148: Chekov's Shrooms

Amanda has a new favorite movie of all time, and you can probably guess what it is: Nathan Fielder's documentary about longstanding Wow if True character Elizabeth Holmes, "You Can See Everything." Amanda waited with baited breath until the moment when she could finally talk to Isabel about what we have (or haven't) learned about Elizabeth Holmes. Isabel finally saw the movie. The moment is here. It is upon us. This is that moment. LinksAmanda's review of "You Can See Everything" -- https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/16/in-you-can-see-everything-elizabeth-holmes-meets-her-equal-in-comedian-nathan-fielder/Find Us Online Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wowiftrue.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/wowiftruepodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wowiftruePatreon: https://www.patreon.com/wowiftrueWebsite: https://wowiftrue.com/ Email: [email protected] Us Wow If True was created by Isabel J. Kim and Amanda Silberling. Our editors are Allison Mills and David Newtown. Wow If True is a member of Multitude, a podcast collective, production studio and ad sales provider.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Having experienced technology and culture in real life, Amanda and Isabel talk about all their travels and the wondrous sights they've seen, like a robot making lemonade, and also, wet Spiderman. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In which Amanda, Isabel, and special guest Julia Schifini record another episode of long-running Glee recap podcast, Wow if Schue. Yes, this entire special episode, originally made for the Multicrew feed, was based on making that joke. Both Amanda and Isabel have been at various conventions and not "at home" or "recording," so we're pulling this episode from the Multicrew feed (which, if you want more fun stuff like this, WIT patrons get access to the feed at no extra cost!). Hey, it was either this or us talking about rationalists again. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's the first ever Wow if True live show! At the Kelly Writers House in Philadelphia, Isabel reads from Sublimation, then we talk about our approaches to writing the future from both a sci-fi and journalism perspective. It's fun.Find Us Online Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wowiftrue.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/wowiftruepodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wowiftruePatreon: https://www.patreon.com/wowiftrueWebsite: https://wowiftrue.com/Email: [email protected] Us Wow If True was created by Isabel J. Kim and Amanda Silberling. Our editors are Allison Mills and David Newtown. Wow If True is a member of Multitude, a podcast collective, production studio and ad sales provider.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Amanda is obsessed with Katseye. Editor Allison™ doesn't understand. Isabel is on vacation. Eat zucchini. Also, BIG NEWS: Wow if True is coming to a city near you, so long as that city is Philadelphia.Isabel & Amanda are doing a book event for Sublimation together on Wednesday, Sept. 9 at the Kelly Writers House on the University of Pennsylvania's campus in Philadelphia. It's FREE. More info at this link, plus there will be a livestream, which also should be linked at the link below once that link exists: https://writing.upenn.edu/wh/calendar/0926.php#9Find Us Online Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wowiftrue.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/wowiftruepodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wowiftruePatreon: https://www.patreon.com/wowiftrueWebsite: https://wowiftrue.com/ Email: [email protected] Us Wow If True was created by Isabel J. Kim and Amanda Silberling. Our editors are Allison Mills and David Newtown (but Amanda edited this specific episode which is why it sounds bad, it was a last minute thing, ok). Wow If True is a member of Multitude, a podcast collective, production studio and ad sales provider.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Good news: Isabel went to Comic Con! Bad news: There is so much AI discourse. Everything is AI. We talk about -- the Hank drama, the new AI friend, the AI crime thriller situation... There are a lot of situations. We are so tired. Find Us Online Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wowiftrue.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/wowiftruepodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wowiftruePatreon: https://www.patreon.com/wowiftrueWebsite: https://wowiftrue.com/ Email: [email protected] Us Wow If True was created by Isabel J. Kim and Amanda Silberling. Our editors are Allison Mills and David Newtown. Wow If True is a member of Multitude, a podcast collective, production studio and ad sales provider.