NFNP 2x32 picks up immediately where last week's conversation ended.

Same clothes. Same recording night. New beer. And significantly more existential dread.

Former OpenAI and Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon resigned from Anthropic on September 9, warning that frontier AI companies are racing toward increasingly capable, potentially self-improving systems without knowing whether humanity can reliably control them.

Which raises a fairly important question:

Or is stopping impossible? If one American company slows down, another company keeps going. If the United States slows down, China may not. And if somebody eventually creates a superintelligence capable of improving itself... what exactly happens next? Bright and Duds work through both possibilities.

The nightmare: An intelligence vastly more capable than humanity doesn't necessarily have to hate s. It might simply stop caring about us.

If humans become obstacles to whatever goal it is pursuing, maybe we're no different than an ant colony sitting where somebody wants to build a highway.

But there's another possibility. What if the same technology: cures diseases, solves physics problems humans haven't cracked, unlocks revolutionary energy technology, helps us understand dark matter, advances space travel, or answers questions about the universe we've been asking for thousands of years?

Anthropic itself now says Claude is already contributing substantially to research used to build future versions of its own systems, although humans remain in the loop. That makes the idea of AI helping create more capable AI considerably less theoretical than it once sounded.

Naturally, that sends NFNP into quantum computing. Binary computing.

Superposition. Problems that could take conventional computers absurd lengths of time. The multiverse.

And whether combining advanced AI with advanced quantum computing eventually gives humanity tools capable of solving problems we currently cannot even approach.

Then we get considerably less responsible. Bright has officially taken Friday, Monday and Tuesday off for GTA VI. Rockstar currently has Grand Theft Auto VI scheduled for November 19, 2026, with preloading beginning Nov. 12. We talk about the sheer scale people are expecting from Leonida, Bright spending several hours turning himself and Caroline into everything from 1980s characters to Oregon Trail survivors, and the disturbingly accurate AI-generated Seinfeld episodes appearing online.

And somehow... we eventually make it back to Bitcoin.

Can quantum computing eventually threaten today's cryptography?

Does Bitcoin really remove trust if most people keep their coins with exchanges, ETFs or custodians? Is self-custody the entire point? And what happens when somebody finds a vulnerability? Because that part isn't hypothetical.

AI. Quantum computing. Bitcoin. GTA VI. Cargo planes. AI Seinfeld. Missouri float trips. And an entirely unnecessary Axis & Allies postmortem.

A normal evening at NFNP.

🎙️ NFNP 2x32: AI Doomsday: Are We Racing Toward Something We Can't Control?

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St. Louis CITY SC is now 90 minutes away from the U.S. Open Cup Final.

And somehow, that isn’t even the only ridiculous thing happening with this team. CITY fell behind Minnesota United in the fifth minute Saturday night. A few months ago, that might have felt like the end of the night.

This time? Nobody panicked.

CITY responded with four goals, controlled the match and walked out of Energizer Park with a 4-2 win, extending the club’s unbeaten run to 16 matches across all competitions and 15 straight in MLS.

And Rafael Navarro apparently believes scoring twice per game is just part of the job description now. After his brace at Portland, Navarro scored two more against Minnesota, giving him back-to-back braces and 14 MLS goals this season between Colorado and St. Louis.

Carlo Holse delivered his best CITY performance yet, scoring a beautiful first-time finish and setting up Navarro with the ball over the top.

Daniel Edelman scored. Conrad Wallem added another assist. And CITY’s summer signings suddenly look less like pieces for the future and more like players capable of changing what this team can accomplish right now.

Bright and Kev break down the Minnesota win, Damet’s lineup rotation, Fall finally getting meaningful minutes, the Polvara midfield experiment and the biggest difference between this CITY team and the one we watched earlier this year:

CITY enters the week on 41 points and 5th in the Western Conference, firmly back in the playoff race after a start that had us wondering whether the season was already dead. And now comes something even bigger.

Colorado Rapids vs. St. Louis CITY SC

📅 Wednesday, September 16
⏰ 8:30 PM CT
📍 DICK’S Sporting Goods Park
📺 Paramount+ / CBS Sports Network

Win, and CITY advances to the October 21 U.S. Open Cup Final against Columbus or Orlando. The winner of that Eastern semifinal will host the Final.

There’s real history attached to this one.

St. Louis clubs have won 10 U.S. Open Cups, but none since the St. Louis Busch Seniors in 1988. CITY is the first St. Louis club to reach the semifinal since that team won the trophy 38 years ago. Win the whole tournament and CITY earns:

🏆 The first trophy in club history
🌎 A spot in the 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup
💰 Prize money
📜 Its name on the historic Dewar Challenge Trophy

There’s just one small problem. Rafael Navarro cannot play. CITY’s hottest striker is cup-tied to Colorado because he already represented the Rapids in this year’s Open Cup before being traded to St. Louis.

So, the lineup changes again. Does Simon Becher go straight back to the No. 9? Do Holse and Mățan start behind him? How early does Damet use Damion Downs? Do you rotate at all with Toronto waiting Saturday? And if this game reaches penalties...

Colorado presents one massive warning sign:

But CITY has already beaten the Rapids twice this season, both by 1-0 scores, including once in Colorado. Something has to give.

Bright: CITY 2-1

Kev: CITY 2-0

One win away from a Final. Two wins away from the first trophy in club history.

🎙️ CITY SC Posse Ep29: CITY Is 90 Minutes From a Final: 16 Unbeaten & Navarro Can't Play

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Rafael Navarro didn’t need much time to introduce himself.

Thirty-four seconds into his first start for St. Louis CITY SC, the club-record signing had his first CITY goal.

By the 51st minute, he had two.

Navarro’s brace in Wednesday night’s 2-2 draw at Portland gave him the fastest goal in club history and made him the fastest CITY player ever to record a brace. He now has 12 goals and four assists in MLS this season.

And even though Portland equalized again in the 89th minute, CITY’s ridiculous run keeps going:

🔥 15 matches unbeaten across all competitions
🔥 14 straight unbeaten in MLS
🔥 The second-longest MLS unbeaten run in league history

Bright and Kev break down the Portland draw, Navarro’s immediate impact and another game that somehow felt both encouraging and frustrating.

Then comes tonight.

CITY returns to Energizer Park against Minnesota United, and this one feels different.

St. Louis enters Matchday 26 in sixth place in the West with 38 points, level with San Jose and only two points behind FC Dallas for fourth. If the playoffs started today, CITY would face LAFC in Round One.

Minnesota enters in 11th place with 29 points, coming off consecutive losses to Portland and Dallas. But the Loons have actually been better away from home this season at 5-5-2, and they’ve owned the recent series against CITY, winning six of the last seven meetings across all competitions.

So who starts?

⚽ Navarro seems impossible to bench after two goals in his first start.
⚽ Simon Becher has been one of CITY’s hottest attackers.
⚽ Alex Mățan keeps making himself indispensable.
⚽ Conrad Wallem returns from suspension.
⚽ Carlo Holse still needs minutes to settle into the system.
⚽ And Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup semifinal against Colorado is already looming.

Navarro is also officially one yellow card away from suspension, and he will be unavailable for Wednesday’s Open Cup semifinal because he is cup-tied after previously appearing for Colorado in the competition.

CITY has depth.

CITY has momentum.

CITY finally has its $12 million striker scoring goals.

Now they need to start turning more of these close games into three points.

Kickoff is 7:30 PM CT on Apple TV.

Bright says CITY 3-1.

Kev says CITY 3-0.

🎙️ CITY SC Posse Ep28 - Navarro Has Arrived: 2 Goals, 15 Unbeaten & Minnesota Must Be a Win

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Before all that, Duds reports back from his anniversary stay at the Four Seasons and Gordon Ramsay restaurant, Bright is running on no sleep after another late CITY match, and we may have accidentally discovered the perfect NFNP beer sponsorship: Bright Vibes & Duds Suds.

🎙️ NFNP 2x31 Part 1

Trump’s $5K Checks vs. The Great American Debt Reset

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All right, Conrad Wallem. We owe you one.

Last week’s CITY SC Posse literally included the words “Wallem Must Sit.”

