Neomania

11: DIY Food Futures and Synthetic Ecology w/ @cyber_plantae

Exploring plant literacy, AI agents with soul, and why the permanent underclass needs its own tech stack. I'm joined by CyberPlantae (@cyber_plantae [https://x.com/cyber_plantae]), founder of futurespore.com, a solarpunk and agricultural resilience knowledge platform. We get into how the pandemic exposed the fragility of our food systems and why most people will tell you they couldn't grow a tomato to save their lives. CyberPlantae shares how she went from composting and farmwork to teaching herself to code, all in service of building G.A.I.A., an AI "master gardener in your pocket." We talk about technology as a synthetic form of ecology, how to imbue AI agents with soul instead of slop, and why the people building the future should probably be thinking more about food, water, and shelter than they currently are. Along the way we get into solarpunk as something you actually live rather than just post about, why imagination is consistently defunded, and what it looks like when online communities start propagating back into the physical world. -it's ya boi Links: CyberPlantae: * https://x.com/cyber_plantae [https://x.com/cyber_plantae] * https://futurespore.com [https://futurespore.com] * https://tiktok.com/@futurespore [https://tiktok.com/@futurespore] Your Host, Lance "it's ya boi" Robotson: * https://robotson.media [https://robotson.media] * https://x.com/robotson [https://x.com/robotson] * https://bsky.app/profile/robotson.media [https://bsky.app/profile/robotson.media]

10. Capital Bending and Gray Market Futures w/ Chairman Birb

Exploring financial speculation, medical self-experimentation, and why some people bet on radically different futures. I'm joined by Chairman Birb Bernanke (@bonecondor), pseudonymous crypto twitter cryptid, event organizer, and founder of The Secret Soup Company. We trace the strange currents of speculation as culture, from meme coins and financial nihilism to the art of "capital bending" where attention becomes money and money becomes momentum. Birb shares her personal experiments with gray-market biotech, DIY peptide regimens, and the shifting line between treatment and enhancement. We talk about "jester's privilege" online, the embodied politics of the squishy future, and how group chats are mutating into a new kind of social infrastructure. Along the way we cover irradiated cat boogers, Powerball retirement plans, soup as social theory, and why liquidity (financial or social) might be the only ingredient you really need for the future. -it's ya boi Links: Chairman Birb Bernanke:• https://x.com/bonecondor• https://x.com/secretsoupco Your Host, Lance "it's ya boi" Robotson:• https://robotson.media• https://x.com/robotson• https://bsky.app/profile/robotson.media

9. Cultural Fracking and World Running w/ @thejaymo

Exploring solarpunk as a memetic engine, cultural fracking, and how worlds are the medium of the 21st century. I'm joined by Jay Springett (@thejaymo), solarpunk steward, world-runner, and author of thejaymo.net. Together we dig into how cultural fracking has left our collective imagination hollowed out, what it means to treat worlds as a creative medium, and why protocols and infrastructures may be the real artforms of the future. We discuss copyright battles from Napster to Disney to AI training data, the parallels between hip-hop sampling and machine learning, and how solarpunk thrives not just as an aesthetic but as a generative memetic engine for imagining alternate futures. Along the way, Jay traces a line from D&D in 1974 to MUDs to corporate canon world-running, unpacks "protocol art" as artistic gestures upstream of production, and argues that futuring itself can provide a laboratory for testing ideas for what comes after the fall of empires, because as Jay tells us, you can't fight a culture war unless you're making culture. -it's ya boi Links: Jay Springett: * https://thejaymo.net [https://thejaymo.net] * https://x.com/thejaymo [https://x.com/thejaymo] * https://bsky.app/profile/thejaymo.net [https://bsky.app/profile/thejaymo.net] Your Host, Lance "it's ya boi" Robotson: * https://robotson.media [https://robotson.media] * https://x.com/robotson [https://x.com/robotson] * https://bsky.app/profile/robotson.media [https://bsky.app/profile/robotson.media]

8. Field Tape: Vibe Camp 2025

Guerrilla interviews on slurry futures, tactical optimism, and why you should never pray for a deluge. I went to Vibe Camp 2025 with a laptop harness and a USB mic, looking for impromptu conversations with anyone willing to be recorded. What emerged is a cross-section of how some very online people are thinking about our weird futures. I present to you: six frameworks from the ground at Vibe Camp. Topics include: • The coming evolution of humanity into an amorphous slurry • Why you need to do more offsites with people you love • The bait-and-switch of the social contract • Complexity inflation and the need for a human-centered internet • The Promethean vs. Titanocratic dynamic • What kinds of futurisms age best Guests (in order of appearance): • Joe Krisciunas – https://x.com/1bit2far [https://x.com/1bit2far] • An anonymous optimist • @nephew_jonathan – https://x.com/nephew_jonathan [https://x.com/nephew_jonathan], https://nephewjonathan.substack.com [https://nephewjonathan.substack.com] • Leo Guinan – https://x.com/leo_guinan [https://x.com/leo_guinan], https://hitchhikertothefuture.substack.com [https://hitchhikertothefuture.substack.com] • JLRFC – https://substack.com/@jlrfc [https://substack.com/@jlrfc] • Michael Burnam-Fink – https://x.com/mburnamfink [https://x.com/mburnamfink] — it’s ya boi Your host, Lance “it’s ya boi” Robotson: https://x.com/robotson [https://x.com/robotson] https://bsky.app/profile/robotson.media [https://bsky.app/profile/robotson.media] More from the expanded Neomania site: https://neomania.net [https://neomania.net]

7. Stochastic Funnerism and Autonomous Media w/ @somewheresy

A deep dive into media evolution, generative chaos, attention economics, and the uncertain frontiers of digital culture In this episode, I'm joined by digital performance artist, developer, musician, and creative provocateur, @somewheresy. Together, we explore our turbulent media ecosystem—one where longevity grows elusive, songs become shorter and catchier by algorithmic necessity, and the temperature of attention economics continues to rise. We discuss the evolving role of podcasts as both a medium and genre still in its infancy, question why legacy media icons maintain cultural dominance despite the fragmentation brought on by the internet, and consider whether the coming explosion of generative AI media will drown us in endless slop – or open radical new possibilities for creativity, parody, and even digital civil disobedience. Along the way, we trace internet culture from Flash-era absurdism to "YouTube Poop" remixes, reflect on why deep fakes may represent vital tools for artistic freedom, and speculate on how autonomous media—where AI-driven generative systems produce infinite, unpredictable content—could challenge the hegemony of established media institutions. What happens when everyone has their own personal Hollywood studio in their pocket? Are we heading toward media singularity or generative chaos? Join us as we navigate these provocative possibilities—and the futures they might unlock. -it's ya boi Links: somewheresy: https://x.com/somewheresy [https://x.com/somewheresy] https://bsky.app/profile/somewhere.lol [https://bsky.app/profile/somewhere.lol] https://www.somewhere.systems [https://www.somewhere.systems] Your Host, Lance "it's ya boi" Robotson: https://x.com/robotson [https://x.com/robotson] https://bsky.app/profile/robotson.media [https://bsky.app/profile/robotson.media] Look out for more from the expanded Neomania Site: https://neomania.net [https://neomania.net]