Stupid Sexy Privacy

This week on Privacy Tips, the authors of "How to Survive Authoritarianism," Dan Storyev and Masha Kuznetsov, discuss with BJ how to recognize and resist authoritarian tactics, including troll factories, misinformation, and political repression, with insights applicable to both Russia and the United States. If you think American democracy is guaranteed to last forever, you're wrong, and this episode will help show you why.

This week on the show, host BJ Mendelson discusses how to properly secure Firefox, why you shouldn't use Google Chrome and Apple's Safari, and what to do about your Internet Service Provider creeping on you. All this and more as we get ready for the launch of our new book, How to Protect Yourself From Fascists & Weirdos next month.

This week, BJ Mendelson speaks with Ian Head from the Center for Constitutional Rights about FOIA, who broke it, and whether or not there's still value in using it (Answer: YES!) This week's book excerpt also covers how to bulletproof your voter registration, and how to protect yourself when crossing the border into, and out of, America. And, of course, we tell you why every single American citizen should go and get themselves a passport card. Like, right now.

Your browser choice matters more than you think. So this week on Privacy Tips, BJ reveals why ditching Chrome, Edge, and Google isn't just about privacy—it's about starving the systems that enable authoritarians and corporate surveillance.

We're back for another edition of Privacy Tips. This week, we read more from How to Protect Yourself From Fascists & Weirdos (BJ's version of the upcoming book) and explain, briefly, what you can use instead of Google's increasingly inferior search results, and why the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Privacy Badger is something to share with your friends and family.

Nearly half of all Americans are politically unaffiliated—and vulnerable. This week, B.J. Mendelson explains why oligarchs are terrified of this silent majority, and what you need to do right now to protect yourself and organize your community. If you're one of the 154 million, this episode is required listening.

In part 2 of our interview with Stevie Glaberson, Director of Research & Advocacy for the Center on Privacy & Technology. Stevie shares with BJ what the Chattery Supreme Court decision leaves unresolved—specifically, whether warrant requirements will actually limit police power in practice. We then talk about the Flock cameras at Woodbury Common—a major tourist hub in Orange County where private security cameras feed footage to local police without clear policies on who else accesses it. Finally, we talk how meaningful change comes through community organizing and state action.

Kim Crawley joins BJ Mendelson in this bonus episode to discuss her new Kickstarter-funded book: A sharp look at what happens after the Gen AI bubble collapses. Kim explains why she believes the damage will ripple through climate systems, mental habits, and everyday life, especially for kids being pushed to rely on AI too early. Along the way, Kim shares how she researches her work, why she archives everything, and what she thinks a healthier web might look like next. You're going to want to listen to this one.

This week, BJ is joined by Stevie Gleiberson, Director of Research and Advocacy at Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy and Technology. We talk about police use geofence warrants and other location-data tools to track people, how the Supreme Court’s Carpenter and Chatrie decisions shape digital privacy, and why tech companies and data brokers have become central players in modern surveillance. We also talk about ICE’s data collection, the risks for protesters, and practical ways people can think about staying safer.

This week, Dr. Taisha Caldwell Harvey joins BJ to break down the difference between gaslighting, imposter syndrome, and trauma—and why social media keeps getting them wrong. She also shares practical, evidence-based ways to protect your mental health when therapy is out of reach. We're big believers that hurt people hurt people, so listen up. We all need therapy right now.

BJ thinks Crypto is a scam. Rosie disagrees. So this week, BJ interviews Dr. Algernon Austin, a sharp voice on race, money, and the hidden machinery of power. He’s here to break down why crypto, stablecoins, and the GENIUS Act have everyone arguing — and why the real winners may be the rich, the loud, and the well-connected. Not you.

This week, Rosie and Andrew expose the unholy alliance between the wellness industry and fascist influencers, revealing how unregulated product peddlers launder money through fake engagement metrics to amplify dangerous extremists. BJ is then joined by Amy S. Greenberg, author of "A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico" to talk about a little-known moment in American history that informs a lot of today's hype and exaggeration created by fascists involving the border.

This week, Rosie reads you an excerpt from How to Protect Yourself From Fascists & Weirdos about how to become a journalist, and why you can help millions of Americans, right now, by becoming one. BJ is then joined by Dr. Daniel R. Kelly, co-author of Someone Should Do Something , about the need for all of us to step up and be the change we want to see in our world. No one else will do it for you.

Bartz v. Anthropic is a major court case that you might not have heard of. But BJ has, because Anthropic stole his book, "Social Media Is Bullshit," along with thousands of other books from authors, in order to train their Claude model. This week, we're joined by Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger to help break down what's happening.

This week, BJ is joined by Dr. Robert Lustig. A Professor emeritus of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology at UCSF, and the author of numerous books you should read, including The Hacking of the American Mind, which is the subject of this week's interview. Dr. Lustig had a lot to say about the power corporations wield over us, Citizens United, and why you should cut as much sugar from your diet as you can. That's because, like the end result of Citizens United, sugar could kill you. Politically speaking of course.

This week on the show, BJ is wrapping up copyedits for the upcoming book, How to Protect Yourself From Fascists and Weirdos, so we're going right to our interview with Amanda Litman. Amanda is the author of When We're in Charge, and the co-founder of Run for Something. Run for Something has helped elect more than 1,650 candidates since 2017, presenting people across America with candidates who aren't fascists, weirdos, or funded by the kind of people who pay the bills for fascists and weirdos. If you want to run for office, this is the interview you want to hear. Links we mentioned in the intro: How to Search Now That Google Search is dead: https://stopgenai.com/this-is-how-to-search-now-that-google-search-is-gone-a-guide-for-family-and-friends/ Kim Crawley's Technofascist Survival Guide: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kimcrawley/technofascism-survival-guide/

Bella ciao. Things aren't looking good out there in America right now, are they? Well, that's why this show exists. To help protect you from fascists and weirdos. So today we're joined by Rainey Reitman, author of the book Transaction Denied and president of the board of Freedom of the Press Foundation. It's important to know all the ways the fascists can get at you, and this week's episode involves your money. So listen closely.

This week we're joined by Harvey J. Kaye, author of Thomas Paine and The Promise of America , who talks about Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner's recent interest in Thomas Paine, how one pamphlet changed the reason for the American Revolution, and the importance of the Founding Father religious zealots and billionaires want you to forget about.

Part 2 of 2: A special delivery of Paine! In honor of America's 250th birthday, we are celebrating with the forgotten founding father, Thomas Paine. Common Sense is the foundational text of the American Revolution. Changing the perception of early Americans about the cause of fighting against the British Empire from a lack of representation to the cause of America as an asylum for mankind. Where all are welcome and accepted. This is the first half of Paine's "Common Sense."

Part 1 of 2: A special delivery of Paine! In honor of America's 250th birthday, we are celebrating with the forgotten founding father, Thomas Paine. Common Sense is the foundational text of the American Revolution. Changing the perception of early Americans about the cause of fighting against the British Empire from a lack of representation to the cause of America as an asylum for mankind. Where all are welcome and accepted. This is the first half of Paine's "Common Sense."