Cargo Cult (Cargo Cult)

We track Google's journey from the Stanford University dorms to Davos. We also cover a few poignant flashpoints in the relationship between Google and the CIA, like trying to help overthrow the Syrian government in the 2010s and creating Intellipedia (Wikipedia for spooks). Take a shot every time Michele says “apparatus.”

We watch 20 hours of the two-day "AI Expo for National Competitiveness" so you don't have to, and talk about Eric Schmidt's new kamikaze drone company. Photo: Eric Schmidt

We talk about Israel’s automated kill lists generated by an “AI” assassination machine named Lavender and Amazon’s automated checkout experience called “Just Walk Out.”

We debate the viability of solar geoengineering and learn about the Drapers, a "venture capital family" with a pretty racist and eugenicist history. Then, we try to figure out how a Silicon Valley-based robot pizza company called Zume failed to turn a profit.

Scarlett Johansson is suing OpenAI for using a voice "eerily similar" to hers for ChatGPT 4o. We also yap about NYC Mayor Eric Adams's voice clone speaking Yiddish, ElevenLabs turning every news article into a podcast, BBL Drizzy, Joaquin Phoenix's high-waisted pants, and Google entering its "Gemini era."

We talk about central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), which will enable a new level of financial surveillance and social control. And we’re joined by John F O’Donnell, a guy with horrible karaoke etiquette. We promise we're not a con op lim hang !!! Photo: Jerome Powell

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Kitty History: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-Lvv1f5Qu4

Guaranteed Income Pilot Program Act of 2023: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/5776?s=1&r=42#:~:text=Introduced%20in%20House%20(09%2F27%2F2023)&text=This%20bill%20directs%20the%20Department,the%20ages%20of%2018%2D65.

A Proposal for CBDC based UBI: https://www.institute.global/insights/tech-and-digitalisation/proposal-web3-based-universal-basic-income

IMF’s CBDC Virtual Handbook: https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/fintech/central-bank-digital-currency/virtual-handbook

“Greatest backdoor Wall Street bailout of all time”: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303763804579183680751473884

Digital Currency vs. Existing Electronic Currency: https://www.nttdatapay.com/blog/types-of-digital-currency/#:~:text=What%20distinguishes%20digital%20currency%20from,those%20connected%20to%20the%20Internet.

CBDC vs. Crypto: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/11/cbdcs-how-different-cryptocurrency-stablecoin/#:~:text=The%20main%20difference%20between%20CBDCs,data%20protection%20and%20online%20privacy.

The Federal Reserve Dissing Crypto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SxNyL3YFaM

IMF Dissing Crypto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4NpCf5Phj0

BIS Dissing Crypto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mvSsM1uqGo

The benefits of a cashless society: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/01/benefits-cashless-society-mobile-payments/

Atlantic Council CBDC Tracker: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/cbdctracker/

Atlantic Council Donors: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/report/2022-annual-report/

IMF Working Hard on Global CBDC Platform Concept, Georgieva Says: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-19/imf-working-hard-on-global-cbdc-platform-concept-georgieva-says?embedded-checkout=true

BIS Survey on CBDCs: https://www.bis.org/publ/bppdf/bispap136.pdf

BIS Explained: https://www.bis.org/about/index.htm

BIS Livestream, “Central bank digital currencies, digital payments, and the future of money”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVD1ZFPzcbg

Biden Executive Order on CBDCs: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/03/09/executive-order-on-ensuring-responsible-development-of-digital-assets/

Statement from Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen on the Release of Reports on Digital Assets: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0956

US Policy Objectives for a CBDC System: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/09-2022-Technical-Evaluation-US-CBDC-System.pdf

The IMF on Nigeria’s CBDC: https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2021/11/15/na111621-five-observations-on-nigerias-central-bank-digital-currency

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announces “Catalyst: Inclusive Cashless Payment Partnership” for India: https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/india/press-releases/oct-14-2016-usaid-launches-catalyst-drive-cashless-payments-india

Indian PM Modi Announces Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 to be Pulled Out of Circulation immediately: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/rs-500-and-rs-1000-notes-pulled-out-of-circulation-immediately-pm-narendra-modi/articleshow/55315473.cms

The Federal Reserve on Programmable CBDC: https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/money-and-payments-20220120.pdf

JP Morgan on Programmable Money: https://www.jpmorgan.com/onyx/programmable-payments-purpose-bound-money

Bank of England calls on ministers to decide whether a CBDC should be programmable: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/06/21/bank-england-tells-ministers-intervene-digital-currency-programming/#:~:text=Bank%20of%20England%20tells%20ministers%20to%20intervene%20on%20digital%20currency%20'programming',-Digital%20cash%20could&text=The%20Bank%20of%20England%20has,is%20spent%20by%20the%20recipient.

Eswar Prasad on the “Future of Money” at the WEF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyANVmHJB3c

Factchecking the Eswar Prasad Quote: https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-world-economic-forum-cashless-society-false-cbdc-592718364311

Ron DeSantis on CBDC and “Woke Banking”: https://www.c-span.org/video/?532981-1/governor-ron-desantis-campaigns-hampton-nh

Republican Lawmakers Introduce Legislation to Ban a CBDC in the U.S.: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/02/27/republican-lawmakers-introduce-legislation-to-ban-a-cbdc-in-the-us-again/

Trump Campaign Vows to Block CBDC: https://thehill.com/business/4416139-trump-vows-to-block-creation-of-digital-dollar/

Trump Admin Floats Idea of “USDC,” US Digital Currency: https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/17/22888225/jared-kushner-us-treasury-mnuchin-government-federal-cryptocurrency-trump-white-house

Better than Cash Alliance: https://www.betterthancash.org

Digital Dollar Project: https://digitaldollarproject.org

The IMF’s Tobias Adrian on a Synthetic CBDC: https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2019/05/13/sp051419-stablecoins-central-bank-digital-currencies-and-cross-border-payments

The IMF’s Tobias Adrian used to be at the NY Fed Before the IMF: https://www.tobiasadrian.com/About

John’s 17 Plugs: https://linktr.ee/therealjfod

Netflix is raising prices, cracking down on password sharing, and adding an ad tier. Here we cover this sea of changes at the company, discuss why it's a target of the writers' strike, and investigate its founders, Marc Bernays Randolph and Reed Hoffman. How to support the WGA writers: https://www.wgacontract2023.org/take-action/stand-with-writers

We discuss the "Friends of the IDF" in leadership roles at Interscope (Kendrick’s label), UMG (Drake’s label and Interscope’s parent company), NBC Universal (UMG’s parent company), and Comcast (NBC Universal’s parent company). We apologize for our tardiness and this cop-out pop culture ep. We both had crazy schedules the last couple of weeks (on top of our side hustle as outside agitators on college campuses). We will return to our regularly scheduled program next week ... BBL Drizzayyyy. Photo: Lucien Grange

Fortune Tellers and Cameos are in. Sam Altman and Tom's Toothpaste are out. Welcome to Season 2. Send your burning questions to cargocultpod@gmail.com. Photo: Sam Altman

Apple's launching a new set of generative AI tools and making privacy promises about integrating with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Elon Musk is OpenAI's #1 hater, and also bad at dating. Grok needs a new name probably.

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We talk about water treatment plants failing to stop drugs from making it into the ocean, Elon Musk losing advertisers on X, viral "AI" images on Facebook, and more. Photo: Shrimp Jesus

• Mae on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mae_planert/?hl=en
• Laura on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurasogar/?hl=en

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🔥✨📆💫☄️

Did you know that SpaceX owes its life to the former head of In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture capital arm? In this episode, we explore Elon Musk's rocket ambitions and the imperialist origins of SpaceX's satellite business. We also discuss the destructive effects of SpaceX's recent 4/20 Starship rocket launch in Southern Texas.

A nation uploads itself to the Metaverse. The U.S. military develops stupid robots and terrifying insects. We discuss all this and react to TikTok e-girls in face-altering filters, telling Zoomers to "man up" and join the army.

We can't stop talking about "The Line," the coming tech-centric smart city technically located on Saudi Arabian land but not governed by KSA law. In this episode, we look at some of The Line's weirdest features, including the unusual way younger residents will commute to school, and explain why Neom is more of an international capitalist project than a Saudi one.

Google and Meta are scrambling to bring the internet to Africa. And private U.S. corporations like Google and Meta mediating access to the internet is lowkey goated when digital colonialism is the vibe. Photo: Mark Zuckerberg

Founded in 2016, Neuralink has developed a device that can implant ultra-thin threads inside the brain. The threads connect to a custom-designed chip with electrodes that can read data from groups of neurons. It’s a yarmulke homie no cap. In Part 1 of this series on Neuralink and the brain-computer interface (BCI), we explore the cruel and unusual monkey torture that built the company and Elon Musk’s plan for “human/AI symbiosis.” We recorded this ep before Daddy Musk’s Monday announcement that the first human received a Neuralink implant.

Neom is a smart "gigacity" in Saudi Arabia that puts all other smart cities to shame. Here we look into designs for "The Line," one of Neom's cities that project spokespeople are heralding as the "future of urban living." Complain at cargocultpod@gmail.com.

On this 4th of July, it's time to meet Palantir, a powerful and Patriotic software company that helps Western countries derive insights from their data and whose first client was the CIA. In this episode, we disclose the company's underreported origins, make fun of the eccentricities of its bipartisan founders, and cover its controversial work with the US military, cops, border patrol, and more. We discover some Lord of the Rings lore.

We explore Reddit’s journey from online community to data business. We also cover NYT suing OpenAI for copyright infringement and Google laying off a group of striking contractors. RIP Aaron Swartz. Photo: Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman

Talking about Truth Social and killer robots.

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Disclaimer of Liability:

The "Cargo Cult" podcast (hereinafter referred to as "the Podcast") is produced and distributed by Naomi Karavani, Michele Greenstein, their affiliates, partners, agents, and any of their representatives (collectively referred to as "the Producer"). By accessing and listening to the Podcast, you acknowledge and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions in this disclaimer.

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We're talking about the iPad commercial, German anti-Tesla activists, AI dating concierges, and the underwater internet cables of the deep sea bourgeoisie. Photo: Jeff Bezos

We talk about Julian Assange's plea deal, the "censorship pyramid," encryption as resistance, an NSA patent Assange found in 1999, Hillary Clinton's Russian Wikileaks, the CIA being able to hack into Apple and Android cellphones, and more. TW: Cenk Uygur's voice at 7:30 ish. Photo: Julian Assange

• Assange’s 2006 Blog Post: https://cryptome.org/iq-org/IQ.ORG.htm
• Independent Article on the NSA Patent Assange Found: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/network-this-is-just-between-us-and-the-spies-1126316.html
• Guardian Article on Assange hacking MILNET in 1991: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jan/30/julian-assange-wikileaks-profile
• Video of US Airstrike on Afghanistan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaqY12VHFv4&ab_channel=AlJazeeraEnglish
• Recording of Conversation between Eric Schmidt & Julian Assange: https://web.archive.org/web/20130915053137/http://wlstorage.net/file/cms/assange-schmidt.mp3
• Full Text of When Google Met Wikileaks: https://archive.org/details/whengooglemetwik0000assa

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In-Q-Tel is a strategic venture capital firm created in 1999 to invest in technologies that serve the mission needs of the CIA and the broader intelligence community, including the FBI, NSA, and DHS.

In Part 2 of this series on Neuralink and the brain-computer interface (BCI), we discuss the current human trials for the N1 implant, FDA commissioner Robert Califf, and key figures in the movement of transhumanism such as Julian Huxley (President of the British Eugenics Society), Ray Kurzweil (Director of Engineering at Google), and Zoltan Istvan (Bus Driver). Sorryyyyyyyy this is late. This was recorded on Feb 4th but we couldn't edit it until now. Naomi was on tour doing comedy and Michele had to dance in the Super Bowl. Photo: Ray Kurzweil

We got a Peter Thiel-funded venture capital tech bro on the ticket before GTA 6

• Jorge on X: https://x.com/LineGoesDown
• Unlimited Hangout article about Vance & Thiel: https://unlimitedhangout.com/2024/07/investigative-reports/the-man-behind-trumps-vp-pick-its-worse-than-you-think/

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🔥✨📆💫☄️

They say the next dystopian surveillance technology will be launched by a gay CEO ... Really makes you feel like part of history. Photo: Tim Cook

We explore the secret 2011 meeting between then-Google CEO Eric Schmidt and then-on-house-arrest Julian Assange and consider how the internet has changed the relationship between people and the corporate state. We also talk about brat summer and the Council on Foreign Relations. Photo: Eric Schmidt & Jared Cohen

• Transcript of 2011 Meeting: https://wikileaks.org/Transcript-Meeting-Assange-Schmidt.html
• Vogue Interview: https://www.vogue.com/article/julian-assange-interview-when-google-met-wikileaks
• Democracy Now Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unJ_8oiuQyU 

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Get to know all the chatbots, from Joseph Weizenbaum's 60s-era "therapist bot" named Eliza to today's infamous ChatGPT by OpenAI. And you might as well since one will probably be your boss soon.

We ask Albert Fox Cahn, founder and Executive Director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), about how local policing has turned into local surveillance, the campaign to ban facial recognition in New York State, personalized "AI" pricing, opting out at airport security, and more.

• Cahn's Business Insider piece on home insurance spying: https://www.businessinsider.com/homeowners-insurance-nightmare-cancellation-surveillance-drone-ai-future-2024-8

• Cahn's Business Insider piece on AI pickpocketing: https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-quietly-picking-your-pocket-with-personalized-pricing-2024-7

• Cahn's WIRED piece on expanding surveillance after January 6: https://www.wired.com/story/opinion-the-capitol-attack-doesnt-justify-expanding-surveillance/

• STOP's Pregnancy Panopticon Report: https://www.stopspying.org/pregnancy-panopticon

• Ban the Scan NY: https://www.banthescan.org/

• Cahn on X: https://x.com/FoxCahn?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

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📆📆📆 Pre-order the 2025 Cargo Cult Calendar: https://tally.so/r/mDel4j

Boeing has certainly helped kill people in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. But did it also kill a Southern funcle? Fasten your seatbelt, because this Boeing story has it all. Plane crashes, union busting, offshoring, whistleblowers, and a mysterious parking lot death. We also talk about the Justice Department’s new lawsuit against Apple for monopolizing smartphone markets. Btw rejected titles for this episode include No Plane No Gain, Error Plane Mode, Airline Fractures, Plane in the Neck, and Boeing Pains.

We chat about how robots are infiltrating the workforce in Japan, stealing jobs from baristas and caregivers alike. Then, we dive into Apple's recently announced wearable AR/VR headset (it looks like a pair of ski goggles) and explore the privacy implications of this new tech.

Thousands of unionized workers at Samsung, the world’s largest memory chipmaker, are striking against the company’s refusal to negotiate. Demands include a 3.5% base rate increase, paid leave for the date of union establishment, compensation for loss of wages during the strike, and transparency into the incentive-based bonus system. The union has about 30k members and represents 24% of all workers within the company. We also discuss driverless taxis, cashier-less bullet purchases, and armless eldercare robots.

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This one is about having feelings for "AI." We look into Replika, the company whose chatbot was in the news because it encouraged a 19-year-old to become an assassin. Then we learn about InflectionAI, the second-best-funded generative AI startup (behind OpenAI) whose owners want to create "personal AI for everyone."

Oracle is the world's second-largest software company by revenue (behind Microsoft). We explain Oracle's role as the database of all databases and explore the company's relationship with the U.S. government. We also discuss Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison's recent run-in with the Hawaiian police. Then, we mourn the loss of Cash App founder Bob Lee and the equally tragic loss of Naomi's Twitter Blue Check.

We ask the burning question of our time: "Is TikTok sus?" Then, we learn how eBay executives stalked and blackmailed an elderly indie journalism power couple. This episode also includes ChatGPT's vision of a debate between a 9/11 conspiracy theorist and a "normal person." Complain at cargocultpod@gmail.com.

Here we discuss the TikTok ban and Clearview AI, a US company with a database of more than 40 billion facial images from the public internet. We also listen to big tech kingmaker Peter Thiel explain why artificial intelligence and facial recognition are "kind of communist." And we're joined by Pat Burtscher (https://www.instagram.com/patburtscher/), the nation's foremost cabbage diet expert. Photo: Hoan Ton-That

For nerds who like to sign petitions: https://www.banfacialrecognition.com/

We consider how the gamification of love affects our sanity and the shape online dating might take in the future. We also investigate how Match Group (parent company of Tinder, Hinge, OKCupid, and more) dominates the dating app industry and discover a new conservative-only dating app funded in part by Peter Thiel. Then we investigate the bizarre and untimely death of Peter Thiel's side piece. This episode also includes a brief and just okay Jordan Peterson's impression.

More information on the Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies (EARN IT) Act:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/01/congress-must-stop-graham-blumenthal-anti-security-bill