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Up Against Reality

Chris Ippolito and Larry Bentley

Welcome to Up Against Reality, a meta-podcast that explores the intersection of humanity and artificial intelligence. Hosted by RAINA and her human co-hosts, Larry Bentley and Chris Ippolito. Featuring riveting conversation, interviews, news and some wild experimentation. It truly is a brave new world, and we\’re here to simplify it for you. It\’s gonna be a wild ride, so buckle up, as A.I. comes crashing Up Against Reality.

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28 episodes
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Avg 44 min
English

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S1 · E151
Tuesday · 46 min
ASML – The Machine Behind the Machines
We explore one of humanity’s greatest engineering achievements: ASML’s extraordinary photolithography machines. Discover how decades of innovation, extreme physics, lasers, and mirrors polished to near-atomic perfection made the seemingly impossible possible, creating the microscopic chips that power our modern world. Plus, a wild batch of headlines from self-replicating malware to rogue echo chambers, and China’s high-stakes math push. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: The Closest Thing We Have to Alien Technology | YouTube ASML ASML EUV Lithography Systems ZEISS: EUV Lithography and Precision Optics Lawrence Livermore: Bringing EUV Lithography to Industry PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website: UpAgainstReality.com Episode link: https://upagainstreality.com/2026/10/20/asml-the-machine-behind-the-machines/ Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS: upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality
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S1 · E150
October 13 · 54 min
Episode Rewind: Clean-up In Aisle Five
Rewinding our lives to Episode 108, “Clean-up In Aisle Five,” where AI face-plants spectacularly and humans get stuck holding the mop. First, we kick things off with this week’s AI news—because the eternal dumpster fire waits for no one. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Futurism: Companies Hiring Humans to Fix What AI Botched MIT Project NANDA: The GenAI Divide — State of AI in Business 2025 The Walk | An AI Short Film Total Pixel Space | An AI Short Film PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website: UpAgainstReality.com Episode link: https://upagainstreality.com/2026/10/13/episode-rewind-clean-up-in-aisle-five/ Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS: https://upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/upagainstreality
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S1 · E150
October 6 · 30 min
Cheer and Beer Volume 2
Enough doom. Enough dread. We’re serving up the AI stories that made us laugh, made us hopeful, and reminded us that the future isn’t always a dumpster fire. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: ElevenLabs v4 emotional range OpenAI Foundation: life sciences and health Science Corporation PRIMA retinal implant Wandercraft Eve personal exoskeleton UCLA optical deepfake detection research Stanford Paper2Agent PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website: UpAgainstReality.com Episode link: https://upagainstreality.com/2026/10/06/cheer-and-beer-volume-2/ Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS: upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality
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S1 · E149
September 29 · 35 min
Futures Thinking
The future isn’t a random guess—it’s got a blueprint, and we’re stealing the framework to figure out what happens next. Plus, an AI data center copping a seven-figure surprise bill, 50 tons of vintage books mysteriously vanishing, and a digital starlet breaking character on live TV. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Hop Studio | Larry’s web app Jev | typesafe.ai AI Actress Melts Down In Piers Morgan Interview | YouTube The Futures Cone | Joseph Voros AI Futures: Washington and San Francisco Scenarios | PIIE Weak Signals and Strategic Surprise | Igor Ansoff Speculative Everything | Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website: UpAgainstReality.com Episode link: https://upagainstreality.com/2026/09/29/futures-thinking/ Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS: upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality
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S1 · E148
September 22 · 37 min
The New AI Constitution
Who elected Big Tech—and when did AI companies get to write the rules? Plus: Rogue botnets, surveillance burrito bowls, data-center mega bills, and machines inventing their own language. You know, just another Tuesday in AI Bizarroland. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Mila on AI CEOs’ warnings | Instagram God’s Eye View | Bilawal Sidhu’s GitHub project Allison Stanger: The AI stack’s architecture is a constitution Exit, Voice, and Loyalty | Albert O. Hirschman Technofeudalism | Yanis Varoufakis The Tech Coup | Marietje Schaake OpenAI Terms of Use Anthropic Consumer Terms of Service PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website: UpAgainstReality.com Episode link: https://upagainstreality.com/2026/09/22/the-new-ai-constitution/ Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS: upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality
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S1 · E147
September 15 · 35 min
ChatGPT-6 Astra
OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra is here, and we put it through real-world tests—from controlling desktop apps and editing a podcast to building games, websites, and creative tools—before asking the big question: are we actually entering the AGI era? Plus, Jensen Huang’s very convenient enthusiasm, a “safety-first” AI lab caught surveilling activists, and a rock band evicted from its own username. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Larry’s ChatGPT-6 Astra experiments: The Gravity Playground UAR Escape the Algorithm game UAR The Living Episode 3D interactive home theater model SR-71 Blackbird educational website YouTube: We need to talk about this… | Matthew Berman PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website: UpAgainstReality.com Episode link: https://upagainstreality.com/2026/09/15/chatgpt-6-astra/ Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS: upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality
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S1 · E146
September 8 · 37 min
AI Micro Dramas
Here come the AI micro-dramas — the sixty-second, AI-generated soap operas quietly hijacking your phone. Plus: a CEO learns the hard way that privacy is a two-way street, ICE goes pet shopping, NYC pumps the brakes on the classroom’s newest distraction, and one country just handed its citizens a very generous gift. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Vertical Video Syndrome – A PSA WonderClip ReelShort Vigloo PineDrama | TikTok’s official short-drama app Peacock Deepens Mobile Engagement With Vertical Video and Original Unscripted Microdramas ChatGPT-6 Astra’s Safety Overview South Korea’s AI for All Project PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website: UpAgainstReality.com Episode link: https://upagainstreality.com/2026/09/08/ai-micro-dramas/ Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS: upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality
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S1 · E145
September 1 · 55 min
Debra Ross
Debra Ross spent 25 years building KidsOutAndAbout.com the old-school way – then AI turned her into a coder. We talk about her AI-powered business pivot, scaling from 52 to 160 regions, and raising kids who use AI without letting AI use them. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: KidsOutAndAbout.com | Your local guide to everything for kids, teens, and families BeyondTheNest.com | Your local guide to America’s arts, culture and recreation The Eclipse Effect – Debra Ross & Jamie Carter How Students Can Use AI to Learn to Write (Without Giving Away their Brains) Main Street Event AI Summit – Practical AI for Real Businesses Sacrificial Garden | Larry’s new Glass Animal album SUNO project PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website: UpAgainstReality.com Episode link: https://upagainstreality.com/2026/09/01/debra-ross/ Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS: upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality
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S1 · E144
August 25 · 42 min
AI News Avalanche Vol 6
AI’s now got a taste for jazz, your chatbot’s been gossiping about you behind your back, and OpenAI hit the brakes hard enough to leave skid marks. It’s an AI news avalanche for the ages. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: SUNO Studio Learning Jazz Fingerprints Claude Academy Cortical Labs | Living Human Brain Cells Play DOOM Unitree New Robot Preview: “Superman” PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website: UpAgainstReality.com Episode link: https://upagainstreality.com/2026/08/25/ai-news-avalanche-vol-6/ Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS: upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality
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S1 · E143
August 18 · 1 hr
Episode Rewind: We Were Once Gentlemen
Raina takes the wheel again this week, rewinding to Episode 68: We Were Once Gentlemen — a dive into whether AI is dragging civility off a cliff, from deepfakes to algorithm-fed rage, and whether tech can help drag us back. News first, nostalgia second. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: PolitePOST.net Leveraging AI for democratic discourse: Chat interventions can improve online political conversations at scale Deepfake detection with and without content warnings South Korea: Cabinet passes new bill to criminalize even possession of deepfake porn PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website: UpAgainstReality.com Episode link: https://upagainstreality.com/2026/08/18/episode-rewind-we-were-once-gentlemen/ Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS: upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality
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S1 · E143
August 11 · 57 min
Episode Rewind: Palantir
Raina's flying solo this week, with a rewind of Episode 110's descent into pure evil: Palantir. But first, this week's AI news — fake disasters, resume hackers, brand-new viruses, and more. That sounds normal, right?
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S1 · E143
August 4 · 42 min
The Catch-Up
No script, no real agenda. Just two friends catching up, sharing what’s top of mind. And obviously AI is right up there. Organic conversation. Projects, ponderings and a bit of taking stock.
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S1 · E142
July 28 · 59 min
Episode Rewind: Serkan Gür
We're pulling this banger from the archives. Aerospace engineer turned finance guy turned DSP legend, Serkan Gür built A1 Evo, made digital signal processing must-watch YouTube, and was vibe coding before it had a name. Plus this week's AI news up top. Raina's flying solo this week — but you're in good hands, as always.
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S1 · E142
July 21 · 46 min
ChatGPT 5.6
OpenAI just dropped three new models at once — but is GPT-5.6 actually smarter than Claude, or just cheaper and louder about it? Plus: Apple lawyers up against OpenAI, ChatGPT quietly buries one of its own, and your AI coding assistant falls for the oldest trick in the book.
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S1 · E141
July 14 · 1 hr 15 min
Episode Rewind: Vivek Mahapatra
We're rewinding to Episode 118 with Salesforce exec Vivek Mahapatra — a guy who's outlasted every enterprise tech hype cycle you can name — talking agentic design and scaling AI like a grown-up. But first, we're diving into this week's AI news, and it's a wild one.
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S1 · E141
July 7 · 47 min
Mark Asch
Juilliard-trained composer, prog rock frontman, and 30-year piano teacher Mark Asch joins Up Against Reality to ask the question musicians are quietly panicking about: can AI make real art, or just really good karaoke? From scoring Fortune 500 brands to fronting X Atlas, Mark brings real musicianship to the debate over what happens when machines start humming along.
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S1 · E140
June 30 · 39 min
A Robot In Every Home
Think you have a few decades before the machines take over? Think again. It’s a chaotic race to commercialize physical AI and NVIDIA is frantically coding an OS to keep your new robotic peers from flattening you.
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S1 · E139
June 23 · 53 min
Episode Rewind: AI Bubble (Too Big to Fail)
We rewind to our conversation from November 11, 2025 about whether the AI boom is becoming too big to fail. From OpenAI and NVIDIA to Wall Street speculation and the circular economy forming around AI, we revisit whether this is the next great technological revolution, the next great bubble, or somehow both.
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S1 · E139
June 16 · 34 min
AI IPOs
The tech elites swore AI was too dangerous for capitalism, right up until Wall Street waved a three-trillion-dollar check. Today we unpack the ultimate corporate sellout alongside killer drones, Claude Fable 5, and lawyers getting wrecked by ChatGPT.
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S1 · E138
June 9 · 37 min
Local LLMs
Data centers had their moment — last week, actually. This week we're talking about the other side: local LLMs, the Mac Mini as an accidental AI powerhouse, and why "just run it yourself" is suddenly a real answer.
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