Episode
The Serfs Will Have Drones
- Podcast
- Geopolitical Cousins
- Published
- Jun 22, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 5807
- Processing state
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Summary
Cousins hits the road for its first-ever in-person episode, recorded at Matt Gertken's home in Taos, New Mexico! Jacob, Marko, and Matt dig into the brewing standoff between Anthropic and the US government over export controls on its Mythos AI model, then zoom out to ask whether AI marks a civilizational rupture on par with industrialization itself - pitting the state, corporations, and "free-for-all" chaos against each other for control. They pivot to the Iran-Israel-US "hate triangle," the Strait of Hormuz, and what a fragile peace means for Gulf states and China. They close out with hot takes on the Knicks' title run and the World Cup. -- Timestamps: (00:00) - Welcome to Taos IRL (01:30) - House History and Taos Lore (02:25) - War Returns and Pivot Myth (03:15) - Anthropic vs US Crackdown (06:57) - AI as New Means of Production (10:44) - Kids Screens and Ideology (13:39) - Can States Control AI (16:35) - Dystopias State vs Corp (23:20) - Western Messiness vs Rule of Law (30:51) - Tech Barons and Backlash Politics (33:45) - Data Centers and Populist Response (35:37) - Bull Moose Antitrust Populism (37:10) - China Infrastructure Social Fabric (38:29) - Boom Bust Capex Cycles (41:23) - Universities Under Pressure (43:12) - How Campuses Handle AI (46:32) - Elitism Versus Access (50:19) - Iran Endgame Framework (51:27) - Hormuz Kinetic Equilibrium (56:34) - US Resolve And Deterrence (59:13) - Who Wins Middle East (01:07:54) - China As Stabilizer (01:09:59) - China Bonds And Stagnation (01:10:58) - No Rival No Resolve (01:12:40) - Oil Reserves And Populism (01:15:32) - China The Adult Debate (01:16:36) - Empire Model And Global South (01:21:11) -Will Power Corrupt China (01:23:36) - NBA Finals And Ticket Madness (01:27:09) - AI Makes Live Sports Pricier (01:29:53) - Baske…