A startup that makes the… strangest case for the metaverse we’ve yet heard. The British political establishment proposing a response to a crisis that won’t approach any of its causes or effects. A columnist proposes a negotiated settlement between Britain and reality that turns on gratitude to the royals. It’s TF! Support the Sheffield JustEat riders on strike! Their fund is here and really, really needs your donations: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/sheffield-justeat-riders-are-going-on-...
Mar 28, 2022•57 min•Ep. 514
For this month's second Britainology, Milo and Nate are joined by Alice Caldwell-Kelly to discuss Britain's 1956 invasion of Egypt, how Britain got spectacularly owned, and the eternal weak point of the British military throughout the entire operation: cupboards. Hope you enjoy! Get the full episode (and 2 Britainologies a month!) on the $10 tier here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/64262706 Also, check out Midwestology 2, which we've unlocked to the $5 tier: https://www.patreon.com/posts/5789768...
Mar 25, 2022•11 min•Ep. 513
We changed up Britainology a bit. Now it's the good-natured Midwestern oafs in the driver's seat, and we--Nate, Joe Kassabian, and Francis Horton--explain to Milo the name of the region itself, why ICP had such appeal to our generation, and why literally everyone has a driving-while-intoxicated story involving being thrown out of someone's house. Hope you enjoy! Get more Britainology on our Patreon--you get one a month on the $5 tier and two a month on the $10 tier: https://www.patreon.com/trash...
Mar 25, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 512
Riley is joined by Birkbeck's Dr. Kojo Koram to discuss how Britain's colonial legal legacies - in the form of offshore, overseas, non-dom, etc. - make us the perfect place for the global rich to hide their ill gotten gains. Also, in the studio, Milo, Hussein, and Alice discuss another rent-instead-of-own startup, but with a creative twist. Get the full episode on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/64190502 Buy Dr Koram's book here! https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Kojo-Koram/Uncommon-Wea...
Mar 25, 2022•11 min•Ep. 511
This week, we’re talking about a mental-health startup that’s even worse than the man made horrors you thought were beyond your comprehension, some particularly spicy UK legal news, and a simple request for people to be honest about what they actually want, politically. Hope you enjoy! Support the Sheffield JustEat riders on strike! Their fund is here and really, really needs your donations: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/sheffield-justeat-riders-are-going-on-strike-pay-rise-not-pay-cut I...
Mar 21, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 510
For the first Britainology of March, Nate and Milo watch a *terrible* British sitcom from the 1970s that has, somehow, endured. That's right, we've been Frank Spencerpilled--we've watched Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, and we're still shaken from the 'what if Britain was in the Eastern Bloc' vision that it portrayed. Get the whole thing on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/64048657 *WEB DESIGN ALERT* Tom Allen is a friend of the show (and the designer behind our website). If you need web de...
Mar 20, 2022•10 min•Ep. 509
We bring back friend of the show Quantian1 to discuss sanctions against Russia, how the global financial system can shut out a large economy (and how economic integration doesn't necessarily mean less chance of conflict), how the conflict will affect food prices, and our theory that, instead of sanctions, we should just do a Reverse Salisbury on Putin. Get the full episode on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/63933466 *WEB DESIGN ALERT* Tom Allen is a friend of the show (and the design...
Mar 18, 2022•11 min•Ep. 508
It’s the True Chaos Configuration of Milo, Hussein, and Alice, and we’re discussing the Festival of Brexit–a bizarre idea that seems to be at least competently executed, much to our surprise. However, it includes a techno festival called Tour de Moon with an intensely 2000s website that has to be seen to be believed. We also talk about sanctioning Abramovich, and much more. Support the Sheffield JustEat riders on strike! Their fund is here and really, really needs your donations: https://actionn...
Mar 14, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 507
Dr. Riley Quinn (DPhil International Relations), Dr. Milo Edwards (PhD Russian Language), and Maj. Alice Caldwell-Kelly (OSINT specialist) introduce another “garden of forking paths” version of ourselves. We also discuss the bipartisan consensus that spiking energy prices (which have been spiking long before the war) are good and worth the Blitz spirit. Also, another article and Lebedev/Johnson hanging out pretending to be homeless to raise awareness. Get the whole episode on Patreon here: https...
Mar 11, 2022•11 min•Ep. 506
Riley, Alice, and Milo look at the ongoing descent of the UK pundit class into embodying the global death drive, and take a look at a story of a certain kind of British Guy achieving apotheosis (spending £218 of Bolton Council's money meant for excluded children at the Spar in Praia du Luz in Portugal). In between, Riley talks to academic Thea Riofrancos about why "onshoring" mining is all the rage now that the world's security and energy orders have both been thrown into disarray. The interview...
