Smooth Online Brain ft. Rory Blank

As the far right surges across Europe, we look at Germany, where fascist electronic music has become a sensation on TikTok, and memefied in other parts of the internet – and ask, why is the government ignoring this? Uma, from the podcast Corner Späti, explains how Germany got to this point, what its reactions and responses to Palestine protests tells us about how it is reckoning with its past, and what contemporary digitally-driven fascism suggests about the next decade in European Union politics.  -------- PALESTINE AID LINKS As the humanitarian crisis continues to unfold in Gaza, we encourage anyone who can to donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians. You can donate using the links below. Please also donate to the gofundmes of people trying to escape Rafah, or purchase ESIMs. These links are for if you need a well-respected name attached to a fund to feel comfortable sending money. https://www.map.org.uk/donate/donate https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/how-you-can-help/emergencies/gaza-israel-conflict -------- PHOEBE ALERT Not enough Phoebe? Check out her Substack Here! -------- This show is supported by Patreon. Sign up for as little as $5 a month to gain access to a new bonus episode every week, and our entire backlog of bonus episodes! Thats https://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).

Comics artist and cartoonist Rory Blank joins us on this weeks free episode as we ask: What is an AI image, exactly? Rory and Hussein discuss why the "All Eyes On Rafah" instagram post became the first 'viral' AI image, despite its inconsistencies, inaccuracies and lack of specificity. Rory explains how these features characterise the AI 'art' taking over the internet, why its proliferation is so difficult to regulate, and why we shouldn't see these images as creative outputs, but rather, a way to understand the confusion and detachment that comes with being on the internet today. -------- Check out Rory's Patreon here! https://www.patreon.com/roryblank -------- PALESTINE AID LINKS As the humanitarian crisis continues to unfold in Gaza, we encourage anyone who can to donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians. You can donate using the links below. Please also donate to the gofundmes of people trying to escape Rafah, or purchase ESIMs. These links are for if you need a well-respected name attached to a fund to feel comfortable sending money. https://www.map.org.uk/donate/donate https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/how-you-can-help/emergencies/gaza-israel-conflict -------- PHOEBE ALERT Not enough Phoebe? Check out her Substack Here! -------- This show is supported by Patreon. Sign up for as little as $5 a month to gain access to a new bonus episode every week, and our entire backlog of bonus episodes! Thats https://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).

This is a preview of a bonus episode. Find the whole thing on our reasonably-priced patreon! Comedy writer Mollie Goodfellow talks about her early experiences on the internet, which largely amounted to luring unsuspecting men into the woods of Runescape and beheading them for fun.. We talk about the transition between social networks and how it shaped our real-life social experiences in the suburbs, why being 'Myspace Famous' didn't translate to Facebook fame, and whether the exposure that comes with going viral for an online joke is worth being yelled at for weeks afterward. -------- PALESTINE AID LINKS As the humanitarian crisis continues to unfold in Gaza, we encourage anyone who can to donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians. You can donate using the links below. Please also donate to the gofundmes of people trying to escape Rafah, or purchase ESIMs. These links are for if you need a well-respected name attached to a fund to feel comfortable sending money. https://www.map.org.uk/donate/donate https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/how-you-can-help/emergencies/gaza-israel-conflict -------- PHOEBE ALERT Not enough Phoebe? Check out her Substack Here! -------- This show is supported by Patreon. Sign up for as little as $5 a month to gain access to a new bonus episode every week, and our entire backlog of bonus episodes! Thats https://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).

Youtube essayist Tom Nicholas joins us this week to talk about vaping and specifically, how the excesses of contemporary internet culture, guided by the philosophies of liminal capitalism, can explain the prominence of disposable vapes. Tom tells us how vaping went from a means to manage addictions to a new kind of addictive behaviour, how and why attempts to regulate vaping have so far failed, and why the vaping lobby is taking its cues from none other than the gambling industry.  You can watch Tom’s video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuTQbOo3Y30&pp=ygURdG9tIG5pY2hvbGFzIHZhcGU%3D -------- PALESTINE AID LINKS As the humanitarian crisis continues to unfold in Gaza, we encourage anyone who can to donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians. You can donate using the links below. Please also donate to the gofundmes of people trying to escape Rafah, or purchase ESIMs. These links are for if you need a well-respected name attached to a fund to feel comfortable sending money. https://www.map.org.uk/donate/donate https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/how-you-can-help/emergencies/gaza-israel-conflict -------- PHOEBE ALERT Can't get enough Phoebe? Check out her Substack Here! -------- This show is supported by Patreon. Sign up for as little as $5 a month to gain access to a new bonus episode every week, and our entire backlog of bonus episodes! Thats https://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).

This is a preview of a bonus episode. Find the whole thing on our reasonably-priced patreon! Political journalist Zoë Grünewald joins us to talk about the upcoming UK General Election, and why so many candidates are opting to run on hyper-online 'culture war' issues. Zoë explains how obsessions with social media among politicians and journalists has contributed to the eroded trust in politics, how an over-reliance on Twitter disincentivised holding power to account – and how all of this has driven the disconnect between Westminster and the rest of the UK. -------- PALESTINE AID LINKS As the humanitarian crisis continues to unfold in Gaza, we encourage anyone who can to donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians. You can donate using the links below. Please also donate to the gofundmes of people trying to escape Rafah, or purchase ESIMs. These links are for if you need a well-respected name attached to a fund to feel comfortable sending money. https://www.map.org.uk/donate/donate https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/how-you-can-help/emergencies/gaza-israel-conflict -------- PHOEBE ALERT Can't get enough Phoebe? Check out her Substack Here! -------- This show is supported by Patreon. Sign up for as little as $5 a month to gain access to a new bonus episode every week, and our entire backlog of bonus episodes! Thats https://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).

