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Liberal food snobbery, such as Mike Bloombergs campaign billboard reading Trump eats burned steak, or tweets mocking Republicans lack of knowledge of craft beer haute cuisine also allow the Right to craft this populist image. In the words of the Right, a huge side of meat with ketchup is owning the libs, these imagined, eco-conscious, pretentious liberals who probably order steak point.

From castigating 'soy boys' to Jordan Petersons carnivorism, meat means masculinity for the Right. Even those who dont yearn for a white nation might associate veganism with women or celebrate meat as food that builds muscular strong men. Such shared ideologies make this an important area for the normalization of far-Right politics.

Perhaps the best example is the meat-heavy Paleo diet. The author of The Paleo Manifesto, John Durant, is a Trump supporter who describes himself as an unfiltered contrarian, but his diet had between one and three million users in 2013. Pioneered in 1975 by Walter Voegtlin, since disavowed by modern Paleo leaders for his white supremacist, eugenicist, and generally unpalatable politics, this diet celebrates a natural, white, premodern utopia.

This vision of traditional utopia is also maintained by the tradwives, the women in their 20s and 30s who celebrate traditional femininity and actively promote submission to men, homemaking and having large families. Researcher Annie Kelly notes that this vision of nostalgic femininity is linked to white supremacy. Central to the womens production of anti-feminist and white nationalist nostalgia are ideas of bodily and racial purity and fertility, such as home cooking as a performance of traditional lifestyles and gender roles.

For some a traditional utopia reflects an interest in wellness; a farm-to-table cuisine leading to a natural, healthy lifestyle, as well as a pure, fertile body and a slender figure. Often celebrating traditional Western foods or preparing labor-intensive meals that would be impossible for working women, tradwives link wellness to whiteness and anti-feminism. I grew up with this ideology, from a cookbook called Nourishing Traditions, which gave pickled beet and fermented cod recipes, and saw modernity and processed food as polluting to the body and mind and challenged politically correct nutrition.

Others celebrate traditional American food and traditional gender with a 1950s flair and a pearl necklace. If grilling is male, baking is feminine. Perhaps the only thing more feminine would be the dinner a tradwife proudly cooks from anti-feminist activist Phyllis Schlaflys cookbook, Faithfully, Phyllis: In the kitchen.

Cooking itself is often a metonym for the traditional female role, her place in the kitchen. Cooking for and serving your man becomes an important image of submission and femininity, which honors and elevates white masculinity.

Tradwives use pies and pearls to translate far-Right politics into the language of home and family. Although their tastes are different, mainstream Republican politicians and tradwives use food in very similar ways, using hamburgers and steaks to translate the Green New Deal into a front in a war on meat, men and white suburban homes.

The rest is here:
Real American men and the liberal war on meat - Open Democracy

With summer on the horizon, the 2021 NFL season will be here before you know it. And now that we've got full 17-game schedules available to us, what better way to ring in the biggest year in league history than by running through each and every matchup on the docket? Here, we're projecting the New Orleans Saints' schedule, game by game, with win totals for every opponent. Can Jameis Winston take a firm handle on Drew Brees' old job? Will Sean Payton's playoff streak continue? Let's find out:

Note: Over/Under win totals for every opponent courtesy of William Hill Sportsbook.

Need a quick betting primer on your favorite NFL team for the 2021 season? Here are links to schedule breakdowns for all 32 clubs.

Line: Saints -1.5Opponent win total: O/U N/A

Aaron Rodgers makes his long-awaited 2021 debut, having coaxed Green Bay into a new deal and claiming control of his future with the Packers. And he has his way throwing against a Saints secondary transitioning at cornerback.

Prediction: Saints lose 29-23Projected record:0-1

Opponent win total:O/U 7.5

In a battle of former first-round reclamation projects, Winston outshines Sam Darnold on the road, thanks in large part due to Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas working Carolina's young defensive backfield early and often.

Prediction: Saints win 27-19Projected record:1-1

Want inside access into the NFL from an active player and conversations with prominent guests?Download and subscribeto All Things Covered with Patrick Peterson and Bryant McFadden as the duo share their thoughts on the Vikings 2021 schedule.

Opponent win total:O/U 9

Once perennial Super Bowl contenders, both the Saints and Patriots stumble out of the gate, with Winston and Cam Newton trading turnovers. Bill Belichick comes prepared, though, confusing Jameis down the stretch with a master defensive plan.

Prediction:Saints lose 26-24Projected record:1-2

Opponent win total:O/U 7

Saquon Barkley and Kenny Golladay provide New York with some unexpectedly big pop, but the Saints' front seven finally steps up to rattle Daniel Jones. Winston, meanwhile, leans on a big rushing day from Kamara and Latavius Murray.

Prediction: Saints win 27-22Projected record:2-2

Opponent win total:O/U 8

Ryan Fitzpatrick nearly plays spoiler here, making some gutsy throws in crunch time and finding Terry McLaurin for a couple of scores. But he ultimately gets a tad aggressive, leading to a game-changing Malcolm Jenkins pick. New Orleans barely takes it.

Prediction: Saints win 23-21 Projected record:3-2

Opponent win total:O/U 10

The bye week helps the Saints rest up, but Payton's bold move to surprise Seattle with a Taysom Hill start backfires. Russell Wilson and Co. coast to an early lead on DK Metcalf dominance, and the Seahawks run the ball to control the clock from there.Prediction: Saints lose 28-20Projected record:3-3

Opponent win total:O/U 11.5

Payton embraces the challenge, and Winston initially goes blow for blow with Tom Brady, connecting on several deep balls. Then Tampa Bay's pass rush shows up, and things flip in a hurry. Brady rolls with short, efficient strikes to move the chains.

Prediction: Saints lose 31-25Projected record:3-4

Opponent win total:O/U 7.5

With no Julio Jones, Atlanta isn't nearly as scary rolling into town, even with Matt Ryan playing fairly well under new coach Arthur Smith. Winston, meanwhile, posts season-high numbers airing it out on Atlanta's spotty secondary.

Prediction: Saints win 34-24Projected record:4-4

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Opponent win total:O/U 9.5

Facing an early assault from a surprisingly aggressive Titans pass rush, Winston is forced to leave early, so Payton turns to Hill and rookie Ian Book. An overly conservative approach keeps them in the game but isn't enough.

Prediction: Saints lose 24-16Projected record:4-5

Opponent win total:O/U 7

Jalen Hurts gives New Orleans a run for its money a year after upsetting them in Philly, but the Eagles' young pieces at corner and linebacker can't quite keep up with Kamara and Thomas down the stretch. Payton gets his revenge.Prediction: Saints win 28-22Projected record:5-5

Opponent win total:O/U 10.5

Saints fans show up in raucous droves on a short week at home, and New Orleans' defense brings extra energy to face Josh Allen. In the end, though, Buffalo is just too darn explosive, with Stefon Diggs going off and Winston forced to play from behind.

Prediction:Saints lose 29-21Projected record:5-6

Opponent win total:O/U 9.5

On paper, Dallas enters with the clear advantage, bringing elite weapons to town. But Prescott's run support is limited, and Cameron Jordan wreaks havoc up front, clearing the way for Winston to lead maybe his team's most promising win thus far.

Prediction: Saints win 34-26Projected record:6-6

Opponent win total:O/U 6

Zach Wilson is well into his rookie year by this point, but he's still working to be a rhythm QB rather than totally off-script playmaker. The Saints' "D" capitalizes on his tendency to flee the pocket, owning the clock to get over .500 for the first time since Week 5.

Prediction: Saints win 26-14Projected record:7-6

Opponent win total:O/U 11.5

Winston returns to Tampa Bay for a second shot at upending Brady and the reigning champs. But Bruce Arians refuses to let it happen. Ronald Jones, Leonard Fournette and Giovani Bernard all get a steady dose against New Orleans' young LBs.Prediction: Saints lose 29-24Projected record: 7-7

Opponent win total:O/U 9

Miami brings some juice to the Superdome, as Jaylen Waddle and Will Fuller find big gains on gadget plays. More troubling for New Orleans: Brian Flores' defense does enough to bait Winston into a couple of key interceptions.

Prediction:Saints lose 26-19Projected record: 7-8

Opponent win total:O/U 7.5

Carolina is feisty trying to play spoiler despite Darnold's turnover spree ruining the Panthers' playoff hopes, with D.J. Moore and Christian McCaffrey each racking up numbers. But Payton's vets step up at home to keep New Orleans alive.

