<a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2544694/open_sms">Send a text</a>In “Muted Cases,” Aaron recounts the days after Avery’s death—the evidence scramble, the discoveries that came too late, and the slow, brutal realization that what the community most needs to understand can be narrowed, negotiated, and effectively erased from the official record. The episode expands beyond one family’s loss into a repeatable pattern: teen networks, platform mechanics, and legal structures that struggle to name what’s happening in plain language. Through an anonymous former teen witness, the Chapman family’s push for Sammy’s Law, and a second youth perspective from Cole, “Muted Cases” makes the case that these aren’t isolated tragedies—they’re predictable outcomes of a system that prioritizes speed, scale, and plausible deniability over child safety and public warning.00:00 — Opening: the part of the story Aaron could not tell until now07:23 — Anonymous witness: Travis Olympia’s Snapchat delivery system13:25 — Snapchat&apos;s baked safety plan, Counterfeit vapes and the nicotine pipeline19:50 — Sam Chapman: Sammy’s story and the fight for accountability25:52 — California’s SB 918 and the push for operational accountability29:19 — APIs, profit motive, Snapchat’s AI claims, and the legal gap40:18 — Cole’s story: growing up inside the Snapchat drug economy46:01 — Closing reflection: from one boy’s story to a larger pattern

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2544694/open_sms"&gt;Send a text&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In “Muted Cases,” Aaron recounts the days after Avery’s death—the evidence scramble, the discoveries that came too late, and the slow, brutal realization that what the community most needs to understand can be narrowed, negotiated, and effectively erased from the official record. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The episode expands beyond one family’s loss into a repeatable pattern: teen networks, platform mechanics, and legal structures that struggle to name what’s happening in plain language. Through an anonymous former teen witness, the Chapman family’s push for Sammy’s Law, and a second youth perspective from Cole, “Muted Cases” makes the case that these aren’t isolated tragedies—they’re predictable outcomes of a system that prioritizes speed, scale, and plausible deniability over child safety and public warning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;00:00&lt;/b&gt; — Opening: the part of the story Aaron could not tell until now&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;07:23&lt;/b&gt; — Anonymous witness: Travis Olympia’s Snapchat delivery system&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;13:25&lt;/b&gt; — Snapchat&amp;apos;s baked safety plan, Counterfeit vapes and the nicotine pipeline&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;19:50&lt;/b&gt; — Sam Chapman: Sammy’s story and the fight for accountability&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;25:52&lt;/b&gt; — California’s SB 918 and the push for operational accountability&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;29:19&lt;/b&gt; — APIs, profit motive, Snapchat’s AI claims, and the legal gap&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;40:18&lt;/b&gt; — Cole’s story: growing up inside the Snapchat drug economy&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;46:01&lt;/b&gt; — Closing reflection: from one boy’s story to a larger pattern &lt;/p&gt;</description>

Send a text In “Muted Cases,” Aaron recounts the days after Avery’s death—the evidence scramble, the discoveries that came too late, and the slow, brutal realization that what the community most needs to understand can be narrowed, negotiated, and effectively erased from the official record.  The episode expands beyond one family’s loss into a repeatable pattern: teen networks, platform mechanics, and legal structures that struggle to name what’s happening in plain language. Through an a...

Superhuman - From Engineered Desire to Engineered Consent

Muted Cases

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2544694/fan_mail/new">Send us Fan Mail</a>I wasn’t planning to write or record this week, but the one-year angelversary and a lonely holiday got under my skin, and I couldn’t help myself. What follows is a bit of a spiral: a walk through the same spiral logic so many of us get pulled into, where fear and outrage compound, the feed “finishes” the story for us, and the loudest narratives start to feel like reality.This is a companion episode to the main arc of the season, part personal processing and part pattern-spotting, connecting propaganda, algorithms, and the business incentives that reward escalation. In the second half, I’m joined by Jennie Desario for a deeper conversation about how these spirals show up in real life, and what it looks like to step back and find the signal again.Audio clips featured in this episode are sourced from the All-In Podcast and are included for commentary and analysis. (00:00) The Invisible Protest(03:36) The Binary Machine(10:45) Making Monsters Respectable(13:07) Growth at All Costs(20:05) Both Sides of the Same Coin(28:44) When Reality Inverts(31:12) Free Typing(33:34) Mason&apos;s Search for Help(40:27) The Adults in the Room(01:02:42) Ideas vs RealityAudio clips featured in this episode are sourced from the All-In Podcast and are included for commentary.

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2544694/fan_mail/new"&gt;Send us Fan Mail&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I wasn’t planning to write or record this week, but the one-year angelversary and a lonely holiday got under my skin, and I couldn’t help myself. What follows is a bit of a spiral: a walk through the same spiral logic so many of us get pulled into, where fear and outrage compound, the feed “finishes” the story for us, and the loudest narratives start to feel like reality.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is a companion episode to the main arc of the season, part personal processing and part pattern-spotting, connecting propaganda, algorithms, and the business incentives that reward escalation. In the second half, I’m joined by Jennie Desario for a deeper conversation about how these spirals show up in real life, and what it looks like to step back and find the signal again.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Audio clips featured in this episode are sourced from the All-In Podcast and are included for commentary and analysis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(00:00) The Invisible Protest&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(03:36) The Binary Machine&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(10:45) Making Monsters Respectable&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(13:07) Growth at All Costs&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(20:05) Both Sides of the Same Coin&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(28:44) When Reality Inverts&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(31:12) Free Typing&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(33:34) Mason&amp;apos;s Search for Help&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(40:27) The Adults in the Room&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(01:02:42) Ideas vs Reality&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Audio clips featured in this episode are sourced from the All-In Podcast and are included for commentary.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Send us Fan Mail I wasn’t planning to write or record this week, but the one-year angelversary and a lonely holiday got under my skin, and I couldn’t help myself. What follows is a bit of a spiral: a walk through the same spiral logic so many of us get pulled into, where fear and outrage compound, the feed “finishes” the story for us, and the loudest narratives start to feel like reality. This is a companion episode to the main arc of the season, part personal processing and part pattern-spot...

Ideas and Reality

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2544694/open_sms">Send a text</a>Twenty-six words written in 1996 gave platforms legal immunity. One court decision in 1997 turned that immunity into a business model.Attorney Carrie Goldberg shares what it&apos;s like representing hundreds of victims, from sextortion to cyberbullying to suicide, and watching nearly every case slam into the same wall. Brett Allred and Kristin Bride reveal what the absence of &quot;good faith&quot; looks like when platforms know the patterns but wait for children to die.And as Section 230 finally begins to crack, we expose the tech industry&apos;s next move: rebranding the same harmful systems as &quot;AI&quot; to claim a new decade of immunity.When courts won&apos;t look under the hood, we will.Content warning: Discussion of suicide, drug overdose, online exploitation00:00:00 - Twenty-Six Words The three-week delay and Section 230&apos;s shield00:03:29 - The Good Samaritan Betrayed What Congress intended vs. what courts decided00:05:30 - Zeran&apos;s Inversion How one 1997 case changed everything00:09:00 - The Business Model of Blindness Operating anatomy: Why platforms choose ignorance00:11:00 - Carrie&apos;s Courtroom A decade fighting the same wall00:18:30 - The Algorithm Problem Why Section 230&apos;s walls are finally cracking00:22:00 - The AI Escape Hatch Tech&apos;s next immunity play00:25:30 - Riley&apos;s Story When the website wishes you luck as you die00:29:30 - What They Knew Evidence that leaked out anyway00:34:30 - The Supreme Court Punts Gonzalez v. Google and the pattern they ignored00:40:00 - The Tobacco Playbook Profitable ignorance at scale00:45:30 - Carson&apos;s Story 220 million downloads of a documented deadly pattern00:52:00 - The Privileged Defense Why people fight for platform immunity00:57:00 - The Movement Survivor parents refusing to stay silent01:02:30 - The Light We Hold Call to action: How to talk to your kidsMusic by: Kjartan Abel CC BY-SA 4.0 <a href='https://kjartan-abel.com/'>https://kjartan-abel.com</a>

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2544694/open_sms"&gt;Send a text&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Twenty-six words written in 1996 gave platforms legal immunity. One court decision in 1997 turned that immunity into a business model.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Attorney Carrie Goldberg shares what it&amp;apos;s like representing hundreds of victims, from sextortion to cyberbullying to suicide, and watching nearly every case slam into the same wall. Brett Allred and Kristin Bride reveal what the absence of &amp;quot;good faith&amp;quot; looks like when platforms know the patterns but wait for children to die.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And as Section 230 finally begins to crack, we expose the tech industry&amp;apos;s next move: rebranding the same harmful systems as &amp;quot;AI&amp;quot; to claim a new decade of immunity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When courts won&amp;apos;t look under the hood, we will.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Content warning: &lt;/b&gt;Discussion of suicide, drug overdose, online exploitation&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;00:00:00&lt;/b&gt; - Twenty-Six Words &lt;em&gt;The three-week delay and Section 230&amp;apos;s shield&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;00:03:29&lt;/b&gt; - The Good Samaritan Betrayed &lt;em&gt;What Congress intended vs. what courts decided&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;00:05:30&lt;/b&gt; - Zeran&amp;apos;s Inversion &lt;em&gt;How one 1997 case changed everything&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;00:09:00&lt;/b&gt; - The Business Model of Blindness &lt;em&gt;Operating anatomy: Why platforms choose ignorance&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;00:11:00&lt;/b&gt; - Carrie&amp;apos;s Courtroom &lt;em&gt;A decade fighting the same wall&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;00:18:30&lt;/b&gt; - The Algorithm Problem &lt;em&gt;Why Section 230&amp;apos;s walls are finally cracking&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;00:22:00&lt;/b&gt; - The AI Escape Hatch &lt;em&gt;Tech&amp;apos;s next immunity play&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;00:25:30&lt;/b&gt; - Riley&amp;apos;s Story &lt;em&gt;When the website wishes you luck as you die&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;00:29:30&lt;/b&gt; - What They Knew &lt;em&gt;Evidence that leaked out anyway&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;00:34:30&lt;/b&gt; - The Supreme Court Punts &lt;em&gt;Gonzalez v. Google and the pattern they ignored&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;00:40:00&lt;/b&gt; - The Tobacco Playbook &lt;em&gt;Profitable ignorance at scale&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;00:45:30&lt;/b&gt; - Carson&amp;apos;s Story &lt;em&gt;220 million downloads of a documented deadly pattern&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;00:52:00&lt;/b&gt; - The Privileged Defense &lt;em&gt;Why people fight for platform immunity&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;00:57:00&lt;/b&gt; - The Movement &lt;em&gt;Survivor parents refusing to stay silent&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;01:02:30&lt;/b&gt; - The Light We Hold &lt;em&gt;Call to action: How to talk to your kids&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Music by: Kjartan Abel CC BY-SA 4.0 &lt;a href='https://kjartan-abel.com/'&gt;https://kjartan-abel.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Send a text Twenty-six words written in 1996 gave platforms legal immunity. One court decision in 1997 turned that immunity into a business model. Attorney Carrie Goldberg shares what it's like representing hundreds of victims, from sextortion to cyberbullying to suicide, and watching nearly every case slam into the same wall. Brett Allred and Kristin Bride reveal what the absence of "good faith" looks like when platforms know the patterns but wait for children to die. And as Section 230 fina...

In Good Faith

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2544694/open_sms">Send a text</a>How did corporations get more constitutional rights than your children?When a bookshelf tips over and harms one child, there&apos;s an immediate recall. When platform algorithms push suicide content to depressed teens, they claim First Amendment protection.To understand how we got here, Aaron traces the path from Jefferson&apos;s worst fears to today&apos;s reality. In 1886, a court reporter&apos;s unauthorized footnote gave corporations personhood. In 1971, the Powell Memo blueprinted corporate capture of democracy. In 2010, Citizens United unleashed unlimited dark money—corporations buying elections while hiding in shadows.These aren&apos;t ancient developments. You or your parents lived through most of this. The same First Amendment that platforms use to avoid accountability when children die is the one they use to pour millions into elections—anonymously.We traded away our democracy piece by piece, precedent by precedent. To reclaim it, we first have to see how we lost it.00:00  Cold Open — The Platform Claims the Right to Look Away02:10  Jefferson’s Nightmare &amp; the Corporate Empires That Came Before06:52  The Tea That Started a Revolution10:00  Jefferson’s Vision &amp; the Original Corporate Chains17:20  The Pendulum of Power — People vs. Corporations23:15  The Powell Memo — How Business Fought Back29:38  Citizens United &amp; the Age of Corporate Speech36:45  The Tech Takeover — Lobbying, Loopholes, Immunity47:47  Section 230 &amp; the Right to Look AwaySocial Media Online Child Sexual Exploitation Audio clips from C-SPAN <h1> </h1>

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2544694/open_sms"&gt;Send a text&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;How did corporations get more constitutional rights than your children?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When a bookshelf tips over and harms one child, there&amp;apos;s an immediate recall. When platform algorithms push suicide content to depressed teens, they claim First Amendment protection.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To understand how we got here, Aaron traces the path from Jefferson&amp;apos;s worst fears to today&amp;apos;s reality. In 1886, a court reporter&amp;apos;s unauthorized footnote gave corporations personhood. In 1971, the Powell Memo blueprinted corporate capture of democracy. In 2010, Citizens United unleashed unlimited dark money—corporations buying elections while hiding in shadows.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;These aren&amp;apos;t ancient developments. You or your parents lived through most of this. The same First Amendment that platforms use to avoid accountability when children die is the one they use to pour millions into elections—anonymously.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We traded away our democracy piece by piece, precedent by precedent. To reclaim it, we first have to see how we lost it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;00:00&lt;/b&gt;  Cold Open — &lt;em&gt;The Platform Claims the Right to Look Away&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;02:10&lt;/b&gt;  Jefferson’s Nightmare &amp;amp; the Corporate Empires That Came Before&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;06:52&lt;/b&gt;  The Tea That Started a Revolution&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;10:00&lt;/b&gt;  Jefferson’s Vision &amp;amp; the Original Corporate Chains&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;17:20&lt;/b&gt;  The Pendulum of Power — People vs. Corporations&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;23:15&lt;/b&gt;  The Powell Memo — How Business Fought Back&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;29:38&lt;/b&gt;  Citizens United &amp;amp; the Age of Corporate Speech&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;36:45&lt;/b&gt;  The Tech Takeover — Lobbying, Loopholes, Immunity&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;47:47&lt;/b&gt;  Section 230 &amp;amp; the Right to Look Away&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Social Media Online Child Sexual Exploitation Audio clips from C-SPAN &lt;/p&gt;&lt;h1&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;</description>

Send a text How did corporations get more constitutional rights than your children? When a bookshelf tips over and harms one child, there's an immediate recall. When platform algorithms push suicide content to depressed teens, they claim First Amendment protection. To understand how we got here, Aaron traces the path from Jefferson's worst fears to today's reality. In 1886, a court reporter's unauthorized footnote gave corporations personhood. In 1971, the Powell Memo blueprinted corporate ca...

Jeffersons Nightmare

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2544694/open_sms">Send a text</a> This Episode explores how a century of manipulation techniques became smartphone features, through conversations with Jean Cavendish, a clinical psychiatrist who spent decades helping people escape cult programming. Jean died on November 17, 2025, a month after recording. This episode is a dedication to her life and work.The episode features testimony from Lori Schott about how Meta targets children&apos;s insecurities, and Taj Jensen, a fellow parent who lost his son to fentanyl purchased on Snapchat.At its core, this is about recognizing the systems designed to keep us scrolling, buying, and reacting—and asking the question that matters: What are you really hungry for?00:00 — Opening Reflection03:46 — The Birth of Influence07:26 — The King of the Engineers11:18 — The Toolkit of Persuasion13:03 — Selling Our Own Destruction14:29 — The Shame Machine ( testimony from Lori Schott)21:06 — Fear as a Business Model25:54 — The Science of Addiction30:55 — The Human Cost32:32 — The Wisdom of Jean Cavendish36:12 — The Teenage Brain38:15 — Hooked Forever43:08 — Receipts and Responsibility45:06 — Tanner’s Story (Guest Taj Jenson)50:19 — Breaking the CycleContent warning: teen death, drug sales, and exploitation.Music by: Kjartan Abel CC BY-SA 4.0 <a href='https://kjartan-abel.com'>https://kjartan-abel.com</a>

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2544694/open_sms"&gt;Send a text&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; This Episode explores how a century of manipulation techniques became smartphone features, through conversations with Jean Cavendish, a clinical psychiatrist who spent decades helping people escape cult programming. Jean died on November 17, 2025, a month after recording. This episode is a dedication to her life and work.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The episode features testimony from Lori Schott about how Meta targets children&amp;apos;s insecurities, and Taj Jensen, a fellow parent who lost his son to fentanyl purchased on Snapchat.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;At its core, this is about recognizing the systems designed to keep us scrolling, buying, and reacting—and asking the question that matters: What are you really hungry for?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;00:00 — Opening Reflection&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;03:46 — The Birth of Influence&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;07:26 — The King of the Engineers&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;11:18 — The Toolkit of Persuasion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;13:03 — Selling Our Own Destruction&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;14:29 — The Shame Machine ( testimony from Lori Schott)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;21:06 — Fear as a Business Model&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;25:54 — The Science of Addiction&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;30:55 — The Human Cost&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;32:32 — The Wisdom of Jean Cavendish&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;36:12 — The Teenage Brain&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;38:15 — Hooked Forever&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;43:08 — Receipts and Responsibility&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;45:06 — Tanner’s Story (Guest Taj Jenson)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;50:19 — Breaking the Cycle&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Content warning:&lt;/b&gt; teen death, drug sales, and exploitation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Music by: Kjartan Abel CC BY-SA 4.0 &lt;a href='https://kjartan-abel.com'&gt;https://kjartan-abel.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Send a text  This Episode explores how a century of manipulation techniques became smartphone features, through conversations with Jean Cavendish, a clinical psychiatrist who spent decades helping people escape cult programming. Jean died on November 17, 2025, a month after recording. This episode is a dedication to her life and work. The episode features testimony from Lori Schott about how Meta targets children's insecurities, and Taj Jensen, a fellow parent who lost his son to fentany...

The Machine

A grieving father’s search for answers and the century-long con that sold corporate freedom as our own.&nbsp; When my son died, I started asking questions. The answers led me to places I never expected: a dinner party in Vienna, a railroad case nobody remembers, our constitutional rights hijacked as an excuse to look away while children die.Superhuman is my search for what happened. Not just to my son, but to all of us.

Superhuman - From Engineered Desire to Engineered Consent

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