Up Against Reality

We rewind to our conversation from November 11, 2025 about whether the AI boom is becoming too big to fail. From OpenAI and NVIDIA to Wall Street speculation and the circular economy forming around AI, we revisit whether this is the next great technological revolution, the next great bubble, or somehow both. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Apple TV Intro made with practical effects Xania Monet (AI-generated music artist) PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website: UpAgainstReality.com Episode link: https://upagainstreality.com/2026/06/23/episode-rewind-ai-bubble-too-big-to-fail/ Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS: upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality

They built the future in your backyard, signed an NDA with your mayor, and sent you the water bill. This week we force open the windowless boxes at the center of everything: data centers. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Kan Jam | Best game ever. Trust us. IBM 2321 “Noodle Picker” storage system | Wikipedia The ENIAC History | University of Pennsylvania SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) & ARPANET History Eddington | movie – official site Virginia Is The World’s Data Center Hub | vpm.org Two-Phase Liquid Immersion Cooling | YouTube Brockovich AI Data Center Reporting PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website:UpAgainstReality.com Episode link:https://upagainstreality.com/2026/06/02/data-centers/ Apple Podcasts:podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify:open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS:upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality

We’re unpacking everything from Google I/O and why their head of AI says we’re standing in the “foothills of the singularity.” Plus, an all-AI feature film crashes Cannes, Barnes & Noble’s massive PR bonfire, and the Pope teaming up with an AI startup at the Vatican. Wait, what? LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Google I/O 2026 Google I/O 2026 announcements collection 100 things announced at Google I/O 2026 Google I/O 2026 keynote Demis Hassabis and John Jumper Nobel Prize / AlphaFold song.link | smart link tool for music and podcasts Hell Grind | Official trailer for AI-generated feature film PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website:UpAgainstReality.com Episode link:https://upagainstreality.com/2026/05/26/google-i-o-2026/ Apple Podcasts:podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify:open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS:upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality

99.9% of every species that ever existed is extinct. This week, we explore Max Tegmark’s twelve AI future scenarios and ask how artificial superintelligence, failed alignment, surveillance, automation, and human self-destruction could bring the human era to an end. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE MIT Explains the 12 Possible Endings for AI | YouTube Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark AI Aftermath Scenarios — Future of Life Institute What does AI do when no one is watching? | YouTube Statement on AI Risk — Center for AI Safety 1961 Goldsboro B-52 Crash | Wikipedia Vasily Arkhipov | Wikipedia The Underwater Cuban Missile Crisis at 60 | National Security Archive Stanislav Petrov | Wikipedia 1983 Soviet Nuclear False Alarm Incident | Wikipedia PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website:UpAgainstReality.com Episode link:https://upagainstreality.com/2026/05/19/12-ways-ai-ends-the-human-era/ Apple Podcasts:podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify:open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS:upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality

Jim DeWitt joins us to talk AI agents, portable brains, and why the future of intelligence might need an owner’s manual. Meanwhile: Spotify’s getting weirder, Hollywood’s panicking, and the AI gold rush just hit another absurd milestone. Business as unusual. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Evenrail | Jim DeWitt MemPalace | Open-source AI memory system Open Brain | Nate Jones AI Second Brain | Matt Wolfe YouTube Obsidian Coffee Roaster Instruction Manual Rock Song | SUNO LawrenceBentley.com | Larry’s Codex-coded website PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website:UpAgainstReality.com Episode link:https://upagainstreality.com/2026/05/12/jim-dewitt/ Apple Podcasts:podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify:open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS:upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality