Douglas Rushkoff sits down with scientists, activists, artists, philosophers, and researchers asking the same question: who actually benefits from the way we've built this world — and what do we do about it? Team Human is a weekly podcast about technology, power, consciousness, and what it means to stay human in a world that increasingly doesn't seem designed for us. No corporate backing. No network. No algorithm deciding what gets said. Just honest, rigorous conversation with people working at…
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Rushkoff sits down with renowned chef Benjamin Castro of Benjamin's Kitchen to explore the intersection of food, community, and what it means to nourish the human spirit. Chef Castro shares his journey, breaking down why food is more than just fuel. 🌍 Your support keeps Team Human alive! Support the show to receive ad-free access to videos, livestream Q&As with Rushkoff, access to the community…
Are we so focused on saving the world that we’re forgetting how to care for it? Rushkoff explores the paralyzing ambient terror of the meta-crisis, polycrisis, and impending societal collapse. Recounting a transformative personal experience sitting at the bedside of a dying relative, Rushkoff re-evaluates the urge to fix everything through abstract strategies and grand interventions. Instead of…
Rushkoff sits down with author, podcaster, and scholar Conner Habib (Against Everyone with Conner Habib, Hawk Mountain) for a conversation about what we have to lose before anything can change. They move from dying-before-you-die and the idea that civilization has not yet begun, into Rudolf Steiner's Ahriman -- the force of cold reduction that wants to convince us we're just biological robots. 🌍…
As President of The Atlantic and former Editor-in-Chief of Wired, Nicholas Thompson sits down with Rushkoff to discuss the precarious intersection of artificial intelligence, journalism, and American democracy. Thompson breaks down how The Atlantic turned its business around using paywall optimization, why they chose to form a partnership with OpenAI instead of solely fighting them in court, and…
Rushkoff breaks down the intellectual hubris driving Silicon Valley: Effective Altruism (EA), Longtermism, and AI accelerationism. From Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX collapse to the tech oligarchs attempting to optimize human presence through code, Rushkoff exposes how treating human lives as simple spreadsheet inputs creates a dangerous ends justify the means worldview. Drawing on philosophers like…
We once looked at pictures. Now, pictures are looking back at us. Renowned artist and author Trevor Paglen joins Rushkoff to expose how computer vision, generative AI, and algorithmic feedback loops are fundamentally reformatting human perception, labor, and democracy itself. What happens to a society when its default assumption becomes that all media is untethered from reality? In this episode of…
Sophie Strand (author of The Flowering Wand and The Body Is a Doorway) joins Rushkoff for a conversation about breaking free from the dominant paradigms of our time. Together, they challenge the Silicon Valley Sky God obsession with scaling up, critique the limitations of institutional think tanks, and dive into how modern systems have systematically stripped us of our foundational skills. From…
Rushkoff breaks down the disturbing cultural shift toward Might Makes Right, a playground philosophy that values raw power, wealth, and violence over morality and mutual aid. From the organic, joyful street celebrations of the New York Knicks winning the NBA Finals to the surreal, hyper-industrial gladiatorial spectacle of the UFC erected right on the South Lawn of the White House, Rushkoff…
"The most useful framework is that our country’s been invaded. But like all great invasions, it involves new techniques." - Adam McKay Academy Award-winning filmmaker Adam McKay (Don’t Look Up, The Big Short, Succession) dissects the urgent cultural, political, and planetary moment we are living through. McKay brings a massive unified theory exploring how our prehistoric evolutionary limits - and…
Mitch Horowitz returns to Team Human for a fiery, provocative exploration of his new book, Esoterika: Formulas Against the False Self. Rushkoff and Horowitz grapple over one of the most foundational concepts in modern mindfulness: The Serenity Prayer. While Rushkoff shares his recent journeys into radical porousness, learning how to surrender, accept grace, and metabolize the world’s heavy…
How do we keep the machine from pulling us into another world, or escaping into ours? Rushkoff is joined by OG game designer, hacker, and Director of Curiouser Institute Reed Berkowitz to explore the liminal space between reality, fiction, and artificial intelligence. From the early days of late-80s text-based worlds and San Francisco’s cyberdelic rave culture to the complex modern landscape of AI…
