trashfuture

The Ass-inine Report ft. Seamus Malekafzali

Seamus Malekafzali returns to the show to talk to us about a report into the BBC’s reporting by a law firm that alleges the organisation is not sympathetic enough to Israel… but don’t worry about the report being biased, they used ChatGPT! Also, we talk about Elon Musk’s blanketing South Memphis in methane gas, and look at executive misbehaviour at Neom (which, wouldn’t you know it, is a kind of French Foreign Legion for senior businesspeople who are unhireable anywhere else).

A Very British Social Murder

It's the free one!

For this week’s free one, Riley, Hussein, and November discuss the recent Grenfell enquiry and the way in which it lays the blame across a comprehensive spectrum of British political elites—but also discuss who’s actually going to be held liable for it. And given the track record of recent British courts of enquiry, it seems zero is a safe bet.

Legal Tip: Always Incriminate Yourself by Email feat. Gareth Dennis

For this week's (sadly belated) bonus, we speak with friend of the show Gareth Dennis about his ordeal at the hands of British railway consultants who definitely understand the legal system, but also about the ongoing safety concerns at Euston Station, and in the UK more generally. Have you ever taken a train from Euston? Did you also fear for your life? Then perhaps this episode will explain some things.

Our previous episodes on Prospera are entitled Tropical Blockchain Night (pt 1 and...

Your Own Personal Biden ft. Jason Koebler

It's the free one!

404 Media’s Jason Koebler returns to discuss AI in the classroom, Balaji’s private island/supervillain lair, and the growing deluge of AI generated slop by US political campaigns. Not so much in the form of deepfakes or Midjourney memes on social media, but rather by making a larger tidal wave of more personalised spam. Also, we discuss a hot new startup that’s ruffling a lot of feathers on K Street in Washington using artificial intelligenc...

Britainology 89: Posh Nosh

It's the dog days of summer and for this month's second Britainology, we're watching the surreal and surprisingly nuanced 2003 parody cooking show POSH NOSH starring Arabella Weir and Richard E. Grant. With some in-depth asides about American cooking shows where the hosts get cancelled years later for being creeps, and much more. Just what on earth is an Aga? And why are people so weird about them? Find out here.

View the whole series on Youtube here! 2024-08-31 20:33:26 +0000 UTC View Post

Smoke Em If You Got Em

Riley, Nova, Milo, and Nate talk about the new civil rights struggle of our time: the plan to ban smoking in pub gardens. Then, a broader discussion of the miserablism of a PM whose approval rating is already at 23% only a couple short months into his government. Finally, we discuss an excellent article on the type of guy who becomes a middle manager in a private security guard company. It’s by Jasper Craven and is linked here: 2024-08-30 18:42:54 +0000 UTC View Post

Who Fired and Rehired Roger Rabbit feat. Rusteen Honardoost and Nora Meek

It's the free one!

We spoke with Nora and Rusteen from IATSE, who currently negotiating with major Hollywood studios against the degradation of their careers by generative AI. But first, we speak about the purchase of Twitter (bad investment) and right-wing police abolition in the UK, in the form of a new company marketing how good they are at impersonating police officers.

If you want access to our Patreon bonus episodes, early releases of free episodes, and powe...

Britainology: Canadology ft. Dan Boeckner and Riley Quinn

The Bottlemen (RIP) ride again - Dan and Riley talk about all things Canada with Milo, to try and get some distance to explain a number of things, not least of which, “why is Canada like that.”

Prosecutors' Clearinghouse: TF Live at the Edinburgh Fringe, 14/8/24

For this week's bonus, we've got the recorded version of last week's live show in Edinburgh, featuring a devotional to hooning, a visit from the AI-powered VTOL that kills you, and an encounter with a strange American former child star who wanted to name his libertarian business park in Puerto Rico, and we are not joking, 'Puertopia.' Until someone who'd studied Latin intervened. It's Riley, Milo, Hussein, and November live very very late at night at Monkey Barrel, recorded 14th August 2024.<...

Agent Pronouns Vs. the Shadowbanned Squad feat. Devon

It's the free one!

