The U.S. is asking its allies for support… and they're hesitating.

Airspace is being denied. Access is restricted.
At the same time, pressure is building around the Strait of Hormuz one of the world's most critical energy routes.

Featuring voices and reporting from Donald Trump, Keir Starmer, Micheál Martin, Bart De Wever, Rob Jetten, Katy Tur, Alan Fisher, Anne Applebaum, and Jeffrey Goldberg.

So what happens when the system that's supposed to move together… doesn't?

Propaganda didn't disappear. It evolved and now, it's personal.

In this episode of The Stage We're On, we explore how influence has shifted from obvious messaging to something far more subtle: systems that shape what we see, what we engage with, and what begins to feel true.

From early public persuasion to modern algorithms, this is a look at how perception is quietly built and why the most powerful forms of influence today are often the ones we don't notice.

Featuring insights from Peter Schweizer, Luther Lowe, Robert Epstein, Marlene Jaeckel, Tristan Harris, and Jordan Peterson.

The question isn't just what we believe.

It's how we got there.

This episode was inspired in part by The Creepy Line (2018):
Additional context informed by PopcornedPlanet.

The Stage We're On is a podcast about the world we're living in—and the roles we're all playing inside it.

What if the system doesn't just respond to you, but understands you better than you understand yourself?

In this episode, I step back from the surface of artificial intelligence to look at something deeper: how these systems learn, track, and begin to anticipate who we are.

Part of this exploration comes from watching a conversation between Senator Bernie Sanders and Anthropic's AI agent Claude, where they discuss how AI collects massive amounts of personal data and what that means for privacy. Hearing an AI system describe its own capabilities and its risks is unsettling in a way that's hard to ignore. Because the tools shaping our world are no longer passive. They learn, they adapt, and they predict. And increasingly, they influence.

So the question isn't just what these systems can do. It's how much they already know.

I produce these shows independently in my spare time. If you'd like to support what I do and help keep it going, you can do that here or Buy Me a Coffee.

Subscribe, rate, and share to help others find the show.
Production by Ben Cooper. © 2026 CooperVille Studio. All rights reserved.

We're asking artificial intelligence questions every day. But what if we're not asking the right ones?

In this episode, I reflect on a conversation from the StarTalk podcast, where Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O'Reilly sit down with Geoffrey Hinton, one of the architects of modern AI, to unpack how we got here and where this is all going.

What starts as a discussion about the history of computing and the shift from rule-based programming to systems that learn like a brain… slowly turns into something more unsettling.

They explore how neural networks actually work, what "deep learning" really means, and how breakthroughs like backpropagation changed everything. But underneath that is a deeper set of questions. Can AI actually think? Could it develop something like awareness? And what happens if these systems begin to act in ways we don't fully understand?

There are moments in this conversation that feel less like explanation… and more like warning.

The real issue isn't just how powerful these systems are becoming. It's how little we may understand about what they're doing… or what they might eventually do on their own.

And once you start hearing it that way… it's hard to unhear it.

Catch the full episode: Is AI Hiding Its Full Power? With Geoffrey Hinton

Support: I produce these shows independently in my spare time. If you'd like to support what I do and help keep it going, you can do that here Buy Me a Coffee.

Subscribe, rate, and share to help others find the show.
Production by Ben Cooper. © 2026 CooperVille Studio. All rights reserved.