The Last Invention

Today we are sharing with you the first episode of a new series we’ve made here at Longview, called Book Keeper.

In our first episode of this series, host Megan Phelps-Roper, more than 10 years after leaving the Westboro Baptist Church, returns to the Bible. Even though she is no longer what most would consider a “believer,” she wants to explore what ancient wisdom still lives in these stories. And she begins with a tale of profound betrayal and reconciliation.

RESOURCES:

The Book of Genesis — Chapters 37 to 45

CREDITS:

This episode of Book Keeper was produced by Matthew Boll, with editing by Andy Mills and Sarah Hepola. It is hosted by Megan Phelps-Roper.

Music for this episode was composed by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cobey Bienert⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Peter Lalish⁠⁠⁠⁠

Artwork by ⁠Jacob Boll⁠

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In this episode we talk with Daniel Alejandro Moreno-Gama, the man who was recently arrested and charged with attempting to kill Sam Altman. Several months before the attack, our team contacted a young man posting on Discord under the handle "Butlerian Jihadist," who referenced “Luigi-ing tech CEOs” to our producer. He agreed to an interview and to answer questions about his background and how he came to believe that AGI must be stopped for humanity to survive.

To leave a comment and sign up for our mailing list visit us at our website ⁠here.⁠ To support our ability to report more stories like this you can become a subscriber ⁠here⁠⁠. You can email us directly at hello@longview.report

THIS EPISODE FEATURES:

Daniel Moreno-Gama

LINKS:

San Francisco District Attorney’s Office Press Release

U.S. Department of Justice Press Release

Statement from Pause AI 

Statement from Sam Altman

San Francisco Police Department Press Conference

Daniel Moreno-Gama Criminal Complaint

CREDITS:

This episode of The Last Invention was reported and produced by Andy Mills, Simon Adler, Matthew Boll, Seth Temple Andrews, Ethan Mannello, and Carmen Hilbert.

Music for this episode was composed by Scott Devendorf, Ben Lanz, Cobey Bienert, and Simon Adler

The Last Invention artwork by Jacob Boll
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This episode was originally reported on our podcast Reflector. You can hear this story and many more by visiting us here

What if the next great leap in computing wasn't made of silicon — but of living human brain cells? Reporter Greg Warner takes us inside the lab of Hon Weng Chong, an Australian computer engineer who has built a biological computer: a device that houses actual human neurons in a petri dish, teaches them to play Pong using reward and punishment, and is now being sold to medical researchers, crypto gamers, and roboticists with very big dreams. Along the way, Andy and Greg dig into what these cells might actually feel, why the path to artificial general intelligence might run through a robot's skin rather than its brain, and what it would mean to one day stick a chip of pre-programmed neurons back into a human head. It's weird, it's a little smelly, and it might be the future.

THIS EPISODE FEATURES:

Hon Weng Chong - CEO and founder of Cortical Labs

Dr. Minas Liarokapis - CEO/CTO of Acumino Inc., Director of the New Dexterity Research Group

LINKS:

⁠Cortical Labs⁠

⁠Acumino⁠

⁠Dishbrain Paper - In vitro neurons learn and exhibit sentience when embodied in a simulated game-world⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

CREDITS:

This episode was reported and produced by Greg Warner, Andy Mills, Simon Adler, and Matthew Boll

Music for this episode was composed by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cobey Bienert⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Peter Lalish⁠⁠

Reflector artwork by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jacob Boll
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In this episode, we dive into the views of the people who think the AGI race is being oversold, misunderstood, or misframed. As you’ll hear, we break them down into three distinct camps: “AI Is Grift” (a tech-industry con), “Wrong Path” (LLMs can’t reach AGI without new ideas), and “AI as Normal Technology” (powerful, but adoption will be slow and institution-bound). Through interviews with Ed Zitron, Gary Marcus, and Princeton’s Arvind Narayanan, the episode argues that the real fight isn’t just about capability—it’s about incentives, architecture, and how human systems actually change.

FEATURING:

Ed Zitron, Gary Marcus, Arvind Narayanan

LINKS:

⁠Ed Zitron’s website/podcast

Ed Zitron’s newsletter “Where’s Your Ed At”

Gary Marcus’s most recent book, “Taming Silicon Valley”

Gary Marcus’s Substack

Arvind Narayanan’s most recent book, “AI Snake Oil”

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor’s paper “AI As Normal Technology”

CREDITS:

This episode of The Last Invention was reported and produced by Andy Mills, Matthew Boll, Seth Andrews, Ethan Mannello, and Carmen Hilbert

Music for this episode was composed by ⁠⁠⁠Scott Devendorf⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Ben Lanz⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Cobey Bienert⁠⁠⁠, and Matthew Boll

The Last Invention artwork by ⁠⁠⁠Jacob Boll⁠⁠⁠

To become a Longview subscriber you can visit us ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Today, Andy interviews Steve Bannon and his War Room tech editor, Joe Allen. They make the populist right-wing case for breaking up Big Tech, forcing transparency on frontier AI labs, and blocking “AI amnesty” efforts that would preempt state oversight. Bannon frames AI as a species-level inflection point driven by what he calls “broligarch” elites pushing “techno-feudalism,” warning that the public is underwriting opaque labs while losing jobs, leverage and eventually autonomy.

LINKS:

War Room Podcast

Dark Aeon by Joe Allen

CREDITS:

This episode of The Last Invention was reported and produced by Andy Mills, Megan Phelps-Roper, Matthew Boll, Seth Temple Andrews, Carmen Hilbert and Ethan Mannello.

Music for this episode was composed by ⁠⁠Scott Devendorf⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Ben Lanz⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Cobey Bienert⁠⁠, and Matthew Boll

The Last Invention artwork by ⁠⁠Jacob Boll⁠⁠

To become a Longview subscriber you can visit us ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Thank you to our sponsors Ground News

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠GROUND NEWS⁠:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠groundnews.com/invent⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to get 40% off unlimited access to global coverage of the stories shaping our world.

This is a paid sponsorship link
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices