Up Against Reality

We're rewinding to Episode 118 with Salesforce exec Vivek Mahapatra — a guy who's outlasted every enterprise tech hype cycle you can name — talking agentic design and scaling AI like a grown-up. But first, we're diving into this week's AI news, and it's a wild one.

Juilliard-trained composer, prog rock frontman, and 30-year piano teacher Mark Asch joins Up Against Reality to ask the question musicians are quietly panicking about: can AI make real art, or just really good karaoke? From scoring Fortune 500 brands to fronting X.Atlas, Mark brings real musicianship to the debate over what happens when machines start humming along.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Larry’s “Glass Animal” SUNO album

Steven Wilson: Home Invasion In Concert At The Royal Albert Hall

SUNO | AI Music

For inquiries relating to music composition, instruction, performance, production, or technology, Mark can be reached at info@markasch.com

AI-read Herculaneum scroll / PHerc. 1667

PODCAST INFO:

Podcast Website:
UpAgainstReality.com

Episode link:
https://upagainstreality.com/2026/07/07/mark-asch/

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

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

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

Think you have a few decades before the machines take over? Think again. It’s a chaotic race to commercialize physical AI and NVIDIA is frantically coding an OS to keep your new robotic peers from flattening you.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Boston Dynamics Atlas Robot

Inside NVIDIA Halos for Robotics

Figure AI

Unitree Robotics

Agility Robotics

Google DeepMind and A24 AI filmmaking partnership

A24 Films

PODCAST INFO:

Podcast Website:
UpAgainstReality.com

Episode link:
https://upagainstreality.com/2026/06/30/a-robot-in-every-home/

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

We rewind to our conversation from November 11, 2025 about whether the AI boom is becoming too big to fail. From OpenAI and NVIDIA to Wall Street speculation and the circular economy forming around AI, we revisit whether this is the next great technological revolution, the next great bubble, or somehow both.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Apple TV Intro made with practical effects

Xania Monet (AI-generated music artist)

PODCAST INFO:

Podcast Website: 
UpAgainstReality.com

Episode link: 
https://upagainstreality.com/2026/06/23/episode-rewind-ai-bubble-too-big-to-fail/

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

The tech elites swore AI was too dangerous for capitalism, right up until Wall Street waved a three-trillion-dollar check. Today we unpack the ultimate corporate sellout alongside killer drones, Claude Fable 5, and lawyers getting wrecked by ChatGPT.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Visualizing one billion dollars using grains of rice | YouTube

OpenAI’s official explanation of its evolving nonprofit/for-profit structure

Anthropic’s Responsible Scaling Policy v3.0

Google Cloud’s official TPU page

AP coverage of New York’s synthetic performer disclosure law for AI-generated ads

PODCAST INFO:

Podcast Website:
UpAgainstReality.com

Episode link:
https://upagainstreality.com/2026/06/16/ai-ipos/

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