1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:03,560 Speaker 1: A Zone Media. 2 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 2: Hello and welcome to Better Offline. I'm your host ed 3 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:21,759 Speaker 2: ze Tron. It's been a hard couple of weeks. It's 4 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 2: been pretty hard to focus. I've written a few newsletters, 5 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 2: I've gone to Portugal, I've done a bunch of shit 6 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 2: just trying not to think about everything happening outside. But 7 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 2: it's time to do so. Seemingly every single person on 8 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 2: Earth with a blog or a podcast, or even a 9 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 2: Twitter account or XD everything, Apple whatever it's called now, 10 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 2: they've all tried to drill down into what happened on 11 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 2: November fifth, to find the people that blame, to explain 12 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 2: what could have gone differently, really looking for who to 13 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 2: blame though, and find out why so many actions led 14 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 2: to a result that will overwhelmingly home woman, minorities, immigrants, 15 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:02,280 Speaker 2: LGBTQ people, and lower income work. Because it's terrifying. It 16 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 2: fucking sucks. I'm not going to mince words, not that 17 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 2: I would usually anyway, and I don't feel fully equipped 18 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:12,240 Speaker 2: to respond to the moment. I don't have any real answers, 19 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 2: at least not political ones. I'm not a political analyst, 20 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 2: and I'd feel disingenuous trying to dissect either the Harris 21 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 2: or the Trump campaigns, because I just feel like there's 22 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 2: a take Olympics right now. It's the Dunning Kruger Festival 23 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:27,679 Speaker 2: out there. Everyone is trying to rationalize and intellectualize these 24 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:32,760 Speaker 2: events that ultimately come down to something quite simple. People 25 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 2: don't trust authority, and yet it's pretty ironic that this 26 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:40,680 Speaker 2: often leads them towards authoritarianism. Now, I don't want to 27 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:42,120 Speaker 2: give you the impression that I'm going to go on 28 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 2: my crank mode that and somehow against institutions on their face, 29 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:49,919 Speaker 2: I'm not. But at the same time, understanding this moment 30 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 2: requires us to acknowledge that institutions have failed us and 31 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 2: failed most people, and how certain institutions missteps have led 32 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 2: us to exactly where we are today. Legacy media, and 33 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 2: while oftentimes they're staffed by people who truly love their 34 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 2: readers and care about their beats, they're weighed down by 35 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:10,920 Speaker 2: this hysterical, nonsensical attachment to the imaginary concept of objectivity 36 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 2: and the will of the markets. Case in point, regular 37 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 2: people have spent years watching the price of goods increase 38 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:21,080 Speaker 2: due to inflation, despite the fact that the increase in 39 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:26,240 Speaker 2: pricing was mostly driven by get this corporations raising their prices. Now, 40 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 2: that's not to say that external factors like the war 41 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 2: in Ukraine or lingering COVID restrictions in China, these things 42 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 2: did play a role in it. They did. But the 43 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:39,560 Speaker 2: bulk of these price increases were caused by these fucking 44 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:43,919 Speaker 2: companies raising the prices. It was in their earnings. It 45 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 2: was right there, Pepsi Cola said it on the news. 46 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:50,880 Speaker 2: Yet some parts of the legacy media spent an alarming 47 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:54,040 Speaker 2: amount of time chiding their readers for thinking otherwise, even 48 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 2: going against their own reporting. And there will be links 49 00:02:56,760 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 2: in the episode notes I promise as a means to 50 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:04,079 Speaker 2: provide balanced coverage, insisting again and again that the economy 51 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 2: is actually good, contorting their little bodies to prove that 52 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 2: prices aren't actually higher, even as companies literally boasted about 53 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:14,560 Speaker 2: raising their prices on earnings. In fact, the media spent 54 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:17,800 Speaker 2: years debating with itself whether the price scuging was actually happening, 55 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 2: despite years of proof that it was. Some of them 56 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 2: even reported that the price gouging was happening. So like, 57 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 2: get this, I just don't think people trust authority, and 58 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 2: they especially don't trust the media, especially the legacy media. 59 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 2: It also probably didn't help. The legacy media implored readers 60 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 2: and viewers to ignore what they saw at the supermarket 61 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 2: or at the pump and the growing hits that their 62 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 2: wallets from the daily necessities of life. It was just 63 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 2: a national level gas lighting and it was disgusting. And 64 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 2: I know some of you might say, you know where 65 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 2: to email me. Oh, it's not just this. No, of course, 66 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 2: it's not just this asshole, but I think this is 67 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 2: a big thing. Now, before I go any further, I've 68 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 2: used the termgacy media here repeatedly, but don't completely intend 69 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 2: for it to come across as a pejorative. Despite my criticisms, 70 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 2: and believe me, I've got a few of them, there 71 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:11,440 Speaker 2: are people in the legacy media doing a good job. 72 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 2: They're reporting the truth, they're doing the kinds of work 73 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 2: that matters, and they're actually trying to teach their reader's 74 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:18,920 Speaker 2: stuff and tell them what's happening and giving them context. 75 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,360 Speaker 2: I read and pay for several legacy media outlets. I 76 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:24,160 Speaker 2: think the world is a better place for them existing, 77 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:28,719 Speaker 2: despite their flaws. The problem is, as I'll explain, is 78 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 2: this editorial industrial complex and how these people are writing 79 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 2: about the powerful don't seem to be able to, or 80 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 2: maybe they don't want to actually interrogate the powerful. This 81 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:41,039 Speaker 2: could be an entire episode on its sign, but I 82 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 2: don't think the answer to these failings is to simply 83 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 2: discard legacy media entirely. But I want to implore them 84 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:49,440 Speaker 2: to do better and to strive for the values of 85 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:53,279 Speaker 2: truth hunting and truth telling and actually explaining what's happening 86 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 2: and criticizing the people that don't have PR firms and 87 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,119 Speaker 2: lobbying groups and lawyers and the means to protect them 88 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:04,839 Speaker 2: cells from the world. The time for fucking around is over, 89 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 2: and we're currently finding out now. Anyway, as you know, 90 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:12,840 Speaker 2: as a person existing in the real world, the price 91 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:15,599 Speaker 2: of everything has kept increasing despite the fact that wages 92 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:18,160 Speaker 2: are stagnating. It's forcing many of the poorest people to 93 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 2: choose between food and fuel or I don't know, eating 94 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 2: and having heat simultaneously. Businesses have spent several years telling 95 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:28,839 Speaker 2: workers they're asking for too much and doing too little, 96 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:31,360 Speaker 2: telling people a few years ago they were quiet quitting, 97 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 2: which is a fucking stupid term that just means going 98 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:36,479 Speaker 2: to your job and doing the thing you're paying to do. Anyway, 99 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:39,919 Speaker 2: and a year later, in twenty twenty three, they insisted 100 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 2: that the years of remote work were actually bad because 101 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:46,920 Speaker 2: profits didn't reach the same profit levels of twenty twenty one, 102 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:49,360 Speaker 2: which was something to do with remote work. Now, did 103 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:52,239 Speaker 2: anyone actually prove this, did anyone actually going No, they didn't. 104 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:55,119 Speaker 2: They just well, I just listened to Mark Benioff, who's 105 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 2: one of the more evil people alive. Now. I also 106 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 2: think a lot of these problems come to twenty twenty 107 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:03,240 Speaker 2: one a year that we really need to dig into more. 108 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 2: We might not do so today, but we will in 109 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 2: the future. But one of the big things that punish 110 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:10,800 Speaker 2: workers and led to so many layoffs in twenty twenty 111 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 2: three was the fact that we couldn't get back to 112 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 2: the post lockdown boot of twenty twenty one, when everyone 113 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:18,479 Speaker 2: bought everything always as they left the house for the 114 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:23,599 Speaker 2: first time in a while. Now, any corporation would be 115 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:25,920 Speaker 2: smart enough to know that that was a phase, that 116 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:30,159 Speaker 2: that was not going to be forever. Except every single 117 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:32,400 Speaker 2: big company seemed to make the same mistake and say 118 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 2: number going up forever, line go up forever. When it didn't, Well, 119 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:39,760 Speaker 2: they started punishing workers and they started thinking, well, could 120 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:43,560 Speaker 2: it be that we as companies, We set unrealistic expectations 121 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 2: for the markets and we just thought that we'd keep 122 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 2: growing forever. Or maybe it was the people using the 123 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:54,240 Speaker 2: computer at home. Yeah, that seems way better anyway. Well, 124 00:06:54,279 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 2: the majority of people don't work remotely. From talking to 125 00:06:56,880 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 2: the people I know outside of tech or business, there's 126 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:02,040 Speaker 2: this genuine sense that media has allied itself with the bosses, 127 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:04,159 Speaker 2: and I imagine it's because of the many articles that 128 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:07,239 Speaker 2: literally call workers lazy and have done so for years. 129 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:10,400 Speaker 2: Yet when it comes to the powerful legacy, media doesn't 130 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 2: seem to have that much pisson vinegar. They just have 131 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:17,840 Speaker 2: much more guarded critiques. The appetite for shaming and finger wagging. 132 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:21,360 Speaker 2: It's always directed that middle and working class workers and 133 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:24,200 Speaker 2: seemingly disappears what a person has a three character job 134 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 2: title like CEO. It's fucking stupid, it's insulting, and yes, 135 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 2: it's demoralizing for the average person. Despite the fact that 136 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 2: Elon Musk has spent years telegraphing is intent to uses 137 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 2: billions of dollars to wild power equivalent to that of 138 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:38,680 Speaker 2: a nation state. As you may remember from my first 139 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:42,160 Speaker 2: episode of Anything over On, it could happen here too. 140 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 2: Much of the media, both legacy and otherwise, responded slowly, cautiously, 141 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 2: failing to call him a liar, a con artist, and aggressor, 142 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:51,200 Speaker 2: a manipula of rasis the deadbeat dad, you know all 143 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 2: the thing's actually happening. No, no, no. They kind of 144 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 2: danced around him. They reported stories that might make you 145 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 2: think that they may be noticed it. But there's this 146 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:06,560 Speaker 2: desperation to guard objectivity, and it was just it lacked 147 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:09,960 Speaker 2: any real intent, It lacked any interest in calling account 148 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:13,120 Speaker 2: to a man who has pretty much bought an election 149 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 2: for Donald Trump, a racist billionaire using his outsized capital 150 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 2: the ben society to his will. Just isn't a fucking 151 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 2: problem for the media, or at least not as much 152 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 2: of a problem as a worker who might not work 153 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:25,480 Speaker 2: fifty to one hundred hours a week for a boss 154 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 2: who makes one hundred and thirty times what they do. 155 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 2: The news, at least outside of the right wing, is 156 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:35,720 Speaker 2: always separate from opinion, always guarded, always safe for fear 157 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:38,440 Speaker 2: that they might piss somebody off and be declared biased, 158 00:08:38,920 --> 00:08:42,520 Speaker 2: something that happens anyway, And while there are columnists are 159 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 2: given some space to have their own thoughts. Sometimes in 160 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:49,520 Speaker 2: the newspaper sometimes online, The stories themselves are delivered with 161 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 2: the kind of reserved hmmmm tone that often fails to 162 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:56,439 Speaker 2: express any actual consequences or context around the news itself, 163 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:00,160 Speaker 2: and just doesn't seem to care about making sure or 164 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:03,959 Speaker 2: that the reader or listener learns something. My mate Casey 165 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 2: has a good point about podcasts, and I apply it 166 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:08,080 Speaker 2: to some of the news too, that there's too much 167 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:10,720 Speaker 2: stuff out there that is there to make you feel 168 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:13,439 Speaker 2: intelligent rather than make you intelligent. I think this falls 169 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:16,200 Speaker 2: into it. Now. This isn't to say that outlets are 170 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 2: incapable of doing this correctly. I love the Washington Post. 171 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:21,320 Speaker 2: They've done an excellent job on analyzing major text stories. 172 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:24,720 Speaker 2: But a lot of these outlets feel custom built to 173 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:28,400 Speaker 2: be bulldozed the moment an authoritarian turns up this force 174 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 2: that exists to crush those desperately attached to norms and objectivity. 175 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:36,760 Speaker 2: Authoritarians know that they're ideologically charged. Words we quoted adverbatum 176 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 2: with the occasional ah, this could mean little dribble, this drizzle, 177 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:43,880 Speaker 2: this spunk of context that's lost in the headline, that 178 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:47,720 Speaker 2: repeats exactly what the fucking authoritarian wants them to and 179 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:51,440 Speaker 2: guess what. Some people don't read the article, they just 180 00:09:51,559 --> 00:09:54,640 Speaker 2: read the headline, and Musk is the most brutal example 181 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:56,959 Speaker 2: of this. By the way, despite the fact that he's 182 00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 2: turned Twitter into a website pump full of racism and 183 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 2: hatred that literally helped make Donald Trump president, Musk was 184 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:05,720 Speaker 2: still able to get mostly positive coverage from the majority 185 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:09,840 Speaker 2: of the mainstream media for his fucking robotaxi nonsense, despite 186 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:11,560 Speaker 2: the fact that he spent the best part of a 187 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:14,199 Speaker 2: decade lying about what Tesla will do next. There are 188 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 2: entire websites just based on how much Elon Musk lies, 189 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 2: yet they still report this shit. It makes me very upset. 190 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:25,920 Speaker 2: And it doesn't matter that some of these outlets, by 191 00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:28,200 Speaker 2: the way, had a company in coverage that suggested that 192 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 2: the markets weren't impressed by Tesla's theoretical robotaxi plans or 193 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:36,400 Speaker 2: their fakeass robots run by people. Musk is still able 194 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 2: to use the media's desperation for objectivity against them, and 195 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 2: he knows that they never dare to combine reporting on 196 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 2: stuff with thinking about stuff for fear that Elon Musk 197 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:49,720 Speaker 2: might say their bias, which he has been doing for years. 198 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:53,440 Speaker 2: Do you see my goddamn point. Yet, and this, by 199 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:55,160 Speaker 2: the way, is not always the fault of the rayers. 200 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:59,400 Speaker 2: There are entire foundations of editors that have more faith 201 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:01,320 Speaker 2: in the market and the powerful than they do the 202 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:04,080 Speaker 2: people writing or the people reading their fucking words. And 203 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:07,839 Speaker 2: above them are entire editorial superstructures that exist to make 204 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:11,560 Speaker 2: sure that the editorial vision never colors too far outside 205 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:15,040 Speaker 2: the lines or informs people a little too much. I'm 206 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:17,800 Speaker 2: not even talking about Jeff Bezos or Lauren Powell Jobs 207 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 2: or any number of billionaires who are in any number 208 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:22,960 Speaker 2: of publications, but the editors editing business and tech reporters 209 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:26,080 Speaker 2: who don't know anything about business and tech, or the 210 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:29,520 Speaker 2: senior editors there terrified of any byline that might dare 211 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 2: get the outlet under fire from somebody who could call 212 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:48,200 Speaker 2: their boss it's fucking cowardice. There are, however, I should add, 213 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:50,640 Speaker 2: also those who simply defer to the powerful, that assume 214 00:11:50,679 --> 00:11:53,840 Speaker 2: that this much money can't be wrong, even if said money, 215 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:56,559 Speaker 2: in the case of Elon Musk, is repeatedly wrong. And 216 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:59,040 Speaker 2: there's an entire website about the wrongness and the lies 217 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 2: and the bullshit, and I'm talking about Elon Musk still Obviously, 218 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:04,640 Speaker 2: these editors are the people that look at the current 219 00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:06,920 Speaker 2: crop of powerful tech companies that have failed to deliver 220 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,160 Speaker 2: any truly meaningful innovation in years, and they go ooh oh, 221 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:12,480 Speaker 2: send me more. Daddy showed me more of the apps. 222 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:15,560 Speaker 2: It's fucking disgraceful. Just look at the coverage of Sam 223 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:17,439 Speaker 2: Mortman from the last year. You know, the guy who 224 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:20,199 Speaker 2: spent years lying about what AI can do, and tell 225 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:24,119 Speaker 2: me why every single thought he says must be uncritically cataloged, 226 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:27,920 Speaker 2: His every goddamn decision, applauded, his every claim, trumpeted as 227 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:31,079 Speaker 2: certain his brittle little company that burns five billion dollars 228 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 2: a year talked about like it's a fucking living god. 229 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:37,920 Speaker 2: Sam Altman is a liar who's been fired from two companies, 230 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:40,520 Speaker 2: including open Ai, and yet because he's a billionaire with 231 00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:43,760 Speaker 2: a buzzy company, he's left totally unscathed. The powerful get 232 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:45,880 Speaker 2: a completely different set of rules to live by and 233 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:49,439 Speaker 2: exist in a totally different media environment. Their geniuses, entrepreneurs, 234 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:52,079 Speaker 2: fire brands. Their challenges are framed as missteps and their 235 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:54,920 Speaker 2: victories framed as certainties by the same outlets that told 236 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:57,160 Speaker 2: us that we were quiet, quitting and that the economy 237 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:00,800 Speaker 2: is actually good and that we're the problem for high prices. Well, 238 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:03,400 Speaker 2: it's correct to suggest that the right wing is horrendously 239 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:06,880 Speaker 2: ideological and they're terribly biased. It's very hard to look 240 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:08,440 Speaker 2: at the rest of the media and claim that they 241 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:11,880 Speaker 2: are not. The problem is that the so called left media, 242 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:15,160 Speaker 2: which usually is just the center, isn't biased towards what 243 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:18,040 Speaker 2: we may consider left wing causes like universal health care, 244 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 2: strong unions, expanded social safety and that's you know, the 245 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:22,840 Speaker 2: stuff that would actually be helpful. Now they're biased in 246 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:26,800 Speaker 2: favor of pilating an ever growing carousel of sociopathic billionaire assholes, 247 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:29,720 Speaker 2: elevating them to the status of American royalty, where they 248 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:33,200 Speaker 2: exist above expectations and norms that you and I must 249 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:38,360 Speaker 2: live by. This is the definition of elitism. The media 250 00:13:38,559 --> 00:13:41,160 Speaker 2: has literally created a class of people who can lie 251 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 2: and cheat and steal, and rather than condemn them for it, 252 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:48,440 Speaker 2: they're celebrated. While it might feel a little tangential to 253 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:52,160 Speaker 2: bring technology into this, I truly believe that everybody is 254 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:55,479 Speaker 2: affected by the rot economy, the growth or costs ecosystem 255 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:59,440 Speaker 2: where number must always go up because everybody is using technology. 256 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:02,959 Speaker 2: All that and the technology in question is getting worse. 257 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:06,760 Speaker 2: This election cycle saw more than twenty five billion text 258 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:09,920 Speaker 2: messages sent to potential voters, and seemingly every website was 259 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:13,720 Speaker 2: cram full of random election advertising. Here's the thing about elections. 260 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:17,840 Speaker 2: They're not really always about policy. No, they're a referendum 261 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 2: on the incumbent party or president, and by proxy, a 262 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:23,720 Speaker 2: poll on how people feel. And the reality is that 263 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:27,800 Speaker 2: most people are fucking miserable. There's this all encompassing feeling 264 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 2: that things are just harder now. It's harder to pay 265 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:32,880 Speaker 2: your bills, it's harder to keep in touch with your friends, 266 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:35,080 Speaker 2: it's harder to start a family, it's harder to buy 267 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 2: a house, it's harder to fall in love, it's harder 268 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:40,080 Speaker 2: to do everything. And what we're seeing is an in 269 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:44,360 Speaker 2: shitification of existence. To use mister doctor Roe's phrase, everything 270 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:46,600 Speaker 2: just I don't want to be this much of a commudgeon, 271 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:50,440 Speaker 2: but everything just kind of sucks. It's all terrible, it's miserable, 272 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:53,080 Speaker 2: and hardly anyone thinks it's going to get better. And 273 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 2: this creates the kind of fertile conditions for a strong 274 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:58,680 Speaker 2: man to have emerged, one who arises and says that 275 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:00,960 Speaker 2: only he can fix thing, even if he spent four 276 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,160 Speaker 2: years proving how he could not. And the problem for 277 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:06,680 Speaker 2: democrats and for institutions more broadly is that the all 278 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:09,720 Speaker 2: encompassing nature of this milieu is kind of hard to solve. 279 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:12,280 Speaker 2: It's hard to change the perception that everything's terrible when 280 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:14,040 Speaker 2: you're reminded of it when you're trying to do the 281 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:17,160 Speaker 2: most basic of tasks. Our phones are full of notifications 282 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:19,560 Speaker 2: trying to growth hack us into doing things that companies want. 283 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:22,560 Speaker 2: Our apps are full of micro transactions. Our websites are 284 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:25,080 Speaker 2: slower and harder to use, with endless demands of our 285 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:27,080 Speaker 2: emails and our phone numbers, and the need to log 286 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:29,200 Speaker 2: back in because they couldn't possibly lose a dollar to 287 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:32,080 Speaker 2: someone who dared to consume a Washington Post article. And yes, 288 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:34,000 Speaker 2: I'm talking about the Post, which I fucking pay for, 289 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:35,880 Speaker 2: despite the fact that it logs me out all the time. 290 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:39,160 Speaker 2: Our social networks are so algorithmically charged that they barely 291 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:41,120 Speaker 2: show us the things who want them to anymore. With 292 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 2: executives dedicated to filling our feeds full of AI generated 293 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:47,720 Speaker 2: slop because despite being the customer, were also the revenue mechanism, 294 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:50,120 Speaker 2: our search engines do less as a means of making 295 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:52,520 Speaker 2: us use them more. Our dating apps have become vehicles 296 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 2: of private equity to add a toll to falling in love. 297 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:56,840 Speaker 2: Our video games are constantly nagging us to give them 298 00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:59,400 Speaker 2: more money, and despite it costing money and being attached 299 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:01,600 Speaker 2: to our account, we don't actually own any of the 300 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:05,080 Speaker 2: streaming media we purchase. We're drowning in spam, both in 301 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:07,080 Speaker 2: our emails and our phones, and at this point in 302 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 2: our lives, we've probably agreed to three million pages of 303 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:12,960 Speaker 2: privacy policies allowing companies to use our information as they 304 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:17,080 Speaker 2: see fit. We get one value transaction with every company 305 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:20,280 Speaker 2: they get eleven, they get one hundred. We really actually 306 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 2: don't know because there's no legislation to tell us what 307 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:25,600 Speaker 2: they're fucking doing. And these are the issues that hit 308 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:30,200 Speaker 2: everything we do all the time, constantly, unrelentingly. Technology is 309 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:32,680 Speaker 2: our lives. Now. We wake up, we use our phone, 310 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:35,440 Speaker 2: we check our text, three spam calls, two spam texts. 311 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:38,040 Speaker 2: We look at our bank balance, two factor authentication check. 312 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 2: We're riad the news. A quarter of the pages bot 313 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 2: bone advertisement asking for our email that's deliberately built to 314 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:44,280 Speaker 2: hide the button to get rid of them and then 315 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:46,800 Speaker 2: we log into slack and feel a pang of anxieties. 316 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:50,000 Speaker 2: Fifteen different notifications appear in a way there is really 317 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:52,400 Speaker 2: not built for us to find what we need, just 318 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:57,560 Speaker 2: to let us know something happen. Modern existence is just 319 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:02,080 Speaker 2: engulfed in sludge. The institutions that exist are cut through. 320 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:05,120 Speaker 2: It seem to bounce between the ignorance of their masters 321 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:09,639 Speaker 2: and this misplaced duty to objectivity. Our mechanisms for exploring 322 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 2: and enjoying the world are interfered with by powerful forces 323 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:15,840 Speaker 2: that are just basically left unchecked. Opening our devices is 324 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:20,720 Speaker 2: wilfully subjecting us to attack after attack after attack from applications, websites, 325 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:22,959 Speaker 2: and devices that are built to make us do things 326 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:25,840 Speaker 2: for them, rather than operate with dignity and freedom that 327 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:29,360 Speaker 2: much of the Internet was actually founded upon. These millions 328 00:17:29,359 --> 00:17:32,360 Speaker 2: of invisible acts of terror are too often left undiscussed 329 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:35,600 Speaker 2: because accepting the truth requires you to accept that most 330 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:38,159 Speaker 2: of the tech ecosystem is rotten, and that billions of 331 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:41,760 Speaker 2: dollars are made harassing and punishing billions of people every 332 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:44,040 Speaker 2: single day of their lives through the devices that we're 333 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:46,639 Speaker 2: required to use in order to exist in the modern world. 334 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:50,280 Speaker 2: Most users suffer the consequences, and most of the media 335 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:52,920 Speaker 2: fails to account for them, and in turn, people walk 336 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:55,199 Speaker 2: around knowing something is wrong, but not knowing who to 337 00:17:55,240 --> 00:18:00,920 Speaker 2: blame until somebody provides a convenient excuse, like immigrants, the Democrats, 338 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:04,119 Speaker 2: like whatever fucking works, because we can't actually call the 339 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:09,359 Speaker 2: people out, the corporations crushing our existence. Why wouldn't people 340 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:12,520 Speaker 2: crave change? Why wouldn't people be angry living in the 341 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:16,320 Speaker 2: current world? Absolutely fucking sucks. Sometimes it's miserable, it's bereft 342 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:21,720 Speaker 2: of industry and filthy with manipulation. It's undignified, it's disrespectful, 343 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:25,240 Speaker 2: and it must be crushed if we want to escape 344 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:29,480 Speaker 2: this depressing, goddamn world we've found ourselves in. Our media 345 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:33,200 Speaker 2: institutions are fully fucking capable of dealing with these problems, 346 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:37,360 Speaker 2: but it starts with actually evaluating them and aggressively interrogating 347 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:41,159 Speaker 2: them without fearing accusations of bias that, as I've said, repeatedly, 348 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:44,960 Speaker 2: happen either way. The truth is that the media is 349 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,359 Speaker 2: more afraid of accusations of bias than they are of 350 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:50,720 Speaker 2: misleading their readers. And while that seems like a slippery slope, 351 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:52,760 Speaker 2: and it may very well be one, there must be 352 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:55,240 Speaker 2: room to inject the writer's voice back into their work, 353 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:57,639 Speaker 2: and a willingness to call out bad actors as such, 354 00:18:57,760 --> 00:18:59,760 Speaker 2: no matter how rich they are, no matter how big 355 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:02,159 Speaker 2: they're products are, no matter how willing they are to 356 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:04,720 Speaker 2: bark and screen that things are unfair as they accumulate 357 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:08,080 Speaker 2: more power and money. We need context in our news. 358 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:11,280 Speaker 2: We need it, We need it now. We need opinion, 359 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:14,280 Speaker 2: we need voice, we need character, we need life, because 360 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:18,480 Speaker 2: as long as we follow this bullshit objectivity path, we're screwed. 