It seems the nearly 8 billion people living on Earth can't seem to agree on anything, much less cooperate to achieve a goal. But what if there was some way to unite them, to push the millions of different communities on the planet toward working together? One of the proposed answers is something called 'Project Blue Beam' -- the idea that, if you can't find a messiah, you can use technology to make one.
The great game for robots escalates; updates on Elon Musk. The Louvre heist is hilarious. Your grocery store conspires against you. All this and more in this week's strange news segment.
Vermont’s four Abenaki bands face ongoing pushback as they work to assert their Native American identity. With state recognition, the tribes enjoy certain hunting and fishing rights and the ability to list artwork as Native made. The Odanak First Nation in Canada is speaking out on social media and at press conferences, public events, and even at the United Nations, saying the people in Vermont claiming Abenaki blood have no connection to the Abenaki name and are only exploiting a legitimate and respected culture. It’s one of the remaining battlegrounds in the often-contentious discussions over identity.
How Michael O’Leary, the outspoken CEO of Ryanair, turned a struggling regional airline into a €28 billion powerhouse by relentlessly cutting costs and embracing controversy.
BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng uncover how O’Leary - who neither founded Ryanair nor intended to work in aviation - redefined the airline industry. Through radical cost-cutting, lightning-fast plane turnarounds, and headline-grabbing stunts, he transformed the company into a disruptive, ultra-low-cost giant. From his early ventures to his rise as the face of budget flying, this episode charts how his bold tactics reshaped how millions travel across Europe.
Good Bad Billionaire is the podcast that explores the lives of the super-rich and famous, tracking their wealth, philanthropy, business ethics and success. There are leaders who made their money in Silicon Valley, on Wall Street and in high street fashion. From iconic celebrities and CEOs to titans of technology, the podcast unravels tales of fortune, power, economics, ambition and moral responsibility, before asking the audience to decide if they are good, bad, or just billionaires.
“The more we look into social structures, the more many of us realize we don't fit into them," says So Mayer, author of the new book Bad Language, "So each phrase or set of vocabulary is another piece of that dismantlement.” We discuss finding vocabulary for oneself, coming out as a speech act, growing up under Section 28, busting through oppression and shame, and joyous listening.
Content note: in the episode we refer to sexual abuse or crimes against consent, and to suicide, but we do not go into any detail about these things, or describe any experiences. Also there are some category A and B swears.
Visit theallusionist.org/disobedience for more information about So's work and today's topics, plus a transcript of the episode.
Support the show at theallusionist.org/donate and as well as keeping this independent podcast going, you also get behind-the-scenes info about every episode; livestreams with me reading from my ever-growing collection of dictionaries, and the charming and nurturing Allusioverse Discord community, where among daily sharing of thoughts and amusements, we're watching The Princess Bride, the current season of Great Canadian Baking Off, and Game of Wool.
This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman, on the unceded ancestral and traditional territory of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Martin Austwick. Download his own songs at palebirdmusic.com and on Bandcamp, and listen to his podcasts Song By Song and Neutrino Watch.
Find the Allusionist at youtube.com/allusionistshow, instagram.com/allusionistshow, facebook.com/allusionistshow, @allusionistshow.bsky.social… If I’m there, I’m there as @allusionistshow.
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Quickie with Bob: Nanotech Cancer Drug; News Items: NEO Robot, UN Climate Report, Human Toolmaking, Worst Panspermia Headline Ever, AI-Powered Wound Healer; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Horse Evolution, Stranded Taikonauts; Science or Fiction
All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file.
- Occulture, Technomancy vs Tradition, and the Role of Magick in 2025
- The Shady Business of Lethal Injection: The Heart Stops Reluctantly
- The Shady Business of Lethal Injection: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
- The Shady Business of Lethal Injection: The Quality of Mercy
- Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #40
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