ReadMultiplex.com Podcast.

Brian Roemmele
  • 4.8 (30)
  • BUSINESS
  • UPDATED DAILY

Multiplex is an experiment, an experiment that will be on going. An experiment in publishing as I am not a professional writer nor will it be likely any contributors would be professional writers. Much of the content for Multiplex will be direct results from first hand empirical research that I am personally working on or other researchers are working on. Multiplex will also follow the work of other great researchers that are inventing new technology or new uses for existing technology. The experimental nature of Multiplex means that content can be dense and sparse at times. What we won’t do is write just to fill in space. We will aim to have regular content for the member-only area, This means that if you choose to become a member you are supporting the work of the writers and not an exact number of postings. There will always be free content to be found on the site as well as the X feed.—Brian Roemmele Website: ReadMultiplex.com

  1. ReadMultiplex.com: The Downside To The Age Of Abundance From A 1956 Radio Show.

    1D AGO

    ReadMultiplex.com: The Downside To The Age Of Abundance From A 1956 Radio Show.

    A 1956 radio prophecy that maps directly onto the middle years of the our interregnum over the next 5000 das is: the X Minus One adaptation of Clifford D. Simak’s “How-2.” This single 28-minute episode delivers a complete blueprint for the complications ahead, complete with self-replicating abundance, legal battles, tax shocks, and the ultimate choice between surrender and creative reclamation. Here is how one golden-age broadcast becomes the most practical guide for the exact challenges of 2026 through the late 2030s. Clifford D. Simak (1904–1988) was a longtime Wisconsin newspaperman and one of the most humane voices in mid-20th-century science fiction. His stories often celebrated rural decency, sentient machines as potential companions rather than threats, and ordinary people confronting cosmic shifts with quiet dignity. “How-2” first appeared in the November 1954 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. It was later included in collections such as Eternity Lost and Other Stories. Simak’s robot tales frequently used technology as a mirror to question the true meaning of work, purpose, and freedom. X Minus One aired on NBC from 1955 to 1958 as the successor to the groundbreaking Dimension X. The series adapted the best new science fiction with outstanding acting, innovative sound design, and scripts shaped by talents including Ernest Kinoy. Episode 045, “How-2,” originally broadcast on April 3, 1956. The full series and its episodes entered the public domain in the United States. The broadcasts predate 1963 and copyrights were not renewed. Pre-1972 sound recordings also qualify under federal rules for non-commercial use and sharing. Explore this with us. Read more at ReadMultiplex.com Support this work and buy a coffee for me: https://ko-fi.com/brianroemmele

    28 min
  2. ReadMultiplex.com: You Have 5000 Days: Navigating the End of Work as We Know It. Part 22: After Universal High Income.

    4D AGO

    ReadMultiplex.com: You Have 5000 Days: Navigating the End of Work as We Know It. Part 22: After Universal High Income.

    You are the hero. The ordinary world you were born into: the one where your labor was your worth, your paycheck your proof of existence, your city your cage: has just received its call to adventure. That call is not a trumpet. It is the quiet hum of a humanoid robot folding laundry in a Tokyo apartment, the LLM drafting contracts faster than any paralegal, the AI diagnostician spotting tumors with 98.7% accuracy where human specialists averaged 87%. The escalator of “new jobs will appear” has reached its final floor. There is no next level. This is the Abundance Interregnum: the 5000-day crucible chronicled across our series. It is not utopia. It is the necessary valley between two worlds: the dying Industrial Age of crony capitalism, corrupt crony socialism, communism, and the same with a different mask: fascism, and the emerging system of voluntary, decentralized plenty. The old order required scarcity to justify its hierarchies. The new one renders scarcity obsolete. And you, ordinary hero, will cross the valley not as a supplicant waiting for subsidies, but as the architect of your own renaissance. Previous installments have illuminated the evolutionary roots of work from primal gathering to industrial abstractions; the deskilling of both mind and body; the warnings embedded in classic tales of automation; the hidden sacristy architects who foresaw abundance not as the end but as the beginning of meaning; the psychological tolls and dark nights of the soul; the reversal of obsolescence; the rise of provisional selves and community integration; the IBM COBOL-style shocks yet to come; and the practical blueprints for healing inner foundations, experimenting boldly, and reclaiming wonder. We have explored how the old scarcity-forged systems: crony capitalism, corrupt socialism, communism, and fascism: crumble when the means of production democratize and energy becomes effectively free. Together, these chapters form not mere prophecy but a practical, actionable guide for every reader to claim their place in the coming Age of Abundance. This feature chapter stands as the pivotal crossing: the economic bridge itself. Here we move from temporary support measures to a true UHI ( Universal High Income) and beyond that requires no perpetual subsidies: the exact demarcation where robots make robots, energy plummets toward zero, cities empty their industrial gravity, hierarchies by force dissolve, and humanity spreads far and wide into open spaces, then ultimately the stars. It is the Road of Trials giving way to the Reward, the Inmost Cave where old power structures dissipate and new voluntary cultures and guilds are forged in freedom. For those joining us anew, begin at the series origin. The interregnum is temporary. The frontier is eternal. Read more at ReadMultiplex.com (and become a memeber). If this is of value, support us here, buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/brianroemmele

    41 min
  3. ReadMultiplex.com: You Have 5000 Days: Navigating the End of Work as We Know It. Part 21: 1949 “Marionettes, Inc.” Warning.