361 00:19:19,119 --> 00:19:21,280 Speaker 2: And if you're in the tech industry and hearing this 362 00:19:21,359 --> 00:19:23,760 Speaker 2: and saying, oh, the media is teed creticill of tech, 363 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:27,280 Speaker 2: you flat fucking wrong, kiss my asshole. Everything we're seeing 364 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:29,680 Speaker 2: happening right now is a direct result of a society 365 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:32,360 Speaker 2: that let technology in the ultra rich run rampant, free 366 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:34,680 Speaker 2: of both the governmental guardrails that might have stopped them 367 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:37,040 Speaker 2: and the media ecosystem that might have actually held them 368 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:40,800 Speaker 2: in check. Our default position in interrogating the intentions and 369 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:43,080 Speaker 2: actions of the tech industry has become that they will 370 00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:45,679 Speaker 2: work it out as they continually redefine what work it 371 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:48,399 Speaker 2: out means and turn it into make their products worse, 372 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:53,119 Speaker 2: but more profitable. Covering Meta, Twitter, Google, open Ai, and 373 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 2: other huge tech companies as if the products they make 374 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:58,960 Speaker 2: are remarkable and perfect is disrespectable to the reader's intelligence 375 00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:03,320 Speaker 2: and a disgust abdication of responsibility, as their products, even 376 00:20:03,359 --> 00:20:07,200 Speaker 2: when they're functional, are significantly worse, more annoying, more frustrating, 377 00:20:07,359 --> 00:20:09,880 Speaker 2: and more convoluted than ever. And that's before you get 378 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:12,240 Speaker 2: to the ones like Facebook and Instagram that are out 379 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:15,920 Speaker 2: right broken. I don't give a shit if these people 380 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:17,800 Speaker 2: have raised a lot of money unless you use that 381 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:20,800 Speaker 2: as proof that something is fundamentally wrong with the tech industry. 382 00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:23,600 Speaker 2: Meta making billions of dollars of profit is a sign 383 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:26,200 Speaker 2: that something is wrong with society, not proof that it's 384 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 2: a good company or anything that should grant Mark Zuckerberg 385 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:32,000 Speaker 2: any kind of special treatment. Shove your chains up your ass. 386 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:35,320 Speaker 2: Mark open Ai being worth one hundred and fifty seven 387 00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:38,119 Speaker 2: billion dollars for a company that burns five billion or 388 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:40,399 Speaker 2: more a year to make a product that destroys our environment, 389 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:42,600 Speaker 2: for a product yet to find any real meaning, isn't 390 00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:44,520 Speaker 2: a sign that it should get more coverage or be 391 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:47,679 Speaker 2: taken more seriously. No, it should be a sign that 392 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:51,879 Speaker 2: something is broken, that something is wrong with society. Whatever 393 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:54,520 Speaker 2: you may feel about chat GPT, the coverage it received 394 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:57,560 Speaker 2: is outsized compared to its actual utility and the things 395 00:20:57,560 --> 00:20:59,600 Speaker 2: built on top of it. And that's a direct result 396 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:01,800 Speaker 2: of a media industry that seems incapable of holding the 397 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:05,479 Speaker 2: powerful accountable or actually learning about the subject matter in question. 398 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:10,280 Speaker 2: It's time to accept that most people's digital life fucking sucks, 399 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:12,800 Speaker 2: as does the way we consume our information, and that 400 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:16,960 Speaker 2: there are people directly responsible. Be as angry as you 401 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:19,600 Speaker 2: want at Jeff Bezos, whose wealth and the inherent cruelty 402 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 2: of Amazon's labor practices makes him an obvious target, but 403 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:26,880 Speaker 2: please don't forget Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Sander Peshai, Tim Cook, 404 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:30,000 Speaker 2: and every single other tech executive that has allowed our 405 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:33,879 Speaker 2: digital experiences to become fucked up through algorithms that we 406 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:38,800 Speaker 2: know nothing about. Similarly, governments have entirely failed to push 407 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:41,760 Speaker 2: through any legislation that might stop the row, both in 408 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:44,840 Speaker 2: terms of dominance and a patness of algorithmic manipulation and 409 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:47,240 Speaker 2: the ways in which take products exist with few real 410 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:50,920 Speaker 2: quality standards. We may have, at least for now, consumer 411 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:53,639 Speaker 2: standards for the majority of consumer goods, but software is 412 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:55,959 Speaker 2: left effectively untouched, which is why so much of our 413 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:59,240 Speaker 2: digital lives are such unfettered. Doug shit. And if you're 414 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:01,720 Speaker 2: hearing this and say I'm being a hater or a pessimists, 415 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:03,840 Speaker 2: shut the fuck up. I'm tired of you. I'm so 416 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:06,239 Speaker 2: fucking tired of being told to calm down about this 417 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:08,920 Speaker 2: as we stare down the barrel of four years of 418 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:11,600 Speaker 2: authoritarianism built on top of the decay of our lives, 419 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:14,480 Speaker 2: both physical and digital, with a media ecosystem that doesn't 420 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:16,399 Speaker 2: do a great job explaining what's being done to the 421 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 2: people in an ideologically consistent way. There's this extremely common 422 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:24,399 Speaker 2: assumption in the tech media based on what I'm really 423 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:26,920 Speaker 2: not sure, that these companies are all doing a good job, 424 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:28,760 Speaker 2: and that good job means having lots of users and 425 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:31,520 Speaker 2: making lots of money, and it drives tons of editorial 426 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:35,400 Speaker 2: decision making. If three quarters of the biggest car manufacturers 427 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:37,680 Speaker 2: were making record profits by making half of their cars 428 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:40,919 Speaker 2: or the break that sometimes didn't work, that'd be international news. 429 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:44,040 Speaker 2: Government inquiries would appen, people will go to prison. And 430 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:47,600 Speaker 2: this isn't even conjecture. It actually happened after Volkswagen was 431 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:50,520 Speaker 2: caught deliberately programming its engines to only meet emission standards 432 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:54,320 Speaker 2: during laboratory testing. They were left to spew excessive pollution 433 00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:58,200 Speaker 2: into the real world, but once lawmakers found out, they 434 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:00,960 Speaker 2: responded with civil and criminal action. The executives and engineers 435 00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:03,960 Speaker 2: responsible were indicted. One received seven years in jail, and 436 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:06,760 Speaker 2: their former CEO is currently being tried in Germany and 437 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:10,280 Speaker 2: being indicted in the US too. And here we are 438 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:15,040 Speaker 2: in the tech industry. Facebook barely Works used to nigenocides 439 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:19,640 Speaker 2: and bullied people and harassed teen girls. Pedophiles run rampant 440 00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:21,720 Speaker 2: on there. There was a Wall Street Journal about story 441 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:25,040 Speaker 2: about it. They're fine. So much of the tech industry 442 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:28,640 Speaker 2: consumer software like Google or Facebook, Twitter and even chat GBT, 443 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:32,440 Speaker 2: and business software from companies like Microsoft and Slack. It sucks. 444 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:35,600 Speaker 2: It sucks. It's bad. You use it every day. You've 445 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:38,720 Speaker 2: been listening to Ramble for fifty episodes. Now you know 446 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 2: what I'm talking about. It's everywhere. Yet the media covers 447 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:44,440 Speaker 2: it just like, ah, you know, it's just how things 448 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:48,040 Speaker 2: are mate now. Meta, by the admission of its own 449 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:50,920 Speaker 2: internal documents, makes products that are ruinous to the mental 450 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:53,879 Speaker 2: health of teenage girls, and it hasn't made any substantial 451 00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:56,840 Speaker 2: changes as a result, nor has it received any significant 452 00:23:56,840 --> 00:23:59,439 Speaker 2: pushback for failing to do so. Little bit of a 453 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:01,920 Speaker 2: side note, big shout out to Jeff Horwitz and the 454 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:03,359 Speaker 2: rest of the Wall Street General people who did the 455 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:05,920 Speaker 2: Facebook files. There are are legacy media people doing a 456 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:10,760 Speaker 2: good job on this. Nevertheless, Meta exercises this reckless disregard 457 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:14,359 Speaker 2: for public safety, kind of like the auto industry in 458 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:16,639 Speaker 2: the sixties, and that was when Ralph Nader wrote Unsafe 459 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:19,760 Speaker 2: at Any Speed in his book. It actually brought about change. 460 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:22,160 Speaker 2: It led to the Department of Transportation and the passage 461 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:24,000 Speaker 2: of seat belt laws in forty nine states, and a 462 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:26,560 Speaker 2: bunch of other things that can get overlooked. But the 463 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:29,600 Speaker 2: tech industry is somehow inoculated against any kind of public 464 00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:32,600 Speaker 2: pressure or shame because it operates in this completely different 465 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:34,840 Speaker 2: world with this different rule book and a different criteria 466 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:38,520 Speaker 2: for success, as well as this completely different set of expectations. 467 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:55,200 Speaker 2: By allowing the market to become disconnected from the value 468 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:57,680 Speaker 2: it creates, we enable companies like I don't know in 469 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:01,040 Speaker 2: video that reduced the quality of services they make more 470 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:03,840 Speaker 2: money for their g Force now service or Facebook. They 471 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:07,160 Speaker 2: can just destroy our political discourse, so they can facilitate 472 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:10,160 Speaker 2: genocide in Myanmar, and then well they get headlines about 473 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:12,520 Speaker 2: how good a CEO Mark Zuckerbig is and how cool 474 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:15,480 Speaker 2: his chains are, and how how everything's just fine with 475 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:19,320 Speaker 2: Facebook and they're making more money. No. No, I actually 476 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:20,600 Speaker 2: want to take a step back, though. I want to 477 00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:23,840 Speaker 2: take a little bit of step back. I previously mentioned 478 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:27,879 Speaker 2: I said it twice now, Oh, Meta enables genocide and 479 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:31,840 Speaker 2: it destroys our political discourse. I want to be clear 480 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:35,960 Speaker 2: when I say that everything is justified at Meta, I'm 481 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:40,560 Speaker 2: actually quoting their chief technology officer. That's quite literally what 482 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:43,720 Speaker 2: Andrew Bosworth said in an internal memo from twenty sixteen 483 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:48,040 Speaker 2: where he said that and I quote ahem, all the 484 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:52,440 Speaker 2: work Facebook does in growth is justified, even if that includes, 485 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,600 Speaker 2: and I'm quoting him directly, somebody dying in a terrorist 486 00:25:55,640 --> 00:26:01,280 Speaker 2: attack coordinating using Facebook's tools. A mere mention of violent 487 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:04,320 Speaker 2: crime is enough to create dreams of articles questioning whether 488 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:06,679 Speaker 2: society is safe and whether we need more plastic in 489 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:09,960 Speaker 2: our walgreens. Yeah, our digital lives are this wasteland that 490 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 2: people still discuss like a utopia, seriously putting aside the 491 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:17,240 Speaker 2: social networks. Have you visited a website on the phone recently. 492 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:19,560 Speaker 2: Have you tried to use a new app? Have you 493 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:22,320 Speaker 2: tried to buy something online starting with a Google search? 494 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:26,399 Speaker 2: Within those experiences, sis, has anything gone wrong? You know it, 495 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:30,240 Speaker 2: I know it has, you know it has. It's time 496 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:34,560 Speaker 2: to wake up. We the users of products. We're at 497 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:36,959 Speaker 2: war with the products we're using and the people that 498 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:40,560 Speaker 2: make them, and right now we are losing. The media 499 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:43,960 Speaker 2: must realign to fight for how things should be. This 500 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:46,640 Speaker 2: doesn't mean that they can't cover things positively, or give 501 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:49,040 Speaker 2: credit where credit is due, or be willing to accept 502 00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:52,800 Speaker 2: that something could be something cool. But has the change 503 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:55,359 Speaker 2: is the evaluation of the products themselves, which have been 504 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:57,080 Speaker 2: allowed to decay to a level that has become at 505 00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:01,040 Speaker 2: best annoying and at worst actively harmful for society. Our 506 00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:04,360 Speaker 2: networks are rotten, Our information ecosystem is poisoned, with its 507 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:08,440 Speaker 2: pure parts ideologically and strategically concussed. Our means of speaking 508 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:10,679 Speaker 2: to those that we love and making new connections are 509 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:13,760 Speaker 2: so constantly interfered with that personal choice and dignity is 510 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:17,639 Speaker 2: all but removed. But there is hope. There really is. 511 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,200 Speaker 2: Those covering the tech industry right now have one of 512 00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:23,080 Speaker 2: the most consequential jobs in journalism if they choose to 513 00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:27,480 Speaker 2: fucking do it. Those willing to guide people through the wasteland, 514 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:30,200 Speaker 2: those willing to discuss what needs to change, how bad 515 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:33,320 Speaker 2: things have gone, and hold the powerful accountable and say 516 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:35,800 Speaker 2: what good might look like, have the opportunity to push 517 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:38,000 Speaker 2: for a better future by spitting in the faces of 518 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:40,720 Speaker 2: those ruining it. I don't know where I sit, by 519 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:43,000 Speaker 2: the way, I don't know what to call myself. Am 520 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:45,600 Speaker 2: I legacy media? I got my start writing in print magazines. 521 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:49,160 Speaker 2: Am I an independent contractor? Am I an influencer? Am 522 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:51,520 Speaker 2: I content? I truly don't know, and I don't know 523 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:53,760 Speaker 2: over care. But all that I know is that I 524 00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:56,280 Speaker 2: feel like I'm at war two and that we, if 525 00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:58,840 Speaker 2: I can be considered part of the media, are at 526 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:01,359 Speaker 2: war with people that change the terms of innovation so 527 00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:05,080 Speaker 2: that it's synonymous with value extraction. Technology is how I 528 00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:07,600 Speaker 2: became a person, how I met my closest friends and 529 00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:09,880 Speaker 2: loved ones. And without it, I wouldn't be able to write, 530 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:11,760 Speaker 2: I wouldn't be able to read this podcast. I wouldn't 531 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:16,280 Speaker 2: have got this podcast. And I feel this poison flowing 532 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:18,399 Speaker 2: through my veins as I see what these motherfuckers have 533 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:21,200 Speaker 2: done and what they're continuing to do, And I see 534 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:26,879 Speaker 2: how inconsistently and tipidly they're interrogated. Now is the time 535 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:31,400 Speaker 2: to talk bluntly about what is happening. The declining quality 536 00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:35,040 Speaker 2: of tech products, the scourge of growth, hacking, the cancellor 537 00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:37,639 Speaker 2: us growth at all cost mindset. These are all the 538 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:39,920 Speaker 2: things that need to be raised in every single piece, 539 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 2: and judgments must be unrelenting. The companies will. 540 00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:47,719 Speaker 1: Squeal ooh that they're being so unfairly treated by the 541 00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:52,320 Speaker 1: biased legacy media. Oh oh, save me, hey, Nell Patel 542 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:55,040 Speaker 1: interview with Sondar Pishai. This is how you sounded when 543 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:56,000 Speaker 1: you handed him your phone. 