The CEO Retort
Join Tim and expert guests for hype-free discussions and insights on how science, business, health, politics, technology, and AI are reshaping our lives, industries, and societies.
Carl Brown (Internet of Bugs): The Media’s and Influencers’ Narrative about AI Vibe Coding is Nonsense, Dangerous, and Misleading
Hi Reader, 👋🏼 08-11-2026 Episode published byThe Retort Carl Brown (Internet of Bugs): The Media’s and Influencers’ Narrative about AI Vibe Coding is Nonsense, Dangerous, and Misleading Carl Brown of Internet of Bugs returns to discuss the oversold hype around AI vibe coding versus reality, and what the recent Adobe story really shows us. You may have seen the recent headlines about the developer Brandon Thomas and co-founder Michael Caffrey using Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5.5 to build...
Jeffrey Funk: No, AI Will Not “End Humanity” – It’s a Distraction from Real AI Dangers
Hi Reader, 👋🏼 08-11-2026 Episode supported byThe Retort Jeffrey Funk: No, AI Will Not “End Humanity” – It’s a Distraction from Real AI Dangers In this conversation, Dr Jeffrey Funk returns to challenge the growing narrative that artificial intelligence will destroy humanity. Spoiler alert: it won't! Our central argument is not that AI is harmless, but that the loudest “AI will kill everyone” claims often distract from more immediate problems: weak business economics, inflated promises, poor...
Ann Pettifor: The AI Bubble Is A Time Bomb For Ordinary People, Broligarchs Will Cash In
Hi Reader, 👋🏼 08-11-2026 Episode supported byThe Retort Ann Pettifor: The AI Bubble Is A Time Bomb For Ordinary People, Broligarchs Will Cash In One of the world’s most celebrated economists explains why the imminent AI bubble crash threatens to harm ordinary people, who will pay the highest price – far more than the tech investors. Ann Pettifor, one of the world’s most celebrated economists, explains why the imminent AI bubble crash threatens to harm ordinary people, who will pay the highest...
New Episode: Jeffrey Funk Exposes the AI Hype That Led to The Fake Trillion-Dollar Industry
Hi Reader, 👋🏼 08-11-2026 Episode supported byThe Retort Jeffrey Funk Exposes the AI Hype That Led to The Fake Trillion-Dollar Industry Dr Jeffrey Funk returns to discuss why the current AI hype is starting to collide with reality more rapidly than we have ever seen before. Is the end in sight? I spent years pushing the conversation around AI, highlighting how AI as a concept turned from excitement to exaggeration at such a rapid pace since ChatGPT’s launch in 2022, and it has become hard to...
New Episode: Scott Lucas Highlights What We Can Learn From Dolly Parton’s Politics of Care in a Divided World
Hi Reader, 👋🏼 08-11-2026 Episode supported byThe Retort Scott Lucas Highlights What We Can Learn From Dolly Parton’s Politics of Care in a Divided World Dolly Parton’s legacy is the emotional centre of this episode, celebrating her as the icon of generosity, humility, and politics of care that many leaders lack. Professor Scott Lucas joins us this week to trace Dolly’s rise from humble beginnings to global fame, then to focus on how she used that success to help others through Dollywood...
New Episode: Jeffrey Funk Explains Why The AI Bubble is Crashing and The Shady Circular Financing
Hi Reader, 👋🏼 08-11-2026 Episode supported byThe Retort Jeffrey Funk Explains Why The AI Bubble is Crashing and The Shady Circular Financing Dr Jeffrey Funk returns to discuss how the current AI boom is driven not by healthy demand or sustainable profits, but by shady circular financing and hype. It is becoming more evident that we are living through an OpenAI bubble following the release of ChatGPT in late 2022! Jeff compares this unprecedented AI surge with past bubbles, explaining why...
New Episode: Scott Lucas Exposes How Trump and Israel Lost Control of The Middle East
Hi Reader, 👋🏼 08-11-2026 Episode supported byThe Retort Scott Lucas Exposes How Trump and Israel Lost Control of The Middle East Professor Scott Lucas analyses how the Trump administration have run out of viable military options, decentring the Middle East and destabilising the global economy. The episode opens with a wide-ranging update on the escalating instability across the Middle East, centred on the US-Iran confrontation and the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz. Scott...
New Episode: Steve Keen Warns The Iran War Will Crash the World's Economy and Trigger WW3
Hi Reader, 👋🏼 08-11-2026 Episode supported byThe Retort Steve Keen Warns The Iran War Will Crash the World's Economy and Trigger WW3 One of the world’s top economists reveals how multiple imminent crises will force us to scrap current economic models built on speculation and austerity. I had the pleasure of meeting Professor Steve Keen, a prominent Australian post-Keynesian economist, author, and academic, who was one of the few economists to accurately predict and warn of the 2008 Global...
New Episode – Scott Lucas Exposes Trump’s Alarming Behavioural Pattern, Escaping Media Scrutiny
Hi Reader, 👋🏼 08-11-2026 Episode supported byThe Retort Scott Lucas Exposes Trump’s Alarming Behavioural Pattern, Escaping Media Scrutiny Donald Trump’s latest political theatrics are fast proving to be less about policy than they are about control of the news cycle and authoritarianism. This is not about the political drama the media tends to obsess about. Trump is proving to be even more detrimental to Americans and other societies that rely on the United States’ political and economic...
New Episode – Scott Lucas: Trump's Iran War Limbo Catastrophic for Global Economy and Your Cost of Living
Hi Reader, 👋🏼 08-11-2026 Episode supported byThe Retort Scott Lucas: Trump's Iran War Limbo Catastrophic for Global Economy and Your Cost of Living Here we are again, back to square one with the Iran conflict quagmire. Or, as Scott Lucas puts it in this episode: an ongoing limbo! But make no mistake, this limbo comes with catastrophic consequences to the global economy and to our cost of living. Thanks to the so-called memorandum of understanding, which Trump has signed, the Iranian regime...
Join Tim and expert guests for hype-free discussions and insights on how science, business, health, politics, technology, and AI are reshaping our lives, industries, and societies.