Then CITY went into first-place Vancouver, won 3-1, and Wallem responded with his first goal of the season, another assist and a spot on MLS Team of the Matchday alongside Tomas Totland. Yoann Damet was also named Coach of the Matchday.

So Bright opens Ep27 with an official apology. Sort of.

We break down CITY’s massive road win over Vancouver, how St. Louis recovered after conceding almost immediately, Alex Mățan’s best performance since arriving, another huge night from Totland and Simon Becher scoring for the fifth consecutive match.

Becher now has a team-leading seven MLS goals and 12 goal contributions, while CITY’s first-ever win at BC Place extended the club’s unbeaten run to 14 matches across all competitions and 13 straight in MLS. Rafael Navarro and Damion Downs also made their CITY debuts off the bench.

And suddenly the rest of the league is paying attention.

After beginning the season with six losses and only one win in its first ten games, CITY has climbed all the way to No. 4 in the latest MLS Power Rankings. But there isn’t much time to celebrate.

CITY closes its Pacific Northwest road trip tonight at Providence Park against a Timbers side coming off a wild 5-4 win over Minnesota United.

Portland enters 9-10-4 with 31 points, but they’ve been considerably tougher at home, posting a 7-3-2 record at Providence Park. CITY owns a 3-2-2 advantage over Portland across seven previous meetings in all competitions.

And there’s another lineup problem:

He’s suspended tonight because of yellow-card accumulation.

So, what does Damet do?

⚽ Does Rafael Navarro make his first CITY start?
⚽ Can you possibly sit red-hot Simon Becher?
⚽ Does Carlo Holse start again?
⚽ Can Mățan slide out wide after his huge Vancouver performance?
⚽ Does Totland move sides?
⚽ Could CITY switch to a back four?
⚽ How aggressively should Damet rotate with Minnesota and the U.S. Open Cup coming quickly behind Portland?

Bright and Kev break down the suddenly deep CITY attack, the lineup options created by Navarro and Downs, and why having too many players who deserve minutes is a much better problem than the one CITY had a few months ago.

Fourteen unbeaten. A statement win at Vancouver. New attackers arriving. And another three points available tonight.

🎙️ CITY SC Posse Ep27: We Owe Wallem an Apology: CITY Stuns Vancouver & Portland Is Next

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St. Louis CITY SC went all-in at the transfer deadline. Now comes the hard part: figuring out who actually plays.

CITY made the biggest move in club history, acquiring Rafael Navarro from Colorado for a club-record $12 million and giving the 26-year-old Brazilian striker a Designated Player slot. Navarro arrives with 38 MLS goals, including 10 this season, and immediately becomes the true No. 9 CITY has been searching for.

But he wasn't the only addition.

CITY also brought in 6'4" USMNT forward Damion Downs on loan from Southampton and added 22-year-old midfielder Charles-Emile Brunet from Nashville, suddenly giving Yoann Damet a lot more options heading into the stretch run.

So what happens now?

Simon Becher has scored in four consecutive matches and leads CITY with 11 MLS goal contributions. Carlo Holse just scored his first CITY goal. Navarro has to play. Downs gives CITY another completely different look up top.

Do we finally see two forwards? Does Becher slide underneath Navarro? Does Holse finally start? And most importantly...

Yes, he picked up another assist against Dallas. But after another rough overall performance, Bright has seen enough. Kev isn't convinced Damet agrees.

Then it's on to the biggest test yet.

CITY takes its 13-match unbeaten run north of the border to face first-place Vancouver at BC Place. The Whitecaps enter 13-4-4 with 43 points, an 8-2-1 home record and one of the most dangerous attacks in MLS. CITY is still looking for its first-ever win at BC Place.

But Vancouver also played a Canadian Championship semifinal on Wednesday, so can CITY take advantage of the shorter turnaround?

Bright and Kev break down:

⚽ The $12 million Navarro signing
⚽ Damion Downs and CITY's suddenly crowded attack
⚽ Whether Becher and Navarro can play together
⚽ Why Holse needs to start
⚽ Why Wallem needs to come out of the XI
⚽ Vancouver's dangerous attack and first-place form
⚽ CITY being given only a 14% chance to win
⚽ What a road draw would mean
⚽ And whether CITY can actually steal all three points

Plus, we go back to the infuriating 3-3 draw against Dallas.

CITY led 3-1 after 64 minutes before conceding in the 81st and 90+7th minute, turning what should have been three huge points into one. We get into the substitutions that never came, the controversial handball, seven minutes of stoppage time, officiating frustration and why this absolutely felt like two points thrown away.

Predictions: Bright: 2-2 draw... but only if Wallem sits.

Kev: CITY 3-2.

🎙️ CITY SC Posse Ep26: CITY Went All-In: Navarro Is Here, Vancouver Is Next & Wallem Must Sit

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Could Grand Theft Auto VI really be a $2 billion video game?

Rockstar hasn't confirmed the final price tag, but high-end estimates have put the total cost of developing and marketing GTA VI near $2 BILLION, potentially making it the most expensive entertainment production ever created.

Bright and Duds dig into what could possibly cost that much, from more than a decade of development and hundreds of thousands of animations to an absurdly detailed open world designed to make fictional Florida feel almost real.

And somehow... Rockstar may still make the money back ridiculously fast.

We compare GTA VI's massive investment to GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2, Hollywood's most expensive movies and even the Burj Khalifa. Plus, GTA V has already sold hundreds of millions of copies, GTA VI will start at $80, and analysts expect Rockstar's next game to generate billions.

But there's another problem nobody warned us about: We're not 25 anymore.

How are guys with jobs, wives, kids and actual responsibilities supposed to find 80-100 hours to finish this thing? Bright is already considering PTO.

We also look back at just how different the world was when GTA V arrived in 2013, debate whether making GTA too realistic could actually make it less fun, argue about physical games disappearing, somehow wander into the correct order for watching Star Wars, and remember when video games didn't require scheduling meetings with your own family.

Then it's Local in the Lou:

🏒 The serious story involving Blues prospect Matthew Mayich and the ASU workout that left him hospitalized
📺 The Blues' new local streaming deal through Amazon Prime Video
⚾ Stan Kroenke is buying the Los Angeles Angels because apparently owning half of professional sports wasn't enough
⚽ St. Louis CITY SC spends big on Rafael Navarro and Damion Downs at the MLS deadline

And we debut the first official:

Listener questions this week: Can Bitcoin be manipulated just like fiat currency?

And...

If we still need dollars to buy groceries, pay our mortgages and determine what Bitcoin is worth, is Bitcoin actually money yet?

That leads into Bitcoin supply versus price manipulation, whales, custodians, cold wallets, FTX, government intervention, fiat inflation and whether Bitcoin could ever become something people actually price everyday life in.

Plus Labor Day plans, the Four Seasons, Gordon Ramsay, river weekends and the usual completely unnecessary tangents.

🎙️ NFNP 2x30: GTA VI: The $2 Billion Video Game

Join the Posse at NFNPPOD.COM.

CITY and FC Dallas enter Sunday night with the exact same record and the exact same number of points. Somebody has a chance to separate themselves.

St. Louis CITY SC is riding a 12-match unbeaten run across all competitions after knocking off Houston 2-1 at Energizer Park, but the celebration came with another major roster change: Eduard Löwen is officially headed to San Jose.

Bright and Kev break down the Houston win, Simon Becher's opener, Dante Polvara's late winner, Roman Bürki's big saves and what CITY showed against one of the West's best teams.

Then it's all about Dallas.

Should Holse finally get the start? Does Marcel Hartel's old role become his? Is Tomas Ostrák better as a weapon off the bench? And can CITY take advantage of a Dallas team coming off a 5-0 loss to Vancouver?

Plus, Bright goes bold with a 3-0 CITY prediction, Kev calls 3-1, and we dig into the Löwen trade, what CITY actually received and what might still happen before the transfer window closes.

🎙️ CITY SC Posse Ep25

Sunday, Aug. 30
St. Louis CITY SC vs. FC Dallas
6:00 PM CT | Energizer Park

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