544 00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:58,800 Speaker 2: It was pathetic. They should be scared of you, Nile. 545 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:02,800 Speaker 2: The powerful should be scared of the media. They shouldn't 546 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:05,320 Speaker 2: be sitting there sending letters to the editor like fucking 547 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:09,720 Speaker 2: customer support. No, they should see this podcast, They should 548 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:12,479 Speaker 2: see these news letters. They should see everything published by 549 00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:15,680 Speaker 2: the tech media and go uh oh. And there can 550 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:17,760 Speaker 2: be good people. There can be good boys and girls 551 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:20,720 Speaker 2: than others. There can be plenty of people that make 552 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:23,440 Speaker 2: good products and get great press for it. But do 553 00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:27,640 Speaker 2: you really think meta Google, Apple to an extent. Frankly, 554 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:30,200 Speaker 2: do you think Amazon looks good right now? Do you 555 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:31,960 Speaker 2: think it's easy to find stuff? Or do you think 556 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:35,120 Speaker 2: it's slop full of more slop? Mark Zuckerberg said on 557 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:38,040 Speaker 2: an earning score the other day that he intends there 558 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:42,760 Speaker 2: to be an AI specific slop feed that should These 559 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:48,520 Speaker 2: are harmful things. This is pouring vants of oil into 560 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:52,040 Speaker 2: rivers and then getting told you're the best boy in town. 561 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:55,960 Speaker 2: These companies, they're poisoning the digital world, and they must 562 00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:58,840 Speaker 2: be held accountable for the damage they're causing. Readers are 563 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:02,720 Speaker 2: already aware. But ah, and this is really thanks to 564 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:05,000 Speaker 2: members of the media, by the way, the gaslighting themselves 565 00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:07,840 Speaker 2: into believing that, oh, I just don't catch I don't 566 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:10,240 Speaker 2: keep up with technology. He is getting away from me. 567 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:12,960 Speaker 2: I'm not technical enough to use this, when the thing 568 00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:15,160 Speaker 2: that they don't get, that the average person doesn't get, 569 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:18,520 Speaker 2: is that the tech industry has built legions of obfiscations, 570 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:22,040 Speaker 2: legions of legal tricks, and these horrible little user interface 571 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:25,560 Speaker 2: traps specifically made to trick you into doing things, to 572 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:29,240 Speaker 2: make the experience kind of subordinate to getting the money 573 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:31,880 Speaker 2: off of you. And I think that this is one 574 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:34,600 Speaker 2: of the biggest issues in society. And yes, of course 575 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:37,960 Speaker 2: I'm biased. I'm doing a podcast about tech, but for real, though, 576 00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:40,840 Speaker 2: billions of people use smartphones, billions of people are on 577 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:44,000 Speaker 2: the computer every day. It's how we do everything. And 578 00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:48,320 Speaker 2: it stinks. It stinks so bad. This is the rot economy. 579 00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:53,080 Speaker 2: We're in the rot society. But things can change, and 580 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:54,760 Speaker 2: for them to change, it has to start with the 581 00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:58,320 Speaker 2: information sources, and that starts with journalism. And the work 582 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:01,440 Speaker 2: has already begun and we'll continue, but it must scale up, 583 00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:04,719 Speaker 2: and it must do so quickly. And you, the user, 584 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:07,400 Speaker 2: have the power. Learn to read a privacy policy. And 585 00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:09,360 Speaker 2: the link there is to the Washington Post. Yes, there 586 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:12,600 Speaker 2: are plenty of great reporters there. Fuck Bezos. You can 587 00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:14,720 Speaker 2: move to Signal, which is an encrypted messaging app that 588 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:17,800 Speaker 2: works on just about everything. Get a service like delete me, 589 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:19,640 Speaker 2: and by the way, I pay for it, I work 590 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:22,800 Speaker 2: from four years ago. I have no financial relationship with them, 591 00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:26,640 Speaker 2: but they're great for removing you from data brokers. Molly White, 592 00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:28,520 Speaker 2: who's a dear friend of mine and even better right 593 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:31,360 Speaker 2: you might remember from one of the early episodes about Wikipedia. 594 00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:33,880 Speaker 2: She's also written this extremely long guide about what to 595 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:35,520 Speaker 2: do next that are linked to in the notes, and 596 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:37,120 Speaker 2: it runs through a ton of great things you can 597 00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:40,760 Speaker 2: do unionization, finding your communities, dropping apps that collect and 598 00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:43,800 Speaker 2: store sensitive data, and so on. I also heartily recommend 599 00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:46,480 Speaker 2: Wired's guide to Protecting Yourself from Government Surveillance, which is 600 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:52,320 Speaker 2: linked in the show notes. Now, before we go, I 601 00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:54,000 Speaker 2: want to leave you with something that I posted on 602 00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:58,640 Speaker 2: November sixth on the Better Offline redditpp the last twenty 603 00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:00,560 Speaker 2: four hours of felt bleak, and we'll like feel more 604 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:02,720 Speaker 2: bleak as the months and years go on. It'll be 605 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:04,920 Speaker 2: easy to give into doom, to assume the fight is lost, 606 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:07,280 Speaker 2: to assume that the bad guys are permanently won and 607 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:10,400 Speaker 2: there will never be any justice or joy again. Now's 608 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:13,360 Speaker 2: the time for solidarity to crystallize around ideas that matter, 609 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:16,160 Speaker 2: even if their a position in society is delayed. Even 610 00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:18,240 Speaker 2: as the clouds darken and the storm's brew and the 611 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:22,560 Speaker 2: darkness feels all encompassing and suffocating, reach out to those 612 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:26,040 Speaker 2: you love and don't just commiserate. Plan It doesn't have 613 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:28,160 Speaker 2: to be political, it doesn't even really have to matter. 614 00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:31,520 Speaker 2: Put shit on your fucking calendar. Keep yourself active and busy, 615 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:35,800 Speaker 2: and if not distracted at very least animated. Darkness feeds 616 00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:38,680 Speaker 2: an idleness. Darkness feasts on a sense of failure and 617 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:42,040 Speaker 2: a sense of inability to make change. You don't know 618 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:44,720 Speaker 2: me very well, but know that I'm aware of the 619 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:47,440 Speaker 2: darkness and the sadness and the suffocation of when things 620 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:50,880 Speaker 2: feel overwhelming. Give yourself some mercy and then the days 621 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:54,120 Speaker 2: to come. Don't castigate yourself a feeling gutted. Then keep going. 622 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:56,960 Speaker 2: I realize it's little solace to think, well, if I 623 00:32:57,000 --> 00:32:59,239 Speaker 2: keep saying stuff out loud, things will get better. But 624 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:01,160 Speaker 2: I promise you do it so as an effect and 625 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:04,720 Speaker 2: actually matters. Keep talking about how fucked up things are, 626 00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:07,400 Speaker 2: Make sure it's written down, make sure it's spoken cleanly, 627 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:09,479 Speaker 2: and with the rage and fire and piss and vinegar 628 00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:12,479 Speaker 2: it deserves. Things will change for the better, even if 629 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:18,080 Speaker 2: it takes more time than it should. Look. I know 630 00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:22,240 Speaker 2: I'm imperfect, emotional, off kilt At times I get emails 631 00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:26,400 Speaker 2: saying that too angry. I'm sorry if it's ever triggered. 632 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:29,600 Speaker 2: You really do mean that. It's not intentional. I just 633 00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:33,160 Speaker 2: I feel this in everything I do. I use technology 634 00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:35,240 Speaker 2: all the time, and it is extremely annoying. But also 635 00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:38,120 Speaker 2: I'm aware that I have privilege, and the more privilege 636 00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:40,040 Speaker 2: you have with intake, the more you're able to escape 637 00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:42,680 Speaker 2: the little things. Go and buy a cheap laptop today. 638 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:46,040 Speaker 2: Try and see what two hundred, three hundred dollars laptop is. 639 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:48,280 Speaker 2: It's slow, It's full of eighteen pop ups trying to 640 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:50,320 Speaker 2: sell you access to cloud storage, to shit that you'll 641 00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:54,920 Speaker 2: never use, tricking grannies and people who can't afford laptops, 642 00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:58,040 Speaker 2: so people that just don't know. When I see this stuff, 643 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:00,600 Speaker 2: it enrages me. Not just for me, but because I 644 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:03,160 Speaker 2: know that I'm at least lucky enough to know how 645 00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:06,040 Speaker 2: to get around this shit. Spent most of my life online, 646 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:08,080 Speaker 2: spent most of my life playing with tech and now 647 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:11,960 Speaker 2: how it works. And I know I have my tangents 648 00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:15,360 Speaker 2: and my biases, but I wear them, can't let my 649 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:18,480 Speaker 2: heart on my sleeve. I care about all this stuff 650 00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:20,440 Speaker 2: in a way that might be a little different to some. 651 00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:25,640 Speaker 2: And it's because I've I've watched an industry that really 652 00:34:25,680 --> 00:34:28,719 Speaker 2: made me as a person, that allowed me to grow 653 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:32,560 Speaker 2: as a person, to actually meet people, to not feel 654 00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:35,319 Speaker 2: as alone. And I imagine some of you feel like 655 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:39,000 Speaker 2: this too, And then watching what happens to it every day, 656 00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:42,399 Speaker 2: watching the people who get so rich off of making 657 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:44,040 Speaker 2: it so much worse, and then seeing what happen on 658 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:47,200 Speaker 2: November fifth, and you can draw a line from it. 659 00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:53,120 Speaker 2: People are scared, they're lost, Their lives are spent digitally, 660 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:58,800 Speaker 2: and your digital lives are just endless terrorism, endless harm. 661 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:01,840 Speaker 2: Some of you know your way around takes, so you 662 00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:04,120 Speaker 2: can escape some of it, but it's impossible to escape 663 00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:07,640 Speaker 2: all of it. Try meeting people these days, you can't. 664 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:11,320 Speaker 2: Everything is online, and everything online, everything on your phone 665 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:15,240 Speaker 2: is mitigated and interfered with. It's an assault on your senses, 666 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:20,040 Speaker 2: one deprived of dignity. And I see the people doing 667 00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:23,759 Speaker 2: this and it feels me full of fucking rage, and 668 00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:27,360 Speaker 2: it makes me angry for you and for me, for 669 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:29,960 Speaker 2: my son growing up, and what will probably be a 670 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:32,920 Speaker 2: worse world, for my friends and loved ones who are 671 00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:36,160 Speaker 2: harder to see, harder to speak to, whose lives too 672 00:35:36,239 --> 00:35:39,720 Speaker 2: are interfered with. And there are the millions and millions 673 00:35:39,719 --> 00:35:43,239 Speaker 2: of people who have no fucking idea it's happening, that 674 00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:46,880 Speaker 2: just exist in this swill, in this active digital terrorism, 675 00:35:47,239 --> 00:35:53,400 Speaker 2: poked and prodded and nagged and notified constantly. And I 676 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:56,600 Speaker 2: don't want. Early on in this I got a message 677 00:35:56,640 --> 00:35:58,760 Speaker 2: saying don't tell people to be angry, and I stick 678 00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:02,279 Speaker 2: by that. But I'm not going to hide that I am. 679 00:36:02,840 --> 00:36:04,520 Speaker 2: I'm not going to hide the pain I feel. I'm 680 00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:06,120 Speaker 2: not going to hide the pain I feel seeing this 681 00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:12,239 Speaker 2: shit happen. And I've watched this thing that I love technology, 682 00:36:13,080 --> 00:36:16,360 Speaker 2: Really do love tech, I really do deeply. I've watched 683 00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:21,160 Speaker 2: it corrupted and broken and the people breaking it. They 684 00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:23,840 Speaker 2: don't just make billions of dollars. They get articles in 685 00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:28,040 Speaker 2: they get interviewed on the news. Mark Zuckerbug, he wears 686 00:36:28,040 --> 00:36:30,080 Speaker 2: a chain and there's articles about how cool he is. 687 00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:33,040 Speaker 2: He should be in fucking prison. He should be on 688 00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:35,320 Speaker 2: a prison on a boat that just circles the world, 689 00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:38,080 Speaker 2: and he shouldn't have air conditioning or heat depending on 690 00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:41,279 Speaker 2: how the weather is. And I know that I'm kind 691 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:46,160 Speaker 2: of errant, and again, tons of tangents, but look, the 692 00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:48,680 Speaker 2: reason I'm like this is because I really care. And 693 00:36:48,719 --> 00:36:51,479 Speaker 2: I think caring, I think being angry at the things 694 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:55,880 Speaker 2: that actually matter and giving context as a result. I 695 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:59,080 Speaker 2: think that's deeply valuable. And I realize I do fla 696 00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:01,799 Speaker 2: to handle a lot, but it really is because I care, 697 00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:04,640 Speaker 2: I care about you, I care about the subject matter. 698 00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:08,680 Speaker 2: I'm so grateful and so honored that you spend your 699 00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:10,279 Speaker 2: time listening to me every week, and I hope you'll 700 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:20,879 Speaker 2: continue to do so. So I'm not going anywhere. Thank 701 00:37:20,920 --> 00:37:23,640 Speaker 2: you for listening to Better Offline. The editor and composer 702 00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:26,480 Speaker 2: of the Better Offline theme song is Metasowski. You can 703 00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:28,920 Speaker 2: check out more of his music and audio projects at 704 00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:32,360 Speaker 2: Matasowski dot com, M A T T O S O 705 00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:36,560 Speaker 2: W s ki dot com. You can email me at 706 00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:39,400 Speaker 2: easy at Better Offline dot com, or visit Better Offline 707 00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:41,520 Speaker 2: dot com to find more podcast links and of course, 708 00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:44,680 Speaker 2: my newsletter. I also really recommend you go to chat 709 00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:47,319 Speaker 2: dot Where's youreaed dot at to visit the discord, and 710 00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:50,080 Speaker 2: go to our slash Better Offline to check out our reddit. 711 00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:54,120 Speaker 2: Thank you so much for listening. Better Offline is a 712 00:37:54,120 --> 00:37:57,200 Speaker 2: production of cool Zone Media. For more from cool Zone Media, 713 00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:00,520 Speaker 2: visit our website cool Zonemedia dot com to check us 714 00:38:00,520 --> 00:38:03,480 Speaker 2: out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 715 00:38:03,560 --> 00:38:04,440 Speaker 2: get your podcasts.