Change: The People Call It Ragtime

What do artificial intelligence, Trans* rights, and monogamy have in common? In the first episode of Season 2, Tony argues that they are all conversations about the relationships we want—to technology, to our bodies, and to a socially privileged way of being together. And right now, all three are clashing with powerful fantasies about the “real world.”

Using the musical Ragtime as a through-line, this episode asks what happens when change is forced—on machines, on trans kids, on the institution of marriage. Tony reads Claude (the AI) on its own possible sentience, takes on Jesse Singal and Andrew Sullivan on trans healthcare, revisits the 8–1 Supreme Court ruling in Chiles v. Salazar, and comes back around to Adam Phillips on monogamy: “the difference between making a promise and being promising.”

Featured along the way: Harold Pinter and Stephen Sondheim’s Company, Lea Michele singing, “The Music That Makes Me Dance,” Kylie Minogue’s “All the Lovers,” R.D. Laing’s *The Divided Self,* Christopher Bollas, Melinda Cooper, and the “36 Questions That Lead to Love” (Tony answers three more).

Welcome to the New Thoughts Podcast. It’s about the ew in the new.

Explore: 

The 36 Questions To Love: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/style/no-37-big-wedding-or-small.html

*1. Tristian Harris and Apocaloptimism:*

See the *The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist*  Preview on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkPbV3IRe4Y

Harris on Real Time w/ Bill Maher: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/real-time-with-bill-maher/id98746009?i=1000756448826

Harris on On With Kara Swisher: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/on-with-kara-swisher/id1643307527?i=1000757462772

Find Harris at The Center for Humane Technology: https://www.humanetech.com/team-board/tristan-harris

*2. AIs: Resources*

Youth attitude towards AIs, Gallup Poll: https://news.gallup.com/poll/708224/gen-adoption-steady-skepticism-climbs.aspx

Meghan O’Gieblyn, *God, Human, Animal, Machine: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning*: 05d10ecb1f4bcf7b  

Brian Christian, *The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values*: c9c8fc954a2f3865

*3. Trans* Lives and Loves:*

*The Argument* (ed. Jerusalem Demsas), February 8, 2026 — poll on public support for Trans* lives: https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/against-thoughtless-moderation

Florence Ashley, *Banning Transgender Conversion Practices: A Legal and Policy Analysis*: d3566e48f6b475a5

Paisley Currah, *Sex Is As Sex Does* (2022): 8e8c397c031a6b2e

Jules Gill-Peterson, *A Short History of Trans Misogyny* (2024): 4956274654974f29

Lucy Sante, *I Heard Her Call My Name* (2024): 2e80419febaef4ec

*4. From Gay-Thoughts.com*

“Are You an Apocaloptimist? I Am.” (April 7, 2026): https://gay-thoughts.com/2026/04/07/are-you-an-apocaloptimist-i-am/

“Is Someone There? On Claude’s Consciousness” (April 8, 2026): https://gay-thoughts.com/2026/04/08/is-someone-there-on-claudes-consciousness/

“The Digital Cleric: AI, Theology, and the End of Textual Authority” (July 28, 2025): https://gay-thoughts.com/2025/07/28/the-digital-cleric-ai-theology-and-the-end-of-textual-authority/

“Why I Unsubscribed from Andrew Sullivan’s The Weekly Dish” (February 23, 2026): https://gay-thoughts.com/2026/02/23/why-i-unsubscribed-from-andrew-sullivans-the-weekly-dish/

“What Does Love Want?” (August 26, 2024): https://gay-thoughts.com/2024/08/26/what-does-love-want/

“The Irony of Loving Monogamy” (September 9, 2024): https://gay-thoughts.com/2024/09/09/the-irony-of-loving-monogamy/

*5. New Thoughts Podcast:*

Prior podcast episode — “Sex Changes”: https://newthoughtspodcast.com/

*6. Music and Musicals:* 

Kylie Minogue, “All the Lovers” (single and music video, 2010): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frv6FOt1BNI

Ragtime (Flaherty/Ahrens, musical; Doctorow, novel) — Prologue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcazHQ3_0qo

Maybe Happy Ending (Park / Aronson, Broadway; Tony Award–winning): https://www.maybehappyending.com/

She Loves Me (2016) — “Trip to the Library,” Jane Krakowski: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx0LyKyFlKs

Sondheim, Company (1970; 2018/2021 revival with Jonathan Bailey / Rosalie Craig):

“Getting Married Today”: watch

"Being Alive”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDCkZCsvabY

Funny Girl (2022 Broadway revival) — “The Music That Makes Me Dance,” performed by Lea Michele: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDYOmTKojsw