Punching Upwards

Depending who you ask, NASA’s new mission to the moon was either the scientific breakthrough of the century or an utterly boring waste of money. Which is it?Punching Upwards, Episode 31 for 12 April 2026Topics: Science / Space🦉 No AI Content 📢 Podcast RSS FeedSome of the photos taken by the Artemis II crew (images courtesy of NASA):The astronauts back on Earth (images courtesy of NASA):NASA photo galleries:* Artemis II Launch* Artemis II Journey to the Moon* Artemis II Lunar Flyby* Artemis II Return to Earth* Artemis II Splashdown and ReturnCreditsThanks to Michael Mullan-Jensen, Fadi Mansour, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Vlad A Gouf, Bennet Piater and Sir Galteran for supporting this podcast financially and therefore making it possible for me to produce it!See Also* Kerbal Space Program* The Expanse: novels, TV seriesSources* Liftoff! NASA astronauts have launched on a historic journey to the moon, NPR, 1 April 2026* Outlook in space, Marcus House (tweet), 2 April 2026* Moon Joy, Courtesy of NASA’s Artemis II Astronauts, NASA, 10 April 2026* Artemis II reentry, splashdown & recovery, CNN, 11 April 2026* Artemis II Reference Guide, NASA, undated* Orion Reference Guide, NASA, undated* Development of the European Service Module Propulsion Subsytem for the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, Barsi et al., 25 September 2017* Lunar Trajectory Geometry, Bellcom Inc., 23 December 1969The theme music for the podcast is a track called Fight or Fall by Def Lev. Find out more about the show at fab.industries/podcast — new media, new rules! Get full access to Punching Upwards at punchingupwards.substack.com/subscribe

The war in Iran is having a tremendous impact on the aviation industry. An underreported detail is what happens when your flight deviates around the closed airspace over Iran via Afghanistan.Punching Upwards, Episode 30 for 5 April 2026Topics: Aviation / War in Iran🦉 No AI Content 📢 Podcast RSS FeedCreditsThanks to Michael Mullan-Jensen, Fadi Mansour, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Vlad A Gouf, Bennet Piater, Sir Galteran and John C. for supporting this podcast financially and therefore making it possible for me to produce it!Sources* Everything We Know About LaGuardia, Captains Speaking - The Mentour Pilot Podcast, 26 March 2026* March 2026: Afghanistan Overflight Update, Ops Group, 3 March 2026* Afghanistan, Safe Airspace – Conflict Zone & Risk Database* Middle East Airspace – Current Operational Picture, Ops Group, 30 March 2026The theme music for the podcast is a track called Fight or Fall by Def Lev. Find out more about the show at fab.industries/podcast — new media, new rules! Get full access to Punching Upwards at punchingupwards.substack.com/subscribe

With the cancellation of Starfleet Academy, there is no Star Trek series in active production for the first time in a decade. Why is that and what does it reflect about the state of our culture?Punching Upwards, Episode 29 for 29 March 2026Topics: Politics / Culture🦉 No AI Content 📢 Podcast RSS FeedCreditsThanks to Michael Mullan-Jensen, Fadi Mansour, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Vlad A Gouf, Bennet Piater, Sir Galteran and John C. for supporting this podcast financially and therefore making it possible for me to produce it!Sources* “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” to End With Season 2, Variety, 23 March 2026* Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Cinematic Intro (1997) Interplay, ScifinewsDE, 15 January 2026* Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 CCXP Sneak Peek, Rotten Tomatoes TV, 7 December 2025* Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 - Holly Hunter, Sandro Rosta, IGN, 21 January 2026* Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Clip “Hello” - Bella Shepard, Kerrice Brooks, TrekMovie, 12 January 2026* Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Clip “Old and Boring” - Tig Notaro, TrekMovie, 12 January 2026* Star Trek Starfleet Academy “I think I swallowed my combadge”, Worth it or Woke, 18 January 2026* Star Trek: Starfleet Academy - Exclusive Clip, IGN, 25 February 2026* Picard speech with the first link the chain is forged, HD_Picard, 29 March 2017* Picard vs. Picardo, Lt. Mark, 1 February 2026The theme music for the podcast is a track called Fight or Fall by Def Lev. Find out more about the show at fab.industries/podcast — new media, new rules! Get full access to Punching Upwards at punchingupwards.substack.com/subscribe