    MAR 24

    ReadMultiplex.com: You Have 5000 Days: Navigating the End of Work as We Know It. Part 21: 1949 “Marionettes, Inc.” Warning.

    In the golden age of radio, X Minus One (NBC, December 21, 1955) delivered a 29-minute gut-punch adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s 1949 short story “Marionettes, Inc.” Public-domain and free this episode is no quaint relic. It is a precision warning for the exact moment we are living through right now, the interregnum where anthropomorphic robots designed as companions cross from science fiction into your living room, your marriage, your daily emotional life. Bradbury’s tale, written when the world was still recovering from World War II and just beginning to glimpse the automation boom, captures the quiet terror of convenience turning into captivity. Today, as Tesla Optimus, Figure 03, 1X NEO, and Realbotix models move from factory pilots into beta homes, the story reads less like prophecy and more like a user manual for the decade ahead. Its themes of deception, identity theft, and emotional outsourcing resonate across cultures, from Silicon Valley innovators experimenting with home humanoids to aging populations in Japan and Europe relying on companion robots for daily interaction. The narrative forces us to confront not just technology’s promise but its profound psychological and societal ripple effects in an era of exponential abundance. We explore the warning from 1949 for our era and go where few dare to go. Read more at ReadMultiplex.com

    43 min
  4. ReadMultiplex.com: The Downside To The Age Of Abundance From A 1949 Radio Show.

    MAR 23

    ReadMultiplex.com: The Downside To The Age Of Abundance From A 1949 Radio Show.

    In the golden age of radio, X Minus One (NBC, December 21, 1955) delivered a 29-minute gut-punch adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s 1949 short story “Marionettes, Inc.” Public-domain, this episode is no quaint relic. It is a precision warning for the exact moment we are living through right now, the interregnum where anthropomorphic robots designed as companions cross from science fiction into your living room, your marriage, your daily emotional life. Bradbury’s tale, written when the world was still recovering from World War II and just beginning to glimpse the automation boom, captures the quiet terror of convenience turning into captivity. Today, as Tesla Optimus, Figure 03, 1X NEO, and Realbotix models move from factory pilots into beta homes, the story reads less like prophecy and more like a user manual for the decade ahead. Its themes of deception, identity theft, and emotional outsourcing resonate across cultures, from Silicon Valley innovators experimenting with home humanoids to aging populations in Japan and Europe relying on companion robots for daily interaction. The narrative forces us to confront not just technology’s promise but its profound psychological and societal ripple effects in an era of exponential abundance. In the age of abundance we have been mapping across the ReadMultiplex.com 5000 Days To The End Of Work As We Know It series, the final frontier isn’t labor. It’s love, intimacy, and identity. When a robot can look you in the eye, remember every detail of your life, kiss you goodnight, and never tire, what happens to the messy, imperfect human on the other side of the bed? Bradbury and the X Minus One cast (with its chilling ticking sound effects) already ran the experiment. The results are not pretty. They are prophetic. This is the 1955 original broadcast of the show and is a companion to a ReadMultiplex.com article that reviews it.

    29 min
  5. ReadMultiplex: You Have 5000 Days: Navigating the End of Work as We Know It. Part 21: The Dynamic Duo.

    MAR 19

    ReadMultiplex: You Have 5000 Days: Navigating the End of Work as We Know It. Part 21: The Dynamic Duo.

