The Gargle - DeepSeek AI | Elephant food | Self vasectomy

Episode Date: January 31, 2025

Alison Spittle and Eleanor Morton join host Alice Fraser for episode 192 of The Gargle - all of the news, and none of the politics.🤖 DeepSeek AI🎄 Elephant food✂️ Self vasectomy📱 TikTok cr...eators🐄 ReviewsWritten by Alice Fraser, Alison Spittle and Eleanor MortonProduced by Ped Hunter and Laura Turner, with executive production from Chris SkinnerWatch on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@BuglePodcastSubscribe to Realms Unknown - a brand-new fantasy, sci-fi and speculative fiction podcast from Alice Fraser and The Bugle! https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/news/realms-unknownYou fund what we do!https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/donate Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 ACAS powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. On a cool cloudy January morning in 2022, Ian Indredson makes himself some eggs, plays with his dog, walks out the door of his waterfront home and disappears. The 54 year old senior government spokesperson is a gifted writer. He lives a life of some privilege and comfort with his wife, Gloria, and their beloved Black Lab Willow. So what happened to Ian? I'm veteran journalist Laura Palmer, and this is Island Crime Season 7 Evaporated.
Starting point is 00:00:37 Listen wherever you get your podcasts. ACAST helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. ACAST.com. This is a podcast from the Bugle. In the common room of St. Winifred's Academy for Young Ladies, overstuffed armchairs, the ghost of high-spirited shenanigans, and the faint aroma of tea permeate the wood-panelled comfort of this bastion of stiff upper-lipped decorum. On one side of the room, Gwendablun Phaerdonc, a plucky sword with a mop of dark curls and an irrepressible twinkle in her eye, stands with her little pink hands on her hips.
Starting point is 00:01:17 Clarissa Jellyforth, opposite her, is a golden-haired angel of aristocratic elegance, lounging dramatically on a fairly uncomfortable chaise longue. What, she is known to say, is a chaise longue for, if not for, longing. My dear Gwen, I cannot bear it, Clarissa began, her voice and bosom quivering in a way that her mother, a sensible if ambitious housekeeper who had married the duke who had employed her and was thoroughly bemused to be in possession of such a thoroughbred twit of a daughter, would have called unseemly. Gwen snorted a thoroughly unladylike sound that made Clarissa recoil. Oh come off it, Clarion, it's not as if you're being carted off to the colonies.
Starting point is 00:01:53 You're just off to the gargle. Welcome to the gargle! The Sonic Glossy Magazine to the Bugles audio newspaper of visual world. I'm your host, Alice Fraser, bringing you all you all the news none of the politics your guest hosts this edition of the magazine are Alison Spittel welcome I like your disco lights I like your looming cow thank you it is quite menacing it's my hench coat this be, listener, your prompt to watch the episodes on YouTube if you'd like to see Alison's disco cow situation.
Starting point is 00:02:31 If you wanna see how I live. Constantly. And Ellen Morton, welcome. Hello, I don't have a cow. I could get one for next time. Could you? The cow does look like it's, if we say anything threatening to Alison, it will get us. That is why I got it.
Starting point is 00:02:50 It's more like if we say anything about Alison, it might get her. I feel like the head of the dairy council. I'm like, so you got a problem with whole fat milk? Ermine Trude here would like to know about that. Before we enter the fecund field and start cropping at the lush grass that is this week's top stories, let's have a look at the front cover of the magazine. The front cover this week is of tech billionaire Sam Altman desperately pretending he's happy about DeepSeek and its competitive impact on the world of AI.
Starting point is 00:03:29 I mean, at last it has proven that these tech bros have achieved something truly human-like with their AI, that it has had its job stolen by AI. The satirical cartoon for today is The U.S. Government, cartoonishly drawn as a lady in a 1950s slimming ad. And the tagline reads, drops trillions off your bottom line. And the lady's going, boop, and saying, does my workforce look bloated in this? And now it's time for your top story. And this is the news about DeepSeek that China's DeepSeek has launched disrupting the global markets, the arguable overcapitalization of the American tech broilagarchy, and just swept the knees out of everyone who thought that in order for AI to work, it needed to be raising 150 billion dollars every five seconds in order to keep up with the appetite for constantly trying to do stuff that would eventually prove that it had a financial or business use case that would justify the billions of dollars spent.
