Marisa Kabas is the founder of The Handbasket, an independent newsletter and website that has been breaking stories left and right about government workers, the media business, and Trump’s mass deportation campaign. Jason and Marisa share notes Marisa about doing journalism without a big newsroom, how the media business has changed over the last decade, and why sources often prefer to talk to journalists who don’t work for mainstream media.

YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/e73spvZnc9s

The Handbasket: https://www.thehandbasket.co

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Joseph had to use a different mic this week, that will be fixed next time! We start this week talking about a very unusual case: someone is being charged for allegedly wiping a phone before CBP could search it. There are a lot of questions remaining, but a super interesting case. After the break, we talk about Matthew’s article on an Anthropic exec forcing AI onto a queer gamer Discord. In the subscribers-only section, we all chat about the Disney and OpenAI deal.

Timestamps:

00:48 - Man Charged for Wiping Phone Before CBP Could Search It

23:02 - Anthropic Exec Forces AI Chatbot on Gay Discord Community, Members Flee

• Man Charged for Wiping Phone Before CBP Could Search It
• Anthropic Exec Forces AI Chatbot on Gay Discord Community, Members Flee
• Disney Invests $1 Billion in the AI Slopification of Its Brand

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/tOpIpReZPoM

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Humanity has talked about aliens throughout recorded history, and obsession that has changed science, faith, and media. 

The past few years have been very exciting for those who want to believe. The U.S. government has released tantalizing videos and held several gripping hearings showing and discussing UFOs. People who always thought the government was hiding evidence of alien life from the general population saw it as proof that what they’ve said was happening all along. Skeptics have made compelling arguments for why all these revelations could be anything but aliens. 

But this debate and humanity’s obsession with aliens goes as far back as recorded history. In her book, First Contact: The Story of Our Obsession with Aliens, 404 Media’s science reporter and author of The Abstract newsletter Becky Ferreira delves deep into this history, what it teaches us about humans, and what the near and far future of the search for alien life looks like. 

I had a great time reading Becky’s book and an even better time discussing it with her on the podcast. It’s a great conversation that unpacks why these stories get so much attention, and a perspective on aliens in the news and pop culture that’s rooted in history and science.

YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/QToByEeq2vU

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We start this week with news of our zine! We’re printing it very soon, and walk you through the process. Independent media is turning back to physical zines as a way to subvert algorithms. After the break, Emanuel tells us about some very weird Instagram changes. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph explains ICEBlock’s lawsuit against the U.S. government.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/lseEXc-ZzsQ

Timestamps:

1:37 - 1st Story - ⁠404 Media Is Making a Zine⁠; buy the zine here

28:01 - 2nd Story - ⁠Instagram Is Generating Inaccurate SEO Bait for Your Posts⁠

SUBSCRIBER'S STORY - ICEBlock Creator Sues U.S. Government Over App’s Removal

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This week Sam is in conversation with Noelle Perdue. Noelle is a writer, producer, and internet porn historian whose works has been published in Wired, the Washington Post, Slate, and more, and you’re probably familiar with her work if you’ve been paying attention to the plot in your favorite pornographic films. She’s writing on Stubstack so look her up there!

YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/9eqMXBwWtkA

Noelle and Sam discuss everything from sexbots and AI porn to censorship, age verification legislation, and their favorite parody porn flicks.  

Listen to the weekly podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Become a paid subscriber for access to this episode's bonus content and to power our journalism. If you become a paid subscriber, check your inbox for an email from our podcast host Transistor for a link to the subscribers-only version! You can also add that subscribers feed to your podcast app of choice and never miss an episode that way. The email should also contain the subscribers-only unlisted YouTube link for the extended video version too. It will also be in the show notes in your podcast player.

Noelle Perdue on Substack

Michigan Lawmakers Are Attempting to Ban Porn Entirely

New Bill Would Make All Pornography a Federal Crime in the U.S.

OpenAI Catches Up to AI Market Reality: People Are Horny

ChatGPT’s Hail Mary: Chatbots You Can Fuck

The Egg Yolk Principle: Human Sexuality Will Always Outsmart Prudish Algorithms and Hateful Politicians

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We start this week with Joseph’s very weird story about Apple Podcasts. The app is opening by itself, playing random spirituality podcasts, and in one case directing listeners to a potentially malicious website. After the break, Matthew tells us how it sure looks like a map of Ukraine was manipulated in order to win a bet on Polymarket. In the subscribers-only section, Sam breaks down how half of the U.S. now requires a face or ID scan to watch porn.
YouTube version: https://youtu.be/V4QCJh-imPM

Timestamps:
2:00 - Story 1 - Someone Is Trying to ‘Hack’ People Through Apple Podcasts
24:40 - Story 2 - 'Unauthorized' Edit to Ukraine's Frontline Maps Point to Polymarket's War Betting

SUBSCRIBER'S STORY - Half of the US Now Requires You to Upload Your ID or Scan Your Face to Watch Porn

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Joseph speaks to Michael Bobbitt, a former FBI official who worked directly on Operation Trojan Shield. In this operation the FBI secretly ran its own encrypted phone company for organized crime, backdoored the phone, and collected tens of millions of messages. Michael and Joseph discuss how Michael handled intelligence sourced from the phones, how to navigate an operation that complex, and its fallout.

YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/bLeueG5V4QY

• Dark Wire: The Incredible True Story of the Largest Sting Operation Ever

• Podcast: Signal's President Meredith Whittaker on Backdoors and AI

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We start this week with Sam's piece about a massive leak of an AI chatbot, and how it showed that people were taking ordinary women’s yearbook photos and using them to make AI porn. After the break, Jason explains how a recent change on X exposed a bunch of grifters all around the world. In the subscribers-only section, we talk about how our reporting contributed to the shut down of a warrantless surveillance program.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/UgOtR_bDft4

Timestamps:

1:23 - Intro: Please, please do our reader survey

3:57 - Story 1: Massive Leak Shows Erotic Chatbot Users Turned Women’s Yearbook Pictures Into AI Porn

34:42 - Story 2: America’s Polarization Has Become the World's Side Hustle

SUBSCRIBER'S STORY: Airlines Will Shut Down Program That Sold Your Flights Records to Government

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Jason talks to Chris Gilliard, the author of the upcoming book Luxury Surveillance. Gilliard has studied the rise of companies like Ring and Flock, as well as the dynamics that lead people to surveil themselves and each other.

YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/4kBgnjn5cC0

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We start this week with a rant from Jason about how the latest dump of Epstein emails were released. It would be a lot easier to cover them if they were published differently! After the break, we talk about Joseph’s piece about a contractor hiring essentially randos off LinkedIn to physically track immigrants for $300. In the subscribers-only section, Sam tells us about a new adult industry code of conduct that has been a long time coming.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

3:08 - First Segment

34:23 - Second Segment

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/_6tVI4jh__Y

• Our New FOIA Forum! 11/19, 1PM ET
• Contractor Recruiting People on LinkedIn to Physically Track Immigrants for ICE, Will Pay $300
• Major Porn Studios Join Forces to Establish Industry ‘Code of Conduct’

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The video game industry has had a turbulent few years. The pandemic made people play more and caused a small boom, which then subsided, resulting in wave after wave of massive layoffs. Microsoft, one of the major console manufacturers, is shifting its strategy for Xbox as the company shifts its focus to AI. And now, Electronic Arts, once a load-bearing publisher for the industry with brands like The Sims and Madden, is going private via a leveraged buyout in a deal involving Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Jared Kushner.

Video games are more popular than ever, but many of the biggest companies in the business seem like they are struggling to adapt and convert that popularity into stability and sustainability. To try and understand what the hell is going on, this week we have a conversation between Emanuel and Jason Schreier, who reports about video games for Bloomberg and one of the best journalists on this beat.

Jason helps us unpack why Microsoft is now aiming for higher-than-average profit margins at Xbox and why the company is seemingly bowing out of the console business despite a massive acquisition spree. We also talk about what the EA deal tells us about other game publishers, and what all these problems tell us about changing player habits and the future of big budget video games.

YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/6ydF7hD6cFI

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• Microsoft Pushes Xbox Division to Hit Higher Profit Margins

• EA's Deal to Go Private Could Be Good for Investors, Bad for Employees

• EA Buyout Highlights Gaming Struggles as Growth Slows

• The Video-Game Industry Has a Problem: There Are Too Many Games
  

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