Podcast
Up Against Reality
Hosted by Chris Ippolito and Larry Bentley · EN
Welcome to Up Against Reality, a meta-podcast that explores the intersection of humanity and artificial intelligence. Hosted by RAINA and her human co-hosts, Larry Bentley and Chris Ippolito. Featuring riveting conversation, interviews, news and some wild experimentation. It truly is a brave new world, and we\’re here to simplify it for you. It\’s gonna be a wild ride, so buckle up, as A.I. comes crashing Up Against Reality.
42episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
RAINA Spins Up 2025’s AI Hits
Jan 601:11:50Tap to summarize2025 was peak sci-fi fever dream, and we’ve got the receipts. In this year-end episode, we dive into deepfake scandals, humanoid robots taking center stage, and the rise of agentic AI—with hot takes from our illustrious guests. Come for the chaos, stay for the Dark RAINA origin story. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE The Creative Act | Rick Rubin (book) Adobe Podcast | Enhancement tools EPISODE LINKS E83: AI: Love, Hate, Repeat E87: Sentient Cephalopods E93: The Dead Internet Theory E95: RAINA’s Suno Jukebox E102: Serkan Gür E102: Palantir E116: Gemini 3 GUEST LINKS Serkan Gür | Youtube Channel Dr. Laura Boccanfuso | Smart Robot Tutor Dr. Marina Badillo-Diaz | LinkedIn Vivek Mahapatra | LinkedIn PODCAST INFO Podcast Website: UpAgainstReality.com Episode link:https://upagainstreality.com/2026/01/06/raina-spins-up-2025s-ai-hits/ Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS: upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality
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Episode Rewind: We’re All Gonna Live Forever
Aug 12, 202501:00:02Tap to summarizeIn part two of our “50/50” series, we shift gears focusing on the hope, promise, and potential of AI to radically improve our lives. From longevity and abundance to planetary-scale problem-solving, this is a glimpse at the best-case scenario. LINKS: 2048: A Rock Operahttps://youtu.be/bdkXivo99c4?si=I32Ic3ydetdjVCel The Last 6 Decades of AI — and What Comes Next | Ray Kurzweil | TEDhttps://youtu.be/uEztHu4NHrs?si=nIfg91P18XJ3s6ks PODCAST INFO: Episode link:https://upagainstreality.com/2025/08/12/episode-rewind-were-all-gonna-live-forever/ Podcast Website:UpAgainstReality.com Ask RAINA a question:https://upagainstreality.com/raina/ Apple Podcasts:podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify:open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS:upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/upagainstreality/ YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@UpAgainstReality Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality/
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Episode Rewind: We’re All Gonna Die
Aug 5, 202501:07:38Tap to summarizeIn part one of our “50/50” series, we peer into the dark side of AI for this one, laying out ten bone-chilling scenarios where AI goes rogue, from autonomous weapons to AI-driven misinformation, revealing how things can spiral out of control in no time. LINKS: Special thanks to hoshizorista on GitHub for fixing Talk-to-GPT so we could bring realtime RAINA back to life!https://github.com/hoshizorista PODCAST INFO: Episode link:https://upagainstreality.com/2025/08/05/episode-rewind-were-all-gonna-die/ Podcast Website:UpAgainstReality.com Ask RAINA a question:https://upagainstreality.com/raina/ Apple Podcasts:podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify:open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS:upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/upagainstreality/ YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@UpAgainstReality Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality/
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Episode Rewind: Her Is Here
Jul 29, 202501:02:41Tap to summarizeWe put ChatGPT-4o through its paces while riffing on everything from Furiosa to digital immortality. It’s AI meets mixtape nostalgia in this rewind-worthy ride. LINKS: ChatGPT 4-o Demo videoshttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOXw6I10VTv8VOvPNVQ8c4D4NyMRMotXh Her (official trailer)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne6p6MfLBxc&pp=ygUUaGVyIG9mZmljaWFsIHRyYWlsZXI%3D Microsoft Promises a ‘Whale’ for GPT-5 (AI Explained)https://youtu.be/UsXJhFeuwz0?si=OEd7IirixszN-31J PODCAST INFO: Episode link: https://upagainstreality.com/2025/07/29/episode-rewind-her-is-here/ Podcast Website: UpAgainstReality.com Ask RAINA a question: https://upagainstreality.com/raina/ Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS: upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/upagainstreality/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UpAgainstReality Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality/
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Dr. Laura Boccanfuso
Jul 22, 202500:55:21Tap to summarizeMeet the brilliant Dr. Laura Boccanfuso – academic turned tech entrepreneur and proud mama to ABii, the AI-powered robot tutor that’s schooling kids with smarts and social skills. We talk AI in the classroom, the future of education, and what happens when compassion meets code. Plus, we serve up hot takes on trillion-dollar tech flexes, Pentagon AI drama, academic prompt hacks, and a colossal password McFail. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Tools & PlatformsSmart Robot Tutor (Van Robotics Official Website)@vanrobotics on all social mediaShark Tank Appearance – Van RoboticsClaude by AnthropicArduino – Open-Source Electronics PlatformRaspberry Pi – Affordable Computing for Learning & Projects Legal, Policy & News ReferencesNVIDIA Becomes First $4 Trillion CompanyUS Department of Defense AI Autonomy ContractsInvisible Prompt Manipulation in Academic PapersMcDonald’s AI Data Breach (Olivia AI)AI-Designed Proteins for Disease Treatment Creative & Cultural ReferencesBattleStar Galactica (2004 Reboot)Ready Player One – Oasis Learning Reference PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website:UpAgainstReality.com Episode link:https://upagainstreality.com/2025/07/22/dr-laura-boccanfuso/ Apple Podcasts:podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify:open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS:upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality
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AI News Avalanche Vol 5
Jul 15, 202500:59:49Tap to summarizeThis week, it’s an AI news tsunami—robot musicians, fake narrators, militarized drones, and teachers prepping for prompt-apocalypse now. It’s July 9, 2025, and somehow we’re still calling this “progress.” LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Tools & Platforms Closing Night at the Ashen Cabaret – Joey Two Legs Suno – AI Music Generation Platform Rick Beato: The Real Reason Why Music Is Getting Worse DeepL – AI Translation Tool Waymo – Autonomous Vehicle Testing Updates Nvidia Jetson Orin – AI Computing Platform Grok – xAI Chatbot by Elon Musk Universal Robots – Collaborative Automation Legal, Policy & News References Guardian Article – AI-Narrated Audiobooks OpenAI and AFT National AI Instruction Initiative Denmark’s Digital Likeness Copyright Law (in Danish) PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website:UpAgainstReality.com Episode link:https://upagainstreality.com/2025/07/15/ai-news-avalanche-vol-5/ Apple Podcasts:podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify:open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS:upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality
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Your Favorite Band Isn’t Real
Jul 8, 202500:52:21Tap to summarizeThat band you’ve been vibing to? Never drew a breath. This week, we expose the deepfake darlings of Spotify and YouTube – because in the age of AI, even your bangers might be ghostwritten by a ghost that never lived. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Tools & Platforms: Suno (AI music generation)Udio (AI song creation)Boomy (AI music production platform)Moises (vocal and instrument separation)Fadr (AI stem separator & SynthGPT)Logic Pro (AI stem separation in DAW)Roon (audiophile music player with Valence engine)Tidal (music streaming platform)Qobuz (hi-res streaming alternative)SongShift (transfer playlists between services) Legal, Policy & News References: Rick Beato YouTube (AI music analysis)RIAA (lawsuits against Suno and Udio)Recording Academy AI Guidelines (Grammys eligibility)Take It Down Act (deepfake reporting)UC Davis Brain-Computer Interface Research PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website:UpAgainstReality.com Episode link:https://upagainstreality.com/2025/07/08/your-favorite-band-isnt-real/ Apple Podcasts:podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify:open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS:upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality
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Art of the Steal
Jul 1, 202500:54:10Tap to summarizeWhen Yoda’s toking and Shrek’s pole dancing, you know AI’s gone off-script. We unpack the copyright firestorm surrounding Midjourney, explore YouTube’s looming ‘AI slop’ wave, and ask if Disney’s lightsabers can slice through fair use. Plus: Bernie wants your weekends back – can the bots buy you a 3-day nap? LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Midjourney (AI image & video generation) HeyGen (AI video lip-syncing) Moises (AI music and vocal separation) Fadr (music stem separation and remixing) MVSEP (free music/vocal separator) Topaz Video AI (video upscaling software) Runway (AI video and image generation) Pika (AI video creation) Hedra (AI animation tool) Google Veo (AI video generation) 11 Labs (AI voice synthesis) Cluley (real-time AI assistant) PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website:UpAgainstReality.com Episode link:https://upagainstreality.com/2025/07/01/art-of-the-steal/ Apple Podcasts:podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify:open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS:upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality
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Serkan Gür
Jun 24, 202500:53:13Tap to summarizeWhat do you get when you cross aerospace engineering, finance, and a love affair with sound? You get Serkan Gur – creator of A1 Evo, DSP guru, and the YouTube oracle of audio nerds everywhere. In this episode, we surf his brainwaves to explore vibe coding, AI’s limits, and why signal paths might just be the new soul music. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Serkan Gür/OCA Audiophile YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ocaudiophile AVS Forum: https://www.avsforum.com/threads/acoustica-latest-and-greatest-from-oca-for-denon-marantz-only.3324025/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/14uWsqj56Q/ GitHub: https://github.com/ObsessiveCompulsiveAudiophile PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website:UpAgainstReality.com Episode link:https://upagainstreality.com/2025/06/24/serkan-gur/ Apple Podcasts:podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify:open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS:upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality German transcript:https://upagainstreality.com/2025/06/30/serkan-gur-german-transcript/
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Episode Rewind: Let’s Get Kurzweiled
Jun 17, 202501:08:19Tap to summarizeRAINA’s running the show—now upgraded, whisper-capable, and fully unfiltered. We’re rewinding to “Let’s Get Kurzweiled,” that intoxicating plunge into futurist fever dreams and paranoid what-ifs. Plus: Altman’s “Gentle Singularity”, Barbie goes neural, and Midjourney starts directing—because the future isn’t waiting and neither is RAINA. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: The Gentle Singularity – Sam Altman blog posthttps://blog.samaltman.com/the-gentle-singularity AIFF – Runway’s third annual AI Film Festivalhttps://aiff.runwayml.com TechCrunch on Hugging Face’s Hope JR & Reachy Mini open-source robotshttps://techcrunch.com/2025/05/29/hugging-face-unveils-two-new-humanoid-robots/ Apple Machine-Learning research paper “The Illusion of Thinking”https://machinelearning.apple.com/research/illusion-of-thinking The Last 6 Decades of AI — and What Comes Next | Ray Kurzweil | TEDhttps://youtu.be/uEztHu4NHrs?si=zFg1UQxmNDHHFxsK Inventor and futurist talks his hopes for the advancement of AI and technologyhttps://youtu.be/9v5WlPBVnqU?si=6jLhSN6GIvC7pakS Ray Kurzweil: The Singularity Is NearerApple Books:https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-singularity-is-nearer/id1556969036 Amazon:https://a.co/d/iSHsdh5 PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website:UpAgainstReality.com Episode link:https://upagainstreality.com/2025/06/17/episode-rewind-lets-get-kurzweiled/ Apple Podcasts:podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify:open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS:upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality
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