Starting point is 00:04:40 Eleanor Morton. Hello. You've sought deeply before. Can you unpack this story for us? Eleanor Morton. Hello. You've sought deeply before. Can you unpack this story for us? Well, like all things AI, I am slightly baffled. But what I believe is happening is that after Trump and his new government announced that they had their own new sort of, is it crypto? Is that what that was? They announced crypto? What was it called? It's called a meme coin, which is to say it is anchored to nothing but its own popularity, like a teenage girl at high school, no inherent value. And basically every meme coin is essentially a game of bluff slash poker, where everyone's trying to hold on just long enough for the meme coin to meet its peak valuation and then get out and leave someone else holding the
Starting point is 00:05:29 bag. That's essentially the game of meme coins is get out of just the right time to make someone else responsible for your life decisions. Yes. And once again, I don't understand crypto much more than I understand. But what happened was that the whole sort of AI crypto, all that stuff, the industry in America, which was, you know, the new president and his friends were all very excited about, has basically been unseated by the Chinese model of AI called DeepSeq, which can apparently do everything that, you know, the American models can do, but cheaper and quicker and better, and I assume more aesthetically. So I think everyone's a bit confused that, oh, and also that it was trained on, DeepSeq was trained on one of the other AI models, the American ones, which means that it has been hoisted by its own petard, which is certainly a thing I think everyone apart from people who are into AI could have seen coming.
Starting point is 00:06:34 Well, yes, basically, it's been trained on the data that's been spat out by the other models is an argument. It's not yet been proven, actually, but there are claims that this is the only way that it could have reached the quality that it has reached. But I feel like there's a sort of a fundamental lack of sympathy that the current AI models have had their terms of services violated, given that they, I think, argued to the government that if they were forced to pay for the data they were using to train their models, they would go bankrupt, which is not a reason not to pay for your business expenses. No. It's just saying, my business wouldn't work if I had to pay for my product.
Starting point is 00:07:16 Sounds like a terrible business model. I guess it's kind of like when your boyfriend cheats and then he gets cheated on and he can't understand how that happened. It's sort of like, you know, you're playing that game. You got to understand you might get got and they got got. So I think it means a lot of money has now suddenly dropped out of all that, all the value has plunged. Is this right? Yes, that is absolutely correct. Alison? Yeah, I'm delighted about it.
Starting point is 00:07:44 Like they have turned the plagiarising machine on themselves and they're like, oh, I didn't know this would affect me. All of the tech bros are kind of like, they're trying to go, yeah, we're cool about this. This is great. A bit of healthy competition for our terrible machine. And then AI is this is what I want to say. AI is not a great product.
Starting point is 00:08:11 My phone, I used to, I used to be able to, I have a Google phone, an Android phone, and I used to go, hello Google. And then I'd ask it to Google stuff because I was just too lazy to type. But lately it's done an update where it's got Google Gemini on it, which is AI. So now it will not tell me what the weather is like, because they are just a language machine. And I'm like, I because they are just a language machine. And I'm like, I don't care about the language machine. I just don't want to type. But it can tell you what the weather makes you feel like.
Starting point is 00:08:32 Oh my gosh. Or if you wanted to write a, a tonally correct letter to the weather, do you know what I mean? If you wanted to say, Hey wind, please don't kill me or my friends, but in a warm tone. wanted to say, Hey, wind, please don't kill me or my friends, but in a warm tone. And like, it's just, it feels like a culture war with AI. It feels like people didn't mind when it was artists who were being destroyed, or writers, or creatives. Because I think that's seen as kind of like a left wing thing to be creative. And AI felt to me like a kind of right-wing thing of like, we can draw witches too.
