Show Notes
https://www.patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow This week, we explored the anti-aging obsession of Bryan Johnson. From erection measuring to NDA's, join us for a weird ride. Futher reading: How Bryan Johnson, Who Wants to Live Forever, Sought Control via Confidentiality Agreements – The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/technology/bryan-johnson-nda-employees.html @mathrubhumi+3WIRED+3mint+3 Bryan Johnson and Matt Bruenig Are Fighting Over NDAs – New York Magazine https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/bryan-johnson-matt-bruenig-nda-fight.html New York Magazine Bryan Johnson Is Going to Die – WIRED https://www.wired.com/story/big-interview-bryan-johnson/ How to Live Forever and Get Rich Doing It — The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/08/11/how-to-live-forever-and-get-rich-doing-it The New Yorker Bryan Johnson Before and After: How Exec Became Antiaging-Obsessed — Business Insider https://www.businessinsider.com/bryan-johnson-before-and-after-anti-aging-longevity-supplements-2023-8 Business Insider Just being well is not enough at Bryan Johnson's Don't Die Summit — The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/25/just-being-well-is-not-enough-bryan-johnsons-dont-die-summit/
More from Dystopia Now
Subscribe to our Patreon for bonus content at patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow! Philosopher and filmmaker Alexander Thomas joins us again as consciousness and "AI welfare" become talking points in the AI world. We discourse about discourse — how TESCREAL ideologies framed debate and criticism in the terms of AI companies from the start. Find more from Alex at https://posthumanfutures.com/ and his short film Beverley (2015) on YouTube. Further Reading NYT, "Religious Scholars Met with Anthropic", https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/us/anthropic-claude-morals-ai.html The Economist, "Effective altruism is this century's biggest idea", https://www.economist.com/leaders/2026/10/01/effective-altruism-is-this-centurys-biggest-idea Timnit Gebru & Emily Bender, "Forget 'superintelligence': error-prone AI nearly sparked world war three this month", https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/01/forget-superintelligence-error-prone-ai-nearly-sparked-world-war-iii-this-month Alexander Thomas, The Politics and Ethics of Transhumanism: Techno-human Evolution and Advanced Capitalism (2024), https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/the-politics-and-ethics-of-transhumanism
Subscribe to our Patreon for the FULL episode and more bonus content at patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow! We interviewed author and journalist Ellen Huet about her recent book Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult (October 2025), exploring the Orgasmic Meditation (OM) start-up cult OneTaste. In the full episode for subscribers, Kate describes her run-ins with OneTaste from the outer orbit. Content Advisory: This episode includes candid discussion of sexual topics and references to sexual crimes and coercion.
Émile and Kate comment on the recent flurry of news about AI safety. Further Reading Emily M. Bender, Alex Hanna and Decca Muldowney, What To Read To Stay Grounded Amidst AI Doomerism, 2026 https://buttondown.com/maiht3k/archive/what-to-read-to-stay-grounded-amidst-ai-doomerism/
Subscribe to our Patreon for more bonus content at patreon.com/c/DystopiaNow! This week, we're joined by comedian Mary Houlihan: we talk about Leopold Aschenbrenner, the 'wunderkind' in charge of Situational Awareness, a hedge fund named for his 2024 essay speculating on AGI and which recently lost $35 billion. We trace the networks of connections and massive amounts of money in the AI, tech, and Effective Altruism scenes. Find Mary's podcast on YouTube and more at linktr.ee/maryhoulie. This episode was informed by David Morris's article "Son of Sam: Aschenbrenner was SBF 2.0," found on his Substack Dark Markets. Further Reading - The original Situational Awareness essay by Leopold Aschenbrenner: https://situational-awareness.ai/ - David Morris, "Son of Sam: Aschenbrenner was SBF 2.0," davidzmorris.substack.com/p/son-of-sam-aschenbrenner-was-sbf - Jeff Brown, "Situationally Unaware," https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/31/why-leopold-aschenbrenner-situational-awareness-hedge-fund-imploded.html
This week with comedian Alaina Bamfield, we check in on ChatGPT's joke-writing capabilities, Émile's former anarchoprimitivist sympathies, medical skepticism, and whether we might have made enough technological advances. Alaina Bamfield is a New York based stand up comedian from Williamston, Michigan. Check out Alaina @alainabamfield on social media and her comedy special "Untouchable" on YouTube. Editor's note: This episode was recorded August 3 — toward the end of the episode, we reference DSA endorsee Francesca Hong's lead in the polls for the gubernatorial primary run in Wisconsin, but this was based on falsified information and on August 11, Hong lost by a margin of 0.5%. Tech dystopia continues!