Podcast Summary: Solutions with Henry Blodget

Episode: The New Digg Wants to Bring Back a Peaceful Internet

Date: October 27, 2025
Host: Henry Blodgett, Vox Media Podcast Network
Guest: Kevin Rose (Founder of Digg, Venture Capitalist at True Ventures)

Overview

This episode of Solutions explores the revival of Digg, one of the Internet's original social news platforms, and its mission to create a healthier, more authentic, and "peaceful" space on the web. Henry Blodgett converses with Kevin Rose about the challenges with existing social media, especially around trust, AI, bots, and content moderation. They dive into how Digg's new approach is structured to empower real communities, reward moderators and content creators, and fend off the increasingly sophisticated world of AI-driven disinformation—and move the internet, at least a little bit, back toward being a force for good. The episode also covers AI's shocking acceleration, its impact on the job market, personal health optimization, habit formation, and navigating changes in midlife.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Return and Vision of Digg

• Why return to Digg? Kevin Rose explains that he and Alexis Ohanian (Reddit co-founder) wanted to address the problems of bots and lack of authenticity on today's major platforms.
  • "We just thought there has to be a better way. And Alexis and I had been competitors for a long time... We started comparing notes on what if we could rebuild some of this from the ground up." (03:44)
• The new Digg aims to differentiate itself from Reddit and others, not just in interface but in core principles around trust, moderation, and encouraging authentic human interaction.

2. The Nature and Challenge of Authenticity Online

• Social networks have changed: previously, search pointed to third-party sites for authentic answers. Now, platforms, bots, and LLMs ingest, aggregate, and sometimes manipulate information.
• Rise of sophisticated bots/agents:
  • Bots used to be spammy and single-purpose, but now, “agentic agents” can befriend users and actively push agendas, sometimes over weeks or months.
  • "It's not like it's a programmed... Now it's a living... entity that works with individuals to change their point of view, which is much more powerful in the way that it can do damage." (05:42)
• Solution: Verify there’s "a heartbeat" at the other end and create gradients of trust that reward community contributions, verified purchases, and real-life participation.

3. Building Trust and Accountability

• Verification isn't just about “are you human?”—it includes attesting to real-world experience (e.g., proving you’ve used a product), and how you show up in the community.
  • "You should have these gradients of trust... based on your contributions, and if you're making, or attesting towards owning something, ...you should be able to say with safety, 'this is my experience.'" (09:11)
• Reddit’s efforts: Rose critiques heavy-handed approaches like retinal verification and pushes for more nuanced, privacy-protective ways to establish trustworthy identities.

4. AI’s Mixed Role in Social Media

• AI/LLMs have deeply changed internet search and moderation and threaten to overrun communities.
  • "We want to make sure ... there's actually a heartbeat at the other end of the keyboard and protect what we see as kind of a sacred space." (05:42)
• Positive role for AI:
  • Automating moderation, spam detection, summarization, and providing transparent audit trails for bans or content removals (13:31).
  • AI-generated content is acceptable if clearly labeled, but human connection is irreplaceable for the health of communities.

Kevin Rose (16:10): "We’re open to [AI agents] as long as it’s called out as such. ...We flag it as such. We show the query that the human actually put out there and we show the response back..."

5. Empowering Moderators and Community Ownership

• Old platforms created immense value that went disproportionately to the platform, leaving moderators and top contributors unpaid.
• The new Digg plans to share revenue and ownership with those who build and lead communities:
  • "Every other major platform... is now rewarding those creators. It's wild to me that we aren't giving back to them for the value they're creating." (06:06 and 24:46)
  • Akin to Patreon, Substack, or Netflix, where revenue is distributed according to attention and participation (25:48).
  • Micro-payments possible thanks to advances in digital payments and crypto.

Kevin Rose (25:44): "100%...It's not about making Digg wealthy...what we'd like to do is really watch where attention is flowing...and so...a lot of that money should flow there..."

• Moderators report expectations are modest—sometimes all they want is enough to "buy a cup of coffee," reflecting how little they receive from existing platforms (28:57).

6. Building for Human Connection & Real-World Links

• Human connections foster trust, so Digg will:
  • Integrate in-person meetups as ways to verify real users.
  • Blend online and offline community signals.
  • Give communities power to customize their space deeply—including building micro-apps with LLMs (18:46–23:10).

7. Politics & Platform Values

• Politics is the trickiest, most divisive area. Digg’s team wishes for a more peaceful web and will let users opt out of politics sitewide, using AI classification (30:24).
• Dream: Drop in "left, right, and center" AI perspectives on political news to immediately surface a range of viewpoints, reducing echo chambers (30:29).

The AI Bubble, Job Displacement, and Societal Trends

8. Parallels to Previous Tech Bubbles

• Blodgett: Are we in an 'AI bubble' akin to the dot-com era? Rose agrees: lots of capital raised, many companies will fail, but a few huge winners (36:33).
• Difference: most of the risk is VC money, not small investors.
• Most new tech cycles [dot-com, Web 1.0] end with consolidation around 2–3 giants; AI probably similar (39:09).

