Podbit · We Need To Talk with Paul C. Brunson
Asked about the current political climate for trans people in the US, Briel is honest: it's scary, it's not safe, and nobody is winning. But she still has hope, believing society is at rock bottom and must go up. She refuses to bring children into this world as it currently stands.
The bottom 50% of US earners contribute just 1% of all federal income tax. The top 1% pay roughly 30%. Most people, including a socialist guest on Caleb's show, believe the wealthy pay nothing. The US is actually the most progressive major Western nation for income taxation — what it lacks is a VAT.
Social Security is projected to make a mandatory 25% cut by 2032 as the fund depletes and only incoming contributions cover outgoing benefits. The worker-to-retiree ratio has collapsed from roughly 100:1 when Social Security started to something close to 10:1 today. Nothing has been seriously reformed since Reagan.
Plan A involves four principles: slow AI development to a safer pace; require total research transparency so governments and scientists can verify safety claims; actively encourage multiple competing companies across multiple countries rather than a monopoly; and build new data centres so that if the deal breaks down, they can be destroyed to prevent an even worse race. Kokotajlo thinks it's possible but not likely without major public pressure.
If Apple can lock AI agents behind Siri with exclusive access to the iPhone's semantic index — your emails, messages, and calendar — no third-party AI can compete. Patrick Beja, once skeptical of EU intervention, now argues forced openness is the only way to ensure the next computing platform isn't monopolized by default.
Four U.S. states have calculated potential Meta youth-safety penalties of $1.4 trillion — nearly Meta's entire market cap. Patrick Beja frames the trial not as regulatory overreach but as a direct parallel to Big Tobacco: internal evidence shows Meta knew its algorithms harmed children and chose revenue over safety.
New Mexico AG Raul Torres sent letters, attempted calls, and submitted formal requests to the DOJ for 130 days — and received nothing but verbal promises. The DOJ told Reuters it 'stands ready to help' while ignoring every specific outreach attempt.
The DOJ is not simply sitting on its hands — it is actively blocking a state sovereign from prosecuting crimes that occurred within its own borders. Former federal prosecutor Harry Litman says there is zero legitimate federal reason for this, which means the obstruction is deliberate and politically motivated.
The DOJ's pattern of missed calls, wrong numbers, and forgotten messages isn't incompetence — it's a directed strategy. Harry Litman, who has worked with attorneys general, points out that AG calls don't get lost unless someone at the top is ordering them to.
Trump has used the same playbook since 2016: promise a press conference, delay indefinitely, let another scandal overtake the story. Ben Meiselas argues the DOJ's 130-day stonewall of the New Mexico Epstein probe is that exact same tactic, applied to cover up child sex trafficking.
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