Ten Thousand Posts

This week, we're joined by Owen Jones, a writer, broadcaster and columnist at The Guardian, to talk about why everyone keeps getting mad at his posts, and why he trends once a week on Twitter for the most mundane things. Crucially, we examine what happens when you fully transcend your body and become a symbol in digital space upon which people project all their fears and anxieties onto, and how you can do nothing to stop thins because it's key to how platforms ascertain their fictitious value. 

This is a Preview of a bonus episode. You can listen to the full episode at www.patreon.com/10kpostspodcast. 

--------

In this episode, we talk about what the Wachowskis were trying to explore in the sequel movies, how Reloaded in particular is a much better exploration of posting and the dynamics of posting than the first, as well as the overt Transness of the franchise. Plus, we talk about Neo as a poster, Agent Smith as a reply guy, and how we would all actually love to live in a gooey pod.

---- ----

You can listen to Sophies speech at the Trans Rights Rally in London here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k5sPji3Y7g

--------

Welcome back to the Ten Thousand Posts *Movie Club*! Get your favourite movie theatre snack (may I suggest some refried beans and a tin of Tilapia?), relax and enjoy. 

You can listen to Part 2 of this series, where we talk about the Matrix Reloaded with @theymersophie, on Patreon! Subscribe for $5 at www.patreon.com/10kpostspodcast.

Ten Thousand Posts is a show about how everything is posting. It's hosted by Hussein (@HKesvani), Phoebe (@PRHRoy) and produced by Devon (@Devon_OnEarth).

We're joined this week by friend of the show Olga Koch (@Rocknrolga) to talk about all the weird reply guys she keeps having to deal with in her DMs, and crucially, why Reply Guys have become more and more unhinged. Have the parasocial boundaries simply become more vague and translucent, or have platforms - which encourage us to *constantly reply* to things, mean that the noble art of being a reply guy has been tarnished by wannabes and imitators, unappreciative of the delicate social boundaries reply guys must navigate in order to retain their posting privileges? Hussein posits a theory about Reply Guys: That, as we are now all reply (and quote tweet) guys, the originals have been forced to innovate the form in bizarre, unexpected and overtly crude ways. 

On this week's bonus episode, we once again enter Da Phrenology Zone to discuss a new poster who is so obsessed by gender that they demand to measure your skull, and crucially, your Eye Gap.  Why is this poster declaring what gender people *really* are based on the shape of bowling balls? We're still not entirely sure - but what is clear is that his logic isn't too far removed from the mainstream British press....

This week, we're joined by writer, broadcaster and activist Richard Seymour (@leninology) to talk about his book, "The Twittering Machine", which explores why so many people continue to use platforms like Twitter, despite it making them more miserable, angry and afraid. Richard talks to us about the limits of conceiving of social media use as an example of Addiction or psychosis, but similarly, how our use of Twitter might illustrate desires for our own self destruction, an inherent thirst for conflict and violence, and crucially, how neither of these things is necessarily good for the Left in terms of organising and collective action. We also, once again, talk about one Twitter addict who, having taken a break from live-tweeting his beef with Dan Hodges, has come to the support of Britney Spears. 

This week, we're joined by journalist and magician Alan White (@Aljwhite), who is the Editor-in-Chief of Politics Home, and the former Lord Justice of Twitter (according to his bio). We discuss the most important issue of our times: Are Clowns a subset of Magician? It's an important question which tackles the conception of 'audience' that underpins the current culture war in the Magic Circle, between old school, guarded Magicians and their younger TikTok friendly counterparts. Hussein also comes out as a CERF, with his own gatekeeping over what constitutes a Clown in the context of the Now You See Me franchise.

----more----

In the second part of our Main Character series, we talk to writer and critic Rachel Connolly (@RachelConnoll14) about the evolution of "The Main Character", and how social media platforms incentivise us to create Hero and Villain arcs for people we don't actually know, but are convinced cannot and should not ever be redeemed.

This week, Hussein and Phoebe talk about "The Main Character",  and how the current social media economy encourages its users to actively seek out being the central character of an ongoing, tedious dramedy with no discernible plot, character arcs or clear narrative. We read Kyle Chayka's "We All Have Main Character Energy Now" to look at how being the "Main Character" has gone from an involuntary social experience which always ends with you logging off forever, to a desirable state of being, complete with its own aesthetic, brand deals and short-term celebrity.

This week, we're joined by Roisin Kiberd, journalist and author of 'The Disconnect: A Personal Journey Through the Internet', a collection of essays that examines the dominance of big tech, how platforms have taken over the internet, and how that influences our collective feelings of powerlessness and alienation. Also, a long, deserved consideration of which flavour of Monster energy is the best. 

You can purchase Roisin's book from Serpent's Tail publishers here: https://serpentstail.com/work/the-disconnect/

--------

Ten Thousand Posts is a show about how everything is posting. It's hosted by Hussein (@Hkesvani), Phoebe (@PRHRoy) and produced by Drew (@Drewtopia_). You can follow us at twitter.com/10kpostspod.