Prediction: Saints win 31-23Projected record:8-8

Opponent win total:O/U 7.5

Atlanta plays host looking to sneak into the postseason to close an uneven debut season for Arthur Smith, but once again, the Falcons defense just can't hold up. Winston plays hero by posting another big day through the air.

Prediction: Saints win 35-28Projected record:9-8

Link:
New Orleans Saints 2021 schedule: Predicting every game, opponent win totals, record projection - CBS Sports

Kansas ouster of Les Miles led to late moves in the college football coaching carousel, as the Jayhawks hired Buffalo head coach Lance Leipold in late April and the Bulls hired Michigan co-defensive coordinator Maurice Linguist to replace him. Keep track of all of the latest FBS coaching moves here, from head coach firings and hires to assistants on the move to stories and scoops from The Athletics team of college football reporters. Bookmark this tracker to stay up to date with all the latest news on the college football coaching carousel. Contact Chris Vannini with tips at [emailprotected] or via Twitter direct message @ChrisVannini. Sources remain confidential.

Head coaching changes

Kevin Sumlin

Jedd Fisch (Patriots QBs)

Blake Anderson

Butch Jones (Alabama analyst)

Gus Malzahn

Bryan Harsin (Boise State HC)

Bryan Harsin

Andy Avalos (Oregon DC)

Lance Leipold

Maurice Linguist (Michigan co-DC)

Lovie Smith

Bret Bielema (Giants OLBs)

Les Miles

Lance Leipold (Buffalo HC)

Matt Viator

Terry Bowden (Clemson GA)

Doc Holliday

Charles Huff (Alabama RBs)

Steve Campbell

Kane Wommack (Indiana DC)

Will Muschamp

Shane Beamer (Oklahoma AHC)

Jay Hopson

Will Hall (Tulane OC)

Jeremy Pruitt

Josh Heupel (UCF HC)

Tom Herman

Steve Sarkisian (Alabama OC)

Josh Heupel

Gus Malzahn (former Auburn HC)

Gary Andersen

Blake Anderson (Arkansas State HC)

Derek Mason

Clark Lea (Notre Dame DC)

UTEP: Special teams coordinator Joe Robinson has retired, and Northern Arizona running backs coach/special teams coordinator Aaron Price has been hired to fill the spot. Price, the son of former UTEP head coach Mike Price, was on the Miners staff from 2004-12.

Arkansas State: Special teams coordinator Steve Hauser has stepped down and taken a position outside of football, he announced on Twitter. Hauser joined the staff in January from Iowa State.

Iowa: Former Iowa quarterback and current St. Thomas More School (CT) head coach Jason Manson has joined Iowa as director of player development.

Charlotte: West Virginia senior special teams analyst Tyler Hancock is expected to join the Charlotte staff as special teams coordinator, a person with knowledge of the situation tells The Athletics Chris Vannini. Hancock spent two years at West Virginia after three in a similar role at Maryland. FootballScoop first reported the news.

Houston: Director of player development Daikiel Shorts has been promoted to wide receivers coach and will hold the role through the fall, a person with knowledge of the situation confirms to The Athletics Chris Vannini. Shorts has been on staff for two years and played receiver for Dana Holgorsen at West Virginia.

Michigan: Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis has signed a one-year extension through 2022 with a $100,000 raise to $1 million in 2022. In addition, new defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale will earn at least $600,000 annually on a three-year deal.

Buffalo: Rice recruiting analyst Daniel Gaine is expected to join Buffalo as defensive recruiting coordinator.

Ole Miss:Gardner-Webb offensive line coach Jake Thornton is expected to join the Ole Miss staff in the same role, a person with knowledge of the situation tells The Athletics Bruce Feldman.

San Jose State: Athletic director Marie Tuite is stepping down and moving to a role as special director of external relations and capital project development, a person with knowledge of the situation tells The Athletics Nicole Auerbach.

Louisiana: Assistant offensive line coach Bryant Ross is expected to become offensive line coach at Grambling State, a person with knowledge of the situation tells The Athletics Bruce Feldman.

LSU: Former Detroit Lions running backs coach Kyle Caskey has joined the LSU staff as an offensive analyst, people with knowledge of the situation tell The Athletics Brody Miller.

Buffalo: Duquesne offensive line coach Matt Stansfield will join the Buffalo staff in the same role, according to Yahoo Sports. This completes Mo Linguists on-field staff.

