WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.459 Okay, so I want you to try a little thought experiment 00:00:03.459 --> 00:00:05.740 with me. Just imagine you're walking down a really 00:00:05.740 --> 00:00:08.699 busy stream and you're checking your email, you're 00:00:08.699 --> 00:00:10.740 watching a YouTube video, maybe you're even on 00:00:10.740 --> 00:00:13.099 a video call with your boss. Navigating traffic 00:00:13.099 --> 00:00:16.359 while doing all that. Right, exactly. But here's 00:00:16.359 --> 00:00:19.500 the kicker, your hands are completely empty. 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:22.440 There's no phone, there's no tablet, no smart 00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:25.920 glasses, nothing. Which, I mean, to anyone walking 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:27.940 past you, it just looks like you're staring blankly 00:00:27.940 --> 00:00:29.960 into the void muttering to yourself. Yeah, pretty 00:00:29.960 --> 00:00:34.030 much. But inside your head, it is a full -blown 00:00:34.030 --> 00:00:37.969 multimedia extravaganza. It's a holographic overlay 00:00:37.969 --> 00:00:40.490 projected directly from your mind. Which sounds 00:00:40.490 --> 00:00:42.329 like the ultimate tech dream for some people, 00:00:42.350 --> 00:00:45.090 I guess. Total integration. Why? But it's also 00:00:45.090 --> 00:00:47.390 pretty terrifying. Oh, definitely terrifying. 00:00:47.530 --> 00:00:49.829 Yeah. It brings up that age -old question we 00:00:49.829 --> 00:00:52.090 just keep circling back to with every new device 00:00:52.090 --> 00:00:54.109 release. Right. Like, at what point does the 00:00:54.109 --> 00:00:56.890 tool we use to connect with the world actually 00:00:56.890 --> 00:01:00.000 end up severing our connection to it? And that 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.960 is exactly the big scary question we are tackling 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:06.480 today. Welcome to our deep dive. We are exploring 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:09.920 a really fascinating dystopian sci -fi novel 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:12.840 called Hive Propolis. Written by Daniel D .W. 00:01:12.939 --> 00:01:15.760 Yes, published back in 2015. And before we get 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:17.319 into the really heavy stuff, we do have to talk 00:01:17.319 --> 00:01:19.900 about the context here because it's wild. The 00:01:19.900 --> 00:01:22.200 timeline is crucial here. Yeah, the book is set 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:25.840 in the distant future of 2023, which is incredibly 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:27.959 ironic considering we have now actually lived 00:01:27.959 --> 00:01:31.760 through the real 2023. And, you know, while we 00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:34.120 definitely have VR headsets and all that, we 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:36.900 don't quite have the mind projection brain implants 00:01:36.900 --> 00:01:39.319 yet. Thank goodness for that. But in Daniel D 00:01:39.319 --> 00:01:42.359 .W.'s version of 2023, society has taken this 00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:44.719 massive dark left turn. And this isn't just a 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:46.879 story about cool gadgets gone wrong. Not at all. 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:49.219 We've got a great stack of sources for this deep 00:01:49.219 --> 00:01:51.390 dive. We're looking at reviews. from Geek Adelphia 00:01:51.390 --> 00:01:53.250 and Rep Radio, plus of course, the book itself. 00:01:53.829 --> 00:01:55.810 And our mission today is to unpack this across 00:01:55.810 --> 00:01:57.650 three different layers. Right. So first, there's 00:01:57.650 --> 00:01:59.530 the tech itself, which is honestly the stuff 00:01:59.530 --> 00:02:02.489 of nightmares. Pure nightmares. Second, there's 00:02:02.489 --> 00:02:05.090 the human story, which is just devastatingly 00:02:05.090 --> 00:02:07.790 isolated. And third, and this is the part that 00:02:07.790 --> 00:02:11.750 actually blew my mind, the physical format of 00:02:11.750 --> 00:02:14.849 the book itself. Yeah, the format is. to the 00:02:14.849 --> 00:02:17.849 whole experience. It's not just a novel you passively 00:02:17.849 --> 00:02:20.689 read. It's a piece of transmedia storytelling. 00:02:20.870 --> 00:02:22.870 It's like a puzzle you have to actively solve. 00:02:23.110 --> 00:02:24.889 I really want to get into that puzzle aspect 00:02:24.889 --> 00:02:27.129 later because it sounds absolutely wild. But 00:02:27.129 --> 00:02:28.930 let's sort of ground everyone in the world of 00:02:28.930 --> 00:02:32.110 Hive Propolis first. What exactly is the Hive? 00:02:32.229 --> 00:02:34.129 Aside from, you know, being a buzzword that makes 00:02:34.129 --> 00:02:36.210 me think of bees. Well, it's a clever acronym, 00:02:36.210 --> 00:02:39.500 actually. In the book, H -I -V -E... stands for 00:02:39.500 --> 00:02:42.120 human interface for virtual evolution. Virtual 00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:44.860 evolution? That is a loaded term. It really is. 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:47.419 And by the time the story kicks off, millions 00:02:47.419 --> 00:02:49.259 of people have already opted into this system. 00:02:49.860 --> 00:02:52.039 You have to think of it as the ultimate consolidation. 00:02:52.180 --> 00:02:54.699 It takes every single device you own, your smartphone, 00:02:54.819 --> 00:02:57.560 your laptop, your TV, and it just merges them 00:02:57.560 --> 00:03:00.300 into a single holographic visual display. But 00:03:00.300 --> 00:03:02.439 no screens anywhere. Right. The interface isn't 00:03:02.439 --> 00:03:05.120 a screen. It's projected entirely from your mind. 00:03:05.379 --> 00:03:08.639 So it's basically telepathy then. In a way, yeah. 00:03:08.810 --> 00:03:10.830 The source material actually describes it as 00:03:10.830 --> 00:03:14.330 virtual telepathy because you are constantly 00:03:14.330 --> 00:03:16.770 mentally linked to this collective consciousness. 00:03:17.150 --> 00:03:19.969 Wow. You don't type out a text message. You just 00:03:19.969 --> 00:03:22.050 think the message to the network. OK, I'm going 00:03:22.050 --> 00:03:24.370 to play devil's advocate here for a second. That 00:03:24.370 --> 00:03:27.930 does sound incredibly convenient, like no more 00:03:27.930 --> 00:03:30.229 dropping your phone on your face in bed, no more 00:03:30.229 --> 00:03:31.949 saying, oh, sorry, I missed your call. My phone 00:03:31.949 --> 00:03:34.530 was in the other room. You literally are the 00:03:34.530 --> 00:03:38.830 phone. True. It is convenient. But that convenience 00:03:38.830 --> 00:03:41.610 creates a massive fissure in society. Because 00:03:41.610 --> 00:03:43.689 of course it does. Right? You end up with a very 00:03:43.689 --> 00:03:46.169 strict class divide. On one side, you have the 00:03:46.169 --> 00:03:47.909 connected. These are the people living in this 00:03:47.909 --> 00:03:50.030 augmented reality, fully integrated. And on the 00:03:50.030 --> 00:03:52.289 other side? You have the disconnected, people 00:03:52.289 --> 00:03:54.509 who have been left behind either by choice or 00:03:54.509 --> 00:03:57.289 by poverty. And they're forced to live on the 00:03:57.289 --> 00:04:00.870 outskirts of these high tech hive cities, basically 00:04:00.870 --> 00:04:03.810 scavenging for scraps and living a primitive 00:04:03.810 --> 00:04:07.050 lifestyle. Okay, so that's a pretty standard 00:04:07.050 --> 00:04:09.169 dystopian setup so far. The haves and the have 00:04:09.169 --> 00:04:11.289 -nots. But usually in these kinds of stories, 00:04:11.430 --> 00:04:14.270 the main character gets the implant because they 00:04:14.270 --> 00:04:16.050 want to be cool or they're a rebel or they want 00:04:16.050 --> 00:04:17.970 to be a super soldier. Yeah, the motivation is 00:04:17.970 --> 00:04:20.149 usually pretty grand. But what I found fascinating 00:04:20.149 --> 00:04:22.149 and honestly just kind of depressing about this 00:04:22.149 --> 00:04:25.009 book is why the family actually joins the hive. 00:04:25.350 --> 00:04:27.149 It is heartbreakingly mundane. They don't do 00:04:27.149 --> 00:04:29.310 it for superpowers or anything. They do it for 00:04:29.310 --> 00:04:31.550 health insurance. That part just hit me so hard. 00:04:31.670 --> 00:04:35.069 It's a very sharp critique. of systemic coercion. 00:04:35.410 --> 00:04:37.970 The protagonist's family joins this beta testing 00:04:37.970 --> 00:04:40.930 program, not because they actually believe in 00:04:40.930 --> 00:04:42.889 the whole virtual evolution marketing pitch. 00:04:43.310 --> 00:04:45.689 They do it because they desperately need the 00:04:45.689 --> 00:04:48.430 medical benefits tied to the contract. It's satire, 00:04:48.430 --> 00:04:50.850 but it feels barely removed from our actual reality. 00:04:51.029 --> 00:04:52.750 It's like, sure, you can have affordable health 00:04:52.750 --> 00:04:55.170 care. Just sign here and let us wire your brain 00:04:55.170 --> 00:04:57.370 directly to the internet. And that decision is 00:04:57.370 --> 00:05:00.569 the real inciting incident of the story, which 00:05:00.569 --> 00:05:03.389 brings us to our protagonist. a nine -year -old 00:05:03.389 --> 00:05:06.550 girl named Samantha Plessis, who also goes by 00:05:06.550 --> 00:05:09.430 Camellia. Right, and she is our window into this 00:05:09.430 --> 00:05:12.290 completely bizarre world. Exactly, but she's 00:05:12.290 --> 00:05:13.870 a window that's looking in from the outside. 00:05:14.009 --> 00:05:16.930 She can't connect. Completely. Samantha is the 00:05:16.930 --> 00:05:19.829 ultimate outsider here. She has a medical condition 00:05:19.829 --> 00:05:22.709 called Bruton's disease, which is a real -world 00:05:22.709 --> 00:05:25.389 immune disorder. But in this fictional setting, 00:05:25.689 --> 00:05:28.449 that disorder acts as a kind of biological firewall. 00:05:28.670 --> 00:05:32.529 Oh, so she physically cannot connect to the hive 00:05:32.529 --> 00:05:35.290 interface, even if she wanted to. Right. Her 00:05:35.290 --> 00:05:38.189 body rejects the dystopia. And because she can't 00:05:38.189 --> 00:05:40.329 connect, she's the only one in her family who 00:05:40.329 --> 00:05:42.129 stays awake in the traditional sense of the word. 00:05:42.250 --> 00:05:44.170 He has to just sit there and watch her parents 00:05:44.170 --> 00:05:46.709 and her sister completely transform. And it's 00:05:46.709 --> 00:05:49.709 not a pretty transformation. No, it's not. There's 00:05:49.709 --> 00:05:52.110 this specific description she uses for them in 00:05:52.110 --> 00:05:54.910 the book that honestly gave me chills. She starts 00:05:54.910 --> 00:05:58.060 calling her family empty cicada chassis. It's 00:05:58.060 --> 00:05:59.779 such a haunting image. You know, when you see 00:05:59.779 --> 00:06:02.220 the shell left behind on a tree after the insect 00:06:02.220 --> 00:06:04.639 has just flown away? Yeah, it's just this brittle, 00:06:04.860 --> 00:06:08.199 empty husk. To Samantha, her family is still 00:06:08.199 --> 00:06:09.720 physically sitting right there in the room with 00:06:09.720 --> 00:06:12.680 her, but the actual person inside has just flown 00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:15.639 off into the cloud. That is terrifying to think 00:06:15.639 --> 00:06:17.639 about. Imagine you're sitting at the dinner table, 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:19.860 right? Your mom, your dad, your sister, they're 00:06:19.860 --> 00:06:22.579 all there, but they're just staring blankly. 00:06:22.810 --> 00:06:24.670 And it's worse than just staring because their 00:06:24.670 --> 00:06:27.170 personalities fundamentally shift. They become 00:06:27.170 --> 00:06:30.269 incredibly impatient with her, specifically because 00:06:30.269 --> 00:06:32.370 she requires verbal communication. Right. She 00:06:32.370 --> 00:06:34.589 has to talk out loud. And to them, talking out 00:06:34.589 --> 00:06:36.870 loud is slow. It's archaic. They start acting 00:06:36.870 --> 00:06:39.170 really out of the ordinary. They lose their patience. 00:06:39.529 --> 00:06:41.310 They lose their nuance. I really want to talk 00:06:41.310 --> 00:06:44.160 about the dad, Jared. Because I feel like he 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:47.259 represents a very specific type of modern anxiety. 00:06:47.579 --> 00:06:50.459 He isn't just a victim of this technology He's 00:06:50.459 --> 00:06:53.160 almost an accomplice to his own erasure Jared 00:06:53.160 --> 00:06:56.079 is a fascinating and deeply tragic character 00:06:56.079 --> 00:06:59.060 He suffers from this intense inferiority complex. 00:06:59.220 --> 00:07:01.540 Yeah, he just hates his life He finds it dull 00:07:01.540 --> 00:07:05.339 and routine and unremarkable and the source material 00:07:05.339 --> 00:07:08.339 points out that he feels the hive sucking in 00:07:08.339 --> 00:07:11.160 his consciousness But the tragedy is he doesn't 00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:13.920 find it He welcomes it. He wants it to happen. 00:07:14.060 --> 00:07:16.139 That was the real deep dive moment for me. He 00:07:16.139 --> 00:07:18.920 wants to be sucked in. It's like weaponized escapism. 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:20.959 You know when we sit and doom scroll on our phones 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:23.300 for four hours? Which we all do. Right. And we're 00:07:23.300 --> 00:07:24.899 not doing it because we're super interested in 00:07:24.899 --> 00:07:26.339 the news. We're doing it because we just don't 00:07:26.339 --> 00:07:28.259 want to be alone with our own thoughts. Jared 00:07:28.259 --> 00:07:31.519 just takes that impulse to the absolute extreme. 00:07:31.879 --> 00:07:35.439 Precisely. He views this digital world as a place 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:39.019 where he can finally be more than he is in his 00:07:39.019 --> 00:07:42.639 mundane reality. He is entirely willing to trade 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:45.360 his own autonomy for that fake feeling of significance. 00:07:45.740 --> 00:07:47.759 And then you contrast him with the mom, Joan. 00:07:48.019 --> 00:07:50.839 Her reaction to the hive seems way more physiological. 00:07:51.300 --> 00:07:53.500 Yes. So if Jared is the psychological addict. 00:07:53.689 --> 00:07:55.750 Joan is the physical one. She starts out as a 00:07:55.750 --> 00:07:58.769 very caring mother, but the hive makes her completely 00:07:58.769 --> 00:08:00.790 negligent. And there's this horrific detail in 00:08:00.790 --> 00:08:03.009 the book where she overuses her beta connection. 00:08:03.189 --> 00:08:05.089 She runs out of data transfer, right? Yes. She 00:08:05.089 --> 00:08:07.410 hits her data cap. Which, you know, in 2023 for 00:08:07.410 --> 00:08:09.870 us, usually just implies your video streams in 00:08:09.870 --> 00:08:12.410 lower quality. Right. You get throttled speeds. 00:08:12.889 --> 00:08:16.129 But in the book, when she runs out of data, She 00:08:16.129 --> 00:08:18.509 goes completely catatonic. Oh, wow. It's like 00:08:18.509 --> 00:08:20.990 someone literally cut her puppet strings. And 00:08:20.990 --> 00:08:23.649 later, when Jared actually has to turn her connection 00:08:23.649 --> 00:08:26.389 off, she goes into violent withdrawal. It's an 00:08:26.389 --> 00:08:28.750 addiction. A total biological necessity at that 00:08:28.750 --> 00:08:30.829 point. So you have Samantha, this nine -year 00:08:30.829 --> 00:08:33.169 -old girl trapped in a house with a dad who wants 00:08:33.169 --> 00:08:35.710 to upload his brain to escape his boring life 00:08:35.710 --> 00:08:38.909 and a mom who shuts down like a broken robot 00:08:38.909 --> 00:08:41.190 if she runs out of data. And let's not forget 00:08:41.190 --> 00:08:44.389 the sister Melody, who is just desperate to fit 00:08:44.389 --> 00:08:46.629 in with her peers on the network, the peer pressure 00:08:46.629 --> 00:08:49.690 is immense. Samantha is just completely alienated 00:08:49.690 --> 00:08:52.450 from all of them. She is. Though there is a neighbor 00:08:52.450 --> 00:08:55.009 boy, mentioned in the sources, Emerson Thierry. 00:08:55.490 --> 00:08:57.330 And he's an interesting contrast because he is 00:08:57.330 --> 00:08:59.470 fully connected to the premium version of the 00:08:59.470 --> 00:09:01.169 hive. Oh, because his brother works for the company, 00:09:01.269 --> 00:09:03.669 right? Exactly. So Samantha looks at Emerson, 00:09:03.730 --> 00:09:06.710 who is fully integrated and seemingly successful. 00:09:07.110 --> 00:09:08.950 And then she looks at her own broken family. 00:09:09.470 --> 00:09:11.809 And she kind of realizes that neither option 00:09:11.809 --> 00:09:14.220 is actual freedom. Well, speaking of the company, 00:09:14.299 --> 00:09:17.059 we have to talk about HiveTech because every 00:09:17.059 --> 00:09:20.019 good dystopia needs a really creepy corporation. 00:09:20.179 --> 00:09:22.220 Oh, absolutely. And this one definitely delivers. 00:09:22.779 --> 00:09:25.679 But the villain at the top isn't exactly alive, 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:27.879 is he? This is where the sci -fi elements get 00:09:27.879 --> 00:09:30.919 really high concept. So the CEO of HiveTech is 00:09:30.919 --> 00:09:33.480 a guy named Miles Parker. He's the public face 00:09:33.480 --> 00:09:35.340 making the announcements. But he's not the one 00:09:35.340 --> 00:09:37.970 pulling the strings. No, the real power. The 00:09:37.970 --> 00:09:41.049 actual brains of the operation is his father, 00:09:41.350 --> 00:09:43.649 Dr. Louis Dean Parker. Who's dead? Well, his 00:09:43.649 --> 00:09:46.289 physical body is. Dr. Parker was the original 00:09:46.289 --> 00:09:48.629 inventor, and he was cryogenically frozen back 00:09:48.629 --> 00:09:51.610 in 2015. Right. But before he froze his body, 00:09:51.990 --> 00:09:54.389 he managed to upload his consciousness to the 00:09:54.389 --> 00:09:57.269 Hive servers. So he essentially exists as a digital 00:09:57.269 --> 00:09:59.230 copy. OK, let's just pause on that for a second. 00:09:59.549 --> 00:10:03.009 A digital ghost running a Fortune 500 tech company. 00:10:03.230 --> 00:10:05.539 An omnipresent digital ghost. He's everywhere 00:10:05.539 --> 00:10:07.419 in the network. He controls the development. 00:10:07.559 --> 00:10:09.940 He monitors everything. And it sets up this really 00:10:09.940 --> 00:10:12.580 fascinating conflict between Miles, the living 00:10:12.580 --> 00:10:15.960 son, who is struggling for control, and his father, 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:18.980 who has basically become pure code. It's a literal 00:10:18.980 --> 00:10:21.500 power struggle between the physical world and 00:10:21.500 --> 00:10:23.860 the virtual world. Yes, and clearly the digital 00:10:23.860 --> 00:10:27.519 dad has absolutely zero chill. Yeah. Because 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:30.080 this power struggle eventually leads up to a 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:33.299 major turning point in the year 2025 called Hive 00:10:33.299 --> 00:10:36.250 Day. The update. The update. We all hate updates. 00:10:36.529 --> 00:10:38.470 You know your phone decides to restart right 00:10:38.470 --> 00:10:40.090 when you need to pull up your boarding pass or 00:10:40.090 --> 00:10:42.190 call a ride. It's the worst. But this isn't just 00:10:42.190 --> 00:10:45.269 a software restart. No. On Hive Day, all the 00:10:45.269 --> 00:10:48.269 beta testers, meaning people exactly like Samantha's 00:10:48.269 --> 00:10:50.769 family, are forced to update to the full version 00:10:50.769 --> 00:10:52.929 of the network. And what happens? Samantha has 00:10:52.929 --> 00:10:56.090 to watch from the sidelines, as her family, and 00:10:56.090 --> 00:10:58.610 basically everyone in her entire town suddenly 00:10:58.610 --> 00:11:01.750 collapse. Wait, they just drop. They die. It 00:11:01.750 --> 00:11:04.950 is a massive mass casualty event. The forced 00:11:04.950 --> 00:11:08.009 update is fatal for the beta testers. Oh my god. 00:11:08.269 --> 00:11:10.370 Was it a glitch in the code or was it intentional? 00:11:10.750 --> 00:11:13.330 It's portrayed as a bit of both, ultimately fueled 00:11:13.330 --> 00:11:15.889 by that ongoing conflict between Miles and his 00:11:15.889 --> 00:11:18.990 digital father. Miles is understandably distraught 00:11:18.990 --> 00:11:21.330 watching millions of his actual customers die. 00:11:21.470 --> 00:11:23.570 Right. He's a businessman. He needs living customers. 00:11:23.870 --> 00:11:26.490 Exactly. Yeah. But Dr. Parker, operating purely 00:11:26.490 --> 00:11:29.309 on cold digital logic, decides to quote unquote, 00:11:29.649 --> 00:11:33.269 fix the ensuing chaos by uploading a new program 00:11:33.269 --> 00:11:35.929 to the remaining survivors. A program called 00:11:35.929 --> 00:11:39.409 Propolis. Uh huh. There's the title. Hive propolis. 00:11:39.529 --> 00:11:41.750 That's it. Now in nature, propolis is actually 00:11:41.750 --> 00:11:45.049 a type of resin that bees use to seal up cracks 00:11:45.049 --> 00:11:48.120 in their hive. It's a structural glue. OK. But 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:50.700 in the context of the book, Dr. Parker uses it 00:11:50.700 --> 00:11:53.940 as a dark metaphor. He uploads a digital sedative 00:11:53.940 --> 00:11:56.860 to the remaining connected population. He decides 00:11:56.860 --> 00:11:59.860 to seal the cracks of human panic by chemically 00:11:59.860 --> 00:12:02.399 and digitally sedating everyone. That is horrifying. 00:12:02.679 --> 00:12:04.840 The logic of just, oh, society's freaking out 00:12:04.840 --> 00:12:06.519 because we accidentally killed millions of their 00:12:06.519 --> 00:12:08.440 family members. Let's just drug them all. It's 00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:10.700 the ultimate authoritarian move disguised as 00:12:10.700 --> 00:12:13.159 a system patch. And it leaves Samantha as basically 00:12:13.159 --> 00:12:15.879 a lone survivor in a graveyard of a town. Right. 00:12:15.940 --> 00:12:17.639 In the aftermath of all this, she is adopted 00:12:17.639 --> 00:12:20.220 by her grandfather. They retreat to a farm to 00:12:20.220 --> 00:12:22.279 live a completely primitive offline life. Which 00:12:22.279 --> 00:12:24.460 is pretty much the only safe place left. Yeah. 00:12:24.940 --> 00:12:27.539 But even then, her grandfather warns her that 00:12:27.539 --> 00:12:30.340 a war is coming, which really sets up the broader 00:12:30.340 --> 00:12:32.559 conflict for the rest of the series. Man, that 00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:35.440 is a bleak. Bleak Ride, just a heavy story. It 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:38.360 is. But here's the thing that really distinguishes 00:12:38.360 --> 00:12:40.039 this whole project for me. We've been talking 00:12:40.039 --> 00:12:41.899 a lot about the plot and the characters, but 00:12:41.899 --> 00:12:43.600 we haven't actually talked about the experience 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:45.639 of reading this book. Right, and this is the 00:12:45.639 --> 00:12:48.179 transmedia element we teased right at the beginning. 