Up Against Reality

The future isn’t a random guess—it’s got a blueprint, and we’re stealing the framework to figure out what happens next. Plus, an AI data center copping a seven-figure surprise bill, 50 tons of vintage books mysteriously vanishing, and a digital starlet breaking character on live TV.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Hop Studio | Larry’s web app

Jev | typesafe.ai

AI Actress Melts Down In Piers Morgan Interview | YouTube

The Futures Cone | Joseph Voros

AI Futures: Washington and San Francisco Scenarios | PIIE

Weak Signals and Strategic Surprise | Igor Ansoff

Speculative Everything | Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby

PODCAST INFO:

Podcast Website:
UpAgainstReality.com

Episode link:
https://upagainstreality.com/2026/09/29/futures-thinking/

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

Who elected Big Tech—and when did AI companies get to write the rules? Plus: Rogue botnets, surveillance burrito bowls, data-center mega bills, and machines inventing their own language. You know, just another Tuesday in AI Bizarroland.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Mila on AI CEOs’ warnings | Instagram

God’s Eye View | Bilawal Sidhu’s GitHub project

Allison Stanger: The AI stack’s architecture is a constitution

Exit, Voice, and Loyalty | Albert O. Hirschman

Technofeudalism | Yanis Varoufakis

The Tech Coup | Marietje Schaake

OpenAI Terms of Use

Anthropic Consumer Terms of Service

PODCAST INFO:

Podcast Website:
UpAgainstReality.com

Episode link:
https://upagainstreality.com/2026/09/22/the-new-ai-constitution/

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

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