Kill The Computer

Ben and Emil of the Ben and Emil Show take us on a journey through the financial landscape of the tech sector and a glimpse of what to look out for in the coming months. Follow them at https://www.youtube.com/@benandemilshow

Note: You can use coupon code PotatoYear for half off your first month over at www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer where this episode was originally released ~mid-September

A tech billionaire and Trump donor bankrolled an "AI focused" private school that costs $50,000+ a year. Kids are allegedly hooked to heart monitors while being criticized, and fail if their heartrate increases too much. They work unpaid "dirty" jobs like scrubbing toilets or manual labor, and strangely have required follower quotas on social media. This is Alpha School, the billionaire-funded AI academy Trump's Education Secretary came to tour.

We...

Use coupon code POTATOYEAR for half off the first month of your Patreon subscription from now until Halloween at www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer 

Articles discussed:

Character AI: https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/13/just-5-years-in-interactive-chatbot-platform-character-ai-files-for-bankruptcy/

https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-companies-afraid-characterai-bankrupcy

Kelly Clarkson Bird Drama: https://slate.com/life/2026/10/kelly-clarkson-art-of-play-brooklyn-store-bird.html

Accenture: https://www.404media.co/accenture-tells-employees-they-can-now-spend-only-29-on-claude-per-month/

Elon Musk says he's had AI 'psychosis' half a dozen times in the last year https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-ai-psychosis-2026-10

Full episode: www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer 

Saul Levin is the Program Director for the Center for Nonviolent Conflict Research and host of The Hum podcast, which serves as the oral history of the fight against data centers. He walks us through what successful municipalities have done to push back and what you can do if one pops up in your neighborhood.

Follow Saul:

https://x.com/thehumpod

Read the column he co-authored in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/08/ai-datacenters-democracy

Brian and Josh from The Worst of All Possible Worlds join us to discuss The Worst of All Possible Books: Mr. Beast's LLM-ridden slopfest "The Most Dangerous Games".

Follow TWOAPW: https://www.worstpossible.world

FULL EPISODE: www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer 

June and Maddyson walk Caleb through news of Candace Ownen's alleged romantic past and the personal lives of many influential conservatives. Then we read a follow up on our previous episode about Brown Brothers Media's ties to Ghislaine Maxwell and Epstein, how Suno sucks (sorry for the outro) and a story about people "tormenting" LLMs.

Brown Brothers Media Update:

https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/brown-brothers-media-ghislaine-maxwell

Torturing Chatbots

https://www.404media.co/someone-torturing-llms-in-a-robot-prison-has-triggered-the-dumbest-debate-in-ai-yet/

Maggie Harrison Dupre returns with Jon Christian to take us through their reporting on Brown Brothers Media, a family operated slop mill that quietly reached tens of millions by gaming Google with thousands of fake articles written with fake bylines by personas with falsified credentials. Oh, and by the way, they had a Shaman.

Read the article here: https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/brown-brothers-media-ai-slop-empire

Follow Maggie: https://bsky.app/profile/mharrisondupre.bsky.social

Follow Jon: https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net

Full episode: www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer 
A tech billionaire and Trump donor bankrolled an "AI focused" private school that costs $50,000+ a year. Kids are allegedly hooked to heart monitors while being criticized, and fail if their heartrate increases too much. They work unpaid "dirty" jobs like scrubbing toilets or manual labor, and strangely have required follower quotas on social media. This is Alpha School, the billionaire-funded AI academy Trump's Education Secretary came to tour.

We spoke with Benjamin Riley, founder of Cognitive Resonance, an education think tank, who is investigating what he believes are many improprieties.

Tilly Norwood speaks a little Chinese for for Piers Morgan, America almost goes to war with China over an AI hallucination, AI agents are making the internet a more annoying place, Americans are totally exhausted, and we weigh in on the AI doomerism + Ethical Altruism vs MAGA civil war.

