A look into the rise of ghost artists on Spotify, both AI generated and not, and what the history of Performer's Rights Organizations mean for art and creativity in the 21st century, and how that may make us question the very nature of creativity itself. Reach out to the show Support the show

Andor concludes! (and Rogue One awaits?) Join us as we wrap up the second and final season of Star Wars: Andor with the fifth in our five-part series looking at the show. We'll recap the final three episodes, released on May 13, 2025 (titled "Make It Stop", "Who Else Knows?" and "Jedha, Khyber, Erso") and provide our overall impression of the series as well. (If you're just joining us, our Andor recap began with Episode 44, available on Implausipod dot com, or se...

Star Wars: Andor, part 4 of 5, looking at the three episodes released on May 6th, 2025, titled "Messenger", "Who Are You" and "Welcome to the Rebellion". Things are heating up as the new Media Reality of the Star Wars universe begins to unfold, with more dangerous actors and actions coming to the forefront as well. Feel free to follow along with our previous coverage of Season 1 (which we recapped in Episode 44), and episodes 1 through 6 of Season 2 in Episodes 45 and 46. Re...

Part 3 of our 5 part look at Star Wars Andor, with week 2 of season 2 and the three episodes released on April 29, 2025 ("Ever Been to Ghorman", "I Have Friends Everywhere" and "What a Festive Evening"). We'll continue following the threads as they weave together, mirroring the first season in some ways and charting new territory in bringing the most cyberpunk Star Wars story seen to date. And if you want to catch up, feel free to catch the previous two episodes on the Impla...

We return to Star Wars Andor over the next 4 weeks, starting with first three episodes released on April 22, 2025, titled "One Year Later", "Sagrona Teema" and "Harvest". Join us for a recap of the three episodes, and commentary on the themes we see within, and that have carried over from Season 1 (which we recapped in Episode 44). Reach out to the show Support the show

What can we learn about the Star Wars universe from the lives of its regular inhabitants? What is life like under an authoritarian Empire? How does the resistance form, and who is behind it? And how can a show that first aired in 2022 capture the current age in 2025? Join us for a recap of the first season of Andor as a refresher before the second one airs beginning on April 22, 2025. Reach out to the show Support the show

In the grim darkness of the 41st millennium, some things come to and end. Join us as we look at the impact of the Appendix W on real world events through a look at one of the most iconic blades in fiction: Severian's Terminus Est from Gene Wolfe's 1980 novel The Shadow of the Torturer. But much like the blade, there is much, much more hidden below the surface of this episode. Bibliography Chris Hables Gray- “There Will Be War!”: Future War Fantasies and Militaristic Science Fiction in ...

What happens when a change is on the horizon, one that is approaching that will force you to move but is outside your control? When a community knows it will be disrupted, it may be facing an Incipient Diaspora. For the US denizens of the TikTok app, facing a ban in that country on January 19, 2025, we can observe how they reacted and prepared, and what lessons can be learned from the ongoing situation. Reach out to the show Support the show

Joy to the World, the 2024 Dr Who Christmas Special, gets a deep look in this episode of the Implausipod. This is the part two of our Dr Who double header. If you haven't already, check out our discussion of the 14th series, or 1st Disney series in the previous episode. Our cyber-series will continue in 2025. Thanks to Dr Aiden Buckland for joining us once again. They can be reached at doctoraidenwho@gmail.com Dr Implausible can be reached at drimplausible@implausipod.com...

We welcome a special guest back to the podcast to discuss the 14th series of the new Dr Who era, which aired in May and June of 2024, and highlighted the adventures of the 15th Doctor played by Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday. This is the part one of a Dr Who double header, as we'll discuss the 2024 Christmas Special in the next episode. Our cyber-series will continue in 2025. Thanks to Dr Aiden Buckland for joining us once again. They can be reached at doctoraidenwh...

Twice is enough for it to be a tradition, right? Yeah, I think we'll go with that. Welcome to our second annual end-of-year holiday thank you episode, something to offset the Festivus celebrations you may be having on this day before the day before Christmas. Thanks for stopping by whenever you do. :) The Newsletter and the archives are here: https://implausi.blog/newsletter/ Dr Implausible can be reached at drimplausible at implausipod dot com Reach out to the show Suppo...

What do you think of when you heard the word California? What do you think it's "ideology" might be? If you work in or on high technology, that California ideology may be shaping the way that you work, the projects that you work on, and the business models that high technology pursues. What does it all mean? The thinking that is driving the pursuit of certain developments in technology, such as robotics and artificial intelligence, and the rise of accelerationism nee...

Was the reveal of the Tesla Optimus 3 at the recent We Robot event a miss? How can you fail when unveiling a potentially groundbreaking technology? By using it to fake the appearance of a different tech, one that you're not even close to bringing to market. Reach out to the show Support the show

Is Joker 2 "anti-content", or is it just a challenging watch? Join us for a quick ICEBreaker to discuss our first impressions of the film, and some thoughts that have crossed my mind in the day since. Consider this a spoiler warning. Reach out to the show Support the show

Looking back in the year since the publication of our AI Reflections episode, we take a look at the state of the AI discourse at large, where recent controversies including those surrounding NaNoWriMo and whether AI counts as art, or can assist with science, bring the challenges of studying the new medium to the forefront. Links and Referenced Episodes: ALS.org story on Casey Harrell NaNoWriMo Statement AI Risk Database Implausi.blog Positive AI Archive Implausipod E0012 AI Reflection...

What is Soylent Culture? Whether it is in the mass media, the new media, or the media consumed by the current crop of generative AI tools, it is culture that has been fed on itself. But of course, there's more. Have a listen to find out how Soylent Culture is driving the potential for "Model Collapse" with our AI tools, and what that might mean. Bibliography McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. The New American Library. Shumailov, I., Shumaylov, Z., Zha...

Whoops! Somehow the details of an Excession - an Unknown Unknown - got cut from Episode 36. Fans of Irony will be enjoying this, I'm sure. Kick back for another Icebreaker in this bonus episode, an addendum to Nescience and Excession, with an actual explanation of the thing that was in the title. Reach out to the show Support the show

Further detail looking at The Nostalgia Curve from Episode 35, and comparing it with the Fredric Jameson's "Nostalgia for the Present" (1989) to see what the established literature says about the topic. We go into Jameson's writing on science fiction and Philip K Dick's "Time Out of Joint" (1959), and take a deep look at the Rumsfeld Matrix in order to introduce the idea of Nescience: the intentional act of not engaging with a known-unknown. Reach out to the show Support the show

The box office for the summer of 2024 has been driven by titles relying heavily on the audiences nostalgia, with titles like Deadpool and Wolverine and Alien: Romulus leading the charge. But nostalgia as a driver for the movies isn't new, and we're seeing nostalgia across all areas of our society as well. So what's going on? What are the factors that places something along The Nostalgia Curve? Reach out to the show Support the show

What is behind the recent trend seeking a wistful return to a more idyllic age of the internet, real or imagined? We'll call this the Dial-up Pastorale. The trend became apparent in a number of papers and blog-posts that have popped over the last few months (or at least came to my attention). Let's find out what is going on. (Parts of this episode appeared in the May issue of our newsletter. You can sign up for that here. Bibliography: Chayka, K. (2024, May 1). The Revenge of the Home...