In this episode, we chat with Cory Doctorow, science fiction author, journalist, and commentator on technology. We discuss the phenomenon of platform enshittification, its relationship to an unregulated tech industry and unorganized workers, monopsony power of platforms, centaurs and reverse centaurs, and his take on AI superintelligence and recursive self-improvement.

Find Cory Doctorow at the Electronic Frontier Foundation eff.org, his blog https://pluralistic.net/ and check out his latest two books The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI and Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It.

• The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI, June 2026, https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374621575/thereversecentaursguidetolifeafterai/
• Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It, October 2025, https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/

This week we're joined by Vu, an undergraduate at Stanford University and representative of Stanford SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine) to discuss the role of technology in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians, student activism at Stanford including the recent commencement walkout, and the experience of students looking toward careers in tech.

Find more about Stanford SJP on Instagram @stanfordsjp.

Further Reading

• Stanford SJP Link In Bio: https://lnk.bio/stanfordsjp

• Stanford Daily, June 2026, Google CEO addresses graduates amid student walkout

• Bay Area Current, Feb 2026, Pro-Palestine Stanford Students Await Trial Verdict

• NYT, August 2026, Gen Z Fell Out of Love With Work. I Don't Blame Them.

This week, Kate and Émile discuss AI 2040, a new document by some of the same authors behind AI 2027.

The authors argue, if AI companies come to their senses and prioritize AI safety, the result could be a superintelligence that brings about a utopian world of immortality and space colonization and property rights. We dismantle the silly arguments in AI 2040 with a good dose of mockery.

Further Reading

• Thomas Larsen, Romeo Dean, Brendan Halstead, Eli Lifland, Ryan Greenblatt, Daniel Kokotajlo. AI 2040: Plan A, https://ai-2040.com

• Daniel Kokotajlo, Scott Alexander, Thomas Larsen, Eli Lifland, Romeo Dean. AI 2027, https://ai-2027.com/

Subscribe to our Patreon for more bonus content at patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow!

On this now-unlocked episode, we talked to antitrust hero and Fordham University law professor Zephyr Teachout about surveillance pricing and surveillance wages.

From airlines charging us more to fly home if they see we've recently searched "funeral arrangements" to rideshare companies paying less per ride if your bank account is low, we explored the present and future possibilities of data as a tool for economic and labor exploitation.

Book Mentioned

• Karen Levy, Data Driven: Truckers, Technology, and the New Workplace Surveillance

Further Reading

• FTC Report, https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/01/ftc-surveillance-pricing-study-indicates-wide-range-personal-data-used-set-individualized-consumer

• ACLU Report, https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/surveillance-pricing

• Electronic Frontier Foundation on surveillance pricing, https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/08/fight-surveillance-pricing-we-need-privacy-first

• Maryland ban on surveillance pricing, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/29/maryland-grocery-stores-ban-surveillance-pricing

• New York legislation, https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/politics/2026/05/19/surveillance-pricing-

• Cory Doctorow on surveillance wages, https://doctorow.medium.com/https-pluralistic-net-2026-04-06-empiricism-washing-veena-dubal-d63fef485503

We return from our brief summer break chatting about Émile's latest article of interest, "Here's Why SpaceX's Mission is Bullshit" in the wake of its recent IPO and question the assumptions underlying transhumanism for space exploration.

Further Reading

• https://www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/heres-why-spacexs-mission-is-bullshit
• https://www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/is-elon-musk-a-mass-murderer-on-par

Books Mentioned

• Adam Becker, More Everything Forever

Does fiction inform what we think the future should look like? Sci-fi and futurism has typically told us the inevitability of technology and dystopian cyberpunk imaginaries. Monika Bielskyte joins us to introduce her alternative, Protopia Futures, a framework for science-informed visions for a good future.

Find Monika's writings at https://monikabielskyte.substack.com

Further Reading

• https://monikabielskyte.substack.com/p/we-can-always-do-something-about

• https://plus.flux.community/p/to-achieve-a-beautiful-future-we

• https://monikabielskyte.substack.com/p/the-futurism-you-were-sold-was-a

• https://monikabielskyte.substack.com/p/protopia-world-stack-values-bodies

This week, we go over the merits and demerits of the Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas and its co-presentation with Christopher Olah of Anthropic, the company branding itself as most concerned with "AI Safety."

Further Reading

• Émile's article: https://www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/shame-on-the-pope-shame-on-ea-shame

• Magnifica Humanitas: https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html

• Full Speech: Anthropic Co‑Founder Christopher Olah at Magnifica Humanitas Vatican Launch | EWTN News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORFrdYSvzuw

• Paolo Benanti, "An invisible revolution: Peter Thiel and the Silicon Valley coup": https://legrandcontinent.eu/fr/2026/03/14/thiel-heresie-benanti

• Timnit Gebru's comments: https://x.com/timnitGebru/status/2058959646891581898

Could a populist, independent candidate win an election in the most Republican part of Nebraska's 1st Congressional District? In a time when the Republican and Democratic Party are both notoriously corrupt, Austin Ahlman is making the call to "Take Back Nebraska."

This week we talk with Austin about his run for office, antimonopoly, Abundance, and how tech companies are undermining Nebraska's public power system through regulatory carve-outs.

Find Austin's campaign at ahlmanfornebraska.com or takebacknebraska.com.

Further Reading

• Austin Ahlman for The Intercept: https://theintercept.com/staff/austin-ahlman/

• Austin Ahlman Launches Insurgent Independent Campaign in Nebraska https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYE10gacxiE

Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow!

Oliver Larkin, activist, union organizer, and Democratic Socialist, joins us this week to discuss his run for election to the U.S. House as a Florida representative.

We talk about Oliver's campaign, how South Florida and Greater Miami are becoming new headquarters for tech companies including Palantir, and what we can do electorally to support working people instead of billionaires.

Further Reading

• Find Oliver's campaign at https://www.oliverforcongress.com

• https://theintercept.com/2026/02/26/iran-war-powers-vote-democrats-gottheimer-moskowitz

Subscribe to our Patreon for the FULL episode and more bonus content at patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow!

On this special Patreon episode, we talked to antitrust hero and Fordham University law professor Zephyr Teachout about surveillance pricing and surveillance wages.

From airlines charging us more to fly home if they see we've recently searched "funeral arrangements" to rideshare companies paying less per ride if your bank account is low, we explored the present and future possibilities of data as a tool for economic and labor exploitation.

Book Mentioned

• Karen Levy, Data Driven: Truckers, Technology, and the New Workplace Surveillance

Further Reading

• FTC Report, https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/01/ftc-surveillance-pricing-study-indicates-wide-range-personal-data-used-set-individualized-consumer

• ACLU Report, https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/surveillance-pricing

• Electronic Frontier Foundation on surveillance pricing, https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/08/fight-surveillance-pricing-we-need-privacy-first

• Maryland ban on surveillance pricing, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/29/maryland-grocery-stores-ban-surveillance-pricing

• New York legislation, https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/politics/2026/05/19/surveillance-pricing-

• Cory Doctorow on surveillance wages, https://doctorow.medium.com/https-pluralistic-net-2026-04-06-empiricism-washing-veena-dubal-d63fef485503