Phoebe Roy and Luke Chilton join Riley and Milo to discuss, among other things, the "Personal Life" section of Vernon Kay's wikipedia page. If you want access to our Patreon bonus episodes, early releases of free episodes, and powerful Discord server, sign up here: https://www.patreon.com/trashfuture *STREAM ALERT* Check out our Twitch stream, which airs 9-11 pm UK time every Monday and Thursday, at the following link: https://www.twitch.tv/trashfuturepodcast *WEB DESIGN ALERT* Tom Allen is a fr...
Sep 28, 2023•10 min•Ep 710•Transcript available on Metacast The Bureau of Investigative Journalism's very own Gareth Davies joins the gang to talk about a smooth businessman who decided to create generational wealth by transferring the entire budget for social and community services of Thurrock Council into his own bank account. And, of course, the one man who helped him by being too stupid to realise what was going on. If you want access to our Patreon bonus episodes, early releases of free episodes, and powerful Discord server, sign up here: https://ww...
Sep 24, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep 709•Transcript available on Metacast What happens when Venture Capitalists - a bunch of guys whose entire job is throwing money into companies they don't understand and expect to fail try and build a new city from scratch? What happens when those Venture Capitalists are building that city in order to win an online argument about zoning and land use? The answer (AI renderings, money spent, nothing built, no water issues planned for or considered) may not shock you! Bay Area tenant organiser Shanti Singh rejoins Riley, Hussein, and A...
Sep 21, 2023•10 min•Ep 708•Transcript available on Metacast Milo and Nate check back in with Michael Apted’s test subjects, now 35 - and one of them has gotten very interested in Bulgaria… If you want access to our Patreon bonus episodes, early releases of free episodes, and powerful Discord server, sign up here: https://www.patreon.com/trashfuture *STREAM ALERT* Check out our Twitch stream, which airs 9-11 pm UK time every Monday and Thursday, at the following link: https://www.twitch.tv/trashfuturepodcast *WEB DESIGN ALERT* Tom Allen is a friend of the...
Sep 20, 2023•10 min•Ep 707•Transcript available on Metacast Riley, Alice, and Hussein look at the growth of no-fun Britain, "Spotify for Food," and an interview with Tony Blair in the FT where he applies for the job of Starmer's vizier. What does he want Starmer to do as a number one priority? ID Cards, of course! If you want access to our Patreon bonus episodes, early releases of free episodes, and powerful Discord server, sign up here: https://www.patreon.com/trashfuture *STREAM ALERT* Check out our Twitch stream, which airs 9-11 pm UK time every Monda...
Sep 19, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep 706•Transcript available on Metacast Riley, Alice, and Hussein review some of the developments in the wide world of British pet ownership and a return to Victorian levels of dog-maulings to accompany the return of Victorian diseases, then we look at a startup that's reinventing a train but worse, and then read all about how Liz Truss thinks that getting rid of Boris Johnson was the wrong thing to do. Riley uncovers an awful hidden talent. If you want access to our Patreon bonus episodes, early releases of free episodes, and powerfu...
Sep 13, 2023•10 min•Ep 705•Transcript available on Metacast You've heard the expression "safe as houses"? Well, let me introduce you to a new expression: "safe as schools, hospitals, Universities, many large stores, the Ministry of Defence, and also houses," because Britain decided to inflict mafia construction on itself across most of its own built environment between 1950 and 1996. Why? Because it's Britain, of course! Liam and Rocz from Well There's Your Problem join us for the second time this Summer to get down into the engineering details of it all...
Sep 12, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep 704•Transcript available on Metacast King Salman visited Neom so we take back everything bad we said about it. Also, we check in on our old friend Cooler Screens (they're going amazing, we assume). Then, a company whose "data engine" for improving AI output (including for the military) is just tens of thousands of task-workers in the global south. Finally, we review the 100000th proposal to fix Britain by reinstating National Service for youths. If you want access to our Patreon bonus episodes, early releases of free episodes, and ...
Sep 07, 2023•10 min•Ep 703•Transcript available on Metacast We discuss some UK-centric news this week, with a brief return to an American startup we’ve previously covered that—in the hopes of destroying school bus drivers’ unions—created Uber for school buses and may have facilitated a mass abduction? Or the world’s largest school bus traffic jam? We also uncover some archival footage of a certain 1980s Dutch pop band that went through some hard times in the early ’90s. If you want access to our Patreon bonus episodes, early releases of free episodes, an...
Sep 04, 2023•2 hr 33 min•Ep 702•Transcript available on Metacast For this week's bonus, it's an alternate configuration of Milo, Nate, and Alice discussing a startup to make every famous person into a PS3 polygon caricature to be licensed, news that Britain's rivers will become even more sewage-laden, and a Guardian article where a guy asks ChatGPT to invent new recipes that hopefully won't kill you. Get the whole episode on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/chatgpt-presents-88516781 *STREAM ALERT* Check out our Twitch stream, which airs 9-11 pm UK ...
Sep 01, 2023•10 min•Ep 701•Transcript available on Metacast This week, the gang speaks with author and former U.S. Department of State consular officer Josef Burton about the tendency for liberal institutions to find themselves ordered to carry out illiberal practices—whether it’s Trump’s Muslim ban, the UK’s barge housing, or any other recent story in which we simply cannot believe that we’re obligated to do an immoral thing, for the state. We also talk about a recent news story regarding Russian air traffic safety, and a startup that shifts into dark m...
Aug 29, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep 700•Transcript available on Metacast For this week’s bonus, we spoke with Tamara K. Nopper and Eve Zelickson from the Data and Society Research Institute. They’re the authors of “Wellness Capitalism: Employee Health, the Benefits Maze, and Worker Control.” Would it come as a surprise to you to learn that employee data and tech-driven ‘wellness solutions’ are increasingly offered as employee benefits in the US, in the sense that you can’t actually get psychotherapy on your insurance, but a chatbot can offer you cognitive behavioral ...
Aug 25, 2023•11 min•Ep 699•Transcript available on Metacast For this week’s free one, we’re discussing a startup that will serve you ads in order for you to crash your car, revisiting some old scam-based friends who will either never suffer consequences or are already stuffed inside a barrel, and examining the state of British politics which creates a cross-party consensus for stuffing asylum seekers into a prison hulk (and patting itself on the back for being so humane). Check out the crowdfunder for the St Mungo’s strike here! https://www.justgiving.co...
Aug 22, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep 698•Transcript available on Metacast (The free one will be out later today! In the meantime, please enjoy this unlocked episode of Britainology) This week, Nate and Milo discuss the North-South divide of England with help from two friends of the show--and FT reporters--Rob Smith ( @bondhack ) and Kaye Wiggins ( @kayewiggins ). Rob is from Derby (technically not in the North, but presumed to be) and Kaye is from Southport (definitely in the North). We discuss their experiences in the South, the fact that Liverpool and Essex have so ...
Aug 21, 2023•59 min•Ep 697•Transcript available on Metacast For this week's bonus, our friend Mattie Lubchansky joins us to discuss NYC mayor Eric Adams, a man who claims to have invented the concept of slowly boiling a frog--a man who cannot stop lying about everything, as well as being a paranoid cop. We hope that your haters become your waiters at the table of success. We hope so very much. Get the full episode on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/drone-striking-87812377 *STREAM ALERT* Check out our Twitch stream, which airs 9-11 pm UK time ...
Aug 17, 2023•10 min•Ep 696•Transcript available on Metacast For this week’s free episode, the cast of Riley, Milo, Hussein, and Alice speak with (now three-time!) guest Alex N. Press, the labour correspondent for Jacobin Magazine, about two of her recent stories. In one, a ‘flexible work’ app is assigning people gigs that lead them directly across a picket line. In another, studio executives in Hollywood are dreaming up ways to digitize an actor’s likeness and use them in AI-generated content, for free, forever. And in the face of Spencer Confidential no...
Aug 14, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep 695•Transcript available on Metacast For this month's first Britainology, we speak with journalist Alan White ( @aljwhite ) of Politics Home about the strange and sordid history of Britain's tabloid press--how it never seems to change (culturally or otherwise), how it keeps getting away with things, how different its affect is from that of (equally omerta-driven) British television... and most importantly, how weird it is. Get the whole thing on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/britainology-67-87494316 *STREAM ALERT* Che...
Aug 12, 2023•8 min•Ep 694•Transcript available on Metacast It's nothing but riffs. And Riley explaining Canadian bag milk again, this time to comedians Tom Ballard and Luka Muller. There's also a long digression about the Australian soap opera Neighbours, and how Australia can never truly rid itself of it because of the dogged, ferocious dedication of British Neighbours fans, in Britain. We hope... that you enjoy. Get the whole thing on Patreon here! https://www.patreon.com/posts/balthasar-milk-2-87451411 *STREAM ALERT* Check out our Twitch stream, whic...
Aug 10, 2023•11 min•Ep 693•Transcript available on Metacast For this week’s free one, we’re joined by Patrick Wyman ( @Patrick_Wyman ) of the Tides of History and Pursuit of Dadliness podcasts to discuss the strange nature of Britain’s elites, how they vary from those of the United States (and of the Venetian Republic, for that matter), and why America is in many ways governed by big guys in polo shirts who own car dealerships and attended Arizona State. Check out Tides of History here! https://wondery.com/shows/tides-of-history/ If you want access to ou...
Aug 08, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep 692•Transcript available on Metacast For this week's bonus, the assembled gang of Riley, Hussein, Nate, and Alice speak with Molly White ( @Molly0xFFF ) about WorldCoin. And Orbs. We didn't set out to say the word 'orb' so often, but it's impossible to avoid when covering this topic. Which is: a group of crypto guys who are convinced that AI will become so advanced that it'll obviate every human's job, so the only way to manage it is to create a cryptocurrency for UBI distribution. And you sign up for the cryptocurrency by getting ...
Aug 03, 2023•10 min•Ep 691•Transcript available on Metacast We had a live show at Between the Bridges near Southbank Centre on a very rainy night, and we discussed a school bathroom realtime tracking app, a horrendous conference held by the Tony Blair Institute, and much more. The assembled cast of Riley, Milo, Nate, and Alice learned about topics such as Ketamine Keir Starmer, a punitive deployment of ferrets to chase out schoolchildren from toilets, the Leon Burgers to Government Policy pipeline, and a strange conception of the things you can do with b...
Jul 31, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Ep 690•Transcript available on Metacast We went to the Spitting Image musical in the West End. It was worse than we'd ever imagined. It's the closest we've ever come to re-enacting the scary parts of Event Horizon. It's the least funny thing a human can create. And we did it all... for you. Get the full episode on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/86768274 *SCOTLAND ALERT* Get tickets to our live show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival on 4th August here! https://www.trashfuture.co.uk/event-details/trashfuture-live-at-the-edin...
Jul 29, 2023•10 min•Ep 689•Transcript available on Metacast Riley and Alice speak with Jordan and Greg from the Brigham Young Money podcast ( @BYMPodcast ) about the tech industry in Utah, its hand-in-glove relationship with both the state and the Mormon church, and the ways in which they’re trying to make Silicon Slope a real thing. We also discuss a startup that would have seemed far more at home in season one of TF, which none of us could have predicted or imagined. Support Brigham Young Money on Patreon here! https://www.patreon.com/brighamyoungmoney...
Jul 24, 2023•1 hr•Ep 688•Transcript available on Metacast On this week's bonus, we're joined by the entire cast of Well There's Your Problem to discuss some odd trends: residential office refits that are unliveable, the world's biggest cruise ship that helps make everything else unliveable, and a company making hyper-secure golf course fortress residences in Scotland for multimillionaires to live when everywhere else is unliveable. No slides on this one, but a lot of jokes! Listen to the whole episode on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/dund...
Jul 20, 2023•9 min•Ep 687•Transcript available on Metacast This week, friend of the show Juliet Jacques ( @zinovievletter ) joins Riley, Milo, Nate, and Alice to discuss her brain-destroying foray into ‘sensible disagreement’ politics podcasts in the UK, featuring guys with definitely no baggage such as George Osborne, Alistair Campbell, Rory Stewart, and more. We also discuss a startup that promises a revolution in being even more annoying. Check out Juliet’s work on her site here! https://julietjacques.com If you want access to our Patreon bonus episo...
Jul 17, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep 686•Transcript available on Metacast A rare in-studio episode with Riley, Milo, Alice, and friend of the show Sophie from Mars, in which we discuss the anti-LGBTQ backlash that's making corporations decide that actually they were always completely homophobic. We also discuss orb-related news and a deeply strange AI-generated store that's paying for ads on Twitter. Check out Sophie's videos here! https://www.youtube.com/c/sophiefrommars Get the whole episode on Patreon here! https://www.patreon.com/posts/86062748 *LIVE SHOW ALERT* W...
Jul 15, 2023•10 min•Ep 685•Transcript available on Metacast We’re joined by friend of the show Gareth Dennis ( @garethdennis ) to discuss newly unveiled plans to close every ticket counter at every train station in England. Nothing else is going to be improved, of course, but we’ve envisioned some potential cost-cutting efficiencies: turning station guides into large human-sized braille dots, cutting the civil service down to just one guy that everyone gets mad at, and much more. Check out Rail Natter here! https://www.youtube.com/c/GarethDennisTV If you...
Jul 10, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep 684•Transcript available on Metacast We found a documentary about Neom and brought on Hesse from Seeking Derangements and Chapo Trap House's Movie Mindset podcast. It's a movie about a lot of architects with expensive eyewear making the world's wildest 3d renderings of buildings that will never, ever be built. Or will they? Get the whole episode on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/were-all-gonna-85649620 *LIVE SHOW ALERT* We're going to be recording a live podcast in London on July 26! Get tickets here: https://bigbellyc...
Jul 07, 2023•10 min•Ep 683•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we speak with Bureau of Investigative Journalism reporter Emiliano Mellino about how changes to the UK’s migrant visa system for agricultural workers have created unbelievably exploitative conditions—often reported to be worse than in any other developed or developing country—and how the agency charged with enforcing the rules gets less money each year than the Home Office spends on pens and stationery. However, before we get to that, we also have to catch up with a Season One-style t...
Jul 03, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep 682•Transcript available on Metacast Softbank has shifted to offense mode, and Masayoshi Son has declared himself Priest King of humanity. Riley, Alice, and Hussein browse through our old friend's new outlook, and learn about Masayoshi Son's 24 hour ChatGPT invention habit. Get the whole episode on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/when-masayoshi-85251050 *LIVE SHOW ALERT* We're going to be recording a live podcast in London on July 26! Get tickets here: https://bigbellycomedy.club/event/trashfuture-live-in-london/ *STREA...
Jun 30, 2023•10 min•Ep 681•Transcript available on Metacast 