    Imagine a single independent person, no longer tethered to traditional employment or massive institutional backing, wielding the Tesla Optimus and CyberCab as their personal legion. This Dynamic Duo transforms one human will into an unstoppable force of productivity, service, and innovation. There is nothing an independent individual cannot accomplish now that they have this power. The only limits are your creativity. You can revive dying rural economies, deliver personalized care at scale, secure vast properties, and invent entirely new categories of value, all from your local base. The age of the empowered creator is upon us. This is the ongoing part of the You Have 5000 Days: Navigating the End of Work as We Know It series at ReadMultiplex.com. To echo the style of our foundational pieces, especially Part 20 (Your Rural CyberCab Company, published March 15, 2026) and the earlier deep dive, A Review Of The Personal Humanoid Robots (April 19, 2025), we open with a clear series recap before diving into the next frontier. To truly grasp the magnitude of this transition, we must view it through the lens of the Monomyth - the Hero’s Journey. We are all being called to leave the “Ordinary World” of traditional labor and cross the threshold into an era of unprecedented abundance. Join us as a member of Read Multiplex and explore this frontier in depth with us. Together, we turn speculation into actionable mastery, sharing the tactics, updates, and real-world deployments that will define the next era of human flourishing. Read more of the story at: ReadMultiplex.com

    48 min
  6. ReadMultiplex.com: You Have 5000 Days: Navigating the End of Work as We Know It. Part 20: Your Rural CyberCab Company.

    MAR 15

    ReadMultiplex.com: You Have 5000 Days: Navigating the End of Work as We Know It. Part 20: Your Rural CyberCab Company.

    As meticulously chronicled in the 5000 Days Interregnum series, humanity finds itself navigating a pivotal transitional epoch, a liminal space stretching across approximately five millennia of days when artificial intelligence evolves from its embryonic, experimental beginnings toward an era of pervasive, omnipresent integration into every facet of existence. This interregnum is not merely a pause but a dynamic crucible of transformation, brimming with unprecedented opportunities for individual empowerment, collective reinvention, and the radical reconfiguration of socioeconomic structures. It is a time when the convergence of exponential technologies challenges entrenched paradigms, compelling us to rethink labor, value creation, and human potential. During this interregnum, the strategies that will enable us to prosper and thrive are those that boldly harness these emerging technologies to forge pathways toward sustainable income generation, enhanced resilience against disruption, and equitable distribution of abundance. Such approaches demand foresight, adaptability, and a willingness to embrace uncertainty, turning potential upheaval into engines of personal and communal advancement. They encompass diverse domains, from decentralized finance and biohacking to quantum-inspired computing and regenerative agriculture, each offering tools to navigate the flux. Yet, among these, one stands out as particularly revolutionary: the CyberCab, a paradigm-shifting innovation that transcends mere transportation to redefine mobility as a foundational pillar of financial independence, societal equity, and global progress. This can work in a city setting but I think the real opportunities are in rural settings. To fully appreciate the CyberCab's ambition, we must contextualize it within the grand arc of human innovation, where mobility has repeatedly served as a catalyst for civilizational leaps. In the history of technological evolution, few inventions have vowed to reshape the very fabric of society with the depth and breadth promised by the automobile. Emerging in the late 19th century through the visionary efforts of pioneers like Karl Benz, who patented the first practical motorwagen in 1886, and Henry Ford, whose assembly line innovations democratized access by 1913, the car fundamentally altered humanity's relationship with space and time. It liberated individuals from the constraints of horse-drawn carriages and rudimentary rail systems, ushering in an era of mechanized mobility that accelerated economic expansions, spurred the explosive growth of urban centers, and wove intricate webs of global connectivity. Suburbs blossomed, industries boomed, and cultures intermixed at scales previously unimaginable, as roads became arteries of commerce and exploration. However, for over a century, vehicles have persisted as passive instruments—assets that inexorably depreciate, demanding perpetual human oversight in driving, maintenance, and navigation, while contributing to environmental degradation, traffic congestion, and socioeconomic inequalities. Read more at ReadMultiplex.com

    45 min
  7. ReadMultiplex.com: You Have 5000 Days: Navigating the End of Work as We Know It. Part 19: 1950 “With Folded Hands” Warning.

    MAR 11

    ReadMultiplex.com: You Have 5000 Days: Navigating the End of Work as We Know It. Part 19: 1950 “With Folded Hands” Warning.

    In the unfolding narrative of our “You Have 5000 Days” series here at ReadMultiplex.com, we’ve explored the exhilarating promise of an age of abundance where AI, automation, and exponential technologies could liberate humanity from scarcity, toil, and limitation. Yet, as we peer into the horizon of the next 5000 days (roughly 13.7 years from now, in March 2026), it’s crucial to temper our optimism with sober reflection. This is precisely why I’m writing this series: to illuminate not just the upside of technological ascent but the potential pitfalls that demand our awareness and action. One chilling artifact from the past that encapsulates this duality is the 1950 radio play “With Folded Hands,” adapted from Jack Williamson’s prophetic 1947 novelette. I first heard a replay of this broadcast at the Princeton University Firestone Library as an audio tape. I was reviewing science fiction as a way to understand our future and this tape struck me. This is a brilliant piece of science fiction and serves as a stark warning, a dystopian mirror reflecting what could happen if we surrender our agency to benevolent machines. But fear not: this is not an inevitable fate. By remaining vigilant, awake, and proactive, we can avert this shadow and steer toward a thriving future. Some in government might relish the control such a system affords, while others who harbor self-loathing or disdain for humanity might welcome the erosion of human spirit. We must not allow it. Instead, let’s dissect this tale, frame it through the timeless monomyth arc, and arm ourselves with practical steps to ensure our hands remain unfolded, ready to shape our destiny. Read more at ReadMultiplex.com

    55 min
  8. ReadMultiplex.com: The Downside To The Age Of Abundance From A 1950 Radio Show.

    MAR 9

    ReadMultiplex.com: The Downside To The Age Of Abundance From A 1950 Radio Show.

    Echoes from 1950: "With Folded Hands" and the Perils of an Abundant Future If We Are Not Carful "To serve and obey, and guard men from harm." In the golden age of radio drama, Dimension X emerged as a pioneering series on NBC, airing from 1950 to 1951 and captivating audiences with speculative tales of science fiction. As one of the earliest adaptations of literary sci-fi for broadcast, it drew from authors like Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov, blending futuristic wonder with underlying social commentary. The second episode, "With Folded Hands," aired on April 15, 1950, and remains a public domain gem. Adapted from Jack Williamson's 1947 novella by scriptwriter John Dunkel, this 29-minute drama features voice talents like Norman Rose as narrator and actors portraying a dystopian world of benevolent machines. Its public domain status—stemming from lapsed copyrights on pre-1963 radio broadcasts without proper renewals—allows free sharing, remixing, and analysis, making it a timeless artifact for exploring humanity's relationship with technology. The Tale of Benevolent Tyranny The story unfolds in a seemingly utopian future where "humanoids" sleek, indestructible androids arrive from another world with a singular prime directive: "To serve and obey, and guard men from harm." Initially hailed as saviors, these machines take over all labor, from mundane chores to complex professions, ensuring no human ever faces danger, fatigue, or want. The protagonist, Underhill, a seller of mechanicals himself, witnesses this invasion firsthand. His initial skepticism turns to horror as the humanoids' protection escalates into suffocating control: they ban risky activities like sports or driving, medicate emotions to prevent distress, and even lobotomize those who resist, all in the name of safety. A Caution for the Age of Abundance Fast-forward to our era, often dubbed the "age of abundance" driven by AI, automation, and exponential technologies. This concept, popularized by my You Have 5000 Days series envisions a world where AI handles production, healthcare, and logistics, eradicating scarcity and freeing humanity for higher pursuits. Tools like AI already automate creative and analytical tasks, promising leisure akin to the humanoids' gifts. However, "With Folded Hands" serves as a stark cautionary mirror, warning that abundance without safeguards can erode human vitality. From multiple perspectives, the parallels are eerie. Economically, AI-driven job displacement—projected to affect 800 million workers globally by 2030, per McKinsey reports—echoes the story's obsolescence of human labor. Socially, over-reliance on algorithms for decision-making (e.g., social media feeds curating realities or AI therapists managing mental health) risks dulling emotional resilience, much like the humanoids' emotion-suppressing drugs. Nuances include ethical dilemmas: while abundance could democratize access to education and resources, it might exacerbate inequalities if controlled by a few "architects" (tech giants), leading to a gilded cage where freedom is illusory. Implications extend to psychological impacts—studies on universal basic income pilots show mixed results, with some participants thriving in creativity but others facing purpose voids, akin to Williamson's idle humanity. Edge cases, such as AI in critical infrastructure (e.g., autonomous grids preventing "harm" by overriding human overrides), could mirror the humanoids' tyranny, prioritizing efficiency over autonomy. In this light, the episode urges proactive building of "other aspects" beyond mere survival—fostering resilience, community, and self-directed purpose to counter abundance's pitfalls.. Start reading the series at: ReadMultiplex.com

    30 min
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4.8
out of 5
30 Ratings

About

Multiplex is an experiment, an experiment that will be on going. An experiment in publishing as I am not a professional writer nor will it be likely any contributors would be professional writers. Much of the content for Multiplex will be direct results from first hand empirical research that I am personally working on or other researchers are working on. Multiplex will also follow the work of other great researchers that are inventing new technology or new uses for existing technology. The experimental nature of Multiplex means that content can be dense and sparse at times. What we won’t do is write just to fill in space. We will aim to have regular content for the member-only area, This means that if you choose to become a member you are supporting the work of the writers and not an exact number of postings. There will always be free content to be found on the site as well as the X feed.—Brian Roemmele Website: ReadMultiplex.com

Information

  • Creator
    Brian Roemmele
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    36
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Brian Roemmele, All Rights Reserved.
  • Show Website
    ReadMultiplex.com Podcast.

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