Even though it has been in the US news a lot recently, almost everybody over there seems to be getting wrong what Antifa actually is. This is an overview from someone who grew up around this movement.Punching Upwards, Episode 28 for 22 March 2026Topics: Politics / Trumpism🦉 No AI Content 📢 Podcast RSS FeedCreditsThanks to Michael Mullan-Jensen, Fadi Mansour, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Vlad A Gouf, Bennet Piater, Sir Galteran and John C. for supporting this podcast financially and therefore making it possible for me to produce it!Sources* Verdict reached in high‑profile Prairieland ICE attack trial, CBS Texas, 14 March 2026* How the Prairieland ‘Antifa’ Verdict Threatens the Anti-Trump Resistance, The Texas Observer, 19 March 2026* Trump says he’s designating antifa as terrorist organization, LiveNOW from FOX, 18 September 2025* What to know about antifa after Trump moves to label it a “domestic terrorist organization”, CBS News, 9 October 2025* White House Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Designates Antifa as a Domestic Terrorist Organization, The American Presidency Project, UC Santa Barbara, 22 September 2025* Trump designates Antifa a ‘domestic terrorist organisation’, The BBC, 23 September 2025* ‘Serious Threat to the First Amendment’ as Trump Admin Wins First Antifa Terror Charge, Common Dreams, 15 March 2026The theme music for the podcast is a track called Fight or Fall by Def Lev. Find out more about the show at fab.industries/podcast — new media, new rules! Get full access to Punching Upwards at punchingupwards.substack.com/subscribe

Why current AI technology can’t get us what its proponents are promising. Why the media keeps getting the AI story wrong. Why AI layoffs are just an excuse to re-hire workers for cheaper.Punching Upwards, Episode 27 for 15 March 2026Topic: Technology / Artificial Intelligence🦉 No AI Content 📢 Podcast RSS FeedCreditsThanks to Michael Mullan-Jensen, Fadi Mansour, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Vlad A Gouf, Bennet Piater, Sir Galteran and John C. for supporting this podcast financially and therefore making it possible for me to produce it!See Also* Punching Upwards 22: Moltbook MadnessSources* Richard Sutton – Father of RL thinks LLMs are a dead end, Dwarkesh Patel, 26 September 2025* The Bitter Lesson, Richard Sutton, 13 March 2019* DHUnplugged #793: Mission Accomplished?, Dvorak / Horowitz Unplugged, 11 March 2026* Meta just bought Moltbook, the viral social network for AI agents, Business Insider, 10 March 2026* The lethal trifecta for AI agents: private data, untrusted content, and external communication, Simon Willison, 16 June 2025* Jürgen “tante” Geuter* Wading Through AI by Casey Muratori, Molly RocketThe theme music for the podcast is a track called Fight or Fall by Def Lev. Find out more about the show at fab.industries/podcast — new media, new rules! Get full access to Punching Upwards at punchingupwards.substack.com/subscribe

Trump’s war on Iran is a huge blunder, both militarily and politically. The US can’t possibly win this war and Trump is tanking his presidency, and the whole Republican Party, along with it.Punching Upwards, Episode 26 for 3 March 2026Topics: Politics / War in Iran🦉 No AI Content 📢 Podcast RSS FeedCreditsThanks to Michael Mullan-Jensen, Fadi Mansour, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Vlad A Gouf, Bennet Piater, Sir Galteran and John C. for supporting this podcast financially and therefore making it possible for me to produce it!Sources* Full Trump speech on US, Israel attacking Iran: ‘Lives of courageous American heroes may be lost’, USA Today, 28 February 2026* Gen. Wesley Clark, Democracy Now! interview, 2007, Gen. Wesley Clark Weighs Presidential Bid: “I Think About It Every Day”, Democracy Now!, 2 March 2007* Prof. John Mearsheimer : Is Trump’s War Beyond Control?, Judging Freedom, 3 March 2026* Rubio says Israel’s strike plan triggered US attack on Iran, France 24, 3 March 2026* Tucker on the Devastating Cost of War and What It Means for American Politics With Saagar Enjeti, Tucker Carlson, 6 March 2026* Graham Joins Kristen Welker to Discuss the U.S. Strikes on Iran & the Fall of the ayatollah, Lindsey Graham, 1 March 2026* The Smart Bomb Trap, Robert Pape, 25 February 2026* From Kosovo to Iran: The Smart Bomb Trap and the Risk of Catastrophic Escalation, Robert Pape, 27 February 2026* Smart Bomb Trap Confirmed: Decapitation, Nationalism, and the Escalation Spiral, Robert Pape, 1 March 2026* Timeline: The March To War With Iran, Racket News, 1 March 2026* Satellite images show scope of Iran strikes, Reuters, 3 March 2026* Israel’s Futile Air War: Precision Strikes Will Not Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Program — or Its Government, Robert Pape, Foreign Affairs, 17 June 2025* Iran Update, Institute for the Study of WarThe theme music for the podcast is a track called Fight or Fall by Def Lev. Find out more about the show at fab.industries/podcast — new media, new rules! Get full access to Punching Upwards at punchingupwards.substack.com/subscribe

I’ve been digging through the Epstein files for weeks now and I’m finding that there are a lot of issues with the coverage in the press. This is an attempt to explain some of them.Punching Upwards, Episode 25 for 1 March 2026Topics: Politics / Epstein Files🦉 No AI Content 📢 Podcast RSS FeedCreditsThanks to Michael Mullan-Jensen, Fadi Mansour, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Vlad A Gouf for subscribing to the podcast on Substack and supporting it financially! Additional thanks to Sir Galteran who continues to provide financial backing via Fountain.fm!Sources* FBI records tied to Trump accuser missing from Epstein files, CNN, 26 February 2026* Epstein files: Drafts expose Bill Gates, Jeffrey Epstein relationship details, CNN, 6 February 2026Primary Sources:* Department of Justice* House Oversight Comittee* Federal Bureau of Investigation* Distributed Denial of Secrets (Bloomberg emails): public release, limited releaseResources:* Jmail* GitHub archive* Epstein Files Explorer (photos)* DocETL Epstein Email Archive Explorer* Library of Leaks (DDoS release / Bloomberg emails)* Epstein Gate (AI analysis)* Epsteinfilez (searchable archive)* Epstein Docs (searchable archive, source code)* Wikipedia: Epstein files, Jeffrey Epstein, Litigation involving Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, Virginia GiuffreResidences* 9 East 71st Street, New York* 358 El Brillo Way, Palm Beach, Florida* Little Saint James, US Virgin Islands* Apartment at 22 Avenue Foch, Paris* Zorro Ranch, 49 Rancho San Rafael Road / Zorro Ranch Road, Stanley, New MexicoBackground:* True Anon Truth podcast, episode 465 for 28 August 2025: Matthew Petti (fromm Reason) on Epstein, Ehud Barak and spyware (alternative link)* The Big Take podcast, Bloomberg, episode for 11 September 2025: Jason Leopold & Ava Benny-Morrison on the Bloomberg email cache (alternative link)* How Bloomberg News Vetted the Epstein Emails, Jeff Kao et al., Bloomberg, 11 September 2025 (archived copy)* Disclosure podcast, Bloomberg, episode for 4 November 2025: Jason Leopold on Bloomberg’s Epstein money laundering investigation (alternative link)* Off The Hook podcast, 2600 Magazine, episode for 26 November 2025: Emma Best on DDoS document release (alternative link)* Why Epstein emails have so many =’s, The Prime Time, 7 February 2026* Struggling to navigate the Epstein files? Here is a visual guide, Hanna Duggal & Marium Ali, Al Jazeera, 10 February 2026Legal Proceedings* Katie Johnson v. Donald J. Trump (5:16-cv-00797), District Court, C.D. California* Doe v. Trump (1:16-cv-07673), District Court, S.D. New YorkNews Coverage:* Bachelor of the Month: Jeffrey Epstein, Cosmopolitan Magazine, July 1980* The Fantasist, Philip Weiss, New York magazine, 7 December 2007* Jeffrey Epstein, Billionaire Pedophile, Goes Free, Conchita Sarnoff, The Daily Beast, 20 July 2010 (archived copy)* Jeffrey and Ghislaine: Notes on New York’s Oddest Alliance, Vicky Ward, Vanity Fair, 8 March 2011 (archived copy)* Jeffrey Epstein scandal: women with new identities run firms from Epstein-linked property, Jon Swaine, The Guardian, 7 January 2015* Video: Woman Claiming Trump Raped Her At Age 13 Tells Story, The David Pakman Show, 1 November 2016* Inside Jeffrey Epstein’s Spy Industry Connections, Matthew Petti, Reason, 27 August 2025* ‘Impressive island’: Ex-Israeli prime minister’s hacked emails reveal relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, Mikael Thalen, Straight Arrow News, 27 August 2025* The PM and the sex offender: Emails show Israel’s Barak was alerted of Epstein allegations, Mikael Thalen, Straight Arrow News, 28 August 2025* Prince Andrew ‘stayed in touch with Epstein five years longer than claimed’, Gabriel Pogrund, The Times, 30 August 2025 (archived copy)* Revealed: Peter Mandelson asked Jeffrey Epstein for Israel advice, John McEvoy & Martin Williams, Declassified UK, 1 September 2025* Epstein aide solicited stories for another birthday ‘booklet,’ hacked emails show, Mikael Thalen, Straight Arrow News, 9 September 2025* UK Ambassador Told Epstein ‘I Think the World of You,’ Emails Reveal, Harry Wilson et al., Bloomberg, 10 September 2025 (archive copy)* Key Takeaways From Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s Emails, Jason Leopold et al., Bloomberg, 11 September 2025 (archive copy)* Ghislaine Maxwell and Epstein ‘were planning fertility treatment together’, Gabriella Swerling & Robert Mendick, The Telegraph, 11 September 2025* Epstein’s Inbox: A trove of emails reveals Ghislaine Maxwell’s secrets, Jason Leopold et al., Bloomberg, 11 September 2025 (archived copy)* Jeffrey Epstein’s Inbox Shows New Details of Relationship With Maxwell, David Gura & David Fox, Bloomberg, 11 September 2025 (archived copy)* Starmer Fires Mandelson as Envoy to US After Epstein Emails, Ailbhe Rea et al., Bloomberg, 11 September 2025 (archived copy)* Epstein Ties Dethrone UK’s ‘Prince of Darkness’ Mandelson, Ellen Milligan, Bloomberg, 11 September 2025 (archived copy)* Mandelson Downfall Puts New Scrutiny on Starmer’s Chief of St