Houston: Wide receivers coach Tyron Carrier is no longer on staff, the school announced. Carrier had been on staff since 2019 and previously worked under Dana Holgorsen at West Virginia.

Akron: Former Kansas senior offensive analyst John Morookian has joined Akron as tight ends coach. Morookian spent part of 2020 as KUs interim offensive line coach.

Duke: Nina King has been promoted to athletic director. She was previously Dukes senior deputy director of athletics for administration and legal affairs and chief of staff and has been at Duke for 13 years.

Ohio State: Athletic director Gene Smith will receive an extension through 2026 and earn $2.06 million per year, according to The Athletics Bill Landis.

Kansas: Lance Leipold has added Buffalo wide receivers coach Rob Ianello as general manager and retained linebackers coach Jordan Peterson as senior defensive analyst. In addition, Michael Painter (director of football operations), Grant Murray (director of player personnel) and Taiwo Onatolu (senior special teams analyst) have also joined KU from Buffalo.

Michigan: Vanderbilt on-campus recruiting coordinator Christina DeRuyter has joined the Michigan staff as director of on-campus recruiting and operations.

Alabama: Offensive analyst Tino Sunseri has joined the James Madison staff as quarterbacks coach.

Central Michigan: Defensive line coach Justin Hinds has joined the Western Carolina staff as defensive coordinator.

Buffalo: Minnesota assistant strength coach Jeremy Cole has joined Buffalo as head strength coach.

USC: The Athletics Antonio Morales takes a look at Clay Heltons salary, the expected pay bump and what it means for USC.

Colgate: Head coach Dan Hunt is leaving to address personal issues following a violation of university policy not involving students, the school announced. Hunt had been with the program since 1995 and had been the head coach since 2014. Associate head coach Stan Dakosty will serve as interim head coach for 2021.

Buffalo: UMass defensive tackles coach Cedric Douglas will join the UB staff as defensive line coach/run game coordinator, according to Yahoo Sports.

Buffalo: Former Marshall wide receivers coach Dallas Baker has joined the UB staff in the same role, according to his Twitter account. In addition, Georgia quality control assistant Rod Ojong is expected to join as safeties coach, and Campbell cornerbacks coach DeAndre Thompson is expected to join as cornerbacks coach, according to Yahoo Sports.

Notre Dame: Brian Kelly made $2,560,144 during the 2019 school reporting period, according to Notre Dames tax return, although that number is likely much higher.Reads one part of the return: During calendar year 2019, the university made payments to an LLC owned by the head football coach, which are not reportable compensation for purposes of Form 990. Therefore, the payments are excluded from Form 990 Part VII and Schedule J, Part II. Additionally, per the return: The current head football coach is permitted to receive compensation from external sources with prior written approval from the university. The university is not a party to any agreements between the coach and any third party for the payment of compensation to the coach, and the coach does not provide services to the university as a result of any such agreements. Therefore, any external income that the coach may receive is not reported for purposes of the universitys response to the question raised on Form 990 Part VII Line 5.

Iowa: The Athletics Scott Dochterman explains Kirk Ferentzs salary reduction and what it really means.

NC State: Athletic director Boo Corrigan has received a two-year extension through April 2026.

UNLV: Offensive line coach Cameron Norcross is no longer on staff, a person with knowledge of the situation tells The Athletics Chris Vannini. He spent one year at UNLV after four at Vanderbilt.

Buffalo:Akron running backs coach Mike Daniels is expected to join the Buffalo staff as running backs coach/recruiting coordinator, a person with knowledge of the situation tells The Athletics Chris Vannini. Daniels was a high school coach last season, joined Army as a recruiting coordinator in February, then joined Akron in March. He previously worked at Buffalo from 2009-11. FootballScoop first reported the news

Missouri: Former NFL offensive coordinator and LSU passing game coordinator Scott Linehan has joined the Missouri staff as an offensive analyst.

Kansas: Buffalo head strength coach Matt Gildersleeve has joined the Kansas staff in the same role.

Virginia Tech: Justin Fuente has added Leah Joseph as director of on-campus recruiting, promoted Beau Davidson to director of recruiting and promoted Lino Lupinetti to assistant director of personnel and recruiting.

Buffalo: James Madison offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery will become the offensive coordinator at Buffalo, according to ESPN and the Daily News-Record. Montgomery spent two years at JMU.