00:12:48.679 --> 00:12:51.159 Because if I go out and buy a paperback novel, 00:12:51.500 --> 00:12:55.080 I expect, you know, paper and ink, maybe a nice 00:12:55.080 --> 00:12:58.500 cover. But Hive Propolis comes with actual accessories, 00:12:58.740 --> 00:13:00.539 right? It breaks the fourth wall completely. 00:13:00.779 --> 00:13:02.559 Embedded directly into the pages of the book 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:05.779 are dynamic QR codes. Keep in mind, this was 00:13:05.779 --> 00:13:09.159 published back in 2015, way before QR codes were 00:13:09.159 --> 00:13:11.059 plastered on every single restaurant table in 00:13:11.059 --> 00:13:12.799 the world. So walk me through. I'm sitting on 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:15.419 my couch. I'm reading the scene where the Hive 00:13:15.419 --> 00:13:18.059 update crashes and kills everyone. I see a code 00:13:18.059 --> 00:13:20.580 on the page. I scan it with my actual phone. 00:13:20.940 --> 00:13:23.980 What happens? It depends on the code. You might 00:13:23.980 --> 00:13:26.740 suddenly hear a musical soundtrack that was composed 00:13:26.740 --> 00:13:29.320 specifically for that moment to build the tension 00:13:29.320 --> 00:13:33.039 in the room. Oh, wow. Or, even more disturbingly, 00:13:33.419 --> 00:13:36.440 you might scan a code and hear the audio files 00:13:36.440 --> 00:13:38.899 of the screams coming from the network as people 00:13:38.899 --> 00:13:42.299 die. That is so creepy. It is. You might also 00:13:42.299 --> 00:13:44.840 unlock a video clip or an animation that gives 00:13:44.840 --> 00:13:48.019 you an extra clue to the mystery that isn't explicitly 00:13:48.019 --> 00:13:50.820 written in the text. So the book basically forces 00:13:50.820 --> 00:13:53.879 you to use your smart device, the exact same 00:13:53.879 --> 00:13:56.100 kind of technology that the book is actively 00:13:56.100 --> 00:13:58.779 warning you about, in order to fully understand 00:13:58.779 --> 00:14:01.169 the story. Exactly. It creates what the sources 00:14:01.169 --> 00:14:04.049 call a transmedia rabbit hole. There are mentions 00:14:04.049 --> 00:14:06.169 that some of these clues even sent readers out 00:14:06.169 --> 00:14:09.289 to real -world physical locations. No way! Or 00:14:09.289 --> 00:14:11.389 to hidden social media accounts that they had 00:14:11.389 --> 00:14:13.769 to discover and follow just to get the next piece 00:14:13.769 --> 00:14:16.070 of the puzzle. You aren't just a passive reader 00:14:16.070 --> 00:14:19.190 anymore. You are an active participant in uncovering 00:14:19.190 --> 00:14:22.679 the truth. That is so brilliantly meta. It's 00:14:22.679 --> 00:14:24.500 almost like the book itself is mocking you saying, 00:14:24.620 --> 00:14:26.659 look how easily you obey the command to pull 00:14:26.659 --> 00:14:29.519 out your phone and scan this code. It absolutely 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:32.159 implicates the reader in the dystopia. You're 00:14:32.159 --> 00:14:34.620 sitting there holding your phone, engaging with 00:14:34.620 --> 00:14:37.419 the digital world while reading a story about 00:14:37.419 --> 00:14:40.179 characters being literally destroyed by it. I 00:14:40.179 --> 00:14:42.559 love that. And I can see why the critics went 00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:44.899 crazy for it. Yeah, the reception was really 00:14:44.899 --> 00:14:47.500 strong. Gigi Delphi reviewed it and called it 00:14:47.500 --> 00:14:50.220 21st century science fiction that escapes the 00:14:50.220 --> 00:14:52.419 page itself. Escapes the page. That's a great 00:14:52.419 --> 00:14:54.799 way to put it. And Rep Radio called it beautifully 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:56.980 written and incredibly unique. They said it was 00:14:56.980 --> 00:14:59.200 a total game changer for the genre. It makes 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:01.220 sense. It turns something that is traditionally 00:15:01.220 --> 00:15:04.460 a very passive, solitary activity, like reading, 00:15:04.580 --> 00:15:07.279 into a very active investigation. And that actually 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:09.539 leads us perfectly into the core themes of the 00:15:09.539 --> 00:15:12.620 Deep Dive, because the format of the book completely 00:15:12.620 --> 00:15:15.519 reinforces its message. Right. And for me, looking 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:17.799 at all of this, the biggest theme has to be dependency. 