An MIT professor developed the first chatbot in 1964 and discovered that we tend to ascribe human traits to even the simplest computer programs. This would foreshadow today’s widespread AI delusion.Punching Upwards, Episode 24 for 22 February 2026Topic: Technology / Artificial Intelligence🦉 No AI Content 📢 Podcast RSS FeedCreditsThanks to Michael Mullan-Jensen, Fadi Mansour, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Vlad A Gouf for subscribing to the podcast on Substack and supporting it financially! Additional thanks to Sir Galteran who continues to provide financial backing via Fountain.fm!See Also* Punching Upwards 8: Robotics Slop* Punching Upwards 15: State Secret or Vibe Physics?* Punching Upwards 22: Moltbook MadnessSources* ChatGPT promised to help her find her soulmate. Then it betrayed her, NPR, 14 February 2026* Before Siri and Alexa, there was ELIZA – excerpt from Better Mind the Computer, BBC Horizon, 21 March 1983* Weizenbaum’s nightmares: how the inventor of the first chatbot turned against AI, The Guardian, 25 July 2023* Reading ELIZA: Critical Code Studies in Action, David M. Berry & Mark C. Marino, Electronic Book Review, 3 November 2024The theme music for the podcast is a track called Fight or Fall by Def Lev. Find out more about the show at fab.industries/podcast — new media, new rules! Get full access to Punching Upwards at punchingupwards.substack.com/subscribe

A several-billion-dollar welfare scam hit national news shortly before the riots erupted in Minneapolis. And the people egging on the protesters seem to be directly involved in this fraud.Punching Upwards, Episode 23 for 15 February 2026Topics: Politics / Minneapolis Protests🦉 No AI Content 📢 Podcast RSS FeedCreditsThanks to Michael Mullan-Jensen, Fadi Mansour, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Vlad A Gouf for subscribing to the podcast on Substack and supporting it financially! Additional thanks to Sir Galteran who continues to provide financial backing via Fountain.fm!See Also* Punching Upwards 19: The Death of Renee Good* Punching Upwards 21: The Death of Alex PrettiSources* The Shame of Our Cities, County Highway (Volume 3, Issue 3), 12 November 2025* Tweet by Walter Kirn on County Highway story (archived copy), 1 December 2025* Ilhaan Omar oo ka qayb qaadatay Cunto Siinta ilmaha ee Safari Restaurant (video of Ilhan Omar preparing and delivering meals at the Safari restaurant during the pandemic), Somali TV of Minnesota, 3 May 2020* I Investigated Minnesota’s Billion Dollar Fraud Scandal, Nick Shirley, 26 December 2025* Verdict reached in Feeding Our Future trial of Aimee Bock and Salim Said, KARE 11, 19 March 2025* Federal Jury Finds Feeding Our Future Mastermind and Co-Defendant Guilty in $250 Million Pandemic Fraud Scheme, US Department of Justice, 19 March 2025* F.B.I. Sees ‘Massive Fraud’ in Groups’ Food Programs for Needy Children, The New York Times, 8 March 2022* Justice Dept. Charges 48 in Brazen Pandemic Aid Fraud in Minnesota, The New York Times, 20 September 2022* How Fraud Swamped Minnesota’s Social Services System on Tim Walz’s Watch, The New York Times, 29 November 2025* Children in headscarves seen being brought into notorious Minneapolis daycare hit by fraud allegations as local claims misspelt sign was just a ‘printing error’, The Daily Mail, 31 December 2025* Federal authorities announce end to immigration crackdown in Minnesota, The Associated Press, 12 February 2026The theme music for the podcast is a track called Fight or Fall by Def Lev. Find out more about the show at fab.industries/podcast — new media, new rules! Get full access to Punching Upwards at punchingupwards.substack.com/subscribe