Cory Johnston

It sucks that we’re all tied to platforms that watch everything we do and say, while somehow making it harder to actually connect with the people we care about. The more they claim to bring us together, the more isolated the whole thing starts to feel.

Borders sort people into belonging and exclusion. That sorting makes workers easier to exploit, because fear and precarity keep people quiet, while wealth buys freedom of movement. For most of us, borders mean restriction and control.

Why the Internet Just Keeps Getting Worse with Cory Doctorow The Skeptical Leftist Podcast · Episode

Cory Doctorow said platforms don’t care about users or advertisers, only about locking both in. Enshitification explains how the internet became an extraction machine that profits from our dependence.

Revolt, propaganda, and border control, in this episode we dig into youth uprisings in Nepal and Indonesia, Trump’s visa scams, digital ID schemes, propaganda around Charlie Kirk, AI pushing people into violence, and how elites keep selling lies as progress. Sources https://people.com/charlie-kirk- Revolt, Propaganda, and Border Control

Trump hiked visa fees to $100,000, making immigration impossible for workers while selling “gold cards” to the wealthy. Borders have always been about control, not fairness, and this scam proves it again.

The internet was built to connect people and ended up serving those who profit from watching them. Every so-called improvement made it easier to gather data, predict behavior, and control attention. What began as a network of people turned into a marketplace for their lives.

Revolt, Propaganda, and Border Control Uprisings, propaganda, and scams driving people to resist in Nepal, Indonesia, and beyond.

Indonesia’s parliament gave itself massive raises while workers struggled to eat. Protests exploded, police killed demonstrators, and TikTok tried to shut down livestreams. That’s what “democracy” looks like under capitalism.

Cory Doctorow joins me to talk about his new book Enshitification, a deep dive into how the internet went from a space built on openness and creativity to one dominated by corporate control. We get into the pattern behind it all—how platforms lure people in, trap them, then slowly extract every ounc Why the Internet Keeps Getting Worse with Cory Doctorow

Cory Doctorow joined me to talk about Enshitification and how Big Tech turned the internet into a system built to trap users and squeeze workers. We dig into monopoly power, labor, and what it would take to rebuild something that serves people again.

People act like uprisings come out of nowhere. In reality, the spark is ignited by years of corruption, broken promises, and frustration. Revolt isn’t random, it’s the only option left when nothing else works

Revolt, Propaganda, and Border Control The Skeptical Leftist Podcast · Episode

In Nepal, young people took to the streets after a social media ban. Within days the Prime Minister was out and a new leader was chosen on Discord. That’s how fast things shift when people stop accepting corruption.

it's tough all around so I totally understand why people have to pull back from supporting a show financially. I can't support all the creators I would like to. Still, if you are someone who likes my work there are a lot of ways you can support it and I always appreciate it

Looking back, it's been a pretty bad year for the show in a lot of ways. I've still had great guests, great conversations, and the audience is still growing but a lot of patrons had to pull back because of lost jobs and of course we saw the hiatus of Red Reviews

The Skeptical Leftist Podcast Podcast · Cory Johnston · Become a Paid Subscriber: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/skepticalleftist/subscribe Promoting critical thinking, social justice, and left wing politics by covering current events and talking to a variety of people. Include the Red Reviews podcast where Justin Clark talks about a book relevent to leftist theory or practice

If you like the various aspects of the show I do then please share it with people you know. It would be super cool if I hit 100K streams and downloads on podcast apps before 2026

I don't really want to talk about Bari Weiss this week on Loose Wires but how am I supposed to ignore a well known liar being given a major position at a media outlet and getting paid millions of dollars for her misinformation rag

I just ignored the sign and did what I needed to anyway. It's a Planet Fitness, and they're not very good at enforcing the supposed rules they have anyway. Good thing it's cheap

Greta's horrific mistreatment by Israel mirrors years of Palestinian detainee testimony Human rights organizations have tracked Israel's record of abusing, torturing and using sexual violence against Palestinians detained without trial or charge.

Pretty brutal treatment of people trying to get aid to Palestine

Capitalism's Gospel of Greed The Skeptical Leftist Podcast · Episode

Propaganda doesn’t need to convince anyone. It just needs constant repetition until lies feel normal. Owen and I broke down how that conditioning works in the latest episode. Watch or listen here:

It was very good. Everyone should pay for it

Now available for individual purchase, or you could just subscribe via patreon.com/nicemangos :)

LOL …. I wonder why.

My gym has new signs telling people to put down their phones so they don't slow down the use of equipment and I feel like they don't realize I need something to focus on for the 60 seconds in between sets

I'm still stuck with that bad taste from a bad faith attempt at gotcha online politics from someone I thought was a friend

Propaganda isn’t always obvious. It shows up in the way headlines soften the truth about state violence, or how debate hosts frame cruelty as common sense. By the time you notice, the lie feels like background noise.

Attack on “non-binary and Intersex” people by anti-non-binary thinkers!
damienmarieathope.com/2021/11/my-b...

Speaking of courts making decisions along ideological lines

thehill.com/policy/e...

How is anyone in the US supposed to believe in the court system when judges so clearly make decisions along ideological lines based on the party they were appointed by? It seems even more corrupt than I ever though it was before I knew it was set up this way

Freed flotilla activists describe mistreatment in Israeli detention | Gaza | Al Jazeera Activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla who hoped to reach Gaza have been deported after being intercepted and detained

Freed flotilla activists describe mistreatment in Israeli detention

YouTube video by Ember Standing for Reality: Damien Marie AtHope

Going live at 8 pm Eastern: Standing for Reality: Damien Marie AtHope
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVx7...

It seems odd to try to dunk on someone who you've had a good online relationship with even if they say something you disagree with. To the point that you can't even let it be if they acknowledge they may have made a mistake. Almost makes the whole thing seem performative

Governments love to dress up new surveillance projects as “modernization.” Digital IDs, biometric checks, endless databases, all pitched as efficiency. But it’s just another way to lock people out while pretending it’s progress.

I don't know how long I'll be able to keep my membership active this time but I have to get access to this episode so I'm back for the month at least. 🙂