In <a href= "https://hiddenforces.io/podcasts/how-the-internet-went-from-counterculture-to-technofeudalism-douglas-rushkoff"> Episode 439</a> of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Douglas Rushkoff, a pioneering media theorist, best-selling author, and leading voice on how digital technologies shape societies, economies, and cultures. Rushkoff and Kofinas spend the first hour of their conversation tracing the arc of Douglas’ career, from his upbringing in a communal 1960s neighborhood in Queens and early work in theater to his role as a cultural and media critic chronicling the rise of the early internet. They explore how the internet’s rave-like collaborative ethos and anarchic counterculture gradually gave way in the 1990s and early 2000s to a highly centralized, commercialized, and impersonal platform for economic and political consolidation and control. The second hour turns to a conversation about consequences and remedies for our increasingly disembodied and highly intermediated world—with its blurring of public and private spaces, its hyperreality and epistemic dislocation, and its noticeable drift toward techno-feudalism and digital pacification. We examine ways to rebuild sovereignty over our communities and how to reclaim our attention, reaffirm our relationships, and reassert our power as citizens over our governments and the large-scale commercial and technological forces shaping our lives. Subscribe to our premium content—including our premium feed, episode transcripts, and Intelligence Reports—by visiting <a href= "https://hiddenforces.io/subscribe">HiddenForces.io/subscribe</a>. If you’d like to join the conversation and become a member of the Hidden Forces Genius community—with benefits like Q&A calls with guests, exclusive research and analysis, in-person events, and dinners—you can also sign up on our subscriber page at <a href= "https://hiddenforces.io/subscribe">HiddenForces.io/subscribe</a>. If you enjoyed today’s episode of Hidden Forces, please support the show by: <ul> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> Subscribing on <a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hidden-forces/id1205359334">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href= "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8URhgYos5fjHqFSO4RSIEg">YouTube</a>, <a href= "https://open.spotify.com/show/0TK6u251zGSlMgJKH6cOaP">Spotify</a>, <a href= "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/demetri-kofinas/hidden-forces">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://soundcloud.com/hiddenforces">SoundCloud</a>, <a href="https://castbox.fm/channel/2629539">CastBox</a>, or via our <a href="http://hiddenforces.libsyn.com/rss">RSS Feed</a> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> Writing us a review on <a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hidden-forces/id1205359334">Apple Podcasts</a> & <a href= "https://open.spotify.com/show/0TK6u251zGSlMgJKH6cOaP">Spotify</a> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> Joining our mailing list at <a href= "https://hiddenforces.io/newsletter/">https://hiddenforces.io/newsletter/</a> </li> </ul> Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou Subscribe and support the podcast at <a href= "https://hiddenforces.io/">https://hiddenforces.io</a>. Join the conversation on <a href= "https://www.facebook.com/hiddenforcespod/">Facebook</a>, <a href= "https://www.instagram.com/hiddenforcespod/">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/hiddenforcespod">Twitter</a> at @hiddenforcespod Follow Demetri on Twitter at <a href= "https://twitter.com/kofinas">@Kofinas</a> Episode Recorded on 09/08/2025

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