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Don't Praise The Machine (DPTM)

Start 2026 By Remembering 1996

We kick off 2026 by looking back exactly 30 years to 1996—the year Google was born, Dolly the sheep was cloned, and the Macarena consumed the world. From Tamagotchis and Nintendo 64 to the Spice Girls and Independence Day, we dissect how much has changed from that era of optimistic stability to today's urgent uncertainty. Join us for a journey through the cultural touchstones that shaped millennials and the strange path that brought us to 2026

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  • Our Matcha Obsession Tells Us Everything

    57:50|
    Matcha's been absolutely everywhere for a while. How did we get here? What cultural, commercial and psychological forces sit behind matcha's runaway success? And what is the next matcha?
  • Why Hollywood Men Wear Fake Packages

    47:47|
    We watched 28 Years Later and noticed something strange: the "naked" zombies aren't actually naked. Turns out 80-90% of what you see on screen is completely fake. From White Lotus to Euphoria to Pam & Tommy, Hollywood actors are wearing carefully crafted prosthetics instead of the real thing.Why the sudden shift? We investigate the rise of intimacy coordinators, the on-set rules that changed everything, and the surprising industry behind Hollywood's most realistic fake body parts.Discover how one Australian lawyer-turned-intimacy coordinator revolutionized filmmaking, why major productions now budget thousands for prosthetics, and what directors like Danny Boyle look for when selecting the "perfect" prosthetic for their alpha zombies.It's a fascinating look at how modern Hollywood balances artistic vision, actor comfort, and legal protection—all while keeping audiences fooled.
  • 249. Kick Streaming: High Stakes, Chaos & No Rules

    51:34||Ep. 249
    Stare into the neon-green abyss of Kick.com, a gambling sanctuary where $100 million contracts and uncurated chaos have created the unhinged frontier of streaming. Let's cross this digital desert of high-octane antisocial behavior to see if culture is evolving or just making everything much, much worse.
  • When Movie Soundtracks Ruled The World

    01:12:01|
    Remember when movies had bangers? From Top Gun to Pulp Fiction, we unpack how soundtracks shaped pop culture—and why they vanished.
  • Is Your Face "Correct"? The Dystopian Cult of Looksmaxxing

    59:05|
    Can a single millimeter change the course of your life? In this episode, Alexander and John descend into the obsessive world of "Looksmaxxing"—where the human face is no longer a part of the soul, but another thing to be "optimized" for the sexual market and beyond.
  • DPTM Christmas Special / 2025 Wrapped

    01:04:50|
    It's the most wonderful time and that means the lads are sharing personal wins from the year, looking back at the most impactful episodes of 2025, checking in on the best Gen Z lingo of the last 12 months, and making some bold predictions for 2026.
  • Namecore: The Internet's Obsession With Naming Everything

    45:59|
    When and why did we start naming every little niche - and defining ourselves in terms of -cores, vibes and aesthetics?
  • White Lies: The Psychology of Faking Race & Identity

    01:00:53|