Paris Marx returns to the show to talk about two AI conferences hosted by Google and OpenAI, and how both failed to provide any real evidence of why it’s any more than a chatbot with a voice, but also, why this doesn’t really matter to tech companies, and the government’s appeasing them. Paris talks about the consequences of AI software integrating into every public service we have, and how this will change our relationship to the internet - one where you are no longer a ‘user’, but a consumer stuck in an endless feedback loop in service to the AI. Sounds bad imho! Read Paris’ article on disposable Apple products here: https://disconnect.blog/roundup-apples-wants-to-hike-iphone-prices-again/ Follow and support DISCONNECT, here: https://disconnect.blog/ -------- PALESTINE AID LINKS As the humanitarian crisis continues to unfold in Gaza, we encourage anyone who can to donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians. You can donate using the links below. Please also donate to the gofundmes of people trying to escape Rafah, or purchase ESIMs. These links are for if you need a well-respected name attached to a fund to feel comfortable sending money. https://www.map.org.uk/donate/donate https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/how-you-can-help/emergencies/gaza-israel-conflict -------- PHOEBE ALERT Can't get enough Phoebe? Check out her Substack Here! -------- This show is supported by Patreon. Sign up for as little as $5 a month to gain access to a new bonus episode every week, and our entire backlog of bonus episodes! Thats https://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).

This is a preview of a bonus episode. Find the whole thing on our reasonably-priced patreon! To commemorate Phoebe’s final episode (before she goes on maternity leave, not forever) we take questions from you. We discuss some big questions about the internet, whether one’s decision not to post still counts and posting, and if the age of vertical video discourse will make our lived experiences more bizarre than they already are. Plus, and most important of all : what are the bizarre foreign snacks we really love and wish were available in the UK? -------- PALESTINE AID LINKS As the humanitarian crisis continues to unfold in Gaza, we encourage anyone who can to donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians. You can donate using the links below. Please also donate to the gofundmes of people trying to escape Rafah, or purchase ESIMs. These links are for if you need a well-respected name attached to a fund to feel comfortable sending money. https://www.map.org.uk/donate/donate https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/how-you-can-help/emergencies/gaza-israel-conflict -------- PHOEBE ALERT Can't get enough Phoebe? Check out her Substack Here! -------- This show is supported by Patreon. Sign up for as little as $5 a month to gain access to a new bonus episode every week, and our entire backlog of bonus episodes! Thats https://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).

Journalist and author Joanne Mcneil returns to the show to talk about her novel WRONG WAY, which was among the New Yorker’s best fiction of 2023. Centred around the proliferation of ‘self-driving’ taxis, the novel is an exploration of precarious work and social alienation, and the ways in which the technocratic ruling classes leverage this distancing to assert power and control, even as they prove to be inept and corrupt.  Buy a copy of WRONG WAY, here: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/9780374610661/Wrong-Way-Novel-Mcneil-Joanne-0374610665/plp -------- PALESTINE AID LINKS As the humanitarian crisis continues to unfold in Gaza, we encourage anyone who can to donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians. You can donate using the links below. Please also donate to the gofundmes of people trying to escape Rafah, or purchase ESIMs. These links are for if you need a well-respected name attached to a fund to feel comfortable sending money. https://www.map.org.uk/donate/donate https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/how-you-can-help/emergencies/gaza-israel-conflict -------- PHOEBE ALERT Can't get enough Phoebe? Check out her Substack Here! -------- This show is supported by Patreon. Sign up for as little as $5 a month to gain access to a new bonus episode every week, and our entire backlog of bonus episodes! Thats https://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).

This is a preview of a bonus episode. Find the whole thing on our reasonably-priced patreon! Welcome back to part 2 of our discussion about the 2023 True Crime/Documentary miniseries Telemarketers. Once again, we're joined by Brian, AJ, and Josh, the hosts of the Worst Of All Possible Worlds, a podcast that reviews and analyses popular culture. -------- PALESTINE AID LINKS As the humanitarian crisis continues to unfold in Gaza, we encourage anyone who can to donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians. You can donate using the links below. Please also donate to the gofundmes of people trying to escape Rafah, or purchase ESIMs. These links are for if you need a well-respected name attached to a fund to feel comfortable sending money. https://www.map.org.uk/donate/donate https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/how-you-can-help/emergencies/gaza-israel-conflict -------- PHOEBE ALERT Can't get enough Phoebe? Check out her Substack Here! -------- This show is supported by Patreon. Sign up for as little as $5 a month to gain access to a new bonus episode every week, and our entire backlog of bonus episodes! Thats https://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).

This week we're joined by Brian, AJ, and Josh, the hosts of the Worst Of All Possible Worlds, a podcast that reviews and analyses popular culture, to talk about the 2023 True Crime/Documentary miniseries Telemarketers. Join us on the bonus episode later this week for part 2 of this discussion! -------- PALESTINE AID LINKS As the humanitarian crisis continues to unfold in Gaza, we encourage anyone who can to donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians. You can donate using the links below. Please also donate to the gofundmes of people trying to escape Rafah, or purchase ESIMs. These links are for if you need a well-respected name attached to a fund to feel comfortable sending money. https://www.map.org.uk/donate/donate https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/how-you-can-help/emergencies/gaza-israel-conflict -------- PHOEBE ALERT Can't get enough Phoebe? Check out her Substack Here! -------- This show is supported by Patreon. Sign up for as little as $5 a month to gain access to a new bonus episode every week, and our entire backlog of bonus episodes! Thats https://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).