Science was supposed to be the one institution immune to the attention economy. It succumbed anyway. Kent Anderson and Joy Moore join Mookie for the 79th episode of Bald Ambition to talk about the already dire implications, and what we should do.

Kent and Joy have spent decades inside scientific publishing: the editorial and distribution machinery that turns research into the "studies show" headlines you scroll past every day. Their new book, How the Internet Disrupted Science (out August 4), traces exactly how that machinery broke, and why the breakdown is feeding the same institutional distrust poisoning politics, media, and public health.

They decribe how when publishing flipped from subscriber-funded to pay-to-publish, journals stopped getting paid to reject bad papers and started getting paid to accept them. Peer review got deprioritized. Preprint servers — built for physicists sharing telescope data — got repurposed for biomedical claims with minimal to zero vetting. The result: 25,000+ journals, a paper mill economy, and a scientific record that can't be corrected once it's indexed, cited, and fed into an LLM.

That's the tension at the center of this conversation. The public's distrust of institutions is real and often earned, exacerbated when COVID exposed genuine communication failures, flip-flopping, and arrogance from public health authorities. But the "democratization" that was supposed to fix institutional gatekeeping instead built a parallel attention economy where Silicon Valley moguls reign supreme, volume beats rigor, sensationalism beats replication, and a wellness grifter with 80 pay-to-play citations looks as credible as a legitimate researcher. The public started distrusting science when the attention economy manufactured a version of science optimized to be distrusted.

Mookie pushes back on what got us into this mess in the first place. He questions whether LLM limitations are really the crisis Anderson and Moore claim, and whether "the internet ruined it" lets decades of cloistered, pre-internet gatekeeping off the hook. Then he goes further: if Wall Street can separate Elon Musk the troll from the trillionaire whose rockets actually launch, can the public learn to make that same split between bullshit, bravado, and evidence-based brawn? Why write off science wholesale when it can and perhaps should be reinvented?

Anderson and Moore argue the real fight isn't over who's loudest, it's over who gets to rebuild the system once it's broken, and they lay out what scientific publishing could look like if it's built from scratch instead of patched: less gatekeeping for gatekeeping's sake, more resistance to the attention economy, a shot at the kind of paradigm shift that only happens when the old model finally breaks. Give them a listen, it could be the most important conversation you hear since the pandemic.

The Guests

Kent Anderson has worked in scholarly and scientific publishing for nearly thirty years, serving as Director of Journals at the American Academy of Pediatrics when the initial vaccine-autism link was forged in mass media; working as Publishing Director at the New England Journal of Medicine; serving as CEO of the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery; and working as Publisher at AAAS/Science. He also founded two of the most influential blogs in scholarly publishing, the Webby-nominated Scholarly Kitchen and his current paid e-newsletter, the Geyser. Through these, he has kept a near-daily pulse on activities in the space since 2007. He lives and works as a consultant outside of Boston.

Joy Moore landed her first job out of college in a scientific journal editorial office in Chapel Hill, NC in 1995, in the days of fax, on the cusp of the internet. She quickly became a key player in the discovery and adoption of technology into the workflow to produce, disseminate, and monetize scholarly and medical products. She has worked for or with nearly every major global commercial publisher, scientific society, platform vendor, technology partner, and funding body in the space. Blackwell (later Wiley), Nature, Wolters Kluwer, McGraw-Hill, The American Medical Association, Silverchair, and EBSCO, to name a few. Her current home base is Williamsburg, Virginia.

Their Book & Podcast

https://www.disruptedscience.com/

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Mookie is excited to have Vance Morris on the pod today, a marketing expert who got his start on the opening team of Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resort, spent three and a half years inside Pleasure Island (Disney's one real off-brand experiment), and now owns three home-service businesses in Maryland that he runs on 90 minutes a week — because the systems do the work. No bots answer his phones. No 17-option menu. Just a guy who picks up.

