The UK is rapidly becoming one of the most aggressive surveillance states in the democratic world, and many don't even realize it's happening.

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[FREE SPEECH FRIDAY]

The UK has officially slid into a dystopian surveillance state, and the rest of the world is next. On this week's Free Speech Friday The Kavernackle joined me to discuss the terrifying reality of the Online Safety Act, the push for mandatory Digital ID, and how the UK is leading the global charge toward authoritarianism and mass surveillance.

From banning VPNs to arresting citizens for social media posts, the British government is dismantling privacy under the guise of "safety." We break down how liberals like Keir Starmer are spearheading these mass surveillance programs and why the "Blitz Spirit" mentality has altered the way so many in the UK understand nationalism and privacy.

The mass surveillance framework being built in London is coming to the US, as the crackdown on free speech is spreading across the globe.

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In this video, we cover:

• The Online Safety Act: How the new laws can force you to scan your face to access basic websites.

• Why the UK is trying to ban VPNs and remove online anonymity.

• How "hate speech" laws are weaponized against political dissent and pro-Palestine protests.

• Why British culture is uniquely susceptible to authoritarian overreach.

• Why US Democrats are adopting the exact same censorship playbook as Kier Starmer and Tony Blair.

• UK surveillance laws

• Online Safety Act explained

• Digital ID and age verification

• Facial recognition online

• VPN bans

• Free speech crackdowns

• Tech censorship

• Mass data collection

The MLM industry has rebranded for the TikTok era. Now, instead of hawking LuLaRoe leggings, women are paying $500 for PDFs on how to become micro influencers.

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The "hustle economy" is no longer about selling essential oils or leggings to your neighbors. A new wave of multi-level marketing-style schemes has taken over Instagram and TikTok.

Digital courses specifically targeting young mothers with the promise of "passive income" and "financial freedom" by becoming a content creator have become pervasive.

In this episode, I sit down with Caroline Moss (founder of "Gee Thanks, Just Bought It") to break down how content creation became the new digital pyramid scheme. We expose the dark reality of the influencer economy, the rise of Faceless Marketing scams, and why so many women are buying $500 PDFs just to turn around and sell that same PDF to someone else.

We talk about influencer saturation, the use of ChatGPT to write generic "chaos mama" scripts, the rise of "course core" and the heartbreaking reality that most of these creators are making absolutely zero dollars.

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In This Video:

• The evolution of MLMs.

• Why "Faceless Marketing" is the new trap for introverts.

• Selling courses about selling courses.

• The role of ChatGPT in generating low-quality influencer content.

• Why viral views don't equal a paycheck.

• The psychology of targeting stay-at-home moms.

• The origins of the mommy blogger world, Heather Armstrong aka "Dooce"

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For a decade, r/LiveStreamFail (LSF) has been the "beating heart" of Twitch culture, but at what cost?

One former reddit moderator went viral recently for posting a wild video addressed to Reddit's CEO, where he talks about the secret power he wielded in his role as moderator of Livestream Fail, a subreddit that catalogs news about the biggest streamers on Twitch for the parasocial fans who follow their every move.

But how did the Livestream Fail subreddit emerge, how did it become so influential, and how has its role in online culture evolved? Journalist Steven Asarch joins me to answer these questions. He's been covering the world of Livestream Fail for a decade.

From Destiny, to Asmongold, to Hasan Piker, LSF helps Twitch scandals break through on Elon Musk’s X ecosystem. Steven and I discuss how this viral clip culture actually works and how it can be weaponized. We talk about how the subreddit evolved from an "edgelord paradise" centered on Ice Poseidon to a political weapon used against progressive and women creators.

Steven explains the subreddit's origins and lore, and we reveal the truth about "clip farming," how billionaires are paying for right-wing rage bait, and how 30-second clips are fueling the alt-right pipeline.

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The Internet as we know it is on trial. A major suit claiming social media addiction could give the government unprecedented power.

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A landmark lawsuit in California claims that social media giants like Meta, TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat are intentionally designing their platforms to be addictive, causing severe mental health issues in minors. But is this really about protecting children, or is it a backdoor to destroy the free and open web? Experts say this lawsuit would set a dangerous legal precedent that gives the government total authority to regulate, censor, and control online content.

I sat down with journalist Liz Nolan Brown to break down the bellwether case that could end Section 230 protections and force Big Tech to work with the government to censor the internet like never before. We discuss the controversial claims of "social media addiction," the lack of scientific evidence linking apps to depression, and why this moral panic is similar to that surrounding the telephone decades ago.

