystopia Now ·

2026/01/17

We're joined again by Dr. Alexander Thomas, author of The Politics and Ethics of Transhumanism, to discuss current events and how the Extropians' libertarian transhumanist fantasies connect to today's efforts to meme right-wing authoritarianism into reality. Books Mentioned Hayek's Bastards by Quinn Slobodian The Politics and Ethics of Transhumanism by Alexander Thomas (open access)

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56:50

How Tech Bros are Innovating Imperialism

Dystopia Now ·

2026/01/10

Welcome to 2026! This week, we took a look at imperialism and how the rotating cast of billionaires discussed on the show are more involved than meets the eye. FURTHER READING: Émile's article "Are You Suffering from Crisis Fatigue?": https://www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/are-you-suffering-from-crisis-fatigue Gil Duran's article on the Network State and Venezuela (The Nerd Reich): https://www.thenerdreich.com/network-state-comes-for-venezuela/ Prospera:

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01:20:30

The Distant Future: 2025 Expectations versus Reality

Dystopia Now ·

2025/12/28

Is AGI right around the corner, again? How's the AI bubble doing? What happened to climate activism? We're closing out the year with a round up of the many predictions made about technology by 2025 and share some of our own guesses. Support the show on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow Further Reading Émile's rundown of 2025 predictions: https://www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/what-people-thought-would-happen NYT on the AI

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01:01:40

Epstein Part 2: Transhumanism & Eugenics with Keira...

Dystopia Now ·

2025/12/12

This week, we're joined by Keira Havens, director of Citizens' Impeachment and former scientist to discuss Jeffery Epstein's transhumanist, eugenicist beliefs, their roots in hierarchy, and his influence in funding scientific research. Further reading: TBA

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55:32

Epstein Part 1: Chomsky Struggle Session

Dystopia Now ·

2025/12/04

In a 2-part series on Jeffery Epstein, we'll explore Epstein's ties to the TESCREAL ideologies. This week though, we're talking about his ties to one of our intellectual heroes who really let us down. Further reading: Émile's article "Noam Chomsky is a Scumbag": https://www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/noam-chomsky-is-a-scumbag Jeffrey Epstein Met With Harvard Professor Martin Nowak and Noam Chomsky in 2015 in Harvard Office:

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01:04:15

Escaping Effective Altruism

Dystopia Now ·

2025/11/14

Support the show on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/dystopianow How did Émile get involved in Effective Altruism and what was it like beginning to turn away? In this week's episode, we touch on Palantir CEO Alex Karp's political journey, a review of longtermism, and what first sounded the alarm bells on EA for Émile. Further reading: Emile's article "Against longtermism": https://aeon.co/essays/why-longtermism-is-the-worlds-most-dangerous-secular-credo Karp's swordsmanship:

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50:41

Algospeak, Vibes, and Post-Rats with Adam Aleksic...

Dystopia Now ·

2025/11/07

This week, we're joined by Adam Aleksic, also known as @etymologynerd to discuss his new book Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language. We talk everything from 67, slop, rationalists versus post-rationalists, teleology, vibes, and Silicon Valley slang. Further Reading Buy Adam's book Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language at your local book store or online: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/776856/algospeak-by-adam-aleksic/ Find Adam

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01:00:57

Fan Fic at the End of the World

Dystopia Now ·

2025/11/01

This week, we dive into the horrifying world of Eliezer Yudkowsky, AI Doomer, Rationalist, and Harry Potter fan fiction author in light of his recently published NYT bestseller with Nate Soares, "If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies." Further reading: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-eliezer-yudkowsky.html https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/461680/if-anyone-builds-it-yudkowsky-soares-ai-risk

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51:55

How Tech Billionaires Bought the Narrative with Eoin...

Dystopia Now ·

2025/10/23

In this episode, we talked to journalist Eoin Higgins about his book “Owned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Left" which examines how Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, and Elon Musk have used their wealth to shape media narratives, especially through journalists Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi. Eoin Higgins: https://x.com/eoinhiggins_?lang=en Eoin’s Substack: https://eoinhiggins.substack.com/ Eoin’s book:

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01:08:19

Is Saving Shrimps Effective Altruism? w/ Guest...

Dystopia Now ·

2025/10/17

In this episode, we explore the Shrimp Welfare Project, featured on the Daily Show several months ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNbIKtGMoaA&t. Comedian Josh Gondelman -- a former writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver -- joins us for laughs and some serious reflection on which types of beings should be included within our circles of moral concern. Info on the Shrimp Welfare Project can be found here: https://www.shrimpwelfareproject.org/ A critique of Effective Altruism (written

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52:28

Peter Thiel's Antichrist Lectures

Dystopia Now ·

2025/10/04

To become a supporter, go here: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow This week we explored Peter Thiel's Antichrist Lectures. Other than trying to prove he's not the Antichrist, what is this guy up to? Newsletter piece on the topic, titled "The Political Power of Eschatological Thinking: This Is Why Peter Thiel Is Talking About the Antichrist": https://www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/the-political-power-of-eschatological-82b If people want to learn more about the "dispensationalist" view of the end

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01:02:40

Bryan Johnson, Mortal

Dystopia Now ·

2025/09/15

https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow This week, we explored the anti-aging obsession of Bryan Johnson. From erection measuring to NDA's, join us for a weird ride. Futher reading: How Bryan Johnson, Who Wants to Live Forever, Sought Control via Confidentiality Agreements – The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/technology/bryan-johnson-nda-employees.html @mathrubhumi+3WIRED+3mint+3 Bryan Johnson and Matt Bruenig Are Fighting Over NDAs – New York Magazine

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46:09

The Astroturf Agenda with Dean Preston

Dystopia Now ·

2025/09/05

To help us keep the show going become a subscriber here: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston joins us for a wide-ranging conversation about the tech billionaire-backed astroturf campaigns that flooded his district with money and disinformation. We dig into how tech barons are reshaping local politics through alleged “grassroots” groups, what it means for democracy when dark money drives housing and policing policy, and how Preston sees the fight for tenants’

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57 results

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