Articles discussed in this episode:

Tilly Norwood Speaks Chinese
https://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/watch-piers-morgan-gobsmacked-as-ai-actress-tilly-norwood-glitches-out-suddenly-speaks-chinese-during-interview/

Exclusive: US military had close call after using AI for false intelligence report, sources say

https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/18/politics/us-military-ai-false-intelligence-china-ship

There’s a...

www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer for the full episode

One year ago, Charlie Kirk was assassinated while hosting a speaking event on a college campus in Utah. In the wake of his death followed a year of political turmoil, conservative infighting, New McCarthyism, conspiracy theories, organized doxxing + harassment campaigns and worse. Curiously, Kirk's likeness has survived via "kirkification" memes which have endured probably more than any other in the post-Covid internet landscape. Today, we discuss all of this plus our personal stories about being in the crosshairs of the backlash.

Articles + Media discussed in this episode:<...

First we address America's most pressing issue: the Trump/Jelly Roll divide. Then we discuss Flock Safety, its abuses, the pushback, and more. Note: we initially had a slightly different angle and intro for this episode planned which is brought up briefly. Articles discussed:

https://www.wired.com/story/flock-ai-search-user-interface/

https://www.404media.co/flock-taught-cops-how-to-surveil-no-kings-protesters/

https://www.newsweek.com/anti-flock-camera-protests-surge-12403463

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8W1CpNGgw8

Support us at www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer 

www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer for the full episode

Daejon Love is alleged by the FBI to have defrauded 26+ women of ~1.3 million dollars predominantly by pretending to be a wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers. He used social media to poison LLMs into reporting he was a member of the team. To talk about it, we brought Ed Zitron and Arif Hasan on.

Follow Arif: Wideleft.football
Follow Ed: BetterOffline.com

Have Americans reached a tipping point with data centers and AI? We discuss.

Support us on Patreon: www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer 

Join the game jam: https://forms.gle/Qz1Zus6gDAah7PpH9 

Apes & other things mentioned in this ep:

https://www.reddit.com/r/wickerpark/comments/1vhtwev/the_green_ape_changed_their_sign_from_the/#lightbox

https://www.reddit.com/r/wickerpark/comments/1vjc56t/update_on_the_new_green_ape_logo_shes_claiming/

https://x.com/notlarrysabato/status/2084404186330837285

MLYP takes us through the history of Palmer Luckey: gamer, founder of Oculus, and (alleged) war criminal.

Slide Show:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1kTHSKZQ0hMwY_sNHK5k3peFh5Q2anKdO80qf7Dj7AlM/edit

Full episode: www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer 

The digital safety organization Reset Tech released a 160 page study outlining how the "Manosphere" isn't an organic movement so much as it is a series of financial scams. Miles Klee of Wired Magazine joins us to talk about his piece covering the economics of male rage and offers some thoughts on what some solutions to the issue might look like.

Read the article: https://www.wired.com/story/the-manosphere-isnt-a-movement-its-a-multibillion-dollar-grievance-industry/

Follow Miles: https://www.wired.com/author/miles-klee/

Marcos joins us on the follow-up to our pink slime episode, we talk about the communal costs we incur when local papers die, and the horrors that fill the void when they do.

Follow Marcos: https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheHomieCollective

Full episode at www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer

Ricky & Eliot of Internet Today join us for a retrospective on Fruit Love Island, Strawberrina's series of sordid affairs, Italian Brainrot, and the slop economy at large.

Follow Internet Today: https://www.youtube.com/@InternetTodayTV

The Big Mac Index is here, the police used Grok to edit an evidence photo, Linkedin is now offering users the opportunity to report slop, Google pulled its disastrous AI image editing tool they put into Google Earth, you can now bet on wild fire outcomes, and more. We discuss.

