Cory Doctorow — author, journalist, activist, and the man who put "enshittification" in the Oxford English Dictionary — joins Tim, Rich, and Luke to explain why every platform you use got worse, and why the AI bubble might be the most expensive mistake in human history.

Cory breaks down the three-stage playbook platforms use to squeeze users and creators, what TikTok's secret "heating tool" reveals about who really controls your feed, and how a 1998 law made it a felony to fix the apps that screw you. Then we get into AI: the circular accounting propping up a trillion-dollar spend on a $50 billion industry, why the "magnificent seven" are 35% of the S&P 500 while six of them lose money, and what happens to the rest of us when the bubble bursts. Plus: centaurs vs. reverse centaurs, the right-to-repair fight, and why Cory thinks the crash — handled right — could actually leave us better off.

Cory's new book, The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI, is out now, and Enshittification hits paperback September 1. Find his daily newsletter at Pluralistic.net.

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