Culturally Determined

New York Magazine technology columnist John Herrman analyzes recent discourse around artificial intelligence, including high-profile AI hacking incidents. How has the cultural and political discourse around AI changed? Is an AI financial bubble about to burst? And what do Meta's new Muse agents show how Silicon Valley views the world?Recorded October 21, 2026LINKSNew York Magazine on AI whistleblowershttps://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/ai-researchers-quit-openai-anthropic.htmlJohn on AI apocalypse narrativeshttps://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/why-everyones-talking-about-the-ai-apocalypse.htmlJohn on OpenAI's rogue agentshttps://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/are-openai-agents-going-rogue-or-is-openai.htmlJohn on Muse agentshttps://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/ai-agent-flood-muse.htmlZeynep Tufekci's piece, "The Unstoppable Force of A.I. Hype Is Meeting One Immovable Fact"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/30/opinion/ai-agents-steal-jobs-employment.htmlAryeh on using Bluesky to quit Twitterhttps://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2026/08/28/how-delete-x-twitter-sign-up-bluesky/91447669007/Aryeh's Substack newsletter, "Links I Like"https://aryehcw.substack.com/Follow John on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jwherrman.bsky.socialFollow Aryeh on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/aryehcw.bsky.social

Timothy Noah of The New Republic discusses his recent essay, "Why Trump May Not Serve Out His Presidency" arguing that Trump has become so politically toxic that Republican politicians will turn on him after the midterm elections.Recorded September 29, 2026LINKSTim's piece, "Why Trump May Not Serve Out His Presidency"https://newrepublic.com/article/215634/trump-may-not-finish-presidencyTim's accompanying Substack piecehttps://timothynoah.substack.com/p/why-trump-wont-finish-his-termNew Yorker on the man who drafted the 25th Amendmenthttps://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/05/11/is-the-twenty-fifth-amendment-really-an-optionNYT on Trump administration extracting gold from Venezuelahttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/world/americas/venezuela-gold-trump.htmlJacob Weisberg's new book, "Profiles in Cowardice"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/818503/profiles-in-cowardice-by-jacob-weisberg/Tim on political braveryhttps://newrepublic.com/article/193118/political-courage-cowardice-trump-resistanceTim on a Whig revivalhttps://newrepublic.com/article/178041/gop-dying-time-whig-revivalAryeh's new professional websitehttps://www.aryehcohenwade.com/Tim's Substack, Backbencherhttps://timothynoah.substack.com/Aryeh's Substack, Links I Likehttps://aryehcw.substack.com/

Phoebe discusses her recent essay, "Woke 2, antisemitism by another name." Did Oct. 7 and the Gaza war create a common foe for the broad left to unify against—namely, the Jews? Or has the second Trump administration supplanted Israel as the American left's enemy number one? What does the John Galliano Met Gala disaster reveal about the acceptability of antisemitism? Aryeh also discusses his recent essay on how to quit Twitter/X in three easy steps.Recorded August 31, 2026LINKSPhoebe's piece, "Woke 2, antisemitism by another name"https://thecjn.ca/opinion/woke-2-antisemitism-by-another-name/Phoebe and Aryeh's previous podcasthttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-last-straight-woman-with-phoebe-maltz-bovy/id981282353?i=1000771840036New York Magazine's "Habibi City" packagehttps://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/swana-new-york.htmlDavid Polansky's piece, "‘New York Magazine’ food feature leaves a bad taste"https://thecjn.ca/opinion/new-york-magazine-food-feature-leaves-a-bad-taste/NYT on Galliano's spa faux pashttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/28/style/galliano-met-gala-critics.htmlPhoebe on the Cornell antisemitic studenthttps://thecjn.ca/opinion/why-calling-antisemites-weird-doesnt-cut-it-anymore/Aryeh on quitting Twitterhttps://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2026/08/28/how-delete-x-twitter-sign-up-bluesky/91447669007/Phoebe's new book, "The Last Straight Woman: On Desiring Men"https://www.amazon.com/Last-Straight-Woman-Desiring-Men/dp/0771013027Phoebe's Substack, Close-reading the rerunshttps://phoebemaltzbovy.substack.com/Aryeh's Substack, Culturally Determined: Links I Likehttps://aryehcw.substack.com/Follow Phoebe on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/phoebebovy.bsky.socialFollow Aryeh on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/aryehcw.bsky.social

Bob talks about his new book, "The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning." He describes how using AI to research treatment options when he had cancer convinced him of the technology's power. How seriously should we take "doomer" predictions that AI could lead to global catastrophe? Aryeh thinks average people are revolting against the technology, while Bob believes there are ways to use AI to overcome the cognitive biases that plague humanity.Recorded August 4, 2026LINKSBob's new book, "The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning"https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-God-Test/Robert-Wright/9781668061657Aryeh's new Substack newsletter, "Culturally Determined: Links I Like"https://aryehcw.substack.com/Aryeh and Bob discuss the legacy of Bloggingheadshttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/20-years-ago-bloggingheads-was-a-trailblazer-with/id981282353?i=1000735793526"Pacing the Frontier" letterhttps://www.pacingthefrontier.com/New Yorker profile of Sam Altmanhttps://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/04/13/sam-altman-may-control-our-future-can-he-be-trustedThe NonZero Newsletterhttps://www.nonzero.org/Nonzero podcasthttps://www.nonzero.org/podcastFollow Bob on Twitter: https://x.com/robertwrighterFollow Aryeh on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/aryehcw.bsky.social

Claire Carusillo discusses her debut novel, "The Responsible Party," which just received a rave review in the New York Times. Claire uses bizarre real events from her family history to tell a comic multigenerational story of shipwrecks, the Chicago suburbs, humidity, and murder. She also discusses Storyboard, her new bookstore/skate shop/coffee shop in Midway, Utah — and the famous "tradwife" influencer who opened a store in the same town.Recorded August 5, 2026LINKSClaire's novel, "The Responsible Party"https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250408631/theresponsibleparty/Claire's new store, Storyboardhttps://www.storyboardmidway.com/NYT on tourists in Midway, Utahhttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/09/us/tradwife-ballerina-farm-utah.htmlStoryboard on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/storyboardmidway/Follow Aryeh on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/aryehcw.bsky.social

Phoebe discusses her new nonfiction book, "The Last Straight Woman: On Desiring Men," which critiques the contemporary discourse about female heterosexuality.Recorded June 4, 2026LINKSPhoebe's new book, "The Last Straight Woman: On Desiring Men"https://www.amazon.com/Last-Straight-Woman-Desiring-Men/dp/0771013027Phoebe on what she didn't want the cover to behttps://phoebemaltzbovy.substack.com/p/everything-i-learned-and-didnt-learnThe audiobookhttps://www.audible.com/pd/The-Last-Straight-Woman-Audiobook/B0G24L7BV4?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdpPhoebe's post, "Men and women are exactly the same"https://phoebemaltzbovy.substack.com/p/men-and-women-are-exactly-the-sameKristen Roupenian's 2017 short story, "Cat Person"https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/11/cat-personPhoebe's Substack, Close-reading the rerunshttps://phoebemaltzbovy.substack.com/Follow Phoebe on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phoebe.maltz.bovyFollow Phoebe on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/phoebebovy.bsky.socialFollow Aryeh on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/aryehcw.bsky.social

Sarah Wang discusses her debut novel, "New Skin," a dark comedy about a young woman whose mother is addicted to plastic surgery. After a bad nose job ruins the mother's face, she becomes a contestant on a reality show where people with botched plastic surgery compete to win reconstructive surgery. The novel explores class, immigrant lives, the labor of marginalized women, Los Angeles — and is also very funny.Recorded May 8, 2026LINKSSarah's new book, "New Skin"https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/sarah-wang/new-skin/9780316594523/Sarah's Instagram account, @daikonoclasthttps://www.instagram.com/daikonoclast/Follow Aryeh on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/aryehcw.bsky.social

Adrian Bonenberger, a writer and Army veteran, is running for governor of Connecticut on a platform of establishing a voluntary state guard. He explains how a state guard would decentralize power to the local level, and how his experience training military volunteers during the Ukraine War informed his view on threats to America and possibilities for a different kind of civic engagement.Recorded March 24, 2026LINKSAdrian's campaign sitehttps://www.bonenbergerforgovernor.com/Adrian's 2023 piece on "Civil War"https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/4374348-a-second-american-civil-war-wouldnt-look-like-a-movie/Follow Adrian on Twitter: https://x.com/AdrianBonenber1Follow Aryeh on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/aryehcw.bsky.social