#National Audio Company

[ampd]

<1997.03> Турбо-техно-саунд - Помандруй зі мною

CD, National Audio Company - CD NAC 042804

[orcelito]

Listening to this album, sipping a vanilla bean monster, working on cleaning after getting home from my optometrist appointment

I got sunlight and fresh air, a new rewards system for my daily cleaning, and Determination to make my life better

[mothman-etd]

I have talked a few times about Psychological Operations or psyops on here, but I would like to point out a real world example of a PO Operation that was found out recently by the Department of Justice.

Before that though, If you would like to read more about the actual position of a PO soldier, you can look no further then the PO benefits page on the US Army special operations recruitment website (https://www.goarmysof.army.mil/PO/).

Personally I feel like many people still believe psyops to be some kind of conspiracy theory instead of a fairly standard military division in almost all modern militaries, anyways onto the example.

The US Department of Justice is going after (indicting) two RT (Russian state media) employees for committing fraud and violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Basically they created a front "media" company in Tennessee, translated russian propaganda videos into english, then paid right-wing influencers to promote (reblog/retweet/talk about on streams) said videos.

Three of the named influencers that I could find were Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson.

I honestly have no idea who these three are, but supposedly their platforms have millions of followers. Also, some of these influencers were paid up too $100,000 a week to promote their videos and messaging.

So to summarize, Russia setup a fake company to pay American influencers to repeat their lies so that their followers would interpret those lies as legitimate since their were coming from a source they trust.

When people talk about election interference this is what we are talking about.

$100K a week is insane money for most, I am sure many people would be hard pressed to not sell their soul for that much money. Many of the videos from this media company were lies about the Ukraine war, and looking into Tim Pool it seems he also has a very anti-Ukraine stance (Audio from one of this podcasts https://v.redd.it/41xgvuri0vmd1/DASH_AUDIO_128.mp4)

I generally do not talk about my job on here, but corporations used to pay me to run seminars to help train their employees on spotting these types of attacks--mainly targeted psyops attacks from nation states to hack into their company via end user interaction.

Or in layman's terms, to help companies protect themselves from Russian Ransomware Thieves and Chinese Intellectual Property/Information collectors. Both of these being extensions of the Psychological Operations military divisions of each country.

I am really not sure how to end this post other than I am just trying to show people how real it is that the militaries of the world are spending obscene amounts of money in trying to influence your opinions and day to day life via your internet consumption.

Surf responsibility, be very wary of anyone telling you not to vote and don't believe everything you see/hear on TikTok/youtube/twitter/Insta etc etc

[redbatchedcumbermayned]

It all started under a duvet held up by an oar

Not so long ago I emailed Chris Tester, the voice of Heinrix van Calox in Owlcat’s recently released CRPG Rogue Trader, and asked if he would like to sit for an interview with me. Having some experience in interviewing people I like, most famously Oscar winner and all-around sweetheart Eddie Redmayne, this was not a completely nerve-wracking endeavour. And within a day of sending my email, Chris said yes. And what a pleasure it was interviewing him: Chris was so generous with his time, that the agreed upon 30 minutes turned into 50 minutes as we brushed upon many topics from his start as a theatre actor to his first voice-over role in a video game to his recently discovered hobby of playing D&D. Of course, we also spoke about all things Warhammer 40k, his new found fame brought on by voicing Heinrix and the insights he could share about the character.

I will publish this interview in three parts over the next week in text form and with the accompanying audio file (the audio quality is not spectacular but tumblr limits uploads to 10MB). If you quote or reshare, please quote me as the original source.

Part 2 of the interview

Part 3 of the interview

Fran: Thank you very much for taking your time.

Chris Tester: That's no problem. No problem at all.

F: So then let's start. You graduated in 2008.

CT: I did. Yes.

F: You started out as a stage actor. Did you always want to become a stage actor or an actor in general? Tell us a bit about your career.

CT: I always wanted to be a stage actor. Yes, as soon as I knew that I wanted to be an actor, which probably wasn't until I was a teenager. But yeah, my first passion was always the stage, and that was kind of borne out in my career. I would have been open to TV and film of course, if it had come along, I'm a huge fan of TV and film as well, but I never got an audition for any TV or film work.

I think I literally did about three short films in my 10, 12 years of actually professionally acting, and it is one of those industries where the more you do of one thing, the more you seem to find yourself doing the same thing to a degree. So yes, watching Shakespeare from an early age was one of my first passions.

And that was what first planted the seed of wanting to do it myself. The whole aspect of live performance is still something that I'm very passionate about. Up until 2020, when the world changed, I was trying to do two or three theatre shows a year, but since 2020, I haven't been near a stage and I doubt right now, especially with the way that the UK theatre scene is going, that I'm going to be back on stage anytime soon. I am resigned to that, but at some point in my career, I know I will be on stage again, because I can't live without it, but only for the right thing, both financially, but more importantly, creatively.

F: Your production company is currently on hiatus?

CT: I was the producer of a theatre company, which was run and was the baby of the director of the company, a guy called Ross Armstrong, who's one of the most talented writers and directors that I've ever worked with. I was helping out with a lot of the administration stuff so that he could still put me in plays. Instead of creating my own work because I'm not a very good writer or the best writer in the world, I support those people who will write me good parts. So yes, it is currently on hiatus, but never say never, we would always be looking to get back. It's difficult right now. It's difficult for all of us, because arts council subsidy, that way of being able to fund stuff, is drying up. We were doing a national tour of the UK when we were doing that [with the support of a subsidy]. There's even less money, there's even more people. I won't bore you with anything more than that, but it's kind of tough. We'd like to come back, but in the right way, and that's tricky to negotiate.

F: It's always hard as a stage actor to earn a living.

CT: Well, I've been spoiled by voice-over as well, and whereas when I was in my 20s and 30s then you're all about your art. And of course, I'm still all about my art, but I'm also about my wife and my cat and the mortgage and the bills and wanting to have nicer things to a degree as well. I've come to terms with that and voice-over does facilitate that as well as it opens you up to different roles and working with different people. So, I can't complain.

F: It's quite similar with making a living as a writer, because with a steady income you get used to a certain standard of living and once you have obligations and bills to pay, I think the stress on your mental health being creative and having all the stresses of regular life thrust upon you brings with it a challenge.

CT: It's a cliche we can very easily fall into: if I'm suffering, then it means I'm an artist. And that's not necessarily very true. It very often means that the art that we create only reflects one aspect of our lives, and it's usually a very tortured one. I am also about having wider experiences and broadening myself out. Whereas I think when I was in my twenties, I was thinking a bit more like: Oh, I'll experience the world and life through my art and just purely through my art. Whereas now necessarily I need to have a life outside of it as well, and then I can justify like I have the life so that I can feed my art or not, whatever. You know, I'll be a better artist by having a bit of a life outside of it. Maybe.

F: But that's what your twenties are for.

CT: Yeah, indeed.

F: Doing the crazy stuff, doing the band stuff 

CT: Yeah, yeah, exactly. So, there was certainly an aspect of that in my twenties.

F: So, what brought you to voice acting or voice-over work initially?

CT: Money. Video game stuff is kind of sexy and cool, and I'm a gamer, so that's important. Before I was a video gamer, I was a board gamer and off the back of that, I was a voracious video gamer, partly because I wasn't very good at team sports at school. I was always the person who was picked last in the football team. So that becomes part of your identity for better or worse. But video games, I was pretty good at, not amazing, but I was pretty good at, and I enjoyed it. And it gave me a different form of escapism as well, and off the back of that I always had an interest in them. 

So, the very first voiceover job was a video game: Dark Souls, which is quite a big franchise. At that time, I was your very typically jobbing actor. My acting agent came in and said: I got something for you. And so, I went in with that. But it was only in 2016, 2017 that I realised it was something that you could actually do yourself. People had recording studios at home and they were contacting people directly, not just going through agents. Because I'd basically written to the same 20 voice agents in the UK, mainly in London for like eight years in a row and not received anything. So, you keep knocking on those doors hoping. 

Before I'd even graduated from drama school, I'd burnt a CD and made these cases with my headshot on it and sent them all off at what at the time felt like great personal expense and didn't get anything for eight years in a row.  So, I was a bit like, I'm obviously doing something wrong, but I don't really know what, because I'm doing these workshops and getting good feedback. Then I found out through a couple of online courses, that there were ways and means of doing it myself, and that was a bit of a game changer for me, and within six months of having started, I was earning more through voice work than the bar job and the box office job that I was doing combined. Within six months, I was kind of like: “I gotta quit because I'm actually holding myself back from things.” So that was quite a big shift.

F: Somewhere you said, you started out under a duvet and with an oar.

CT: Yeah. On my website, I do have an image of it. [Dear reader, I could not locate this elusive photo] I literally had to take the duvet off my bed and put it into the living room, which was the quietest space in my then shared flat. I also had to wait until after one flat mate had watched TV and another one had used the table that had their washing on it. One of my flat mates had stolen an oar from some night out and that was perfect in order to be able to erect it over my head and the duvet as a frame. 

I did probably the first four or five months of voice recording like that. Probably about 10, 15 voiceover jobs that I actually got paid for, I was using that because it worked well enough. Since then, I've gone through various different iterations of a setup in the bedroom, to a setup in the hallway, to my current setup. In 2020 we moved to our first house, and this is the spare bedroom which I've had converted into a studio, which means my cat can be here asleep on me or near me getting fur everywhere, but it's fine. I can thrash around and I've got natural light to work in at the same time, which I find quite important. [Pictured below Chris' current setup.]

F: Very pretty. That's good. Guide us through a typical day of yours, if you like.

CT: Oh, sure. I mean, there is no typical day. And yet, and yet, and yet. A typical day for me is, because I am spending the vast majority of the day sitting in this room or somewhere close to this room, because I may need to record at short notice, because the vast majority of jobs are quite short notice. My priority is exercise for mental health more than anything. I've got some weights at the bottom of the garden, and I will get up first thing, and I will go there and I will do that after breakfast. And that's my minimal routine of physical activity done. 

And then I'll come back, and this is so rock and roll. Now what I do is, I spend like an hour on LinkedIn. And that's what you dreamed of as a creative person. Isn't it as an actor? I spend time on LinkedIn regularly every day, because it's a really good networking place for a lot of my types of work, and first thing in the morning, I'm a bit mentally sharper. So that's when I come up with a quick post that may be inspired by a bit of content that I've made elsewhere. That probably takes about 20 minutes and then I spend another 45 minutes to an hour engaging with people and saying hi and introducing myself and asking questions, whether that's with video producers or game developers or documentary makers or pretty much anything and everything. There are a lot of people who are active at that time. And so I do it.

And then after that, if I already have some recording lined up, then I'll prioritise mid-morning, because I've warmed up physically a bit more then, and I'm focused. So, you're going through the scripts, annotating the scripts, recording the scripts, editing the scripts. But then there could be live sessions at any time within that as well. I try to keep hours from nine till six. But occasionally, like with Rogue Trader, that was recorded at various different times of the day because we had people in New York, we had people in mainland Europe, and we had people in the UK. So all different time zones, so that can happen at any time. 

And then I try to do other kinds of bits and pieces of marketing whenever I've got free time to. I do use really exciting productivity hacks, like time blocking. Again, not something that as a creative individual, I was like: Oh God, this gets me so excited, because it doesn't, but it works. It's finding a system that works for you, but still has a certain kind of flexibility and fluidity. I'm trying to make sure that I get outside of the house, and that kind of stuff. 

Recently, over the last year, I’ve started doing audiobooks as well. That long form type of thing is quite nice to be able to dip into because sometimes you don't record for two, three days. You don't get the work. Nothing’s coming in. So, you’re marketing, but it kind of connects you back to the performance side of things to go: I can do a few chapters and you know, that kind of thing. So that's probably it. I try to formalise it, but you know, every voice actor’s day is radically different. There are people, some of the biggest names, going into different studios every week or every day. I very rarely, despite being based in London, I very rarely go into external studios. Like I would say 99 percent of the work I just do from home.

F: So how do you find the right voice for the specific type of voiceover work you do, maybe start with how did you find Heinrix's voice?

CT: Thankfully, Owlcat sent through quite a detailed casting breakdown. So, you get a picture, and that's pretty crucial, as well as a short bio, in terms of the background of the character, but not too much, because you have to sign an NDA, a non-disclosure agreement. But even if you do sign an NDA, I think developers are always slightly hesitant of giving you too much info about the game because things could still be changed. But I think I did get a picture of Heinrix, if not in the first audition, then certainly on the second one. From that you immediately think about the physicality and what might affect the voice, and there was also some direction in terms of what they were looking for. Anybody who has heard the character and me, they do not sound radically dissimilar. There's not a transformative process that I needed to go through, other than his sense of authority and the space that he takes up and the sureness that he has in that he has a kind of divine right from the emperor, so that level of confidence being brought through.

The other part of the audition was about the void ship [the Black Ship] that he'd been raised in and the horrors that he'd seen. And you as the actor have to do the detective work to go like this is showing another side, the more vulnerable side, the side that underpins all of his life choices up to this point. It's essentially playing the opposite to a degree. So it was kind of knowing when to let those elements bleed through a little bit. I think I had probably about a page worth of scripts, quite a lot of script actually to audition with. 

But I don't like to listen back to it a lot, because I think you get into your head. My biggest thing is stage work where it's ephemeral. You say it once and it could be different the next night. The whole point is that there's no one definitive way of doing things. Not quite the same with voice acting, where it's being recorded and you've got to get used to hearing it back. But I try not to overthink it. Just like record it two or three times with different impulses and then review and go like, those two seem pretty contrasting. I'll send those along and hope and then never hear anything back unless I do.

[mirai-e-jump]

Uchusen Vol.185 (Summer 2024) Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger | Detail of Super Sentai ft. Main Cast & Director Interviews, Summer Film Details (translations below)

Publication: July 1, 2024

Miyazawa Yu (Sakito Homura)

"To start, please tell us why Miyazawa-san decided to become an actor, and what happened when you first became aware that you were an actor."

Miyazawa: I've been playing soccer since I was little, and even in high school, I played on the soccer team while living at the dorms. It was located in Shizuoka, but there were alot of kids around me who were in the entertainment business, so I kinda had the impression of it being a glorious thing. However, I was serious about soccer, participating in national competitions and such at the time. After that, when I entered college, I happened to be approached by an entertainment agency, and that's where my entertainment career began. I started to pursue acting when I played the role of a classmate in the 2015 film, "Girl's Step." Even after a cut or during set up, I'd see some actors practicing their lines, and that's how things started taking shape. When I quit playing soccer and had nothing in particular to be passionate about, I was impressed by the seriousness with which they tried to create things. The TV shows and films we watch are finished products, right? When I learned about the production process, I was surprised to discover how "deep" it was. Until that moment, I had no idea that the Director and actors communicate with each other to create the performance, and that there are many other departments involved in the production, such as the filming department, lighting department, and audio department. I was impressed by the fact that so many people could create a single production in this way. Then, when everyone around me started job hunting, I began to think, "Becoming some company employee doesn't seem right," and that's when I started to pursue acting properly. I was around 22 years old then.

"What kind of actor did you aspire to become?"

Miyazawa: There are many actors who are good at performing called "chameleon actors," and I still aspire to become that kind of actor, being able to play roles that only I can play.

"The agency Miyazawa-san belongs to, G-STAR PRO, has many people who have worked on Toei's tokusatsu productions in the past, doesn't it? Miyazawa-san, did you also have any desire to work on tokusatsu productions?"

Miyazawa: Yes. I've always wanted to be in one. The first production I auditioned for was "Kamen Rider Drive," when I was 19 years old at the time. From there, I've had more than 10 auditions for the Kamen Rider and Super Sentai series. Many of the seniors from my agency have appeared in tokusatsu productions, but they all transferred from other agencies, and as a matter of fact, no one made their tokusatsu debut from this agency at that time. That's why I was auditioning, determined to be the first. The outcome was that Kawana-kun (Kiryu Daigoro in King-Ohger) was the first actor, but I always had a strong desire to be in a tokusatsu production.

"Did you get the feeling that others were ahead of you?"

Miyazawa: To be honest, I didn't really feel that I was being overtaken. Still, I'm 29 years old now, and the main cast of the Super Sentai series usually consists of people around their early 20s, so I wondered if it was going to become tougher for me. Especially in the last 2-3 years……I had a strong feeling that I'd probably fail the audition anyways. Actually, I also auditioned for the initial members of Boonboomger last year, and was able to make it to the final selection. However, I was eliminated in the end. This is the toughest place to fail. You start to think, "Ah, maybe it'll work out?" (laughs). I had the feeling of, "I've been failing for so long, I guess I'll never pass."

"Did you audition for the role of Sakito Homura after watching Boonboomger?"

Miyazawa: Boonboomger had already started airing, so I knew what kind of story it was going to be. However, Sakito Homura is quite a special character (laughs). I wanted to try to express a slightly different kind of character, one that's different from the worldview we've seen up until now in Boonboomger.

"How did you feel when you heard about the audition?"

Miyazawa: I wanted to pass this time, but I had a feeling that I'd fail again. However, when I saw the character profile of Sakito Homura written in the audition summary, I thought, "This character, isn't this just me?" (laughs). It's a strange story, but it gave me confidence that I would definitely pass the audition this time. On the other hand, I felt that if I failed this one, I'd never get another audition for a tokusatsu production.

"Does this mean you thought Sakito Homura seemed to resemble you?"

Miyazawa: The incomplete part of him, his weaknesses, and his vulnerabilities, I felt that they were similar to my own. Also, I like characters who are cheerful but have some kind of dark side to them. I had a desire to try playing such a role, and was strangely confident that I could definitely express it myself.

"How did you feel when you finally passed after almost 10 years of doing auditions?"

Miyazawa: I received a call about 30 minutes after the final selection (laughs). On my way home, my manager asked me, "Can you come to the office now?," where I was told that I had passed. It didn't really sink in at the time……It was only during filming of the first Change that the realization of "I've become a hero" actually hit me. The first Change was filmed on the fourth day after I arrived on set, so up until the third day, I felt the same as when I was working on other productions (laughs). When I was working with Action Director Jun-san and Violet's Suit Actor Tsutamune-san on thinking up transformation poses, the realization of what I was doing started to bubble up inside me, and when the cameras started rolling and I posed for the transformation and Tsutamune-san came out as BoonViolet, that's when it finally hit me.

"We understand that the three of you came up with the transformation poses together, but who took the lead?"

Miyazawa: Since it was my first time, Jun-san and Tsutamune-san pulled me along, but rather than anyone taking the lead, we thought about it as a group of three. I wanted to express myself in some way, since the transformation pose I decided on here will be the one that will remain with me for the rest of my life. Jun-san and Tsutamune-san also said that, "Miyazawa-kun's favorite pose should be good." I thought about it while receiving lots of ideas from both of them. Speaking of, there's something I like regarding Sakito's transformation pose, can I tell you about it? (laughs).

"Please go ahead (laughs)."

Miyazawa: There's the pose that looks like he's waving a checkered flag, which is meant to say, "Sakito Homura is here to end the game. I'm here, and everything's alright now." In addition, Sakito loves fighting and chaos, and is a forward character who wants to stir things up on his own, so I incorporated the attitude of Sakito Homura into the pose, with the spinning (of the checkered flag) around and sprinting forward from a jump.

"It's a transformation pose with alot of attention to detail. Before Boonboomger, Miyazawa-san appeared in "Super Battle Junretsuger," "Kamen Rider Revice," and "Kamen Rider Gotchard." You have alot of experience gained from dramas, films, and stage plays, but do you feel that tokusatsu productions have a different feel to them?"

Miyazawa: My first acting role was in Kamen Rider Revice. I've been watching "Kamen Rider" since I was a child, so it felt alittle different than appearing in a regular TV drama. Tokusatsu productions are something we remember and admire from our childhood, right? I was deeply moved to be apart of such a production.

"I know we talked about filming first, but after you were cast for the role, how did you prepare to portray Sakito Homura?"

Miyazawa: Sakito's setting is that he's been in space for about 20 years, so for starters, I've never been to space (laughs). Since he's a character with an unusual past, I had the impression of a character who's far removed from reality. I created the backbone of Sakito Homura's character by imagining life in space, and by watching American comic book films like "The Avengers," which I hadn't seen much of before, and discovered things I didn't have in my own repertoire.

"Filming for episode 18 has finished (at the time of this interview), but have your impressions of Sakito changed as a result of your performance?"

Miyazawa: He was in space for almost 20 years, and I think he's become a detached type of character in an attempt to appear strong. But in reality, he's the kind of character who feels that there's one thing he wants to protect, and aside from that, nothing else matters to him. As I played the role, I strongly felt Sakito's humanity, thinking that it was okay to show such emotions in small detail, and that (Sakito) was capable of it.

"Will Byundi (Byun Diesel) be the one with whom you've performed with the most up to episode 18?"

Miyazawa: That's right. I was filming while consulting with Takada Masashi-san. The relationship between Sakito and Byundi is really good, like that of Luffy and Ace from "ONE PIECE." They have a relationship where they support each other, so when Byundi puts down the gun he's pointing at his opponent, Sakito also puts down his, and I'm working with Takada-san in mind while being conscious of the habits that Sakito has as he matches Byundi. I've also been discussing with Tsutamune-san how BoonViolet should interact with Byundi after the Change. In the beginning, I watched Tsutamune-san and Takada-san's performance as BoonViolet and Byundi, and I even played Sakito with them in mind before the Change.

"How's the mood with the other cast members playing Boonboomgers?"

Miyazawa: There are younger kids like Iuchi-kun and Saito-kun, who are only 19 years old, so it's a very energetic set. At first, I was worried about whether I'd be able to communicate well with them, but everyone is very kind. They came rushing over to me when I was having my costume fit and asked things like, "What's Violet like?," and I thought, "Uwah, they're so cute" (laughs). We'll be working together for more than half a year, so I'd like to go out to dinner together and steadily become closer. I've only been on set for less than a month, but we're communicating well, and I'm having fun working together with everyone.

"We've noticed that Sakito will be featured in the film that'll be released this Summer."

Miyazawa: I didn't expect to be able to perform so soon after I appeared. There's a scene where Mira asks for help, and I thought hard about how Sakito should react there. Presumably, in the timeline of the film, Sakito will have grown enough where he acts for his friends. For me personally, it was difficult because we haven't filmed that much of the main series yet……(bitter smile). I was also happy to be able to perform in a scene where all six of us fight together, a development that's typical of the Super Sentai series.

"There's still more than half a year left to film, but is there anything you'd like to challenge yourself to in this show?"

Miyazawa: Up until now, I've often played the role of a villain, but I tried not to show that part of myself since this time children would be watching (laughs). I'd also like to try my hand at acting in a situation where I have to fight to protect someone while falling apart. I think Boonboomger is different from the films and TV dramas I've been involved with in the past, and in terms of acting, I'm asked to express myself in a way that's easy to understand, and I'm also being asked to show parts of myself that I haven't shown before, so I'd like to continue to challenge myself in these areas.

"Regarding Sakito Homura, what would you like people to pay attention to from now on in Boonboomger?"

Miyazawa: I think episode 18 showed us alot of Sakito's strengths and vulnerabilities. How will Sakito be involved with the Boonboomgers going forward? I hope you'll look forward to seeing how Sakito and Byundi change and grow over the course of each episode. If the viewers can feel that growth, then I'll be happy to have played the role of Sakito. Please make sure you pay attention to that.

Matsumoto Rika (Bundorio Bunderas VA)

-Delivering energy for the children's sake-

"First, we'd like to ask about the story behind your offer for this production."

Matsumoto: The first offer I received was to voice the "DX Boonboom Changer" toy. It's really wonderful to hear my own voice coming out of an item that children can directly touch. As an artist, I always hope to be a "strong vitamin" for others, and that's exactly what I do through my voice, delivering energy directly to children. There used to be a thing called a "laugh bag," right? You'd press the bag and hear the sound of laughter, and it'd make you laugh along too. With that image in mind, I put myself in a super good mood during the recording, thinking about fun things like listening to music and eating tasty food (laughs). I'd be happy if everyone could join in with my "Boon Boon Boon!" voice heard coming from the toys, imitating me when playing with them and naturally becoming energetic.

"Following that, you'd also be the voice of Boonboom and singing the ED theme?"

Matsumoto: One after another they said, "Please voice Boonboom" and, "Rika-san, please sing as well." I "cranked up" saying, "Of course!" The flow of everything was good as usual. I had reached a milestone after appearing in the anime "Pokemon" for 26 years, so I had alot of energy left in me, and I had also heard that children were missing my voice and becoming sad. I was looking for a way to delivering energy to them, as there was no option inside of me to make them feel lonely.

"Next, please tell us about your role as Bundorio Bunderas."

Matsumoto: The Producers told me, "We'd like to see him portrayed as a life form rather than a robot." At first I thought, "Maybe I should just do it as myself?," but since Boonboom's actual character is played in tandem with the Suit Actor, I wanted to add some spiritual meaning into the Suit Actor's detailed movements. I wanted to make Boonboom even more appealing by including dialogue that's true to life.

"How about the actual recording?"

Matsumoto: We have a trusting relationship, and I'm often entrusted with the job. Even in scenes where there are no lines, I'm sometimes asked, "Please give us a line here that's unique to Bundorio." I'd ask, "What kind of lines do you want?" and they'd say, "We'll leave it to you" (laughs). So I'd look at the footage 3-4 times and say, "I'm ready!" They'd say, "Do you want to do a test? Or do you want to do it for real?," and I would do a test from time to time, but sometimes I'd just go straight into doing the real thing. After all, isn't it best for it to come about naturally and without pretending? There are many cases where the first take is good. However, every Director entrusts me with their work, which makes me very happy and makes it worthwhile. There are multiple Directors, including one who was an Assistant Director during the days of "Chikyu Sentai Fiveman." For some reason, it puts a smile on my face every time.

"In that regard, do you also sometimes think back on the days of Fiveman?"

Matsumoto: I've been active overseas quite abit this year, so I'm able to concentrate on recording, but back in the days of Fiveman, we recorded every week without exception, and it took us from the time we entered the studio in the morning until late at night, which is totally different from how it is now. One of the recordings I remember well is the episode where Arthur G6 is damaged (Ep 12, Arthur's Super Transformation). Arthur's personality changes, but I was also simultaneously performing in "Obocchama-kun," so I added the essence of Binbocchama, the character who I played at the time (laughs). Most of the puns in that episode I came up with myself (laughs).

"Hasn't Toei Studios also changed a considerable amount?"

Matsumoto: First of all, it's become beautiful. Back in the old days, the floor in the recording studio was just dirt (laughs). Back then, it was still the era of film, so we'd screen the film in a dark, almost cave like environment, and read our lines by relying on a small light. I don't know how my seniors did it in that environment. Now, we've moved from film to the digital era, and the floor is no longer made of dirt. The recording room is also bright. The way I approached the role back then and the way I do it now has changed considerably, and because I've been doing this for so long, I've been able to feel this transition with the passage of time, which fills me with an inexpressible feeling.

-The word play is improvised-

"What do you care about in your role as Boonboom?"

Matsumoto: I like to include lots of wordplay. In the Children's Day broadcast on May 5 (Bakuage 10), there's a scene where the five of us were talking in the garage, and Boonboom was wearing an origami helmet (kabuto). And so I said things like, "Kabuto, I'm a kabuto~🎵" (laughs). However, I felt that the sound was muffled in the broadcast, so the next time we recorded, I said to the mixer, "I thought I sounded really good there, but wasn't my voice low?" They replied, "No, no, I could hear you just fine" (laughs). During the days of Fiveman, I could hardly talk to the Staff, but now we have a normal relationship where we can talk about these kinds of things, and I really enjoy each recording session.

"In the show, you're active not only in the usual Boonboom scenes, but also in the giant Robo battles."

Matsumoto: No, I thought I wouldn't participate in that part and would have a break. "The five of them are piloting and fighting, there they go, good luck!" is what I thought……I was told, "No, no, please do the same as Boonboom," and now I'm working hard with great enthusiasm, believing that I'm one of the Boonboomgers.

"We feel like you're being called upon more and more by the production team, and that your opportunities to play an active role are expanding."

Matsumoto: I'm really very grateful for this. Right, the OP theme song is sometimes played in the background during the Robo fight. En-chan (Endoh Masaaki) told me, "Rika's voice is so high pitched that I can't hear my own singing" (laughs). I want to make it clear to him that I'm just doing what they ask me to do (laughs).

"Have you had a chance to meet any of the cast members of Boonboomger?"

Matsumoto: We first met when the Producer brought the Boonboomger members to observe the recording session "for the sake of studying." They were all lined up behind the booth and looked at me. I thought it would be good if I could be of some help, but I kinda felt embarrassed and shy (laughs). The five members were cheerful and refreshing, full of enthusiasm and saying, "Let's do our best from now on!" They're very pleasant members. As I mentioned earlier, I consider myself a member of the Boonboomgers, so I'd like them to make as much Boonboom merch as they can (laughs). "With Boonboom, the six of us are Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger!" (laughs).

-Also singing songs as Boonboom-

"From here, we'd like to hear you talk as the singer who sings KotsuKotsu PONPON."

Matsumoto: I sang KotsuKotsu PONPON at various places during the Golden Week holiday, and everywhere I went, children's eyes lit up with joy while saying "Wow!," and I was able to experience firsthand the response to the song. When I went to Amagasaki, there were small children in the room next to the one I was staying at in the hotel, and it was very lively. Then I thought, "What's that?," and what I heard from the other side of the wall was KotsuKotsu PONPON being sung by the children. I was thrilled and thought, "They're singing!," and I tried singing the next part, but then they suddenly became quiet (laughs).

"The children wouldn't expect Matsumoto-san to be staying next door (laughs)."

Matsumoto: That'd be a surprise, wouldn't it? (laughs). But I was happy to see that this was such a widespread song. Overseas, I sang it in Portugal, and everyone already knows it. It's also up on YouTube, so I guess people looked it up and remember it. Now that we have TikTok, I hope that through SNS we can spread our music to a large number of people and have them enjoy listening to it. I myself listen to this song and find it very energizing.

"Please share your recording stories with us."

Matsumoto: At first, I thought I should just sing it in my own style, but I couldn't help but sound cool (laughs). I was asked to sing with a relaxed and open tone, so I was very conscious of that. Also, the key is set to a male voice, and it's only Boonboom that sings. We had alot of discussions about the fine details of the song like, "I want to sing it like this." For the chorus, the words "KotsuKotsu" was also written twice in the verse, but I was only able to do it once. We also discussed and decided on what to say for lines like, "Crank up! Let's go!" It really felt like we were writing the song together, and we were able to record it in the best possible form, even exploring the perfect key until the very last minute.

"It's on TV every week, but how do you feel about seeing it with the footage?"

Matsumoto: At the time of the recording, I had heard that there was going to be dancing, but I didn't know they were going to feature Boonboom that much. It's a really fun video. All the Staff members had fun making it, including the inclusion of the explanation of traffic rules. I really hope this song becomes a favorite song for as many people as possible. It would definitely be a hit if everyone could dance and sing along. The choreography itself was also well thought out in such a way that it can be performed while sitting and using only hand gestures.

"His name was mentioned earlier, but what about Endoh Masaaki-san, who sings the theme song?"

Matsumoto: En-chan and I have been friends for a long time as fellow singers, and it's interesting that the two of us are responsible for the OP and ED of Boonboomger. I've also had him participate in the chorus of "Rival!" from Pokemon, and when I see En-chan working hard, it makes me want to work harder, so we have a great relationship. When I heard that, "Endoh Masaaki-san has been chosen for the OP," I called him immediately before we recorded this time. "En-chan? Hey, it's Rika"……we were able to communicate with each other just by saying that and burst out laughing. I said, "I'm looking forward to working with you this year!" So far we haven't had a chance to sing together on stage yet, but I'm looking forward to the time we can perform together.

"In addition, a new character song, "Curry is spicy but beautiful" is also being sung."

Matsumoto: It's not so much a character song as it is a song about how to make curry. I was told, "You're going to sing a song about making curry" (laughs). I sang the song while imagining a happy scene of a family eating curry together. It would be great if the song becomes so popular that people sing it when making curry in their everyday lives.

"During the time of Fiveman, you sang the character song "Super Arthur" as well."

Matsumoto: This was my first recording as a singer, and I was extremely happy about it. It was my first time singing a character song. At first, I was singing with a natural, rock feel in mind, but then the music suddenly stopped and the Director at the time said, "Sing as the character." At first, I had a hard time figuring out how to sing it, but then I relaxed and sang it as much as I could, letting my hands swing around, which had a cute feeling to it. They also nailed it with Arthur G6's character name, so I tried singing it like a cheer.

"It'd be fun if the opportunity to sing it at Super Sentai Spirits arose."

Matsumoto: I haven't sung it since those days, so if that happens, I'll have to practice (laughs). But, that song is also cheerful and uplifting. At the time, I had heard from the Staff that many children liked this song among the ones on the Fiveman album. Because of my experience at that time, I was even more conscious of singing as the character this time. I think that "KotsuKotsu PONPON" and "Curry is spicy but beautiful" are both different from Matsumoto Rika, and are truly Bundorio Bunderas.

"You seemed to have sung the role with that much feeling."

Matsumoto: I've come to realize that character songs can only be sung by people who are serious about the performance. I think that both the melody and the poetry need to be conveyed in a compelling way.

-A character loved by everyone-

"Looking back, in addition to Arthur G6, you've often appeared in Toei's tokusatsu productions as the voice of a monster, but in episode 9 of "Mobile Cop Jiban," you also performed in person."

Matsumoto: I played the role of a reporter. Guess I've been found out, huh? (laughs). I'm beyond embarrassed. What's more, the green clothes I was wearing at that time were my own. At the time, those kind of clothes were popular……

"Ah, the bodycon dress, right?"

Matsumoto: Right! I took care of my own costume and makeup. My hair was also very wavy (laughs). For some reason, at Toei, when it comes to roles where I appear in person, there are alot of unusual ones. Like when I was AkibaYellow's mother in "Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger" (laughs). I'm very happy to be asked to play any role, but in the Super Sentai series, I'd like to play an evil super boss someday. I once played the role of Prometheum in the stage play of "Galaxy Express 999 The Musical," where I got alittle taste of such a role, and found it very rewarding. That's exactly the kind of super boss I'd like to play, like the ones played by Soga Machiko-san, who was also active as a Voice Actor. I admire it.

"Returning to Boonboomger, how do you watch the weekly broadcasts?"

Matsumoto: I really love this production. Watching the show cheers me up, and there's a part of me that looks forward to living for each Sunday. The Boonboomgers are cool of course, but the way the Sanseaters are depicted is funny, and I like the Kurumaju that appear each week, who despite being enemies, are somewhat cute. I wish they were all mascots (laughs). For recent broadcasts, the Kaseki Grumer episode (Bakuage 15) really struck my heart. When I saw it during the recording, I genuinely started crying. It's really amazing that they can portray such a deep drama in 30 minutes, and that they continue to deliver so many messages to children week after week, making me once again feel that I'm being allowed to be apart of a good program.

"Finally, please tell us again how you feel about your performance in this production."

Matsumoto: I've been holding on to the same unwavering feelings I had 34 years ago when I played the role of Arthur G6. I'm not trying to imitate that role, but both Arthur and Boonboom are packed with elements of courage, smiles, and energy. In the beginning I mentioned that I, "Wanted to be a strong vitamin," and recently, I've actually felt that Boonboom is becoming that way. His name "Boonboom" is also very playful and I really like it. It's not the same as the pandas "Lan Lan" and "Kang Kang," but it seems that names followed by the same word are ones that are loved all around the world. In that regard, I think he's a familiar figure for children, so I'd like to make him a character that'll always be there for children and loved by everyone. I'd be happy if we could grow together.

Director Nakazawa Shojiro

"This is Director Nakazawa's second production as the Main Director after "Kamen Rider Geats," When did you start participating in the project?"

Nakazawa: Technically, I did episodes 30 and 31 of King-Ohger after Geats, but to be honest, planning for Boonboomger had already progressed to a certain extent while I was working on Geats. I joined when Geats when was at it's halfway point. At that point, it was decided that it would be a "Sentai with a car motif," and that there was a "deliverer" and a "A group of professionals."

"Director Nakazawa has been the Main Director of multiple Super Sentai series, but were you given any orders for this production?"

Nakazawa: The orders were to "guarantee clarity" and "to have the cars appear in someway or other." The previous production, King-Ohger, had a strong connection to the passage of time, so with Boonboomger, I was conscious of making, "A show that can be enjoyed without thinking too much about the passage of time while also being aware of it." For my own part, I focused on simplicity and clarity, and finding the right sense of balance between being comical and serious at the same time.

"This is your first time working with Tomioka Atsuhiro-san, who wrote the script. We think you've worked with Kuji Yoshito-san before, but this is the first time for you to work with him as Chief Producer."

Nakazawa: Yes. I also worked with Kuji-san on "Ressha Sentai ToQger" and "Shuriken Sentai Ninninger" when he was an Assistant Producer. Tomioka-san is a man of man ideas, offering a variety of proposals, and is also good at summarizing them. The impression of him I get is that he's broadminded. Kuji-san listens to what multiple people have to say, and instead of rejecting things in a one sided way, he'll skillfully sum things up by saying, "That's one way to think about it." Working together with him is very helpful.

"Tomioka-san said, "I love toys," when we interviewed him in the previous issue of this magazine."

Nakazawa: That's right. When he starts talking about toys, he can't stop (laughs). In tokusatsu productions, Scriptwriters are sometimes at a loss as to how to make the mechas and items appear, but Tomioka-san will skillfully suggest, "Let's make this Boonboom Car appear like this."

"Boonboom Wagon grabbing the Kurumaju and driving off in episode 2 was putting a gimmick to good use."

Nakazawa: I'd like to have the Cars appear as much as possible, but we can't keep repeating scenes of them just driving. So, we came up with an effective way to make the Boonboom Cars appear on the scene. We thought alot about how to use the Boonboom Cars while working with the gimmick of the toys, and decided on it grabbing the Kurumaju and hauling it off.

"One of the highlights of the Boonboom Cars is the inroad scene, however, is there a reason why all the Cars go out together every time?"

Nakazawa: In a logical sense, there's no point in having all the Cars in the show come out, but Butsuda-san (SFX Director) insisted with, "You have to have all of them appear!" (laughs). The Boonboom Cars use both CG and miniatures, a direction that Butsuda-san has cultivated over the years. In Super Sentai giant battles, mechs often merge together as soon as they appear. In Boonboomger we wanted to show the Cars driving as much as possible, so we setup a highway space.

"What were you particularly conscious of when creating the first three pilot episodes?"

Nakazawa: I took great care in character building, and how to portray Taiya-kun and the others in a charming way. Taiya-kun has lots of money and can do whatever he wants, but he doesn't speak honestly and doesn't talk about himself, which can inadvertently make him come across as rude. Therefore, I was conscious of how to portray the character of Taiya in an appealing way. At the same time, we also wanted Mira-chan and Chasshiro to be good characters. At the request of Producer Kuji-san, I was conscious of how to combine the conflicting elements of being smart and professional with a comical feel.

"We think this is a difficult direction that could only be done by veteran Director Nakazawa. How exactly did you proceed?"

Nakazawa: When making a comical facial expression, do you go all out or restrain it? I was careful of finding the right balance. However, it's meaningless if the actors don't give it their all. It's important to assess this.

"For the members who joined later, BoonBlack and BoonOrange's transformed forms were also missing from the pilot."

Nakazawa: We started with three members in the beginning, and decided that the fourth and fifth would join later, but then we decided that, "It's better to have Jou and Genba appear from the beginning." If you watched the show without knowing that he transforms, you might've thought, "For some reason, the policeman who appears every time is pretty handsome" (laughs), but our original idea was to create, "A strange character who comes out and gets knocked out immediately," and then have him join the group.

"Of the two who join later, the fact that Black is a policeman reminds us of "Engine Sentai Go-Onger"……(laughs)."

Nakazawa: It certainly reminds me of that (laughs). Still, the fourth member became a police officer since it was decided on that his mech would be a patrol car. It was Tomioka-san's idea to have the fifth member be a "procurer," but since it was already decided that the mech would be heavy machinery, the name "Genba" was chosen to reflect the image of an "on site person."

"In episodes 8-9, which Director Nakazawa was next in charge of, the Boonboomgers were already in danger of breaking up."

Nakazawa: In fact, this was the second time after episode 4 where they were on the verge of breaking up (laughs). I didn't know at the time we were filming that this 9th episode was the "end of part 1" (laughs), but I think it was good timing for the first climax after all five members were together. This is the episode where Taiya's dream of the BBG is first mentioned and information begins to be revealed. From the very beginning, we had clearly decided that the Boonboomgers would be "people who do what they want to do," and that they're not necessarily heroes who are willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of peace on Earth. As more info about the BBG (Big Bang Grand Prix) is revealed in the future, I'm sure we'll also learn more about why Bundorio's qualifications as a racer were revoked.

"Please also tell us your impressions of the cast."

Nakazawa: I always tell the cast before we start filming that, "It's not just your job to say what's written in the script, but to also to think about the background of the lines written and express them." It's like King-Ohger's "between the lines" (laughs). I also tell them that, "Each character is your own creation." The Director changes on a rotating basis, so it's necessary the cast members themselves work through their roles. In that sense, they've grown alot between their first meeting together and the wrap up of episode 3. I think they've grown in some areas since then, but I hope they'll grow even more after experiencing the Summer movie.

"Starting from episode 16, Sakito Homura and BoonViolet also made their appearance."

Nakazawa: Unfortunately, I haven't been able to work on an episode where Sakito appears yet, but I was involved in the casting process. Sakito's Miyazawa-kun was one of the finalists in the audition that decided the original five cast members. He's a good actor and has a good character, so when we were deciding on the role of Sakito, I said, "I'd like him for this role." Sakito plays the dangerous role of a "cleaner," but I wanted him to skilfully play it without becoming a scary person.

"Another interesting point is that Bundorio and the Boonboomgers Robo are the same being."

Nakazawa: At first, Bundorio wasn't even established, and the Boonboomgers Robo just had the image a very ordinary Sentai Robo. As the planning meetings progressed, it was decided that, "A life sized version of the Robo should be released so that people would become attached to it," and that the character Bundorio would combine with the Robo so that, "The Robo is always with the members." The "giant battles" are a major feature of Super Sentai, and robots are the main items in its merchandise development. I was thinking about how to make this Robo look appealing. We're limited in what we can do if they just appear in giant battles.

"It's similar to Zenkaiger, in that the giant Robos also served as life sized friends."

Nakazawa: In Zenkaigers situation, the Robos appearance changed before and after the transformation, as well as when they combined, but Bundorio's appearance remains almost the same. So, I'd say that it was a step forward from what we had done with Zenkaiger. In Zenkaiger, there was "space" when the Robos took on different forms, but in Donbrothers, the Robos have the faces of each of the characters. This time, we've taken it one step further, and the "Robo still remains almost the same." If its appearance changes like in Zenkaiger, it'll be difficult for the children watching to view it as "the same thing." That's why this time we decided to keep the design mostly the same.

"Matsumoto Rika-san's performance makes Bundorio an even more appealing character."

Nakazawa: She has an aura about her, so much so that even before she enters the studio, I know she'll be there soon (laughs). In any case, she loves Bundorio, and just by saying a few words, the character is brought to life. Furthermore, she hardly rehearses at all, and after watching the footage only once, she goes straight into the performance, which is tremendous. I heard that she'd like to appear in these shows, even if she has to show her face, so if she does, it'll likely be a strong character like in Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger.

"One of the features in this show is that Bundorio often makes curry. Why did you choose to have him cook curry?"

Nakazawa: Taiya-kun's tired of eating expensive gourmet food, and prefers to eat ordinary food. Tomioka-san's idea was to make ochazuke, but after some complications, we decided on "everyone's favorite: curry."

"Now then, how were the enemy Hashiriyan characters decided?"

Nakazawa: Since the hero's side is set up that their cool adults, I was conscious of giving the Hashiriyans the comical, almost comedian like role in contrast. The Gaiark trio in Go-Onger initially appeared as "really bad guys," but in the latter half of the show, they became lovable comedic characters, didn't they? The kind of feeling I had when I thought of them were, "They're bad guys, but I don't hate them, they're ridiculous characters who are indispensable." Both the Suit Actors and the Voice Actors are having fun and in high spirits, so the characters are growing and developing.

"There are many memorable lines in this show, such as, "That Cranks me up!" and "Seems like you're in trouble."

Nakazawa: "Cranking up" was first introduced during a meeting when Tsukada-san, who was also present said, "They say Bakuage Sentai, but what's the point of Bakuage? This can be traced back to "Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger," where Tsukada-san had said something similar like, "What's the point of Abare?" In other words, such a point is absolutely necessary for the Super Sentai series. So, we started to include "Bakuage points" in each episode and "Cranking Up" in the dialogue. In short, Bakuage is, "The moment when you get excited about something, but don't know what it is." If you think about it calmly, it doesn't make sense but……it's not about logic!

"What about Genba's, "Seems like you're in trouble"?"

Nakazawa: The lines are tailored to Genba-kun's elusive and mysterious character. I think Tomioka-san was the first to include it in the script, and before I knew it, it had become a common line in the script. Tomioka-san is skilled at coming up with lines that show a character in just one word.

"Live compositing has been used since the covid pandemic, but how is it being used this time?"

Nakazawa: The Staff's skills have improved as a result of the experience we've gained so far. The technique was used to its fullest extent in the previous show, King-Ohger, but it wasn't all positive, so we had the option of not using it this year. However, it'd be a waste to reduce the technology we've accumulated from zero, so this time we used live compositing to capture things like the cockpit of the Boonboom Cars and walls in the background. These are the kind of scenes that could be shot on a set, but the difference so far is that we're mixing CG and actual modeling objects in the filming.

"And now finally, please give a message to the readers of this magazine."

Nakazawa: We're aiming to create a show that's both stylish and fun. I think you'll enjoy that unbalanced balance. We look forward to your support throughout the next year! _

Summer Film Details

"Saving the princess of the Universe from the strongest Hashiryan!" (Boonboom meets Princess?!)

The name of Boonboomgers first film that'll be released this Summer is called, "Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger: Gekijo BOON! Promise the Circuit." As the title suggests, the story starts at a circuit. While Taiya and the others are filming a video collaboration with HIKAKIN, an urgent request comes into the Boonboomgers…….Including Sakito, the curtain rises on a large scale battle between the six Boonboomger members. With the Main Director and Main Writer being the duo Nakazawa Shojiro and Tomioka Atsuhiro, come witness this cranked up battle only in theaters!

STORY: Princess Nicola Keydoor appears before Taiya and the others. She says that the planet Trickle, on which she lived, fell into the hands of the Hashiryans, and so she fled to Earth. In addition, the Hashiryans send the threat of a large, planet destroying missile to ISA, demanding that Nicola be turned over to them. In order to protect Earth, the higher ups at ISA decide to hand over Nicola. However, she couldn't accept this decision, and asks the Boonboomgers for help. As Demon Thunder appears in pursuit of Nicola, will the Boonboomgers be able to save both the princess and Earth?!

Demon Thunder (VA: Kishi Yuji, Suit Actor: Seike Riichi): A Hashiryan Catching Captain. He attacks Nicola, a princess, because he considers the screams emitted by people of nobility to be a fine source of Ghassolin.

Circuit Grumer (VA: Seki Tomokazu, Suit Actor: Sakai Kazuma): The Kurumaju born from Demon Thunder.

Nicola (Irei Himena): Princess of planet Trickle. She arrives on Earth after being ordered to flee by her father, the king, as her homeworld fell into the hands of the Hashiryans.

HIKAKIN: A popular video creator known around the world. Bundorio is one of his fans, and it appears that the collaborative video shoot was procured by Genba.

(page 73, clockwise) The Boonboomgers are shooting a collaboration video with HIKAKIN on the circuit that Taiya bought. It seems like he introduces the Boonboom Cars, and yet…..

BoonRed engages Demon Thunder to save Nicola. The result of his fate is……!

Mira and Nicola get into the Boonbom Super Car parked in the woods in order to escape from Circuit Grumer!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Solar is a market for (financial) lemons

There are only four more days left in my Kickstarter for the audiobook of The Bezzle, the sequel to Red Team Blues, narrated by @wilwheaton! You can pre-order the audiobook and ebook, DRM free, as well as the hardcover, signed or unsigned. There's also bundles with Red Team Blues in ebook, audio or paperback.

Rooftop solar is the future, but it's also a scam. It didn't have to be, but America decided that the best way to roll out distributed, resilient, clean and renewable energy was to let Wall Street run the show. They turned it into a scam, and now it's in terrible trouble. which means we are in terrible trouble.

There's a (superficial) good case for turning markets loose on the problem of financing the rollout of an entirely new kind of energy provision across a large and heterogeneous nation. As capitalism's champions (and apologists) have observed since the days of Adam Smith and David Ricardo, markets harness together the work of thousands or even millions of strangers in pursuit of a common goal, without all those people having to agree on a single approach or plan of action. Merely dangle the incentive of profit before the market's teeming participants and they will align themselves towards it, like iron filings all snapping into formation towards a magnet.

But markets have a problem: they are prone to "reward hacking." This is a term from AI research: tell your AI that you want it to do something, and it will find the fastest and most efficient way of doing it, even if that method is one that actually destroys the reason you were pursuing the goal in the first place.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/security/engineering/failure-modes-in-machine-learning

For example: if you use an AI to come up with a Roomba that doesn't bang into furniture, you might tell that Roomba to avoid collisions. However, the Roomba is only designed to register collisions with its front-facing sensor. Turn the Roomba loose and it will quickly hit on the tactic of racing around the room in reverse, banging into all your furniture repeatedly, while never registering a single collision:

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2021/04/when-ais-start-hacking.html

This is sometimes called the "alignment problem." High-speed, probabilistic systems that can't be fully predicted in advance can very quickly run off the rails. It's an idea that pre-dates AI, of course – think of the Sorcerer's Apprentice. But AI produces these perverse outcomes at scale…and so does capitalism.

Many sf writers have observed the odd phenomenon of corporate AI executives spinning bad sci-fi scenarios about their AIs inadvertently destroying the human race by spinning off in some kind of paperclip-maximizing reward-hack that reduces the whole planet to grey goo in order to make more paperclips. This idea is very implausible (to say the least), but the fact that so many corporate leaders are obsessed with autonomous systems reward-hacking their way into catastrophe tells us something about corporate executives, even if it has no predictive value for understanding the future of technology.

Both Ted Chiang and Charlie Stross have theorized that the source of these anxieties isn't AI – it's corporations. Corporations are these equilibrium-seeking complex machines that can't be programmed, only prompted. CEOs know that they don't actually run their companies, and it haunts them, because while they can decompose a company into all its constituent elements – capital, labor, procedures – they can't get this model-train set to go around the loop:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/09/autocomplete-worshippers/#the-real-ai-was-the-corporations-that-we-fought-along-the-way

Stross calls corporations "Slow AI," a pernicious artificial life-form that acts like a pedantic genie, always on the hunt for ways to destroy you while still strictly following your directions. Markets are an extremely reliable way to find the most awful alignment problems – but by the time they've surfaced them, they've also destroyed the thing you were hoping to improve with your market mechanism.

Which brings me back to solar, as practiced in America. In a long Time feature, Alana Semuels describes the waves of bankruptcies, revealed frauds, and even confiscation of homeowners' houses arising from a decade of financialized solar:

https://time.com/6565415/rooftop-solar-industry-collapse/

The problem starts with a pretty common finance puzzle: solar pays off big over its lifespan, saving the homeowner money and insulating them from price-shocks, emergency power outages, and other horrors. But solar requires a large upfront investment, which many homeowners can't afford to make. To resolve this, the finance industry extends credit to homeowners (lets them borrow money) and gets paid back out of the savings the homeowner realizes over the years to come.

But of course, this requires a lot of capital, and homeowners still might not see the wisdom of paying even some of the price of solar and taking on debt for a benefit they won't even realize until the whole debt is paid off. So the government moved in to tinker with the markets, injecting prompts into the slow AIs to see if it could coax the system into producing a faster solar rollout – say, one that didn't have to rely on waves of deadly power-outages during storms, heatwaves, fires, etc, to convince homeowners to get on board because they'd have experienced the pain of sitting through those disasters in the dark.

The government created subsidies – tax credits, direct cash, and mixes thereof – in the expectation that Wall Street would see all these credits and subsidies that everyday people were entitled to and go on the hunt for them. And they did! Armies of fast-talking sales-reps fanned out across America, ringing dooorbells and sticking fliers in mailboxes, and lying like hell about how your new solar roof was gonna work out for you.

These hustlers tricked old and vulnerable people into signing up for arrangements that saw them saddled with ballooning debt payments (after a honeymoon period at a super-low teaser rate), backstopped by liens on their houses, which meant that missing a payment could mean losing your home. They underprovisioned the solar that they installed, leaving homeowners with sky-high electrical bills on top of those debt payments.

If this sounds familiar, it's because it shares a lot of DNA with the subprime housing bubble, where fast-talking salesmen conned vulnerable people into taking out predatory mortgages with sky-high rates that kicked in after a honeymoon period, promising buyers that the rising value of housing would offset any losses from that high rate.

These fraudsters knew they were acquiring toxic assets, but it didn't matter, because they were bundling up those assets into "collateralized debt obligations" – exotic black-box "derivatives" that could be sold onto pension funds, retail investors, and other suckers.

This is likewise true of solar, where the tax-credits, subsidies and other income streams that these new solar installations offgassed were captured and turned into bonds that were sold into the financial markets, producing an insatiable demand for more rooftop solar installations, and that meant lots more fraud.

Which brings us to today, where homeowners across America are waking up to discover that their power bills have gone up thanks to their solar arrays, even as the giant, financialized solar firms that supplied them are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, thanks to waves of defaults. Meanwhile, all those bonds that were created from solar installations are ticking timebombs, sitting on institutions' balance-sheets, waiting to go blooie once the defaults cross some unpredictable threshold.

Markets are very efficient at mobilizing capital for growth opportunities. America has a lot of rooftop solar. But 70% of that solar isn't owned by the homeowner – it's owned by a solar company, which is to say, "a finance company that happens to sell solar":

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/solarcity-maintains-34-residential-solar-market-share-in-1h-2015/406552/

And markets are very efficient at reward hacking. The point of any market is to multiply capital. If the only way to multiply the capital is through building solar, then you get solar. But the finance sector specializes in making the capital multiply as much as possible while doing as little as possible on the solar front. Huge chunks of those federal subsidies were gobbled up by junk-fees and other financial tricks – sometimes more than 100%.

The solar companies would be in even worse trouble, but they also tricked all their victims into signing binding arbitration waivers that deny them the power to sue and force them to have their grievances heard by fake judges who are paid by the solar companies to decide whether the solar companies have done anything wrong. You will not be surprised to learn that the arbitrators are reluctant to find against their paymasters.

I had a sense that all this was going on even before I read Semuels' excellent article. We bought a solar installation from Treeium, a highly rated, giant Southern California solar installer. We got an incredibly hard sell from them to get our solar "for free" – that is, through these financial arrangements – but I'd just sold a book and I had cash on hand and I was adamant that we were just going to pay upfront. As soon as that was clear, Treeium's ardor palpably cooled. We ended up with a grossly defective, unsafe and underpowered solar installation that has cost more than $10,000 to bring into a functional state (using another vendor). I briefly considered suing Treeium (I had insisted on striking the binding arbitration waiver from the contract) but in the end, I decided life was too short.

The thing is, solar is amazing. We love running our house on sunshine. But markets have proven – again and again – to be an unreliable and even dangerous way to improve Americans' homes and make them more resilient. After all, Americans' homes are the largest asset they are apt to own, which makes them irresistible targets for scammers:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/06/the-rents-too-damned-high/

That's why the subprime scammers targets Americans' homes in the 2000s, and it's why the house-stealing fraudsters who blanket the country in "We Buy Ugly Homes" are targeting them now. Same reason Willie Sutton robbed banks: "That's where the money is":

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/11/ugly-houses-ugly-truth/

America can and should electrify and solarize. There are serious logistical challenges related to sourcing the underlying materials and deploying the labor, but those challenges are grossly overrated by people who assume the only way we can approach them is though markets, those monkey's paw curses that always find a way to snatch profitable defeat from the jaws of useful victory.

To get a sense of how the engineering challenges of electrification could be met, read McArthur fellow Saul Griffith's excellent popular engineering text Electrify:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/12/09/practical-visionary/#popular-engineering

And to really understand the transformative power of solar, don't miss Deb Chachra's How Infrastructure Works, where you'll learn that we could give every person on Earth the energy budget of a Canadian (like an American, but colder) by capturing just 0.4% of the solar rays that reach Earth's surface:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/17/care-work/#charismatic-megaprojects

But we won't get there with markets. All markets will do is create incentives to cheat. Think of the market for "carbon offsets," which were supposed to substitute markets for direct regulation, and which produced a fraud-riddled market for lemons that sells indulgences to our worst polluters, who go on destroying our planet and our future:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/14/for-sale-green-indulgences/#killer-analogy

We can address the climate emergency, but not by prompting the slow AI and hoping it doesn't figure out a way to reward-hack its way to giant profits while doing nothing. Founder and chairman of Goodleap, Hayes Barnard, is one of the 400 richest people in the world – a fortune built on scammers who tricked old people into signing away their homes for nonfunctional solar):

https://www.forbes.com/profile/hayes-barnard/?sh=40d596362b28

If governments are willing to spend billions incentivizing rooftop solar, they can simply spend billions installing rooftop solar – no Slow AI required.

Berliners: Otherland has added a second date (Jan 28 - TOMORROW!) for my book-talk after the first one sold out - book now!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/27/here-comes-the-sun-king/#sign-here

Back the Kickstarter for the audiobook of The Bezzle here!

Image:

Future Atlas/www.futureatlas.com/blog (modified)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/87913776@N00/3996366952

--

CC BY 2.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

J Doll (modified)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blue_Sky_%28140451293%29.jpeg

CC BY 3.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[mariacallous]

In less than a day, prosecutors, police and the government in Serbia reacted to an AI deepfake video of Prime Minister Milos Vucevic allegedly posted on Facebook.

The rapid reaction contrasted with other cases of deepfake content posted in Telegram groups or broadcast on national TV stations about Serbian citizens and opposition politicians.

The Special Prosecution Office for High Tech Crime told the police to collect all “necessary notifications” on the matter, said a prosecutor’s statement on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the government said a Facebook account named Corvus01 had posted the AI-generated video statement in which the PM talked about “non-existent government projects”.

“A criminal complaint has been filed against an NN [anonymous] person and work is being done to establish the identity of the person,” the statement said, adding that police had asked Meta company to send them all data on the account and to remove the fake video.

As the video is not publicly available, it was probably removed after the government’s request.

However, BIRN’s Digital Rights Violations Annual Report 2022-2023 noted numerous other cases of AI-generated videos of politicians being published without sanctions.

In August 2023, Zeljko Mitrovic, owner of pro-government TV Pink, published AI-manipulated footage of Marinika Tepic, vice-president of the opposition Freedom and Justice Party, misrepresenting her remarks.

The same month, Mitrovic did the same with Dragan Djilas, president of the Freedom and Justice Party, airing the video on TV Pink as “satire”. Mitrovic posted the deepfake on X and later showed it on TV Pink without the audience being properly informed that it was fabricated.

Mila Tomanovic, a lawyer handling the Djilas case, told BIRN that Djilas sought a temporary measure that would prohibit the broadcast and re-recording of the video but the Higher Court in Belgrade in November 2023 rejected the call. The Court of Appeal then cancelled the decision of the Higher Court, which is currently considering the temporary measure again.

Tomanovic said Mitrovic defended the edited video as artistic expression. “However, the spread of violence, lies, fraud, deception, misuse of other people’s data, provision of false data and fabrication and presenting a person in a false light cannot possibly be art, or of importance to a democratic society,” Tomanovic said.

Other cases in which Serbian institutions didn’t respond concerned tens of thousands of Telegram users in Serbia who were sharing images of women “undressed” by artificial intelligence, as BIRN reported this week.

Ana Toskic Cvetinovic, executive director at Partners for Democratic Change, an NGO from Serbia and a privacy protection expert, told BIRN that the prosecution in the case of the PM likely reacted to a criminal complaint of the unauthorised publication and display of other people’s files, portraits and video.

“In our country, there is no specifically regulated or sanctioned use of artificial intelligence for the generation of audio and video content, so the use of deepfake can be brought under existing criminal offences, such as unauthorised publication,” she said.

She added that what was specific in the latest case was “the speed of reaction of the prosecution, which is mostly absent in other cases”.

“The prosecution and the police generally state that these crimes are difficult to prove, including collecting evidence from companies that manage social networks,” Toskic Cvetinovic noted.

Nina Nicovic, a lawyer, told BIRN that a direct parallel cannot be drawn between the fake recording of PM Vucevic and the deepfake material circulating on social networks and Telegram groups about “ordinary citizens”.

“If something related to the non-existent projects of the government of any country is really published on a video, then every country … has the right to react urgently because it can lead to consequences for the country,” said Nicovic.

However, she added that her impression is that institutions in Serbia only react fast to rights violations in the digital sphere when politicians are involved.

“If they can react so quickly to everything related to the government and politicians, in certain situations such as the Telegram groups they should have reacted just as urgently,” Nicovic said.

She said one big obstacle is that the courts, prosecutor’s offices and the police do not have enough IT experts to help solve these cases.

thinking about @roycohn's post about AI deepfakes and Ted Cruz...

[medium-observation]

September Release!

The Lord of the Rings - Chicago Shakespeare Theater

August 28, 2024 (Matinée) - Medium Observation

Video

Cast:

Spencer Davis Milford (Frodo), Michael Kurowski (Sam), Lauren Zakrin (Galadriel), Ben Mathew (Pippin), Will James Jr. (Aragorn/Strider), Tom Amandes (Gandalf), Tony Bozzuto (Gollum), Alina Taber (Arwen), Eileen Doan (Merry), Matthew C. Yee (Boromir), Justin Albinder (Legolas), Ian Maryfield (Gimli), Jeff Parker (Elrond/Saruman), Rick Hall (Bilbo Baggins/Steward), Suzanne Hannau (Rosie Cotton), John Lithgow (Voice of Treebeard), Joey Faggion (Ensemble), Mia Hilt (Ensemble), James Mueller (Ensemble), Jarais Musgrove (Ensemble), Hannah Novak (Ensemble), Adam Qutaishat (Ensemble), Laura Savage (Ensemble), Bernadette Santos Schwegel (Ensemble), Ty Shay (s/w Ensemble), Luke Nowakowski (s/w Ensemble)

Notes:

Fantastic capture of this incredibly immersive and beautiful production. there is a bar in the bottom right corner of the screen that doesn't take away except for one moment where Gandalf and Frodo are talking on the stairs in act one, but overall I worked around it and you can always see Frodo and sometimes Gandalf. At points people are in the audience and I wasn't able to capture them but you can always hear them and I do my best to always try to make sure to capture anything in the audience that I could. Some washout and shakiness throughout.

NFT Date: March 1st, 2025

Screenshots: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBFvi6

Video is $20

Moulin Rouge! The Musical - First US National Tour

April 7, 2024 - Medium Observation

Video

Cast:

Christian Douglas (Christian), Nicci Claspell (u/s Satine), Amar Atkins (u/s Harold Zidler), Nick Rashad Burroughs (Toulouse-Lautrec), Andrew Brewer (The Duke of Monroth), Jordan Vasquez (u/s Santiago), Sarah Bowden (Nini), Renee Marie Titus (La Chocolat), Adea Michelle Sessoms (u/s Arabia), Max Heitmann (Baby Doll), Kamal Lado (Pierre), Tommy Gedrich, Tamrin Goldberg, Cameron Hobbs, Nathaniel Hunt, Chloe Rae Kehm, Melissa Hunter McCann, Luke Monday, Tanisha Moore, Kenneth Michael Murray, Elyse Niederee, Omar Nieves, Kent Overshown, Stefanie Renee Salyers, Connor McRory

Notes:

Really beautiful capture of Nicci, Amar and Jordan as Satine, Zidler and Santiago respectively. Some washout and shakiness throughout.

NFT Date: March 1st, 2025

Screenshots: https://www.flickr.com/gp/196227588@N02/a6RiV4g980

Video is $20

Beetlejuice - First US National Tour

June 30, 2024 - Medium Observation

Video

Cast:

Justin Collette (Beetlejuice), Isabella Esler (Lydia Deetz), Megan McGinnis (Barbara Maitland), Will Burton (Adam Maitland), Jesse Sharp (Charles Deetz), Sarah Litzsinger (Delia Deetz), Hillary Porter (Miss Argentina), Abe Goldfarb (Otho), Brian Vaughn (Maxie Dean), Maria Sylvia Norris (Maxine Dean/Juno), Madison Mosley (Girl Scout)

Notes:

Beautiful Capture of Abe, Larkin and Haley's last performance with the company. My camera was having a lot of issues for Act 1, 2 minutes is missing during ready set (still has audio), And then after every song there's a short 2 second blackout. Act 2 is perfect with no issues with my camera. Also the last US stop before a month break and then Mexico! Some washout and shakiness throughout.

NFT Date: March 1st, 2025

Screenshots: https://www.flickr.com/gp/196227588@N02/7B2h6860bv

Video is $18

Videos can be purchased through me at mediumobservationtrading@gmail.com

Discord Server: https://discord.gg/ZGMqkeb9p5

[babygirlbenji]

Questions & Surprises - Mason Mount

a/n: so i wrote this in lit about an hour on the plane at 36,000ft so if it's rubbish let's blame that x sorry it's so short also stay tuned to the end for the surprise x

What struck Mason from the moment he met you was your confidence. He’ll admit that he was a bit cocky, and assumed that you’d be scared to talk to him, Ben and Reece when your mutual friend introduced you to them, but he was surprised (in a good way) when you immediately struck up a conversation with them. Your conversations spread all the way from football, in which you had a small amount of knowledge, to travel to discussing what you did for your job. 

Your answer was ‘content creation’, and Mason was even more intrigued. So, you spent the rest of the night talking him through everything about being a YouTuber, from planning and scheduling content to analytics (which was your personal favourite thing about being a YouTuber; you loved statistics and demographics). 

As your relationship with Mason grew, so did your following and subscriber count as people figured out who you were and your relationship with him. Your GRWM videos started to include ‘GRWM for match days’ and travel vlogs. Your view counts skyrocketed, with your most popular video being the Champions League win, titled ‘THEY WON!!!😭💙’. The fans absolutely loved your relationship with Mason, seeing how happy you made him and how you supported him. Even when your videos weren’t entirely related to football match days, you still incorporated Mason into the process, and you loved seeing how into it he got. One of his favourite things was to watch you edit, muttering to yourself about ‘how do I go about moving that’ and ‘now I need to detach that audio’, and occasionally muttering swearwords to yourself when you fucked up. 

Your favourite videos to film were Q&A’s and would you rather with Mason. It offered fans a rare glimpse of life into their favourite couple, and it was what you were filming today. 

You and Mason had sat down on the sofa with the camera stood opposite you, house slowly starting to be decorated for Christmas.

‘Ready?’ You asked, about to hit record. 

‘Course babe, I’m always ready!’ His response made you snicker, and you started to record. 

‘What’s up, guys, it’s me Y/N!’ You started with your signature introduction. ‘And I’m here today with my boyfriend, Mason!’ He laughed as you started to cheer quietly. You made a mental note to add a crowd applause sound effect in while you were editing. 

‘Hi guys,’ he said, almost shyly. 

‘Today we are going to be answering some questions you guys asked us over on my Instagram. What do you reckon they’re going to ask us, Mase?’ Mason’s heart fluttered at the nickname you had for him, then he started to laugh. 

‘“When are you getting married?!”’ You both started laughing at that; it was definitely the most asked question, seeing as you guys had been dating for nearly four years. His own family had started asking the same question. Little did they know that Mason had a sneaky plan up his sleeve. 

‘Okay, okay, let’s get into it!’ You pulled out your phone to read the questions. ‘First question: “Mason, what was your first impression of Y/N?”’ Mason cocked his head to think about the question for a moment. 

‘I think what really struck me was your confidence, like a lot of people are very shy when they meet me, not to sound big-headed or anything. But you were so confident and walked right up to us and struck up a conversation, it was really refreshing. And obviously you’re very beautiful.’ You smiled shyly. 

‘Aww, babe, isn’t he a cutie?’ He returned your smile, and the fans would soon see how much adoration he had for you just in that smile. ‘Next question, “Y/N, what’s your dream company to collab with?”. Hmmm, there are so many, and so many amazing brands that I’ve already had the privilege of working with, but I’m gonna have to say National Geographic. I’ve been a Nat Geo fan ever since I can remember, when other kids my age were watching Thomas the Tank Engine, I was watching dinosaur documentaries or scaring myself with documentaries about airplanes crashing.’ You turned to look at Mason, whose face was a mixture of amusement and concern. 

‘You’re weird.’ You shrugged.

‘Indeed, but look where it got me!’ The fans loved these kinds of exchanges between the two of you; full of banter yet also full of love and mutual respect. Yours was a relationship many can only dream of. You made sure you reminded yourself every day of how lucky you were to have a man like him. 

The questions continued for another ten or fifteen minutes, and then you started to close it down.

‘Alright guys, unfortunately that’s all we have time for today! We…’ 

‘Actually, Y/N,’ Mason interrupted you, making you look over at him in confusion. ‘I have one question myself.’ He dug around in his pockets, and your eyes filled with tears when he pulled out a little red box. ‘Will you marry me?’ You looked at him, bewildered and delighted all at once, before looking over at the camera.

‘This isn’t staged, I promise you, are you being serious?’ He nodded, grinning. 

‘Course I’m serious, darlin’! You’re the love of my life and I can’t imagine spending my life without anyone else. So, will you marry me?’ He opened the box, and you saw the prettiest ring you’d ever seen in your entire life. You nodded fiercely, tears spilling over your cheeks as you pulled him in for a hug. 

‘Yes, yes, of course I will!’ You choked out a sob, pulling back from the hug to let him slide the ring onto your finger. It sparkled in the reflection of your studio lights, making you sob again. ‘Oh god, Mase it’s beautiful,’ you mumbled through the tears. 

‘I love you, darling.’ You brought your hands up to his face and gently held it as you kissed him happily, smiling into the kiss. Before it got too heated, you remembered you were on camera, so you pulled apart. Vaguely aware your mascara was probably running down your cheeks, you threw your arm around Mason’s neck. 

‘Okay, now that we’re definitely finished, thanks everyone for watching, I hope you enjoyed this video, see you next time! We’re engaged!’ You showed the camera your ring, before pressing the record button again to stop the recording. You looked over at Mason, who had an incomprehensible expression on his face. ‘How long have you been planning that?’ He shrugged.

‘Since June’s Q&A.’ Your jaw dropped.

‘You’ve been planning it for five months?!’ He grinned. 

‘Wanted to make sure you weren’t expecting it.’ 

‘Well you definitely succeeded in that.’ 

The video went live a few days later, and it’s fair to say you were the most excited you’d ever been to post a video. You titled it ‘November Q&A!🤍 Surprise at the end!!!’. Within minutes of the premiere, you were getting comments:

masonfan19: OMFG?? ARE YOU KIDDING THIS IS SO CUTE

y/nismyidol: this is my favourite video ever!!! your reaction omg😭 ENDGAME!!!

masony/nforeva: i can’t wait for the wedding vlog!!!!

footballer23: YOUR REACTION OMG😭

Mason’s fellow footballers were WhatsApping him with congratulations, and you even had companies sending you congratulations. What really made your day was a comment that appeared on your Instagram photo a few days later. It was a screenshot of you just after Mason asked you to marry him; your jaw was open and tears were visible in your eyes. The comment read:

natgeo: We love this, and we’d love for you to message us about working together! Congrats! 😁

Mason didn’t dare to say it, but your reaction to seeing that comment was almost as effusive as when he asked you to marry him.

[sgiandubh]

Logo wars: the unicorn vs. the griffin

Ever since August, the battle between the Warchief and the Sassenach has been lurking somewhere, on the outskirts of my radar. While some still deny there is anything going wrong between S and McTavish, I have strong reservations it's all about sunshine, lollipops and roses in that department. And I couldn't help but wonder if the key to the problem was not to be found in the very disingenuous way Graham chose to build the marketing strategy of his products and to update his own personal brand, in the process.

So I took a deep dive into socials and this is something that is going to take some more time to complete. If this kind of content is not your jam or you disagree with my premises, it's totally fine with me, but maybe you should skip these posts. And since we have to start somewhere, let's start with their companies' logos: they have a lot of things to tell us.

Soon after the Remarkable Week-end, S finally unveiled a business project he'd been alluding to for quite a while (if anything is wrong in here, kindly correct me in comments). This was the logo and the slogan they are still using until today:

The Sassenach Unique Spirits. Spirit of Home.

As compared with what McTavish released this summer:

McTavish Spirits. A Scotsman's Dream of America.

First logo: clean, sober lines. A Unicorn, whose contours seem more aptly designed for a sports car or a new, innovative line of home equipment (think rather audio systems, not refrigerators). Or even an elegant, country life oriented clothing line, with all the paraphernalia (gloves, scarves, etc - but we already knew about the First Love tartan, then, so it's still a possibility).

Unique spirits, with all my deep affection and due respect for a real effort, is not the best they could have come up with. You see, that's hardly a sales argument or an efficient pitch. Just like any dog owner on this planet would tell you that Bebe or Fido or Snoopy are 'the best dogs ever', a new entrepreneur would confidently tell you his booze is 'unique'. The effort S put into patiently educating his passion for whisky and creating something personal out of it deserved better. Not the completely expected and almost meaningless 'unique' - this is very lazy copywriting, I think (not a copywriter, just an exacting client, here). It spells low budget where we needed something irresistible.

Onwards to the Unicorn. Of course, it's all about Scotland - it's whisky, for Christ's sake. But, it's also about this:

This is the sixth panel of one of the most moving, exquisite things that ever graced this planet: The Lady and the Unicorn cycle of Flemish tapestries, now making the pride and joy of the Cluny National Museum of the Middle Ages, in Paris. A place I know well and was a very frequent visitor of, when I was living just about three blocks away from it. Its story has to do with the Five Senses and this is the last panel, featuring a mysterious message on that lavish tent's roof:

A mon seul Désir. It's French for: "To my sole desire". Unique, indeed.

Let's let things flow a bit in free association mode (I know Puffy did it on her blog with the Barbour project, but she didn't invent it and she certainly has no copyright - so yeah, waiting for a couple more idiots to block right after posting this):

Unicorn... Scotland... legend... purity...even Mary Queen of Scots asked for a unicorn horn to make sure the water was not poisoned, while in prison... untamed...chivalry.... woman...only a woman can tame and lure a unicorn... Medieval...Cluny... desire... sole desire... soul desire (heh)...unique...passion.... statement... labor of love... personal testimony...first love and we wrap it up nicely with a smile ('she is the original Sassenach', ahem).

That was the first set of (genuine) talking points he went with. Now, we deal with a contorted & painful explanation: Scotland is an inclusive nation and land, I am the Sassenach, etc. What do our unsuspecting American friends know, after all? But to a #silly European, it makes no sense: yes, Scotland is a very inclusive, open and even avantgarde society for many things, but this is whisky and should spell tradition, not innovation. It should spell mystery and something that comes (at great costs) from a faraway, fabled land of mists and druids and lochs. Not from a blaring EDI crossroads, where people are gathered to protest against global warming. Then how about that unnecessary 'I am the Sassenach' - no, Sir, you aren't, plus I hope you know how we, shippers immediately interpret it ('blood of my blood and bone of my bone' - 😁).

But your main problem with the name and the brand that goes along with is not even this. The problem is that a unicorn is always female. You have a feminine brand for a masculine product.

So instead of a haphazard explanation which smells of improv, why not just take the second, abstract, meaning of unicorn and just say cheekily something along those loose lines, for example:

'Well, we are a new, innovative enterprise which aspires to be a smaller unicorn in the world of spirits. Maybe we'll never make it to 1 billion dollars, but it's the bravery and the innovative spirit that we bring with us from Scotland, our home (cue in waxing lyrical and fill in the blanks with all the tropes you can think of). So we're the new kid on the block, the outsider, the underdog set to conquer new lands and new opportunities, exactly like Jamie Fraser, the character I play in OL does (cue in credible retconning of your initial strategy: you need a new client base to generate sales volume & secure or even multiply returning sales and those people DGAF about OL).'

Granted, you'll totally throw under the bus the whole initial plan, but hey - it's an elegant way out of a conundrum.

Second logo, quite a different situation. It's busy, busy, busy with the kind of motifs that make one immediately think of an engraved Colt grip. Something like this, perhaps, only stylized:

Instead of the Unicorn, we have a double beast: a Lion and an Eagle. In Ancient Greece, this mythical combo was called a  γρύψ (gryps), which later gave 'griffin' in English. It is a hybrid, but then so is bourbon. The Lion is a symbol for the European roots of the brand and the Eagle, well - easy, America, pointing West and meaning new perspectives, freedom, etc. But the brand is McTavish Spirits, in a very personal approach: this is my bourbon (isn't it ironic, for a white label project?) and this is my story and these are my (a Scotsman's) dreams of America. Transparent. Legible. I mean business - this is not a labor of love.

Free association again:

The Lion self... the Older, Wiser Guy... the Leader... the Statesman... Dougal MacKenzie...the (hello) Warchief...but this is America... so I am also the Lonely Gunman... I am exploring a New Frontier... bringing my past with me (all the classy, gentleman-like persona)... telling my personal story, too, in the process... from my Scottish roots to making it in Hollywood... so I am also The Storyteller (unlike that young nincompoop, who just goes zorbing and chases barmaids) ... so, maybe, just maybe if you listen to my stories, you will forget I put zero effort into trying samples and touring the whole land looking for perfect balance, and just went for the easy solution and a quick buck... buy my booze and I'll tell you more... I am reliable and tried and tested and still young enough and strong enough and determined enough (the Eagle) to have a new wife and new plans.

Plus: a masculine brand for a masculine product. I won't keep scores for a while, but pfff... point taken.

This is not only logo conception copycat and shameless, reactive competition, on very thin ice and on a (at this point in time, at least) very slim portion of the market. This is, mark me, war between two people who still have some gigs together.

We'll see next time who shows up at their parallel events and buys their booze and also how they choose to engage (or not) with these people. I think I begin to understand what McTavish's brand strategy is, but I need to have a second, closer look. More on this, tomorrow.

[pigeonrobespierre]

Soo today I decided to look further into whathever happened to the I Giacobini screenplay - buckle in, I did my best to include as much info as I could find!!

"I Giacobini" (the jacobins) is an Italian screenplay from 1962 based on Federico Zardi's homonymous drama and it is, as of today, a lost media.

The cause for the disappearance of the screenplay from the RAI (Italian national public broadcasting company) archives is either reconduced to the lack of care for the preservation of medias at the time or to the theory which believes the cause to be due to political circumstances.

According to Wikipedia (eh):

...while Italy was in the hands of the Democrazia Cristiana, RAI for the first time broadcast to the public a screenplay «practically entirely aligned with the left and in which Robespierre doesn't come off as a bloody monster but rather like a Che Guevara of reason»

The Democrazia Cristiana or DC (Christian Democracy) was a centrist christian democratic political party in Italy.

The screenplay became largely appreciated by the public, as well as receiving praises from Palmiro Togliatti, exponent of the PCI (Italian communist party) - which happens to be one of the DC 's political opponents at the time.

(source)

Palmiro Togliatti on "Rinascita" wrote that television was bringing a change, since «for the first time it brought a representation of the French revolution inside Italian households»

I went ahead and looked through the archives of Rinascita but found this.

Here I found Togliatti's comment on the screenplay - the below image is a section of it:

The screenplay I Giacobini can be considered an important event of national culture. [...] What matters is that for some weeks a few billions of Italians, have seen and have had in front of their minds a revolution, have been brought to think about about it and to discuss it, seeing it as a political, social and human conflict.

It's then necessary to understand the political contexts of the time both within and outside of Italy:

(source)

...In 1962, under the threat of the cold war, a few months before the Cuban Missile Crisis, a screenplay remarked positively by the leader of a communist party in a NATO country could've raised any kind of reaction.

Thus, the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the screenplay is believed to be caused by some archivist involved with the democristian party.

While this is widely believed to be the reasoning behind it there's not much clear evidence and it's likely impossible to investigate since so much time has passed.

About the screenplay: it was broadcast in 6 episodes, of 90 minutes each, between 11th March - 15th April of 1962 (with a rerun in 1963 after which the tapes disappeared).

It originally featured La Marseillaise, La Carmagnole and Ça ira as well as 4 songs produced for the theater play by Gino Negri.

Audio Recording

In 2012 a man came forward with a (illegally) recorded copy of the audio from the screenplay and sent it over to the Rai archives. The studio managed to recover and digitalize the audios of the six episodes - sadly the video recording is still missing.

Funnily enough, the archive page on which the audios were supposedly made public is gone as of today - but I have found YouTube uploads here: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Also here's a doc that wast broadcast on Italian television on the 11th March of 2012, in honor of the 50 years since the first run of the screenplay - (it's in Italian, if anyone's interested I'll gladly sub it/provide a translation)

In short - bless that viewer for pirating the audio in 1962 and lots of hate to whoever lost the tapes..

Maybe I Giacobini was the friends we made along the way 🍊

[theholmwoodfoundation]

THE HOLMWOOD FOUNDATION PILOT EPISODE CAST/CREW - PART THREE

GEORGIA COOK - CO-WRITER AND CO-PRODUCER

Georgia Cook is an illustrator and scribe-award nominated writer from London. She has written for publications such as Baffling, Vastarien Lit, and Flame Tree press, as well as the Doctor Who range with Big Finish. Her Doctor Who Novel, Ruby Red, is currently available from Penguin books. She frequently writes and narrates for various horror anthology podcasts such as 'Creepy', 'The Other Stories', and 'The Night's End'. She can be found on twitter at @georgiacooked and on her website at https://www.georgiacookwriter.com/

FIO TRETHEWEY - CO-WRITER AND CO-PRODUCER

Fio Trethewey is a writer and artist known for their love of Doctor Who, Arthurian Legend and 80s cult classics. Alongside working for the Lancet as a Deputy Operations Manager he has written a variety of audio dramas and short stories for Big Finish Productions for their Doctor Who box sets, most recently writing for the Gallifrey War Room Series both ‘The Last Days of Phaidon” (2022), “Transference” (2023) and The Twelfth Doctor Chronicles finale "You Only Die Twice.' Fio has also contributed their prose work to various anthologies including Overdue: Mystery, Adventure, and the World’s Lost Books, Shadows Over Avalon Volume 2 and Sockhops and Seances for 18thWall Productions. Lastly, as a writer and artist to charity anthologies and raised money on a charity drawing stream for FareShare UK back in October 2020 raising $4,762.

KATHARINE ARMITAGE - SCRIPT EDITOR

Katharine is a writer, script editor and director in drama and comedy. Most recently she directed new Radio 4 sitcom 'Tom and Lauren Are Going OOT!' and wrote scripts including 'The Beautiful Game' and 'Nowhere, Never' for Big Finish's Doctor Who audio dramas.  She also wrote and directed an adaptation of 'Dracula', back in 2017, so was delighted to return to the Count's world in working on 'The Holmwood Foundation'.

BENJI CLIFFORD - SOUND DESIGNER/ ENGINEER

Benji is a sound designer, musician, and presenter from the UK who specialises in post-production audio design. Whether creating cinematic multi-cast productions or intimate storytelling through audiobooks, Benji ensures that you get the highest quality, professional-sounding production. Throughout his time as a sound designer, Benji has worked on many famous properties such as BBC's Doctor Who and Torchwood, ITV's iconic Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Stingray, as well as cult tv revivals such as Terry Nation's Survivors, Space 1999, Adam Adamant Lives and Blake's 7, to name a few. Using the latest industry-standard equipment, software, and a fully loaded sound effects library consisting of thousands of recordings, Benji delivers a clean and contemporary sound regardless of your budgetary requirements. In addition to working in his own studio, Benji has extensive experience engineering in some of London's busiest recording studios. He has also helped many companies and productions continue working during remote working restrictions, ensuring high quality can be achieved even in less-than-ideal environments. Since 2017, Benji has co-hosted the weekly Big Finish Podcast alongside Nicholas Briggs. This podcast has a worldwide reach with thousands of listeners, and he has also performed it live across the UK and in the USA.

PART ONE: HERE

PART TWO: HERE

[toofunktastic]

Some more gifts of stuff from last year and previous years!

Hadestown - First US National Tour February 19, 2022 - madeapactwithsatan MatinéeCast: Nicholas Barasch (Orpheus), Morgan Siobhan Green (Eurydice), Kevyn Morrow (Hades), Kimberly Marable (Persephone), Levi Kreis (Hermes), Belén Moyano (Fate), Bex Odorisio (Fate), Shea Renne (Fate), Lindsey Hailes (Worker), Chibueze Ihuoma (Worker), Will Mann (Worker), Sydney Parra (Worker), Jamari Johnson Williams (Worker)Notes: Do not post any part of this on any social media. https://mega.nz/folder/n01CjaLR#ysg3zH6-Raf3cKDKYtE-cg

Company - Second US National Tour December 2, 2023 - madeapactwithsatan Cast: Britney Coleman (Bobbie), Judy McLane (Joanne), Kathryn Allison (Sarah), Will Blum (t/r David), Ali Louis Bourzgui (Paul), Derrick Davis (Larry), Javier Ignacio (Peter), James Earl Jones II (Harry), Marina Kondo (Susan), Matt Rodin (Jamie), Emma Stratton (Jenny), Jacob Dickey (Andy), Tyler Hardwick (PJ), David Socolar (Theo)

Notes: Very fun seeing a completely new show to me! I cough occasionally in act 2, but not too often. Never to be posted on any form of social media. https://mega.nz/folder/vlMwVAIC#9bbhH3YJ2pqi8V52f5dPqg

Legally Blonde - Fourth US National Tour (Non-Equity) April 30, 2023 - madeapactwithsatan Matinée

Cast: Hannah Bonnett (Elle Woods), Woody White (Emmett Forrest), James Oblak (Warner Huntington III), Ashley Morton (Paulette), Lea Sevola (Vivienne Kensington), Kaelee Albritton (Brooke Wyndham), Chris Carsten (Professor Callahan), Jesse Lynn Hart (Margot), Taylor Lloyd (Serena), Rory Furey-King (Pilar), Matthew Dean Hollis (Kyle/Grandmaster Chad/Dewey), Harley Barton (Veronica/Enid), Alexis Loiselle (Kate), Emma Wilcox (Chutney), Pablo Pernia (Padamadan/Nikos), Brandon Moreno (Carlos/Lowell), Gill Vaughn-Spencer (Pforzheimer), Jack Gimpel (Aaron)

Notes: Do not post any part of this on any social media.

https://mega.nz/folder/GpkkWBrQ#9fxuoAo-zPEa_snga8QsnQ

Little Shop of Horrors - Off-Broadway Revival February 25, 2023 - madeapactwithsatan Audio | Matinée

Cast: Matt Doyle (Seymour Krelborn), Maude Apatow (Audrey Fulquard), Bryce Pinkham (Orin Scrivello/Others), Brad Oscar (Mr. Mushnik), Aaron Arnell Harrington (Voice of Audrey II), D'Kaylah Unique Whitley (Ronnette), Tiffany Renee Thompson (Crystal), Khadija Sankoh (Chiffon), Teddy Yudain (Derelict/Audrey II Manipulation), Chelsea Turbin (Audrey II Manipulation), Weston Chandler Long (Audrey II Manipulation), Camryn Hampton (Ensemble), Jeff Sears (s/w Ensemble)

Notes: Do not post any part of this on social media. https://mega.nz/folder/XltjUYZY#gcOM9nfkDOvCm1ReER8W4g

Wicked - Second US National Tour (Munchkinland) November 3, 2023 - madeapactwithsatan Audio

Cast: Olivia Valli (Elphaba), Celia Hottenstein (Glinda), Brett Stoelker (u/s Fiyero), Timothy Shew (The Wizard), Kathy Fitzgerald (Madame Morrible), Tara Kostmayer (Nessarose), Kyle McArthur (Boq), Boise Holmes (Doctor Dillamond)

Notes: Beyond general annoying audience things (talking/singing/wrappers/ice), there are a couple of times phones go off and a walkie goes off in act one. Otherwise a very receptive audience with lots of cheering and applauding. Never to be posted on any form of social media.

https://mega.nz/folder/Ho1VUA7J#zsPrxRqDJ03hfaQbP_bajw

[leveloneandup]

Former USWNT Soccer Players Launch Podcast For Women's World Cup

With the U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM in action at the WORLD CUP in AUSTRALIA and NEW ZEALAND, former USWNT players CHRISTEN PRESS and TOBIN HEATH are hosting an audio and video podcast recapping WOMEN'S WORLD CUP matches. "THE RE-CAP SHOW" debuts on THURSDAY (7/20) with a preview episode. The show is produced by RE-INC, the company co-founded by PRESS, HEATH, MEGAN RAPINOE, and MEGHAN KLINGENBERG, with HEADGUM STUDIOS.

HEATH said, “THE RE–CAP SHOW is the antithesis of your typical sports broadcast commentary. It is an unfiltered, women-led resource that will highlight the perspectives of players who have dedicated their lives to soccer and know the game best. This is the first time we haven’t competed in 15 years, so we’re fired up to support our team from the sidelines. THE RE–CAP SHOW is here to give our fans what they crave — our unfiltered opinions, what really goes on at world championships, and what the biggest moments truly feel like.”

PRESS added, “We have always aimed to be a purposeful brand that creates social impact. What makes RE–INC different is that we have never been shy about our ethos and putting our quest for equality in women’s soccer, and women’s sports more broadly, front and center. THE RE–CAP SHOW will be an extension of this mission to level the playing field for all, while amplifying the voices of women in sports.”

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Anthropocene Magazine:

It’s nice to hike through the woods with a few friends, feeling a little closer to the natural world. Perhaps you even entertain the idea of being in harmony with your surroundings.

It turns out, you might be more like a chainsaw at a chamber music concert.

The noise of a group of chatty hikers, it turns out, can set off panic among nearby animals. Their response is even more intense than if you drove a 4-wheeled offroad vehicle. And the effects can echo through the wilderness a week later, as wildlife avoid the site of even a small number of noisy human intrusions, according to new research.

“Noise from recreation can carry far beyond a trail system, so understanding how noise alone can affect wildlife is important for management,” said Mark Ditmer, an ecologist at the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station who helped lead the study.

The woods are likely becoming a noisier place, as more people head outside to play. Last year a record 168 million Americans took part in outdoor recreation, according to the Outdoor Industry Association, a trade group. The pandemic lockdowns that closed many indoor venues is credited for boosting a trend that had already taken hold years earlier.

Outdoor recreation is often portrayed as leaving a light imprint on the natural world than. Sporting goods companies such as Patagonia tout their environmental credentials. The backcountry motto of “Leave No Trace” suggests humans can pass through a place without a mark.

But there is a growing realization that even the most low-impact activities can still affect wildlife. Increased human presence near wildlife is associated with a spike in stress hormones, abandonment of some habitat and drops in reproduction, among other things.

The scientists set up a series of experiments in the forests of western Wyoming, which draws thousands of visitors to nearby places like Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks. They set up video cameras, audio speakers and motion detectors along trails created by wild animals, at least 650 meters from any place regularly traveled by people. When a creature passed a point on the trail, a video camera would start recording and a speaker located 20 meters away would begin broadcasting an audio recording of people engaged in an outdoor activity. That included hikers, mountain bikers, runners, and people riding offroad vehicles. In some cases, the audio was of a small group of relatively quite people. In others, it was groups of more than four talking a lot. The recordings lasted for up to 90 seconds.  All told, the speakers were triggered more than 1,000 times, with video capturing the reactions of mule deer, elk, moose, red fox, black bears, pronghorn antelope, cougars, coyotes and wolves.

When the scientists reviewed the images, it became clear that the sounds of outdoor recreation had a major effect. Wildlife was between 3.1 and 4.7 times more likely to flee when hearing those recordings than when they heard recordings of nature or nothing at all. They also showed signs of being more guarded and vigilant for 2.2 to 3 times longer after hearing recreation-related noises, the scientists reported last week in Current Biology.

[mariacallous]

Stories about AI-generated political content are like stories about people drunkenly setting off fireworks: There’s a good chance they’ll end in disaster. WIRED is tracking AI usage in political campaigns across the world, and so far examples include pornographic deepfakes and misinformation-spewing chatbots. It’s gotten to the point where the US Federal Communications Commission has proposed mandatory disclosures for AI use in television and radio ads.

Despite concerns, some US political campaigns are embracing generative AI tools. There’s a growing category of AI-generated political content flying under the radar this election cycle, developed by startups including Denver-based BattlegroundAI, which uses generative AI to come up with digital advertising copy at a rapid clip. “Hundreds of ads in minutes,” its website proclaims.

BattlegroundAI positions itself as a tool specifically for progressive campaigns—no MAGA types allowed. And it is moving fast: It launched a private beta only six weeks ago and a public beta just last week. Cofounder and CEO Maya Hutchinson is currently at the Democratic National Convention trying to attract more clients. So far, the company has around 60, she says. (The service has a freemium model, with an upgraded option for $19 a month.)

“It’s kind of like having an extra intern on your team,” Hutchinson, a marketer who got her start on the digital team for President Obama’s reelection campaign, tells WIRED. We’re sitting at a picnic table inside the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, and she’s raising her voice to be heard over music blasting from a nearby speaker. “If you’re running ads on Facebook or Google, or developing YouTube scripts, we help you do that in a very structured fashion.”

BattlegroundAI’s interface asks users to select from five different popular large language models—including ChatGPT, Claude, and Anthropic—to generate answers; it then asks users to further customize their results by selecting for tone and “creativity level,” as well as how many variations on a single prompt they might want. It also offers guidance on whom to target and helps craft messages geared toward specialized audiences for a variety of preselected issues, including infrastructure, women’s health, and public safety.

BattlegroundAI declined to provide any examples of actual political ads created using its services. However, WIRED tested the product by creating a campaign aimed at extremely left-leaning adults aged 88 to 99 on the issue of media freedom. “Don't let fake news pull the wool over your bifocals!” one of the suggested ads began.

BattlegroundAI offers only text generation—no AI images or audio. The company adheres to various regulations around the use of AI in political ads.

“What makes Battleground so well suited for politics is it’s very much built with those rules in mind,” says Andy Barr, managing director for Uplift, a Democratic digital ad agency. Barr says Uplift has been testing the BattlegroundAI beta for a few weeks. “It’s helpful with idea generation,” he says. The agency hasn’t yet released any ads using Battleground copy yet, but it has already used it to develop concepts, Barr adds.

I confess to Hutchinson that if I were a politician, I would be scared to use BattlegroundAI. Generative AI tools are known to “hallucinate,” a polite way of saying that they sometimes make things up out of whole cloth. (They bullshit, to use academic parlance.) I ask how she’s ensuring that the political content BattlegroundAI generates is accurate.

“Nothing is automated,” she replies. Hutchinson notes that BattlegroundAI’s copy is a starting-off point, and that humans from campaigns are meant to review and approve it before it goes out. “You might not have a lot of time, or a huge team, but you’re definitely reviewing it.”

Of course, there’s a rising movement opposing how AI companies train their products on art, writing, and other creative work without asking for permission. I ask Hutchinson what she’d say to people who might oppose how tools like ChatGPT are trained. “Those are incredibly valid concerns,” she says. “We need to talk to Congress. We need to talk to our elected officials.”

I ask whether BattlegroundAI is looking at offering language models that train on only public domain or licensed data. “Always open to that,” she says. “We also need to give folks, especially those who are under time constraints, in resource-constrained environments, the best tools that are available to them, too. We want to have consistent results for users and high-quality information—so the more models that are available, I think the better for everybody.”

And how would Hutchinson respond to people in the progressive movement—who generally align themselves with the labor movement—objecting to automating ad copywriting? “Obviously valid concerns,” she says. “Fears that come with the advent of any new technology—we’re afraid of the computer, of the light bulb.”

Hutchinson lays out her stance: She doesn’t see this as a replacement for human labor so much as a way to reduce grunt work. “I worked in advertising for a very long time, and there's so many elements of it that are repetitive, that are honestly draining of creativity,” she says. “AI takes away the boring elements.” She sees BattlegroundAI as a helpmeet for overstretched and underfunded teams.

Taylor Coots, a Kentucky-based political strategist who recently began using the service, describes it as “very sophisticated,” and says it helps identify groups of target voters and ways to tailor messaging to reach them in a way that would otherwise be difficult for small campaigns. In battleground races in gerrymandered districts, where progressive candidates are major underdogs, budgets are tight. “We don’t have millions of dollars,” he says. “Any opportunities we have for efficiencies, we’re looking for those.”

Will voters care if the writing in digital political ads they see is generated with the help of AI? “I'm not sure there is anything more unethical about having AI generate content than there is having unnamed staff or interns generate content,” says Peter Loge, an associate professor and program director at George Washington University who founded a project on ethics in political communication.

“If one could mandate that all political writing done with the help of AI be disclosed, then logically you would have to mandate that all political writing”—such as emails, ads, and op-eds—“not done by the candidate be disclosed,” he adds.

Still, Loge has concerns about what AI does to public trust on a macro level, and how it might impact the way people respond to political messaging going forward. “One risk of AI is less what the technology does, and more how people feel about what it does,” he says. “People have been faking images and making stuff up for as long as we've had politics. The recent attention on generative AI has increased peoples' already incredibly high levels of cynicism and distrust. If everything can be fake, then maybe nothing is true.”

Hutchinson, meanwhile, is focused on her company’s shorter-term impact. “We really want to help people now,” she says. “We’re trying to move as fast as we can.”