World of Warcraft 👹 and Chinese Prisoners ⚖️

·40 min·4 clips

Dave O'Neil crashes his brand-new Audi while parking at a hospital, overwhelmed by its own safety beepers.

The episode begins with Dave O'Neil sharing a personal anecdote about his new Audi, detailing how its numerous beepers and cameras led to a parking mishap at a hospital where he hit a pole. This segues into a broader rant about overbearing smart technology, including cars that autonomously contact dealerships for service and parking meters that automatically issue fines. The hosts then transition to the core premise of the podcast, introducing the two seemingly unrelated topics: World of Warcraft, a massive multiplayer online role-playing game, and Chinese prisoners. They explore their own limited knowledge of video games, reminiscing about classics like Pac-Man and discussing modern games like Fortnite and Grand Theft Auto, while touching on debates about violence in gaming. To gain insight, they call Dave's brother Mark, an avid gamer, who explains World of Warcraft's mechanics, such as character creation and gold mining. Mark reveals the connection: in 2011, Chinese prison bosses forced inmates to play World of Warcraft for 12-hour shifts to farm virtual gold, which was then sold for real money, sometimes under harsh conditions. After the call, the hosts speculate humorously about Chinese prison life, including food and conditions, while expressing caution about political sensitivity. The episode concludes with a comedic tangent about a chef who goes to the bathroom during recording, leaving the hosts wondering about his whereabouts as they wrap up.

As heard by us

A new car's parking beepers lead into Minecraft money, uneasy jokes, surfing, and a toilet-stalled finish.

A new car turns into a reluctant therapy session for one host, with parking beepers, cameras and steering-wheel warnings making every drive feel like a small negotiation.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Press play for a highfalutin car therapy session that swerves into Minecraft money, supermarket self-censorship, surfing and a toilet-door mystery.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Somehow Related with Glenn Robbins and Dave O'Neil