Up Against Reality

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

Raina’s flying solo this week, with a rewind of Episode 110’s descent into pure evil: Palantir. But first, this week’s AI news — fake disasters, resume hackers, brand-new viruses, and more. That sounds normal, right?

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SUNO

Palantir Technologies

Palantir: Gotham

Rheinmetall

DEVS (miniseries)

A House of Dynamite (trailer)

Zero Day (Netflix series)

PODCAST INFO:

Podcast Website:
UpAgainstReality.com

Episode link:
https://upagainstreality.com/2026/08/11/episode-rewind-palantir/

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

No script, no real agenda. Just two friends catching up, sharing what’s top of mind. And obviously AI is right up there. Organic conversation. Projects, ponderings and a bit of taking stock.

We’re pulling this banger from the archives. Aerospace engineer turned finance guy turned DSP legend, Serkan Gür built A1 Evo, made digital signal processing must-watch YouTube, and was vibe coding before it had a name. Plus this week’s AI news up top.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Serkan Gür/OCA Audiophile
OCA Audiophile | YouTube

Audio Science Review Forum

A1 Evo Support | Facebook Group

Obsessive Compulsive Audiophile | GitHub

Larry’s Atmos 5.2.4 system

DSP and audio software

Room EQ Wizard (REW)

Audyssey room correction technology

Roon music management software

PODCAST INFO:

Podcast Website:
UpAgainstReality.com

Episode link:
https://upagainstreality.com/2026/07/28/episode-rewind-serkan-gur/

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

German transcript of the original episode:
https://upagainstreality.com/2025/06/30/serkan-gur-german-transcript/

OpenAI just dropped three new models at once — but is GPT-5.6 actually smarter than Claude, or just cheaper and louder about it? Plus: Apple lawyers up against OpenAI, ChatGPT quietly buries one of its own, and your AI coding assistant falls for the oldest trick in the book.