-Original Show Notes from May 20, 2022-

Stuart Duncan is the dad of an autistic son, and he's also autistic himself. So when he learned that autistic Minecraft players were being bullied on popular servers, he set out to create a safe and inclusive virtual space for the autism community. The moment he announced it, parents lined up in droves, hoping their kids could join.

Today, the server has 15,000 members, and Stuart has quit his job as a software developer to manage, moderate, and customize the server for kids (and their families) who communicate and play their own way.

Stuart joins us to discuss the origins of Autcraft, why he still relies on the Java Edition of Minecraft to serve his community, and the power of safe, custom virtual worlds for neurodiverse players.

If you're as moved as we are by Stuart's story, you can support Autcraft on Patreon to keep "The Best Place on the Internet" going for years to come: https://www.patreon.com/autcraft

https://www.autcraft.com/

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A peer reviewed study from the University of British Columbia analyzed the most popular ADHD-related videos on TikTok and found that very few of them contain information that aligns with medical diagnostics. Even more interesting, people who consume this kind of content perceive the diagnosis to be far more widespread - and symptoms far more intense - than in reality.

Social media is warping our sense of reality and self?! Inconceivable!

Plus: New bi-partisan legislation aims to repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The 1996 law shields websites from litigation if their users upload harmful content. This protection is integral to how the modern Web functions, and erasing it could lead to over-moderation and fear-based censorship.

While harmful user content is always a concern, the true problem with social media is not that the content exists, but its weaponization by tech companies in the name of profit. In this case, Congress is fixing the wrong problem, and the consequences could damage online speech for years to come.

A double-edged hashtag: Evaluation of #ADHD-related TikTok content and its associations with perceptions of ADHD: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0319335&_bhlid=eba84bf6525fc0863f3276ea4a45eb0891dac351

TikTok is full of ADHD advice — just don't trust it for a diagnosis: https://www.npr.org/2025/03/24/nx-s1-5336303/adhd-symptoms-adult-tiktok

Lawmakers are trying to repeal Section 230 again: https://www.theverge.com/news/634189/section-230-repeal-graham-durbin

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Here’s an idea: Around 2012, YouTube was undergoing a profound transformation from a novelty economy to a loyalty platform. This was largely driven by vlog culture, but another format was emerging: The video essay.

But would Internet audiences (notorious for their ShOrT aTeNtIoN sPaNs!!!) watch longform, Socratic discussion of math, democracy, quantum mechanics, and Pokémon? Turns out: Yes.

Through the power of public broadcasting, an extremely innovative YouTube show emerged called PBS Idea Channel. It was produced by a talented team of writers, researchers and producers, and its host – Mike Rugnetta – became the face of Internet curiosity during its 5 year and 400 video run.

Today, you can’t swing Schrödinger's dead cat without hitting a video essay with millions of views. Their popularity can be traced back to Mike and his colleagues, who in-turn credit the vloggers and comedians who inspired them in the early days of Web video.

Mike joins Matt to discuss this rare time for Internet creativity, what it was like to build a large and intellectually curious community on YouTube, why he returned to his first love of audio design, how modern social media makes us so passive, and why he’s thrilled that his many ongoing podcasts don’t pay the bills.

Connect with Mike: https://rugnetta.com/

Mike’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikerugnetta/

Subscribe to Mike’s excellent podcasts:

Reasonably Sound: https://reasonablysound.com/

RIP Corp: https://ripcorp.biz/

Never Post: https://www.neverpo.st/

Fun City: https://funcity.ventures/

This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod

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Elizabeth Booker Houston got a law degree and a master's in public health, with a focus on pandemic policy. Too bad that wasn’t very useful OH WAIT

During the Covid lockdowns, she became fascinated by the health misinformation perpetuated by Trump’s first administration and weaponized by social media. So she took to TikTok (as you do) to share her public health expertise and make fun of anti-vaxxers.

Elizabeth’s combo of rapid-fire facts, myth debunks, and brutal punchlines drew a huge audience. And these days, she makes as much money from Instagram as she does from policy law.

Elizabeth joins Matt to discuss her lo-fi content style, unpacking extremely complex topics for tiny attention spans. interviewing members of Congress, that time the Kamala Harris campaign winked back, her own political aspirations, cussing about politics for a living, and her fierce determination to call out Trump 2.0’s legal bullshit.

Follow Elizabeth's work: https://www.instagram.com/bookersquared/

https://linktr.ee/Bookersquared

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Hi friends! Excited to share this interview from my *other* show, Colette & Matt Have Entered the Chat, where we cover video games and their communities. This one is about the extraordinary legacy of "Minesweeper," which changed the Internet in more ways than you might think. Enjoy!

-Original show notes from March 24, 2023-

Get the full episode here (or in your favorite pod app): https://haveenteredthechat.com/episodes/100-minesweeper-kyle-orland-diablo-4

When "Minesweeper" and "Solitaire" were first bundled with Microsoft's Windows operating system in the early '90s, they introduced millions of people to PC gaming, many of whom had never used a mouse before. "Minesweeper" in particular became a favorite addiction of many Microsoft programmers, including Bill Gates.

Kyle Orland, senior gaming editor at Ars Technica, has written an upcoming book about the legacy of the grey, tiled Roguelike that paved the way for a more robust ecosystem of PC games and eventually the Xbox brand we know today. The ubiquity of these casual pack-in games rivaled the scale of current "Candy Crush" obsessions, and also caused moral panic among business and political leaders, who decried office workers frittering away their productivity on addictive games.

Kyle dives into the curious exploits that competitive Minesweepers discovered when they were finally connected to the Internet, and how Microsoft missed its chance for "Solitaire" to become the "Fortnite" of the Windows Store. He also shares stories from his early days curating a Super Mario Bros. fan site when he was 15, interviewing Shigeru Miyamoto, and why "Bubble Bobble" desperately needs a 3D reboot.

Plus, we absolve Colette's guilt about giving Blizzard money for the "Diablo IV" beta and why a new Tactics + Roguelite + RPG + Tower Defense + Diabloish game has got its hooks in Matt.

Pre-order Kyle's book "Minesweeper" from Boss Fight Books: https://bossfightbooks.com/products/minesweeper-by-kyle-orland

Or on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Minesweeper-31-Boss-Fight-Books/dp/B0BRSKKLGV/

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If your Reddit feeds seem different lately, you're not alone. Massive "default" subreddits like r/pics — once home to heartwarming photos, hilarious memes, and stunning landscapes — have become a hotbed of anti-Trump and anti-fascist activism. Users there are sharing photos from recent public protests, which you may not have seen on the news, but are tens of thousands strong across every U.S. state.

The sea change in political activism is largely attributed to a grassroots affiliation of civil and human rights organizations now called 50501: 50 States, 50 Protests, 1 Movement. And on February 5 (Presidents Day), they rallied everywhere in the U.S. to proclaim "No Kings Day" in response to Donald Trump and Elon Musk's executive overreach, racist rhetoric, and apparent Nazi salute.

This week, longtime activist Glo Sahay joins Matt to discuss how political protest is taking shape in a time that feels very disempowering. They discuss the Internet's role in political organizing, the goals and outcomes of "radical non-violence," and what we all can do right now to support the movement.

Learn more at: https://www.fiftyfifty.one/

Check out Glo's activist site: https://pol-rev.com/

Keep tabs on the 50501 movement via Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/50501/

This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod

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True Crime Case Files had 150 videos and millions of views, but not a single true story was real.

Also, are we finally seeing real protests thanks to Reddit?

https://www.404media.co/a-true-crime-documentary-series-has-millions-of-views-the-murders-are-all-ai-generated/

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/17/us/politics/trump-musk-protests-50501-presidents-day.html

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Social media platforms have become the “default” for most of the world’s 5.5 billion Internet users, which means everything we see and post online is controlled by billionaires and squeezed for maximum profit – shredding democracy, mental health, and human rights in the process.

But what if it didn’t have to be this way? In fact, the Web wasn’t this way until very recently. So how did we get here? And how can we claw it back?

The bad news is it will take a LOT of work, investment, and convincing. The good news is, we already know how to do it - and it’s way easier than you think.

This week, activist and public interest technologist Mallory Knodel joins Matt to discuss a huge initiative to reinvent social media and rescue online discourse from billionaire control. Mallory is the executive director and founder of the Social Web Foundation, a non-profit working to build sustainable and fair social network infrastructure.

She’s also a custodian of Free Our Feeds, a coalition proposing new standards and protocols that would make social media open, inter-operable, and free from billionaire control.

In layman’s terms: Imagine if friends on Bluesky could subscribe to your Instagram Reels. Imagine if you decided to leave YouTube and take all your videos with you to Mastodon. Imagine a social media ecosystem where everyone can talk, free from sensationalist algorithms and constant surveillance.

It’s not only possible, but happening now, via federated networks like ActivityPub and AT Protocol. But as Mallory explains, getting your friends to ditch TikTok for Bluesky is a “hearts and minds” battle that’s just getting started.

Mallory and Matt discuss why all of our public discourse has moved onto “private property,” the importance of data portability, the burden of “switching costs,” and why now is the time to free our feeds from the billionaire class.

Plus, some Amish trivia and your questions and voicemails.

Learn more about Free Our Feeds: https://freeourfeeds.com/

The Social Web Foundation: https://socialwebfoundation.org/

And subscribe to Mallory’s newsletter, Internet Exchange: https://internet.exchangepoint.tech/

This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod

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By day, Jason Kingsley is the CEO of Rebellion, an independent video game developer that’s been cranking out hits since the '90s. But in 2017, he noticed a shift in the media landscape. YouTube - once a bastion of cat videos and reaction vlogs - was emerging as a destination for longform educational content.

Jason’s obsession with medieval history, background in raising horses, and love of fantasy role-playing games compelled him to start Modern History TV, a channel with rigorous and delightful video essays about life in medieval Europe.

But instead of talking into a webcam and cutting in b-roll, Jason actually suits up in real armor, dusts off the jousting lance, and tastes the food that graced the hearths of medieval peasants

His channel has grown to nearly 1 million subscribers, and his wildly popular videos about weapons, taverns, and guilds reach far more. His work has informed countless writers, dungeon masters, and plain ol' curious minds.

Jason joins Matt to discuss why insignificant things become important through the lens of history, his focus on the lives of regular medieval people, YouTube Learning vs. Book Learning, his favorite videos, curfews for pigs, and that time he chatted with King Charles about jousting.

Subscribe to Modern History TV on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModernKnight/

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This week U.S. tech companies lost nearly $1 trillion in "value" after a Chinese startup called DeepSeek released its R1 large language model, which was reportedly developed for WAY less than Silicon Valley is pouring into the AI bubble.

And while it is fun to laugh at tech billionaires losing money, DeepSeek's innovation (if real) could change the model for AI deployment - allowing LLMs to run on local machines (like your home computer) rather than in massive data centers owned by 3 companies.

I also share some details about upcoming guests, and ...maybe fascism is bad???

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