Podcasts about Doctorow

Gilbert Doctorow : Are Russians Happy? Are They Patient?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Seth Doane heads to Barcelona for a visit to La Sagrada Família, the largest unfinished Catholic Church in the world, designed by the late pioneering architect Antoni Gaudí, which has been under construction since 1882. Ben Mankiewicz talks with legendary director Steven Spielberg about his new film “Disclosure Day,” his career, and Spielberg's belief that there are aliens among us. Mo Rocca goes behind the scenes of the Tony-nominated Broadway musical “Ragtime,” based on the bestselling novel by E.L. Doctorow.

This week on my podcast, I read my latest Locus Magazine column, “The Age of Vapor,” about the role science fiction imaginaires plays in fueling high-tech investment bubbles. It's one thing to make everything about imaginary technology when you're writing SF. The point of those imaginative exercises is to illumi­nate: To provoke reflection on our... more

This week on my podcast, I read AI and a world without migrants, a recent essay from my Pluralistic blog, which psychoanalyzes the sociopathic fantasies that are driving the AI investment bubble. I don’t care who you are, there will always be times when hell is other people. Not because other people are horrible –... more

Waiting on a Friend by Natalie Adler is a big-hearted, tender and hilarious story about love, ghosts, and community. Natalie joins us to talk about New York City, the 1980s, nostalgia, boundaries, hope and more with host Miwa Messer. This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang.                     New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) here and on your favorite podcast app. Featured Books (Episode): Waiting on a Friend by Natalie Adler My Bad: A Personal History of the Queer Nineties and Beyond by Hugh Ryan Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination by Sarah Schulman Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993 by Sarah Schulman Fear City: New York's Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics by Kim Phillips-Fein Beloved by Toni Morrison The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne The Black Book by Middleton A. Harris Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes by Tony Kushner Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir by Paul Monette And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts How to Survive a Plague: The Story of How Activists and Scientists Tamed AIDS by David France The Book of Daniel by E. L. Doctorow  

This week on my podcast, I present an hour-long excerpt from the audiobook for The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI, which is currently on pre-order through my latest Kickstarter campaign: A short, provocative guide to what’s good, bad, and stupid about AI and the discourse around AI, by the author of Enshittification. In... more

The Lincoln Center revival of Ragtime — with music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and a book by Terrence McNally, adapted from the novel by E. L. Doctorow — has just garnered 11 Tony Award nominations, including Best Revival of a Musical, along with multiple acting nods for its acclaimed cast. This new production feels more timely and resonant than the one that first played on Broadway in 1998. In addition to the fictional Coalhouse Walker Jr. and the archetypal figures known simply as Father, Mother, and Younger Brother, Ragtime brings to life several real celebrities and power brokers from turn-of-the-century New York. Anna Grace Barlow, who portrays Broadway sensation Evelyn Nesbit, and Rodd Cyrus, who embodies legendary illusionist Harry Houdini, join Carl Raymond from The Gilded Gentleman podcast for a behind-the-scenes conversation about their characters and their experiences bringing this revival to the stage. This show is brought to you by The Gilded Gentleman podcast, produced by the Bowery Boys and edited and produced by Kieran Gannon. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Gilbert Doctorow : Will the Ukraine War End Soon?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gilbert Doctorow : Ukraine War Hits Russians' PocketbooksSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on my podcast, I read Comrade Trump, a recent column from my Pluralistic newsletter, which will be syndicated in The Nerve. All of which means that my experience of the Trump years is decidedly weird. On the one hand, I exist in a near-perpetual state of anxious misery, as Trump and his chud... more

Listen to the FULL EPISODE ad-free/early on Substack: https://coffeeandamike.substack.com/ Dr. Gilbert Doctorow based in Brussels, is an independent political analyst, a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College and holds a doctorate in Russian history from Columbia University. He talks his new book War Diaries Volume 2 The Russia-Ukraine War, 2024, why Putin has slow walked the war, Europe's cowardice on Trump, Russian elections, and much more. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE LIKE AND SHARE THIS PODCAST!!!   Follow Me X- https://x.com/CoffeeandaMike IG- https://www.instagram.com/coffeeandamike/ Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/CoffeeandaMike/ YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/@Coffeeandamike Rumble- https://rumble.com/search/all?q=coffee%20and%20a%20mike Substack- https://coffeeandamike.substack.com/ Apple Podcasts- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/coffee-and-a-mike/id1436799008 Gab- https://gab.com/CoffeeandaMike Locals- https://coffeeandamike.locals.com/ Website- www.coffeeandamike.com Email- info@coffeeandamike.com   Support My Work Venmo- https://www.venmo.com/u/coffeeandamike Paypal- https://www.paypal.com/biz/profile/Coffeeandamike Substack- https://coffeeandamike.substack.com/ Patreon- http://patreon.com/coffeeandamike Locals- https://coffeeandamike.locals.com/ Cash App- https://cash.app/$coffeeandamike Buy Me a Coffee- https://buymeacoffee.com/coffeeandamike Bitcoin- coffeeandamike@strike.me   Mail Check or Money Order- Coffee and a Mike LLC P.O. Box 25383 Scottsdale, AZ 85255-9998   Follow Gilbert Substack- https://substack.com/@gilbertdoctorow Order Gilbert's new book- https://a.co/d/0dIqAZyl   Sponsors Vaulted/Precious Metals- https://vaulted.blbvux.net/coffeeandamike McAlvany Precious Metals- https://mcalvany.com/coffeeandamike/

Gilbert Doctorow: Is Putin On the Ropes?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gilbert Doctorow : The Kremlin Prepares for War With EuropeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Na ensolarada Califórnia, uma junção de Universitários Brilhantes, Laboratórios Industriais e o Financiamento do Exército Americano deu origem a um ecossistema carregado de diversidade de pensamentos, comportamentos e invenções, eventualmente se espalhando por toda costa oeste e que alteraram o curso da Comunicação mundial. Entenda as contradições, as histórias de inovação, as traições e toda a tecnologia que transformou o Vale do Silício num berço de talentos sem paralelo em lugar nenhum do mundo. Patronato do SciCast: 1. Patreon SciCast 2. Apoia.se/Scicast 3. Nos ajude via Pix também, chave: contato@scicast.com.br ou acesse o QRcode: Sua pequena contribuição ajuda o Portal Deviante a continuar divulgando Ciência! Contatos: contato@scicast.com.br https://twitter.com/scicastpodcast https://www.facebook.com/scicastpodcast https://www.instagram.com/PortalDeviante/ Fale conosco! E não esqueça de deixar o seu comentário na postagem desse episódio! Expediente: Produção Geral: Tarik Fernandes e André Trapani Equipe de Gravação: Fernando Malta, Marcelo de Matos, Gabriela Reciputti, Gustavo Rebelo, Roberto Spinelli, Marcos Sorrilha Citação ABNT: Scicast #685: História do Vale do Silício. Locução: Fernando Malta, Marcelo de Matos, Gabriela Reciputti, Gustavo Rebelo, Roberto Spinelli, Marcos Sorrilha. [S.l.] Portal Deviante, 22/04/2026. Podcast. Disponível em: https://www.deviante.com.br/podcasts/scicast-685 Imagem de capa: Referências e Indicações Sugestões de literatura: The Man Behind the Microchip: Robert Noyce and the Invention of Silicon Valley - Leslie Berlin (2005) Broken Genius: The Rise and Fall of William Shockley - Joel N. Shurkin (2006) Blank, Steve. "The Secret History of Silicon Valley." Steve Blank, steveblank.com/category/secret-history-of-silicon-valley. Doctorow, Cory. "The Traitorous Eight and the Battle of Germanium Valley." Pluralistic, 24 Oct. 2021, pluralistic.net/2021/10/24/the-traitorous-eight-and-the-battle-of-germanium-valley. "Fairchild Semiconductor founders." Computer History Museum, www.computerhistory.org/revolution/digital-logic/12/275. "Fred Terman: Father of Silicon Valley." Hewlett-Packard History, www.hewlettpackardhistory.com/item/the-father-of-silicon-valley. "Stanford and Silicon Valley." Best Practices in State and Regional Innovation Initiatives: Competing in the 21st Century, National Academies Press, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK158815. "The “Traitorous Eight” and the Rise of Fairchild Semiconductor." All About Circuits, 28 Feb. 2022, www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/the-traitorous-eight-and-the-rise-of-fairchild-semiconductor. "The Origins of Silicon Valley: Why and How It Happened." Stanford Digital Repository, Stanford University, purl.stanford.edu/dw901gv8707. "The suburban office park that launched Silicon Valley." The Hustle, 25 Apr. 2025, thehustle.co/originals/the-suburban-office-park-that-launched-silicon-valley. "The Traitorous 8 and Birth of Silicon Valley." Investing Caffeine, 13 Mar. 2016, investingcaffeine.com/2016/03/13/the-traitorous-8-and-birth-of-silicon-valley. "The Traitorous Eight Traitorously Leave Shockley Semiconductor." PBS, www.pbs.org/transistor/album1/eight/index.html. “William Shockley — accidental inventor of Silicon Valley." Engelsberg Ideas, 11 Jun. 2022, engelsbergideas.com/portraits/william-shockley-accidental-inventor-of-silicon-valley. Sugestões de filmes: Silicon Valley - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2547530/ Jobs (2013) dirigido por Joshua Michael Stern - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2357129/ Piratas do Vale do Silicio - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0168122/ Triunfo dos Nerds - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115398/ Sugestões de vídeos: Documentário que detalha a criação do Transistor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0hEFafx7Eg Vídeo detalhando o quanto o Altair 8800 foi revolucionário: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwEmnfy2BhI Sugestões de links: Código fonte em Assembly que deu origem a Microsoft: https://l1nq.com/Wkrso See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gilbert Doctorow : Trump Shattering NATOSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gilbert Doctorow : Is President Trump a Madman?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on my podcast, I read Not Normal, my latest Locus Magazine column, about the surreal and terrible world we’ve been eased into thanks to anti-circumvention laws. If you were paying attention in 1998, you could see what was coming. Computers were getting much cheaper, and much smaller. From cars to toast­ers, from speakers... more

Gilbert Doctorow : Why Does the Kremlin Hesitate ?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gilbert Doctorow provides a critical assessment of current global conflicts critiquing the cautious military strategies of Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, arguing that their failure to enforce “red lines” has undermined their international deterrence. Doctorow also examines the presidency of Donald Trump, suggesting his Realpolitik approach and “war of aggression” in Iran may paradoxically lead to the collapse of NATO and the EU. The discussion explores how the energy crisis and Middle Eastern instability are accelerating European deindustrialization and structural decay. Ultimately, he highlights the tension between liberal interventionism and a rising global framework defined by competing spheres of influence. Watch on BitChute / Brighteon / Rumble / Substack / YouTube *Support Geopolitics & Empire! Become a Member https://geopoliticsandempire.substack.com Donate https://geopoliticsandempire.com/donations Consult https://geopoliticsandempire.com/consultation **Listen Ad-Free for $4.99 a Month or $49.99 a Year! Apple Subscriptions https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/geopolitics-empire/id1003465597 Supercast https://geopoliticsandempire.supercast.com ***Visit Our Affiliates & Sponsors! Above Phone https://abovephone.com/?above=geopolitics American Gold Exchange https://www.amergold.com/geopolitics easyDNS (15% off with GEOPOLITICS) https://easydns.com Escape The Technocracy (15% off with GEOPOLITICS) https://escapethetechnocracy.com/geopolitics Outbound Mexico https://outboundmx.com PassVult https://passvult.com Sociatates Civis https://societates-civis.com StartMail https://www.startmail.com/partner/?ref=ngu4nzr Wise Wolf Gold https://www.wolfpack.gold/?ref=geopolitics Websites Website https://gilbertdoctorow.com Substack https://gilbertdoctorow.substack.com About Gilbert Doctorow Gilbert Doctorow is an independent political analyst based in Brussels. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College and holds a doctorate in Russian history from Columbia University. *Podcast intro music used with permission is from the song “The Queens Jig” by the fantastic “Musicke & Mirth” from their album “Music for Two Lyra Viols”: http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)

We're journeying back to the early 1990s this week to discuss the forgotten failure Billy Bathgate. Adapted from E.L. Doctorow's Pulitzer finalist, the film cast Dustin Hoffman as real-life mobster Dutch Schultz opposite a Loren Dean as the fictionalized street kid who falls under his wing. With Bruce Willis in a supporting role at the peak … Continue reading "385 – Billy Bathgate"

Gilbert Doctorow : How Trump's War Affects Russia and ChinaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gilbert Doctorow : The Trump–Putin Call Everyone Is Trying to DecodeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gilbert Doctorow : Has Russia Lost Trust in Trump's Leadership?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gilbert Doctorow : Are Kremlin Officials Supportive of Putin?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gilbert Doctorow : A New Russian Attitude at Negotiations?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gilbert Doctorow : Does the Kremlin Trust Washington?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on my podcast, I read All laws are local a recent post from my Pluralistic.net blog, about the ephemerality of our seeming eternal verities. In other words, things that seem eternal and innate to the human condition to you are apt to have been invented ten minutes before you started to notice the... more

Ragebait, sponcon, A.I. slop — the internet of 2026 makes a lot of us nostalgic for the internet of 10 or 15 years ago.What exactly went wrong here? How did the early promise of the internet get so twisted? And what exactly is wrong here? What kinds of policies could actually make our digital lives meaningfully better?Cory Doctorow and Tim Wu have two different theories of the case, which I thought would be interesting to put in conversation together. Doctorow is a science fiction writer, an activist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the author of “Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It.” Wu is a law professor who worked on technology policy in the Biden White House; his latest book is “The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity.”In this conversation, we discuss their different frameworks, and how they connect to all kinds of issues that plague the modern internet: the feeling that we're being manipulated; the deranging of our politics; the squeezing of small businesses and creators; the deluge of spam and fraud; the constant surveillance and privacy risks; the quiet rise of algorithmic pricing; and the dehumanization of work. And they lay out the policies that they think would go furthest in making all these different aspects of our digital lives better.Mentioned:Enshittification by Cory DoctorowThe Age of Extraction by Tim Wu“Fighting Enshittification” by Josh RichmanBook Recommendations:Small Is Beautiful by E. F. SchumacherManipulation by Cass R. SunsteinThe Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul KennedyCareless People by Sarah Wynn-WilliamsLittle Bosses Everywhere by Bridget ReadJules, Penny & the Rooster by Daniel PinkwaterThoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Annie Galvin. Fact-checking by Will Peischel. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Isaac Jones and Aman Sahota. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show's production team also includes Marie Cascione, Rollin Hu, Kristin Lin, Emma Kehlbeck, Jack McCordick, Michelle Harris, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. And special thanks to Natasha Scott. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Gilbert Doctorow : What Putin Is Telling TrumpSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on my podcast, I read “Threads’ margin is the Eurostack’s opportunity,” a recent post from my Pluralistic.net blog, about the tactics that digital sovereignty advocates can deploy to counter Meta’s (further) enshittification of Threads. The funny thing is, the OG App creators were just following the Facebook playbook. When Facebook opened up to... more

Dr. Gilbert Doctorow based in Brussels, is an independent political analyst, a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College and holds a doctorate in Russian history from Columbia University. He shares brief thoughts on what is happening in the United States, Europe humiliated at Davos, Russia/Ukraine resolution, and much more. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE LIKE AND SHARE THIS PODCAST!!! Watch Show Rumble- https://rumble.com/v7525lg-trumps-realism-on-ukraine-gilbert-doctorow.html YouTube- https://youtu.be/qT8dUuMCroA   Follow Me X- https://x.com/CoffeeandaMike IG- https://www.instagram.com/coffeeandamike/ Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/CoffeeandaMike/ YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/@Coffeeandamike Rumble- https://rumble.com/search/all?q=coffee%20and%20a%20mike Substack- https://coffeeandamike.substack.com/ Apple Podcasts- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/coffee-and-a-mike/id1436799008 Gab- https://gab.com/CoffeeandaMike Locals- https://coffeeandamike.locals.com/ Website- www.coffeeandamike.com Email- info@coffeeandamike.com   Support My Work Venmo- https://www.venmo.com/u/coffeeandamike Paypal- https://www.paypal.com/biz/profile/Coffeeandamike Substack- https://coffeeandamike.substack.com/ Patreon- http://patreon.com/coffeeandamike Locals- https://coffeeandamike.locals.com/ Cash App- https://cash.app/$coffeeandamike Buy Me a Coffee- https://buymeacoffee.com/coffeeandamike Bitcoin- coffeeandamike@strike.me   Mail Check or Money Order- Coffee and a Mike LLC P.O. Box 25383 Scottsdale, AZ 85255-9998   Follow Gilbert Substack- https://substack.com/@gilbertdoctorow   Sponsors Vaulted/Precious Metals- https://vaulted.blbvux.net/coffeeandamike McAlvany Precious Metals- https://mcalvany.com/coffeeandamike/ Independence Ark Natural Farming- https://www.independenceark.com/      

Gilbert Doctorow : Russia and Ukraine: Real Negotiations or Delay?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gilbert Doctorow : Trump Through Russian EyesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on my podcast, I read “Code is a liability (not an asset),” a recent post from my Pluralistic.net blog, about the bad ideas behind the drive to replace programmers with chatbots. Code is a liability. Code’s capabilities are assets. The goal of a tech shop is to have code whose capabilities generate more... more

Dr. Gilbert Doctorow : The Cold War Is Back — Trump, Putin, CubaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on my podcast, I play the audio from (Digital) Elbows Up: How Canada Can Become a Nation of Jailbreakers, Reclaim Our Digital Sovereignty, Win the Trade-War, and Disenshittify Our Technology, a speech I delivered on November 27, 2025 at OCADU in Toronto, Canada (video here, transcript here). I recognize that this is all... more

There's a bizarre thing happening online right now where everything is getting worse.Your Google results have become so bad that you've likely typed what you're looking for, plus the word “Reddit,” so you can find discussion from actual humans. If you didn't take this route, you might get served AI results from Google Gemini, which once recommended that every person should eat “at least one small rock per day.” Your Amazon results are a slog, filled with products that have surreptitiously paid reviews. Your Facebook feed could be entirely irrelevant because the company decided years ago that you didn't want to see what your friends posted, you wanted to see what brands posted, because brands pay Facebook, and you don't, so brands are more important than your friends.But, according to digital rights activist and award-winning author Cory Doctorow, this wave of online deterioration isn't an accident—it's a business strategy, and it can be summed up in a word he coined a couple of years ago: Enshittification.Enshittification is the process by which an online platform—like Facebook, Google, or Amazon—harms its own services and products for short-term gain while managing to avoid any meaningful consequences, like the loss of customers or the impact of meaningful government regulation. It begins with an online platform treating new users with care, offering services, products, or connectivity that they may not find elsewhere. Then, the platform invites businesses on board that want to sell things to those users. This means businesses become the priority and the everyday user experience is hindered. But then, in the final stage, the platform also makes things worse for its business customers, making things better only for itself.This is how a company like Amazon went from helping you find nearly anything you wanted to buy online to helping businesses sell you anything you wanted to buy online to making those businesses pay increasingly high fees to even be discovered online. Everyone, from buyers to sellers, is pretty much entrenched in the platform, so Amazon gets to dictate the terms.Today, on the Lock and Code podcast with host David Ruiz, we speak with Doctorow about enshittification's fast damage across the internet, how to fight back, and where we can lay blame for where it all started.”Once these laws were established, the tech companies were able to take advantage of them. And today we have a bunch of companies that aren't tech companies that are nevertheless using technology to rig the game in ways that the tech companies pioneered.”Tune in today.

Gilbert Doctorow Explodes: Trump's Maduro “Kidnapping” Is an Impeachable CrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on my podcast, I play the audio from A post-American, enshittification-resistant internet, a speech I delivered on December 28, 2025 at 39C3, the Chaos Communications Congress in Hamburg, Germany (video here, transcript here). Trump has staged an unscheduled, midair rapid disassembly of the global system of trade. Ironically, it is this system that... more

Dr. Gilbert Doctorow : The Totalitarian EU.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A theme that's dominated 2025 for me (and for many) has been price rises across many subscription-based platforms and services. My correspondence with companies has made clear that loyalty stands for very little. In fact, rather than being rewarded, longevity is increasingly exploited and monetised. In this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast, I share a year-in-review through the lens of price rises. The tipping point was an email from my podcast hosting company, Libsyn, announcing a 71 percent increase effective from January. It was the straw that broke this camel's back after a year of similar moves elsewhere. In the episode, I share exchanges with three companies that reveal how loyalty is no longer valued in itself, but engineered to extract profit from those of us who've become reliant on these platforms. https://youtu.be/qrmUSdGwcMs A Symptom of Enshittification Cory Doctorow describes the underlying trend as “Enshittification”, a form of platform decay visible in companies like Facebook, Amazon, Google, Apple, and Adobe. It's not a glitch, but a feature. Doctorow traces a familiar arc: platforms start by serving users well in order to grow. Once established, they pivot toward business customers, monetisation, and scale. Eventually, when users and businesses are sufficiently locked in, services are degraded for everyone so maximum value can be pulled out as quickly as possible. Disproportionate price rises are one symptom of this process, particularly in how companies treat long-standing customers. Lock-in is maintained through network effects (it's hard to leave when everyone else is still there), non-transferable data (your work can't easily be exported), and digital restrictions where purchases only function inside a single ecosystem. Music, books, films, and software are “owned” only as long as the platform allows it. In the name of convenience, we give ourselves over to these systems and become dependent on them. As the digital and physical worlds converge, this logic extends beyond apps and websites into cars, home devices, utilities, and infrastructure. At that point, this stops being a simple matter of consumer choice. Extraction is baked into the products themselves. We are quietly acclimatising to this new normal. It has crept in through corporate consolidation, weak enforcement of anti-trust legislation, and business models that no longer need to meaningfully consider customer relationships once a certain scale is reached. Abusing Trust, Need, and Loyalty Charlie Brooker has cited Enshittification as an influence on Common People, the opening episode of Black Mirror series seven. A couple sign up to a subscription-based medical intervention that escalates in cost, complexity, and dependency. Features are removed. Adverts are inserted. The stakes become existential. One particularly chilling moment sees Mike literally mutilating his own body for money via an OnlyFans-style platform, a stark symbolic image of how value is extracted from people once dependency is established. Price Rises for a “Valued Customer” Libsyn informed me they were raising the price of hosting A Quiet Night Inside No 9 by 71 percent. The justification was a familiar list of added features and growth opportunities, none of which were relevant to how we use the service. We don't want adverts or growth tools. We want reliable hosting and delivery. This exchange highlighted how much podcasting has changed since I joined Libsyn in 2009. Hosting platforms have increasingly positioned themselves as intermediaries between advertisers and podcasters. That relationship now takes precedence. Advertising is framed as a benefit to creators, while enabling hosts to raise prices and skim revenue from both usage fees and ad sales. Listeners, meanwhile, absorb longer ad breaks as the new normal. Is this stage two of Enshittification in the podcasting world? Note, I pledge never to put adverts on my audio podcasts. YouTube is the only exception, because Google inserts them regardless. ConvertKit and Paying for Features I Don't Want A similar logic played out with Kit, formerly ConvertKit. I chose it in 2016 because it was simple and reliable and have been a loyal user ever since. A price increase from $49 to $59 a month was justified by new automations and tools I didn't ask for or use. There is no way to opt out and pay less. The only concession offered was annual billing, which I pointed out mirrors poverty-tax logic: those without upfront capital pay more. Symptoms of a Failing Service Vimeo was the clearest example of platform decay from the inside. Storage rules changed midstream. Long-held assumptions were invalidated. Downgrading meant losing access to years of work. Retention efforts amounted to one-off discounts rather than meaningful alternatives. What stood out wasn't hostility, but indifference. Once a service reaches a certain size, individual relationships no longer seem to matter. Their response felt so extreme that I suspected deeper problems, which seemed to be confirmed when Bending Spoons acquired Vimeo in November. I'm glad I left when I did, though it's still inconvenient clearing up broken links and legacy embeds after fifteen years of use. WishList Member and a Different Choice Not all companies operate this way. WishList Member has honoured the price and feature set I signed up for over a decade ago. While new tiers exist, functionality hasn't been removed to force upgrades. This appears to be a deliberate choice, and it communicates something simple: long-term trust and loyalty matters more than short-term extraction. I’ll let you know if this situation changes… Growth Logic and the Limits of Choice It's tempting to frame all this as a moral failure, but it's structural. Growth-at-all-costs logic makes price rises, feature bloat, and lock-in almost inevitable. These companies aren't malfunctioning; they're functioning exactly as the system encourages them to. This also makes it risky to romanticise alternatives. Newer companies may simply be at an earlier stage of the same cycle. Google once promised “don't be evil”. Facebook positioned itself as a less invasive alternative to MySpace. Scale changes incentives. Meaningful change won’t come from individual consumer choices alone. Competition has been hollowed out, and escape routes are increasingly narrow. Doctorow provides a section of existing and potential solutions that can give us reasons for active hope. Have you felt the pinch of price hikes this year? Feel free to get in touch and share your experiences.

Dr. Gilbert Doctorow : Will the EU Steal Russian Bank Deposits?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There's a word that's gained a lot of popularity in the last year: “ensh*ttification”. It refers to a trajectory many see with digital platforms: they initially offer immense value to users, only to systematically degrade that quality over time in order to extract maximum surplus for shareholders. We invited the coiner of this term, science fiction author and activist Cory Doctorow, on the podcast to discuss whether he thinks this decline is an inevitable feature of digital markets or a consequence of specific policy failures. And, most importantly, how he thinks it could be reversed.For Doctorow, "ensh*ttification" is not simply a result of "revealed preferences", where users tolerate worse service because they value the platform, but rather the outcome of a regulatory environment that has permitted the creation of high switching costs and the elimination of competitors. Doctorow also argues that historically, interoperability acted as an engine of dynamism, allowing new entrants to lower the barriers to entry. But current IP frameworks, such as anti-circumvention laws, have been "weaponized" to prevent this, effectively allowing firms to enforce cartels and engage in rent-seeking behavior.Finally, Doctorow offers a critical assessment of the current AI boom, arguing that the sector is creating "reverse centaurs", where human labor is conscripted to correct algorithmic errors, and warns of a potential asset bubble driven by inflated revenue attribution. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Gilbert Doctorow : Trump Embraces RealismSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The new revival of the musical Ragtime, by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (book by Terrence McNally, based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow), is one of the big hits of the new Broadway season. Lincoln Center Theater has produced the latest rendition, and times have certainly changed since the musical's original Broadway production in 1998. The new revival makes the show's characters and issues even more relevant for our present day. Along with the fictional character Coalhouse Walker Jr. and the archetypal characters Father, Mother, and Younger Brother, the show features several celebrities and power players from turn-of-the-century New York. Anna Grace Barlow, who plays Broadway star Evelyn Nesbit, and Rodd Cyrus, who stars as iconic illusionist Harry Houdini, join The Gilded Gentleman for a behind-the-scenes talk about their characters and their experiences performing in the show. This episode was produced and edited by Kieran Gannon. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dr. Gilbert Doctorow : Are US/Russian Negotiations a Waste of Time?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dr. Gilbert Doctorow : Can Putin Tolerate More War?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

From flying to online shopping to using social media, everything seems to be getting worse. It's all — pardon our language here — shittier. According to today's Lever Time guest, that's no accident. Cory Doctorow is the author of Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It. In this episode, Doctorow explains how enshittification works, how it's infected our online spaces, and what we can do to stop it. Plus, as an exclusive bonus to our paid subscribers, click here for the rest of David's conversation with Cory Doctorow. They talk about why Americans are trapped on Facebook or Microsoft Office and how Donald Trump is using tech companies as weapons in his trade war. Doctorow also offers a few simple solutions to stop our world from going to shit. Not yet a paid subscriber? Click here for a special membership offer exclusive to Lever Time listeners. To leave a tip for The Lever, ⁠click here⁠. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. ⁠Click here⁠⁠ for a transcript of this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Sometimes a term is so apt, its meaning so clear and so relevant to our circumstances, that it becomes more than just a useful buzzword and grows to define an entire moment,” the columnist Kyle Chayka writes, in a review of Cory Doctorow's book “Enshittification.” Doctorow, a prolific tech writer, is a co-founder of the tech blog Boing Boing, and an activist for online civil liberties with the Electronic Frontier Foundation—so he knows whereof he speaks. He argues that the phenomenon of tech platforms seemingly getting worse for users is not a matter of perception but a business strategy. For example, “the Google-D.O.J. antitrust trial last year surfaced all these memos about a fight about making Google Search worse,” Doctorow explains, in a conversation with Chayka. A Google executive had suggested that, instead of displaying perfectly prioritized results on the first search attempt, “what if we make it so that you got to search two or three times, and then, every time, we got to show you ads?” But, Doctorow argues, there is hope for a better future, if we can resist complacency; big internet platforms all depend on forms of “surveillance” of their users. “The coalition [against this] is so big, and it crosses so many political lines,” Doctorow says, “that if we could just make it illegal to spy on people, we could solve so many problems.”New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.

Doctorow lays out his "enshittification" playbook—how tech platforms lure users, trap businesses, then extract value from both—tying it to interoperability, right-to-repair, and DMCA lock-ins, with Facebook as Exhibit A. He explains why incremental state laws can break Big Tech's coalitions better than sweeping federal reforms. Meanwhile, Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro warns, "If the gringos threaten, we work harder; if they attack, we respond," after Trump-ordered strikes sink another Caribbean vessel, this time with proof the public can't see. Also: the Spiel contends that hostages were freed not by moral suasion but by sustained force—and that human-rights maximalism, however sincere, often misunderstands how wars actually end. Produced by Corey Wara Production Coordinator Ashley Khan Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack