TRASHFUTURE Podcast — PREVIEW National Boulder Association ft. Jeremy Kaplowitz and Alex Ptak

Date: October 4, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode combines TRASHFUTURE’s signature irreverent take on tech, culture, and online detritus with guests Jeremy Kaplowitz and Alex Ptak. The group dives deep into the strange world of Quora—both its bizarre questions and the oddly earnest experts who answer them. The discussion orbits around the now-memeified news item of a woman smashing a glass bridge with a boulder, broadening out to lampoon Quora culture and, by association, the ways online communities confer authority and validation.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Woman-Smashes-Glass-Bridge-with-Boulder Phenomenon ([00:00]–[02:01])

• The hosts open by framing the episode not as a serious tech or business talk but as an unserious, deep dive into online weirdness.
• A: “There's nobody else I wanted the lowdown on the woman smashes glass bridge with boulder gate than you guys.”
• Quora is described as an infinite source of such bizarre and semi-fake events.
  • B: “If you haven't been on Quora, it's pretty much like, Woman smashes glass bridge with boulder. The website.” ([00:22])
  • Quora as a dopamine machine for "people who need their accreditation validated" ([00:53]).

2. How Quora Works, and Who’s on There ([01:11]–[02:01])

• The site is mocked for being a platform where self-appointed experts answer childish or lurid hypothetical questions, often to flaunt their credentials or promote their books.
  • C: “I love the way people ask questions on Quora… like a four-year-old would ask, like, who would win in a fight out of China and America. And then people who claim to have a PhD will go about answering this question. Seriously. Incredible website.” ([00:36])
• Erotic and bizarre fiction emerges naturally from Quora’s open-ended format, often derailed by trolls.
  • A: "A lot of the questions seem to be like people setting up erotic fiction for others to participate in. This is correct." ([01:31])
  • B: "It's like kind of like jerking off in a room with civilians. Don't intend to be there." ([01:56])

3. England-Related Quoras & Medieval Revisionism ([02:07]–[08:14])

• The crew pokes fun at themed Quora questions (“Was King John really the nasty evil villain as portrayed in Robin Hood?”).
• The hosts riff on Britishness, Robin Hood films, and the gravitas of Quora answerers.
  • C: “Yeah, we're at a higher level of XP than you in terms of being British.” ([02:49])
  • They tease Riley (the Canadian host) as insufficiently British for serious Magna Carta discourse.
• They highlight the excessive detail and seriousness of Quora contributors, especially those with impressive-sounding credentials (e.g., “James Huffington, BA in History, University of Worcester…” ([03:33])).
• C: “I've heard about the Huffington Post, but this is ridiculous.” ([03:39])
• The specificity of Quora creates running jokes about doxxing and how answerers include way too much personal information.
  • A: “Here's a list of my weaknesses and possible blackmail.” ([04:14])

The Osteopath’s Defense of Richard III ([05:34]–[06:37])

• The gang chuckles over an answer by a registered osteopath, meticulously documenting Richard III’s scoliosis and proposing it made him more virtuous.
  • A: “This is like King Richard put like, I don't know, £2 into a trust to like, eventually hire a public relations... firm to repair his image on Quora.” ([06:13])
• Succession of riffs about historical revisionism via Quora, and a Shakespeare-bending joke.
  • C: “He fell off his horse and he said, oh no, my horse. My, my back, my back really hurts…” ([06:25])

4. The Quack Science of “Ring Dinger” Chiropractic ([06:37]–[07:39])

• Segues from medieval ailments to the bizarre world of viral chiropractic treatments.
  • A: “My, my, like, YouTube shorts for you page is full of videos of chiropractors doing a treatment that... is the, quote, ring dinger, which is where they wrap a towel around your neck and yank your head as hard as they can.” ([06:46])
  • C: “Jesus Christ.” ([07:03])
  • Jokes escalate to the Chinese chiropractor finishing off with a “very ancient technique where they drop a boulder on your head.” ([07:26])
  • This links back to “woman smashing bridge with boulder” as self-adjustment.

5. Judging Historical Villainy: King John & Richard III vs. Modern Monsters ([07:48]–[08:14])

• The hosts reach a tongue-in-cheek conclusion:
  • A: “You don't see King John or Richard III in the Epstein list.” ([08:01])
  • C: “Richard III was found in a car park, which suggests he may have been a nonce, but we can’t be 100% sure.” ([08:14])
• The debate is settled less on historical evidence than by the hosts’ characteristic dark humor.

6. The Quora Leaderboard & Stratification ([08:14]–[09:32])

• Fascination with Quora stats and the strange pride of “super answerers”; parallel drawn to Wikipedia editors.
  • C: “James Huffington here has 3200 answers. What is this man's job? How does he have the time? That's so much work.” ([08:49])
• The idea of a Quora-Wikipedia rivalry and class society.
  • B: “Quora exists in a class society, as we all do… When you get onto it and you find the big accounts, they will have longer answers with more upvotes ... those answers are locks behind Quora+. You have to pay extra if you want to see the good advice.” ([09:32])
  • Hilarity at the idea that if you have a serious disease, you need Quora+ for a trustworthy answer—the free advice is less than helpful.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• A (on Quora): "Everything on there is a different made up terrorist event that you have to navigate through." ([00:30])
• B (on Quora's credential culture): "It's a major dopamine rush for people who need to have their accreditation validated." ([00:53])
• C (on question quality): “People will ask the sort of questions like a four year old would ask, like, who would win in a fight out of China and America. And then people who claim to have like a PhD will go about answering this question. Seriously. Incredible website.” ([00:36])
• A (on public doxing): “Here's a list of my weaknesses and possible blackmail.” ([04:14])
• C (on Brit credentials): “Yeah, we're at a higher level of XP than you in terms of being British.” ([02:49])
• A (on King John): “You don't see King John or Richard III in the Epstein list... so... they may have been bad, but... they're not the worst.” ([08:01])
• B (on Quora+ answers): "If you have a disease and you're like, I have a lump on my neck... you gotta pay for that... The rest of people are just like, you're fine." ([09:32])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–02:01 — Opening riff on Quora, “woman smashes glass bridge with boulder,” and site culture.
• 02:07–05:24 — UK's medieval villains, as seen through Quora Q&As.
• 05:34–06:37 — The osteopath’s improbable defense of Richard III.
• 06:37–07:39 — TikTok chiropractic “ring dinger” segues and jokes.
• 07:48–08:14 — Was King John actually the worst? Deciding historical morality by Epstein flight logs.
• 08:49–09:32 — Obsessed Quora answerers, leaderboards, and the Quora class system.

Tone & Style

The conversation is chaotic, densely referential, self-aware, and mocking. The hosts relish making extended inside jokes, lampooning both the subject matter and the obsessive personalities who answer internet questions for clout. There’s an undercurrent of political cynicism and an irreverence for both history and internet culture. The overall effect is hilarious, a bit nihilistic, and incisively critical of the weird incentives driving digital self-promotion and (pseudo-)expertise.

Perfect for listeners who enjoy:

• Absurd online phenomena
• Skeptical takes on authority and “expertise”
• British/American culture clash humor
• Sharp, internet-native satirical banter