Topic: Scoring

The hosts mock Gavin Newsom for bragging about a 960 SAT score, which they characterize as a "dummy's score." An AI-generated parody of Newsom describes him engaging in low-brow activities at Red Lobster and Waffle House. The segment transitions into a critique of Sam Altman and the massive valuations of AI companies despite technical limitations.

A study published in JAMA Pediatrics finds a significant association between fluoride exposure and lower IQ scores in children. The segment discusses the history of water fluoridation since the 1940s and RFK Jr.'s plan to advise U.S. water systems to remove the chemical if he is confirmed as HHS Secretary.

Tesla has updated its "Safety Score" system to include factors like late-night driving, aggressive turning, and hard braking, which critics view as a creepy form of surveillance. Reports suggest Tesla plans to use this data to launch its own insurance product, while major investment firms like BlackRock continue to push for mass EV adoption despite rising insurance costs and safety concerns.

The discussion turns to "predictive policing" and the "Siri" social scoring scandal in the Netherlands. Between 2004 and 2019, faulty algorithms falsely accused 26,000 Dutch parents of benefits fraud, leading to child removals, financial ruin, and suicides. The hosts argue that "AI" is being used as a smokescreen to deflect blame from government bureaucrats for these systemic failures.

The Association for National Advertisers is promoting the "GEM" (Gender Equality Measure) score to identify gender bias in media. Similar to ESG scores, high GEM scores are claimed to drive purchase intent and brand reputation. Major corporations like Citibank, Ford, and Unilever are utilizing these metrics in their advertising campaigns to target female consumers and demonstrate social alignment.

Data from the Harlem Children's Zone and nationwide testing shows that reading and math scores for fourth and eighth graders have dropped to 30-year lows following pandemic lockdowns. Emergency departments have seen a 50% increase in children presenting with mental health crises. Experts describe the pandemic as "throwing gasoline" on a pre-existing youth mental health fire.

A segment discusses the children's book *Jack Not Jackie*, which explores themes of gender identity and pronouns. The montage mocks the "woke" culture of 2022, suggesting that corporations are adopting these narratives to improve their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) scores. The audio features a child "correcting" their mother on pronouns, illustrating the shift in cultural norms regarding gender.

Goldman Sachs is experiencing a 2.93% net charge-off rate on the Apple Card, nearly double the rate of competitors like JPMorgan. Data reveals that 28% of Apple Card loans were issued to customers with FICO scores below 660, leading to significant defaults.

Sri Lanka's economic collapse is attributed to a high ESG score and a 2021 ban on chemical fertilizers that led to a 20% drop in rice production. While mainstream media focuses on protests at the presidential palace, the hosts highlight the geopolitical struggle between the U.S. and China over potential military bases on the island.

The term "glitch" is being used by government officials to explain various systemic failures, including a computer crash in Houston that led to the release of 280 criminal defendants. President Obama also used the term to describe a regulation fix for insurance premiums. Critics argue that "glitch" is an unacceptable excuse for major technical outages and system vulnerabilities.

A German state is now allowing businesses to ban unvaccinated customers from purchasing essentials like groceries. Meanwhile, the Dutch Parliament voted down an amendment that would have prohibited the implementation of a social credit score system in the Netherlands.

Credit Karma is launching a new advertising campaign on TikTok that rewards users with "instant karma" (free items) for using their debit card. Critics argue this is a precursor to a social credit system, where financial rewards are tied to "correct" consumer behavior. Google is a major investor in Credit Karma, which is increasingly acting as an intermediary for behavioral-based credit contracts.

Adam Curry likens Credit Karma to a Chinese-style social credit score, suggesting it functions as a form of "digital slavery" by incentivizing specific financial behaviors. The conversation transitions to the Podcasting 2.0 initiative, which Curry describes as a necessary infrastructure project to protect the medium from corporate enclosure. John C. Dvorak compares the effort to preventing a "Big Dig" scenario for digital media.

Apple's new initiative to allow 13-year-olds to build credit through family sharing is criticized as a way to "enslave" children into the banking system. The hosts argue this is a precursor to a wider rollout of digital wallets and Universal Basic Income.

While American students rank significantly below Singapore in math, the hosts argue that injecting political ideology into hard sciences will further degrade US education. They also discuss a UN report and BLM goals that advocate for the end of the nuclear family, suggesting a broader agenda to eliminate traditional social structures.

Experian Boost is marketing a service that allows users to raise their credit scores by linking their streaming service payment history. Critics argue this represents the first phase of an American social credit system, where consumer behavior and media consumption are used to determine financial trustworthiness and access to credit.

MyLife.com, formerly Reunion.com, has faced criticism for its "reputation score" model, which aggregates public records and social media data into a single metric. The site often uses aggressive SEO tactics to display negative information, pressuring individuals to pay for memberships to "fix" or hide the data. This trend mirrors the rise of social credit-style systems where third-party companies monetize personal behavioral data for employers and lenders.

Financial institutions like Goldman Sachs and Ally Financial are reportedly incorporating non-traditional data, such as magazine subscriptions, into credit assessments. Companies like Meritize use academic transcripts and social factors to determine loan eligibility for students. This trend is viewed as a move toward a Chinese-style social credit system in the West.

The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration is considering a proposal for HARPA to work with tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Apple to monitor users for mental illness. The "Safe Home" project aims to identify characteristics that could lead to violent behavior using data from Silicon Valley. Critics liken this proposal to a Chinese-style social credit score that could lead to the seizure of firearms from individuals on antidepressants.

Algorithms are increasingly used to sort resumes and determine insurance risks, often relying heavily on credit scores as a primary data point. This systemic sorting can limit social mobility, leading to calls for data scientists to act as whistleblowers regarding the hidden biases within corporate modeling.