Actually Useful

The Sci-Fi to Silicon Valley Pipeline

We chat with author Justin Feinstein about his new novel, Your Behavior Will Be Monitored, about how weird it is to accidentally predict the future, and the role science fiction plays in defining our expectations of AI. In Falcon Mode, we investigate the surprisingly predatory world of teleprompter apps. Links: justinfeinstein.com [http://justinfeinstein.com] or Justin’s instagram [https://www.instagram.com/justinfeinstein/] Your Behavior Will Be Monitored [https://bookshop.org/p/books/your-behavior-will-be-monitored-justin-feinstein/fd68e26509c0ced2] Flesh and Code podcast [https://wondery.com/shows/flesh-and-code/] Hank Green’s video – Josh can you add the link for this Justin’s interview with Claude [https://claudereviews.com/interview.php?view=justin-feinstein] Akinator, the mind-reading genie game [https://en.akinator.com/] We’d love to hear from you. Email us at heyactuallyuseful@gmail.com [heyactuallyuseful@gmail.com] or find us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/actuallyusefulpod] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@actuallyusefulpod] (reluctantly).

The Promises and Pitfalls of Self-Publishing

We chat with author Kate Crow about the economics and illusions of the self-publishing industry, how Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program has changed both traditional publishing and book culture, and which art form is the polar opposite of AI slop. In Falcon Mode, we tell you how to avoid paying for subscriptions when you inevitably forget to cancel during the free trial period. Links: Til Death Do We Start on Amazon [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FVJQCDF4] or Bookshop.org [https://bookshop.org/p/books/til-death-do-we-start-kate-crow] Kate Crow on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/katecrowauthor/] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@katecrowauthor] Kate’s website [https://katecrowauthor.com/] That terrible Fortune article Josh mentioned [https://fortune.com/2026/04/17/teen-boys-dating-ai-chatbot-girlfriend-experts-warn-kill-social-skills-gen-alpha-network-promotions/] Draft2Digital [https://draft2digital.com/] Kobo [https://us.kobobooks.com/] We’d love to hear from you. Email us at heyactuallyuseful@gmail.com [heyactuallyuseful@gmail.com] or find us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/actuallyusefulpod] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@actuallyusefulpod] (reluctantly).

AI Video, Slopaganda, and the Making of Meaning

We chat with Jeremy Carrasco (@jeremyfindsai) about the most common uses of AI-generated video, what to make of the US-Iran meme war, and why beloved intellectual property can only be what it is when it’s created by humans. In Falcon Mode, we chat about the new DualShot Recorder iPhone app, made by @derrickdowneyjr to solve his own frustrating problem.  Links: @jeremyfindsai on TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyfindsai], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/jeremyfindsai/], and YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@JeremyFindsAI] Jeremy’s publication, riddance.ai [http://riddance.ai]  404 Media articles on the US-Iran slopaganda war [https://www.404media.co/iran-is-winning-the-ai-slop-propaganda-war/] and where Facebook’s AI slop comes from [https://www.404media.co/where-facebooks-ai-slop-comes-from/] We’d love to hear from you. Email us at heyactuallyuseful@gmail.com [heyactuallyuseful@gmail.com] or find us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/actuallyusefulpod] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@actuallyusefulpod] (reluctantly).

Meta’s Exploitation of Kids Has No Limit

We chat with Meta whistleblower Kelly Stonelake about Meta’s toxic culture being encoded into their products, how much they’re willing to exploit kids for profit at any cost, and what meaningful social media regulation might look like – especially after the landmark trials Meta lost in the days before we recorded this episode. In Falcon Mode, we chat about tools to help gig workers discover which delivery app is the least punishing to them. Links: Kelly’s Substack, Overturned [https://overturned.substack.com/] Kelly’s website, kellystonelake.com [http://kellystonelake.com]  Kelly’s documentation [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BYCoWPs9Y9hzzFsH_Bd8dzqKoEdAbXfzF9Bgq42NjAw/edit?usp=sharing] We’d love to hear from you. Email us at heyactuallyuseful@gmail.com [heyactuallyuseful@gmail.com] or find us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/actuallyusefulpod] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@actuallyusefulpod] (reluctantly).

You Might Be an Attention Activist

We chat about “human fracking,” how little we actually know about human attention, and the growing Attention Liberation Movement – a radical idea of agency that you’re probably already practicing! In Falcon Mode, we discuss platforms to strengthen renters’ rights. All the books we’ve mentioned in this episode: Attensity! by the Friends of Attention [https://bookshop.org/p/books/attensity-a-manifesto-of-the-attention-liberation-movement/fd52281dbcd359fc] Mutual Aid by Dean Spade [https://bookshop.org/p/books/mutual-aid-building-solidarity-during-this-crisis-and-the-next-dean-spade/6d964062e8ba8054] How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell [https://bookshop.org/p/books/how-to-do-nothing-resisting-the-attention-economy-jenny-odell/4eb2c2b6a7463e01] The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein [https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-shock-doctrine-the-rise-of-disaster-capitalism-naomi-klein/7bc48ede0635cd6a] Vulture Capitalism by Grace Blakely [https://bookshop.org/p/books/vulture-capitalism-corporate-crimes-backdoor-bailouts-and-the-death-of-freedom-grace-blakeley/66780111c39fa663] The Twilight of Democracy by Anne Applebaum [https://bookshop.org/p/books/twilight-of-democracy-the-seductive-lure-of-authoritarianism-anne-applebaum/7f9343b67c1e2894] We’d love to hear from you. Email us at heyactuallyuseful@gmail.com [heyactuallyuseful@gmail.com] or find us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/actuallyusefulpod] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@actuallyusefulpod] (reluctantly).