The 404 Media Podcast

This week we start with Joseph’s series of articles about the DOGE depositions. He watched hours and hours of them, then a judge ordered them removed from YouTube. But, they’ve already been archived all over the web. After the break, Jason tells us about the AI data labelers who are fighting back. In the subscribers-only section, Jason breaks down what’s wrong with all the AI job loss research at the moment.

0:00 - Intro 0:51 - Google Street View's Unmappable City 3:40 - I Watched 6 Hours of DOGE Bro Testimony. Here's What They Had to Say For Themselves 13:24 - DOGE Deposition Videos Taken Down After Judge Order and Widespread Mockery 18:58 - The Removed DOGE Deposition Videos Have Already Been Backed Up Across the Internet 28:32 - 'AI Is African Intelligence': The Workers Who Train AI Are Fighting Back

SUB'S STORY - AI Job Loss Research Ignores How AI Is Utterly Destroying the Internet

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

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There's only one city in America that isn't on Google's Street View. Documentary filmmaker Chris Parr set out to map it, using North Oak, Minnesota's byzantine rules and the help of a drone. His experience shows who gets privacy in America, and who doesn't.

'I Mapped Google’s ONLY SECRET CITY'

YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/3iGvHBr0mJw

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This week we start with Sam’s story discussing something that has come up a lot but no one has really answered: how do you speak to your friend or family member falling into AI psychosis? After the break, Joseph breaks down what happened when the FBI wanted data from ProtonMail. In the subscribers-only section, Emanuel tells us about the viral developers behind an app called Quittr, and how they exposed very sensitive data of hundreds of thousands of users.

1:21 - 'How to Talk to Someone Experiencing 'AI Psychosis'

27:33 - Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous ‘Stop Cop City’ Protester

SUBSCRIBER'S STORY: Viral 'Quittr' Porn Addiction App Exposed the Masturbation Habits of Hundreds of Thousands of Users

• 'How to Talk to Someone Experiencing 'AI Psychosis'
• Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous ‘Stop Cop City’ Protester
• Viral 'Quittr' Porn Addiction App Exposed the Masturbation Habits of Hundreds of Thousands of Users

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

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Cecilia D’Anstasio on Roblox efforts to protect children from pedophiles. 

Roblox is one of those games that is more popular than you can imagine, but unless you are of a certain age group and live in that world, you’ll rarely hear about it unless it makes the news for some terrible reason. More recently, for example, we wrote about the Tumbler Ridge shooter who created a mass shooting simulator in Roblox.

But what is Roblox, how big is it exactly, and why does it seem like it's so frequently embroiled in controversy? This week we’re joined by Cecilia D’anstasio in an attempt to answer all of these questions. 

This week we’re joined by Cecilia D’Anstasio. Cecilia reports about video games at Bloomberg, and has written many important articles about the business and controversies of one of the biggest games in the world, Roblox. A few weeks ago we had Patrick Klepek on to discuss Roblox from a parent’s perspective, but today we’re going to hear about it from the perspective of a great investigative reporter and for my money the most knowledgeable journalists about Roblox.

404 Media is a journalist-founded company and needs your support. To subscribe, go to 404media.co. As well as bonus content every single week, subscribers get access to additional episodes where we respond to their best comments. Subscribers also get early access to our interview series. Gain access to that content at 404media.co.

Listen to the weekly podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. 

Become a paid subscriber for early access to these interview episodes 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.

• Roblox’s Pedophile Problem

• How Roblox Became a Playground for Virtual Fascists

• Roblox Game-Buying Frenzy Is Turning Teens Into Millionaires

• Roblox User Group Re-Creates Real-Life Mass Shooting Events

Go to surfshark.com/404Media to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN, plus there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee—or just use code 404MEDIA at checkout!

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This week we discuss our coverage of the U.S.-Israel strikes against Iran, specifically how Polymarket and Kalshi are letting people profit from death, and that Amazon data centers were on fire after missiles hit Dubai. Then Emanuel talks about how AI translations are adding 'hallucinations' to Wikipedia articles. In the subscribers-only section, Sam tells us about a change with Amazon wishlists that may expose your address.

0:00 - Intro

1:32 - With Iran War, Kalshi and Polymarket Bet That the Depravity Economy Has No Bottom

29:07 - AI Translations Are Adding Hallucinations To Wikipedia Articles

SUBSCRIBER'S STORY - Amazon Change Means Wishlists Might Expose Your Address

YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/paHMe9kFf0w

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Joseph speaks to Cooper Quintin, a security researcher and senior public interest technologist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Quintin is one of the people behind Rayhunter, an easy to install tool that can detect nearby IMSI-catchers. This tech, sometimes known as Stingrays, poses as a fake cellphone tower to track a phone’s location, intercept calls and texts, and can sometimes even deliver malware. Rayhunter GitHub: https://github.com/EFForg/rayhunter

YouTube: https://youtu.be/vEFPPaOn0ts

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This week we start with Jason’s follow up to Ring launching its ‘Search Party’ feature. It turns out, according to a leaked email he got, the feature is only starting with finding lost dogs. After the break, Emanuel explains why we’ve learned nothing about amplification when it comes to the recent looksmaxxing trend. In the subscribers-only section, Sam explains how Grok produced the real name of a sex worker who performs pseudonymously.

1:11 - Leaked Email Suggests Ring Plans to Expand ‘Search Party’ Surveillance Beyond Dogs⁠

30:26 - ⁠We Have Learned Nothing About Amplifying Morons⁠

⁠Grok Exposed a Porn Performer’s Legal Name and Birthdate—Without Even Being Asked⁠

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/IEq8dlnLP8o

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In this week’s interview, Sam is joined by Harlo Holmes. Harlo is the Chief Security Programs Officer at Freedom of the Press Foundation. She’s a media scholar, software programmer, and activist.

Harlo and Sam discuss the important work she does every day, and why it’s only becoming more crucial. They also get into how to fight back against privacy nihilism, digital security practices everyone can be implementing regardless of their threat model, and the recent arrests and raids of journalists in the U.S.

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’re 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.

• 404 Media and Freedom of the Press Foundation Sue DHS

• FBI Couldn’t Get into WaPo Reporter’s iPhone Because It Had Lockdown Mode Enabled

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This week we start with Emanuel’s wild story about Alpha School, a very hyped AI-powered school. Emanuel got leaked documents and spoke to former employees. After the break, Sam tells us what happens when someone decides to make an AI nudify OnlyFans with your likeness. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph tells us about the agencies buying GeoSpy, an AI that can geolocate photos in seconds.

2:49 - Understood: Deepfake Porn Empire

5:47 - 'Students Are Being Treated Like Guinea Pigs:' Inside an AI-Powered Private School

40:01 - 'The Most Dejected I’ve Ever Felt:' Harassers Made Nude AI Images of Her, Then Started an OnlyFans

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/fy-38hIhykQ

• Understood: Deepfake Porn Empire

• 'Students Are Being Treated Like Guinea Pigs:' Inside an AI-Powered Private School

• 'The Most Dejected I’ve Ever Felt:' Harassers Made Nude AI Images of Her, Then Started an OnlyFans

