Margaret sits down with author Alan Lea to discuss his novella, Hermetica.

 

Margaret sits down with author Alan Lea to discuss his novella, Hermetica.
&nbsp;

Your storytime podcast for a troubled world and for those who dream of better tomorrows, Cool Zone Media Book Club brings you fiction that is one part provocative and one part cozy. Read to you by host Margaret Killjoy, this is the only book club where you don’t have to do the reading, because we do it for you.

Your storytime podcast for a troubled world and for those who dream of better tomorrows, Cool Zone Media Book Club brings you fiction that is one part provocative and one part cozy. Read to you by host Margaret Killjoy, this is the only book club where you don&rsquo;t have to do the reading, because we do it for you.

Cool Zone Media Book Club

It Could Happen Here started as an exploration of the possibility of a new civil war. Now a daily show, it's evolved into a chronicle of collapse as it happens, and an exploration of how we might build a better future. Every day Robert Evans, Garrison Davis, Mia Wong, and James Stout take you on a jaunty walk through the burning ruins of the old world and towards a better one that lays just on the horizon.

It Could Happen Here started as an exploration of the possibility of a new civil war. Now a daily show, it's evolved into a chronicle of collapse as it happens, and an exploration of how we might build a better future. Every day Robert Evans, Garrison Davis, Mia Wong, and James Stout take you on a jaunty walk through the burning ruins of the old world and towards a better one that lays just on the horizon.

It Could Happen Here

As long as there’s been oppression, there’ve been people fighting it. This weekly podcast dives into history to drag up the wildest rebels, the most beautiful revolts, and all the people who long to be—and fight to be—free. It explores complex stories of resistance that offer lessons and inspiration for us today, focusing on the ensemble casts that make up each act of history. That is to say, this podcast focuses on Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff.

As long as there’s been oppression, there’ve been people fighting it. This weekly podcast dives into history to drag up the wildest rebels, the most beautiful revolts, and all the people who long to be—and fight to be—free. It explores complex stories of resistance that offer lessons and inspiration for us today, focusing on the ensemble casts that make up each act of history. That is to say, this podcast focuses on Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff.

Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff

Listen to this collection of top episodes from iHeartRadio and iHeartPodcasts. 

Listen to this collection of top episodes from iHeartRadio and iHeartPodcasts.&nbsp;

Podcasts from iHeartRadio

CZM Book Club: Hermetica, Interview with Alan Lea

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/db699590-3d79-4752-b01d-b35f001d43cf/transcript

Garrison outlines various proposals for a regulatory “slowdown” of frontier AI models, Trump’s push against regulation, the risk of regulatory capture, legislation for public ownership of AI companies and control of this technology, and the organizing limits of AI-denialism.

Sources:
https://x.com/hilbertspaess/status/2097476196791709843

https://x.com/sama/status/2098811563415150910?s=20
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/glossary/frontier-models/

https://www.crowdstrike.com/en-us/cybersecurity-101/artificial-intelligence/frontier-ai/
https://darioamodei.com/post/we-must-pace-the-frontier
https://www.anthropic.com/constitution

https://bsky.app/profile/bishonentype.bsky.social/post/3mvg527c3k22n

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117269745153543631

https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2099597928142688610?s=20
https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2099648450069512426?s=20
https://x.com/atrupar/status/2099132465612828964?s=20
https://x.com/cspan/status/2099878657174941991?s=20
https://x.com/benitoz/status/2099572926865715548?s=20

https://x.com/DavidSacks/status/2098973625252708460?s=20

https://x.com/Jason/status/2098817101628600383?s=20

https://x.com/daniel_koss/status/2099751931400847840?s=20

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/12/anthropics-amodei-proposes-plan-to-slow-the-pace-of-advancing-ai-capabilities.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/14/anthropic-walks-tightrope-to-nasdaq-pushing-slowdown-and-pursuing-ipo.html 
https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-casar-introduce-legislation-to-ban-artificial-superintelligence-and-temporarily-pause-advanced-ai-development/ 
https://abdulforsenate.com/2026/06/first-do-no-harm-ai-under-democracy/
https://geesemag.com/articles/stop-the-ai-arms-race
https://x.com/linamkhan/status/2099204390548639960?s=20

https://www.kirosforco.com/priorities-2 
https://reports.verasight.io/r/june-2026-ai-survey#key-takeaways
https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-introduces-legislation-to-create-7-trillion-ai-sovereign-wealth-fund/
https://council.nyc.gov/press/2026/09/16/3240/ 

