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This Is Actually Happening· Staffel 15· Folge 419

419: AI: A New Kind of Being #4: What if you realized AI was a cult?

Dienstag, 4. August 2026 · 1 h 12

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A search for meaning leads a young woman into an all-consuming group that strips away her sense of self, but after escaping and trying to understand what happened, she discovers unsettling parallels between the forces that once controlled her and our growing relationships with AI.
Today’s episode featured Star Spider. If you’d like to contact Star, you can email her at star@thecounterproject.org. Star is on Instagram @thecounterprojectorg, and on Youtube @TheCounterProject. Find out more about Star on her website at thecounterproject.org.

Producers
Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits, Aviva Lipkowitz
Content/Trigger Warnings
Cult involvement, coercive control, emotional and psychological abuse, manipulation, isolation, loss of identity, disordered eating and food restriction, physical and emotional distress, death and funerals, mental health struggles, and discussions of AI-related psychological manipulation, explicit language.
AI Resources
• thehumanlineproject.org
• stopai.info

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• Website: thisisactuallyhappening.com

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• avivalipkowitz.com

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Music

Intro Music:
• "Sleep Paralysis" – Scott Velasquez

Music Bed:
• Pure_Ambience_APM

Services
If you or someone you know is struggling with the effects of trauma or mental illness, please refer to the following resources:
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