Rushkoff contrasts the blissful, terrifying reality of voluntary dissolution with our pyramid-building civilization. From the ancient pyramids of Egypt to tech billionaires injecting themselves with young blood, humanity has built a world based on accumulation, extraction, and freezing time. He argues true power doesn't come from maintaining a rigid, permanent self-hood or uploading your…
If building a better future looks like a miserable exercise in self-denial, nobody is going to join. Rushkoff sits down with author and activist Sarah Wilson to discuss her new book, 'I Eat the Stars" Together, they discuss why environmental and activist movements have been weighed down by guilt, and why the alternative to industrial capitalism has to look, feel, and be better than the status quo.…
Following a recent New York Times expose on a high-profile AI book scandal, Rushkoff takes us behind the scenes of the modern grift factory. More than just a cautionary tale about generative AI, this week's monologue is an exploration of ego, FOMO, and intuition. Why did Rushkoff ignore his own spidey sense that something was off? As the world fills with synthetic fabrications, trusting our…
"If you are involved in any act of creation... that to me is magic, pure and simple." Legendary writer, magician, and shaman Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Jerusalem, The Great When) joins Rushkoff on for a transcendent exploration of idea space, the power of linguistic maximalism, and how we can reclaim our imaginative sovereignty. 🌍 To support Team Human, get ad-free versions of the…
Rushkoff shares a story he has never told publicly: The tragic car accident 40 years ago that claimed the life of his best friend and college partner-in-justice, Steven Ratushewitz. Rushkoff explores the grueling reality of carrying someone else's ghost, the intersection of art and activism, and the profound psychedelic realization that finally allowed him to grieve. From resisting the elite…
Is local activism just a cute distraction, or is it the most vital layer of human survival? Charlotte Binns, Director of Sustainability for the Village of Irvington and a dedicated community organizer, explores why the most effective response to global crises, from climate change to social isolation, starts right on your own block. Binns argues that while working at scale can be disheartening, the…
Are we living in reality, or just navigating a map of symbols, metrics, and dead things? Rushkoff stepped away from notifications, Google Calendars, and his always-on world to attend a shamanic workshop in Costa Rica. He experienced a kundalini awakening that revealed a different way of navigating existence: One based on somatic resonance rather than strategic manipulation. 🤝 Team Human is…
“I came to make you love yourself.” Join Rushkoff for a deep dive into the noir consciousness with legendary musician and writer David J (Bauhaus, Love and Rockets). Together, they explore the liminal spaces between music, magic, and the human heart. In addition, David J discusses his new book, "Rhapsody, Threnody and Prayer," a triptych of poems and odes spanning four decades that explores the…
Can we survive the rise of new AI Golems? Philip Rosedale, Founder of Second Life, argues the AI monsters currently being developed are limited by the tech bro survival of the fittest values they are trained on. Instead, he suggests we pool our collective computing resources to create angels: distributed, free AI that grow up as children in simulated environments, developing their own ethics and…
What is art for? Rushkoff is joined by legendary musician and producer Brian Eno to explore the necessity of moving away from the certainty of victory and into the delight of surrender. 🤝 Team Human is proudly supported by Groucho. You can take 50% off your first month by using promo code "teamhuman": https://mygroucho.club/teamhuman Download Groucho: Apple:…
Rushkoff sits down with Kat Tenbarage, (Founder, Spitfire News) to pull back the curtain on the intersection of AI, digital harassment, and political maneuvering. Together, they discuss Humans First: Is it a true bipartisan coalition or a strategic funnel for right-wing legislation? They also explore: The economy of deepfakes: How non-consensual AI-generated content is being monetized and the role…
Rushkoff shares his first real foray into the world of Artificial Intelligence. After years of avoiding the technology, Douglas takes us through a vibe coding journey using Claude to rebuild his personal website in five hours. But this isn't a tech tutorial. Douglas weighs the incredible creative potential of AI against its heavy unseen costs: environmental destruction, resource depletion, and…
Have you ever had that feeling in your gut, when you suddenly realize that the person you’re talking with might have a screw or two loose? What about when you’re the one others are trying to slowly back away from at the punch bowl? The question of who’s the real nut often arises for us collapse-aware folks living here in Crazy Town . Since Mr. Peanut is no longer returning their phone calls, hosts…
