This episode is all about POWER! And it lives somewhere between 'distraction and destruction'...remember that phrase.

The 4 types of media disinformation...yet only one matters

The 7 stages of our rage cycle and each player's real motives

The 4 cancellation tactics of "cancel culture"

And why none of it matters. Whatever side you're on, you've been played. Chumps. The real beneficiaries have been laughing at you. Until now. Why did the the laughter stop? Tune in.

This is a looong but good one. Controversy awaits... 

And for Patreon members, a member-only episode called, Point of Personal Privilege.

This ends my "Future of Media" series with a bang. (Yes, you can listen to it as a standalone episode).

The complete 'Future of Media' Series:

The 12 New Rules for the Future of Media: Part 1 & Part 2 - The McFuture Podcast

Strategies & Tactics for Succeeding in Media (98 min, 11-part series for Patreon Members, only $5/mo to access all member exclusives)  

The Rise & Fall of Influence & Influencers - The McFuture Podcast

The Case Against Influence & Personal Branding - LinkedIn article, excerpted from podcast

How Sex Saves Free Speech & Stops Social Media Wars From Becoming Real Ones- The McFuture Podcast

How Rage Rules & How It Heals - The McFuture Podcast

What if I told you Twitter was sitting on something BIG? Get your mind out of the gutter! Buried deep inside Twitter is a simple, sexy fix for our social media woes - hate speech, cancel culture, rage mobs, demonetization and silencing of free speech. The same fix would work for Facebook, YouTube, and other social media services. There's just one problem. Like a Japanese horror flick, the social media monster jumped off our iPhone screens and into the real world. And it wants our silence.

In this episode:

How we tame the social media monster.

The definitive case for online free speech - and why even hate speech is our last defense against the slippery slope that's already here.

This is only the beginning!

In the next episode, 'Why Rage Rules' , I'll explore the real game being played - and who benefits from our infighting. And it's wild! AND Patreon members can hear that episode right now!  

If you enjoyed this, don't forget to share it with others, leave a review on iTunes, and join the Patreon for access to all member-only episodes. 

Links mentioned in this episode:

Section 230 of the US legal code

Social media as a civil liberty by Will Chamberlain. 

Bill Maher "Everybody gets to speak."

Why Monopoly is the Future and We Love It

How corporate censorship becomes state censorship

Soph, a 14-year-old girl who accumulated nearly a million followers who does hardcore right wing “satire”

Twitter on “deadnaming”

Telegram is the latest app for white nationalists

Gab cut off by stripe, paypal & Joyent

Financial Blacklisting: Chase Bank De-Platforms 3

The mess in Europe

In Europe, Hate Speech Laws are Often Used to Suppress and Punish Left-Wing Viewpoints

Rammstein make a defiant statement in protest of Russia's "gay propaganda" law.

EU hails social media crackdown on hate speech

Arrests for offensive Facebook and Twitter posts soar in London

Britain Turns Offensive Speech Into a Police Matter

 Scottish prankster gets 6 months for teaching a pug to do a Nazi salute and posting it on YouTube

Ever wonder what a real-life Revenge of the Nerds might look like? Well, it's here. And it's nothing like the bawdy 80's sex comedy. Turns out it's more like Night of the Living (Brain) Dead and it's taking over America.

Imagine if anyone who ever took a Marxist Manspreading & Toxic Phallocentrism course suddenly got to RUN THE WORLD. As if hating your parents' money wasn't bad enough... A generation of minor thinkers has unleashed a major mind-virus that's spreading from its college containment unit into corporate and government policy.

If you think I'm being a drama queen, you need to hear my conversation with James Lindsay, author of How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide. James is an academic and one of the greatest hoaxers of our time. He and two friends were busted by the Wall Street Journal after successfully hoaxing 14 of the most respected, peer-reviewed journals in wackademia, exposing their intellectual bankruptcy. These are people who are shaping young minds and public policy. James and I discuss the roots and remedies for this new social justice religious cult - and his discovery of the one righteous use of Hitler ever known. Don't miss it.

Finally, here are some important links from the show:

Buy: How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide - James Lindsay's & Peter Boghossian's great new book 

Watch: Mike Nayna's documentary on the wild events at Evergreen College and subscribe to his YouTube Channel

Listen: Bonus off-the-record conversation with James for Patreon members only. We discuss "perfect idea land", socialism, Oberlin College scandal, my experience laundering, and why corporations are SCARED BY DESIGN. Plus, preview next week's brand new episode, From Furries to Fuhrers: Why Silence Is Not Victory on Social Media

If you enjoyed this, don't forget to share, subscribe, and review on Apple Podcasts

Five disjointed sermons on technology and economics morph into an absurdist plea for clarity...in a country faking its way forward. Come feel the Bern of this week's episode of The McFuture podcast. 

In This Episode:

DeepFake It Till You F%*$ It

Kneel Before Nike

The Real Juul of San Francisco

Multipolar Bear

What The F Are We?

If you enjoy the show, support it on Patreon and get awesome bonus content, share it with others & review it on iTunes.

Show Links:

Full Joe Rogan deepfake clip

Globalisation is dead and we need to invent a new world order 

A Drug Problem Dressed Up as a Homelessness

Three Rules That End Poverty

Should Startups Be Charitable?

Fire. Them. All. (Problems to solve)

Econovation (Solutions)

America's Last Stimulus (Solutions)

"Influence" is the most powerful and misunderstood force in society today. It's often confused with power, fame, talent and even force. But real influence is far more graceful and subversive. Real influence is born out of conquest but wielded with grace. And real influencers have more in common with pioneers who settled the West, than Kanye West. But the recent rise of "influencers" is an insurgent attempt to rip influence from the source of its power.

This episode unravels the history of influence, its surprising relationship to technology, and a formula for how to tame its latest incarnation. You don't want to miss it.

In this episode:

Context is everything

The Arc of Influence

The Quickening

Why & when of personal branding & influence

The Sustainable Influence Formula

Great companion episodes of The McFuture:

Why Bullshit Won

Why Even Musk Can't Trump The Inevitable

The Future of Media (Part 1 & Part 2)

If you enjoy the show, support it on Patreon and get awesome bonus content like the full text write-up of this episode, share it with others, review it on iTunes.

Sure all those social media apps on your phone have quirky logos and cutesy names. (Is Fandoogle taken?) But every one of these companies is a stone cold KILLER. While filling our days with grumpy cat videos, they fill their bellies with fleshy chunks of hopeful, desperate media partners, who learned the hard way that you can't French kiss a cannibal. In fact, media is jam-packed with half-eaten zombies that think they're alive. But most are two to six years from extinction.

In this episode, I go through the new rules of Media Zombieland and explore ways we can keep the virus from spreading. Time's running out!

What Next?

Don't forget to subscribe and share!

In case you missed it, listen to Part 1 of the future of media series: The Platformation.

If you create any kind of content, you NEED our killer 11-part (98 min) series on specific strategies for surviving the media apocalypse. Get it on Patreon. (Stream it there or get a private link for your favorite podcast app for all current & future episodes.)

If at least 10 subscribe to the new premium tier, I'll do a live (and recorded) a 1-hour Q&A video, answering all your questions. Sweet deal, right?

Why did Netflix become a devious backstabber?

In a game of F***/Marry/Kill, why would Spotify marry me, murder Adele, and f*** Sony?

And why the does the future of YouTube hang on our loins?

Believe it or not, each of those questions is deeper and funnier than it looks.

This three part series dares to take on the unwieldy future of all media - and lay out 12 new rules for consumers, creators, and media giants. Whether you love movies and want a peek behind the botox - or you work in tech, news, music or Hollywood and want to sound brilliant at your next meeting, this episode is for you. Prepare to be enlightened, entertained and slightly enraged.

What next?

Don't forget to subscribe and share!

Listen to Part 2: Beautiful Zombies

And if you create any kind of content, you NEED our killer 11-part (98 min) series on strategies for surviving the media apocalypse. Get it on Patreon (stream it there or get a private link for your favorite podcast app for all current & future episodes).

In this very special episode of The McFuture, we'll bust 12½* modern myths about money, business, education, tech and government. Many of our assumptions deserves ruthless scrutiny. Questioning assumptions is how we innovate and shape our future.  It's how we demand more from ourselves, employers and leaders.  

Some of these will definitely trigger you. But a little controversy can't hurt, right...?? (If you're a patron, post feedback in the Patreon and I'll respond online or in the next episode.)

*There are 10 myths in this episode and 2½ in the bonus episode (for supporters of the show on Patreon).

If you like the show and want more frequent, deeper dives into The McFuture, pledge a few bucks a month.

As a thank you, $5+ a month patrons will get access to bonus episodes, monthly live streams and other cool perks.

Patrons will get an email with a personal subscription link & instructions to add the bonus podcast to Apple Podcasts or your favorite player.

Become a Patron!

Show Notes/Links:

Steve's Posts

The Home Ownership Delusion

How Taxes Steal Dreams

Unshackle the Debtors

First Manufacturing, Now It’s Bye Bye Tech

The Real #Resist is Tech

Why US Politics Fail Us

Research on Salaries

A Very Compelling Reason to Tell Employees How Much Their Peers Earn

When the Boss Says, 'Don't Tell Your Coworkers How Much You Get Paid'

It's Time To Start Telling Our Friends How Much Money We Make

Adam ruins everything video

Silicon Valley’s Exclusive Salary Database

Employees anonymously share which tech companies don't pay fairly and which ones they want to leave

Information is Power: Fostering Labor Market Competition through Transparent Wages

Why a startup just published all of its employees’ salaries for the world to see

If you choose “radical transparency” for your company, be ready for the consequences

It's The One Thing You Never Tell Anyone — & It's Costing You BIG

What can $500,000 buy you...? Apparently, admission for your dumbass kids to any top-tear collidge. (Trying to relate.) I did a video (below) on the rich and famous college bribery scandal, but thought it deserved a bit more depth and ranting. Here, I expand on why this isn't just about wealth and privilege, but branding and religion. I also talk about the future of education and job recruiting. What will change. And what should. A breezy 17 minutes of me on you infomance. 

Links mentioned on the show

My article on education: Unshackle the Debtors

Companies taking our suggestion to get rid of college degree requirement

Apprenticeship & Vocational Training Return

The Only Valuable Degrees Are From “Trade” Majors

Also check out last week's episode, World Without Billionaires. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nkj6ERnA1C8

Every night, dozens of billionaires curl up with an underfed model, wondering where their next plate of wealth-affirming foie gras will come from. But heartless Americans don’t care. They want billionaires to pay for universal healthcare, universal basic income (UBI), free college, and a pocket comb for Bernie.

What if they met every demand? Would we be satisfied? What if the real problem is something far more sinister? Find out what it is – and what we can do about it – on the latest episode of The McFuture Podcast with Steve Faktor.

Links from the episode:

Further reading

Utopia for Realists by Rutger Bregman

The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century by Walter Scheidel, Stanford professor, on the four 'fixes' for inequality

What Money Can’t Buy by Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel (and related article) Forget Socialism Versus Capitalism. Here’s the Real Debate We Should Be Having.

My take on inequality - Inequality We Trust

Videos

That recycling video from World Economic Forum of all the amazing things you can do with plastic water bottles

Brilliant illustration (video) of corruption in our system by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez...and the irony.

Some sources/stats

FIJI Water Leads Bottled Water Industry In Looking Green(er) - Where are the riots??

I warned us in 2011 the 99%-ers are coming

Nick Hanauer wrote in 2014 The Pitchforks Are Coming… For Us Plutocrats

62% of American millionaires and 67% of the world’s billionaires are self-made

“there are approximately six million unfilled skilled labor jobs in America” - Entrepreneur

 The US has 585 billionaires with a combined net worth of around $2.5 trillion