The Age of Transitions (social commentary)
Author and digital filmmaker Aaron Franz hosts this podcast about transhumanism, social manipulation, the occult, and much more.

Law and order for the people, and total criminality for their leaders. Fair is fair. 

Topics include: alternative media, Truth Movement, narrative fandom, guest spots, 2024 presidential election

Direct download: 397_Narrative_Fanboys.mp3
Category:social commentary -- posted at: 12:37am EDT

We are all being fooled, and fooling ourselves. When the fringe is the same as the mainstream, it matters less what we believe, and more how psychologically resilient we are. 

Topics include: Landers California, Giant Rock, George Van Tassel, UFO subculture, aerospace, truth, narratives, different forms of propaganda, dominant minority, appealing to emotion, fringe concepts in mainstream media, limited hangouts, entertainers as politicians, inevitable economic collapse, evolution of Tea Party movement

Direct download: 352_Unlimited_Hangouts_For_All.mp3
Category:social commentary -- posted at: 12:41am EDT

The tension between China and the United States is undeniable. What it all may be leading to is impossible to say, but trying to understand our current situation is a useful thing to do. Marlon Ettinger calls in to the show to help Aaron do just this. 

topics include: China, CCP, Xianjiang Provence, Uyghur, reeducation camps, concentration camps, propaganda, geopolitics, development, economics, military, Trump, Xi Jinping, technology, real estate, North Korea, South Korea

Direct download: 228_Chinese_Reeducation_Camps_and_American_Real_Estate.mp3
Category:social commentary -- posted at: 6:16pm EDT

The modern world has us all in a state of Hyper Activity. At this point what do we do to slow things down? 

topics include: hyperactivity, children, work, society, culture, America, United States, history, Native Americans, conservative cultures, liberal democracy, Western Civilization, Classical Civilization, politics, debate, propaganda, opinion, identity, ego, capitalism, corporations, corporate personhood, planned obsolescence, waste, production and consumption, materialism, wealth, American Dream

Direct download: 225_Hyper_Activity.mp3
Category:social commentary -- posted at: 11:19pm EDT

In this post-Trump era politics has taken a turn for the strange, violent, and entertaining.  We, the people, love engaging content, but where do we draw the line when it comes to serious issues? Have we collectively lost our mind? 

topics include: iTunes reviews, PA governors race, Tom Wolf, Wagner, golf spikes, professional wrestling, Juggalos, ICP, Gathering of the Juggalos, ADDTV, Donald Trump, comedy and politics, 2016 presidential race, law and order, authoritarian takeover, martial law, partisan politics, divisive issues, arguing in place of debate, real change


What have the transhumanists been up to these days? Aaron does his best to keep up, and he cites a Rand Corporation podcast about Ai. 

topics include: Trump hysteria, Obama Joker, Alex Jones, the Fool, Themes and Memes, The Wicker Man, transhumanists, left/right political divide, Max More, IEET, technoprogressives, Rand podcast about Ai, Big Data, machine learning, naivety, alt media merging with mainstream media, divide and conquer, The System, war economy, MIC, need for wisdom

Direct download: 170_Randian_Amazonian_Artificial_Intelligence.mp3
Category:social commentary -- posted at: 12:36am EDT

Can we accurately describe our world in cliches? Aaron takes a look at a popular phrase of our day to see if it holds up.  

topics include: what Aaron has been up to, podcasts, news stories, automation, human labor displacement, think tanks, Brookings, problems of philosophy, confusion, cliches, you can’t blame the world for your problems, social issues, dealing with the dark side, vacuous positivity, new age, media, negative thoughts considered bad, reality TV, The Voice, celebrity, fame, ego, making it to the top, Social Darwinism, USPS, toxic work environment, psychological disorders, suicide, bottomline results, going postal, stress related illnesses, blame the victim, lack of empathy, Jacques Ellul, world for machines, sensitive people, the system, angry mob

Direct download: 168_Can_You_Blame_the_World_for_Your_Problems_1.mp3
Category:social commentary -- posted at: 7:30pm EDT

Transhuman technologies present very real dangers. That they could be used malevolently by terrorists is obvious. In today's terrorized world, what do we think will happen as such technologies "hit the market"? They won't be allowed into the hands of the average person to use as they please as many transhumanists wish to see happen.

topics include: instant news coverage, terror attacks in Brussels, keeping up with the news, entertainment shows, media convergence, sensationalism, terrorism, banning Muslims, modern political paradigm, Post 9/11 World, Security State, alternative media shifting views, transhumanism, transhuman fundamentalists, scientism, overpopulation, eugenics, terrorist potential of emerging technologies, Newt Gingrich, Age of Transitions, stakeholders, NBIC, nanotechnology, grey goo, biotechnology, Information Technology, digitized world, hackers, Cyber Security, Cognitive technologies, implantable chips, brain hacking, car hacking, ISIS, security agencies, military, 3D printing, artificial intelligence, narrow Ai, AGI, pattern recognition, video games, Big Data, social simulations, predictive models, Singularity Summit, autonomous machines, human labor displaced, human dignity attached to labor, Twitter, internet, memes, new podcast

Direct download: 161_Transhumanism_and_Terrorism.mp3
Category:social commentary -- posted at: 12:56am EDT

The Dark Side of the USPS and its Uncertain Future, TRR#152

Reflections on life as a City Carrier Assistant (CCA) working for the United States Postal Service. This and many more thoughts about the future of the USPS and of work in general are the focus of this podcast episode.

topics include: USPS, work, CCA, mail carrier, oath to Constitution, federal employee, sanctity of the mail, union, 1970 postal workers strike, NALC, manhood, office time, casing, sortation, stress, pressure, management, anxiety, Mr McFeely, no time to stop, federal, private corporations, privatization, Postal Reorganization Act, Kappel Commission, LBJ, Nixon, Board of Governors, public service, 2006 retirement funding crisis, US Treasury, military veterans, NSA, Negotiated Service Agreement, Sunday parcel delivery, Amazon Prime, Amazon, corporate control, Jeff Bezos, Washington Post, Bilderberg, fulfillment centers, drones, autonomous vehicles, robotization, downsizing human workforce, mail volume, cluster boxes, machines, conspiracy theory

Direct download: 152_The_Dark_Side_of_the_USPS_and_its_Uncertain_Future.mp3
Category:social commentary -- posted at: 1:47am EDT

Aaron looks at the recent Paris terror attacks and gives his opinions on media reaction to it. Reactionary is a good word to describe both mainstream and alternative media these days. The Islamic State, or I.S.I.S., is also discussed in terms of its highly charged name. Rival internet group Anonymous may have anonymity, but I.S.I.S. has acronymity.

topics include: conspiracy culture, media, confusion, terror, memes, ideologies, wars, military, agendas, dialectic, taking sides, ISIS, fiction, television shows, predictive programming, no hard proof, memes, occult, Mother of the Mysteries, acronyms, fire and ice, Iraq, Al Sham, Syria, goddess, Nature, intangible, lack of proof, narratives, religion, crusade, anger, exploitation, Operation Iraqi Freedom, nation state, government, alchemy, Kali

Direct download: 149_Paris_Terror_Attacks.mp3
Category:social commentary -- posted at: 12:47pm EDT

What appeared to be a grassroots protest rallying against the dangers of artificial intelligence was no more than a marketing stunt. One designed to sell an online dating app of all things. The inability to understand abstract ideas has led us to a point where marketing holds tremendous sway over our lives.

topics include: Stop the Robots, SXSW, marketing, artificial intelligence, grassroots movements, Adam Mason, media, protests, politics, counter-intelligence, infiltration, admitting our faults, transhumanism, Ray Kurzweil, attention, ideas, images, alchemy, mystique, subjectivity vs objectivity, perception, rationalization, Four Arguments For the Elimination of Television, Jerry, Mander, seeing is believing, subconscious, mind, abstract concepts

Direct download: 123_Ai_Protest_Marketing_Scheme.mp3
Category:social commentary -- posted at: 1:25am EDT

Everyone knows that David Lynch has a dark side, but what about his enlightened side? As it turns out this might just represent the darkest thing that Lynch has to offer. There is certainly more going on than is to be seen on the surface when it comes to transcendental meditation and its most famous proponent.

topics include: Berlin presentation, Invincible Germany, performance art, video, body language, David Wants to Fly, transcendental meditation, cult, spiritual concepts, baseless optimism, heavy unstressing, dissociation, depersonalization, derealization, Russell Brand, Ellen Degeneres, Jerry Seinfeld, Ringo Starr, Martin Scorsese, fact and fiction, ideas, esoteric, mystique, films, occult, lighting, dreams, sexual perversion, violence, altered states of consciousness, mind control, DID, dissociative identity disorder, Mulholland Drive, nihilism, audience, confusion, new age, magic

Direct download: 120_David_Lynch_the_cult_of_TM_and_mind_control.mp3
Category:social commentary -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

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