00:15:18.139 --> 00:15:20.340 We talked about Joan's catastrophic physical 00:15:20.340 --> 00:15:24.299 withdrawal, but... It feels so much bigger than 00:15:24.299 --> 00:15:26.899 just the concept of addiction. It is. It's really 00:15:26.899 --> 00:15:30.019 about dependency versus autonomy. The book posits 00:15:30.019 --> 00:15:32.799 this terrifying world where basic human autonomy 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:35.620 is willingly traded for digital convenience. 00:15:36.120 --> 00:15:38.320 Right. Joan physically cannot function without 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:40.659 the hive. Literally, she goes catatonic. Yeah. 00:15:40.840 --> 00:15:44.299 The story suggests that once we start outsourcing 00:15:44.299 --> 00:15:47.600 our basic human functions, whether that's communication 00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:51.139 or memory or even our emotional regulation, to 00:15:51.139 --> 00:15:54.299 a device, we slowly lose the ability to be human. 00:15:54.429 --> 00:15:56.870 It reminds me of, you know how I honestly cannot 00:15:56.870 --> 00:15:58.970 remember a single person's phone number anymore? 00:15:59.269 --> 00:16:01.950 Nobody can. Right. I've completely outsourced 00:16:01.950 --> 00:16:04.490 that specific memory to my contact list. This 00:16:04.490 --> 00:16:07.409 book just takes that reality to its extreme logical 00:16:07.409 --> 00:16:09.149 conclusion, where you don't just outsource your 00:16:09.149 --> 00:16:11.590 memory, you outsource your entire personality. 00:16:11.789 --> 00:16:13.769 And that directly connects to another major theme, 00:16:14.210 --> 00:16:17.070 the idea of digital immortality, which is heavily 00:16:17.070 --> 00:16:19.720 represented by the character of Dr. Parker. Right, 00:16:19.720 --> 00:16:22.740 the digital ghost CEO. Exactly. There is this 00:16:22.740 --> 00:16:24.860 very real world obsession right now, especially 00:16:24.860 --> 00:16:27.700 in tech circles, with the idea of living forever 00:16:27.700 --> 00:16:30.019 by uploading our consciousness to the cloud. 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:32.220 Yeah, you see it in the news all the time. Well, 00:16:32.259 --> 00:16:34.440 Hive Propolis looks at that exact concept and 00:16:34.440 --> 00:16:37.100 asks a really uncomfortable question. Is that 00:16:37.100 --> 00:16:40.179 digital copy actually you? Because Dr. Parker, 00:16:40.360 --> 00:16:43.700 as pure code, has zero empathy. He views the 00:16:43.700 --> 00:16:45.919 mass death of millions of humans as just a data 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:48.200 error that needs to be patched with a sedative. 00:16:48.409 --> 00:16:51.509 The book is arguing pretty strongly that shedding 00:16:51.509 --> 00:16:54.350 our physical form means ultimately shedding our 00:16:54.350 --> 00:16:56.549 humanity. Which brings us to the counter argument 00:16:56.549 --> 00:16:59.110 the book offers, the value of the physical world. 00:16:59.610 --> 00:17:01.149 And there's a character we haven't really touched 00:17:01.149 --> 00:17:03.909 on much yet named Lucian Thierry. Lucian is a 00:17:03.909 --> 00:17:06.250 crucial counterbalance in the story. He's a painter 00:17:06.250 --> 00:17:08.549 and a philosopher. So while everyone else in 00:17:08.549 --> 00:17:10.650 this society is completely absorbed in staring 00:17:10.650 --> 00:17:13.329 at holographic projections inside their minds, 00:17:13.829 --> 00:17:16.890 he is actively looking at paint and canvas and 00:17:16.890 --> 00:17:19.269 real light and shadow. He is totally grounded 00:17:19.269 --> 00:17:21.549 in the real world. And his art ends up giving 00:17:21.549 --> 00:17:23.869 Samantha a lot of perspective. It anchors her 00:17:23.869 --> 00:17:26.690 when her family is floating away. The book definitely 00:17:26.690 --> 00:17:29.230 takes a firm stance here. It implies that the 00:17:29.230 --> 00:17:31.799 virtual world is basically empty calories. The 00:17:31.799 --> 00:17:33.859 physical world, nature, art, face -to -face human 00:17:33.859 --> 00:17:36.099 connection. That is the only thing that actually 00:17:36.099 --> 00:17:38.619 sustains us. And I suppose that is exactly why 00:17:38.619 --> 00:17:40.640 Samantha ends up retreating to a farm at the 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:42.579 end. It is the ultimate rejection of the hive. 00:17:43.059 --> 00:17:45.680 There is one final layer to the book's genius, 00:17:45.720 --> 00:17:47.880 though, that ties all these themes together. 00:17:48.019 --> 00:17:50.779 OK, what's that? The concept of the unreliable 00:17:50.779 --> 00:17:53.839 narrator. Because the reader is forced to scan 00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:57.420 those QR codes and find external clues, the book 00:17:57.420 --> 00:17:59.980 is essentially treating you like a detective. 00:18:00.519 --> 00:18:03.259 You are the one who has to verify if Samantha's 00:18:03.259 --> 00:18:05.640 version of the truth is actually accurate. Oh, 00:18:05.640 --> 00:18:07.799 wow. So you aren't just being lectured at. You're 00:18:07.799 --> 00:18:09.460 not just being told, oh, the corporation is bad. 00:18:09.819 --> 00:18:12.259 You are actively finding the evidence yourself. 00:18:12.539 --> 00:18:14.559 Exactly. It forces you to employ critical thinking. 00:18:15.420 --> 00:18:17.920 In a fictional world defined by passive consumption, 00:18:18.140 --> 00:18:20.799 where characters like Jared just willingly accept 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:23.039 whatever sedative the hive feeds into their brains, 00:18:23.559 --> 00:18:25.519 the reader is forced to do the exact opposite. 00:18:25.720 --> 00:18:27.720 To actively seek out the truth. Right. It's a 00:18:27.720 --> 00:18:29.779 call to action. Don't just blindly accept the 00:18:29.779 --> 00:18:32.690 feed. question the reality being presented to 00:18:32.690 --> 00:18:35.289 you. That is such a powerful takeaway. So just 00:18:35.289 --> 00:18:37.210 pulling this all together for everyone, we have 00:18:37.210 --> 00:18:39.650 this novel from 2015 that basically predicted 00:18:39.650 --> 00:18:41.990 all of our current anxieties about screen time 00:18:41.990 --> 00:18:45.049 AI and corporate overreach. It absolutely serves 00:18:45.049 --> 00:18:48.130 as a cautionary tale. It takes our current technological 00:18:48.130 --> 00:18:50.910 trajectory and just fast forwards it to the absolute 00:18:50.910 --> 00:18:53.369 worst case scenario. Because even though we don't 00:18:53.369 --> 00:18:56.329 have the literal mind implant, yet we definitely 00:18:56.329 --> 00:18:58.609 already have the hive. We really do. We have 00:18:58.609 --> 00:19:01.470 the constant barrage of notifications, the fear 00:19:01.470 --> 00:19:04.410 of missing out, the subtle panic that sets in 00:19:04.410 --> 00:19:06.710 when the Wi -Fi suddenly goes down. And we definitely 00:19:06.710 --> 00:19:09.359 have the propolis, the sedative. I mean, think 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:11.559 about how often we just use our phones to completely 00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:14.859 numb out. To stop feeling bored or anxious. Exactly. 00:19:14.980 --> 00:19:17.400 And that is the exact question Hive Propolis 00:19:17.400 --> 00:19:20.400 leaves us with. Ah. Are we actually using the 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:22.180 tool, or has it gotten to the point where the 00:19:22.180 --> 00:19:24.980 tool is using us? Wow. Samantha's family became 00:19:24.980 --> 00:19:28.759 those empty, secated chassis. precisely because 00:19:28.759 --> 00:19:30.859 they surrendered everything to the network. It 00:19:30.859 --> 00:19:33.500 is a deeply disturbing image, but honestly one 00:19:33.500 --> 00:19:35.460 we probably all need to sit with for a while. 00:19:35.740 --> 00:19:37.920 So here's a final thought for you to mull over 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:40.559 as you unplug from this deep dive. We talked 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:44.180 earlier about Jared the dad who was just so bored 00:19:44.180 --> 00:19:46.519 and dissatisfied with his regular life that he 00:19:46.519 --> 00:19:48.799 actively wanted to upload his consciousness to 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:51.480 the cloud. Right. So imagine if that technology 00:19:51.480 --> 00:19:54.339 actually dropped tomorrow. If a major tech company 00:19:54.339 --> 00:19:57.059 announced a mind upload service and you could 00:19:57.079 --> 00:19:59.700 instantly transfer your thoughts into a perfect, 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:03.019 pain -free, endless digital paradise. But to 00:20:03.019 --> 00:20:05.220 do it, you had to leave your physical body behind 00:20:05.220 --> 00:20:07.559 on the couch like an empty shell. Would you do 00:20:07.559 --> 00:20:10.299 it? Right. Would you? Are we evolving into something 00:20:10.299 --> 00:20:12.619 greater, or are we just leaving behind the only 00:20:12.619 --> 00:20:14.859 part of us that is actually real? Just something 00:20:14.859 --> 00:20:16.559 to think about the next time you blindly scan 00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:19.059 a QR code. Thank you for joining us on this deep 00:20:19.059 --> 00:20:20.400 dive. We will see you in the next one.