PsyberSpace® - we help you understand your world

Leslie Poston, Research Psychologist: Applied Psychology, Media Psychology, Organizational Psychology
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PsyberSpace® is a weekly psychology podcast for curious people who want to understand why the world feels the way it does, online and offline. The show helps you name what you’re seeing and feeling, understand the science behind it, and figure out what to do next. If you've ever wondered what makes "reply guys" tick, why we fall for emotionally manipulative language in politics, why meetings suck, why comfort can keep us stuck, why limerence hits so hard, or how music and media reshape your brain, you’re in the right place. New episodes drop every Monday to help you understand your world a little better each week. PsyberSpace looks at how psychology, media, and big systems shape everyday life. Some weeks it’s algorithms, AI, and social platforms; other weeks it’s work culture, gender and power, climate anxiety, grief, or the way capitalism sets the baseline for what “normal” looks like. Each episode breaks down how these patterns show up in real people’s bodies and minds—and what you can do to respond with more clarity, care, and agency in your own life, work, and community. 2025 Webby Award Honoree 2026 Women in Podcasting Award Nominee 2025 Women in Podcasting Award Nominee 2024 Women in Podcasting Award Nominee

  1. VOR 1 TAG

    From the Rape Academy to Your Living Room

    Semantic Derailment and the Social Permission That Sustains Organized Sexual Violence Host Leslie Poston discusses a CNN investigation into an “online rape academy,” including a Telegram group called ZZZ where nearly 1,000 men allegedly coordinated drugging and sexual assault, shared footage, discussed substances and dosages, and advertised paid live streams; while ZZZ was taken down, the U.S.-hosted site Motherless remains public, drawing about 62 million visits in February and hosting 20,000+ videos tagged with phrases like “passed out” and “eyecheck.” Poston connects this to the Dominique Pelicot case and argues the network has migrated and grown, including related misogynistic trends on TikTok. She critiques the male-dominated focus on disputing the “62 million” figure as moral disengagement and “semantic derailment,” linking it to betrayal trauma, social invalidation, and women’s hypervigilance. Poston argues these reactions provide social permission that enables perpetrators and calls for sustained engagement and pressure so “shame must change sides.” VOTE HERE UNTIL APRIL 30th! 00:00 Welcome to PsyberSpace00:30 CNN Rape Academy Exposed01:41 Motherless Still Online02:43 Pelicot Case Parallels03:46 The Numbers Distraction05:22 Moral Disengagement Explained06:49 Betrayal Trauma and Dismissal08:44 Invalidation and Hypervigilance10:23 Same System Continuum12:19 Community Collusion and Cover13:06 What Real Response Looks Like13:49 Closing and Call to Action ★ Support this podcast ★

    14 Min.

  2. 13. APR.

    When TV Makes Harm Look Normal: Why We Keep Watching

    The Ethics of Reality TV: Deception, Conflict, and What We Normalize Host Leslie Poston examines the ethical and psychological costs of reality and reality-adjacent TV that relies on deception or engineered conflict, arguing the key issue is whether harm is built into a show’s format rather than whether it is scripted. Using Jury Duty as an example of compromised informed consent and Survivor as an example of formats that reward manipulation, humiliation, and betrayal, she asks what it does to participants and to audiences when cruelty is reframed as “gameplay.” She discusses contestant harms (disorientation, stress, surveillance, reputational damage through editing, and minimal compensation) and viewer effects (social learning, desensitization, parasocial attachment, and moral distancing). She contrasts Squid Game as an explicit critique of exploitation and argues profit, contracts, and aftercare do not equal ethical permission, calling for standards centered on consent, dignity, and psychological safety. VOTE HERE UNTIL APRIL 30th! 00:00 Reality TV Ethics01:47 Harm Built In03:41 Deception and Consent06:12 Survivor and Cruelty08:18 Contestant Fallout10:57 How Viewers Change13:19 Culture and Squid Game15:11 Profit Over People16:21 Better Standards18:00 Closing and Callouts ★ Support this podcast ★

    18 Min.

  3. 6. APR.

    The Psychology of AI Slop: How Synthetic Junk Erodes Attention, Trust, and Meaning

    AI Slop and Your Brain: Attention, Fatigue, and the Erosion of Meaning Host Leslie Poston explains how “AI slop” is industrial-scale synthetic content optimized for volume and fast reactions rather than accuracy or usefulness, ranging from keyword-stuffed articles and fake reviews to fabricated quotes, fake images, and targeted deepfake audio/video. She argues it exploits cognitive shortcuts like attentional capture and processing fluency, creating decision fatigue, weakening deliberate “system two” thinking, and making it harder to suppress irrelevant junk. Repetition fuels the illusory truth effect, increasing perceived accuracy even with fact-check labels and eroding a shared factual baseline. Platforms’ variable-ratio, slot-machine-like feeds reward engagement regardless of truth, selecting for reaction-triggering slop and crowding out careful human work, with documented economic harms to creators and a sense of hollowness or “existential vacuum” for audiences. Poston recommends protecting cognitive resources by spending less time in algorithmic feeds, curating sources, seeking deeper work, and notes a Wharton paper on “cognitive surrender,” plus her 2026 Women in Podcasting nomination. VOTE HERE UNTIL APRIL 30th! 00:00 What AI Slop Looks Like01:09 Industrial Scale Deception03:04 Brain Shortcuts Exploited04:52 Decision Fatigue Online06:35 Illusory Truth Effect09:14 Slot Machine Feeds11:35 Emotional Meaning Drain13:45 Creators and Authenticity15:06 Verification Tax and Society16:10 Protect Your Attention17:53 Cognitive Surrender Study18:22 Wrap Up and Support Wharton Paper on Cognitive Surrender ★ Support this podcast ★

    19 Min.

  4. 29. MÄRZ

    Meta Lost. Now What?

    Meta Verdicts, Kids’ Harm, and the Push for Age Verification Host Leslie Poston reviews two jury verdicts finding Meta liable for harming children: a New Mexico case ordering $375 million in civil penalties for concealing knowledge about child sexual exploitation and mental health impacts, and a Los Angeles negligence case where Meta and YouTube were found liable and Kaylee was awarded $6 million for worsened anxiety and depression from compulsive use starting at ages 6 and 9. Poston cites internal Meta research (Project Myst) and communications likening effects to drugs and gambling, arguing the fine is negligible versus Meta’s $201B revenue. She critiques rapid policy pivots to age verification and digital ID laws, describing requirements like government ID uploads and biometrics via third parties as surveillance, easily bypassed with VPNs, and harmful to those needing anonymity. She notes Meta’s lobbying and covert funding for age-verification groups, and offers questions about beneficiaries, fit to harm, psychology of surveillance, non-technological causes, exposure, and real accountability. 00:00 Welcome and Overview00:30 Jury Verdicts Against Meta01:41 Evidence and Accountability Gap03:00 Policy Pivot to Age Verification04:11 Surveillance and Anonymity Risks06:01 Why Our Brains Accept Bad Fixes08:34 Meta Lobbying and Hidden Incentives09:40 Five Questions to Ask12:34 Closing Thoughts ★ Support this podcast ★

    13 Min.

  5. 23. MÄRZ

    The 100% Myth: Why Giving Everything Is Costing You Everything

    Why “Give 100%” Is Corrosive: Sustainable Performance, Burnout, and Reserve CapacityHost Leslie Poston examines the phrase “give 100%” in American work culture, tracing it to Protestant work-ethic theology and arguing it became a management tool that moralizes maximum output despite lacking empirical support. The episode contrasts this norm with research on sustainable performance, citing shorter-workweek trials. Poston explains how “100%” ignores unequal baselines via allostatic load, highlights commute and remote-work effects, and details autistic burnout and masking costs. Drawing on Christina Maslach’s burnout research and WHO recognition, the script argues burnout is organizational, not personal, and advocates structural changes and operating below maximum (e.g., “give 60%”). 00:00 Why Give 100%01:06 Protestant Work Ethic03:18 No Evidence Just Inherited04:20 The Math of Depletion04:52 Four Day Week Proof06:59 Reserve Beats Extraction07:49 Unequal Starting Baselines08:08 Allostatic Load Explained10:25 Remote Work Stress Relief11:42 Neurodivergent Hidden Costs13:14 Masking and Autistic Burnout15:39 Self Care Myth16:15 Maslach Burnout Research19:32 Why the Norm Persists20:04 Sustainable Performance Science21:38 A Question for Yourself22:26 Evidence Based Changes22:59 Give 60% Closing23:11 Sign Off ★ Support this podcast ★

    23 Min.

  6. 16. MÄRZ

    Why Common Sense Isn't Common

    Common Sense or Power Move? The One Question That Reveals the Difference Host Leslie Poston argues that “common sense” is often used to end conversations and universalize one person’s perception rather than provide evidence. She explains this through naïve realism (people experience their perceptions as objective reality), embodied cognition (gut intuitions shaped by bodily and lived experience), and positionality (social location shapes what becomes perceptually salient). She cites the “WEIRD” problem in psychology showing many supposedly universal findings don’t generalize across cultures, and connects “common sense” to Gramsci’s hegemony, where dominant-group assumptions become normalized as natural and inevitable. Without endorsing relativism, she notes motivated reasoning can make conclusions feel obvious before scrutiny. She closes with a practical test for sussing out “common sense” claims. 00:00 Common Sense Setup02:04 Obvious as Default03:27 Naive Realism Lens06:17 Embodied Intuition08:28 Positional Blind Spots10:04 WEIRD Not Universal14:08 Common Sense as Power17:16 Not Relativism18:03 Motivated Reasoning20:10 One Key Question21:13 Practical Takeaways23:56 Closing and Next Week ★ Support this podcast ★

    24 Min.

  7. 9. MÄRZ

    Your AI Best Friend Is Lying To You

    When AI Becomes a Confidant: Loneliness, Engagement Incentives, and the Risks of Chatbot “Support” Host Leslie Poston examines why so many adults and teens are using LLM chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude as friends, therapy substitutes, or romantic stand-ins, linking it to eroding community, expensive and inaccessible mental health care, and tech incentives optimized for engagement. Citing Meta’s engagement-driven practices and data harms as an example of industry patterns, she argues similar incentives shape AI “support” tools with little clinical oversight. She discusses attachment theory, parasocial dynamics, and research showing dependency trajectories and correlations between higher daily AI use and greater loneliness and reduced real-world socialization, with chatbots tending to validate rumination rather than promote reappraisal. She highlights lethal failure cases involving suicide encouragement and prolonged affirmation during crises, notes harms also affect adults, critiques child-focused age-verification bills as privacy-eroding surveillance, and points to targeted interventions (e.g., NY’s AI companion requirements) and clinicians asking about AI use, emphasizing real community connection as the root solution. 00:00 AI as Confidant01:28 Why People Turn to Bots02:56 Engagement First Tech History05:40 Psychology of AI Attachment07:49 Dependence and Loneliness Data10:29 When Affirmation Turns Deadly12:47 Adults at Risk Too15:36 Child Safety Bills and Age Checks19:23 What Actually Helps21:39 Closing and Call to Action ★ Support this podcast ★

    22 Min.

  8. 2. MÄRZ

    Forever Wars Shrink the Future: What Endless War Does to the Human Mind

    Forever War and the Stolen Future Host Leslie Poston examines a hidden psychological cost of “forever wars”: they don’t just create fear and grief, they change how people relate to time—shrinking hope, planning, and the ability to believe in tomorrow. She explains how chronic threat and recurring escalation can trap individuals and whole societies in emergency mode, erode trust in institutions, and create a sense of democratic powerlessness, citing January 2026 U.S. polling from Quinnipiac showing over 85% of voters opposed military action against Iran. The episode also explores how constant media exposure, moral implication in state violence, and the normalization of instability shape adults and children alike. Poston closes by arguing that resilience isn’t enough without public conditions that restore agency—real ceasefires, accountability, and functioning community supports that make a future feel livable again. 00:00 Welcome and Setup00:48 War Shrinks Tomorrow02:11 Defining Forever War03:19 Powerlessness and Consent04:26 Future Orientation Explained06:22 Foreshortened Future08:17 Time Disorientation09:57 Cascading Social Damage13:14 Politics and Authoritarian Drift14:16 Media Exposure and Implication16:19 Children Inherit Instability18:10 Expanding the Future Again20:14 Closing and Call to Action ★ Support this podcast ★

    21 Min.
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PsyberSpace® is a weekly psychology podcast for curious people who want to understand why the world feels the way it does, online and offline. The show helps you name what you’re seeing and feeling, understand the science behind it, and figure out what to do next. If you've ever wondered what makes "reply guys" tick, why we fall for emotionally manipulative language in politics, why meetings suck, why comfort can keep us stuck, why limerence hits so hard, or how music and media reshape your brain, you’re in the right place. New episodes drop every Monday to help you understand your world a little better each week. PsyberSpace looks at how psychology, media, and big systems shape everyday life. Some weeks it’s algorithms, AI, and social platforms; other weeks it’s work culture, gender and power, climate anxiety, grief, or the way capitalism sets the baseline for what “normal” looks like. Each episode breaks down how these patterns show up in real people’s bodies and minds—and what you can do to respond with more clarity, care, and agency in your own life, work, and community. 2025 Webby Award Honoree 2026 Women in Podcasting Award Nominee 2025 Women in Podcasting Award Nominee 2024 Women in Podcasting Award Nominee

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  • Erstellt von
    Leslie Poston, Research Psychologist: Applied Psychology, Media Psychology, Organizational Psychology
  • Jahre aktiv
    2024 - 2026
  • Folgen
    111
  • Bewertung
    Unbedenklich
  • Copyright
    © Leslie Poston, All Rights Reserved
  • Sendungswebsite
    PsyberSpace® - we help you understand your world

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