Podcast Summary — Behind the Bastards / It Could Happen Here Weekly 215
Date: January 17, 2026
Host: Cool Zone Media & iHeartPodcasts
Featuring: Robert Evans, Garrison Davis, Ben Rose Porter, James Stout, Andrew Sage, Mia Wong, others
Overview
This episode is a weekly compilation for the “It Could Happen Here” series, primarily featuring discussion from CES 2026 (Consumer Electronics Show). The episode examines trends and failures in the current tech industry, especially focusing on AI-enabled consumer electronics, skepticism about their real-world impact, surveillance, privacy, and broader global events from Iran to the US political system and climate disaster retrospectives.
The tone remains irreverent, skeptical, and deeply critical of hype-driven tech culture, while incorporating analysis of recent political and international crises.
Main Themes
- A critical, first-hand look at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and “the future” offered by tech companies, especially relating to artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and questionable product innovation.
- Sober analysis of the illusion of tech “innovation,” capital’s relentless drive, and the lack of meaningful progress for consumers.
- Updated discussions on current global political upheaval, particularly Iran’s crisis, environmental disasters, and tech’s growing infrastructural demands.
- Illumination of the intersection between technology, state power, and social justice movements.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. CES 2026: AI Overload, Vapidity in Innovation
- AI Ubiquity with Little Substance:
- The event showed a proliferation of products claiming AI-integration, mostly as “wrappers” around existing chatbots like ChatGPT.
- Quote: “This is a year of robotics not having anything new because... they’re combining their physical robotics, which aren’t new, but combining them with ChatGPT and presenting it as a new product.” (Garrison Davis, 04:46)
- Product Failures & Reliance on Connectivity:
- Many chatbot-enabled products simply didn’t work, especially due to poor Wi-Fi on the convention floor.
- Quote: “About 70% of the chatbot-enabled products that I tried to interact with could not converse with me or could not do so in a functional way.” (Robert Evans, 01:28)
- The Memory & Empathy Illusion:
- Vendors repeatedly touted “memory” and “empathy” for their robots, but in reality, these were marketing ploys; robots were not genuinely intelligent or feeling.
- Quote: “Reducing the concept of empathy to the robot knows when you might want snacks is kind of evil...” (Robert Evans, 37:46)
- On-Device vs. Cloud AI:
- A few products, like translation devices, worked entirely offline and were considered practical improvements, contrasting against most cloud-dependent devices.
- Quote: “No, this is actually on device... that’s real utility. And Trans is not the only company.” (Robert Evans, 16:24)
2. Skepticism Toward Capital’s Drive for “Endless Value”
- Panelists note that tech companies push the idea of endless utility and potential transcendence, but this masks empty innovation and an insatiable drive for profit.
- Quote: “If you just give yourself over... bleed into the machine and connect yourself to the cloud and give over like everything... there is this vague promise of transcendence.” (Ben Rose Porter, 18:54)
- The CES floor is filled with products purporting to solve problems that either don’t exist or were created by earlier tech “innovations.”
3. Ethics & Privacy: Data Collection and Surveillance
- Worries about surveillance, privacy, and consumer data, especially in health-focused wearables and AI “empathy” machines.
- Quote: “There is this kind of baseline expectation here that everyone is fine with handing over all of their data, all of their physical data, all of their biometrics...” (Robert Evans, 53:20)
- Companies rarely address these concerns; a few “lighthouse” booths present on-device, privacy-centric design as a rare ethical alternative.
4. Notable Products: The Good, The Bad, The Weird
- CLOYD by LG:
- A home assistance robot, very much a product of slapping an LLM chatbot onto dated robotics hardware and passing it off as innovative. Critiqued for lack of actual capability.
- Quote: “...the sort of AI that's running Cloyd — and Cloyd to also be a picture if someone needed to make Wall-E that was legally distinct enough to stop Disney from suing them... that's how Cloyd looks.” (Robert Evans, 29:15)
- Exoskeletons (Hypershell):
- Stood out for real utility, allowing enhanced mobility and lessening joint/back pain for industrial or even casual use. Noted for thoughtful design.
- Sex Robots:
- Another example where integration of chatbots does not meaningfully enhance products and instead raises even weirder questions about consumer needs and the uncanny valley.
- Emotion-Tracking Wearables:
- Pendants claiming to track “emotional sentiment,” furthering the datafication of the self.
- Quote: “I don't need this thing to tell me how I'm feeling. But, like, it might be fun for some people...” (Garrison Davis, 16:54)
5. Political & Global Crisis Segments
Iran Protests and Communication Blackout:
- Special report details the eruption of spontaneous demonstrations in Iran, escalation into violent government crackdowns (including at hospitals), mass deaths (estimates 12,000–20,000), and a full government-imposed internet blackout.
- Quote: “There is no internet connection in Iran ... it has caused a lot of confusion, a lot of horror that the world doesn't know what's happening exactly right now.” (Gordain, 94:20)
- Interview with Kurdistan-based journalist “Gordain” contextualizes ethnic politics, state brutality, and fears of both regime collapse and international intervention.
Retrospective on 2025: Climate, Protest, and Geopolitics
- Run-down of 2025 as the hottest year on record, with global climate disasters exposing infrastructural and state failures, and corresponding resilience in grassroots organizing.
- Political mobilization of Gen Z across continents; frustration that radical movements are often absorbed by the state or face deadly repression.
- Quote: “2025's protests show a fraction of our frustration, but they also show that we can't just keep screaming into the void.” (Andrew Sage, 149:41)
- Tech’s physical and environmental cost: data centers, AI expansion eating resources, and growing calls for digital commons/open source alternatives.
US News: Judicial, Immigration, and Domestic Terror
- DHS and ICE shooting in Portland, with disinformation and local outrage.
- Updates on federal court, visa policy changes, and state department actions against immigrants.
- Synagogue Arson in Mississippi:
- Young right-wing Christian nationalist arrested for attack, highlighting the ongoing reality of anti-Semitic domestic terror amidst debate about root causes and media mischaracterization.
US Fed Independence Crisis
- Jerome Powell (Fed Chair) releases what’s described as a “kidnapping video” revealing the Trump administration is threatening criminal indictment to seize direct control of US monetary policy; a rare moment uniting central bankers globally against overt executive interference.
- Quote: “The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment... rather than following the preferences of the President.” (Jerome Powell quote, 184:10)
- Panelists warn, “If this guy gets put in charge of the Federal Reserve, he is going to turn the US Economy into a smoking crater.” (Garett, 190:33)
Domestic Security/FBI Activity
- Discussion of the “Turtle Island Liberation Front” FBI arrest—classic case of would-be militants, aggressive online rhetoric, and infiltration via informants before crimes committed; compared to historic patterns of FBI “sting” operations and entrapment.
Notable Quotes & Moments
-
On Tech “Empathy”:
“Empathy means the robot knows when to serve you is like a bad way to talk about empathy. I don't think most people... Well, it means someone knows when I want to be upsold on a Hyundai.”
— Robert Evans, (38:27) -
On CES Innovation:
“Look at LG's new butler robot... that's all that they're doing at this demo. Because this is not a real product for sale... it's this cycle that just keeps building.”
— Garrison Davis, (33:07) -
On the State’s Crisis Response:
“[COVID and disaster] continue to show the ingenuity and capability of ordinary people to organize, support, distribute aid, facilitate evacuation, share resources.”
— Andrew Sage, (131:58) -
On Gen Z Political Mobilization:
“For Gen Z folks, it's like—The town that you live in will continue to exist is up for debate."
— James Stout, (141:15) -
On US Tech Hype/Surveillance:
“There is this baseline expectation here that everyone is fine with handing over all of their data, all of their physical data, all of their biometrics...”
— Robert Evans, (53:20) -
On US Fed Independence:
“...This is a significant enough threat that several Republican senators... have spoken out against this move and have expressed... they think Jerome Powell is innocent.”
— Garett, (187:10)
Important Timestamps
- 01:10 – Opening thoughts from CES: What future does the AI industry offer?
- 04:03 – Defining “LLM wrappers,” the prevalence of physical AI products
- 06:14 – “AI” product marketers anthropomorphizing their robots
- 17:47 – Privacy noteworthy: Only a few products keep data off the cloud
- 21:09 – Voice assistants pitched as new avenues for corporate upselling
- 28:03 – CLOYD “the worst-named robot” and the hollowness of innovation
- 46:03 – Hypershell exoskeleton, rare genuinely useful innovation
- 53:15 – Wearables, health data, and privacy concerns
- 87:09 – Iran political crisis: On-the-ground reporting/intel blackout
- 127:09 – 2025 Retrospective: Climate, youth protest, and geopolitics
- 167:25 – US Executive, Iran, and immigration/new visa crackdowns
- 184:09 – Jerome Powell’s unprecedented video statement on DOJ pressure
- 195:37 – Turtle Island Liberation Front “bust,” informant infiltration
Conclusion
This episode provides a sweeping survey—from the tech world’s self-congratulatory nadirs and dubious “AI” advances to truly consequential political and global emergencies. The panel issues warnings about false innovation, overblown AI claims, the costs and dangers of state and tech collusion, and the need for grassroots skepticism, solidarity, and actual functional action.
Despite the episode’s dark humor and relentless critique, there are flashes of hope in the resilience of ordinary people—communities organizing around disaster, youth movements pushing for radical change, and the potential for privacy-focused technology. Ultimately, the hosts urge listeners to stay vigilant, keep organizing, and see through both utopian tech promises and state-sponsored narratives.
For further detail or segment breakdown, refer to the timestamps above alongside the full transcript.