TRASHFUTURE

Adam Becker, astrophysicist and science journalist, joins to discuss AI, ethics, and toys. They debate tech leaders’ fantasies about flawless LLMs and why ‘don’t hallucinate’ misunderstands how models work. Conversation turns to AI-driven layoffs, outsourcing children’s play to smart toys, safety failures, and the risks of turning AI into a surrogate caregiver shaping beliefs.

In advance of the local elections, we got to witness a new phenomenon in British politics: Corbyning Without Corbyn. We also discuss Richard Dawkins deciding that Claude is real and female and also doesn't exist as soon as he stops thinking about her. Where have we heard this before? Get the whole episode on Patreon here! RILEY ALERT Check out No Gods, No Mayors here! HUSSEIN ALERT Check out 10k Posts here! MILO ALERT Check out Milo's tour dates here: https://www.miloedwards.co.uk/liveshows NATE ALERT Lions Led By Donkeys will be performing live in London on 29th May and you can get tickets here! Also, if you're wondering about the outro music: Nate's band Second Homes has just released their debut album, and you can stream it for free here!

Gareth Dennis, researcher on urban planning and infrastructure, returns with a sharp critique of Forest City One, a proposed million-person wooden city in Cambridgeshire. He unpacks its absurd scale, risky site choices, tunnel fantasies and the tech-crypto backers behind it. The conversation also tackles media-fed political myths and how symbolic, render-driven projects skirt real democratic control.

Emiliano Mellino from TBIJ joins us to discuss the upcoming (and some might say shortcoming) Fair Working Agency, and we ask the perennial question: will it stop bosses from ripping you off? But first, we look at an article praising an innovative business owner for giving himself the early stages of AI psychosis.   Check out Emiliano's work here! Get the whole episode on Patreon here! *MILO ALERT * Check out Milo’s tour dates here: https://www.miloedwards.co.uk/liveshows *MUSIC ALERT* As Riley mentioned, the outro music for this episode is "Jerusalem (Worst Nightmare)" by Second Homes, which is in fact Nate's band. And since TODAY is Bandcamp Friday, any purchases you make for any artist on Bandcamp are free of fees, meaning artists keep 100% of the purchase amount. You can preorder Second Homes's album here! Trashfuture are: Riley (@raaleh), Milo (@Milo_Edwards), Hussein (@HKesvani), Nate (@inthesedeserts), and November (@postoctobrist)

Riley and November speak with journalist Hettie O’Brien about her book The Asset Class: How Private Equity Turned Capitalism Against Itself. It’s not necessarily the most uplifting topic, but it’s very illuminating. And don’t worry: we also talk about “MPs should be allowed to be drunk on the job,” and much more. Check out Hettie’s work here! Get more TF episodes each week by subscribing to our Patreon here! *MILO ALERT* Check out Milo’s tour dates here: https://www.miloedwards.co.uk/liveshows *NATE ALERT* Lions Led By Donkeys will be performing live in London on 29th May and you can get tickets here! Nate's band Second Homes is about to release their debut album, and you can stream / preview / preorder it on Bandcamp here! Trashfuture are: Riley (@raaleh), Milo (@Milo_Edwards), Hussein (@HKesvani), Nate (@inthesedeserts), and November (@postoctobrist)

Jaya Saxena, food writer known for exploring food culture and controversies, joins to unpack moral panics about what people eat. Short, sharp takes on foods coded by gender and sexuality. Anecdotes about policing public eating. Ridicule of performative food gestures, branding pivots, and the notorious 'tallow jeans' look.

They mock a 19-year-old Reform council leader’s photo‑ops, taxidermy bear and culture‑war theatrics. They trace corporate AI pivots from sneakers to ChatGPT coffee orders and call out performative tech PR. They dig into Stonewall’s controversial leadership shift and the backlash around its stance on trans issues.

Quinn Slobodian or Ben Tarnoff, author and scholar, offers a short historical take on Musk and his milieu. They trace Muskism back to South African industrial politics and explain fortress futurism. The conversation covers SpaceX’s rise, vertical integration, defense-style industrial strategy, and how AI and layoffs are reshaping tech rhetoric.

They savage a recent profile of Sam Altman and unpack what his salesman persona means for AI culture. They mock media obsession with politicians through Keir Starmer's holiday and wardrobe mishaps. They riff on AI clones, startup power plays, outrage-driven media collapse, and political image policing in Britain.

Luke Savage, political theorist who studies right-wing movements, returns to tackle Alberta separatism and its U.S. ties. He dissects what Wexit means for oil politics and explains why legal secession is unlikely. He also critiques Mark Carney’s managerial politics and sketches the contours of emergent left leadership with surprising grocery-store ideas.