Starting point is 00:09:07 This is not just, you know, we can do, we can do furries or whatever. This is what most of it is, is used for as far as I can tell. My, uh, Two forms of internet art, furries and witches. My boyfriend's mom loves squirrels and all she does is send him pictures of AI pictures of squirrels and hats and things. I don't know if she knows that they're not real, but she loves them. I don't know if he's got the heart to tell her that that is not a real
Starting point is 00:09:37 squirrel really wearing a Victorian dress of carrying a parasol, but she's so happy, you know, and yes, it wastes a lot of water, but what can you do? It's like with the one last thing about AI, it's like Instagram have been offering me a lot of AI content. And it's about like lifestyle stuff. So you'll get this woman who's just walking in a bikini with a green background and she'll go, light cheese really make your big juicy naturals grow big. And I'm like,
Starting point is 00:10:10 what's this? And then I'm looking, I kept looking at this woman's breasts, right? For about two minutes and I'm like, they're on a loop. Wait, this woman is fake. I figured out, I figured out that that was AI just through watching tits shake that I was like, this is not the natural trajectory of breasts this big. Like this has to be AI. And it was. And now I'm just staring at people's decollage now. I'm like, are you a robot?
Starting point is 00:10:38 Like, I just, that's how I'm figuring out fake AI stuff. The fluid dynamics are off. I was. The fluid dynamics are off. Seemingly I was. Stuff I get on Instagram, I don't know what this says about our viewing habits, Elsa, but what I get is fake AI videos of fishermen finding sea monsters and mermaids that are obviously not real. And like, it'd be like a mermaid and like half ways with a fish will sort of grow an extra tail and then it will sort of disappear again. And all the comments will be like, Oh my god, is this real? And that is deeply worrying. But I can't stop watching them. They're so weird.
Starting point is 00:11:14 What are her breasts like Eleanor? Like a mermaid? They vary. Sometimes they're quite monstrous mermaids. Just like scary mermaids, not very sexy mermaids. But then yeah, sometimes, sometimes they are sexy mermaids. So it really depends, I guess, on what else I Googled that day. But yeah, it's I mean, this is how we die, I guess, searching for fake mermaids on Instagram. This is what it's all leading up to. This is what the money and the energy is going towards. So it's extraordinary technology and it can do extraordinary things.
Starting point is 00:11:44 I just feel like people are not applying it to extraordinary things. You know, like it's not like collecting medical data and spitting up new information from that. It's like, how can I see a mermaid with three boobs, please? Yeah, because because it's not being promoted or produced or created by people who care about other people. They just they're just like, the problem with art is it's not quick enough and it's not quick enough and it's not simple enough to do.
Starting point is 00:12:13 That's what people want from art. They want it to be quick and simple. So we'll do that. I have seen like AI art short film of a cat enacting what it was like to be a firefighter on September the 11th and dealing with the aftermath. And it's just to Billy Eilish's What Was I Made For? but in meow form. So meow meow meow meow. And you just see a cat crying meow meow. And his cat wife just like touching his shoulder and he's like away. And I've watched that on loop for hours. So it does know that I like that.
Starting point is 00:12:50 Show me cat PTSD. Your ad section now, because you can't be what you can't buy. And this episode of the podcast is brought to you by the mental health haircut. Having a nervous breakdown, not sure who you even are anymore. Try taking a friend's sticky beard trimmer or a local hairdresser to the problem. Whether it's an inadvisable undercut or trying to dye a word into the top of your head, the mental health haircut will temporarily distract you from your problems without even beginning to fix any of them. Mental health haircut. Lose the mop and find yourself.
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Starting point is 00:15:46 best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. On a cool cloudy January morning in 2022, Ian Indredson makes himself some eggs, plays with his dog, walks out the door of his waterfront home and disappears. The 54 year old senior government spokesperson is a gifted writer. He lives a life of some privilege and comfort with his wife, Gloria, and their beloved Black Lab Willow. So what happened to Ian? I'm veteran journalist Laura Palmer, and this is Island Crime Season 7 Evaporated. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com.
Starting point is 00:16:35 That brings us to our next top story, which is the news that in the possibly most German use of Christmas trees I've ever heard of, the elephants at the Berlin Zoo are fed on overused finished Christmas trees. That's how they dispose of their Christmas trees. They feed them to the elephants. This feels, I don't know, like simultaneously really efficient and somehow immoral. I feel like elephants shouldn't be eating pine trees. Yeah, it does seem like a mouthful. They're texturally. It wouldn't be for me now. But yeah, this is a study in Berlin for elephants at Berlin Zoo. It's finally time to unwrap their Christmas presents, I say, right? So basically, any unsold Christmas trees are given from shops
Starting point is 00:17:22 to Berlin Zoo for them to feed the elephants with. It doesn't accept trees from the public, which could contain chemicals or leftover Christmas decorations. And they're also used to keep the animals occupied as well. And the animals can fight with them. I love the idea of fighting with a Christmas tree. They can rub themselves against them. They can throw themselves over them and do various things for these furries. And he said, it's there to enrich the animals and they're very happy about it. I mean, it's a lovely story. I mean, it is.
Starting point is 00:17:53 And Florian Six, who's the zoo's curator for mammals, says they don't just serve as food, they use to keep the animals occupied. And I presume most of the occupation is the elephants going, why the f*** do I have a Christmas tree? Yeah, it's also like, it's very past Christmas at this point. This is leftover Christmas stuff. It feels like you need to jazz up. If the leftovers are that old, you should do what my mum does, which is either put the
Starting point is 00:18:22 Christmas trees into a curry or put the Christmas trees into a curry or put the Christmas trees into bolivars like that's the best thing to do yes with Christmas leftovers fajitas as well oh yeah fajitas we always do that our soup but that like i'm a lover of soup but i do i was gonna say she'll she'll make anything into soup i will even trouble she'll make anything into soup. I will even trouble. I like that you know the description of how excitingly it's sort of like a Rubik's Cube for for elephants the animals can fight with them they can rub against them they can throw themselves over them and do various other things with these fir trees so essentially the elephants can do everything with a Christmas tree that
Starting point is 00:19:02 your drunk uncle could also do with a Christmas tree and has done on Christmas day. I enjoyed that. That was fun. And that brings us to our reviews section. As you know, each week our guest editors bring in something to review our five stars. Eleanor, what have you brought in for us today? I am reviewing some weather this week. I am reviewing storm Eowyn. I was in the heart of it. I was in the eye. Well, no, I was in Edinburgh and it was very windy. I'm giving
Starting point is 00:19:36 it two stars out of five because as much as it was quite scary and bits of roof came off and no one could go anywhere and all the shops were closed and my house shook. I'll give two stars for just you know it was quite exciting at the same time it's quite fun you know it's a bit of drama it was it was called a once in a in a generation storm which means the generations are getting shorter and shorter because we we also had one. It's now generations of iPhones. Yes exactly we had one of these storms about 15 years ago and it was called Quill-o-Quilly called Hurricane Boar Bag because it was just a bit of a dick really.
Starting point is 00:20:14 And it really it swept through Scotland. But yeah, I mean, I thought, you know, as storms go, it was fun. The name was fun. It was, you know, it was fun to get a day off, a day off, obviously, I'm a comedian, so I, you know, it's up to me if I have a day off, but pretend I had a day off. Like when you get called in from school because the heating doesn't work. Which as I speak to English comedians and people from other countries, apparently that doesn't happen outside of Scotland. No, in Australia, in Australia, you get it called off if it's too hot.
Starting point is 00:20:47 Yes. Yes. Well, we're the opposite. And what have you brought in for us, Alison? I'm reviewing having a six foot cow cut out. Um, I've had it for a couple of months. Um, I want to give it four stars. It's given me a boost of confidence.
Starting point is 00:21:02 It normally lives, it lives behind my television normally. Uh, and it's been, it's given me a boost of confidence. It normally lives, it lives behind my television normally. And it's been it's been really great. It's really jazzed up watching the darts, you know, there's a very exciting watching that. And you know, just the whole kind of like going for the winner and everything like that. But to have a six foot cow tower over these men while they try to do darts in front of a really really drunk crowd and a six-foot cow. It makes it very exciting. So yeah I'm gonna give it four stars out of five. It's great, it really is fantastic. Yeah. Four stars out of five for having a giant cutout cow. I feel like you've really influenced me. Good. Do you think maybe I'm giving it such a high review
Starting point is 00:21:43 because I'm afraid of it? Like it is the reason. Entirely possible. Look how it looks upset. It's like why not five? If anything happens to Alison, we'll know who did it. I'm hiring, but where can I find potential candidates? Hundreds of thousands of Canadians with disabilities are ready and eager to work. Help create an inclusive workplace that benefits everyone. Find the tools and resources to help you hire persons with disabilities at Canada.ca slash right here. A message from the disabilities at Canada.ca slash right here. A message from the government of Canada. Acast powers the world's best podcasts.
Starting point is 00:22:37 Here's a show that we recommend. On a cool, cloudy January morning in 2022, Ian Indredson makes himself some eggs, plays with his dog, walks out the door of his waterfront home, and disappears. The 54-year-old senior government spokesperson is a gifted writer. He lives a life of some privilege and comfort with his wife Gloria and their beloved Black Lab Willow. So what happened to Ian?
Starting point is 00:23:03 I'm veteran journalist Laura Palmer, and this is Island Crime Season 7 Evaporated. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. ACAST helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere. acast.com. And that brings me to our next top story and this is the news that a surgeon has performed a vasectomy on himself as a gift for his wife. The story is exactly what it sounds like.
Starting point is 00:23:40 Alison Spittel, you've done work on yourself. Can you unpack this story? Yes, this is absolute self care. This buddy, this dude in Taiwan, he did his own vasectomy and he also put a video up, I think it was on Instagram and he was chatting to people whilst doing it. And one of my favourite quotes from this story is, it was a strange feeling to touch and suture my own urethra and I'm like yeah I bet that was a strange feeling buddy. He got into a bit of pain he used a numbing gel
Starting point is 00:24:14 and then he gave himself a vasectomy he has three kids already and yeah he was doing it to educate the people and would I be watching it for education? Like, am I planning to do a vasectomy in the future? No. I'm not. But knowledge is power. I do want to know how it's made and how it's done.
Starting point is 00:24:39 How do you feel about vasectomies in general? Like, have the people in your... So I'm on contraception at the moment. I've had discussions about vasectomies in general? Like, have the people in your... So, I'm on contraception at the moment. I've had discussions about vasectomies. And it's been a big no-go. And I'm like, why is that? And the person has said, I don't want a knife near my genitals.
Starting point is 00:24:57 And I'm like, fair enough. But the contraception that I'm going through, either it changes my hormones so much that I have a mental breakdown, or I get into so much pain that I faint. And it is the, it's kind of nice to see a dude take the contraceptive option into his own hands and actually man up and do it. Like it is fantastic. Yeah, literally. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think, I don't like imagine you're walking down the street and
Starting point is 00:25:25 then you're an imposing dude and you start a fight with a guy in a pub and then he turns around and he's performing a vasectomy on himself. You're going to step away from that fight. You're going to be like, no, that's a warning. I'm sitting out of this one. I feel like the romantic element and even the educational element would be fulfilled by him getting someone else to do the job on him. He's really cheap Alice. He's really cheap. At least he is a doctor, you know. I mean if he was a plumber and he said I'm going to do my own vasectomy that would be... Although I actually think plumbers out of everyone, they'd probably be the best, the best replacement.
Starting point is 00:26:06 Yeah, they're used to connecting pipes to other pipes. I feel like, you know, he could have at least found some other vasectomy doctor who's ready to do a vasectomy and needed it. They could have done swapsies. They could have operated on each other simultaneously. Like a circle jerk of operations. It is one of the things that has baffled. The second you find out enough about it, you're like, wait, so it's quick, it's simple, it's reversible, it's relatively pain free. Why aren't all men having these constantly?
Starting point is 00:26:37 And then you remember the world we live in. Because as you said, Alison, it's so much simpler if we just go on hormones or have abortions than just one little snip that once again, you can reverse. But I guess because we grew up with a bit more pain in our everyday lives from all that stuff, we don't see that as a big deal. But I guess no one really does go near their genitals generally with a knife, so they're not used to it.
Starting point is 00:27:04 Are you suggesting we start to desensitise them? I think if all women knew how to do a vasectomy, I think men would think a lot more carefully about their choices. Wow, but that's just another job then for women to do. Like there is this thing of like men going out with women and then they get their beards all trimmed and nice-looking and stuff like that and they go to therapy. Yeah, yeah, they get their beards all trimmed and nice looking and stuff like that. And they go to therapy.
Starting point is 00:27:26 And yeah, they get fixed up. I feel like even relatively healthy men have a very strong inner belief that they could A play a national sport if called upon immediately. He knocks someone out with a quick clip to the back of the head, like they do in a James Bond movie. We knock someone out with a quick clip to the back of the head, like they do in a James Bond movie, and see, impregnate anyone at any minute on demand, if required to. Yes. So I think, you know, you're taking out one of the three legs of the stool that is the masculine ego.
Starting point is 00:27:59 They're all poised for the possibility that they might be in a plane crash on a tropical island with lots of beautiful women and have to repopulate. And I'm very grateful that they've thought of that. Yeah, they have to repopulate and like split the resources. They're like, oh, there's only so much food on this island. Why don't I make more humans? Yes. But I also think it's funny that I mean, not funny, but interesting. He chose to do it live, not, not something anyone really asked for. But it does remind me of Samuel Peep's, the diarist from the 17th century, he had a party where he, he had his gallstones removed, which in those days, basically just
Starting point is 00:28:41 meant they got hooked out of through your penis because it wasn't really another day. Yeah, very painful and no anaesthetic and then he had a big party to celebrate and was like I think the stones were like on display they had all these courses and things so I you know I think men have always enjoyed making a bit of an exhibition out of that kind of thing. Yeah, good on them. It is great content it's very like get ready with me while I give myself a vasectomy. And it feels like a makeup tutorial. It's a beautiful thing. I wonder what the top tip is for giving yourself a vasectomy. Don't be drunk.
Starting point is 00:29:15 Don't drink a coffee. Top tip, don't chop the tip. Yeah, top tip. Yeah, keep the tip. If you've cut that off, you're doing it wrong. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you've cut that off, you're doing it wrong. Yeah. And that brings us to our final story of this week's episode of The Gargle. Apparently, Metta is trying to lure TikTok creators over.
Starting point is 00:29:38 I mean, it was originally for, in light of the TikTok ban, the now Reverso TikTok ban, which may or may not still be re reversed. But apparently it's trying to lure influencers over to Instagram for up to $300,000. Eleanor Morton, you're a viral sensation. Can you unpack this story for us? Yeah, I was very upset to hear about this. Nobody's offered me $3,000 or even $5 to do anything on Instagram. So I don't know who these creators are, but it's not me. Yeah, it looks like Instagram wants to be the place to be for these, you know, the go to place for the short form content, which is it's so interesting the way that they saw how TikTok works and they
Starting point is 00:30:25 went we want some of that. And they didn't sort of think, no, you know, people come to Instagram for different things. They it was the picture. It was the picture app. And that was what it was for. And now it's sort of become this sort of weird hybrid thing that doesn't really satisfy anyone. Because if you want to just post pictures, then you can't. And if you want to watch videos, go to TikTok. So I think they might be fighting a losing battle here, but I'm very willing to change my opinion if they do want to offer me $300,000. Alison, is it a rude question? Do you make any money from Instagram? I make no money from Instagram.
Starting point is 00:31:02 No. And in fact, like last year I was knocked off Instagram, the gargoyle listeners will know I probably was screaming about it. For about two and a half months I was off meta because I shared a meme of the singer Pitbull chasing a child. The child was really being chased by a puppy. But they put Pitbull the singer on. I thought that was very funny. I was like, aha by a puppy. Uh, but they put Pitbull the singer on. I thought that was very funny. I was like, aha, a pun. Uh, Meta did not. And, uh, I think that Meta do use AI to, uh, so it's kind of like a, this is like
Starting point is 00:31:35 an all encompassing story because also I was thinking, um, the dude who did his own, uh, vasectomy that was on, where was that? Was that on Instagram as was on Instagram live. And I, I love that because I was thinking about him being on Instagram. And here's the top tip. If you are doing your own vasectomy and you're on Instagram, why not sit on your hand so then when you do your own vasectomy, it feels like someone else operating on your penis.