• Cops Are Buying ‘GeoSpy’, an AI That Geolocates Photos in Seconds
  

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I recently traveled to Kenya for a journalism and AI conference. While I was there, I really wanted to meet with Michael Geoffrey Asia, the secretary general of the Data Labelers Association. Data Labeling is a huge job in Kenya. Data labelers are the people who train AI, and who also work on ensuring the outputs are accurate. In some cases, data labelers are themselves pretending to be AI, in order to train AI. Often, data labelers don’t know exactly what they’re working on, because the work usually goes through a platform, a subcontractor, or a combination of both. So basically they can be presented with a backend where they’re asked to perform tasks or answer questions; in some cases their answers may be presented in real time as AI. Data labeling is notoriously brutal and underpaid work. Workers sometimes earn as little as a few dollars a day, work under algorithmic management, and, because they’re sometimes trying to train AI what not to do or show, they are often shown graphic, violent, or sexual content for hours at a time. It’s kind of similar to content moderation jobs, and lots of people do both data labeling and content moderation, or switch back and forth between the industries. It’s such a big thing in Kenya that I mentioned it to the driver who took me to meet Michael for this interview, and she told me that she too was a data labeler, as are many of her friends. Michael has since become critical at the Data Labelers Association, a group that is fighting to organize people who do data labeling work and who is advocating for better working conditions, higher pay, and more protections for data labelers. I met Michael at a coworking space in Nairobi in a very tiny room, so I’m not on camera after this, but here’s my conversation with Michael. The Emotional Labor Behind AI Intimacy by Michael Geoffrey Asia

YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/QH654YPxvEE

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We start this week with exciting news: we bought a Super Bowl ad! For… $2,550. We explain how. After the break, Jason tells us about Ring’s recently launched Search Party feature, and gives us a very timely reminder of what Ring really is and how we got here. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph breaks down Lockdown Mode and how it kept the FBI out of a Washington Post reporter’s phone.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

2:49 - Watch 404 Media’s Super Bowl Ad

27:29 - With Ring, American Consumers Built a Surveillance Dragnet:

SUBSCRIBER'S STORY - FBI Couldn’t Get into WaPo Reporter’s iPhone Because It Had Lockdown Mode Enabled
YouTube version: https://youtu.be/0JK-VSrtlWw

• Watch 404 Media’s Super Bowl Ad
• With Ring, American Consumers Built a Surveillance Dragnet
• FBI Couldn’t Get into WaPo Reporter’s iPhone Because It Had Lockdown Mode Enabled

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Patrick Klepek on the reality of parenting in the age of Roblox and YouTube.

I listened to hours of podcasts about how screen time affects kids of all ages and how parents should manage screen time but I still felt completely unprepared for this challenge when I had a kid. 

I think the reason for that is that there’s a lot of reporting about how screens are impacting kids, and a lot of reporting about the research into this subject, but rarely did I encounter a conversation between parents that talks about how any of that information can be realistically applied in the real world.  

This week on the podcast we’re joined by Patrick Klepek in order to have the kind of conversation I wish I heard before I became a parent, but I think there’s something here for everyone. Patrick is the cofounder of Remap, a website and one of my favorite podcasts about video games, and the writer behind Crossplay, a newsletter about the intersection of parenting and games. Patrick is also my former colleague at Vice, back when I worked at Motherboard and he at Waypoint. Patrick has been reporting about video games for most of his life, is a wonderful writer, and a parent. I find his perspective on many of these issues—screen time, parental controls, YouTube, Roblox—extremely useful and interesting, and I hope you do as well. 

YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/LjK1Swsm1m4

Listen to the weekly podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. 

Become a paid subscriber for early access to these interview episodes 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.

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We start this week with Sam and Emanuel’s article about the latest Epstein dump, and how it’s really a disaster in a lot of ways. After the break, Matthew runs us through Moltbot and its terrible security. After the break, Emanuel breaks down his two recent stories about a fundamental issue exposing a bunch of very sensitive data.

0:00 - Intro

2:19 - DOJ Released Unredacted Nude Images in Epstein Files

25:08 - Silicon Valley’s Favorite New AI Agent Has Serious Security Flaws

34:55 - Exposed Moltbook Database Let Anyone Take Control of Any AI Agent on the Site

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/gDcOOP_Y9cU

• DOJ Released Unredacted Nude Images in Epstein Files

• Silicon Valley’s Favorite New AI Agent Has Serious Security Flaws

• Exposed Moltbook Database Let Anyone Take Control of Any AI Agent on the Site

• App for Quitting Porn Leaked Users' Masturbation Habits

• Massive AI Chat App Leaked Millions of Users Private Conversations

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This week Joseph talks to Samuel Bagg, assistant professor of political science at the University of South Carolina. Bagg recently wrote a fascinating essay, linked below, about how the problem with lots of things might be knowledge-based (people believing stuff that’s wrong or dangerous) but the solution is not more knowledge. It’s all about social identity. This is an incredibly interesting discussion, and definitely check out more of Bagg’s writing.