Kansas: Lance Leipold has completed his coaching staff. He retained defensive line coach Kwahn Drake, cornerbacks coach Chevis Jackson, wide receivers coach Emmett Jones, special teams coordinator Jacob Schoonover and running backs coach Jonathan Wallace. From Buffalo, Leopold brought offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Andy Kotelnicki, defensive coordinator/safeties coach Brian Borland, offensive line coach Scott Fuchs, linebackers coach Chris Simpson and quarterbacks coach Jim Zebrowski.

Navy: Kent State outside linebackers coach Joe Coniglio has joined the Navy staff as a defensive assistant, and defensive assistant Robert Green has been promoted to cornerbacks coach.

Michigan: Kentucky defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale has been hired as defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator at Michigan.

Buffalo: Head coach Maurice Linguists contract is a 4.5-year deal through 2025 with an annual salary of $675,000, according to the Buffalo News. The buyout if Linguist leaves starts at $1.5 million in 2021.

Buffalo: Former Houston defensive coordinator Joe Cauthen will join the Buffalo staff as defensive coordinator, a person with knowledge of the situation tells The Athletics Chris Vannini. Cauthen spent two years at Houston after five at Arkansas State. He previously worked with new Buffalo head coach Maurice Linguist at Valdosta State in 2008. Yahoo Sports first reported the news.

Stetson: Head coach Roger Hughes has stepped down to become president of Doane University, his alma mater. Hughes went 31-50 in eight seasons after the program was revived in 2011.

Michigan:Kentucky DBs coach Steve Clinkscale will be a candidate to replace new Buffalo head coach Maurice Linguist as co-defensive coordinator/cornerbacks coach at Michigan, a person with knowledge of the situation tellsThe Athletics Nick Baumgardner.

Buffalo: Michigan co-defensive coordinator/cornerbacks coach Maurice Linguist has been hired as Buffalos new head coach. The 37-year-old Linguist arrived at Michigan this winter after spending the 2020 season as the Dallas Cowboys cornerbacks coach. Linguist was an assistant at Buffalo from 2012-13 and spent the 2018 and 19 seasons on the Texas A&M staff.

SMU: Special teams coordinator Chris Brasfield is leaving to pursue full-time ministry in September. He will serve as a senior analyst until then, and current analyst Kenny Perry is expected to be promoted to special teams coordinator.

Presbyterian: Pulaski Acadamy (Ark.) head coach Kevin Kelley is the new head coach at Presbyterian. Kelley is known as the high school coach who never punts and always onside kicks, won nine state championships.

Wake Forest: Georgia Southern director of on-campus recruiting Jalyn Ballein has joined Wake Forest as assistant to the head coach/on-campus recruiting coordinator.

Akron: Wisconsin-Green Bay athletic director Charles Guthrie has been named athletic director at Akron.

Washington State: Athletic director Pat Chun has received a one-year extension through 2026.

Kansas: Buffalo assistants expected to join Lance Leipold at KU include Rob Ianello, Brian Borland, Andy Kotelnicki, Chris Simpson, Jim Zebrowski, Scott Fuchs and Taiwo Onatolu, with roles yet to be determined, according to Yahoo Sports. Ianello is also a candidate to replace Leipold at Buffalo.

Texas Tech: Former Texas Tech running back Sammy Morris has joined the staff as assistant director of player support development.

Northwestern: Deputy athletic director for external affairs Mike Polisky has been promoted to athletic director. Hes been in the department since 2010.

UL Monroe: Dusty Rutledge has joined the ULM staff as chief of staff. Rutledge previously worked with ULM offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia, Michigan, Arizona and Ole Miss and spent last season coaching high school ball.

Kansas: New head coach Lance Leipolds contract is a six-year deal worth $2.2 million in the first year with $200,000 annual raises (its a $300,000 raise in 2024), according to 247Sports.

UNLV: Athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois has received a contract extension through June 2026.

Alabama A&M: Head coach Connell Maynor has received a four-year extension. Alabama A&M won the SWAC on Saturday.

Southern: Safeties coach/special teams coordinator Jason Rollins has been promoted to interim head coach for the rest of 2021. Rollins just finished his first season on staff.

Memphis:Director of football operations Sam Curtis has left the program for a career outside of football.

Texas State: Athletic director Larry Teis will step down at the end of the August. Teis has been the AD since 2004.

Buffalo: With Lance Leipold heading to Kansas, read Chris Vanninis Buffalo job profile for pluses, minuses and candidates.

Kansas: Buffalos Lance Leipold has been hired as the new head coach at Kansas. Leipold went 37-33 in six seasons at Buffalo, including 24-10 in the past three years and an AP No. 25 finish in 2020. He previously won six Division III national championships in eight years at Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Southern: Former NFL running back Marshall Faulk is a candidate for the Southern head coaching job and the sides have had conversations, according to NFL Networks Ian Rapoport.

Western Carolina: Former Valdosta State head coach and USF offensive coordinator Kerwin Bell has been named head coach at WCU. Bell won a Division II national championship at Valdosta State in 2018.

Ole Miss: Randy Clements is out as offensive line coach, a person with knowledge of the situation tellsThe Athletics Bruce Feldman. 247Sports first reported the move.

Wisconsin: Head coach Paul Chryst has received an annual one-year extension to his five-year contract, which now goes through 2025.

Notre Dame: Richmond tight ends coach Trevor Mendelson has joined the Notre Dame staff in an off-field role working with the offensive line. Mendelson spent one spring season at Richmond and previously worked at Wake Forest.

Read the original:
2020-21 college football coaching carousel: Follow all of the latest news and hires - The Athletic

Theres a video that pops up periodically on my YouTube feed. Its a conversation between rappers Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent bemoaning the fact that, compared to their generation, all modern hip-hop artists apparently sound the same. When a person decides to be themselves, they offer something no-one else can be, says 50 Cent. Yeah, cos once you be you who can be you but you? Snoop responds.

When the video was uploaded in October 2014, that may have broadly been true. But just a few years later it certainly isnt. In a world of audio deepfakes, its possible to train an A.I. to sound eerily similar to another person by feeding it an audio corpus consisting of hours of their spoken data. The results are unnervingly accurate.

Public figures like the rapper Jay-Z and the psychologist Jordan Peterson have already complained about people misappropriating their voices by creating audio deepfakes and then making them say silly things on the internet. Wake up, wrote Peterson. The sanctity of your voice, and your image, is at serious risk. Those are just the mischievous cases. In others,the results can tip over into un-nuanced criminality. In one 2019 incident, criminals used an audio deepfake to impersonate the voice of the CEO of an energy company and persuade an underling over the phone to urgently transfer $243,000 to a bank account.

Veritone, an A.I. company that creates smart tools for labeling media for the entertainment industry, is putting the audio deepfake power back in the hands (or, err, the throats) of those to whom it rightly belongs. This month, the company announced Marvel.ai, what company president Ryan Steelberg described to Digital Trends as a complete voice-as-a-service solution. For a fee, Veritone will build an A.I. model that sounds just like you (or, more likely, a famous person with an immediately recognizable voice), which can then be licensed out on loan like a high-tech version of Ariels voice-as-collateral bargain from The Little Mermaid.

Your voice is just as valuable as any other content or brand attribute that you have, said Steelberg. [Its on a level with] your name and likeness, your face, your signature, or a song youve written or piece of content youve created.

Certain individuals have, of course, long sold their voices in the form of recording commercials or voiceovers, singing songs, and countless other forms of monetization. But these endeavors all required the person to actually say the words. What Veritones solution promises to do is to make this individually scalable.

What if, for instance, it was possible for Kevin Hart to license his voice out to a luxury brand that could then use it to create personalized ads featuring the name of the viewer, the location of their nearest brick-and-mortar sales outlet, and the particular product they could be most likely to buy? Rather than spending literally days in the recording booth, A.I. could allow this to be done with little more (on Harts part, at least) than signing on the dotted line to agree for his voice likeness to be harnessed by said third party. While he was off shooting a movie, or doing a comedy tour, or taking a vacation, or even sleeping, his digital voice could be raking in the cash.

We can repurpose a lot, Steelberg explained, regarding the training process. People who are already speaking a ton, if theyre producing a podcast or in the media, theres a lot of data out there. We probably have a ton of it already if they happen to be a customer of ours.

What we find so fascinating about this new category of A.I. is the extensibility and the variability.

Steelberg said that the voice-as-a-service idea occurred to Veritone several years ago. However, at the time he was unconvinced that machine learning models were able to create the hyper-realistic synthetic voices he was looking for. This is especially important when it comes to voices we know intimately, even if weve never actually met the speaker in question. The results could be some kind of audible uncanny valley, with every wrong sound alerting listeners to the fact that theyre listening to a fake. But here in 2021 he is convinced that things have advanced to the point where this is now possible. Hence Marvel.ai.

Steelberg speaks in excited buzzwords about the massive potential of the technology, talking up its possible plethora of modalities of execution. Veritone can create models for text-to-speech. It can also build models for speech-to-speech, whereby a voice actor can drive a vocal performance by reading the words with suitable inflection and then having the finished voice overlaid at the end like a Snapchat filter. The company can also fingerprint each voice so it can tell if a piece of apparently real audio that pops up someplace was created using its technology.

The more you think about it youll literally come up with 50 more [possible use-cases], he said. What we find so fascinating about this new category of A.I. is the extensibility and the variability.

Consider some others. A famous athlete might be a god on the basketball court, but a devil when it comes to reading lines in a script in a way that sounds natural. Using Veritones technology, their part in video game cutscenes or reading an audio book of their memoir (which they may also not have written) could be performed by a voice actor, which is then digitally tweaked to sound like the athlete. As another possibility, a movie could be translated for other countries with the same actor voice now reading the lines in French, Mandarin, or any other one of a number of languages, even if the actor doesnt actually speak them.

A big question hanging over all of this, of course, is how members of the public are going to respond to it all. This is the tricky, unpredictable bit. Celebrities today must play a complex role: Both larger-than-life figures worthy of having their face plastered on billboards, and also relatable individuals who have relationship problems, tweet about watching TV in their pajamas, and make silly faces when they eat hot sauce.

What happens, then, when ads appear that not only feature a celebrity reading lines, but in cases when we know that said performer never actually said those lines, but rather had their voice programmatically utilized to bring us a targeted ad? Steelberg said that it is little different to a celebrity handing over control of their social media to a third party account manager. If we see Taylor Swift tweet, we know that its quite possibly not Taylor herself tapping out the message, especially if its an endorsement or piece of promotional content.

But voice is, in a very real way, different, precisely because its more personal. Especially if its accompanied by a degree of personalization, which is one of the use-cases that makes the most sense. The truth is that, to quote the screenwriter William Goldman, nobody knows what the public response will be precisely because nobody has done exactly this before.

Its going to run the spectrum, right? Steelberg said. [Some] people are going to say, Im going to use this tool a little bit to augment my day to help me save time. Others are going to say, full-blown, I want my voice everywhere to extend my brand, and Im going to license it out.

His best guess is that acceptance will be on a case-by-case basis. You need to be in tune with the reaction of your audience, and if you see things are working or not working, he said. They may love it. They may say, You know what? I love the fact that youre putting out 10 times more content or more personal content to me, even though I know you used synthetic content to augment it. Thank you. Thank you.

As for the future? Steelberg said that We want to work with all the major talent agencies. We think anybody who is in the business of making money around a scarce brand should be thinking about their voice strategy.

And dont expect it to remain purely about audio, either. Weve always been fascinated by the potential of using synthetic content to either extend, augment, or potentially completely replace some of the legacy forms of content production, he continued. Be that in an audio sense or, ultimately in the future, a video sense.

Thats right: Once it has cornered the market in the world of audio deepfakes, Veritone plans to go one step further and enter the world of fully realized virtual avatars that both sound and look indistinguishable from their source.

Suddenly those personalized ads from Minority Report sound a whole lot less like science fiction.

Read more:
This startup wants to deepfake clone your voice and sell it to the highest bidder - Digital Trends

Jordan Peterson addresses students at fhe Cambridge Union on November 02, 2018 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire. (Photo by Chris Williamson / Getty Images)

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To prepare for writing about Jordan Peterson, I asked numerous people I know what they thought of him. They all gave the same answer: Who?

Friends, where have you been? Petersons 2018 book, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, sold 5 million copies and has been slated for translation into 50 languages. His YouTube channel has 3.68 million subscribers.

According to the man himself, he is so famous that a waiter recognized him in a restaurant and thanked him for changing his life, which cannot be said, Im guessing, for any other clinical psychologist in the world, or possibly any other Canadian.

This is quite an achievement for one whose work is crammed with references to Nietzsche, Dostoyevsky, the Bible, ancient Mesopotamian deities, Jesus, and Jung, and which, under a lot of sexist, conservative, mythological/biblical/evolutionary/animal-behavior folderol, basically tells men to grow up and grow a pair. Work hard, be responsible, demand more of yourself, make your bed. Peterson dragged that simple message out for 370 pages of unbelievably clotted, dreary prose, proving once again that your creative-writing teachers were wrong: Nobody cares about the quality of the writing if the message is what the reader wants to hear. Apparently there are a lot of men (most of his fans are men) who want to be told exactly how to stop making such a mess of their lives (Rule 1: Stand up straight with your shoulders back) and also that human beings are a lot like lobsters, programmed for hierarchy and combat. You can buy Hail Lobster T-shirts, pillows, limited-edition neckties, and even smartphone covers on his website. Scientists have said hes got lobsters all wrong, but whatever. I will never feel guilty about eating a lobster roll again.

You might think 12 rules were enoughby Rule 12, Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street, Peterson seemed to be reaching a bit. He obviously didnt think so, because his new book, Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life, offers a dozen more and weighs in at 432 pages. Preorders made it reach Amazons Top 10.

Why would so many people want to be hectored by an unpleasant know-it-all whose most recent contribution as a public intellectual was advocating an all-meat diet? The rules are mostly familiar self-help platitudes, which Peterson drags out for dozens of pages each by bringing in everything from his patients and family to Isis, Osiris, and Tolstoy.

Rule 7: Work as hard as you possibly can on at least one thing and see what happens. Rule 10: Plan and work diligently to maintain the romance in your relationship. Rule 12: Be grateful in spite of your suffering. There are plenty of cats out there for you to pet.Current Issue

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There have always been men who want to be told exactly what to do to get what they wantin this case, women. Men, you may have noticed, have had a harder time getting quality girlfriends now that women dont have to marry to survive. They have to make more of an effort to be boyfriend material, let alone husband material, and this is not easy for the ones who think a beautiful, complaisant helpmeet should be handed to them on a platter. At worst, these young men become incels, raging at both feminists and alpha men who corner all the pretty ladies. Peterson shares their pain. Hes said some unwise things about how enforced monogamy would solve the problem, by which he did not mean the government doling out wives, as is sometimes claimed, but restoring social pressures to marry. (Good luck with that.) But he is also their drill sergeant: Clean your room. Be good at your job. Life is tough, but remember Rule 11: Do not allow yourself to become resentful, deceitful, or arrogant.

Not surprisingly, Peterson takes a dim view of feminism. Basically, he believes all women want to have babiesthey just dont want to have them with a manbaby. This contradictionpatriarchy is good, but men are flubbing itleads him into all kinds of strange places. Famously, he contends that symbolically, men represent order, women chaos. Really? Shouldnt that be the other way around? Who, after all, is cleaning and tidying, cooking, reorganizing the fridge, remembering to pick up the dry cleaning and send out birthday cards and put the parent-teacher conference on the calendarusually while holding down a job as well? Compare the apartments of single men and women in their 20s: Which sex is sleeping on sheets that havent been changed in three months? Maybe men were orderly in the distant past, for example when they served in the Roman armyall that building of forts and organizing of equipment Julius Caesar wrote about, to say nothing of keeping ones armor and weaponry polished and ready for action. But today? Theres a reason why a young man who fails to launch is described as living in Moms basement. Good old Mom. She probably still does his laundry.

I have no doubt that some people have been goaded into self-improvement by Peterson. He is quite right that peoplewomen as well as menneed meaning and purpose in their lives, need to find things they care about and to try their hardest to be good at them. Caught between the belief that they deserve to move forward without having to compete with pesky women, and the fact that the milestones of adulthood, like marriage and parenthood, may be economically out of reach, men can find it hard to resist cheap cynicism. But like it or not, we are social beings, so Rule 1: Do not carelessly denigrate social institutions or creative achievement. Fortunately for the sarcastic among us, carelessly leaves a lot of wiggle room.

When it comes to stern and sober life advice, the best book is still Marcus Aureliuss Meditations, which has been guiding people through the struggles of life for at least a thousand years and is, moreover, well-written and short. Its advice can be summarized as follows. Rule 1: Try as hard as you can to be a good, responsible, serious person. Rule 2: Be aware that much of life is out of your control. Rule 3: In any case, soon you will be dead.

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Jordan Petersons New Rules Are Old News - The Nation