Up Against Reality

OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra is here, and we put it through real-world tests—from controlling desktop apps and editing a podcast to building games, websites, and creative tools—before asking the big question: are we actually entering the AGI era? Plus, Jensen Huang’s very convenient enthusiasm, a “safety-first” AI lab caught surveilling activists, and a rock band evicted from its own username.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Larry’s ChatGPT-6 Astra experiments:

The Gravity Playground

UAR Escape the Algorithm game

UAR The Living Episode

3D interactive home theater model

SR-71 Blackbird educational website

YouTube:

We need to talk about this… | Matthew Berman

PODCAST INFO:

Podcast Website:
UpAgainstReality.com

Episode link:
https://upagainstreality.com/2026/09/15/chatgpt-6-astra/

Apple Podcasts:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654

Spotify:
open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170

RSS:
upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality

Here come the AI micro-dramas — the sixty-second, AI-generated soap operas quietly hijacking your phone. Plus: a CEO learns the hard way that privacy is a two-way street, ICE goes pet shopping, NYC pumps the brakes on the classroom’s newest distraction, and one country just handed its citizens a very generous gift.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Vertical Video Syndrome – A PSA

WonderClip

ReelShort

Vigloo

PineDrama | TikTok’s official short-drama app

Peacock Deepens Mobile Engagement With Vertical Video and Original Unscripted Microdramas

ChatGPT-6 Astra’s Safety Overview

South Korea’s AI for All Project

PODCAST INFO:

Podcast Website:
UpAgainstReality.com

Episode link:
https://upagainstreality.com/2026/09/08/ai-micro-dramas/

Apple Podcasts:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654

Spotify:
open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170

RSS:
upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality

Debra Ross spent 25 years building KidsOutAndAbout.com the old-school way – then AI turned her into a coder. We talk about her AI-powered business pivot, scaling from 52 to 160 regions, and raising kids who use AI without letting AI use them.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

KidsOutAndAbout.com | Your local guide to everything for kids, teens, and families

BeyondTheNest.com | Your local guide to America’s arts, culture and recreation

The Eclipse Effect – Debra Ross & Jamie Carter

How Students Can Use AI to Learn to Write (Without Giving Away their Brains)

Main Street Event AI Summit – Practical AI for Real Businesses

Sacrificial Garden | Larry’s new Glass Animal album SUNO project

PODCAST INFO:

Podcast Website:
UpAgainstReality.com

Episode link:
https://upagainstreality.com/2026/09/01/debra-ross/

Apple Podcasts:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654

Spotify:
open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170

RSS:
upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality

AI’s now got a taste for jazz, your chatbot’s been gossiping about you behind your back, and OpenAI hit the brakes hard enough to leave skid marks. It’s an AI news avalanche for the ages.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SUNO Studio

Learning Jazz Fingerprints

Claude Academy

Cortical Labs | Living Human Brain Cells Play DOOM

Unitree New Robot Preview: “Superman”

PODCAST INFO:

Podcast Website:
UpAgainstReality.com

Episode link:
https://upagainstreality.com/2026/08/25/ai-news-avalanche-vol-6/

Apple Podcasts:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654

Spotify:
open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170

RSS:
upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality

Raina takes the wheel again this week, rewinding to Episode 68: We Were Once Gentlemen — a dive into whether AI is dragging civility off a cliff, from deepfakes to algorithm-fed rage, and whether tech can help drag us back. News first, nostalgia second.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

PolitePOST.net

Leveraging AI for democratic discourse: Chat interventions can improve online political conversations at scale

Deepfake detection with and without content warnings

South Korea: Cabinet passes new bill to criminalize even possession of deepfake porn

PODCAST INFO:

Podcast Website:
UpAgainstReality.com

Episode link:
https://upagainstreality.com/2026/08/18/episode-rewind-we-were-once-gentlemen/

Apple Podcasts:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654

Spotify:
open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170

RSS:
upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality