To join us on Patreon, go here: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow This week we talked to professors Kyle Keeler and Nathaniel Otjen about the Breakthrough Institute, ecomodernism nuclear energy and AI. Does nuclear come with some downsides? (Yes) Futher Reading: Links between AI, tech, nuclear energy “Continued Propaganda About AI and Nuclear Power” “Nuclear Power Is Hard. A Climate-Minded Billionaire Wants to Make It Easier” “Here are the Nuclear Fission Startups Backed by Big Tech” “Meta signs 20-year deal with nuclear plant, signals AI’s growing energy needs” “Three Mile Island nuclear plant will reopen to power Microsoft data centers” “President Donald J. Trump Deploys Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security” How Nuclear Got a Positive Image “Nuclear Injustice: Why a Nuclear Renaissance is the Same Old Colonial Story” “A Degrowth Response to an Ecomodernist Manifesto” “The Stories Michael Shellenberger Tells” “The New Denial is Delay” “‘Anti-Censorship’ Shellenberger Tried To Censor, Harass and Intimidate Wikipedia Editor” Issue with nuclear power and AI “Physicist MV Ramana on the problem with nuclear power” “Environmental Justice in the 21st Century: Race Still Matters” “What Environmental Justice Means in Indian Country” “‘How come I can’t breathe?’: Musk’s data company draws a backlash in Memphis” “AI is taking water from the desert” Degrowth “Degrowth can work — here’s how science can help” “A Red Deal” “Mining for the Climate” podcast Climate and Community Institute Intro Topics: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/03/natal-conference-austin-texas-eugenics https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/07/cremieux-race-science-new-york-times/683474/ https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/jun/16/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-eugenics-scientific-racism https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35902104 https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/magazine/12ginsburg-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/23/books/review/san-fransicko-michael-shellenberger.html
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1:47:48
Thiel is the Antichrist with Will Menaker
To become a supporter and help keep our show going: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow (An earlier version of this show was posted, we fixed a sound problem with the file and reposted) Back from our short break. This week we analyzed Peter Thiel's interview with Ross Douthat and then sat down with Will Menaker from Chapo Trap House to talk about Zohran and fighting the tech billionaires. Further Reading: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/us/politics/democrats-project-2029.html https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/28/europe/jeff-bezos-wedding-protest-venice-latam-intl https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/opinion/peter-thiel-antichrist-ross-douthat.html https://www.truthdig.com/articles/machine-learning-maga-rise-of-the-christian-cyborg/ https://www.uvm.edu/~gflomenh/courses/ENV-NGO-PA395/articles/Lynn-White.pdf https://www.thenation.com/article/economy/abolish-venture-capitalism/ https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/11/30/how-venture-capitalists-are-deforming-capitalism https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/nyregion/mamdani-wins-mayor-primary-nyc.html https://www.thenerdreich.com/is-peter-thiel-the-antichrist-nyt-didnt-think-to-ask/ https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/01/kirsten-gillibrand-zohran-mamdani-00436031 https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/welcomefest-dispatch-centrism-abundance/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/919-abruendance-agenda-feat-madinah-wilson-anton-matt/id1097417804?i=1000700707105&l=ru
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1:16:07
Thiel is the Antichrist with Will Menaker
To become a supporter and help keep our show going: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow Back from our short break. This week we analyzed Peter Thiel's interview with Ross Douthat and then sat down with Will Menaker from Chapo Trap House to talk about Zohran and fighting the tech billionaires. Further Reading: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/us/politics/democrats-project-2029.html https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/28/europe/jeff-bezos-wedding-protest-venice-latam-intl https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/opinion/peter-thiel-antichrist-ross-douthat.html https://www.truthdig.com/articles/machine-learning-maga-rise-of-the-christian-cyborg/ https://www.uvm.edu/~gflomenh/courses/ENV-NGO-PA395/articles/Lynn-White.pdf https://www.thenation.com/article/economy/abolish-venture-capitalism/ https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/11/30/how-venture-capitalists-are-deforming-capitalism https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/nyregion/mamdani-wins-mayor-primary-nyc.html https://www.thenerdreich.com/is-peter-thiel-the-antichrist-nyt-didnt-think-to-ask/ https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/01/kirsten-gillibrand-zohran-mamdani-00436031 https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/welcomefest-dispatch-centrism-abundance/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/919-abruendance-agenda-feat-madinah-wilson-anton-matt/id1097417804?i=1000700707105&l=ru
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1:14:33
Pro-Natalism, Anti-Natalism and Efilism with Briahna Joy Gray
To join us on Patreon go here: https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow This week we were joined by Briahna Joy Gray to talk about natalism and Efilism. We also had a great discussion about the philosophy of human extinction. Bad Faith Podcast / Briahna Joy Gray Bad Faith Podcast: “Episode 479: Promo — Truth in Fiction w/ Cory Doctorow” https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-479-promo-truth-in-fiction-w-cory-doctorow/id1531192509?i=1000710888262 Bad Faith Podcast: “Episode 445: Promo — From Merit to Eugenics: Elon Musk’s…” https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/episode-445-promo-from-merit-to-eugenics-elon-musks/id1531192509?i=1000688606822 Pronatalism / Natalism Discourse Mother Jones — “This Is a War, and Natalism Is Our Sword and Shield” https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/03/this-is-a-war-and-natalism-is-our-sword-and-shield-my-weekend-with-the-pronatalists/ The Guardian — “Natal Conference in Austin, Texas, and Eugenics” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/03/natal-conference-austin-texas-eugenics The Guardian — “What Is Pronatalism? Right-Wing Republican Movement” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/11/what-is-pronatalism-right-wing-republican The Guardian — “Elon Musk, Pronatalism, and Motherhood on Social Media” https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/25/elon-musk-pronatalism-mothers-social-media-parenting CNN — “Pronatalism, Elon Musk, and Birth Rates” https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/10/us/pronatalism-elon-musk-birth-rates-cec Vox — “JD Vance, Pronatalism, and Population Decline” https://www.vox.com/policy/363543/pronatalism-vance-birth-rates-population-decline-fertility New York Times — “Liberals and Falling Birth Rates: Anastasia Berg Op-Ed” https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/16/opinion/anastasia-berg-falling-birth-rates-liberals.html New York Times — “Natalism, Liberalism & Parenthood” https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/10/opinion/natalism-liberalism-parenthood.html The Atlantic — “Democrats and Pronatalism: Family Policy Debates” https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/democrats-pronatalism-family-policies/681827/ Liberal Currents — “Liberal Pro-Natalism” https://www.liberalcurrents.com/liberal-pro-natalism/ The New Yorker — “How Liberals Talk About Children” https://www.newyorker.com/news/fault-lines/how-liberals-talk-about-children Current Affairs — “We Should Be Neither Anti-Natalist Nor Pro-Natalist” https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/we-should-be-neither-anti-natalist-nor-pro-natalist The Guardian — “Birthstrikers and Climate Change” https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/mar/12/birthstrikers-meet-the-women-who-refuse-to-have-children-until-climate-change-ends People — “All About Elon Musk’s Children” https://people.com/all-about-elon-musk-children-11678749 New York Times — “Trump, Musk, and Birthrate Proposals” https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/us/politics/elon-musk-trump-birthrate.html New York Times — “Trump’s Birthrate Proposals” https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/us/politics/trump-birthrate-proposals.html Axios — “Elon Musk, Ashley St. Clair, and Baby Influencing” https://www.axios.com/2025/04/17/elon-musk-babies-ashley-st-clair Conversations with Tyler — Ezra Klein Interview https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/ezra-klein-3/ Efilism / Anti-Natalism Extremism The Intercept — “Efilism and the Palm Springs Bomber” https://theintercept.com/2025/05/19/efilism-palm-springs-bomber-fertility-clinic/ NBC News — “Reddit Bans Anti-Natalists After Explosion” https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/reddit-bans-anti-natalists-palm-springs-explosion-rcna207677 The Guardian — “Palm Springs IVF Clinic Bombing and Online Extremism” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/21/palm-springs-ivf-clinic-bombing-online-extremism Eugenics, Longtermism, Effective Altruism Truthdig — “Nick Bostrom, Longtermism, and Eugenics” https://www.truthdig.com/articles/nick-bostrom-longtermism-and-the-eternal-return-of-eugenics-2/ Truthdig — “A Short History of Eugenics” https://www.truthdig.com/articles/a-short-history-of-eugenics-from-plato-to-nick-bostrom/ The Guardian — “Pro-Extinctionists and Effective Altruism” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/22/pro-extinctionis-longtermim-effective-altruism-human-extinction-emile-torres Utilitarianism: For and Against (PDF) https://www.utilitarianism.com/utilitarianism-for-and-against.pdf LessWrong — Computronium Page https://www.lesswrong.com/w/computronium Political News / Commentary AP News — “Trump’s Army Parade and Protests” https://apnews.com/article/trump-army-parade-troops-tanks-birthday-protests-4cca4da0e89908d39c820240744375a1 New York Times — “Andrew Cuomo and Nursing Home Deaths During COVID” https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/09/nyregion/cuomo-pandemic-nursing-home-deaths.html Social Media & Commentary Instagram Reel https://www.instagram.com/reel/DK-VjqwxisA/ Twitter — Nathan J. Robinson https://x.com/NathanJRobinson/status/1890845684061847836 Twitter — David Sirota https://x.com/davidsirota/status/1921259098516918382 Miscellaneous Zohran Mamdani Campaign Site https://www.zohranfornyc.com/ Hacker News Thread https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10812804
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1:30:15
The Crapture: Transhumanism and Christianity
Please support our show at patreon.com/dystopianow This week, we explore the growing relationship between Christianity and transhumanism and how they may be merging in the MAGA movement into an end-times fantasy that can satisfy everyone! Surveillance, Policing, and Immigration Tech Waymo Faces Data Privacy Protests in Los Angeles https://www.wired.com/story/waymo-data-privacy-protests-los-angeles/ Waymo's Driverless Cars Revealed to Be Narcs as Cops Use Them to Probe Crimes https://gizmodo.com/waymos-driverless-cars-revealed-to-be-narcs-as-cops-use-them-to-probe-crimes-2000590426 Los Angeles ICE Raids Spark Concerns Over Immigration Conditions https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/11/la-ice-raids-immigration-conditions Democrats Face Backlash Over Resolution Thanking ICE https://www.newsweek.com/democrats-ice-gratitude-resolution-backlash-2084004 Trump Leans on Palantir to Build Massive Database of Americans https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/technology/trump-palantir-data-americans.html Greta Thunberg https://x.com/GozukaraFurkan/status/1932462605928464469 AI, Religion, and the Tech-Spiritual Convergence Machine Learning MAGA: Rise of the Christian Cyborg https://www.truthdig.com/articles/machine-learning-maga-rise-of-the-christian-cyborg/ Silicon Valley’s Obsession with AI Looks a Lot Like Religion https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/silicon-valleys-obsession-with-ai-looks-a-lot-like-religion/ AI’s Spiritual Delusions Are Destroying Human Relationships https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ai-spiritual-delusions-destroying-human-relationships-1235330175/ Excerpt from The Rapture of the Nerds https://www.npr.org/2012/08/24/159996462/excerpt-the-rapture-of-the-nerds Three Out of Four Pastors Believe God Can Work Through AI https://relevantmagazine.com/culture/tech-gaming/three-out-of-four-pastors-believe-god-can-work-through-ai/ Faith Sermon AI Generator https://www.verble.app/faith-sermon/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22426629834&gbraid=0AAAAAp5jAe4rAOh1sg8xXRKGQlFjiGUdB&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0qTCBhCmARIsAAj8C4bpBxsXcD1_Ks4M9IFWA0FpEcdv1YbwNoHYFx6YojGR8dga7TQk-gEaArfQEALw_wcB Free AI-Powered Sermon Generator https://speechgenerator.co/free-sermon-generator/ AI Sermon Generator Tool by Vondy https://www.vondy.com/ai-sermon-generator--sAqpPa5L Christianity and the Tech Elite Are Merging in San Francisco https://sfstandard.com/2024/11/09/christians-tech-religion-sf/ In Silicon Valley, Christianity Finds a New Following https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/business/silicon-valley-christianity.html Joe Rogan, Tech Bros, and the Rise of Austin Church Culture https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/joe-rogan-austin-church-bros-20349767.php Why Elon Musk and Other Tech Leaders Are Embracing Christianity https://theconversation.com/elon-musk-says-hes-a-cultural-christian-why-some-leading-thinkers-are-embracing-christianity-233601 The Real Origins of the Religious Right https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/religious-right-real-origins-107133/ Julian Huxley: The Man Who Put Eugenics Into UNESCO https://aeon.co/essays/julian-s-huxley-the-man-who-put-eugenics-into-unesco Centrism, Tech Politics, and Abundance Ideology Dispatch from Welcomefest: Centrism, Abundance, and the New Tech Politics https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/welcomefest-dispatch-centrism-abundance/ Nuclear Armageddon and Christianity Castle Bravo: The Largest U.S. Nuclear Explosion https://www.brookings.edu/articles/castle-bravo-the-largest-u-s-nuclear-explosion/ ‘Armageddon View’ Prompts a Debate Among Evangelicals and Policy Experts https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/24/us/armageddon-view-prompts-a-debate.html Armageddon: Reagan-Era Beliefs and Political Impact https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/10/24/armageddon/8b364a1c-fadc-41e1-b2d1-b262aa08eb46/
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.
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