About this episode
The episode features a discussion among hosts about the evolution of technology, media, and culture since the early internet days.
In this hosts-only “Plutopians Gone Wild” episode, Jon Lebkowsky, Scoop Sweeney, and Wendy Grossman range freely across early online culture, disaster response, politics, surveillance, AI, advertising, podcasts, and pop culture. They reflect on the early internet’s topic-centered communities, The WELL, AOL, Genie, ham radio, and the cooperative spirit that emerged during crises like the Loma Prieta earthquake, the Southeast Asian tsunami, and Hurricane Katrina, contrasting that with today’s tech-bro bunker mentality and surveillance economy. The conversation moves through Flock license plate readers, Ring doorbells, AI-generated video captions, offshore Chinese data centers, Texas precinct organizing, robocalls, streaming ads, listener-supported media, and podcast sponsorships before veering into favorite shows and films, including Decoding the Gurus, The White Canon, The X-Files, Dune, Star Trek, Nope, and Project Hail Mary. The episode works as a loose, funny, and occasionally cranky Plutopia roundtable about how technology, media, politics, and culture have changed since the dial-up days—and whether any of it still leaves room for community, trust, and good conversation.
People in this episode
Hosts: Jon Lebkowsky, Scoop Sweeney, Wendy Grossman
Topics covered
- early online culture
- disaster response
- politics
- surveillance
- AI
- advertising
- pop culture
Keywords
- online culture
- disaster response
- surveillance economy
- AI-generated content
- community
- podcasts
- pop culture
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The WELL, AOL, Genie, Flock, Ring
Books & works: Decoding the Gurus, The White Canon, The X-Files, Dune, Star Trek, Nope, Project Hail Mary
Places: Texas
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