• The Problem is Epistemic. The Solution is Not

• The Dispersion of Power: A Critical Realist Theory of Democracy

YouTube version:  https://youtu.be/lNKOqp-rZL8

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We start this week with Sam’s piece about ManyVids, and how some creators believe its CEO, and the person who controls their livelihood, may be experiencing ‘AI psychosis’. After the break, Jason gives us an update on some mysterious disappearing ICE footage. In the subscribers-only section, we talk about Flock and what police are being told to do: not describe what they’re using the AI cameras for.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro 2:41 - Aliens and Angel Numbers: Creators Worry Porn Platform ManyVids Is Falling Into ‘AI Psychosis’; Amid Backlash, Massive Porn Platform ManyVids Doubles Down on Bizarre, AI-Generated Posts 32:12 - DHS Says Critical ICE Surveillance Footage From Abuse Case Was Actually Never Recorded, Doesn't Matter

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/EFv0rD9F9es

• Aliens and Angel Numbers: Creators Worry Porn Platform ManyVids Is Falling Into ‘AI Psychosis’
• DHS Says Critical ICE Surveillance Footage From Abuse Case Was Actually Never Recorded, Doesn't Matter
• Police Told to Be ‘as Vague as Permissible’ About Why They Use Flock

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This week, Sam is in conversation with Kolina Koltai. Kolina is an investigator, senior researcher and trainer at Bellingcat. Her investigations focus on the people and systems behind AI companies and platforms that peddle non-consensual deepfake explicit imagery. They discuss how she found herself in this field, her recent investigation uncovering the man behind two deepfake porn sites, and how it feels to watch these sites go down after exposing the people running them.

YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/CbmUwwVGaf4

Stories discussed:

• Profiting From Exploitation: How We Found the Man Behind Two Deepfake Porn Sites

• Behind a Secretive Global Network of Non-Consensual Deepfake Pornography

• Unmasking MrDeepFakes: Canadian Pharmacist Linked to World’s Most Notorious Deepfake Porn Site
  

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We start this week with Joseph’s article about ELITE, a tool Palantir is working on for ICE. After the break, Emanuel tells us how AI influencers are making fake sex tape-style photos with celebrities, who can’t be best pleased about it. In the subscribers-only section, Matthew breaks down Comic-Con’s ban of AI art.

0:00 - Intro

2:16 - ‘ELITE’: The Palantir App ICE Uses to Find Neighborhoods to Raid

22:45 - Instagram AI Influencers Are Defaming Celebrities With Sex Scandals

Subscriber's Story: Comic-Con Bans AI Art After Artist Pushback

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/b-QHWpqjD-E

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The Wikimedia Foundation’s chief technology and product officer explains how she helps manage one of the most visited sites in the world in the age of generative AI. 

Wikipedia is turning 25 this month, and it’s never been more important. 

The online, collectively created encyclopedia has been a cornerstone of the internet decades, but as generative AI started flooding every platform with AI-generated slop over the last couple of years, Wikipedia’s governance model, editing process, and dedication to citing reliable sources has emerged as one of the most reliable and resilient models we have. 

And yet, as successful as the model is, it’s almost never replicated. 

This week on the podcast we’re joined by Selena Deckelmann, the Chief Product and Technology Officer at the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organization that operates Wikipedia. That means Selena oversees the technical infrastructure and product strategy for one of the most visited sites in the world, and one the most comprehensive repositories of human knowledge ever assembled. Wikipedia is turning 25 this month, so I wanted to talk to Selena about how Wikipedia works and how it plans to continue to work in the age of generative AI.  

YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/39LR9ouJR3c

Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content.

Listen to the weekly podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. 

• Wikipedia’s value in the age of generative AI

• The Editors Protecting Wikipedia from AI Hoaxes

• Wikipedia Pauses AI-Generated Summaries After Editor Backlash

• Wikipedia Says AI Is Causing a Dangerous Decline in Human Visitors

• Jimmy Wales Says Wikipedia Could Use AI. Editors Call It the 'Antithesis of Wikipedia'
  

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We start this week with Joseph’s article about Webloc, a tool ICE bought that can monitor phones in entire neighborhoods. After the break, Emanuel and Sam talk about their recent coverage of Grok. In the subscribers-only section, Jason explains how police inadvertently unmasked millions of their surveillance targets through a Flock redaction error.

Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 2:50 - First Story 23:00 - Second Story

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/rurJo6vPhUY

• Inside ICE’s Tool to Monitor Phones in Entire Neighborhoods
• DHS Is Lying To You
• Inside the Telegram Channel Jailbreaking Grok Over and Over Again
• Masterful Gambit: Musk Attempts to Monetize Grok's Wave of Sexual Abuse Imagery
• Police Unmask Millions of Surveillance Targets Because of Flock Redaction Error

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This week, Jason is talking to YouTuber Benn Jordan, who has done some of our favorite reporting on Flock, the automated license plate reader surveillance company. A couple months ago, he found vulnerabilities in some of Flock’s license plate reader cameras. I have been following Benn’s work for a while, and soon after that video came out, he reached out to me to tell me he had learned that some of Flock’s Condor cameras were left live-streaming to the open internet. In this episode, we discuss how he discovered the issue and what happened next.

YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/tSd0nXolnIs

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We start this week with Matthew’s story about an organization tracking the location of AI data centers around the U.S. and elsewhere in the world. After the break, Jason tells us all about what Grok got up to over the holiday break, and we ruminate on what the breakdown in the information ecosystem means. In the subscribers-only section, we talk about how we bought 404media.com!

Timestamps:

1:38 - Researchers Are Hunting America for Hidden Datacenters

25:58 - Grok's AI CSAM Shitshow

Subscriber's Story: We Bought 404media.com

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/zT9lEyHnZIk

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On this special guest episode of the 404 Media Podcast, Sam talks to Alexzandra Kekesi, VP of Brand and Community at Pornhub. Kekesi started in her current role in August 2023, after working for Pornhub and its parent company for more than a decade. She joined us from Montreal, where Pornhub is headquartered. They discuss the stigma facing the adult industry, Luigi Mangione porn, the trad wife to feet pics pipeline, and algorithms that shut you down for showing side boob. Kekesi also breaks down Pornhub’s choice to pull out of states in more than a third of the U.S., following regressive age verification laws.

Pornhub Sees Surge of Interest in Tradwife Content, ‘Modesty,’ and Mindfulness

Pornhub Is Now Blocked In Almost All of the U.S. South

Age Verification Laws Drag Us Back to the Dark Ages of the Internet

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This is a special interview episode with Meredith Whittaker, the president of the Signal Foundation. I'm sure you all know, and maybe even use, the Signal messaging app. Here we sat down with Whittaker to talk all about the state of Signal today, the threat of AI to end-to-end encryption, what backdoors actually look like, and much more. This is a wide-ranging discussion where one of the few journalists who has revealed new details about backdoors (Joseph) gets to speak to one of the most important people in the world of encryption (Whittaker). Definitely take a listen. Paid subscribers got access to this episode early by the way.

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

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

• Signal page on government data requests

• Microsoft Will Switch Off Recall by Default After Security Backlash

• Telegram CEO Pavel Durov interview

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Joseph speaks to Craig Silverman, one of the co-founders of Indicator. Indicator is a new, independent media company that Craig runs with Alexios Mantzarlis. For years Craig has covered the world of ad fraud and disinformation using all sorts of open source intelligence (OSINT) techniques. Definitely check out Indicator at Indicator.media. The site publishes its own investigations but also tips and tricks you can use yourself. Indicator’s site: https://indicator.media

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We start this week with Jason’s story about Flock exposing a bunch of AI-powered cameras. These cameras zoom in on people as they walk by, sometimes so closely you can read what’s on their phone screen. After the break, we talk about some of our biggest stories this year. In the subscribers-only section, we give some of our personal recommendations of games, other reporting, or just a more chill life.

Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
00:54 -  Gift a 404 Media subscription
2:27 - Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves
26:34 -  Anyone Can Push Updates to the DOGE.gov Website
29:52 -  Mike Waltz Accidentally Reveals Obscure App the Government Is Using to Archive Signal Messages
34:29 -  How Tea’s Founder Convinced Millions of Women to Spill Their Secrets, Then Exposed Them to the World
44:59 -  Half of the US Now Requires You to Upload Your ID or Scan Your Face to Watch Porn

YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/DrGVGphD2L0

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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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We start with Matthew Gault’s dive into a battle between a small town and the construction of a massive datacenter for America’s nuclear weapon scientists. After the break, Joseph explains why people are 3D-printing whistles in Chicago. In the subscribers-only section, Jason zooms out and tells us what librarians are seeing with AI and tech, and how that is impacting their work and knowledge more broadly.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/rHk580uKwHw

6:03 - Our New FOIA Forum! 11/19, 1PM ET
7:50 - A Small Town Is Fighting a $1.2 Billion AI Datacenter for America's Nuclear Weapon Scientists
12:27 - 'A Black Hole of Energy Use': Meta's Massive AI Data Center Is Stressing Out a Louisiana Community
21:09 - 'House of Dynamite' Is About the Zoom Call that Ends the World
30:35 - The Latest Defense Against ICE: 3D-Printed Whistles

SUBSCRIBER'S STORY: AI Is Supercharging the War on Libraries, Education, and Human Knowledge

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If you’ve been to a national park in the U.S. recently, you might have noticed some odd new signs about “beauty” and “grandeur.” Or, some signs you were used to seeing might now be missing completely. An executive order issued earlier this year put the history and educational aspects of the parks system under threat–but a group of librarians stepped in to save it. 

This week we have a conversation between Sam and two of the leaders of the independent volunteer archiving project Save Our Signs, an effort to archive national park signs and monument placards. It’s a community collaboration project co-founded by a group of librarians, public historians, and data experts in partnership with the Data Rescue Project and Safeguarding Research & Culture. 

Lynda Kellam leads the Research Data and Digital Scholarship team at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries and is a founding organizer of the Data Rescue Project. Jenny McBurney is the Government Publications Librarian and Regional Depository Coordinator at the University of Minnesota Libraries. In this episode, they discuss turning “frustration, dismay and disbelief” at parks history under threat into action: compiling more than 10,000 images from over 300 national parks into a database to be preserved for the people.

YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/xrCElwgY5Co

• ‘Save Our Signs’ Archive and Submission Site

• 'Save Our Signs' Wants to Save the Real History of National Parks Before Trump Erases It

• ‘Save Our Signs’ Preservation Project Launches Archive of 10,000 National Park Signs

• Archivists Work to Identify and Save the Thousands of Datasets Disappearing From Data.gov

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We have something of a Meta Ray-Bans smart glasses bumper episode this week. We start with Joseph and Jason’s piece on a $60 mod that disables the privacy-protecting recording light in the smart glasses. After the break, Emanuel tells us how some people are abusing the glasses to film massage workers, and he explains the difference between a phone and a pair of smartglasses, if you need that spelled out for you. In the subscribers-only section, Jason tells us about the future of advertising: AI-generated ads personalized directly to you.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/tAmhRnHc16Q

1:00 - A $60 Mod to Meta’s Ray-Bans Disables Its Privacy-Protecting Recording Light

18:03 - Meta's Ray-Ban Glasses Users Film and Harass Massage Parlor Workers

SUBSCRIBER'S STORY: The Future of Advertising Is AI Generated Ads That Are Directly Personalized to You

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Joseph speaks to Joshua Aaron, the creator of ICEBlock. Apple recently removed ICEBlock from its App Store after direct pressure from the Department of Justice. Joshua and Joseph talk about how the idea for ICEBlock came about, Apple and Google’s broader crackdown on similar apps, and what this all means for people trying to access information about ICE.

• ICEBlock Owner After Apple Removes App: ‘We Are Determined to Fight This’

• Google Calls ICE Agents a Vulnerable Group, Removes ICE-Spotting App ‘Red Dot’

• Apple Banned an App That Simply Archived Videos of ICE Abuses

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

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We start this week with Jason’s explanation of what Grokipedia is, and how it compares to the very much human-made Wikipedia. After the break, we talk all about the hell of updating Windows PCs and what that means specifically for Windows 10 users. In the subscribers-only section, Emanuel explains what a16z is doing with a ‘speedrun’ to a wholly AI-generated world.

Intro
0:00 - Merch drop
2:38 - Dark Wire: The Incredible True Story of the Largest Sting Operation Ever (use code WIRE20 for 20% off)
3:25 - First Contact: The Story of Our Obsession with Aliens

Stories
5:00 - Grokipedia Is the Antithesis of Everything That Makes Wikipedia Good, Useful, and Human
10:48 - Elon Musk's Grokipedia Pushes Far-Right Talking Points
23:04 - The End of Windows 10 Support Is an E-Waste Disaster in the Making
32:00 - Nathan Proctor interview

Subscriber's Stories:

• 
  a16z-Backed Startup Sells Thousands of ‘Synthetic Influencers’ to Manipulate Social Media as a Service
  
• 
  a16z Is Funding a 'Speedrun' to AI-Generated Hell on Earth

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/LqYMoK7dlDA

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We start this week with Joseph’s articles about a hacking group that doxed DHS, ICE, FBI, and DOJ officials. The group then sent us the personal data of officials from the NSA and a bunch of other government agencies. After the break, Emanuel revisits Wikipedia’s AI problem. In the subscribers-only section, Sam explains OpenAI’s inevitable path to an AI sex bot.
0:00 - Intro
0:50 - How Artists Are Keeping 'the Lost Art' of Neon Signs Alive
4:42 - Hackers Dox Hundreds of DHS, ICE, FBI, and DOJ Officials

13:53 - Hackers Say They Have Personal Data of Thousands of NSA and Other Government Officials

31:58 - Wikipedia Says AI Is Causing a Dangerous Decline in Human Visitors

SUBSCRIBER'S SEGMENT: OpenAI Catches Up to AI Market Reality: People Are Horny

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/7P2a4Y7P5UE
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We start this week with Jason’s article about an internal Meta message telling workers to increase their output by 5x with AI. That’s five times, not five percent. After the break, Joseph and Sam tell us all about the catastrophic Discord breach. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph explains what happened when AI came for craft beer (nothing is sacred).

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/VJLHVJ-OOj8

• Help Us Investigate Book Bans and Educational Censorship Around America
• Meta Tells Workers Building Metaverse to Use AI to ‘Go 5x Faster’
• The Discord Hack is Every User’s Worst Nightmare
• What Happened When AI Came for Craft Beer

TIMESTAMPS:

0:51 - Help Us Investigate Book Bans and Educational Censorship Around America

3:57 - Meta Tells Workers Building Metaverse to Use AI to ‘Go 5x Faster’

19:44 - The Discord Hack is Every User’s Worst Nightmare

SUBSCRIBER'S STORY: What Happened When AI Came for Craft Beer

This is a production of 404 Media, a journalist-owned tech website. Learn more and subscribe at: htttps://404media.co

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Jason is joined by US PIRG's right to repair campaign director Nathan Proctor, who explains why the imminent end of free support for Windows 10 computers is a ticking timebomb, with millions of computers slated for recycling centers and landfills. Nathan and Jason discuss the state of right to repair legislation all over the United States, the progress that has been made, and the next areas that right to repair experts are going to be focusing on. 

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We start this week with a couple of our articles about Sora 2, OpenAI’s new AI slop app. People are already using tools to remove watermarks from its AI-generated videos. Great! After the break, we talk about Apple and Google removing various ICE-spotting apps from their app stores, with Apple doing it after direct pressure from the U.S. government. In the subscribers-only section, we have a substantial update to a story concerning Flock and a woman who self-administered an abortion.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/fTz5ODv_uZQ

4:55 - OpenAI’s Sora 2 Copyright Infringement Machine Features Nazi SpongeBobs and Criminal Pikachus⁠

14:30 - People Are Farming and Selling Sora 2 Invite Codes on eBay⁠

25:27 - ⁠Sora 2 Watermark Removers Flood the Web⁠

29:08 - ICEBlock Owner After Apple Removes App: ‘We Are Determined to Fight This’⁠

37:39 - Google Calls ICE Agents a Vulnerable Group, Removes ICE-Spotting App ‘Red Dot’⁠

BONUS STORY: ⁠Police Said They Surveilled Woman Who Had an Abortion for Her 'Safety.' Court Records Show They Considered Charging Her With a Crime⁠

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We start this week with Joseph’s article about landlords and income verification companies demanding login details from potential renters so the companies can log in and scrape their paystubs. That has some potential legal issues for everyone involved! After the break, 18 lawyers tell us why they used AI. In the subscribers-only section, Emanuel breaks down the massive drama around Ruby.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/KtvSBb6rtHE

• Landlords Demand Tenants’ Workplace Logins to Scrape Their Paystubs
• 18 Lawyers Caught Using AI Explain Why They Did It
• How Ruby Went Off the Rails

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We start this week with some news: we are suing ICE for access to its $2 million contract with a company that sells powerful spyware. Paragon sells tech for remotely breaking into phones and reading messages from encrypted chat apps without a target even clicking a link. After the break, we talk about a couple of stories about AI ‘workslop’ and the engineers who fix peoples’ vibe coding. In the subscribers-only section, we start with a malicious game on Steam stealing cryptocurrency from a cancer patient, then we talk about Silk Song.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/NWuDzmKE8kg

• We’re Suing ICE for Its $2 Million Spyware Contract
• AI ‘Workslop’ Is Killing Productivity and Making Workers Miserable
• The Software Engineers Paid to Fix Vibe Coded Messes
• Steam Hosted Malware Game that Stole $32,000 from a Cancer Patient Live on Stream
• Does Silksong Seem Unreasonably Hard? You Probably Took a Wrong Turn

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We start this week with Joseph’s investigation into Nexar, a popular dashcam company that was catastrophically hacked. Nexar is also uploading user footage to a publicly available map without some drivers’ knowledge. After the break, Sam tells us about her trip to San Diego to cover the sentencing of someone she has covered for years. In the subscribers-only section, we talk about the Charlie Kirk assassination and our reporting around that.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/-51f4patIkw

• This Company Turns Dashcams into ‘Virtual CCTV Cameras.’ Then Hackers Got In
• Michael Pratt, GirlsDoPorn Ringleader, Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison
• Comcast Executives Warn Workers To Not Say The Wrong Thing About Charlie Kirk
• Charlie Kirk Was Not Practicing Politics the Right Way

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This week, we talk about how 'Boring History' AI slop is taking over YouTube and making it harder to discover content that humans spend months researching, filming, and editing. Then we talk about how Meta has totally given up on content moderation. In the bonus segment, we discuss the 'AI Darwin Awards,' which is, uhh, celebrating the dumbest uses of AI.
YouTube Version:

• AI Generated Boring History Videos Are Flooding YouTube And Drowning Out Real History
• Instagram Account Promotes Holocaust Denial T-Shirts To 400,000 Followers
• AI Darwin Awards Shows AI's Biggest Problem Is Human

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This is a recording of our live show in Los Angeles in July! In this show we spoke all about ICE's technology and our reporting on it. Facial recognition, Palantir, Flock, and more. And we take questions from the audience. Thank you to everyone who came and we hope you enjoy the discussion!

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