Ultimately, this lawsuit is about who controls the internet and whether the government should have the power to control 100% of what we see and read online.

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Topics covered:

• The "Kagome" lawsuit against Meta, Google, and TikTok

• Does social media cause depression and anxiety?

• The threat to Section 230 and free speech

• Why "design defects" are the new legal weapon

• The history of moral panics in technology

• online privacy and surveillance

• government control of the internet

China is winning the culture war: From "galvanized square steel" to drinking hot water, why is the entire internet suddenly looking more Chinese?

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Over the past year, a massive cultural shift has taken place. From China-maxxing memes to TikTok migrations, Chinese tech, culture, and lifestyle have become aspirational in a way no one could have predicted a decade ago.

Twitch streamer and pop culture commentator Caroline Kwan joins me to break down how and why the internet became Chinese.

We discuss what these memes actually mean, and why US politicians are panicking. We talk about the TikTok ban, RedNote, Chinese tech dominance, cultural soft power, high speed rail, American decline, surveillance hypocrisy, and why Gen Z no longer believes what they were told.

We also talk about why American propaganda on China is collapsing in real time, and what that says about the future of politics, culture, and power in the 21st century.

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Topics Covered:

• "China Maxxing" and "You met me at a very Chinese time" memes.

• Why Gen Z is moving to Red Note (Xiaohongshu) after the TikTok ban.

• The contrast between US infrastructure (crumbling) and China (high-speed rail).

• The truth about the "Made in China" stigma vs. modern quality.

• Why US anti-China propaganda is backfiring.

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Last week, Brooklyn Beckham, the 26 year old son of Victoria and David Beckham, posted a 7 slide essay on Instagram Stories, accusing his parents of controlling his entire life and disrespecting his wife Nicola Peltz. Immediately, he was hit with a tidal wave of backlash.

Right wingers have pounced on this drama, with Candace Owens, House in Habit, and others pushing the idea that Nicola Pelz is yet another "Meghan Markle" and that Brooklyn is "Prince Harry 2.0," yet another privileged son being manipulated by an evil woman into betraying his family.

Kat Tenbarge joined me to break down what Brooklyn actually said, how tabloids and influencers are distorting the story, why Nicola Peltz was instantly cast as the villain, and what it reveals about how society reacts when men set boundaries with powerful families.

We discuss boy mom culture, media manipulation, and why cutting off family still triggers moral panic. We also talk about how PR machines operate, how smear campaigns are constructed, and why the public constantly blames women for men's choices.

While this seems like your standard celebrity drama, it actually reveals a lot about how our culture treats men, the normalization of gender-based violence and how propaganda works in the digital age.

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[FREE SPEECH FRIDAY]

Every single moment that you're online, you're feeding the data harvesting industry. Corporations then sell that data to the government, allowing them to target you for online speech, protesting, and more.

Now, the government wants to build a single centralized platform where U.S. spy agencies and the government can easily buy highly private information about millions of people. Documents obtained by The Intercept reveal that the U.S. is seeking to establish a "one stop shop" for the U.S. government to buy American's most sensitive data. This sort of surveillance is a massive threat to free speech and expression.

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[This episode originally aired in June 2025]

Matt Bernstein, Kat Tenbarge and I dig into what the 2016 nostalgia is really about.

Why is everyone suddenly obsessed with 2016? Hyper-saturated Instagram photos are back. The Snapchat puppy filter is everywhere again. Nostalgic edits are flooding TikTok. From the "King Kylie" era to Harambe, it feels like we’re collectively regressing.

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But was 2016 really “the last good year”? I wanted to understand why this particular moment looms so large in our cultural memory, so I called up my friends Matt Bernstein and Kat Tenbarge to discuss.

Kat is an incredible journalist and the author of Spitfire News, and Matt is an iconic podcast host and content creator. We re-examined the defining moments of 2016, talk about the old days of YouTube, why boomers don't get the nostalgia, and why 2016 has become such a powerful focal point.

We unpack what this fixation on 2016 reveals about today's internet, culture, and politics nearly a decade later.

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In this video, we cover:

• The revival of 2016 aesthetics on TikTok.

• Why people romanticize the pre-Trump/early-Trump era.

• The impact of 2016 internet humor on today's culture.

• The rise of the content creator industry.

• Why it's all Gen Z and Millennials who are getting nostalgic while older generations don't seem to care.