The Internet is Crack

We speak with Dr. Green about the explosive growth of AI data centers, their enormous power and water demands, environmental impact, and whether the race to build AI infrastructure is sustainable.

Dr. Haslam explores how the internet transformed language, culture, and relationships, weighing its extraordinary benefits against growing risks, including polarization, misinformation, and the subtle reshaping of everyday human behavior.

Dr. Cansu Canca dives into AI ethics, unpacking how hidden biases shape intelligent systems and what it will take to build fairer, more trustworthy AI. An engaging and accessible look at one of the defining challenges of our technological future.

Dr. Nathan Schneider argues that the internet doesn’t have to belong to giant corporations. Communities, co-ops, and small groups can build and govern digital spaces themselves, giving people more control over their online lives and economic futures.

We talk with Dr. Stephen M. Fiore about his research on human-Al collaboration and how it extends from Earth-based decision systems to space missions. His work examines how people and intelligent systems coordinate, adapt, and solve problems together in complex, high-stakes environments.

Dr. Nikolay Atanasov joins us to discuss robotics, artificial intelligence, and how AI is transforming autonomous machines, reshaping industries, and influencing humanity’s future.

Jocelyn Burnham is passionate about Al and shares that passion with her workshop students. She invites audiences to experience Al firsthand, question assumptions, and form their own independent views.

This week, Dr. Michael Graziano explores whether AI could ever become truly alive, why humans project consciousness onto machines, and how artificial intelligence is already learning to manipulate us emotionally and psychologically.

2026 Pulitzer Prize winner in fiction, Daniel Kraus spoke to us about his award-winning book, “Angel Down,” just before its release. We discuss AI, storytelling, and the future of human creativity.

This week’s guest, Maribeth Rauh, formerly of Google DeepMind, explains why people so often treat AI like a person and how that illusion can distort judgment and lead to real-world harm.

Dr. Ryan Jenkins explores a future where AI surpasses humans. He examines economic upheaval, artistic purpose, and the search for meaning when machines outperform us at nearly everything humans value.

Robot ethicist Professor Alan Winfield joins us to explore the real risks of robots and AI and what they mean for humanity’s future.

Dr. Alan Winfield explores how robots evolve through error, imitation, and iteration, revealing surprising parallels with human learning, culture, and creativity, while questioning what “learning” really means for machines.

We speak with Dr. Julie Carpenter about how technology encourages emotional bonds with robots and AI, exploring whether these relationships feel genuine, manipulative, or are just something new.

Those who own your data own you! In this episode, Aral Balkan exposes how billionaire corporations have seized control of the internet, turning us into products, and why reclaiming our digital rights is the fight of our lifetime.

This week, we had the honor of speaking with Alice E. Marwick, Director of Research at Data & Society, a nonprofit research institute that examines the social, political, and legal implications of data-driven technologies. We explored how online communication is warped by profit-driven systems, why bad actors thrive in digital spaces, and what makes civil discourse so elusive in the age of algorithmic manipulation.

Dr. Kasra Ghaharian joins us to discuss the rise of digital betting.

We talk with Dr. Randolph R. Lewis about his new book “Bummerland: Ruin and Restoration in Trump’s New America.” We explore how technology, politics, and culture are reshaping society and not always for the better.

We talk with Dr. Ben Green about what AI data centers really cost, from nonstop noise and pollution to the massive drain on water and energy. The bigger question is this the future we want, or are we pouring resources into something fundamentally unsustainable?