The whole conversation keeps landing on the same idea: the fanciest tool in the room usually isn't the one that wins. Disney's underground utilidor tunnels aren't some genius AI-era innovation — they're a 70-year-old trick for keeping the mess out of sight so the magic stays uninterrupted. Vance's newsletter is essentially a print mailer with stupid criminal stories and his daughter's ballet recital photo, and it built more loyalty than any CRM ever has. Fear sells better than happiness. A dollar-off coupon plus a bigger logo plus one good story gets you 95% of the way there. Just cut through the noise, any way you can.

Mookie and Vance also get into the Eisner-Wells era, the Chapek hire nobody saw working, and whether new CEO Josh D'Amaro's parks background signals Disney getting back to basics. They also discuss the actual math on why keeping a customer costs a fraction of finding one, and why most companies still spend $0 of their marketing budget on it.

In a moment where everyone's racing to bolt AI onto everything, this episode is a case for the boring and basic stuff that still works.

The Guest

Vance is a former Birth Control Factory Security Guard and turned that into a wild journey from Disney leader to bankrupt out-of-work executive to carpet cleaner to successful entrepreneur. Today, he’s the guy businesses call when they’re bleeding profit and can’t figure out why. He delivers real-world systems that stop customers from quietly disappearing and stop money from leaking out the back door. He’s the only expert on the planet, who blends direct-response marketing with engineered customer loyalty and retention.

https://vancemorris.com/

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Christopher Horrocks is back in the Bald Ambition studio just three months after his first appearance to keep pace and continue to call-out AI confusion and misinformation. Since April, frontier models have become dramatically more capable, companies have invested hundreds of billions more into artificial intelligence, and predictions about AGI have only grown more ambitious. If anything, Christopher's central argument has become even more relevant.

Mookie calls Christopher the "Mythbuster of AI" because he refuses to accept the false choice dominating today's AI conversation. On one side are those who insist today's models are nothing more than sophisticated autocomplete. On the other are those who believe consciousness, self-awareness, or even AGI is already emerging from large language models. Christopher argues that both camps are making the same conceptual mistake: they're treating AI as a binary when it represents something fundamentally new.

That new category is what Christopher calls "virtual intelligence." Today's frontier models display extraordinary cognitive abilities. They reason, synthesize information, write persuasive prose, solve complex problems, and increasingly mimic the texture of human conversation. But remarkable capability should not be confused with genuine subjective experience. Throughout the discussion, Christopher argues that we are projecting human qualities onto systems that remain astonishing simulations rather than conscious beings.

That single distinction opens the door to a far broader conversation. Mookie and Christopher explore why people increasingly form emotional attachments to chatbots, why language is such a poor test for consciousness, and why even many of AI's most respected pioneers may be overstating what today's systems actually are. Using examples ranging from Geoffrey Hinton's views on AGI to Magnus Carlsen's intuitive chess mastery, they examine the enormous gulf between performing an intelligent task and possessing an inner life capable of intention, feeling, and lived experience.

The discussion also ventures into neuroscience, philosophy, cosmology, and evolutionary biology, asking whether genuine machine consciousness—when it eventually emerges—might arrive in a form completely unlike the language models dominating today's headlines. Ironically, Christopher argues that truly conscious AI might be harder to recognize precisely because today's systems have become so extraordinarily good at simulating it.

Ultimately, this conversation is less about predicting the future than accurately describing the present. Artificial intelligence is already transforming the world, but understanding what these systems actually are—and what they are not—may be the most important challenge facing technologists, policymakers, investors, and the public alike. Before humanity can answer the question of whether machines will someday become conscious, Christopher argues that we first have to stop mistaking convincing simulations for the real thing.

The Guest

Christopher Horrocks is a technologist at the University of Pennsylvania who writes about artificial intelligence, technology ethics, and the human consequences of systems that don't know true from false or right from wrong. His Virtual Intelligence essay series, published at chorrocks.substack.com, develops a philosophical and analytical framework for understanding the generative AI systems now reshaping work, relationships, and public life. He lives in Philadelphia.

