Today’s show begins with Marketing Mars. Zara Zimbardo deconstructs the mythologies of American Exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny as they apply to settler colonialism in space, and the billionaire tech bro infatuation with our closest planetary neighbor, Mars. Looking through several analytical frames, Zimbardo debunks any notion that there is a Planet B to escape to, remarking, “we’re encouraged to believe that human ingenuity and industry can turn uninhabitable Mars into a habitable Earth. This fantasy is a distraction from the reality that Earth is being rapidly turned into Mars.”

Then, we are rejoined by investigative journalist Peter Byrne. We look at his latest installments for Military AI Watch, including the Stargate Fiasco, how World War 3 will be fought inside data centers, and his most recent, AI Battle Space: Weaponizing the 5G Internet of Things.

GUESTS:

Zara Zimbardo coined the neologism Marsification in collaboration with the Bureau of Linguistical Reality, and co-created the concept album audio artwork Marsification: A Tale of Planetary Grief. She is an Interdisciplinary Studies faculty at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Zara is a member of the curriculum design and facilitation team of Partners for Collaborative Change, with a focus on the interdependence of social justice and the environment, and community-driven climate resilience planning.

Peter Byrne is an award-winning investigative reporter and science writer, author of the ongoing series for Project Censored, Military AI Watch.

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