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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
The Physics—and Physicality—of Extreme Juggling
May 17, 2018 16:31 - 8 minutesAmong the (many, many) things you probably do not know about juggling is the fact that it is, at times, a physically grueling act. It's something I certainly failed to appreciate before meeting Alex Barron. We recently met at a squash court in Burbank, California so I could watch him practice his craft. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How to Record Calls on Your Smartphone
May 17, 2018 07:11 - 4 minutesRecording a phone call used to require an external gadget that connected a digital recorder to a desk phone's base and handset. It's still one of the most reliable ways to capture a conversation, but it's not exactly convenient. These days, smartphone apps and cloud services make recording phone calls easy and convenient—whether you want to save a conversation with grandma, or a particularly candid conversation with a White House official. There are a couple of ways you can do it. Learn more ...
Marfa, Texas Is Getting Its Own Solar-Powered Stonehenge
May 16, 2018 16:30 - 7 minutesOver the past six months, on a patch of desert ranchland outside Marfa, Texas, one man's mysterious vision has been taking shape. First, nine massive chunks of quarried black marble were trucked in from northern Mexico and craned into a circular formation, echoing Stone and Bronze Age erections in the British Isles. Next, one of the megaliths, the "king stone," was outfitted with a state-of-the-art solar array; at the same time, the other eight were carved to integrate LED lights and speakers...
Acura's RDX Comes With an Easy-to-Use Infotainment System
May 16, 2018 07:11 - 6 minutesThe modern car has a problem. Over the past decade, automakers have raced to offer their smartphone-addled customers a bonanza of features: navigation, texting, phone calls, satellite radio, Bluetooth, ways to check tire pressure and oil temperature, suspension settings, charging status, and more. Then they try to stick all those things into an interface whose users are usually pretty busy—driving the 2-ton metal boxes that kill nearly 40,000 people in the US every year. Learn more about your...
Americans Can't Have Audi's Super Capable Self-Driving System
May 15, 2018 16:31 - 6 minutesBetween Silicon Valley’s disruption-happy tech giants and Detroit’s suddenly totally on board automakers, it’s easy to think of America as the center of the self-driving universe. And so it seems a bit backwards that Audi has decided to release the world’s most capable semiautonomous driving feature in … Europe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Vehicle of the Future Has Two Wheels, Handlebars, and Is a Bike
May 15, 2018 07:11 - 5 minutesWhat’s the shiniest, most exciting new technology for transportation? Well, there are plenty of candidates! We’ve got the self-driving car and drones big enough to carry people. Elon Musk is getting ready to bore hyperloop tunnels. When it comes to moving humans around, the future looks to be merging with sci-fi. But from where I stand, the most exciting form of transportation technology is more than 100 years old—and it’s probably sitting in your garage. Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...
'Westworld' Is Turning Into Lost—for Better or for Worse
May 14, 2018 17:09 - 8 minutesI never should have started watching Westworld. Not because I didn’t think it’d be good. An HBO show based on a Michael Crichton idea starring Evan Rachel Wood with all kinds of artificial intelligence? Sign me up! The problem wasn’t that Westworld wouldn’t be enjoyable, it was that it’s the kind of show that invites obsession. The kind that presents Big Questions—that never get answered. I worried, essentially, that it was going to be the next Lost. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit po...
HTC Vive Pro Review: An Expensive VR Upgrade
May 14, 2018 07:11 - 14 minutesThe first time I wore the HTC Vive, it was like putting on a century-old metal diving suit. It was a heavy, hideous-looking 3D-printed early unit with a thick bundle of cords streaming out the back. It was so delicate that one of the developers had to hold the cables them so I could walk around without breaking it (or myself). Looks aren’t everything, though. That prototype Vive sent me down to the bottom of the ocean to walk around for the first time and let me stare a blue whale in the eye....
Is Amazon Prime Still Worth It?
May 11, 2018 16:31 - 6 minutesOn Friday, for the first time in four years, Amazon has raised the price of its Prime benefits program. What once cost $99 annually now costs $119 for new members; existing Prime subscriptions will get bumped whenever they renew, starting June 16. But while nobody likes a 20 percent hike, it's a good reminder that Amazon Prime is as worth it as you want it to be. If past is prologue, the price change won’t inspire many people to cancel their Prime accounts. Learn more about your ad choices. V...
The Complex Engineering of Aston Martin's DB11 Volante
May 11, 2018 07:11 - 7 minutesIf you were asked to name the craziest thing that ever happened to an Aston Martin inside a laboratory, you’d likely invoke some witty repartee between James Bond and Q. But that’s only because you don’t know how Aston’s engineering department developed the roof for the 2018 DB11 Volante. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Inside the Arena Where Drones Battle a Wall of 1,300 Computer Fans
May 10, 2018 16:50 - 5 minutesWind is the worst. It messes up hair, it blows stuff in eyes, and most famously and rudely of all, one time it made a bridge in Washington twist and undulate until it exploded. Alright, maybe that was the fault of the engineers, not the wind. But still, strong gusts have the potential to threaten many technologies, including a new one: drones. If you’ve ever taken a quadcopter out on a windy day, you know the struggle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Childish Gambino's 'This Is America' and the New Shape of Protest Music
May 10, 2018 08:53 - 9 minutesIn 2014, a Rolling Stone poll declared Bob Dylan’s "Masters of War" the best protest song of our time. Recorded in April of 1963, during that fierce spell of racial and economic tumult, Dylan, in his folksy pragmatism, rages against the Cold War and the military industrial complex. "You play with my world/ Like it’s your little toy," he sings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
AI Isn’t a Crystal Ball, But It Might Be a Mirror
May 09, 2018 16:30 - 10 minutesEveryone from the ACLU to the Koch brothers wants to reduce the number of people in prison and in jail. Liberals view mass incarceration as an unjust result of a racist system. Conservatives view the criminal justice system as an inefficient system in dire need of reform. But both sides agree: Reducing the number of people behind bars is an all-around good idea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A Robotics Startup Perishes, and It’s Got Tales to Tell
May 09, 2018 07:11 - 8 minutesTickTock has run out of time. Don’t fret if you don’t know what that is—after all, the startup launched just a year ago. But in that time the company cycled through four different consumer robot concepts in the hopes of shaping the future of the home, moving beyond simpleton Roombas to truly intelligent machines. After TickTock's collapse, though, co-founder and ex-Googler Ryan Hickman is talking candidly about what it’s like to build an unwanted robot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...
Star Wars Is Becoming a Religion, and May 4 Is Its Spring Festival
May 08, 2018 16:31 - 6 minutesIt’s not even that good a play on words: May the Fourth Be With You. That’s all it takes to have a holiday? A pun? The joke at least has been around almost as long as Star Wars itself; official Star Wars doctrine traces the etymology to an ad congratulating Margaret Thatcher on the day she won the election to become Prime Minister of Britain in 1979, just two years after the first movie premiered. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Rudy Giuliani’s Many Recent Revelations Top This Week’s Internet News Roundup
May 08, 2018 07:11 - 10 minutesLast week was so busy that we barely got to talk about failed Senate candidate Roy Moore filing a lawsuit claiming sexual misconduct allegations against him threw off his 2017 campaign. There also wasn't much time to talk about Stormy Daniels suing President Trump for defamation, or Paul Ryan’s surreal war with the House Chaplin, or even the fact that there’s a volcano erupting in Hawaii. Seriously. It’s been a helluva week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
'Westworld' Recap, Season 2 Episode 3: Robot, Human, and Everything in Between
May 07, 2018 16:30 - 9 minutesWestworld watchers, we knew this moment was coming. The second season's third episode, "Virtù e Fortuna," opens not in Westworld but in an India-themed park. Where Westworld is an emblem of the colonization of Native American land, this park represents Britain's takeover of the subcontinent, and the racial-social hierarchy is clearly encoded: Women in saris and men in turbans—the hosts—walk amidst people dressed in turn-of-the-20th-century British garb. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...
Why Is NASA's InSight Mars Mission Launching from California?
May 07, 2018 07:11 - 6 minutesThe month-long launch window for NASA’s new Mars lander, InSight opens this weekend. InSight will be the first spacecraft to use a robotic arm to place its instruments on another planet’s soil—effectively unraveling the innards of the Red Planet. It’s also the first interplanetary mission to launch from the West Coast instead of Cape Canaveral, and it may not be the last. InSight isn’t a rover, like Curiosity or Opportunity, but a stationary lander. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit pod...
How Fans Helped Hasbro Build Its Biggest Star Wars Ship Ever
May 04, 2018 16:30 - 12 minutesToys and Star Wars are inextricably linked forever and ever. Star Wars creator George Lucas famously waived part of his directing fee and retained the insanely lucrative rights to Star Wars merchandise in a deal that has gone down in history as a catastrophic blunder on the part of 20th Century Fox. The studio was skeptical this oddball space movie would resonate with audiences, even if its critters, spaceships, and memorable villains seem like obvious toys in hindsight. Learn more about your...
