Has the surveillance state gone too far?
Americano
The Spectator
4.0 • 762 Ratings
🗓️ 12 February 2026
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Superbowl Ring doorbell ad and Nancy Guthrie's disappearance have raised the alarm around AI companies violating privacy. Freddy Gray speaks to Michael Shellenberger about AI encroaching on our everyday lives, what legal frameworks already exist to protect our data, how far we are willing to sacrifice privacy for security and how this all ties back to the Epstein files.
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Transcript
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| 0:33.7 | Hello and welcome back to the Americana Show. My name is Freddie Gray. I am the deputy editor of the |
| 0:41.3 | spectator and the US editor. And I'm pleased to tell you that this is the 10th year of the |
| 0:47.7 | Americano podcast. And I think it's fair to say it's been a fairly fascinating time in American politics, life and culture. |
| 0:57.5 | And that's what we talk about every episode on this podcast. So please keep listening and provide as |
| 1:03.9 | much feedback as you like. Hello and welcome back to the Americano show. I'm delighted to be |
| 1:10.5 | joined today by Michael Schellenberger, |
| 1:13.2 | who is CBR chair of politics, censorship and free speech at the University of Austin in Texas, |
| 1:21.6 | and a brilliant substacker. I highly recommend everybody reads public news to get the latest from Michael. |
| 1:29.8 | Michael, I want to start by talking about a very strange advertisement that was played at half-time in the Super Bowl, |
| 1:37.8 | probably the, in fact, the most watched event on TV in the American calendar. |
| 1:43.6 | And I think we can play it here now. |
| 1:46.0 | It was for Ring, which is a company owned by Amazon, |
| 1:49.0 | that do door cameras, security door cameras. |
| 1:54.0 | Let's watch it now. |
| 1:56.0 | This is Milo. |
| 1:57.0 | Pets are family. |
... |
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