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San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston joins us for a wide-ranging conversation about the tech billionaire-backed astroturf campaigns that flooded his district with money and disinformation. We dig into how tech barons are reshaping local politics through alleged “grassroots” groups, what it means for democracy when dark money drives housing and policing policy, and how Preston sees the fight for tenants’ rights and progressive politics moving forward.

• The Guardian — Inside tech billionaires’ push to reshape San Francisco politics: “a hostile takeover” (Feb 12, 2024): www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/12/san-francisco-tech-billionaires-political-influence

• The "moderate" political takeover of San Francisco https://newrepublic.com/article/189303/san-francisco-moderate-politics-millionaire-tech-donors

• The Phoenix Project — How Dean Preston Lost (Dec 5, 2024): www.phoenixprojectnow.com/phoenix-review/blog/how-dean-preston-lost

• KQED — In San Francisco’s Local Elections, It’s Big Money Against Progressive Incumbents (Nov 4, 2024): www.kqed.org/news/12012416/san-franciscos-elections-big-money-against-progressive-incumbents

• SFGATE — “‘Fake news’ site publishes more false stories about San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston” (Oct 18, 2023): www.sfgate.com/politics/article/bnn-posts-more-false-stories-about-dean-preston-18429261.php

• Dean's Housing Record https://www.deanshousingrecord.com/

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This week, we talked about what AI is doing to our emotions and our relationships. From AI Psychosis to AI Boyfriends, AI is breaking our brains and our hearts.

Further reading:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2025/aug/28/ai-psychosis-could-chatbots-fuel-delusional-thinking-podcast

https://futurism.com/paper-ai-psychosis-schizophrenia

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/08/19/ai-psychosis-chatgpt-explained-mental-health/

https://www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/why-you-should-never-use-ai-under

https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-enshittification-of-generative-ai/

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/technology/chatgpt-openai-suicide.html

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ai-spiritual-delusions-destroying-human-relationships-1235330175/

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ai-chatbot-god-religion-answers-1235347023/

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/ai-chatbots-concerns-kendra-tiktok-saga-rcna224185

https://www.reddit.com/r/MyBoyfriendIsAI/

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This week, we were joined by Rachel Adjogah, of the brilliant Polemics.md blog. discussed The Argument, a new publication funded in part by Open Philanthropy. We also discussed Vox's Future Perfect, and the general problems of having EA/Rationalist aligned reporters cover...themselves.