Crashed

The next prime minister is probably Andy Burnham. And this means Burnhamism, Manchesterism and devolution are all hot topics. But what does that mean for economic growth? Technological innovation? And the UK’s second cities catching up.  In this episode, presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker talk to Tom Forth about regional economic disparities in the UK, the impact of devolution, an...

Sarah Breeden, the Bank of England’s deputy governor for financial stability, has talked about the potential need ot a “kill switch” for markets because agentic AI may force regulators to rethink how the financial system is governed.  Presenters Alex Hudson and Christ Stokel-Walker try to unpick the detail from the fantastic tabloid headlines.  Also, could we be facing the end of the nee...

Britain is changing prime minister again, which would be funny if the policy consequences were not so bleak. So this week on Crashed , Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker ignore the Westminster cosplay and ask the question that actually matters: what tech agenda does the next government inherit? From under-16 social media bans to VPN age-gating, facial age estimation at the border, AI regulation,...

In this episode, presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker delve into the complexities of social media regulation, government policies on youth online safety, and the influence of AI at the G7 summit. They explore the implications of recent policies, the role of framing in public opinion, and the future of tech regulation. They're joined by Genevieve Broadhead, global industry lead at cloud d...

Royal Mail can't even deliver mail to Post Offices... and there's literally no way to speak to a Parcelforce customer service operator directly, no matter how hard you try. Wasn't the delivery revolution meant to make everything better? The regulator keeps fining them for all the targets being missed. Presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker talk about expensive stamps, the demise of Post Of...

This episode explores the recent experiences at South by Southwest (SXSW) London, the state of XR and AI markets, and the implications of upcoming IPOs in the tech industry, including the $135-a-share gamble with SpaceX that would make it the largest IPO ever and worth nearly $1.8 trillion.  Hosts Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker share insights, critiques, and future predictions about the...

This episode explores the complex issues of shadow banning, content moderation, and the influence of AI and religion on digital society. Featuring Dr. Carolina Are, of the LSE, presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker get deep into platform policies, free speech, and the moral implications of AI development. Oh, and what “don’t be evil” did (or didn’t mean) to Google, how North Korea might b...

Britain’s next-generation high-speed rail network (HS2) was going to lay 530km of track, offer speeds of up to 225mph, cost around £33bn, and launch in 2026, when it was announced in 2012.  Now in 2026, it’ll cost up to £103bn, be under half the length (225km), slower, and won’t be completed until, potentially, 2043.  It’s gone laughably wrong. Even the government calls it “the world’s m...

Shein, the fast-fashion brand accused by many of stealing designs and ignoring copyright, accuses fast-fashion brand Temu of stealing designs and ignoring copyright. What is going on? And what does this mean for the future of copyright law? Presenters Alex Hudson get into that, the latest developments in AI regulation, the ongoing UK and EU legislative efforts, and whether Minstrels belong in popc...

Presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker explore the rise of surveillance technology, particularly by police, with investigative journalist Mark Wilding, of Liberty Investigates.  They also discuss digital ID systems, what self-sovereign identity would mean in practice, why nobody should say “purdah” any more, and the cultural significance of moustaches. Keywords: surveillance, digital...

The trial between Elon Musk and Sam Altman has reached the courtroom. Well-known philanthropist Musk claims that OpenAI, which was set up as a charity, has been stolen, is no longer open source and is sufficiently non-profit. The tail is wagging the dog, Musk has said. Presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker look at how this case might actually have a huge impact on the future of AI, the fu...

Presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker explore the emerging role of AI in polling and market research, examining its accuracy, ethical considerations, and future potential. Damian Lyons Lowe, CEO of polling company Survation, shares insights on synthetic data, the challenges of traditional polling methods, and how AI might reshape the industry. So can public polling work without the public...

The UK has not created a new music genre in a decade, DJ/producer Lo-Wu tells Crashed. As AI now accounts for around 40% of music uploads, what happened to innovation in music? Where’s the next garage, the next grime, the next dubstep coming from?  If streaming doesn't work, and live music doesn't work, if record sales don’t work, and if AI music, as Nick Cave says, is a “grotesque mockery of...

Crashed, the tech podcast about everything else, discusses how the creator of Bitcoin, the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, has been unveiled as British entrepreneur Adam Back. Is it correct?  Also, presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker discuss Elon Musk’s power in the space race, and just how that impacts the race to Mars. We also discuss the Iran/Israel/US peace deal and how it tech...

Welcome to Crashed, the tech podcast about everything else. Today, that means the myth of journalism collapsing, the myth of politicians being anywhere near up-to-date with anything, and the myth that data centers are fine We’re currently in the web traffic apocalypse, the jobpocalypse, the quantum apocalypse, and the wars on many fronts actual apocalypse, with the media collapsing, trust in democ...

Presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker dissect the many court cases facing Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp owners Meta and Google-owned YouTube. What does a multi-million dollar fine mean? What about many of them?  Also, the AI battle for supremacy (pun intended) takes a number of steps forward in a few days, and what on earth happened to Google Zero? Oh, and something about the Lord Vold...

Presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker are joined by journalist Ellen Scott to talk about the so-called “jobpocalypse” caused by AI and how the workforce is changing. Alex and Chris also cover how encryption has become a dirty word at Meta and just what a Cold War between the US and China looks like in the new age of AI. Follow Ellen on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellencscott/?hl=...

Is social media a good thing or a bad thing? Presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker and guest tech journalist Taylor Lorenz get into the details of mental health, online censorship. algorithmic overreach, and just what Pivot's Scott Galloway says about it all. Follow Taylor on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/taylorlorenz To support, go to https://bit.ly/CrashedPodcast or search Crashed po...

Presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker interview financial psychology expert and journalist Hanna Horvath about the ‘tierification of everything”, discuss how airport lounges could be a metaphor for the downfall of the whole global economy, report from on the ground in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress (MWC) and try to work out if a robot is fighting someone but nobody is around to watch...

Presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker are joined by academic Dr. Robert Topinka to discuss why the Right is so much better at the internet than the left, why AI could beckon the downfall of the British government, how social media is beckoning the downfall of democracy, and the internet beckoning the downfall of liberal thought… until the fightback. To support, go to https://bit.ly/Crashe...

Everything online feels a little bit off. Whether it’s deepfakes, the great meme-reset, or analogue communities posting about it on Instagram, presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker try to get to the bottom of what’s wrong with the internet.  Also, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that deepfakes are to be thought of as the same category of crime as terrorism, and we discus...

Presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker try to work out how addictive social media (and doomscrolling) really is, try to understand how Airbnb bookings keep going up despite governments trying to shut them down, and a couple of exclusives about the BBC and just how bad Chris's WiFi is. To support, go to https://bit.ly/CrashedPodcast or search Crashed podcast Follow: Alex: www.instagram.com/...

Presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker try to understand why Barnsley has been picked as the UK’s first Tech Town (spoiler: it’s a Reform target seat, so Alex thinks it might have something to do with it). They speak to Barnsley council leader Sir Stephen Houghton.  Also… campaigner, performer, and all-around titan Paulita Pappel talks about tech innovations, censorship, and the patri...

Presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker interview data politics and social justice academic Dr Elinor Carmi, of City St George’s, about the government wanting 10 million workers to get trained on AI… run by Google, Amazon, and others. Is this a good thing, or, as some critics say, letting economic growth supersede democratic values? Follow Dr Carmi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/e...

Presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker discuss how Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has sparked a media storm over her views on the surveillance state.  Her view? "To achieve, by means of AI and technology, what Jeremy Bentham tried to do with his Panopticon. That is that the eyes of the state can be on you at all times.”  We also discuss what Trump is doing in Iceland... we mean G...