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pangram makes the most accurate detector for flagging AI-generated text, but when your startup is the arbiter of what is real and what is not, you sometimes get into hairy situations. For example, the Atlantic and the Wall Street Journal might say that our country has a Pangram problem. But what's the actual problem: that we can detect AI-generated text, or that so much AI slop exists in the first place? Fortunately, Pangram founder and CEO Max Spero happens to be our Actual Real Life Friend™ and we can ask him about it. Find Us Online Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wowiftrue.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/wowiftruepodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wowiftruePatreon: https://www.patreon.com/wowiftrueWebsite: https://wowiftrue.com/ Email: [email protected] Us Wow If True was created by Isabel J. Kim and Amanda Silberling. Our editors are Allison Mills and David Newtown. Wow If True is a member of Multitude, a podcast collective, production studio and ad sales provider.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Enhanced Games are Silicon Valley's version of the Olympics -- the athletes are invited to bulk up with performance enhancing drugs, then gather in Las Vegas for competition, and of course, it's funded by some notorious figures in venture capital. Amanda's colleague, Lucas Ropek, got to attend this carnival of debauchery and is here to tell us all about it. And yes, he saw Byran Johnson there. If you missed our episodes on the Chinese Peptide craze (ep. 137) or the general antics of Byran Johnson (ep. 128), you may find those to be useful primers -- but also, you can just enjoy the absurdity of the Enhanced Games on its own. Lucas's article: https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/31/i-went-to-the-so-called-steroid-olympics-to-understand-why-silicon-valley-is-obsessed-with-peptides/Balaji's Greys: http://newrepublic.com/article/180487/balaji-srinivasan-network-state-plutocratFind Us Online Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wowiftrue.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/wowiftruepodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wowiftruePatreon: https://www.patreon.com/wowiftrueWebsite: https://wowiftrue.com/ Email: [email protected] Us Wow If True was created by Isabel J. Kim and Amanda Silberling. Our editors are Allison Mills and David Newtown. Wow If True is a member of Multitude, a podcast collective, production studio and ad sales provider.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In which Amanda makes the worst PowerPoint ever (it's about rationalists and fan fiction, iykyk), Isabel goes on book tour, and we experiment with flip phones.The PowerPoint in question: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ch0rBRdr8PGindVGa0cGQaKDiYR5rFmMiclL58CPci8/edit?slide=id.p#slide=id.pFind Us Online Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wowiftrue.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/wowiftruepodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wowiftruePatreon: https://www.patreon.com/wowiftrueWebsite: https://wowiftrue.com/ Email: [email protected] Us Wow If True was created by Isabel J. Kim and Amanda Silberling. Our editors are Allison Mills and David Newtown. Wow If True is a member of Multitude, a podcast collective, production studio and ad sales provider.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this collab-isode, we're joined by Dr. Adam Becker of Dreaming Against the Machine, a podcast about envisioning a realistic and hopeful future in the face of tech oligarchs... or, as we call them, Horrible Little Guys.Sublimation is out now!!: https://bookshop.org/p/books/sublimation-isabel-j-kim/75bdbf4afed5475f?ean=9781250376794&next=tJoin our Patreon: https://patreon.com/wowiftrueListen to Dreaming Against the Machine: https://www.dreamingagainstthemachine.com/Also, ISABEL IS ON TOUR ! Dates below, and more info + tickets at https://us.macmillan.com/tours/isabel-j-kim-sublimation/VIRTUALLY: June 2 — I’ll be on r/Fantasy doing an AMA more or less all day! Come ask me your burning questions, also, your unburning questions. You can just ask me whatever. June 7 — I’m going to be at The Back Room for a virtual event (details to come at their website)! PHYSICALLY: May 30 — PGH Bookfest in Pittsburgh (with John Scalzi) June 2 — Barnes and Noble, Clifton, NJ (with Neil Clarke)June 3 — The Strand, NYC (with Jinwoo Chong) June 4 — Harvard Books Store, Boston (with R.F. Kuang) June 6 — RJ Julia, Madison CT (with @redreadsreviews) June 10 — Center for Fiction, Brooklyn (on a panel with Joseph Eckert & Thomas Elrod, moderated by Yume Kitasei) June 20 — Bronx Book Festival, the Bronx (on a panel with Nicole Glover, Andrea Hairston, and Vincent Tirado) June 30 — Dungeon Books, Jersey City (with Yume Kitasei)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.