His Resources

https://candc3d.github.io/vi-framework/ Infographic that explains the concepts without needing to read anything in advance

https://candc3d.github.io/sampo-diagnostic/ Home page for the free diagnostic tool kit that can be used to evaluate a user's relationship with the system

Their Prior Conversation

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2455310/episodes/18973680

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On this 76th episode of Bald Ambition, Mookie sits down with Radiant Mobile CEO Paul Fisher and COO Chris Klimis to discuss one of the most contentious questions of the digital age: who should decide what content reaches our phones, our homes, and our children?

Radiant is the first Christian-focused mobile carrier built around content filtering, parental controls, cybersecurity, and faith-based media. Paul and Chris built the company around a straightforward premise: parents, not governments, technology companies, social media platforms, or entertainment corporations, should decide what content enters their households. Through carrier-level filtering and a growing ecosystem of faith-based media offerings, Radiant gives families tools and content to exercise that control.

What drew Mookie to the conversation was the story behind the mobile tech. As Radiant attracts both enthusiastic supporters and vocal critics, Paul and Chris find themselves at the center of debates over free speech, parental rights, censorship, faith, personal responsibility, and the future of digital culture. Mookie wanted to understand why they built the company, what problems they believe it solves, and why many families have embraced their approach despite the criticism it has generated.

The conversation quickly moves beyond mobile phones and content filters. Paul and Chris argue that unrestricted digital access has created serious problems for families, particularly when it comes to pornography, social media, and content they believe children should not encounter. Mookie acknowledges those concerns while also raising broader questions about information silos, cultural fragmentation, and whether increasingly personalized media environments contribute to the polarization that already characterizes much of modern society. Paul agrees that stronger content controls may contribute to more fragmented information ecosystems, but argues that many families willingly accept those tradeoffs in exchange for greater control over what enters their homes.

The episode also explores Paul's transition from celebrity agent and architect of major fashion and entertainment campaigns to entrepreneur focused on digital protection and faith-based media. Chris brings a different perspective, drawing on decades of ministry experience and his work with families struggling to navigate an increasingly connected world.

Throughout the discussion, Mookie returns to a theme that extends well beyond Radiant itself. In a free society, people should be able to build the products, businesses, and communities they believe in. That freedom inevitably creates disagreement, and competition among different visions of how people should live, what they should consume, and what values should guide their lives. For Mookie, the question is not whether everyone agrees with Radiant's vision, but the power of an open marketplace to enable entrepreneurs like Paul and Chris to build it and let consumers decide for themselves.

Whether listeners agree with Radiant's approach to faith-based content and Mookie's opinion about free speech and open markets or oppose them, this episode goes far beyond one company or one community. It tackles questions of freedom, responsibility, technology, parental authority, and the growing struggle over who controls the flow of information in modern life. More than anything, it examines what happens when people stop waiting for institutions to solve problems and attempt to build solutions of their own.

The Guests

Paul Fisher is the CEO and co-founder of Radiant, a Christian-focused mobile carrier that combines content filtering, parental controls, cybersecurity, and faith-based media. Before launching Radiant, Paul built a career in the fashion and entertainment industries, representing major models, celebrities, and brands. Today, he focuses on developing technology and media platforms designed to give families greater control over their digital lives.

Chris Klimis is the COO and co-founder of Radiant. With more than two decades of ministry experience, Chris has worked extensively with families, churches, and faith communities, addressing issues ranging from digital culture to personal development and family life. At Radiant, he helps shape the company's mission of combining technology, parental empowerment, and faith-based values.

The Company

https://www.radiantmobile.com/

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The rules of marketing are changing faster than most companies can keep up. Search engines are becoming answer engines. AI is replacing blue links with synthesized recommendations. And brands that spent years optimizing for algorithms now face a new challenge: how do you stay visible when the machines are deciding what gets seen?

The 75th episode of Bald Ambition features Mookie sitting down with Leah Nurik, co-founder and CEO of Brandi AI, to explore the rapidly emerging world of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and AI-driven brand visibility. As AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini increasingly shape how consumers discover products, services, and information, Leah argues that the future belongs not to brands that game the system, but to those that earn trust, build credibility, and tell authentic stories.

The conversation goes far beyond keywords, rankings, and technical optimization. Leah explains why traditional SEO is giving way to a more sophisticated landscape where meaning matters more than matching, where brand purpose matters more than metadata, and where reputation is shaped by thousands of signals spread across the internet. Together, she and Mookie unpack how AI is transforming marketing from a collection of disconnected tactics into an intelligence function that can influence everything from communications and sales to product development and customer experience.

They discuss why mission-driven companies are uniquely positioned to thrive in the AI era, how marketers can use emerging GEO tools to understand sentiment and visibility in real time, and why AI-generated content devoid of the human touch may ultimately undermine the very brands trying to scale it. Leah also shares how Brandi AI helps organizations measure, monitor, and improve how they appear across AI search platforms, while revealing the surprising ways AI can expose misinformation, outdated narratives, and hidden reputation risks.

Along the way, the discussion tackles one of the biggest fears facing modern marketers: loss of control. In a world where anyone can publish, every platform influences perception, and AI synthesizes information from countless sources, how can companies protect their reputations and shape their narratives? Leah argues that transparency, credibility, and consistent storytelling are becoming the ultimate competitive advantages.

If you've been hearing terms like GEO, AI visibility, AI search, brand intelligence, or answer-engine optimization and wondering what they actually mean for your business, this episode offers a practical, jargon-free look at where marketing is heading next. More importantly, it explores why the human element—creativity, empathy, strategy, and authentic storytelling—may become more valuable than ever in an age increasingly dominated by machines.

The bots may be getting smarter, but according to Leah Nurik, the brands that win will still be the ones built by humans for humans. Give them a listen!

The Guest

Leah Nurik is co-founder and CEO of Brandi AI, a Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and AI visibility platform that helps brands measure and improve how they appear across AI-powered search and discovery channels. She launched Brandi after recognizing that generative AI was fundamentally changing how customers find products, services, and information.

A veteran entrepreneur and marketing strategist, Nurik previously founded Gabriel Marketing Group, an award-winning agency that served more than 400 high-growth technology companies. Earlier, she helped grow Motorola's field mobility applications business from $25 million to $250 million in annual revenue, advising hundreds of partners on product marketing and growth strategy.

With more than 25 years of experience in B2B technology, SaaS marketing, public relations, and brand strategy, Nurik has been recognized by PR News, DC Inno, and SmartCEO. Today, she helps organizations adapt to the shift from traditional search to AI-driven discovery, turning brand visibility and reputation into measurable business results.

http://mybrandi.ai/

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Marketing is changing so fast in the age of AI that half the experts are confused, the other half are terrified, and most business owners are stuck somewhere in between. Fortunately, Jimi Gibson isn't interested in panic, hype, or robot-apocalypse nonsense. Joining Mookie for the 74th episode of Bald Ambition, Thrive's Vice President of Brand Communications lays out a practical playbook for becoming uninvisible in an era where bots are reshaping search, rewriting the rules of branding, and transforming the battle for attention.

Listen in and grab a front-row seat to one of the biggest shifts in business since the birth of the internet itself. Search engines are changing. AI is devouring content at an astonishing rate. The familiar rules of SEO are being rewritten in real time. And the companies that fail to adapt risk becoming effectively invisible. But unlike the usual AI doom merchants, Jimi brings an unexpectedly optimistic perspective, likely fueled by starting his career as a magician.