Stories read and referenced:

Employees from the world’s biggest AI companies want the US to be ready to slow AI development

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/28/tech/ai-development-tech-employees-open-letter

Linkedin Adds Slop Detection Report Button

https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/30/linkedin-adds-a-button-to-report-ai-generated-slop/

Full episode on www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer 

The right-wing noise machine spent months trying to destroy Christopher Nolan's adaptation of The Odyssey. The film opened up to enormous critical and commercial success, so it would seem that they failed. But did they really? Let's talk about it.

Note: this discussion is about the discourse surrounding the film, so spoilers shouldn't be a major issue. But beware, we do talk about aspects of the film in a limited capacity.

Read Parker's article: https://www.readtpa.com

Full episode on www.Patreon.com/K...

Michael Maurino aka Iron Stylus is a veteran game developer who has worked on a number of large projects over the years, he walks us through the current landscape of the gaming industry, layoffs, bisexual lighting, what to look forward to in the future, and more.

Follow Michael:

https://www.artstation.com/ironstylus
https://www.instagram.com/iron_stylus/
https://brainstormschool.com/

Support us at www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer 

MLYP takes us through America 250's origins through today, and all the baggage that came with it.

Slideshow: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1AN-XayXaUfaKngfY_ghphiayJaJ-6WTcIVp9bWeOums/edit?slide=id.g36f69057379_0_79#slide=id.g36f69057379_0_79

Support us on Patreon at www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer 

Conservative dark money is funding a network of so-called "pink slime" websites that sell influence to the fossil fuel industry and far-right special interests, where candidates and PACs can simply buy the coverage they want on hundreds, perhaps thousands of websites, and hundreds of millions of impressions across their ad networks. These sites look innocuous, but they're filled with undisclosed press releases, bylined to newsrooms or individuals that often don't exist. What's worse: they now outnumber the country's remaining local newspaper sites, and when Yale researchers put them side by side with the real thing, nearly half of Americans...

What's going on with Mitch McConnell? We talk about it. Plus, Waymo is arresting teens, Trump's airport logo appears to be AI slop, Bluesky rolls out age verification in Texas, and more.

www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer for more.

Articles discussed:

Mitch McConnell

https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/10/politics/mitch-mcconnell-video-stretcher-ambulance

https://www.tmz.com/2026/07/10/mitch-mcconnell-house-has-carpeting-and-tile-workers/

Waymo Calls Police on Teens

https://abc7news.com/post/waymo-calls-police-15-year-olds-joyriders-underaged-drinking-shooting-toy-guns-driverless-vehicle/19465228/

The Logo for Donald Trump International Airport Appears to Be AI Slop

https://futurism.com...

www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer 

The Quorators gang joins us to rank the worst posts from around the internet in the first half of 2026, as submitted by our listeners.

Slideshow: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1rsSqQR6eolZQjzq-146cJCjX5ZgWR43v-3zf9nLq2Lk/edit?usp=sharing

Support Quorators: https://www.patreon.com/cw/Quorators

Listen to Part 2 at https://www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer 

Note: this episode was originally recorded June 4th. Dan Friesen, formerly of the podcast Knowledge Fight, joins us to talk about Tucker Carlson and how he and other right wing media figures are attempt to launder white nationalism under the guise of "sensible" positions on Palestine and more.

Follow Dan's next project: https://www.showmestateofmind.com

Support us at https://www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer 

Lenore and Jacob from the Worker's Lit show join us to talk about #AlgaeGate, Peter Thiel's secret society Dialog and their recent hack, more clip farming news, and more.

Follow Worker's Lit:

https://www.workerslit.com
https://www.patreon.com/cw/WorkersLit
https://bsky.app/profile/workerslit.bsky.social

Support us:

www.KillTheComputer.com
www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer

Ed broke some very interesting news about Open AI's finances that could have an impact on its upcoming IPO + more.

Follow Ed at www.wheresyoured.at

Full Episode: Patreon.com/KillTheComputer 

Aysha joins us to talk about the wonderful world of fan fiction and erotica.

Slide w/ links: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11QmLnXowsXY73tZSKjyU6yTasP_86DGrB7HsxRA9o3Q/edit?usp=sharing

Follow Aysha: https://bsky.app/profile/ayshaufarah.bsky.social

www.WorkersLit.com

Marcos is here to talk about some news stories: AI PACs are astroturfing, Pump.fun has a bounty system, Zohran Mamdani is fighting fascism by suspending bedtime for the Knicks playoff run, and more.

Support Marcos: https://www.patreon.com/TheHomieCollective.

Dan Friesen, formerly of the podcast Knowledge Fight, joins us to talk about Tucker Carlson and how he and other right wing media figures are attempt to launder white nationalism under the guise of "sensible" positions on Palestine and more.

Follow Dan's next project: https://www.showmestateofmind.com

Listen to the whole episode: www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer

Mike Isaac is a technology reporter at the New York Times who watched the Musk v. Altman trial live this month. He joins us to discuss the high points, low points, and everything between.

Follow Mike: www.Twitter.com/MikeIsaac

Support us on Patreon at www.Patreon.com/KillTheComputer 

Mia Sato, Senior Reporter with The Verge, joins us to discuss the "Clip Economy" where streamers, podcasters, brands, and platforms themselves operate a shady secondary market of short form content whose ownership is unclear and is often not disclosed as advertising.

Read Mia's Article: theverge.com/report/920005/social-media-clipping-podcasts-clavicular-marketing-mrbeast

Note: This was originally recorded May 11th.

Support us at Patreon.com/KillTheComputer

Listen to the full episode on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/killthecomputer

Is the world ending? "Are We Doomed?" is the animated, video podcast (NPR Network) exploring nukes, AI, climate change, pandemics, and angry hippos, sorting catastrophic risks from fantasy. Award-winning journalist Ben Bradford investigates history, science, and technology to separate legitimate threats from doomsday hysteria. Today Ben joins us for a conversation about AI and how it (probably) isn't going to kill us any time soon.

Follow Are We Doomed wherever you get your podcasts, or doompod.com

Ken returns to the show to discuss his previous reporting on UAPs as far back as 2023, the current UFO files, new counter-terrorism strategies from the Trump admin that may target Tucker Carlson, and more.

Support Ken: https://www.kenklippenstein.com

Mia Sato, Senior Reporter with The Verge, joins us to discuss the "Clip Economy" where streamers, podcasters, brands, and platforms themselves operate a shady secondary market of short form content whose ownership is unclear and is often not disclosed as advertising.

Read Mia's Article: theverge.com/report/920005/social-media-clipping-podcasts-clavicular-marketing-mrbeast

Listen to the remainder of this episode at www.Patreon.com/killthecomputer 

Maddyson joins us to discuss the rise and fall of Simone Cromer, the 59 year-old behind the notorious Club Chalamet fan account who recently announced a sort of soft retirement from covering Timothée Chalamet.

Please visit www.killthecomputer.com for fun, games, merch, and friendship.

Johnny, Nick, and Matt of the newly formed GG Tribune come on to tell the story of why they left Hard Drive magazine to start their new website. We talk about the Pragmata controversy and other gamer news.

Follow and subscribe: https://ggtribune.com

Ben Collins, aka Tim Onion comes on to talk about The Onion's long battle over the rights to the Infowars IP, what's next, and gives us some reasons to be hopeful for the future.

Support The Onion: membership.theonion.com

Big news guys: we have launched our brand new website at killthecomputer.com that is going to increasingly serve as a centralized hub for the show in the coming weeks. On it, you can play games, listen to episodes, songs from the show and shop for our brand new merch line (see also shop.killthecomputer.com). Additionally, we are launching our "sideload series" episode run where you, our community, tell your unique stories to us: we'll provide the gear, handle the logistics, and pay you for your time. Send pitches to [email protected] and stay tuned for more...