Starting point is 00:32:05 It's a perfect idea. So like, yeah, I have a weird love hate relationship of Instagram because it probably is the one, the one social media that I, that I'm the biggest on. Like, cause X is dead to me, which is really sad. But yeah, my TikTok algorithms are so disgusting that I don't use TikTok that much because of, because I don't like the reflection of the person it's telling me I am. Which is, I love watching fights, people confronting each other in fast food restaurants, people calling each other out, or weird AI videos of Britain's Got Talent
Starting point is 00:32:49 where Simon Cowell... Oh, I've seen those. Have you seen those where people just turn into tigers or whatever? I can wait six months for that to come to Instagram. Instead of just getting that on TikTok, you straight away, you just wait a couple of months and then Instagram will show that content.
Starting point is 00:33:04 It's fantastic. Can I just say I didn't know that on TikTok, you straight away, you just wait a couple of months and then Instagram will show that content. It's fantastic. Can I just say, I didn't know that that was why you were banned and now that I know that, I'm glad you were banned and I hope the ban comes back because that kind of irresponsible sharing of puns cannot be, should not be condoned by the wider community. Oh, Zuckerberg is cracked down on it.
Starting point is 00:33:25 He went on Rogan and he's like, I don't like double entenders. I don't like jokes. Well, puns essentially call into question the fundamental capacity for words to have meaning in the universe. They really eclipsed into the void and, you know, existentialism doesn't play well on the algorithm. Well, it is interesting because what content is going to be worth paying for? Because the content that really gets engagement is not good for people. I mean, this is why puns might trigger an existential crisis where somebody who was
Starting point is 00:33:57 on Instagram might think, is this actually making me happy? And then we would... People get shocked that people used to go to hangings and things. But I mean, that is what social media is. It's just us watching people suffer and then laugh at it. So, humanity really has not changed. That's true. We just call criminals Karens now. It's like, go watch the Karen. I feel like I need to do a Karen reclamation project because I think of course there's a
Starting point is 00:34:26 percentage of Karens who are just awful people who are being awful people. But I do think there's a percentage of just ladies who have spent their entire lives taking too much shit for everyone. And then they get to menopause and their hormones change gears and they're like, wait a minute, I am never going to put up with anything ever again. Yeah. It's definitely a type of white woman who I do see myself in a bit where it's like, you are meant to be nice and polite. And then yeah, eventually you just snap and go insane. And who knows who knows who you're going to shout out.
Starting point is 00:35:00 I do think like in about 20 or 30 years, we're going to get the saying, we are the daughters of Karen's that you couldn't have thought. That's what's going to happen there. There's going to be a reclamation. I mean, it must be hard for Scandinavia as well because it's a lot of Karen's in Scandinavia, literally. So it must be difficult for them. Generally in Scandinavia, it's difficult because a lot of fights happen in business places and shops
Starting point is 00:35:28 because a lot of people can't afford the crud. Oh! Shoot an email from Instagram. I declare that upon you were to be in the slave camps of Zuckerberg. And that brings us to the end of this week's episode of The Gargle. I'm flipping through the ad section at the back. Alison Spittel, have you got anything to plug? I do.
Starting point is 00:35:52 I'm really excited about this Radio 4 series I have. Coming to an end next week on Wednesday at 11pm. You can go listen on BBC Radio 4. It's called Petty Please and you can catch up with the other three episodes on BBC Sounds. And it was really fun. This week's episode is about Barry from EastEnders and karaoke and how I love them. And also I got a new podcast coming up with Poppy Hillstead in a couple of months and it's called Magazine Party and it's where we read through Take a Break and That's Life magazines and all those
Starting point is 00:36:29 kind of like women's weekly horrific stories and we laugh at them. So that's going to be great fun and hopefully not too problematic. And yeah, go listen to that. I'm also on tour with Work in Progresses. I'm doing a few gigs in London. Come see me. Just go to my Instagram if it still exists and you'll find my link through in the bio. Thank you.