Mar 08, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 505
Riley, Milo, Abi, Alice, and Devon read a little book called The End Of The World Is Flat, a satire about the struggles of the “TERGs” against the “Flat Earth Movement.” Or, more accurately, Riley is the only person in the world to read a book again. Get the whole episode on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/63338182 *WEB DESIGN ALERT* Tom Allen is a friend of the show (and the designer behind our website). If you need web design help, reach out to him here: https://www.tomallen.media/...
Mar 04, 2022•11 min•Ep. 504
This week, friend of the show Abigail Thorn ( @PhilosophyTube ) joins us to discuss the EHRC’s turn towards belligerent transphobia. One might go so far as to say that they’ve violated Riley’s Law, but there’s an American dimension: British transphobia is beginning to appear in American legal statutes, cited approvingly. Seems bad! We also discuss an app to buy your way into government? And some admittedly out-of-date reactions to the Russian invasion of Ukraine (we recorded this on the day it s...
Mar 01, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 503
This week, Nate and Milo address the important issue: why is there a culture of getting on it and getting completely blasted out of your mind? What is a big night out? What is the sesh? What is the deal with those guys in the picture? To help our investigation, we brought on nightlife expert and journalist Tom Usher ( @Tom_Usher_ ) to discuss. If you want to hear more Britainology, sign up on the Patreon at the $5 tier for one a month and $10 for two a month here: https://www.patreon.com/trashfu...
Feb 27, 2022•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 502
In this episode, Milo takes Nate on the most inscrutable journey yet: a vision of British 1980s/90s sitcoms that are too cockney to be parsed without a translator. Yes, it's the 'Heroes and Villains' episode of Only Fools and Horses, perhaps the most British thing Nate has had to encounter yet, and the one that did the most to break his spirit. Hope you enjoy! If you want to hear more Britainology, sign up on the Patreon at the $5 tier for one a month and $10 for two a month here: https://www.pa...
Feb 25, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 501
For this week's bonus, we discuss the UK ending all COVID testing, the NYT/Serial 'Trojan Horse Affair' podcast making British columnists lose their minds, an update on Roku's hilarious financial peril, and a long rumination on what would happen if Keir Starmer took Julia Fox on a date. We hope you enjoy. Get the whole episode on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/62964279 *LIVE SHOW ALERT* We will be doing a live show in London on Wednesday, March 2. Get your tickets here! https://www....
Feb 25, 2022•10 min•Ep. 500
This week, Nate and Hussein speak with Brian Reed and Hamza Syed of the Trojan Horse Affair podcast, an investigation into a hoax letter in Birmingham in 2014 that–despite being known to be false–kicked off an intensification of surveillance and mistreatment of British Muslims. And everyone knew it was fake at the time! It is the official position of Trashfuture that you listen to the Trojan Horse Affair, which is available here: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/podcasts/trojan-horse-aff...
Feb 21, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 499
We speak with Q Anon Anonymous U.K. correspondent Annie Kelly about how, far from being fringe whackos, the lumpen petit bourgeois wingnuts that meet on telegram and gather outside Parliament are central to the right wing project. Also, we read Starmer’s baffling paean to NATO. Get the whole episode on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/62691536 *LIVE SHOW ALERT* We will be doing a live show in London on Wednesday, March 2. Get your tickets here! https://www.designmynight.com/london/wha...
Feb 18, 2022•11 min•Ep. 498
Gareth Dennis ( @GarethDennis ) of Rail Natter returns to our hallowed halls to talk about, among other things, the decision to put the capital’s transport network into “managed decline,” so we can enjoy the standards of infrastructure currently only available to exotic places like “Italy” or “Quebec.” Also, a Foxtons for the Metaverse. Check out Rail Natter here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzA-8fUrw2C5cRcP9gO5BwA If you want access to our Patreon bonus episodes, early releases of free epi...
Feb 15, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 496
This week, Nate and Milo are joined by Paul Ewart ( @paulewart23 ) of the University of Sussex to discuss Margaret Thatcher and how she changed Britain (pretty much solely for the worse!) And guess what: none of those effects are felt today, in any way. Get the whole episode on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/62438141 *LIVE SHOW ALERT* We will be doing a live show in London on Wednesday, March 2. Get your tickets here! https://www.designmynight.com/london/whats-on/comedy/trashfuture-...
Feb 14, 2022•10 min•Ep. 497
In this special extra segment, Nate interviews Sam Asumadu from Media Diversified ( @WritersOfColour ) about the phenomenon of Indeterminate Sentences for Public Protection (IPPs), a now-banned sentence that has resulted in thousands of British residents effectively receiving life sentences for acts as minor as stealing a mobile phone at age 17. Sam’s written an article on the topic for OpenDemocracy, which is available here: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/families-plea-over-ba...
Feb 13, 2022•41 min•Ep. 495
We speak with technology critic Evgeny Morozov about the history of ideas like “Web 2,” “Web 3,” and who these ideas serve and how - and what a better web may look like. Check out Evgeny's 'The Syllabus' project here: https://www.the-syllabus.com Get the whole episode on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/62393298 *MILO ALERT* Milo has a bunch of live shows this month in both London and Prague. Check them out here: https://www.miloedwards.co.uk/live-shows *WEB DESIGN ALERT* Tom Allen is...
Feb 11, 2022•11 min•Ep. 494
We speak with Phil Burton-Cartledge ( @philbc ) about his book, Falling Down, about the sociology of the U.K. Conservative party. How is it to be understood? What are its weaknesses? But first, we look into a number of chickens that appear to have come home to roost in the Labour Party. Riley Quinn: And also, of course, we talk about a ludicrous Web3 Project. Buy Phil’s book here! https://www.versobooks.com/books/3851-fal If you want access to our Patreon bonus episodes, early releases of free e...
Feb 08, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 493
Riley sits down for a discussion of the implications of the upcoming Health and Care Act for the NHS with Dr Allyson Pollock and Peter Roderick from Newcastle University, and tries to get to the heart of the question: what do we mean when we talk about “privatising the NHS.”
Feb 04, 2022•32 min•Ep. 492
We review the further state of institutional rot in the U.K., where a lot of our most prominent dunces are feigning surprise that the met police, EHRC, etc., may simply have been rotten all along. Also, we review Ark’s Big Ideas Summit, which is essentially a kind of Autonomous Cars for Christ pamphlet. Get the whole thing on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/62033688 *MILO ALERT* Milo has a bunch of live shows this month in both London and Prague. Check them out here: https://www.milo...
Feb 04, 2022•13 min•Ep. 491
We look at the shape of the (contracting) frontiers of politics and (expanding) frontiers cooked up in the minds of our most addled billionaires. Let Mark Zuckerberg make a skinwalker out of you, let Elon Musk put your brain into a tunnel, but try to work a little less and - as the British state always does - then "we got problems." If you’re in the UK and want to help Afghan refugees and internally displaced people, consider donating to Afghanaid: https://www.afghanaid.org.uk/ *MILO ALERT* Milo...
Feb 01, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 490
Our politics and economy has once again found itself hitting the bottom of a large hole - and their solution is to dig up! We revisit some troubling developments at our old friends Netflix, Peloton, and THG, then we read an article about sending in a hot British general to fix up Downing Street. Get the whole episode on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/61694831 If you’re in the UK and want to help Afghan refugees and internally displaced people, consider donating to Afghanaid: https:/...
Jan 28, 2022•11 min•Ep. 489
We’ve brought on Jonathan Bernhardt ( @jonbernhardt ) of Patch Notes podcast to discuss Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard. We discuss Activision’s super-villain CEO, the dismal state of its business at present, and what ‘metaverse’ fixations mean for the future of gaming. We also discuss a terrible security-state startup and subject Jonathan to Britain. Enjoy! If you want access to our Patreon bonus episodes, early releases of free episodes, and powerful Discord server, sign ...
Jan 25, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 488
We retvrn to tradition (we unwound by watching a recent-era Guy Ritchie movie). Geezer Hugh Grant, Eddie Marsan gets romantic with a pig, and everyone is really upset about… dealing weed? Journey with us into the mind of a confused old man, as we review THE GENTLEMEN. Get the whole episode on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/61387407
Jan 21, 2022•10 min•Ep. 487
We are joined by Alex Press ( @alexnpress ), of Jacobin and the Primer podcast, to do some more Amazonology. This time, we look at the specifics of how HR operates at this company, how its shittiness ends up hurting workers, and how Amazon is gearing up to export more of its working practices to others. But first, we wonder at why and how it was the parties that finally turned the British establishment against Boris Johnson. If you want access to our Patreon bonus episodes, early releases of fre...
Jan 18, 2022•59 min•Ep. 486
Milo subjects Nate to yet another property-themed British TV show, except this one is about people buying derelict homes at auction and renovating them in order to (in most cases) rent them out at huge markup. We brought on Alice Caldwell-Kelly, who described this show as 'like a nature documentary about parasites,' and we have a delightful time. Get the whole episode on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/61171998 If you’re in the UK and want to help Afghan refugees and internally displ...
Jan 15, 2022•10 min•Ep. 485