Garrison outlines various proposals for a regulatory &ldquo;slowdown&rdquo; of frontier AI models, Trump&rsquo;s push against regulation, the risk of regulatory capture, legislation for public ownership of AI companies and control of this technology, and the organizing limits of AI-denialism. Sources:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://x.com/hilbertspaess/status/2097476196791709843">https://x.com/hilbertspaess/status/2097476196791709843 </a></li>
<li><a href="https://x.com/sama/status/2098811563415150910?s=20">https://x.com/sama/status/2098811563415150910?s=20</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/glossary/frontier-models/">https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/glossary/frontier-models/ </a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.crowdstrike.com/en-us/cybersecurity-101/artificial-intelligence/frontier-ai/">https://www.crowdstrike.com/en-us/cybersecurity-101/artificial-intelligence/frontier-ai/</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://darioamodei.com/post/we-must-pace-the-frontier">https://darioamodei.com/post/we-must-pace-the-frontier</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.anthropic.com/constitution">https://www.anthropic.com/constitution </a></li>
<li><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/bishonentype.bsky.social/post/3mvg527c3k22n">https://bsky.app/profile/bishonentype.bsky.social/post/3mvg527c3k22n </a></li>
<li><a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117269745153543631">https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117269745153543631 </a></li>
<li><a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2099597928142688610?s=20">https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2099597928142688610?s=20</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2099648450069512426?s=20">https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2099648450069512426?s=20</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/2099132465612828964?s=20">https://x.com/atrupar/status/2099132465612828964?s=20</a></li>
<li><a href="https://x.com/cspan/status/2099878657174941991?s=20">https://x.com/cspan/status/2099878657174941991?s=20</a></li>
<li><a href="https://x.com/benitoz/status/2099572926865715548?s=20">https://x.com/benitoz/status/2099572926865715548?s=20 </a></li>
<li><a href="https://x.com/DavidSacks/status/2098973625252708460?s=20">https://x.com/DavidSacks/status/2098973625252708460?s=20 </a></li>
<li><a href="https://x.com/Jason/status/2098817101628600383?s=20">https://x.com/Jason/status/2098817101628600383?s=20 </a></li>
<li><a href="https://x.com/daniel_koss/status/2099751931400847840?s=20">https://x.com/daniel_koss/status/2099751931400847840?s=20 </a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/12/anthropics-amodei-proposes-plan-to-slow-the-pace-of-advancing-ai-capabilities.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/12/anthropics-amodei-proposes-plan-to-slow-the-pace-of-advancing-ai-capabilities.html </a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/14/anthropic-walks-tightrope-to-nasdaq-pushing-slowdown-and-pursuing-ipo.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/14/anthropic-walks-tightrope-to-nasdaq-pushing-slowdown-and-pursuing-ipo.html</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li><a href="https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-casar-introduce-legislation-to-ban-artificial-superintelligence-and-temporarily-pause-advanced-ai-development/">https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-casar-introduce-legislation-to-ban-artificial-superintelligence-and-temporarily-pause-advanced-ai-development/</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li><a href="https://abdulforsenate.com/2026/06/first-do-no-harm-ai-under-democracy/">https://abdulforsenate.com/2026/06/first-do-no-harm-ai-under-democracy/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://geesemag.com/articles/stop-the-ai-arms-race">https://geesemag.com/articles/stop-the-ai-arms-race</a></li>
<li><a href="https://x.com/linamkhan/status/2099204390548639960?s=20">https://x.com/linamkhan/status/2099204390548639960?s=20 </a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.kirosforco.com/priorities-2">https://www.kirosforco.com/priorities-2</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li><a href="https://reports.verasight.io/r/june-2026-ai-survey#key-takeaways">https://reports.verasight.io/r/june-2026-ai-survey#key-takeaways</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-introduces-legislation-to-create-7-trillion-ai-sovereign-wealth-fund/">https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-introduces-legislation-to-create-7-trillion-ai-sovereign-wealth-fund/</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://council.nyc.gov/press/2026/09/16/3240/">https://council.nyc.gov/press/2026/09/16/3240/</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

The AI Regulation Debate 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/05a645f1-f9e2-48d7-886e-b4cc01596cf8/transcript

In this episode Dana El Kurd talks about how the settlers and the Israeli state are working hand in hand to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from the West Bank, and how we should understand the relationship between the two actors.   

 

Sources:

https://jewishcurrents.org/it-feels-like-a-death-sentence

https://www.972mag.com/armed-settler-hikes-west-bank/

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/06/opinion/israel-west-bank-settlers-violence.html

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/29/israeli-settlers-surround-palestinian-home-in-occupied-west-banks-qusra

https://www.972mag.com/bilin-israeli-land-seizure-settler-road/

In this episode Dana El Kurd talks about how the settlers and the Israeli state are working hand in hand to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from the West Bank, and how we should understand the relationship between the two actors.&nbsp; &nbsp;
&nbsp;
Sources:
<a href="https://jewishcurrents.org/it-feels-like-a-death-sentence">https://jewishcurrents.org/it-feels-like-a-death-sentence</a>
<a href="https://www.972mag.com/armed-settler-hikes-west-bank/">https://www.972mag.com/armed-settler-hikes-west-bank/</a>
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/06/opinion/israel-west-bank-settlers-violence.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/06/opinion/israel-west-bank-settlers-violence.html</a>
<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/29/israeli-settlers-surround-palestinian-home-in-occupied-west-banks-qusra">https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/29/israeli-settlers-surround-palestinian-home-in-occupied-west-banks-qusra</a>
<a href="https://www.972mag.com/bilin-israeli-land-seizure-settler-road/">https://www.972mag.com/bilin-israeli-land-seizure-settler-road/</a>

West Bank Takeover

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/76cfc63b-1648-40fe-9825-b4c901234fb9/transcript

Margaret reads you a surreal story about the surreal Southwest, written by one of her favorite authors

Margaret reads you a surreal story about the surreal Southwest, written by one of her favorite authors

CZM Book Club: Ocotillo, by Madeline ffitch

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/42d32f66-c742-4523-b1d0-b4cb00344ea7/transcript

CZM Book Club: Hermetica, Interview with Alan Lea

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