For this week’s free one, Riley, Hussein, and November join Devon from Kill James Bond to discuss: Elon Musk’s gambit to put targets on the heads of specific judges in South America, plus a recent Britain-has-fallen travelogue by a decades-long conservative twink death sufferer from America. And, wouldn’t you know it, everything in England is woke and gay and also Muslim somehow.

Balthasar Speedboat: Finnish Hells Angels feat. Tom Ballard and Marjolein Robertson

It's all riffs and no theme, and this time it's featuring comedians Tom Ballard and Marjolein Robertson on the subject of: the Shetland Islands, Toronto nightlife, inviting spiders into your house, and an encounter with the Finnish Hells Angels.

Check out Tom's show 'Good Point Well Made' at the Fringe here: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/tom-ballard-good-point-well-made...

LIVESTREAM: TF Live in Edinburgh 2024

Witness more late night madness at the Fringe

Let 10,000 Heads Bloom feat. Brian Merchant

It's the free one! 

Brian Merchant (@bcmerchant) returns to discuss Elon Musk’s frantic UK civil war wishposting, and the role of his particular personality in encouraging right wing insurrection around the globe. Then, we move on to discuss Brian’s piece for Wired about what AI is already doing to the games industry—deskilling and displacing artists, and driving down quali...

Shouting Slurs in Summer's Cauldron

For this week's bonus, it's Riley, Hussein, Nate, and November discussing the recent events in the UK and why just about every MP and journalist seems to be falling all over themselves to explain how some of the far-right attacks come from a place of 'legitimate concerns.' Okay? What are they, then?

Shelfology in the Time of Monsters: Season Six Begins

It's the free one!

Note: this episode was recorded on August 1, prior to far-right attacks that took place across the UK at the weekend.

Science has done it all: it’s created Woke Algeria to oppress the Italians, it’s created a Labour party that can only concede to the right no matter what the issue, and it’s created the purest expression of Hussein dropping in with a joke that obliterates the entire cast with absolutely no warning. This is both...

Nick Land Acknowledgement feat. Ed Zitron

For this week’s bonus, we’re joined by friend of the show and astute tech commentator Ed Zitron to discuss the recent CrowdStrike update debacle, the resulting infinity blue screens, the fact that this doesn’t seem to have an impact on Wall Street’s assessments of these kinds of companies, and the Marc Andreessen / Nick Land handshake on the topic of banning…corporate risk management? For being ‘woke?’

Check out Where’s Your Ed At here: 2024-07-31 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post

*PATRON UNLOCK* Britainology 88: Euro '96 feat. Juliet Jacques

For this month's second Britainology, we discuss the mythological summer that English football wasn't total shit, which was something of a new phenomenon at the time. That's right, we're discussing the 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, hosted in the UK in the dying lights of John Major's premiership—and why it's become something of an elder Millennial nostalgia sump. Joining us is friend of the show and actual-football-knower Juliet Jacques. It's a lot of fun!

Check out Juliet...

The Sulla of Suburbia feat. Patrick Wyman

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Patrick Wyman rejoins the gang to discuss further historical parallels - this time, we’re looking at the history of calls for an “American Caesar” to sweep away the decrepit institutions of the late Republican period… but even a cursory scratch beneath the surface reveals that there’s less to be understood about this movement from its ostensible associations with the troubles of Ancient Rome, and more to be understood by its parallels wi...

Left on Read: Echopraxia

Riley and November read another book... the sequel to Peter Watt's Blindsight, Echopraxia! Contained herein: a discussion of god in the context of science fiction, the utility of thinking like a parasite and letting your limbic system steer the ship, and how to keep a book interesting when you've established that certain characters are forty standard deviations smarter than every baseline human and the reader.

Mr. Lobby feat. Ethan Shone

For this week’s bonus, it’s Riley, Milo, Hussein, and November speaking with journalist Ethan Shone (@ejshone93), author of The Dark Arts newsletter, about the sheer volume of lobbyists in Parliament and their influence on UK politics. Safe to guess that it’s completely benign, and actually good?

Check out Ethan’s work at OpenDemocracy here: 2024-07-26 11:14:15 +0000 UTC View Post

Britainology 87: The Thick of It

We've heard that any political issue in the United Kingdom is 'just like The Thick of It' and as such we've sought to verify. By watching the 2000s BBC sitcom, or at least one episode of the show, and addressing what it says about British politics? To be honest, it definitely says a lot about Armando Iannucci and the liberal conception of the world. But also: swearing.

Steubmageddon feat. Sasha Baker and Valeria Rocca

It's the free one!

For this week’s free one, we discuss the weird shadowbanning fixation of miserable American conservatives like J.D. Vance and the fact that the entire line of argument stands on the shoulders of one particular giant: Gregg Steube. However, we also discuss the anti-trans Discord server of a particularly cruel and disturbing organisation, the Bayswater Support Group, which is the subject of a great story in the Bureau of Investigative Journ...

Balthasar Speedboat 1024: Sensual Badminton feat. Freddie McManus

For this week's bonus, we've got a Balthasar Speedboat recorded in Australia featuring comedian Freddie McManus, in which Riley determines his dream sponsor for the podcast is a wine grower that makes wine you can't buy, Milo tells the story of Russian cops' elaborate ambushes to bother people going to raves, and the group determines how to deploy an erotic edge to win a badminton match. The world is a beautiful place.

NEW MERCH AVAILABLE! We’ve re-issue...

Go Keir Crazy!

It's the free one!

It’s a chaos configuration while Riley is away on holiday, with this week’s free episode featuring Milo, Hussein, and November on the topic of… weirdly sexual Keir Starmer-related columns in British newspapers. And also an AI startup that’s apparently very prone to abuse, and a Tony Blair Institute conference that—you guessed it—demands ID cards for Britain. Plus some Euros-themed content that 100 percent aged well!

If you want acces...

Ten Years to Save My Summer Vacation: TF Live feat. Nish Kumar

We recorded a live show at Between the Bridges in London on May 29 with friend of the show Nish Kumar, who has been doomed to listen to us read terrible political books to him until the end of time. And in this instance we’re reading TEN YEARS TO SAVE THE WEST by former Prime Minister and bathrobe despoiler Liz Truss. You are not prepared for how deeply stupid this book is.

NEW MERCH AVAILABLE! We’ve re-issued our ‘What If Your Robot Was Just a Guy?�...

Britainology 86: Iranian Embassy Siege feat. November Kelly

This was intended to be June's second Britainology but we ran out of time. Thank you so much for your patience. Please enjoy us discussing the 1980 Iranian embassy siege with November Kelly. We promise you'll want to eat an entire tube of toothpaste afterward.

Welcome to the New Flesh

As Labour takes a landslide victory on fewer votes than they received in 2019, we reflect on the concepts and articles that are time travelling here from 1997 and how the right is going to respond and rebuild. Also, we talk about universities, the state, and private capital combining to surveil students protesting for Gaza… which we can only assume will intensify!

If you want access to our Patreon bonus episodes, early releases of free episodes, and powerful Discord server, sign u...

New Britainology shirt drop + Rory Blank Robot shirt reprint

We have in fact listened to your requests for more merch drops, and while we're in the process of working on the Avignon Popes shirt, we have a special announcement. There's an all-new Britainology shirt designed by the incredibly talented Eleanor Osada, and a reprint of the Rory Blank "What If Your Robot Was Just A Guy?" shirt as well, available now in the store. https://www.trashfuture.co.uk/store 

Shirt...

Surely Britain Can’t Be Serious

For this week’s bonus, it’s Riley, Hussein, and November discussing: Masayoshi Son’s desire to create AI God (actual), Labour’s march towards total alienation of everyone in hopes of governing from the void, a bizarre profile of Keir Starmer in which he seems to suggest he has never read a book, and a very strange encounter with Reform UK’s argument that any negative press it receives is because of…crisis actors?

EDINBURGH LIVE SHOW ALERT W...

There Is No Ice Cream, Only Butter feat. Gil Duran

It's the free one!

It’s the free one for the week and we’re discussing Balaji Srinivasan, and the Network State freaks of the Bay Area, with extremely experienced California journalist Gil Duran (@gilduran76). However, we’re also discussing the indentured-servitude coding boot camp that got hemmed up by the CFPB, as well as a story where McDonald’s had to shelve its AI ordering assistance...