5 chapters across the catalog
Social Impact Bonds and Digital Identity
Researcher Alison McDowell explains "social impact bonds," which securitize human behavior data for hedge fund trading. The hosts discuss how medical passports and digital identity systems are being used to build a "pre-crime" performance-based social structure.
New York Civil Fraud Penalty and Bond Requirements
An appellate judge rejected Donald Trump's request to pause a $454 million civil fraud penalty but stayed the portion of the ruling that barred him from running a New York corporation. Trump has until March 24 to post the full bond amount, as the court rejected a $100 million partial offer.
Psychological studies suggest that the constant use of social media by mothers, particularly when taking photos during nursing or bonding moments, can be destructive to the mother-child relationship. The focus shifts from the child's needs to the mother's self-presentation online. Many parents justify these accounts as building a "digital resume" for their children's future careers in dance or modeling.
Nikimak and NIB, Securitization of Social Services
The NIA would operate through two arms: the National Infrastructure Bank (NIB) and "Nikimak" (NCMC), a capital management corporation. These entities would purchase municipal bonds and repackage them into new financial instruments, similar to the securitization seen in the 2008 housing crisis. Researcher Alison McDowell warns that this system will lead to "social impact bonds" where human behaviors and social outcomes are traded as debt.
Free-Floating Anxiety, Collective Heroic Battle Narrative
According to the mass formation theory, media narratives provide an "object of anxiety" that allows people to channel their free-floating stress into a collective battle. This process creates a new social bond and a state of mental intoxication, making individuals willing to follow strategies regardless of the personal or economic cost.
