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2,520 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★ - 51 ratingsThe latest in-depth coverage covering the intersection of technology and culture will help you make sense of a world in constant transformation. Join us as we explore the ways technology is changing our lives.
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Episodes
Elon Musk's Neuralink Had a Brain Implant Setback. It May Come Down to Design
May 13, 2024 11:00 - 9 minutesNeuralink experienced a mechanical issue with its first human brain-computer interface implant. Its novel design may make it more prone to failure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How Not to Get Brain-Eating Worms and Mercury Poisoning
May 10, 2024 11:00 - 8 minutesIndependent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. had both a brain parasite and mercury poisoning at the same time. Just how rare is each condition? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
OpenAI Is ‘Exploring’ How to Responsibly Generate AI Porn
May 09, 2024 11:00 - 5 minutesOpenAI released draft guidelines for how it wants the AI technology inside ChatGPT to behave—and revealed that it’s exploring how to ‘responsibly’ generate explicit content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
OpenAI Offers an Olive Branch to Artists Wary of Feeding AI Algorithms
May 08, 2024 11:00 - 7 minutesChatGPT developer OpenAI says that artists and other content owners will be able to request that their work be excluded from use in AI development. Many details of the scheme remain unclear. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
No One Knows How Far Bird Flu Has Spread
May 07, 2024 11:00 - 7 minutesWith little incentive for US farmers to test their cattle, and many undocumented laborers on dairy farms, the full scale of the outbreak is unclear. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The US Government Is Asking Big Tech to Promise Better Cybersecurity
May 02, 2024 11:00 - 10 minutesThe Biden administration is asking tech companies to sign a pledge, obtained by WIRED, to improve their digital security, including reduced default password use and improved vulnerability disclosures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The White House Has a New Master Plan to Stop Worst-Case Scenarios
May 01, 2024 11:00 - 10 minutesPresident Joe Biden will update the directives to protect US critical infrastructure against major threats, from cyberattacks to terrorism to climate change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Net Neutrality Returns to a Very Different Internet
April 29, 2024 11:00 - 8 minutesThe FCC voted 3-2 to restore net neutrality rules that had disappeared during the Trump administration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Net Neutrality Returns to a Very Different Internet
April 29, 2024 11:00 - 8 minutesThe FCC voted 3-2 to restore net neutrality rules that had disappeared during the Trump administration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ads for Explicit ‘AI Girlfriends’ Are Swarming Facebook and Instagram
April 26, 2024 11:00 - 10 minutesWIRED found thousands of ads running on Meta’s social platforms promoting sexually explicit “AI girlfriend” apps. Some human sex workers say the platform unfairly polices their own posts more harshly. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Noncompetes Are Dead—and Tech Workers Are Free to Roam
April 25, 2024 11:00 - 7 minutesA new rule from the US Federal Trade Commission invalidates most noncompete agreements, frequently used to bind tech workers. It could unlock higher wages, and more entrepreneurship and innovation. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bitcoin Miners Brace for the ‘Halving’—and Race to Cash In
April 24, 2024 11:00 - 7 minutesThe Bitcoin halving is imminent. Crypto mining companies are reaching for every trick in the book to survive it. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Plant-Based Meat Boomed. Here Comes the Bust
April 23, 2024 11:00 - 6 minutesSales of vegan meat are trending downward in the US, with companies scrambling to win back customers. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Real-Time Deepfake Romance Scams Have Arrived
April 22, 2024 11:00 - 11 minutesSmooth-talking scammers known as “Yahoo Boys” use widely available face-swapping tech to carry out elaborate romance scams. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What If Your AI Girlfriend Hated You?
April 19, 2024 11:00 - 6 minutesAngryGF offers a perpetually enraged chatbot intended to teach men better communication skills. WIRED took it for a spin. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How One Author Pushed the Limits of AI Copyright
April 18, 2024 11:00 - 12 minutesElisa Shupe was initially rebuffed when she tried to copyright a book she wrote with help from ChatGPT. Now the US Copyright Office has changed course—but there’s a catch. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Google Workers Protest Cloud Contract With Israel's Government
April 17, 2024 11:00 - 6 minutesGoogle employees are staging sit-ins and protests at company offices in New York and California over “Project Nimbus,” a cloud contract with Israel's government, as the country's war with Hamas continues. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It Takes Guts, Not College, to Fix Wind Turbines for a Living
April 16, 2024 11:00 - 6 minutesWant one of the fastest-growing jobs in the US? Get used to being high. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bird Flu Is Spreading in Alarming New Ways
April 15, 2024 11:00 - 11 minutesH5N1 has infected cattle across the US and jumped from a mammal to a human for the first time. Experts fear it may someday evolve to spread among humans. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Eric Schmidt Warned Against China’s AI Industry. Emails Show He Also Sought Connections to It
April 12, 2024 11:00 - 12 minutesTransparency advocates say that Eric Schmidt's pursuit of “personal” connections with AI companies in China represents a concerning conflict of interest. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Europe Rules That Insufficient Climate Change Action Is a Human Rights Violation
April 11, 2024 11:00 - 8 minutesIn a landmark ruling, the European Court of Human Rights found that Switzerland had not done enough to protect its citizens from climate change—blowing open the door for further cases against governments. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Students Are Likely Writing Millions of Papers With AI
April 10, 2024 11:00 - 7 minutesTurnitin, a service that checks papers for plagiarism, says its detection tool found millions of papers that may have a significant amount of AI-generated content. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How I Became a Python Programmer—and Fell Out of Love With the Machine
April 09, 2024 11:00 - 9 minutesWhen I started coding, I was suspicious of all the abstractions. Then I discovered the Django framework. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A TikTok Whistleblower Got DC’s Attention. Do His Claims Add Up?
April 08, 2024 14:08 - 11 minutesZen Goziker worked at TikTok for only six months. Many of his allegations about the company and the US government are improbable. But he still may have shaped how the app is viewed in Washington. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
OpenAI’s GPT Store Is Triggering Copyright Complaints
April 05, 2024 11:00 - 10 minutesA publisher says some chatbots in OpenAI’s GPT Store were created using its copyrighted textbooks. OpenAI has taken down some of the bots but could face more complaints from rights holders. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Meta Kills a Crucial Transparency Tool At the Worst Possible Time
April 04, 2024 11:00 - 8 minutesCrowdTangle helps researchers track disinformation, but Meta will close it down before the US election. The tool's cofounder, Brandon Silverman, says it's time to force companies to share data. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Citizen Zoo Is Rewilding the UK, One Grasshopper at a Time
April 03, 2024 11:00 - 8 minutesThe London-based social enterprise is turning regular people into at-home zookeepers. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How to Resist the Temptation of AI When Writing
April 02, 2024 11:00 - 9 minutesFollow these tips to produce stronger writing that stands out on the web even in the age of AI and ChatGPT. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Smartphones Do or Don’t Harm Kids! So Which Is It?
April 01, 2024 11:00 - 11 minutesTwo new books offer radically different approaches to how people should think about smartphones and social media. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Earth Will Feast on Dead Cicadas
March 29, 2024 11:00 - 9 minutesTwo cicada broods, XIX and XIII, are emerging in sync for the first time in 221 years. Birds, trees, and dirt are about to get the banquet of a lifetime. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Baltimore Bridge Collapse Is About to Get Even Messier
March 28, 2024 11:00 - 6 minutesClosing the city’s seaport will send shockwaves across global shipping. Supersized container ships pose a growing risk to bridges and other infrastructure when things go wrong. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Enjoy Your Favorite Wine Before Climate Change Destroys It
March 27, 2024 11:00 - 11 minutesExtreme heat and droughts are making it harder to grow grapes in many traditional regions. Here’s how scientists are helping the industry adapt. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A Deepfake Nude Generator Reveals a Chilling Look at Its Victims
March 26, 2024 11:00 - 11 minutesWIRED reporting uncovered a site that “nudifies” photos for a fee—and posts a feed appearing to show user uploads. They included photos of young girls and images seemingly taken of strangers. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why You Hear Voices in Your White Noise Machine
March 25, 2024 11:00 - 8 minutesIf you've ever heard music, voices, or other sounds while trying to sleep with a white noise machine running, you're not losing your mind. Here's what's going on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Feds Are Trying to Get Plants to Mine Metal Through Their Roots
March 22, 2024 11:00 - 8 minutesSome species can absorb extreme amounts of nickel from soils. Such “phytomining” could help provide batteries essential for the renewable revolution. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The World Needs to Crack Battery Recycling, Fast
March 21, 2024 11:00 - 9 minutesThe shift to electric vehicles is exciting, but it will leave us with thousands of tonnes of spent batteries. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why Is the Slack Hold Music So Haunted and So Good?
March 20, 2024 11:00 - 10 minutesThose sounds you hear when you’re alone in a Huddle aren’t canned. They’re uncanny. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Designer Who’s Trying to Transform Your City Into a Sponge
March 19, 2024 11:00 - 8 minutesKongjian Yu pioneered China’s “sponge city” concept—less concrete and more green spaces to exploit stormwater instead of fighting it. Metropolises all over the world are following suit. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
States Are Lining Up to Outlaw Lab-Grown Meat
March 18, 2024 13:09 - 10 minutesAround 46 million Americans live in states that have introduced bills to ban cultivated meat, the latest escalation in a surprising culture war. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Regulators Need AI Expertise. They Can’t Afford It
March 15, 2024 11:00 - 8 minutesThe European AI Office and the UK government are trying to hire experts to study and regulate the AI boom—but are offering salaries far short of industry compensation. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ageism Haunts Some Tech Workers in the Race to Get Hired
March 14, 2024 11:00 - 9 minutesHundreds of thousands of tech workers have been laid off since 2022. Some who don’t fit the young coder archetype say being more experienced can feel like a disadvantage. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Rampant Wildfires Are Threatening a Collapse of the Amazon Rainforest
March 13, 2024 11:00 - 9 minutesRainforests in South America are burning this year faster than ever before, setting the course for a collapse of the Amazon in the coming decades. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Quest to Give AI Chatbots a Hand—and an Arm
March 12, 2024 11:00 - 7 minutesRobotics startup Covariant is experimenting with a ChatGPT-style chatbot that can control a robotic arm, as a way to create machines that can be more helpful in the physical world. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apple Could Be the First Target of Europe's Tough New Tech Law
March 11, 2024 11:00 - 7 minutesAn architect of the EU's tough new Digital Markets Acts says Apple would be a logical first candidate for investigation under the law, which aims to “break open” tech platforms. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Europe Is Breaking Open the Empires of Big Tech
March 08, 2024 12:00 - 9 minutesTech giants have to comply with a new EU law that is set to change the internet. It aims to force open the biggest platforms to encourage competition and give users more choice in their digital lives. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Scientists Are Inching Closer to Bringing Back the Woolly Mammoth
March 07, 2024 11:00 - 8 minutesDe-extinction startup Colossal Biosciences claims it has found a way to reprogram elephant cells, a technical breakthrough that could lead to the return of the long-lost mammals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Mysterious Case of the Missing Trump Trial Ransomware Leak
March 06, 2024 12:00 - 9 minutesThe notorious LockBit gang promised a Georgia court leak "that could affect the upcoming US election.” It didn't materialize—but the story may not be over yet. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Google’s Deal With StackOverflow Is the Latest Proof That AI Giants Will Pay for Data
March 05, 2024 12:00 - 6 minutesStackOverflow’s programming community will power a version of Google’s Gemini chatbot. It’s part of a new breed of AI data licensing deals with websites seeking a cut of the generative AI boom. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Elon Musk’s Lawsuit Against a Group That Found Hate Speech on X Isn’t Going Well
March 04, 2024 12:00 - 8 minutesX alleges that the Center for Countering Digital Hate cost it millions by showing that hate speech was spreading on the platform. In a hearing Thursday, a federal judge sounded skeptical of those claims. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tesla’s Charging Network is Now Open to Other EVs and Ford Is First In Line
March 01, 2024 12:00 - 6 minutesFrom today, Ford electric car drivers can plug into the Supercharger network. You can bet more makers will follow. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices