Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael
Society & Culture
On this edition of Parallax Views, much has been made about the dark, harmful, deceptive, and negative ways which deepfake technology can be utilized as its usage becomes democratized in the coming years. From racists using the tech to make the black lead actress of Disney's upcoming live-action The Little Mermaid white to involuntary pornography and nudification apps, there are some noxious ways the tech has been used so far. That said, can their also be positive uses for these technologies? Artist Stephanie Lepp believes it can and has played with deepfakes in her Webby Award-winning project Deep Reckonings, which imagines controversial figures like Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg confronting the worst aspects of themselves vis-a-vis deepfaked conversations.
Stephanie joins us on this edition of the program to discuss the potential for pro-social deepfakes as seen in her Deep Reckonings series as well as:
- Re-evaluating our ideas around Accountability and redemption at our current social/cultural juncture
- The origins of Deep Reckonings, Stephanie's Reckoning podcast, and her imaginary conversation with the Pope (in which the Catholic Church's leader reckons with the Church's sexual abuse scandal)
- A discussion about Alex Jones, how he's seemed to change over the years, his doubling down on having done nothing wrong in his handling/coverage of the Sandy Hook case, and his interviews with Joe Rogan
- Charles Koch and Stephanie's idea for a reckoning he'd have regarding the issue of climate change; taking people as acting in good faith even if they're ideas our wrong
- Technology and our relationship with knowledge; evolving our concept of truth; ecstatic truth and truth through fiction
- Is deepfake technology good, bad, or neutral?; context and culture in relation to deepfake tech's use; technological determinism
- Stephanie's early activism related to the environment and how it played a role in her later endeavors like Deep Reckonings
- Social change and personal transformation
- Future deep reckonings; Vladimir Putin; our relationship to truth and propaganda
- The politics of synthetic media; do technologies have political qualities?
And much, much more!
Huwaida Arraf, Co-Founder of the International Solidarity Movement/Jeff Halper, Head of the Israeli Commitee Against House Demolitions
A Perspective from Palestine w/ Fathi Nimer
Netanyahu’s Clampdown on Israeli Dissidents, the History of Hamas, and the Blowback of Netanyahu’s Divide-and-Conquer Strategy w/ Zachary Foster
Israel/Palestine, the Bombing of Gaza, Hamas, and the Danger of Irrationality in the Current Moment w/ Ian S. Lustick
Israel/Palestine, Hamas, the Bombing of Gaza, 9/11, and Blowback w/ Scott Horton
The Calculus of Hamas and the Strategy of Atrocity in Warfare w/ Christopher W. Jones
Continued Coverage of Hamas Attack, Israel’s Retaliation in Gaza, and Events Unfolding in the Middle East w/ ReThinking Foreign Policy’s Mitchell Plitnick
Hamas Attack, Israel’s Retaliation in Gaza, and More w/ Abe Silberstein
The Hamas Attack, Israel/Palestine, U.S. Foreign Policy, and How Hamas Got Power in the First Place w/ Prof. Stephen Zunes
Hamas’ Unprecedented Attack on Israel and How It May Change Middle East Geopolitics Irrevocably w/ James M. Dorsey
The Secret History of Watergate: Nixon, Howard Hughes, and Blackmail in Politics w/ Jonathan Marshall
The Political Right and Equality: Turning Back the Tide of Egalitarian Modernity w/ Matt McManus
Nagorno-Karabakh and the Persecution of Armenians w/ Alfred de Zayas, Former UN Independent Expert on International Order
U.S. Foreign Policy, Great Power Competition, and the Azerbaijani Ethnic Cleansing of Armenians w/ Mark Movsesian
Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories w/ Mike Rothschild
The Afghanistan Ouroboros, the BCCI, and 9/11 w/ Blowback’s Noah Kulwin
Liberalism Against Itself: Cold War Intellectuals and the Making of Our Times
War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine w/ Norman Solomon
Military Carbon Emissions & Congressional Blocking of DoD Emission Reduction Efforts w/ Hanna Homestead
Unanswered Questions: What the September Eleventh Families Asked and the 9/11 Commission Ignored w/ Ray McGinnis
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Voices of Misery Podcast
House of Whimsical Terror
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL