If you’d asked if the market for urban singles looking to date might be organized simply with the swipe of a finger in 2010, most people would disbelievingly have shaken their heads—and with great conviction. But just how much the World has changed since then is evident from a look at the numbers alone. More than half of American couples who married in 2024 met on a dating app. Naturally, this shift has serious implications, one of which is evident in the observation that a decisive bottleneck for young men lies in their inability to make a lasting impression in a photograph. Consequently, what is ominously labeled the Attention Economy has become a highly personal, even intimate matter—an issue that, for Orion Taraban, a San Francisco-based psychologist who treats young men, isn’t merely a daily practice but has led him to understand the Dating Market as a form of Economy.
Orion Taraban (https://oriontarabanpsyd.com/) is a truly unusual figure in his field, having specialized in coaching a large cohort of young men in the art of having a successful and fulfilling life—and sharing his insights with a large audience through his highly successful PsycHacks (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSduXBjCHkLoo_y9ss2xzXw)YouTube channel. And because he’s a product of his time, Taraban isn’t just available for personal conversations—he can also be experienced as an Avatar—an AI entity (https://oriontaraban.ai/) that carries his voice and thoughts and can serve his clients 24/7.
Orion Taraban has published
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16 Aug 2026
Talking to ... Ben Jones
When the remarkable anthropologist Mary Douglas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Douglas) observed that a civilization begins where someone cannot be held responsible for misdeeds committed in the dreams of others, we can conclude, by extension, that a culture begins its decline when it succumbs to phantastical enemy stereotypes. The current Free Speech crisis we’re witnessing is symptomatic of this decline. And having enacted blasphemy laws in the name of diversity—Great Britain stands out in particular. This brought our attention to Ben Jones, who, as Director of the Free Speech Union (https://freespeechunion.org/), deals daily with cases where an overreaching State punishes unwelcome expressions of opinion in a manner reminiscent of George Orwell’s (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell) Thoughtcrimes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoughtcrime).
Dr. Ben Jones (https://www.drbenbarryjones.co.uk/) is the Case Management Director at the Free Speech Union, founded in 2020 by Toby Young (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toby_Young). He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Warwick after completing his dissertation titled The Lived Experiences of Ex-Muslims in Great Britain. His interest in issues of Freedom of Speech began when he was elected President and Chair of the Exeter Union Debate Society (https://www.exeterdebating.co.uk/), which was originally founded in 1893 at the University of Exeter (https://www.exeter.ac.uk/). His book, Island of Strangers (https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/ben-jones-2/island-of-strangers/9780349021201/), was published in 2026
Bewn Jones has published
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11 Aug 2026
Im Gespräch mit ... Florian Hartleb
Es ist unübersehbar, dass die heutige Gesellschaft in eine tiefe Identitätskrise hineingerutscht ist. Mag sich dies im bürgerlichen Lager als diffuses Unbehagen an der digitalen Moderne artikulieren, spricht der flagrante Terrorismus eine unmissverständliche Sprache. Aber weil die politischen Beobachter dies an politische Ideologien zu knüpfen bestrebt sind, wird leicht übersehen, dass man es im wesentlichen mit einem Jugendphänomen zu tun hat. Denn zwei Drittel der Terrorverdächtigen haben, weil jünger als achtzehn Jahre, noch nicht einmal die Strafmündigkeit erreicht. Der Politikwissenschaftler Florian Hartleb, dessen Räsonnement mit der Frage des Populismus begann, wurde auf dieses Phänomen aufmerksam, als er im Jahr 2016 zum Gutachter des Terrorismusfalls am Münchner Olympia Einkaufszentrum (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anschlag_in_M%C3%BCnchen_2016) bestallt wurde. Dies war für ihn insoweit erhellend, als dieser Fall die überkommenen Deutungsschemata außer Kraft setzte: Denn der Mörder, der mit Hilfe eines gefälschten Facebook-Accounts (der eine attraktive junge Frau zeigte) neun Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund in eine Mac Donalds-Filiale gelockt und getötet hatte, war selbst ein Deutsch-Iraner, der, um nicht mit den verachteten Türken verwechselt werden, sich den Namen David zugelegt hatte und sich in rassistischen Überlegenheitsphantasien entging. Es war das Aktenstudium dieses psychologisch verwickelten Falls, der Florian Hartleb tiefer in die Frage einsteigen ließ und ihn mit einem weitgehend unverstandenen Phänomen konfrontierte: dem jugendlichen Terrorismus,
Florain Hartleb (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florian_Hartleb), der als Politikwissenschaftler verschiedene Professuren innehatte, lehrt seit 2025 internationale Beziehungen an der Modul Universität Wien. Er schaut zudem auf eine wechselvolle Karriere im politischen Betrieb zurück, im Bundestag, beim Bundesverband der mittelständischen Wirtschaft, sowie in der Konrad Adenauer- und der Bertelsmann-Stiftung. Zudem war als Forschungsdirektor beim Europäischen Forschungsinstitut für Terrorismusbekämpfung und Konfliktprävention (EICTP) tätig.
Florian Hartleb hat veröffentlicht
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Matthias Heine
Gerd Koenen
Bernhard Krötz
Daniel Markovits
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