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Last week in Part 1, we told the story of a forgotten chapter in American history - when far-left anarchists and the federal government were locked in a violent back-and-forth that reshaped politics in the US. In today's episode, we bring that story into the present. We examine the rise in political violence in the United States over the past few years and ask: How similar is this moment to the anarchist era more than a century ago? And where does the comparison break down?

From abolitionists to the Tea Party, accusations of "paid protesters" have shadowed American political movements for centuries. But what if the reality is more nuanced (and more interesting) than the talking points suggest? In this episode, Andy Mills sits down with Adam Swart, founder and CEO of Crowds on Demand, a company that quite literally pays people to demonstrate.

Welcome back to The Last Invention. In this episode, we finally turn our attention to the AI skeptics and dive into the views of those who think the AGI race is being oversold, misunderstood, or misframed. And we think you're going to be surprised by what you hear.

I'm Ben Kawaller, and for the next three weeks, Longview's Reflector podcast is gay. I know: Is nothing sacred? Must even Reflector - easily the most heterosexual podcast on the internet, the brainchild of two midwestern men whose greatest obsession is ChatGPT - curtsy to the gods of inclusion? Look, a story's a story, and this is a good story. But we're gonna have to get a little gay.

Hello, friends, and welcome to Chapter 2 of Strange Bedfellows - our Reflector miniseries on the evolution of the movement that goes by LGBTQ, or some variation thereof.

Part 1: The Coddling of the American Dog This is a story about dog nuts. Testicles, if you want to be scientific about it, those fleshy little sacs, plums in panty hoes that half of dogs are born with but mostly, these days, get snipped. It's also a story about the relationship between dogs and humans, a bond that has existed since the first wolves dared to edge near our ancestors' fires, hoping for cave scraps.

It's Andy, and before we get to today's episode, I wanted to share that I'll be doing a live event with our friends over at Tangle on Sunday, June 14, in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. It'll be a friendly (but spirited) debate over AI and the stakes of our current technological revolution. You can expect the kind of nuanced discussion that is all too rare, aimed at helping us better understand the moment we're living through. You'll also get a chance to ask your burning questions.

After our deep dive into AI with The Last Invention, it's great to be back in your inboxes (and feeds). We're grateful for all of you, especially those who've been with us from the start. We begin with a familiar scene: tensions escalating between the Trump administration and some protesters who believe that traditional demonstrations no longer work.

Back in January, I had a conversation with someone named Daniel Moreno-Gama. He was a 19-year-old Texan with a part-time job, taking classes at a community college. He was worried about AI, and what he saw to be the impending extinction of humanity. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because this week he was charged with attempting to kill OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Welcome, all, to the third and final installment of Strange Bedfellows. Judging from all the positive feedback we've gotten, it looks like Reflector listeners have thoroughly enjoyed this homosexual experience. We start today's episode with an object lesson in how queerness (often cited as the "Q" in LGBTQ) has not only become the dominant ethos of "LGBTQ," but has also significantly altered the way the general population talks about and comprehends the world around them.