Starting point is 00:36:54 Excellent. Eleanor Morton, what have you got to plug? I have a book. I had a book last time. I've still got a book. It's called Life Lessons from Historical Women and it's all about women from history that I think are underappreciated and I think the paperback
Starting point is 00:37:08 is coming out soon and we all know that means slightly cheaper so please go and buy that. Also I am at Soho Theatre in London March 24th 5th and 6th doing my show from Last Fringe Haunted House. Please buy a ticket for that if you're in London because they send you the ticket report every single day. So that's not stressful. And I show all about ghosts and spooky things. So if you're into that, hopefully you'll enjoy that. And then I've also got a new podcast with Alastair Beckett King, who is my, if you've seen the substance, he's Demi Moore, I'm Margaret Qualley. And it's only monthly because we're both very busy and we look back at children's classic literature from people's childhoods, we read books from the past
Starting point is 00:37:58 and we ask if they're still good or if we should counsel them and it's a sort of cosyy fun read with occasionally, you know, a bit of gulping at the problematic books of the past. So check that out if you like that mix of things. And you can find me online at patreon.com slash Alice Fraser. It's one stop shop for all of my standout specials, podcasts and blogs, as well as my twice weekly writers meetings. Expression of interest forms are up up now if you want to come to Switzerland with me and do a writers retreat in September you can express your interest so I know whether to do it
Starting point is 00:38:31 or not. Also I have a book, A Passion for Passion, it's available now it's coming out on the 6th of February so it will be in your bookshops it is on your online and I am doing a tour in the UK from the 6th of February through to the end of February. I may be in your region, check it out on alicefrazor.com, all of the dates are up there. There is also a live stream launch party with The Bugle, which you can find at thebuglepodcast.com for the 6th of February, it'll be at 7.30pm. You can come along at thebuglepodcast.com, help me launch, I will bring the metaphorical cubes of cheese on sticks. You can wear a fancy hat if you like, but I'm not going to judge you if you don't. This is a Bugle Podcast and Alice Fraser Production. Your editor is Ped Hunter,
Starting point is 00:39:20 your executive producer is Chris Skinner. I'll talk to you again next week. Hunter, your executive producer is Chris Skinner. I'll talk to you again next week. You can listen to other programs from The Bugle, including The Bugle, Catharsis, Tiny Revolutions, Top Stories, and The Gargle, wherever you find your podcasts. Oh, hello, strangers. Friends I haven't met yet, enemies I've not yet engaged in revenge quests against.
Starting point is 00:39:48 Let me put down this sword, put this wet dragon away and welcome you in. This is Realms Unknown where science fiction and fantasy collide in the imaginative imaginarium that we call a podcast studio. I'm Alice Fraser, your guide to the galaxies, goblins, dungeons and dystopias. We'll be hurling ourselves into an all-weekly hero's journey through realms unknown into the dark but sensual heart of all our favourite speculative fictions. But it's not all fun and problematic dwarven games. With you, our trusty band of ruffians and a cast of regular guest questers, we'll navigate
Starting point is 00:40:28 the wild realms created by brilliant authors, filmmakers, game designers and more. We will share emerging sub-genres, old passions, tropes, trends and all the big questions like Which elves are the sexiest elves? The answer is space elves. Why does this TV adaptation suck? Why do dystopian city planners always choose quadrants as the subdivision? Why do authors never call coffee coffee,
Starting point is 00:40:54 even though the drink they're describing is clearly coffee? And why are wizards and Terry Pratchett the only men in hats we'll ever trust? So whether you're a seasoned adventurer or you've never blown a week on a series about orcs who f**k, join me for Realms Unknown. New episodes drop every week on your podcast app or on YouTube. Do not resist the call to adventure, Chosen One.
Starting point is 00:41:18 Join me for Realms Unknown. Pull up a hewn log bench or a hover stool and pour yourself half a crystal goblet full of water. Acast powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. On a cool cloudy January morning in 2022, Ian Indredson makes himself some eggs, plays with his dog, walks out the door of his waterfront home and disappears. The 54 year old senior government spokesperson is a gifted writer. He lives a life of some privilege and comfort with his wife, Gloria, and their beloved Black Lab Willow.
Starting point is 00:42:10 So what happened to Ian? I'm veteran journalist Laura Palmer, and this is Island Crime Season 7 Evaporated. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com

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