Jay Acunzo said yes to a podcast, handed over an hour of video and a folder of headshots, and got back a stranger: younger, wearing a suit he's never owned, striking poses he never struck, with hands that weren't his. Nobody asked. Nobody warned him. Nobody even spelled his name right.

In the debut episode of The Parasocial Paradox, Susan and Jay dig into what it actually feels like to have your likeness manipulated by AI without consent - and why "but you can't even tell" is a spectacularly bad defense. (Jay's rebuttal involves a burger. You'll see.) 

It's a conversation about the line between inspiration and theft, why the platforms we build on aren't on our side, and what creators can actually do to protect themselves while the law takes its sweet time.

 
Creators & Guests

• (00:00) - Cannibalism Meets AI

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Welcome to the Parasocial Paradox - a new show about the risks & realities of being visible online.

Each episode, you'll hear multiple experienced creators and experts dig into a different side of what being visible online actually looks like: platform risk, financial instability, AI, physical safety, mental health, audience dynamics, all of it.

There's a lot of upside, and there's a lot that can go wrong, and we don't talk about the latter nearly enough.
 
Think of it as listening in on a private creator mastermind where nobody's performing and nothing's off the table. 

Because the real conversations are happening behind closed doors - over coffee, or in groups you don't even know exist. And we need to put that stuff on the mic because that's the truth of this business… it's wonderful and also really hard.

Hosted by Susan Boles, who spent years in federal law enforcement and security before becoming a creator herself. After a decade of watching creators build with zero infrastructure for protection, she started Unpublic, a creator safety and privacy service built for people whose livelihood depends on showing up online.

The risks are real. So are the rewards. And it's time we actually talked about both. That's the paradox every creator feels… building relationships with an audience while navigating the real risks that come with being visible online.

So, pull up a chair, grab your coffee, and turn off the ring light because we're not performing here. 

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