Superhuman - From Engineered Desire to Engineered Consent

Out of Balance

In the season finale of Superhuman, Aaron brings on four guests for a closer look at the cracks in the system, at the incentives that put them there, and why remembering is the first step to fixing them. Click here [https://player.vimeo.com/progressive_redirect/playback/1042358980/rendition/1080p/file.mp4%20%281080p%29.mp4?loc=external&log_user=0&signature=b55ff470dbeead7b0164cfad2014d84bd55c20b44777d80e2c9145482080d69f] to watch a collection of video clips of Avery set to the music from Koyaanisqatsi. Guests Danica Noble www.electdanica.com [https://www.electdanica.com/] Brian Boland www.delta-fund.org [https://www.delta-fund.org] Julianna Arnold https://parentsrise.org/ [https://parentsrise.org/] Reiko Callner Music Joachim Cooder Various tracks www.joachimcooder.com/ [https://www.joachimcooder.com/] Evelyn Simone Requiem Theme https://evelynsimone.com/ [https://evelynsimone.com/]  Kjartan Abel CC BY-SA 4.0 https://kjartan-abel.com [https://kjartan-abel.com] Chapters 00:00 The Last Concert 03:11 The Concentration of Power and Its Consequences 06:31 Inside Meta: A Whistleblower's Perspective 17:20 The Role of the FTC in Regulating Big Tech 27:49 The Fight Against Corporate Power and Wealth Concentration 39:11 The First Amendment and Corporate Accountability 46:20 Antitrust Laws in the Digital Age 51:54 The Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Justice 55:18 The Fight for Accountability in Digital Spaces 01:00:01 Empowering Parents and Advocating for Change 01:04:41 The Importance of Grassroots Movements 01:10:26 Understanding the Legal Landscape 01:15:40 The Historical Context of the Justice System 01:20:50 The Need for Community-Centric Justice 01:25:37 Reclaiming Values in the Legal System 01:30:33 Recognizing the Extraction Economy 01:33:26 The Fight Against Concentrated Power Subscribe for updates or follow me on Substack. https://substack.com/@superhumanpodcast [https://substack.com/@superhumanpodcast?r=5gzte9&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=stories&shareImageVariant=blur] Contact Us [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2544694/fan_mail/new]

Wolves and Children

A bill can say “child safety” on the front and still protect the companies causing the harm. In Wolves and Children, Aaron traces how lobbying, legal misdirection, and manufactured public pressure shape the laws parents are told to trust. Featuring Brody Mullins, Julia Duncan, Sarah Gardner, and Lennon Torres. Links and Resources Brody Mullins The Wolves of K Street Podcast A companion podcast exploring lobbying, corporate influence, and power in Washington. https://www.thewolvesofkstreet.com/podcast [https://www.thewolvesofkstreet.com/podcast] The Deciders A show about the people and forces shaping politics, business, and public life. https://www.deciders.show/subscribe [https://www.deciders.show/subscribe] Julia Duncan American Association for Justice The national organization representing trial lawyers and civil accountability work. https://www.justice.org/ [https://www.justice.org/] Sarah Gardner HEAT Initiative Advocacy focused on tech accountability and child safety. https://heatinitiative.org [https://heatinitiative.org] Scrolling 2 Death A podcast about social media harms and digital safety. https://www.scrolling2death.com/ [https://www.scrolling2death.com/] Lennon Torres Diary of a Palatable Trans Woman Lennon’s Substack and personal writing. https://thediaryofapalatabletransgirl.substack.com/ [https://thediaryofapalatabletransgirl.substack.com/] More Links and Recommendations Parents RISE A parent-led group advocating for reform and accountability around online harms. https://parentsrise.org/ [https://parentsrise.org/] The Amazing Generation A youth-facing guide to understanding persuasive technology and healthier digital habits. https://www.anxiousgeneration.com/book/amazinggeneration [https://www.anxiousgeneration.com/book/amazinggeneration] Overturned by Kelly Stonelake Not mentioned in the episode, but one of my personal favorites by a close friend in the movement. https://overturned.substack.com/ [https://overturned.substack.com/] Chapters 00:00 Introduction: what keeps the truth buried 02:05 Brody Mullins on how lobbying really works 06:20 The 50-year rise of corporate influence 12:30 SOPA, engineered outrage, and the outside game 16:04 Julia Duncan on Big Tobacco, opioids, and Big Tech 19:39 Inside the KIDS Act markup 27:30 Sarah Gardner on pressure, app stores, and accountability 34:37 Section 230 versus product design 44:05 Lennon Torres on queer kids, grooming, addiction, and false tradeoffs 55:00 Why civil discovery still matters 1:01:33 Where parents go from here Contact Us [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2544694/fan_mail/new]

Muted Cases

In “Muted Cases,” Aaron recounts the days after Avery’s death—the evidence scramble, and the slow, brutal realization that what the community most needs to understand can be narrowed, negotiated, and effectively erased from the official record.  The episode expands beyond one family’s loss into a repeatable pattern: teen networks, platform mechanics, and legal structures that struggle to name what’s happening in plain language. Through an anonymous former teen witness, the Chapman family’s push for Sammy’s Law, and a second youth perspective from Cole, “Muted Cases” makes the case that these aren’t isolated tragedies—they’re predictable outcomes of a system that prioritizes speed, scale, and plausible deniability over child safety and public warning. 00:00 — Opening: the part of the story Aaron could not tell until now 07:23 — Anonymous witness: TravisOlympia’s Snapchat delivery system 13:25 — Snapchat's baked safety plan, Counterfeit vapes and the nicotine pipeline 19:50 — Sam Chapman: Sammy’s story and the fight for accountability 25:52 — California’s SB 918 and the push for operational accountability 29:19 — APIs, profit motive, Snapchat’s AI claims, and the legal gap 40:18 — Cole’s story: growing up inside the Snapchat drug economy 46:01 — Closing reflection: from one boy’s story to a larger pattern  Contact Us [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2544694/fan_mail/new]

Ideas and Reality

I wasn’t planning to write or record this week, but the one-year angelversary and a lonely holiday got under my skin, and I couldn’t help myself. What follows is a bit of a spiral: a walk through the same spiral logic so many of us get pulled into, where fear and outrage compound, the feed “finishes” the story for us, and the loudest narratives start to feel like reality. This is a companion episode to the main arc of the season, part personal processing and part pattern-spotting, connecting propaganda, algorithms, and the business incentives that reward escalation. In the second half, I’m joined by Jennie Desario for a deeper conversation about how these spirals show up in real life, and what it looks like to step back and find the signal again. (00:00) The Invisible Protest (03:36) The Binary Machine (10:45) Making Monsters Respectable (13:07) Growth at All Costs (20:05) Both Sides of the Same Coin (28:44) When Reality Inverts (31:12) Free Typing (33:34) Mason's Search for Help (40:27) The Adults in the Room (01:02:42) Ideas vs Reality Audio clips featured in this episode are sourced from the All-In Podcast and are included for commentary. Contact Us [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2544694/fan_mail/new]

In Good Faith

Twenty-six words written in 1996 gave platforms legal immunity. One court decision in 1997 turned that immunity into a business model. Attorney Carrie Goldberg shares what it's like representing hundreds of victims, from sextortion to cyberbullying to suicide, and watching nearly every case slam into the same wall. Brett Allred and Kristin Bride reveal what the absence of "good faith" looks like when platforms know the patterns but wait for children to die. And as Section 230 finally begins to crack, we expose the tech industry's next move: rebranding the same harmful systems as "AI" to claim a new decade of immunity. When courts won't look under the hood, we will. Content warning: Discussion of suicide, drug overdose, online exploitation 00:00:00 - Twenty-Six Words The three-week delay and Section 230's shield 00:03:29 - The Good Samaritan Betrayed What Congress intended vs. what courts decided 00:05:30 - Zeran's Inversion How one 1997 case changed everything 00:09:00 - The Business Model of Blindness Operating anatomy: Why platforms choose ignorance 00:11:00 - Carrie's Courtroom A decade fighting the same wall 00:18:30 - The Algorithm Problem Why Section 230's walls are finally cracking 00:22:00 - The AI Escape Hatch Tech's next immunity play 00:25:30 - Riley's Story When the website wishes you luck as you die 00:29:30 - What They Knew Evidence that leaked out anyway 00:34:30 - The Supreme Court Punts Gonzalez v. Google and the pattern they ignored 00:40:00 - The Tobacco Playbook Profitable ignorance at scale 00:45:30 - Carson's Story 220 million downloads of a documented deadly pattern 00:52:00 - The Privileged Defense Why people fight for platform immunity 00:57:00 - The Movement Survivor parents refusing to stay silent 01:02:30 - The Light We Hold Call to action: How to talk to your kids Music by: Kjartan Abel CC BY-SA 4.0 https://kjartan-abel.com [https://kjartan-abel.com/] Contact Us [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2544694/fan_mail/new]