Kevin Rose (36:33): "We expect 90 plus percent of our investments to go to zero. And, and that's totally fine... but there will be several trillion-dollar winners here..."

9. Accelerating AI and the Future of Work

• Rose uses a wide array of AI tools for productivity, coding, research, and more (41:18).
• Bleak prediction:
  • "It's going to destroy [the job market] completely." (43:43)
  • The speed at which AI has automated complex coding tasks makes Kevin advise young people not to study CS unless they're chasing a rare niche.
• Blodgett counters with historical optimism: new waves of technology have always destroyed jobs but created new categories—Rose is skeptical, noting that this time, the “thinking” jobs are under threat (47:23–49:45).
• Rose predicts a return to valuing artisan, craft work and personal creativity, much like in Japan (51:15).

Personal Growth, Health, and Long-Term Happiness

10. Habit Formation—“Burn the Boats” Approach

• Rose advocates for a "jump in with both feet" method, making fast, radical changes to habits rather than gradual, incremental ones (59:42):
  • He ditched alcohol and iPhone use abruptly, which forced him to build new routines.
  • "For me personally...I’m kind of of the belief that we just jump in with both feet and burn the boats..."

11. Staying Mentally Nimble with Age

• As we age, complacency and resistance to change creep in, which dulls brain plasticity. Rose urges constant upskilling even when uncomfortable (61:27).
  • "If you want to stay relevant...you can't just write it off as too complicated. You just have to jump in and go with it." (61:32)

12. Alcohol, Anxiety, and Self-Discovery

• Quitting alcohol was hard—brought up latent anxieties and forced introspection.
• After several months, cravings faded and Rose found tangible benefits (63:37).
  • "One thing becomes very apparent...the reason you were drinking alcohol to begin with...I need something to relax...but after about the four month mark...my cravings had completely disappeared."

13. Health Optimization and Supplements

• Rose has spent over a decade focusing on optimizing health span, working with Peter Attia, and running deep blood/genetic tests (67:31).
• Supplements can help, but are no replacement for diet and exercise. He experiments and only keeps what he notices makes a difference.
  • Magnesium for relaxation, high-quality omega-3s for mood, creatine for strength and cognition, careful brand quality checks (69:16).
  • "Do I want the next 20 years to look like that? ...those are the hard questions you have to be honest with yourself and ask yourself." (63:37)

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “It's wild to me that we aren't giving back to them for the value they're creating.” (Kevin Rose, 01:06 & 24:46)
• “You should have these gradients of trust based on how you show up at the community level, your contributions to that community over time.” (Kevin Rose, 09:11)
• “We want to make sure...there's actually a heartbeat at the other end of the keyboard.” (Kevin Rose, 05:42)
• “If humans want authentic, deep human connection, that is going to be a pretty damaging thing for society if we don’t have it.” (Kevin Rose, 18:46)
• “We just missed the times of like, just a more peaceful Internet.” (Kevin Rose, 30:29)
• “It's going to destroy it completely [the economy/jobs].” (Kevin Rose, 43:43)
• “If you want to stay relevant and on the bleeding edge for as long as possible, you can't just write it off as too complicated...jump in and go with it.” (Kevin Rose, 61:32)
• “For me personally...just jump in with both feet and burn the boats.” (Kevin Rose, 59:42)
• “Those are the hard questions you have to be honest with yourself and ask yourself.” (Kevin Rose, 65:42)

Key Timestamps

• 01:06 — Kevin Rose on creator compensation and early Digg vs. today.
• 03:44 — Why restart Digg: solving the problems of modern social media.
• 05:42 — The authenticity crisis: sophisticated new bots and online trust.
• 09:11 — Building gradients of trust and verifying authenticity.
• 13:31 — Rose on using AI for moderation and transparency.
• 16:10 — Acceptable AI use on platform—only if openly labeled.
• 18:46 — Empowering communities with advanced customization, in-person validation.
• 24:46 — Why moderators should be compensated; lessons from new creator platforms.
• 30:29 — Handling politics and seeking a more peaceful Internet.
• 36:33 — Is AI a bubble? Parallels with past tech booms.
• 43:43 — Rose’s prediction: AI will wipe out many jobs.
• 59:42 — Habit change: why burning the boats works better for him.
• 61:32 — Staying sharp with age: fighting complacency with new challenges.
• 63:37 — The realities of giving up alcohol and facing underlying issues.
• 67:31 — Health optimization, working with Peter Attia, and supplement routines.

Tone and Language

The episode is candid, thoughtful, and conversational. Henry Blodgett reflects on his personal experiences while guiding Rose to dive deep into both philosophical and tactical aspects of online community building, technology, personal growth, and resilience in a rapidly changing world. Rose’s language is accessible and honest, especially when discussing personal challenges and the emotional aspects of habit formation, aging, and living meaningfully.

Conclusion

This episode is a comprehensive look at how digital platforms can (and must) evolve to support authentic human connection in the age of AI, and what it takes to keep growing as a person and leader in turbulent times. The remaking of Digg is a hopeful case study, while the broader reflections on work, health, and technology offer lessons for anyone seeking a more empowered relationship—to the web, to their community, and to themselves.