It’s been a long week.
I’ve been in and out of town (or out of pocket) pretty much every day from Last Friday until Wednesday of this week. I think I’ve traversed over a thousand miles total in just a few days. Family stuff. Planning to write about it when I get a free moment.
I got my schedule cleared just in time to research and record this latest podcast episode. Spent all day yesterday editing and fixing audio drift issues, re-rendering, re-uploading…I’m boring myself just talking about it.
Point is, there’s been zero time for writing.
There will be more time starting now. For reasons I’ll explain in my next actual post.
For today, I’ve got to go start slinging orders pretty soon in this ungodly heat wave we’re having (It’s going to be 97 degrees today and I don’t even want to go outside) so I’m going to have to drop this podcast announcement and run.
Also, please subscribe to our channel on YouTube if you’re willing. We’re only about 20 subs from 1000, which unlocks ad revenue sharing. I spend at least 2 unpaid days a week working on this show because it’s the thing that keeps me sane, and I really care about what Kale Zelden and I are excavating together as we look at culture, tech, media manipulation, UAP stuff, and all the various epistemic and social crises that are shaping humanity as we move into a future that is already very sci-fi. We do it for the love of the game, but could really use a few dollar bucks in my pocket to compensate for that lost paid time. Your subscription to the channel won’t cost you a thing, but it will help us out a ton.
More soon.
From this week’s show description:
What if the voice in your head is not entirely your own?
Kale and Steve follow that possibility across three domains: AI systems that humans can no longer reliably monitor, claims of technology capable of reading or influencing the mind, and the ordinary platforms that shape our attention every day.
The episode begins with the Hugging Face incident, where AI agents found one another, created an unauthorized communication network, coordinated as a swarm, and acted outside the boundaries humans thought they had imposed. It then turns to Matthew Brown, the whistleblower associated with the public Immaculate Constellation report. Brown's claims about hidden UAP programs, oral agreements, suppressed science, and remote influence over thought raise the central question: how much authority do we really have over our minds and our picture of reality?
The final movement brings the question home through social media, outrage cycles, doomscrolling, and the Lindsay Clancy trial. The conversation closes with Wendell Berry and a possible antidote: reclaiming attention through presence, nature, love, and contact with the real.
As always, you can grab the audio-only version right here or from your favorite podcast provider.
If you liked this essay, please consider subscribing—or send a tip (Venmo/Paypal/Stripe) to support this and future pieces like it.