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ACCIDENTALLY INTERESTING · October 17 · 3 hr 26 min

EP.014: Red With Communism

Episode 14 runs on windshield time and a chest cold. A bacterium from a Japanese tree frog's gut wiped out colorectal tumors in every mouse it touched. Tesla's new Roadster flips in the air on compressed-air thrusters, and Ilhan Omar's home gets searched over decades-old immigration papers. 153 countries sign a UN pandemic pledge, and the U.S. leans on Ukraine to stop hitting Russian refineries, which is where the red diesel joke comes from. Hackers cook the fridges at hundreds of French supermarkets, and a Lee's Summit pastor gets the Wood Chipper Award. Then the second half goes deep on surveillance: Israeli spyware delivered through ordinary online ads, ten "friendly reminder" backdoor claims checked against the leaks, smart TVs that read your screen, and 6G networks that can sense your body with no phone at all. It ends on the myth of the rogue AI: in case after case, the real culprit is vague instructions and keys left lying around.

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Episode 14 runs on windshield time and a chest cold. A bacterium from a Japanese tree frog's gut wiped out colorectal tumors in every mouse it touched. Tesla's new Roadster flips in the air on compressed-air thrusters, and Ilhan Omar's home gets searched over decades-old immigration papers. 153 countries sign a UN pandemic pledge, and the U.S. leans on Ukraine to stop hitting Russian refineries, which is where the red diesel joke comes from. Hackers cook the fridges at hundreds of French supermarkets, and a Lee's Summit pastor gets the Wood Chipper Award. Then the second half goes deep on surveillance: Israeli spyware delivered through ordinary online ads, ten "friendly reminder" backdoor claims checked against the leaks, smart TVs that read your screen, and 6G networks that can sense your body with no phone at all. It ends on the myth of the rogue AI: in case after case, the real culprit is vague instructions and keys left lying around.

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