The Shoggoth in the Machine: AI, ARGs, and the Future of Play (w/ Reed Berkowitz)

How to Glitch the AI System (w/ Sophie Strand)

Sophie Strand (author of The Flowering Wand and The Body Is a Doorway) joins Rushkoff for a conversation about breaking free from the dominant paradigms of our time. Together, they challenge the Silicon Valley Sky God obsession with scaling up, critique the limitations of institutional think tanks, and dive into how modern systems have systematically stripped us of our foundational skills. From the intelligence of mycelial networks to practical strategies for becoming "indigestible" and completely useless to AI, Strand offers a somatic framework for navigating civilizational crisis. 🌍 Your support keeps Team Human alive! Support the show to receive ad-free access to videos, livestream Q&As with Rushkoff, access to the community Discord and more: https://www.patreon.com/teamhuman 🤝 Team Human is proudly supported by Groucho. You can take 50% off your first month by using promo code "teamhuman": https://mygroucho.club/teamhuman Download Groucho: Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/groucho/id6756526142?ct=teamhuman&mt=8 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.trampoline.groucho&utm_source=website&utm_medium=landing&utm_campaign=teamhuman Follow Team Human with Douglas Rushkoff: Instagram: https:/www.instagram.com/douglasrushkoff TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/douglasrushkoff Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/rushkoff.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands [https://redcircle.com/brands] Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy [https://redcircle.com/privacy]

Carnival vs. Coliseum: Reclaiming Our Shared Civics

Rushkoff breaks down the disturbing cultural shift toward Might Makes Right, a playground philosophy that values raw power, wealth, and violence over morality and mutual aid.  From the organic, joyful street celebrations of the New York Knicks winning the NBA Finals to the surreal, hyper-industrial gladiatorial spectacle of the UFC erected right on the South Lawn of the White House, Rushkoff explores the stark contrast between human connection and authoritarian propaganda.  He dives deep into why social Darwinism completely misunderstands the natural world, how nature actually favors cooperation, and why treating life like a prison yard game makes us all weaker.  🌍 Your support keeps Team Human alive! Support the show to receive ad-free access to videos, livestream Q&As with Rushkoff, access to the community Discord and more: https://www.patreon.com/teamhuman [https://www.patreon.com/teamhuman] 🤝 Team Human is proudly supported by Groucho. You can take 50% off your first month by using promo code "teamhuman": https://mygroucho.club/teamhuman Download Groucho:  Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/groucho/id6756526142?ct=teamhuman&mt=8 [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/groucho/id6756526142?ct=teamhuman&mt=8] Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.trampoline.groucho&utm_source=website&utm_medium=landing&utm_campaign=teamhuman [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.trampoline.groucho&utm_campaign=teamhuman&utm_medium=landing&utm_source=website] Follow Team Human with Douglas Rushkoff: Instagram: https:/www.instagram.com/douglasrushkoff TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/douglasrushkoff   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/rushkoff.com Our Sponsors: * Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands [https://redcircle.com/brands] Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy [https://redcircle.com/privacy]

Adam McKay: We've Already Left the Holocene

"The most useful framework is that our country’s been invaded. But like all great invasions, it involves new techniques." - Adam McKay Academy Award-winning filmmaker Adam McKay (Don’t Look Up, The Big Short, Succession) dissects the urgent cultural, political, and planetary moment we are living through. McKay brings a massive unified theory exploring how our prehistoric evolutionary limits - and the constraints of Dunbar’s Number - are colliding with a collapsing Holocene and modern corporate media systems designed to abstract us from reality. From Leonardo DiCaprio's ad-libbed line that broke the crew on the set of "Don’t Look Up" to a clear-eyed diagnosis of the macro "Hail Mary" phase of climate adaptation, Rushkoff and McKay chart a path through doomerism. Together, they argue that surviving a post-Holocene world requires breaking the digital illusion, reclaiming pro-social local networks, and finding the holy act of mutual connection on the deck of the Titanic. 🌍 Your support keeps Team Human alive! Support the show to receive ad-free access to videos, livestream Q&As with Rushkoff, access to the community Discord and more: https://www.patreon.com/teamhuman 🤝 Team Human is proudly supported by Groucho. You can take 50% off your first month by using promo code "teamhuman": https://mygroucho.club/teamhuman [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&q=https%3A%2F%2Fmygroucho.club%2Fteamhuman&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbjZpU1VXcm9ha0hGZ0NxQWRlUTBkTkZaMHE5QXxBQ3Jtc0tudV9FU0RiVXlHNUFQUWEtZ2lDLUo5cmJoNHY1UXdwM3QybVpqdFZyMHRLV2ppNjVDYmRPaVNpVm04cEtlOTJ1YjhvdXFsWl9qMFkyMUlIMlQxV3lsSFk2NE00eC1mSzAtM25sdFlEalF1VG9tbFRvVQ&v=5bf6tW_k4XA] Download Groucho:  Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/groucho/id6756526142?ct=teamhuman&mt=8 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.trampoline.groucho&utm_source=website&utm_medium=landing&utm_campaign=teamhuman Follow Team Human with Douglas Rushkoff: Instagram: https:/www.instagram.com/douglasrushkoff TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/douglasrushkoff   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/rushkoff.com Our Sponsors: * Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands [https://redcircle.com/brands] Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy [https://redcircle.com/privacy]

Formulas Against the False Self: Mitch Horowitz on Left-Hand Path Magic

Mitch Horowitz returns to Team Human for a fiery, provocative exploration of his new book, Esoterika: Formulas Against the False Self.  Rushkoff and Horowitz grapple over one of the most foundational concepts in modern mindfulness: The Serenity Prayer. While Rushkoff shares his recent journeys into radical porousness, learning how to surrender, accept grace, and metabolize the world’s heavy energies, Horowitz brings a hammer to premature consolation. Is the dictate to accept the things you cannot change keeping you trapped in a mechanical, flattened existence?   Horowitz argues we possess more agency over our realities than therapeutic culture wants us to believe. By exploring applied Nietzscheanism, the true mechanics of Left-Hand Path magic, and the urgent necessity of cutting cruel people out of our lives, this conversation challenges you to strip away performative love and light and reclaim your childhood wishes. Order Esoterika: https://www.amazon.com/Esoterika-Formulas-Against-False-Self/dp/1722507624/ 🌍 Your support keeps Team Human alive! Support the show to receive ad-free access to videos, livestream Q&As with Rushkoff, access to the community Discord and more: https://www.patreon.com/teamhuman 🤝 Team Human is proudly supported by Groucho. You can take 50% off your first month by using promo code "teamhuman": https://mygroucho.club/teamhuman Download Groucho:  Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/groucho/id6756526142?ct=teamhuman&mt=8 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.trampoline.groucho&utm_source=website&utm_medium=landing&utm_campaign=teamhuman Follow Team Human with Douglas Rushkoff: Instagram: https:/www.instagram.com/douglasrushkoff TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/douglasrushkoff   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/rushkoff.com Our Sponsors: * Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands [https://redcircle.com/brands] Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy [https://redcircle.com/privacy]

The Shoggoth in the Machine: AI, ARGs, and the Future of Play (w/ Reed Berkowitz)

How do we keep the machine from pulling us into another world, or escaping into ours? Rushkoff is joined by OG game designer, hacker, and Director of Curiouser Institute Reed Berkowitz to explore the liminal space between reality, fiction, and artificial intelligence. From the early days of late-80s text-based worlds and San Francisco’s cyberdelic rave culture to the complex modern landscape of AI development, Douglas and Reed compare notes on what they thought the internet would become - and what it actually grew into. ✨ Learn more about Reed’s work: http://www.curiouserinstitute.com 🌍 Your support keeps Team Human alive! Support the show to receive ad-free access to videos, livestream Q&As with Rushkoff, access to the community Discord and more: https://www.patreon.com/teamhuman 🤝 Team Human is proudly supported by Groucho. You can take 50% off your first month by using promo code "teamhuman": https://mygroucho.club/teamhuman Download Groucho: Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/groucho/id6756526142?ct=teamhuman&mt=8 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.trampoline.groucho&utm_source=website&utm_medium=landing&utm_campaign=teamhuman Follow Team Human with Douglas Rushkoff: Instagram: https:/www.instagram.com/douglasrushkoff TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/douglasrushkoff Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/rushkoff.com Our Sponsors: * Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands [https://redcircle.com/brands] Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy [https://redcircle.com/privacy]