Facebook Hid Unreleased Features in Its AR Scavenger Hunt at F8
May 04, 2018 07:11 - 11 minutesIf what technologists say is true, then at some point in the not-so-distant future we'll be unburdened of our phones and will experience augmented reality through smart glasses instead. For now, though, we're still standing en masse, pointing our phones at an unremarkable wall at a convention center in San Jose, California, all for the chance to see a simple AR animation. That's how the future was being represented this week at F8, anyway. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoice...
How to Interact With Robots Without Embarrassing Yourself
May 03, 2018 16:31 - 6 minutesFew things in this world are as exhausting as interacting with humans. You’ve got to maintain eye contact (ugh) and watch for subtle body language (ugh) and pay attention the whole time (ugh). And if you think that’s tough, wait until you start interacting with robots, which aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer just yet. It’s going to be hell. That is unless, of course, a particular breed of roboticist can get humans and machines to form a strange new kind of bond. Learn more about your a...
‘Avengers: Infinity War’: We Need to Talk About That Ending
May 03, 2018 07:11 - 13 minutesLast weekend Avengers: Infinity War made more than $640 million at the global box office—and at least $258 million of that came from domestic theaters, a number that easily bests previous record holder Star Wars: The Force Awakens. This is relevant for two reasons: One, holy crap that’s a lot of money. Two, it means we can finally talk about this movie freely since pretty much anyone who wanted to see it has now done so, apparently. That’s good; there’s a lot to discuss. Learn more about your...
Buying a Tesla? Don't Count on That $7,500 Tax Credit
May 02, 2018 16:30 - 7 minutesThis afternoon, Elon Musk will get on the phone with Tesla's investors. He will field their questions about Model 3 production numbers, cash flow, the possibility of profitability, maybe even where he sleeps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apple’s Done Making Airport Routers, So Try These Instead
May 02, 2018 07:11 - 7 minutesClose observers of Apple’s networking products—surely they exist—know that the company hasn’t updated its Airport line of Wi-Fi routers since 2013. That’s so many iPhones ago! This week, the company made it official: It will no longer churn out Airport Express, Extreme, or Time Capsule routers. Rather than mourn the end of an era, take the chance to give your home Wi-Fi a boost with one of these newer, better alternatives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Authors of Wikipedia's Most-Cited Source Had No Idea
May 01, 2018 16:31 - 7 minutesEach time a volunteer editor adds a new fact to one of Wikipedia's over 44 million articles, they're required to cite where they learned it. The nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation, which oversees the encyclopedia, became interested in what kinds of sources editors rely on the most. A recent study conducted by the organization revealed something fascinating: A single academic paper, published by three Australian researchers in 2007, has been cited by Wikipedia editors over 2. Learn more about your...
Could Artificial Intelligence Predict the Next 'Avengers: Infinity War'?
May 01, 2018 07:11 - 8 minutesSome movies are obvious hits. Like, for example, Avengers: Infinity War, which made a record-breaking $258 million at the domestic box office last weekend, filling seats and the pockets of Marvel Studios parent company Disney. But not every summer—or spring, or fall—blockbuster has the benefit of 10 years and 18 movies of built-up audience goodwill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Don't Feel Bad for Loving True Crime Stories
April 30, 2018 16:30 - 6 minutesMary Rickert’s short story collection You Have Never Been Here is one of the most disturbing books of recent years, with many of the stories touching on the abduction or victimization of children. Unsurprisingly, Rickert says she has a longstanding interest in true crime stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why the New Snap Spectacles Matter
April 30, 2018 07:11 - 6 minutesDon’t look now, but the next computing platform is coming. It won't be a phone, or a laptop, or a miniputer you wear on your wrist. It will be a pair of glasses that upend the way you communicate, find information, and view the world around you. Want a glimpse of that future? Take a look through Snap’s Spectacles. Hold up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Crazy, Complex Engineering of Honda's New Clarity Hybrid
April 27, 2018 16:30 - 7 minutesIn the world of automotive propulsion, the hierarchy of complication goes something like this: Pure electric cars are simple; internal combustion engines, with many more parts and those explosions, are complex. Hybrids, which make the two work in concert, are extra complex. Honda’s Clarity Plug-In Hybrid calls for a new category: so-complex-it-makes-your-head-spin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
'God of War' Is a Messy, Beguiling Take on Fantasy Violence and Toxic Masculinity
April 27, 2018 07:11 - 8 minutesKratos, the star of the God of War series of action games, is a bad man. Devised as an ersatz Achilles edgy enough for gaming in the mid-00s, all anger and very little pathos, the one-time god and long-time god-killer is one of the biggest dicks in the medium. He had a family, once; he murdered them. He was a womanizing, cruel, monstrous hero. Over three games, he single-handedly slaughtered the entire Greek pantheon, destroying everyone and everything who got in his way. Learn more about you...
Beats Studio3 Wireless Review: Phenomenal Noise Cancelling and Bass for Days
April 26, 2018 16:31 - 7 minutesAm I enjoying these Beats too much? I’ve asked myself that question a few times in the last couple weeks. For years, I’ve listened to audiophiles rail against Beats by Dre headphones, saying they were all style, no substance. For the money, they just didn’t sound very good and put too much emphasis on a bass-heavy sound. Sure enough, the first thing I noticed about the Beats Studio3 Wireless was that low, heavy sound signature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Google Tasks: Hands On With Google's New To-Do List App
April 26, 2018 07:11 - 5 minutesWhile Google rightly gets a lot of flack for its scattered approach to messaging, its to-do list offerings have been a close second for sprawling, scrambled efforts. There's Google Keep, a note-taking app; Google Reminders, which nag you about Calendar events, email follow-ups, or Keep notes; and Google Tasks, which originated in Gmail nearly a decade ago as a stripped-down to-do list feature. None of these services have historically played particularly nice together. Learn more about your ad...
'Handmaid’s Tale' Season 2 Looks Eerily More Familiar Than Season 1
April 25, 2018 16:31 - 7 minutesIn the second season of Handmaid’s Tale, everything is different. It has to be. For one, the first season's plot burned through almost all of its source material, Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel of the same name. For another, the inaugural season was filmed during the 2016 election cycle—a time when many thought America might be on the way to its first female presidency—and Season 2 was written and filmed entirely during the administration of President Donald Trump. Learn more about yo...
How to Clean Your Computer Inside and Out
April 25, 2018 07:11 - 11 minutesIt’s a tedious task you've been putting off for what could be years. But the moment has come: You're going to clean your computer inside and out. That means scrubbing down those keys and wiping the fossilized fingerprints off your screen. It also means deleting all the files you secretly downloaded when you were trying to figure out how to make a GIF, and finally tidying up your feeds on social media. You Will Need Before doing anything, you need to turn off your device. Unplug it as well. Le...
Flipboard's Answer to Fake News: More Human Curation
April 24, 2018 16:31 - 5 minutesFake news is hardly new news, but over the past couple years it's found a new home across social media and other news aggregators. And, perhaps, not surprisingly, people's trust of the news isn't at an all-time high. But people have also started paying more attention to the news, at least in the US. The Pew Research Center reports that last year more Americans followed the news "very closely" than the number of people who said they did in 2016. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastc...
'Westworld' Recap, Season 2 Episode 1: No More Heroes
April 24, 2018 07:11 - 8 minutesA favorite motif of Westworld is the shattering of its heroes. Bernard isn’t only a thoughtful-yet-murderous host, he’s Arnold! Then there’s gallant, love-struck William—oh wait, he’s the Man in Black! Sweet, all-suffering Dolores—crap, she’s also the crazy killer Wyatt. Season 2 of the futuristic drama is no different. But this time the reversal is on a grander scale. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Corals Are in Serious Trouble. This Lab Could Help Save Them
April 23, 2018 16:30 - 8 minutesNestled among giant fish tanks at the California Academy of Sciences, there's a black box—just big enough to hold six aquariums and maybe five humans. What it lacks in size, though, it makes up for in preciousness: Running here is a experiment that could help save corals from annihilation. The corals in these tanks are reproducing sexually. Which is weird, because even out in the wild, coral spawning is a fragile process, easily disrupted by changes in temperature and acidity. Learn more abou...
The Selfie as We Know It Is Dead
April 23, 2018 07:11 - 6 minutesThe duck face, the fish gape, the smize—these are just a few of the time-honored poses that celebrities, influencers, and the Instagram-happy masses have relied upon to create perfect selfies. But a lot has changed since the early aughts, when people first started training their smartphone lenses on themselves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Calling Facebook a Utility Would Only Make Things Worse
April 20, 2018 16:30 - 7 minutesFacebook is massive. Six million advertisers use Facebook's vast data holdings to perfectly target ads reaching more than 1.4 billion daily (and 2.1 billion monthly) active users, amounting to almost 40 percent of the global internet population. That enormous user base forms a castle wall around Facebook’s core ad business, because few other companies can promise the same level of return for ad spends. It's trendy this month to call on the US government to rein in Facebook. Learn more about y...
The Clever Vine-Like Robot That Grows and Steers With Air
April 20, 2018 07:11 - 4 minutesIn a hallway of an engineering building at Stanford University, some devilish researchers have built a sprawling obstacle course. To make it through, competitors have to wind over sand, through a door, up some steps, and finally, through a forest of small pillars. Sounds like the Rube Goldbergian machinations of an grad student with too much time and Red Bull on their hands, but no: This is a robot training ground. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Airbus Is Making Beds for Economy Fliers—in the Cargo Hold
April 19, 2018 16:32 - 5 minutesIf you've seen old-timey photos of aviation in the early decades of the jet age and wondered where all the glamour went, you've been flying economy. When airlines change the back of the plane, it's usually to pack in more passengers or install something you can give them money to enjoy. For those who turn left as they board, life aloft is swankier than ever. But last week at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, economy fliers got a bit of good, if not quite glamorous, news. Learn more abou...
Welcome to the Wikipedia for Terms of Service Agreements
April 19, 2018 07:11 - 9 minutesMost people spend very little time thinking about the terms of service that govern life online. The agreement appears in a flash, we affirm that "I agree to the terms of service," and then it's all quickly forgotten. Until, of course, something goes wrong. Last week, when Mark Zuckerberg appeared before Congress to defend Facebook, more than one senator pointed to the company's terms of service. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tax Refund Tech Deals: Roomba, Essential Phone, Dell, Sony
April 18, 2018 16:32 - 4 minutesIf you're in the mood for shopping, this is a great, great week. Especially if you're awaiting a juicy tax refund, why not treat yourself to something you probably need? Nintendo's Labo kits come out this Friday and are currently available for pre-order. You can learn more about the kits, which we love, and how to order them, here Our friends at TechBargains have also found our favorite robot vacuum, the iRobot Roomba 690, on sale. Read on for more great tech deals. Learn more about your ad c...
Airstream's New Nest Camper is Cute and Practical
April 18, 2018 07:11 - 5 minutesTell people you’re vacationing in a trailer (or a caravan, if you’re in Europe), and you might get a snobbish raised eyebrow. Tell them you’re striking out for freedom in an Airstream, and you’ll get envious glares. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Rise and Feel of VR Pornography
April 17, 2018 16:30 - 30 minutesThe porn industry may have changed a lot in the digital age, but some things still live up to the stereotype. Like, say, this house in the San Fernando Valley, which is the nation’s capital of adult film production. From the outside, it doesn’t look all that different from the other million-dollar properties in this Los Angeles suburb. Inside, it’s just another day at the office—if your business happens to be making adult films. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adcho...
'Rampage': 14 Unanswered Questions About the Rock’s New Movie
April 17, 2018 07:11 - 6 minutesDid you guys see? The Rock has a new movie out. It’s called Rampage. It’s based on an mid-’80s arcade game—though you’d never know that—and, like most Dwayne Johnson movies, it involves The Rock wearing an impossibly tight T-shirt over his muscle-wall frame. Things blow up; the ones that don't get smashed to pieces. Tactical gear figures prominently in it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Best Weekend Tech Deals: LG OLED, Kindle, Alienware, Megaboom
April 16, 2018 16:30 - 5 minutesWho woulda thunk it? Even though we've just survived another Friday the 13th, the bad luck hasn't impacted the number of tech deals. There's still a huge sale on Amazon devices like the Kindle and Fire tablets. That sale ends April 16, but we also put up some tech deals earlier this week that are still relevant. Check out TechBargains for more great deals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Runtopia Reach Smart Running Shoes: Stride Right
April 16, 2018 07:11 - 7 minutesIf you’ve never had a running coach, let me describe the experience: your coach doesn’t just plan your workouts and critique your form. They also make sure you’re eating the right food and wearing supportive shoes. He or she might even make you do sit-ups when you start slouching like a 90-year-old grandma from the Planet Slow. The best coaches are a combination of ruthless drill sergeant, physical therapist, and older sibling. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Catching up With Pepper, the Surprisingly Helpful Humanoid Robot
April 13, 2018 16:31 - 6 minutesListen, humans are great and all, but sometimes they’re horrible. That’s especially true if you’ve just spent 12 hours stuck in a flying aluminum tube with a few hundred of them. Now all you want to do is lock yourself in a hotel room, and for the love of all that is holy get away from humans. Ah, but wait. The cursed fates dictate that someone’s gotta check you into your hotel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ridge Merino Heist Hoodie Review: Wonderful Wool
April 13, 2018 07:11 - 5 minutesEvery spring, I look forward to a beloved Pacific Northwestern seasonal ritual. I’m out tromping somewhere in boots, hood pulled over my head, and squint upward towards the sky. “Wait a second,” I think. “Is it sunny...and hailing? At the same time?” Yes, warm weather will be here soon, but it’s not time to set aside those wool base layers just yet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices