Following the release of his work, The War of the Worlds Did Not Take Place, Nick Susi joins the pod to unravel the real War of the Worlds myth: not alien panic, but a battle between newspapers and radio that manufactured mass hysteria. Phillip, Brian, and Nick explore how narrative form shapes collective memory, why brands weaponize conflict for attention, and what happens when everything becomes participatory fan fiction.

• Structured narratives outlast formless truth in collective memory.
• Brands now weaponize conflict and controversy for attention economics.
• Everything is becoming participatory, co-created, and infinite fan fiction.
• "The War of the Worlds is not actually a war between humans and aliens. It's really this war between mediums." — Nick Susi
• "We've entered the phase of the attention economy where the game is attention at any and all costs." — Nick Susi
• "People don't want to share the thing. They want to share their experience of the thing." — W. David Marx (referenced)
• "Awareness does not decrease manipulation necessarily." –– Brian
• "We've become much more aware of the act of storytelling as a culture, like we see the artifice of storytelling and we appreciate the act of it itself." –– Phillip

• The War of the Worlds performance piece and publication by Nick Susi
• Order The War of the Worlds Did Not Take Place on Metalabel
• Blank Space by W. David Marx
• Insiders #196: Time After Time by Brian Lange

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Katherine Dee, internet culture writer and mastermind behind her popular AM-style call-in show, joins us to explore the archaeology of online life. From dissecting the Friend AI pendant's failed attempt at god replacement to chronicling e-girl evolution in her Meta Label publication, Katherine offers an unvarnished look at how we're moving beyond relentless content production. The conversation navigates haunted objects, the fragmentation of social platforms, and why the future might be more mystical than algorithmic. As AI reshapes proof itself, Katherine argues we're witnessing a cultural shift toward physical witnessing and enchanted meaning-making.

• AI companions fail when they gaslight users and demand emotional labor constantly
• Internet culture documentation requires trust without judgment to reveal authentic subcultures
• Social platforms fragment as users crave stories over gossip and embodied over digital
• The erosion of digital proof drives a turn toward mysticism and magic
• Content exhaustion pushes creators toward dynamic formats and offline experiences

• Katherine’s response to the Friend AI pendant
• E-girl 001 publication
• Katherine's call-in show exploring paranormal and internet culture
• Reggie James on spiritual technology

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Halloween Horror Nights wasn't always a $575M-per-park juggernaut. When Universal launched Fright Nights in 1991 with just three experimental nights and $12 tickets, they stumbled onto something bigger than a haunted house…they uncovered retail's thirteenth month of revenue. In this Spooky Commerce special, we trace how October became the secret weapon for combating theme park slumps, why Spirit Halloween's pop-up model prints money in dead malls, and what happens when horror becomes the ultimate immersive commerce experience.

• Halloween is retail's second-largest holiday and is expected to generate more than $13B in consumer spending this year Universal's Horror Nights operates 48 nights, up from 3 in 1991
• Spirit Halloween's 1,500 pop-ups generate over $1B in dead retail spaces
• Horror reflects cultural anxieties through interactive commerce
• Premium ticketing doubles daily revenue for a single venue

• Insiders #210: Spooky Commerce – What Halloween Shopping Trends Tell Us About Modern Culture
• Halloween Horror Nights Wiki
• Forbes: Universal's Halloween Revenue Analysis (2023)
• National Retail Federation Halloween Spending Report

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• Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world
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