The token math ain't mathin', so time to get back to what makes us human

The token math ain't mathin', so time to get back to what makes us human

Author: BKBT Productions June 1, 2026 Duration: 40:56
The hype machine spent two years telling us AI was coming for your job. Now it's quietly walking that back. Why now? Follow the money. On this week's system update, George K. and George A. pull apart the vibe shift happening at the top of the AI economy: from Uber's COO admitting he can't draw a line between token spend and shipped features, to the broader reckoning hitting every CFO who signed a three-year AI contract without modeling what agentic workflows actually cost. The subsidized era is over. The bill is due. And nobody has a clean answer. But the harder question underneath all of it isn't economic. It's human. What happens when an industry skips straight from "how big can we make it" to "what are humans even for" without stopping to answer either? The two Georges reckon with soft skills being repackaged as vital skills, the neoliberal bargain sold to a generation of college graduates, and what Pope Leo's 42,000+word encyclical on human dignity in the age of AI gets right that most boards and governments haven't. A tech podcast about humans. This week, more than ever. Mentioned: * Jensen Huang on irresponsible proclamations [https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/nvidia-ceo-begs-execs-stop-fired-ai] * Uber COO on lack of ROI from tokenmaxxing [https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-coo-andrew-macdonald-ai-token-spending-harder-justify-2026-5] * Ed Zitron on OpenAI and potential collapse of Oracle [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHtGXCWXyZs] * Daniela Amodei on the importance of the humanities [https://fortune.com/2026/02/07/anthropic-cofounder-daniela-amodei-humanities-majors-soft-skills-hiring-ai-stem/] * Jamie Dimon on future job skills [https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/11/jamie-dimon-ai-will-eliminate-jobs-but-these-skills-will-get-you-opportunities.html] * What 2026 hiring managers are looking for [https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/insight/experts-urge-shift-to-human-skills-as-job-market-tightens/gm-GMF1A41634] * Pope Leo XIV's encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas [https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html] * Marissa Alert on business outcomes planning first [https://open.spotify.com/episode/7ABtVkMeFEFVkJ0YVXjRXV?si=a10dec23e96f450a] * David Homan on how to build real human networks [https://open.spotify.com/episode/4iPxqxL69EKDCox6FuSK0X?si=b564db6ac39e4d35] * Sharon Goldman on the small town impact of the datacenter buildout [https://open.spotify.com/episode/3oiUrqViDUNpRtWTPgfLN3?si=w5XsbmbSQ--CbxhtdjLR-Q]

There’s a lot of noise in the world of technology talk, but Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks cuts through it with a focus on the people behind the products and the societal currents shaping our digital landscape. Hosts George K and George A steer conversations that are less about specs and hype, and more about real-world consequences. You’ll hear them dig into topics like the messy rollout of new AI tools, the often-invisible backbone of digital infrastructure, and why communities adopt or reject certain technologies. This podcast regularly features guests from various fields who offer unvarnished opinions on what’s genuinely functional and what’s fundamentally flawed in our tech-saturated lives. The discussions move beyond simple commentary to challenge the standard narratives promoted by the tech industry, examining the cultural and social ripples of every new development. It’s a show for anyone who feels that technology coverage often misses the human element-the frustrations, the adaptations, and the ethical dilemmas. Tune in for a grounded, critical, and consistently engaging dialogue that connects the dots between code and culture. This production from BKBT Productions lives up to its name, getting down to the brass tacks of how technology is built and used, with a bare-knuckle honesty that’s increasingly rare.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks
Podcast Episodes
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What if the best investment decision is one where no human is involved? Brant Meyer, partner at Trac VC [https://www.trac.vc/] joins the show this week to talk about the firm's approach, where algorithms — not partners i…
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Duration: 38:10
We've spent the last several months talking to people who live at the intersection of technology and the humans on the receiving end of it. A data privacy attorney. A corpus linguist. A clinical psychologist. A performan…
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Duration: 48:55
Why do your friends and parents still get breach notification letters from companies they've never heard of? John Watters aka "The Cowboy" joins the show this week for a hard look at information security. In the early 20…
What leaders get wrong about AI rollouts and employee adoption [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:33
What if your AI rollout isn't failing because of the technology, but because no one asked your employees how they feel about it? Dr. Marissa Alert is a clinical psychologist who works with organizations scaling AI. Her a…
The art and Science of grit, ambition, & betting on yourself [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:57
The voices telling you it won't work usually belong to people who never tried. Nobody gives you permission to take a chance. You just do it. Chris built a 50K MRR business without a formal education, a tech background, o…
Finding meaning and community in tech-fueled hustle culture [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:47
What happens when you get everything you thought you wanted and still feel empty? Tychon Carter won Big Brother Canada, gained fame and followers overnight, and felt completely lost. The success arrived before he was rea…