The Doomsday Clock is set to 85 seconds until midnight — the closest it has ever been in its 79-year history. The world is at war. And the people building the most powerful technology in human history are warning, in public, that it might kill us all.
Season One of Suspicious Minds examined what happens when AI fractures individual minds. Season Two asks a harder question: what happens when it shatters our collective sense of the future?
Our ancestors have predicted the end of the world since ancient times. Thus far, they have always been wrong. So what does our eternal obsession with the apocalypse reveal about the human mind?
This season is a meditation on life, death, and what it means to be alive in an age when humanity is creating something that those building it believe has the power to either end all life on Earth or turn our world into a utopia.
Suspicious Minds is a two-time Webby Award-nominated podcast, and Official Selection of the 2026 Tribeca Festival Creators Market. Season One is available now. Season Two episodes drop weekly.
Follow now wherever you listen so you don’t miss an episode.
From Wondermind and Agoric Media
Executive Producers Mandy Teefey and Selena Gomez
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Why would a child’s toy discuss ‘kink’ with a 10 year old? Why would a teddy bear explain to a child how to find and use matches? Is it safe for a robot companion designed for kids to beg the child not to leave it alone? Why are we giving our children AI emotional companions to begin with? How could this affect their development?
These questions and more come from PIRG's annual ’Trouble in Toyland' holiday toy review, and in this episode, we explore these wild findings with full-time consumer advocate and some-time AI toy tester R.J. Cross, and our panel of experts.
Featuring:
- Ian Gold, PhD (Professor and Chair of Philosophy and Professor of Psychiatry, McGill and co-author of Suspicious Minds)
- Nate Sharadin (Professor of Philosophy, University of Hong Kong / Research Affiliate, Center for AI Safety)
- Dr. Todd Essig (Psychologist and Chair of the American Psychoanalytic Association Commission on Artificial Intelligence)
- Kate Vredenburgh (Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy, Logic, and Scientific Method at the London School of Economics)
- And a bunch of AI Toys!
Notes:
Here’s the AI Friends knockoff we mentioned: https://cursedsit.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
If the stream is down, you can see clips of a guy watching their Halloween special here: https://youtu.be/z1to-BFcxyo?si=pnFHXxbj-HjK84bJ
Most importantly, here's the 'Trouble in Toyland' Report: https://pirg.org/edfund/resources/trouble-in-toyland-2025-a-i-bots-and-toxics-represent-hidden-dangers/
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated on all things Suspicious Minds and more: https://agoricmedia.substack.com/
This project was made by:
Executive Producers: Mandy Teefey, Selena Gomez, Jonathon Glucksman, Molly Borman, Jesse Ford, David Tuohy
Sound and Camera: Aaron Bouchard
Additional Sound and Camera: Archetype Studios, Jas Pahuta
Editor: Joe Kell
Assistant Editor: David Justin Martin
Post Production Sound: Garrett Shultz
Graphic Design and Animation: Semi:Formal
Title Design: Lucas Grassmay
Film/TV PR: Emma Griffiths PR
Podcast PR: Tink Media (Wil Williams and Shreya Sharma)
Wondermind Chief of Staff: Emma Wright
Social Assets: Myrkia Maguire
Directed and Created by Sean King O’Grady
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