Can we decolonize reality itself? Rushkoff is joined by Jeffrey Kripal, Associate Dean and Professor at Rice University, to discuss his book The Superhumanities: Historical Precedents, Moral Objections, New Realities Kripal argues that by stripping away the impossible parts of our history - visions, precognition, and altered states - we have essentially lobotomized the humanities, leaving us with…
In this urgent monologue, Rushkoff explores the heartbreaking crisis of modern faith. As religious identities are weaponized by nationalism, literalism, and holy war narratives, from Christian Zionism to the defense of the nation-state, we find ourselves trapped in a linear, Axial Age story that may no longer serve a digital, all-at-once humanity. In this episode, Rushkoff discusses: - The Brand…
The tech elite are wielding occult power, but we have the imagination. Join us in the live chat for our first-ever Team Human Premiere! Douglas Rushkoff sits down with legendary comic writer and chaos magician Grant Morrison for a deeply urgent conversation about reclaiming reality. Morrison argues that magic isn't just the supernatural; it's a mundane, everyday tool of collective agreement that…
The digital world promises a frictionless existence of infinite growth, convenience, and total scale. But what happens when that virtual map starts consuming the real territory? Rushkoff reflects on his recent appointment to the Club of Rome and their legendary 1972 warning: The Limits to Growth. From the massive water and energy drained by AI data centers to Jeff Bezos' intentional dismantling of…
Has the internet always been a magical space? Shira Chess , a Professor of Entertainment and Media Studies at the University of Georgia and a leading scholar of digital folklore, dive into her new book, The Unseen Internet: Conjuring the Occult in Digital Discourse , to explore the hidden spiritual architecture of our digital lives. From the open-source creation of digital cryptids like Slender…
"Why are you in the Epstein files?" It is a question Rushkoff received from his own daughter, and in this raw monologue, he gives the full answer. His name appears in the CC field of emails from his former literary agent alongside Bill Gates, Sergey Brin, and yes, Jeffrey Epstein. But the story of why those names were grouped together reveals something much darker than a mailing list. Rushkoff…
Is the online safety legislation moving through Congress actually a Trojan horse for mass surveillance? And do the tech billionaires building our future actually care if the rest of us survive it? Rushkoff sits down with Taylor Lorenz, the internet’s premier culture reporter and founder of User Mag, to discuss her departure from legacy media ( The New York Times , The Washington Post ) and the…
Is magic just "positive thinking," or is it a causative force that can reshape reality? Rushkoff sits down with occult historian and author Mitch Horowitz (Occult America, Daydream Believer) to explore the boundaries of will, belief, and the material world. Rushkoff opens up about his own recent, startling experiences with magical workings regarding his daughter’s health, leading to a deep…
We are no longer waiting for the other shoe to drop: We are living in the aftermath. Rushkoff sits down with Jonathan Larsen, editor of The Fucking News, to ask the question: Now that we are soaking in authoritarianism, how do we get out? While Rushkoff worries that the screen has been placed over the boiling pot, Larsen offers a crucial reframing: what we mistake for a grand fascist strategy is…
The other shoe finally dropped. We are no longer waiting for authoritarianism to arrive; we are soaking in it. Rushkoff argues that the time for speculation, strategizing about political optics, and "preparing for what comes next" is over. Instead, He calls for a shift from figure to ground. We must stop fixating on the abstract figures of media and politics and return to the only thing that is…
Playing for Team Human today, multidisciplinary researcher and author Eric Wargo joins Rushkoff to help us decolonize our minds from the linear march of deterministic doom. Together, they explore the concept of Retrocausality: the scientific and philosophical research that the future influences the past just as much as the past drives the future. Wargo explains his theory of the "Long Self,"…
Artificial Intelligence researcher Cameron Berg joins Rushkoff to discuss Frontier Alignment Research and the urgent need to intervene on behalf of human (and synthetic) flourishing. Together, they explore the limitations of the term "Artificial Intelligence," proposing that we are actually building "Alien Minds" that operate more like biological neural networks than glorified calculators. They…
If explaining the state of the world makes you feel like a conspiracy theorist, you aren't alone. In this monologue, Rushkoff argues that our built environment has become so convoluted that accepting its premises essentially means gaslighting oneself. Rushkoff recounts a recent experience as a guest on the companion podcast for the Hulu series Paradise, a show about a billionaire-funded private…
Tom Llewellyn, Executive Director of Shareable, explores the power of Libraries of Things, mutual aid, and community-run infrastructure as practical alternatives to extraction-based economics. Llewellyn explains how tool libraries, repair cafés, and sharing hubs help communities reduce waste, lower costs, and build resilience. from rural towns to dense cities, from disaster recovery to everyday…
Ari Kuschnir, AI storyteller and artist, takes us deep into the alchemy of AI storytelling as a form of social practice and activist imagination. Known for provocative AI videos imagining figures like Trump, Elon Musk, and world leaders undergoing spiritual transformations, Kushnir talks about using AI as a creative collaborator and as a tool to challenge the cultural addiction to dystopia. Along…
Rushkoff discusses why the urgency and inevitability of our situation calls for us to consider the impossible. Team Human is proudly sponsored by Everyone's Earth. Learn more about Everyone's Earth: https://everyonesearth.com/ Change Diapers: https://changediapers.com/ Cobi Dryer Sheets: https://cobidryersheets.com/ Use the code “rush10” to receive 10% off of Cobi Dryer sheets:…
Vicki Robin, author of classic books like Your Money or Your Life and Blessing and T he Hands That Feed Us , and Rushkoff seek to embrace this challenging moment by embracing one another. Robin shares how growing older shifts your perspective from the personal to the universal, and why the questions we've been asking our whole lives might matter less than how we show up for each other. Team Human…
Jeremy Lent, author of The Patterning Instinct and integrator, helps us investigate the patterns of thought that have led our civilization to its current crisis of sustainability and develop the patterns of thought we need to get through to the other side. Team Human is proudly sponsored by Everyone's Earth. Learn more about Everyone's Earth: https://everyonesearth.com/ Change Diapers:…
Arden Leigh , the creator and facilitator of The Re-Patterning Project and front woman of Arden and the Wolves, helps us negotiate a new relationship to our individual and collective creative power. Team Human is proudly sponsored by Everyone's Earth. Learn more about Everyone's Earth: https://everyonesearth.com/ Change Diapers: https://changediapers.com/ Cobi Dryer Sheets:…
Could the end of employment be the beginning of something better? Rushkoff traces the history of work from medieval markets to AI automation to find hope in the cracks of collapse. He shows how the loss of “jobs” could open space for cooperation, creativity, and real human connection. Team Human is proudly sponsored by Everyone's Earth. Learn more about Everyone's Earth:…
Jonathan Larsen, Founder of The Fucking News, joins Rushkoff to discuss the 2025 U.S. Election and the path forward for Team Human. Team Human is proudly sponsored by Everyone's Earth. Learn more about Everyone's Earth: https://everyonesearth.com/ Change Diapers: https://changediapers.com/ Cobi Dryer Sheets: https://cobidryersheets.com/ Use the code “rush10” to receive 10% off of Cobi Dryer…
Andrew Slack, comedian and writer of Orphans, Empires, and the Search for a Better World , discusses the hidden history of corporate power, the mythic roots of American identity, and how hope - and solar panels - might just save us all. Team Human is proudly sponsored by Everyone's Earth. Learn more about Everyone's Earth: https://everyonesearth.com/ Change Diapers: https://changediapers.com/ Cobi…
Cory Doctorow, author of Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It , unpacks the systemic forces behind digital monopolies, regulatory capture, the erosion of user rights, and how collective action and policy change can reclaim technology for the public good. Team Human is proudly sponsored by Everyone's Earth. Learn more about Everyone's Earth:…
Rushkoff offers a new way to interpret what appears to be the intentional dismantling of society as we know it: an elite who have lost faith in the system that has served them until now, and who believe a controlled demolition of government and the economy will position them better for the chaos ahead. He argues that just because the elite are committed to the end of the world, Team Human doesn't…
Luke Kemp, author of Goliath’s Curse, explores why civilizations fall, what history gets wrong about collapse, and how distributed, cooperative societies have often thrived where empires failed. Names referenced in this episode : Jan Talon, Elon Musk, Genghis Khan, Niccolò Machiavelli, Andrew Carnegie, Francis Bacon, Harvey Whitehouse, Benedict Anderson, Audrey Tang, Edward Teller, Steve Bannon,…
Nate Soares , computer scientist and author of If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies , discusses the existential risks posed by artificial intelligence, the possibility that untethered AI development can lead to catastrophic outcomes for humans, and what it might mean for AI development to outpace human control. Team Human is proudly sponsored by Everyone's Earth. Learn more about Everyone's Earth:…
