The 404 Media Podcast

For this week’s podcast, I’m talking to our friend Casey Johnston, a tech journalist turned fitness journalist turned independent journalist. Casey studied physics, which led her to tech journalism; she did some of my favorite coverage of Internet culture as well as Apple’s horrendous butterfly laptop keyboards. We worked together at VICE, where Casey was an editor and where she wrote Ask a Swole Woman, an advice column about weightlifting. After she left VICE, Casey founded She’s a Beast [https://www.shesabeast.co/], an independent site about weightlifting, but also about the science of diet culture, fitness influencers on the internet, the intersections of all those things, etc.  She just wrote A Physical Education: How I Escaped Diet Culture and Gained the Power of Lifting [https://www.caseyjohnston.website/my-work/a-physical-education], a really great reported memoir about how our culture and the media often discourages people from lifting, and how this type of exercise can be really beneficial to your brain and your body. I found the book really inspiring and actually started lifting right after I read it. In this interview we talk about her book, about journalism, about independent media, and how doing things like lifting weights and touching grass helps us navigate the world. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/vV0esl4LLIU Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

We start this week with Emanuel and Joseph’s coverage of ‘FuckLAPD.com [http://fucklapd.com/]’, a website that uses facial recognition to instantly reveal a LAPD officer’s name and salary. The creator has relaunched their similar tool for identifying ICE employees too. After the break, Jason tells us about a massive AI ruling that opens the way for AI companies to scrape everyone’s art. In the subscribers-only section, our regular contributor Matthew describes all the AI slop in the Iran and Israel conflict, and why it matters. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/1eieXQIaALA * ‘ [http://fucklapd.com/]FuckLAPD.com [http://fucklapd.com/]’ Lets Anyone Use Facial Recognition to Instantly Identify Cops [http://fucklapd.com/] * Judge Rules Training AI on Authors' Books Is Legal But Pirating Them Is Not [https://www.404media.co/judge-rules-training-ai-on-authors-books-is-legal-but-pirating-them-is-not/] * The AI Slop Fight Between Iran and Israel [https://www.404media.co/the-ai-slop-fight-between-iran-and-israel/] Thumbnail credit: Photo by Sean Lee [https://unsplash.com/@seanlee_?utm_source=ghost&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=api-credit]/Unsplash [https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=ghost&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=api-credit] Subscribe at 404media.co [http://404media.co/] for bonus content Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

This week we start with Joseph’s article about the U.S’s major airlines selling customers’ flight information to Customs and Border Protection and then telling the agency to not reveal where the data came from. After the break, Emanuel tells us how AI scraping bots are breaking open libraries, archives, and museums. In the subscribers-only section, Jason explains the casual surveillance relationship between ICE and local cops, according to emails he got. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/Auc7NPD2ig4 Our New FOIA Forum! 6/18, 1PM ET [https://www.404media.co/our-new-foia-forum-6-18-1pm-et/] * Airlines Don't Want You to Know They Sold Your Flight Data to DHS [https://www.404media.co/airlines-dont-want-you-to-know-they-sold-your-flight-data-to-dhs/] * AI Scraping Bots Are Breaking Open Libraries, Archives, and Museums [https://www.404media.co/ai-scraping-bots-are-breaking-open-libraries-archives-and-museums/] * Emails Reveal the Casual Surveillance Alliance Between ICE and Local Police [https://www.404media.co/emails-reveal-the-casual-surveillance-alliance-between-ice-and-local-police/] Subscribe at 404media.co [http://404media.co/] for bonus content Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Much of this episode is about the ongoing anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles. We start with Joseph explaining how he monitored surveillance aircraft flying over the protests, including what turned out to be a Predator drone. After the break, Jason tells us about the burning Waymos. In the subscribers-only section, we talk about the owner of Girls Do Porn, a sex trafficking ring on Pornhub, pleading guilty (a content warning for that one). YouTube version: https://youtu.be/o8Pb9l9FPaA * DHS Black Hawks and Military Aircraft Surveil the LA Protests [https://www.404media.co/dhs-black-hawks-and-military-aircraft-surveil-the-la-protests/] * DHS Flew Predator Drones Over LA Protests, Audio Shows [https://www.404media.co/dhs-flew-predator-drones-over-la-protests-audio-shows/] * Waymo Pauses Service in Downtown LA Neighborhood Where They're Getting Lit on Fire [https://www.404media.co/waymo-pauses-service-in-downtown-la-neighborhood-where-theyre-getting-lit-on-fire/] * Girls Do Porn Ringleader Pleads Guilty, Faces Life In Prison [https://www.404media.co/girls-do-porn-ringleader-michael-pratt-pleads-guilty/] Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

We start this week with Sam's dive into a looming piece of anti-porn legislation, prudish algorithms, and eggs. After the break, Matthew tells us about the open source software that powered Ukraine's drone attack against Russia. In the subscribers-only section, Emanuel explains how even pro-AI subreddits are dealing with people having AI delusions. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/daEt3CptlRU * The Egg Yolk Principle: Human Sexuality Will Always Outsmart Prudish Algorithms and Hateful Politicians [https://www.404media.co/egg-yolk-popping-instagram-tiktok-ioda-anti-porn-laws/] * Ukraine's Massive Drone Attack Was Powered by Open Source Software [https://www.404media.co/ukraines-massive-drone-attack-was-powered-by-open-source-software/] * Pro-AI Subreddit Bans 'Uptick' of Users Who Suffer from AI Delusions [https://www.404media.co/pro-ai-subreddit-bans-uptick-of-users-who-suffer-from-ai-delusions/]  Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]