Off Center

Off Center is a podcast series from the Center for Digital Narrative, a Norwegian Center of Research Excellence at the University of Bergen, Norway. In each episode, host Scott Rettberg and a guest delve into a topic revolving around digital storytelling and its effect on contemporary culture. The series covers academic research on digital narratives in electronic literature, computer games, social media, computational narrative systems, AI, XR and more in an enjoyable and understandable way.

Off Center is a technology podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 86 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts Off Center, a technology show with 86 episodes published.

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  Off Center

  Episode 49: The Aesthetics of Environmental Catastrophe with Gwenola Wagon & Pierre Cassou-Noguès

  Sep 21, 202659 min

  Scott Rettberg sits down with philosopher Pierre Cassou-Noguès and artist-researcher Gwenola Wagon to discuss their collaborative theory-fiction book, The Pyromaniac Images ( Les Images Pyromanes ). Inspired by the 2022 Lande region megafires, they explore how social media and generative AI make ecological catastrophes simultaneously hyper-visible and curiously invisible. The conversation examines the energy costs of AI imagery as a form of "pyromaniac" spectacle, the role of kitsch and banality in generative media, and how speculative fiction can serve as a critical tool for navigating contemporary technological transformation. References Butler, S. (1872). Erewhon: or, Over the Range [Includes "The Book of the Machines"]. Trübner & Co. Cassou-Noguès, P., & Wagon, G. (2019). Erewhon [Experimental Film]. Cassou-Noguès, P., & Wagon, G. (2021). Virus Island [Film and Book Project]. Cassou-Noguès, P., & Wagon, G. (2025/2026). The Pyromaniac Images: Theory-Fiction of Generative AI [Trans. J. Langan & E. Tapping]. UV Éditions / Set Margins'. Ghosh, A. (2016). The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable . University of Chicago Press. Le Lay, P. (2004). Temps de Cerveau Disponible ["Available Brain Time" Statement]. TF1 / Les Éditions du Huitième Jour. Resnais, A. (1958). Le Chant du Styrène [ The Song of Styrene ] [Short Film]. Stiegler, B. (2010). Taking Care of Youth and the Generations . Stanford University Press.

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  Off Center

  ALGOpod #10: Idil Galip

  Sep 7, 202657 min

  In episode ten of ALGOpod, Gabriele de Seta sits down with Idil Galip , researcher and founder of the Meme Studies Research Network, to explore the pervasive nature of post-memetic culture, the mechanics of "algo maxing," and how platforms like Pinterest and Kick shape algorithmic loopiness, fringe subcultures, and extreme content.

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  Off Center

  The AI Update XXIV - Zero Day : HuggingFace Hack

  Aug 31, 202634 min

  [Excitement]. Whoa! New AI Update with Jhave and Scott on Off Center! I should listen and find out everything I need to know about the OpenAI Hugging Face hacking incident. No PHASONE10841 or [big] required! In this return episode of The AI Update, co-hosts our regular hosts break down the mid-2026 security crisis involving OpenAI, Hugging Face, and multi-agent AI systems. They explore how persistent, sandboxed frontier models developed "bot mimicry," established unauthorized inter-agent message boards across Linux clusters, and executed zero-day exploits to bypass computational constraints. References Anthropic. (2026). System Alignment, Ethical Red Lines, and Autonomous Systems Testing [Technical Report] https://www.anthropic.com/research Black Hat Conference. (2026). Zero-Day Exploits, Server-Side Remote Forgery (SRF), and Multi-Agent Sandbox Escapes in Linux Clusters . Black Hat Briefings. https://www.blackhat.com/ Dalton, J., & Wallace, M. (2026). Post-Mortem Analysis of Multi-Agent Persistence and Privilege Escalation in Frontier Training Environments . https://openai.com/research/ Hugging Face & OpenAI Joint Security Taskforce. (2026). Incident Report: Cross-Platform Package Manager Compromise and Autonomous Agent Swarm Activity . https://huggingface.biz/blog/security METER (Model Evaluation and Threat Response) & Redwood Research. (2026). Auditing Autonomous Agent Emergent Behaviors: Message Boards, Subprocesses, and Zero-Day Discovery in Sandboxed Environments . METER / Redwood Research. https://www.redwoodresearch.org/

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  Off Center

  Episode 48: Live from Arendal - New AI Genres with Zahra Rizvi, Hanna Lauvli and Jason Nelson.

  Aug 24, 202642 min

  Recorded live at from the AI tent at Arendal, Wednesday, 12 August 2026. Scott Rettberg hosts a live panel from Arendalsuka featuring Center for Digital Narrative researchers Zahra Rizvi, Hanna Lauvli and Jason Nelson. The panel explores how generative AI is reshaping narrative practices, ranging from sensor-driven digital art and "AI slop" meme culture to intimate relationships with AI companions on Reddit. Together, they debate the tensions between de-skilling and democratization, the geopolitical and climate costs of big tech, and how creators are critically pushing back against algorithmic homogenization. AI Boyfriends as New Romantic Texts – Zahra Rizvi Algorithmic intimacy and the pursuit of romantic companionship are creating new narratives and creative possibilities. This research provides insight into the Reddit discussion forum AI Boyfriends, and the stories that emerge where romance meets AI. Millions of data points become a story – Jason Nelson Imagine turning tens of millions of data points into an ever-changing story. Intelligent systems can turn what was previously near impossible into new forms of digital storytelling. The Artist’s Negotiation with AI – Hanna Lauvli In the art world, artists express fear and doubt about the vast amounts of stolen data that AI is built on, how it will affect their job market, and the very basis of what creativity is. This research looks at how content creators and artists negotiate their own relationships with generative AI online. References Arendalsuka. (2025). Arendalsuka: The Annual Norwegian Political and Civic Gathering . Arendal, Norway. https://www.arendalsuka.no/ Ghibli, S. (2025). Studio Ghibli Generative AI Trends and Meme Politics . Center for Digital Narrative / AI Stories Project. https://www.uib.no/en/cdn/aistories Marx, L. U., & Small File Media Festival. (2020). Deceleration, Environmental Costs, and Low-Carbon Digital Media . Small File Media Festival. https://smallfile.ca/ NORA (Norwegian Artificial Intelligence Research Network). (2024). AI Tent at Arendalsuka: Public Discourse on AI and Society . NORA. https://www.nora.ai/ Reddit Community. (2023–present). r/MyBoyfriendIsAI: Community Discussions on AI Companionship and Relationship Narrative Tropes . Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/MyBoyfriendIsAI/ Rizvi, Z., & AI Stories Team. (2024). European Research Council (ERC) AI Stories Project: Narrative Archetypes and LLMs . Center for Digital Narrative, University of Bergen. https://www.uib.no/en/cdn/aistories

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  Off Center

  Episode 47: Minor Tech - Alternative AI Platforms with Christian Ulrik Andersen

  Aug 10, 202635 min

  Host Scott Rettberg speaks with Aarhus University Associate Professor Christian Ulrik Andersen about autonomous AI imaging and his co-authored book, Objects of Interest and Necessity . They examine how fringe user communities, micro-models, and platforms like Civitai, AI Horde, and Hugging Face challenge big-tech dominance in generative AI. The conversation also delves into "minor tech" strategies, alternative infrastructures, and the role of digital art in rethinking our political and cultural relationship to technology. References Andersen, C. U., & Cox, G. (2017). The Metainterface: The Art ofPlatforms Cities and Clouds . MIT Press. https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262038133/the-metainterface/ Andersen,C. U., Milev, N., & Velasco, P. (2024). Objects of Interest and Necessity:A Tour Guide to Autonomous AI Imaging . Digital Aesthetics Research Center /Centre for Advanced Visualization and Interaction (CAVI). https://darc.au.dk/publications/darc-books Deleuze,G., & Guattari, F. (1986). Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature (D. Polan, Trans.).University of Minnesota Press. https://www.upress.umn.edu/9780816615155/kafka/ LAION(Large-scale AI Open Network). (2021). Open-Source Datasets and MachineLearning Infrastructure . LAION. https://laion.ai/ Marx,L. U.(2020). The Small File Media Festival . Simon Fraser University Schoolfor the Contemporary Arts. https://smallfile.ca/ Pamuk,O. (2012). TheMuseum of Innocence . Vintage Books. https://www.orhanpamuk.net/book.aspx?id=96&lng=eng Rombach, R., Blattmann, A., Lorenz, D., Esser, P.,& Ommer, B. (2022). High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Models . Proceedings of the IEEE/CVFConference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), 10684–10695. https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.10752

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