Episode
Digital Feudalism: The Rise of the (New) Empire
- Podcast
- Boiler Room
- Published
- Jun 20, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 11679
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
Alternate Current Radio Presents - Boiler Room - Learn to protect yourself from predatory mass media The Boiler Room crew returns to explore the accelerating transformation of modern society under what can only be described as a new form of digital feudalism. While governments continue to promise transparency, accountability, and democratic governance, a parallel system of power is emerging through artificial intelligence, surveillance technologies, defense contractors, financial institutions, and the expanding influence of technocratic elites. This week, Hesher is joined by Adam “Ruckus” Clark , Spore , Mark Anderson , and Sam Chaney for a wide-ranging discussion covering AI-generated narratives, massive data center expansion, autonomous weapons systems, and the growing integration of surveillance technologies into everyday life. The crew examines Leonardo’s ELSAG SignalTrace platform and its relationship to FLOCK camera networks, raising important questions about privacy, constitutional rights, and the normalization of mass data collection. Additional topics include Peter Thiel’s newly exposed secretive dialogue network, Palantir’s expanding influence, SpaceX IPO speculation, migration tensions in Europe, Albanian protests, the controversial Lincoln Reflecting Pool renovation project, autonomous drone warfare, and the increasingly blurred line between public governance and private power. The conversation also revisits the long-running issue of U.S.-Israel relations, congressional remarks regarding the USS Liberty, geopolitical tensions surrounding Iran, and the role of media narratives in shaping public perception during times of crisis. As technology, finance, intelligence, and government become increasingly intertwined, are we witnessing the birth of a new empire—o…