When everyone online suddenly loves the same band, meme, creator, or viral moment… is that culture happening naturally, or is someone manufacturing it behind the scenes?

This week, Jenny and Greg Swan dive into the strange world of “clipping,” bot networks, manufactured virality, and the growing feeling that the internet is becoming less authentic by the day. From Justin Bieber at Coachella to TikTok trends, fake outrage, algorithmic feeds, and digital psyops, they unpack how modern “trend simulation” is shaping not just what we buy, but what we believe is popular in the first place.

If social media is increasingly driven by fake crowds and manipulated narratives, how do humans stay human online?

Plus: Noah Kahan discourse, why Jenny thinks “normals already assume the worst,” Greg’s accidental long-term digital psyop strategy for introducing new music, AI creativity competitions in New York, and the extremely wholesome cooking creators currently healing Jenny’s algorithm.

Teens are not using social media wrong. They’re just using it in ways that make adults feel ancient, confused, and mildly attacked. In this episode of The Cave Project, Jenny and Greg Swan unpack new data on teen social media habits, why parents keep side-eyeing Snapchat, TikTok, and group chats, and what adults can do besides trying to parent the algorithm. It’s a funny, honest conversation about trust, media literacy, teen communication, and staying close enough that your kids might actually come to you when the internet gets weird. Listen for a practical, not-panicked take on teens, tech, and parenting in the feed era.

Is the AI industry even talking to the rest of us? In this episode, Jenny and Greg Swan unpack The AI Doc, or How I Became an Apocaloptimist. It's a new documentary that puts the biggest names in AI in one room and asks: is this good or bad? Should we be having kids? And does anyone actually have a plan? From Sam Altman to Geoffrey Hinton to the doomers who think your children won't survive high school, the film swings between terror and hope like a pendulum. And so do we. This episode is for anyone trying to figure out where they land between doom and hope. The AI industry is having its conversation at 30,000 feet. We are having ours on the ground. Come sit with us.

In this episode, Jenny and Greg Swan pull up their real Screen Time stats on mic, break down the American Academy of Pediatrics’ newest guidance, and watch the Toy Story 5 trailer to ask the obvious question: are we really doing “tech bad” again? We talk about why we don’t feel guilty, why we’ve never been a “no screens” family, and why restriction without relationship doesn’t teach kids how to live in the world they’re actually growing up in. This episode is for: parents who are tired of screen-time shame, anyone raising kids in a world built to capture attention, Toy Story adults who felt either very excited or personally attacked by that trailer, and people who want something more realistic than “just set limits.”

Are we all just… not okay? In this episode, Jenny and Greg Swan unpack the emotional and digital overwhelm of the past few weeks — from political violence and algorithmic trauma to school shootings and the unbearable pressure to post through it all. This episode is for anyone feeling off, overwhelmed, or overexposed. The internet is a tool . Not a place you have to live. Take care of your brain. Then come back when you're ready.

Are we being mean to robots? Is it just internet snark or the start of something deeper and more dangerous? In this episode, Jenny and Greg Swan explore the sudden rise of “clanker” as an anti-robot slur. They dig into whether discrimination toward AI is harmless fun, a new moral frontier, or just a mirror reflecting how we treat anything with less power than us (including each other). Along the way they unpack science fiction, Star Wars lore, power dynamics, Ray Kurzweil’s predictions, and why your Roomba probably deserves a little more respect. This convo will have you rethinking how you talk to Alexa, your self-checkout kiosk, and maybe even your toaster. Because in the future, kindness might be the most human thing we’ve got.

Everyone says they’re busy. But what does that even mean anymore? In this episode, Jenny and Greg Swan dig into the cultural chaos of “The Busy Trap”—from calendar overload and contaminated time to why canceled plans are basically a love language. Inspired by Tim Kreider’s now 13-year-old viral essay, they ask: what if being busy isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to navigate—with intention? If you’ve ever answered “How are you?” with a sigh and a rundown of your to-do list, this one’s for you.

We're sorry for your loss. This episode of The Cave Project explores the management of digital legacies, the role of AI in recreating memories of the deceased, and how these advances affect our mourning practices. Join Jenny and Greg Swan for a thought-provoking discussion on the ethical dilemmas and emotional impacts of living and dying in a digital age.