How Algorithms Make Us Feel Bad and Weird
April 22, 2026
58 min
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177 of 194
April 22, 2026
How Algorithms Make Us Feel Bad and Weird
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404 Media Episodes Around April 22, 2026
Episode 177 of 194 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
How Algorithms Make Us Feel Bad and Weird
Summary
This week Sam unpacks how social media algorithms manipulate our emotions around everything from engagement rings to wedding dresses to babies, and what it feels like getting lost in the #Weddingtok sauce, and Emanuel breaks down a satirical but functional AI tool that rips off open source software. There’s a long history in “clean room” software that’s really interesting. In the section for subscribers at the Supporter level, Jason walks us through “tokenmaxxing” and startups obsessed with spending as much money as possible on AI—and as little as possible on humans.
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I Almost Lost My Mind in the Bridal Algorithm
This AI Tool Rips Off Open Source Software Without Violating Copyright
YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/-NEjEaOp1tI
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