In a conversation that blends marketing strategy, psychology, neuroscience, and a healthy dose of common sense, Mookie and Jimi explore the surprising similarities between performing magic and building a brand. Why do some messages instantly capture attention while others get ignored? What role do curiosity, trust, and emotional connection play in winning customers? And what can business owners learn from a magician who knows exactly how to direct an audience's focus?

The discussion quickly turns to the AI revolution reshaping the internet and how brands are seen. Jimi explains why Google’s traditional search model is losing ground, why large language models are becoming the new gatekeepers of visibility, and why executives, founders, creators, and subject matter experts suddenly matter more than corporate logos. The future, he argues, belongs to people willing to be visible, distinctive, and unmistakably human.

Along the way, the two dig into LinkedIn, YouTube, Reddit, thought leadership, content creation, personal branding, answer-engine optimization, and the growing importance of expertise in a world increasingly flooded with AI-generated slop. Jimi also shares a simple but powerful framework for generating authentic content that actually reflects who you are, what you believe, and why customers should care.

Jimi brings a clear-eyed look at how the rules are changing, what opportunities are emerging, and why the businesses that thrive over the next decade may be the ones most willing to stop hiding behind logos and start acting like actual people. If you're a business owner, marketer, entrepreneur, consultant, creator, podcaster, or anyone trying to stay visible in a world drowning in content, this episode is packed with ideas you can put to work immediately. The bots are watching. The question is whether you're giving them something worth noticing and sharing.

The Guest

Jimi Gibson is Vice President of Brand Communications at Thrive, where he helps businesses build authority, increase visibility, and stand out in an increasingly AI-driven marketplace. A marketer, strategist, speaker, author, and lifelong magician, he brings a unique perspective to the challenge of capturing attention in a crowded digital world.

Drawing on decades of experience in branding, advertising, and communications, Jimi specializes in helping business leaders turn expertise into influence. He is the author of Uninvisible, a practical guide to staying relevant as search, artificial intelligence, and customer behavior continue to evolve. Through his writing, speaking, and consulting, Jimi helps organizations become easier to find, harder to ignore, and more memorable to the audiences they serve.

https://thriveagency.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimi-gibson/
https://businessvisibilityindex.com

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Jordan West thinks most brands are sleepwalking toward irrelevance while creators are building the next marketing empire in plain sight. In this episode of Bald Ambition, Mookie dives headfirst into the chaotic evolution from “influencer marketing” to what Jordan calls “word of mouth at scale” — a creator-driven ecosystem where TikTok Shop, algorithms, authenticity, and raw capitalism collide. Jordan, founder of the Social Commerce Club, breaks down why old-school advertising is dying, why giant brands like Nike and Lululemon are struggling to adapt, and why millennial moms — not Gen Z influencers — are quietly becoming the most powerful sales force on the internet.

The conversation tears apart the old PR-and-brand-control mentality and replaces it with something messier, faster, and far more effective: creators with leverage. Jordan explains how TikTok fundamentally changed the relationship between brands and audiences by rewarding compelling content instead of follower counts, turning ordinary people into decentralized sales networks. Mookie agrees from the perspective of a working creator himself, venting about Instagram’s clunky algorithms, YouTube’s SEO obsession, and the bizarre reality that the exact same video can explode on TikTok while flatlining everywhere else. Together, they unpack why TikTok’s recommendation engine remains miles ahead of the competition, why creators are now more valuable than traditional agencies, and how the smartest brands are learning to surrender control instead of micromanaging messaging.

Along the way, the discussion spirals into the economics of virality, the psychology of creators chasing reach like a dopamine hit, the future of paid social advertising, and how TikTok Shop may ultimately become less of a “store” and more of a real-time global focus group powered by creators who instinctively know what audiences actually want. Jordan argues that creators are replacing entire layers of market research, product testing, and customer feedback loops — while Mookie compares modern social platforms to a never-ending casino where the algorithm occasionally hands creators just enough success to keep them addicted.

Their convo is part marketing strategy, part cultural autopsy, part rant session about why giant corporations often move too slowly to survive in the creator economy. If you’ve ever wondered why TikTok feels fundamentally different from every other social platform, why traditional advertising keeps getting more expensive and less effective, or why your favorite brands suddenly sound like they’re trying way too hard to be “online,” this episode connects the dots and offers a view into a fast and fun future.

The Guest

Jordan West is an entrepreneur, marketer, and founder of Social Commerce Club, a fast-growing agency focused on TikTok Shop and creator-driven commerce. After building multiple e-commerce brands, Jordan shifted into helping companies navigate the exploding creator economy, connecting brands with creators to drive sales through what he calls “word of mouth at scale.” Known for his blunt, forward-looking takes on digital marketing, Jordan specializes in TikTok Shop strategy, creator partnerships, and social commerce growth. Through his podcast, consulting, and agency work, he helps brands adapt to a world where creators and algorithms increasingly shape consumer behavior more than traditional advertising ever could.

His Agency

https://socialcommerceclub.com/

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Matthew Whyatt has spent decades selling technology to giant corporations, governments, and industries so tangled in bad processes and duct-taped infrastructure that half the employees are basically performing digital exorcisms just to keep the systems alive another week. In this episode of Bald Ambition, Matthew joins Mookie Spitz for a sprawling, sharp-edged conversation about SaaS panic, AI hysteria, consultative selling, corporate paralysis, and why most tech companies are accidentally talking themselves out of million-dollar deals.

The discussion starts with the bloodbath in SaaS. Salesforce gets hammered. DocuSign stumbles. Every LinkedIn prophet with a ring light insists that “vibe coders” and AI agents are about to replace entire software companies by Thursday afternoon. Matthew calls BS. Big companies are not handing mission-critical infrastructure to something stitched together over a weekend by a guy running espresso shots into Claude at 3am... Trust still matters. Relationships still matter. Distribution still matters. And most executives buying enterprise software are less interested in technical wizardry than avoiding career suicide if the implementation explodes.

That leads into the real meat of the conversation: how enterprise sales actually happen. Matthew explains why his strategy at Tech Torque involves consultative discovery sessions that expose operational pain points clients barely understand themselves. Warehousing managers fighting new systems. Technical founders drowning prospects in jargon. Businesses trapped in “that’s how we’ve always done it” thinking while ancient Excel spreadsheets quietly run the company from the shadows. Instead of leading with features, Matthew teaches SaaS firms how to sell outcomes, reduce fear, and navigate the political minefield inside large organizations where one skeptical middle manager can vaporize a seven-figure deal.

Mookie and Matthew also get into the psychological side of technology disruption: why AI simultaneously terrifies and seduces executives, why white-collar workers suddenly look more vulnerable than tradespeople, and how companies lose themselves chasing hype cycles instead of solving obvious problems sitting directly in front of them. There’s a hilarious detour into Australian culture, rowing, American competitiveness, social class, and why the United States still feels like a place where people can wake up one morning and decide to reinvent their lives from scratch.

Underneath the jokes, profanity, and mutual abuse sits a pretty brutal insight: AI can absolutely help companies move faster. It can also help them execute dumb ideas at breathtaking speed. If leadership is confused, disconnected from customers, and addicted to buzzwords, no machine is going to save them. The businesses that survive this era will be the ones that actually understand their people, understand their clients, and stop mistaking technical complexity for intelligence.

The Guest

Matthew Whyatt is the founder and Chief Sales Strategist of Tech Torque Systems, where he helps B2B software and technology companies cut through hype, sharpen their messaging, and close bigger enterprise deals. He launched his first software company at 22 and has spent more than 25 years building businesses across software, IT, consultancy, and franchising—including companies generating over $100 million in sales. Before founding Tech Torque, Matthew served as CEO of Velocity Sales Training LLC alongside renowned sales expert Bob Urichuck, helping develop sales systems used by Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and international organizations.

His Company

https://techtorque.co

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