February 4, 2026 — Real Talk

Earlier this week, Ben Collins, the owner of The Onion, was interviewed on Kara Swisher’s “On” podcast. The interview raised some core questions about the digital information age and how we in scientific publishing are handling it so far. Collins is from Massachusetts. His mother is a librarian, and he initially pursued a sports journalism career. In 2024, he became CEO of a company called Global Tetrahedron, which purchased The Onion. He wanted to rescue it from being purchased by Elon Musk and becoming “an AI slop farm.” Collins is also attempting to buy InfoWars from Alex Jones, mainly to make sure victims who have been awarded money from Jones’ lies and defamations can finally get some.  The interview touched on a core difference in the media space, one that I pondered independently before listening to the interview — Why is there one fake media space that is currently thriving but starting to crack under the strain, and a separate reality-based media space growing stronger and more interesting and relevant by the day? What does this portend? Where does scientific publishing fit into this now? Are we indulging unscientific fantasies of our own? And why is it so much more fun and impactful to be in the reality-based world today? We also share our “Discoveries of the Week.” “Stuff You Should Know” podcast about the color orange (and more): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stuff-you-should-know/id278981407?i=1000747999454 The Ransomware Hunting Team: https://reneedudley.com/ Now available in paperback Show Notes Interview with Ben Collins: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-onions-ben-collins-on-political-satire-why-trump/id1643307527?i=1000747679219 Subscribe to The Onion: https://membership.theonion.com/ Wired article about infiltrating Moltbook: https://www.wired.com/story/i-infiltrated-moltbook-ai-only-social-network/ “Polymaths” fantasies: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joemckendrick/2025/01/20/in-the-age-of-artificial-intelligence-polymaths-are-back-in-vogue/ Subscribe to our podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Amazon Music/Audible Subscribe on YouTube Music provided by Provoke the Truth — https://provokethetruth.net/