Episode · Behind the Bastards · 2024-01-30
Books mentioned on Part One: Tech Bros Have Built A Cult Around AI
Robert sits down with Ify Nwadiwe to talk about the weird cult that's formed around AI, and some of the most powerful people in Silicon Valley. (Adapted from his article in Rolling Stone: https://www.
Ify Nwadiwe discussed All About Love by Bell Hooks. Robert Evans discussed Underground and Dune by Frank Herbert.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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All About Love
All About Love is a profound cultural and philosophical exploration by bell hooks that examines the nature of love, emotional disconnection, and the societal structures that promote lovelessness.
Discussed“I just finished all about love by Bell Hooks and you know, she often talks about like the the the wandering life with lovelessness and that and that searching for it and not having having it”
Where to get it
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Underground
Discussed“Haruki Murakami wrote of the members of Aum Shinrikyo, the cult whose sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995 killed 13 people. In his book Underground, Murakami describes most Aum members”
Where to get it
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Dune
Dune by Frank Herbert is a sweeping science fiction epic set on the desert planet Arrakis, chronicling the rise of a young messiah named Paul Atreides amidst intergalactic political betrayal and the extraction of a valuable resource known as spice.
Discussed“I think about that a lot when I think about things like the Butlerian Jihad, the war against the intelligent machines in the Dune in Dune or, you know, what happened in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“And obviously the the thing that the Warhammer people are are inspired by is like the Butlerian Jihad in Dune, which is the the more artful version of that story with less orcs, um which makes it inferior in my mind”