TechStuff

How often do you use ChatGPT to evaluate your ailments? Did it work? More and more people are turning to chatbots to diagnose their illnesses — with varied success. But when it does work, it can be life-changing. Dr. Dhruv Khullar heard of a case where ChatGPT identified the cause of one man’s years-long gastrointestinal struggles, in seconds. Given a medical system that can fail so ma...

Is building data centers in space actually feasible? It may be, thanks to Ariel Ekblaw. The scientist, VC investor and co-founder and CEO of Aurelia Institute has devoted her life to democratizing space and ensuring that humans will one day be a spacefaring species. Ariel sits down with Oz to discuss self-assembling space architecture, how science-fiction influences her inventions, and why she doe...

Cristóbal Valenzuela co-founded Runway to rethink how movies are made, and now his technology is spreading across Hollywood. Cristóbal sits down with Oz to discuss how far AI media tools have come in just the past six years, and why the next leap forward could happen even faster than anyone expects. He also addresses many artists' AI fears, by saying that film has always evolved alon...

Theatre and tech don't usually share the same stage. But that's changing. This season, two plays caught our eye: Data, a play about the inner workings of a data mining company, and Marjorie Prime, a play where grief, family, and AI collide. Karah interviews both playwrights: Matthew Libby (Data) and Jordan Harrison (Marjorie Prime). They discuss the origins of their plays, from failed collabs with...

It’s been two months since Australia’s social media ban went into effect for kids under 16. But Jay Caspian Kang, staff writer at The New Yorker, doesn’t think America will follow suit. Jay sits down with Karah to unpack why a U.S. ban is unlikely, what Australia’s move does change, and how cultural pressure — not legislation — may be the most powerful tool we h...

Oz is at the Web Summit in Qatar this week, and he’s taking you with him. This episode was recorded live on stage with Wired’s global editorial director Katie Drummond. Katie and Oz talk about what it’s like to cover this moment, from DOGE and tech titans in the White House to AI’s rapid ubiquity. Katie also shares why Americans need to wake up to what is happening out...

If the 20th century was defined by oil, journalist and author Nicolas Niarchos bets that the 21st century will be defined by batteries. In his book, The Elements of Power: A Story of War, Technology and the Dirtiest Supply Chain on Earth, Niarchos unpacks the hidden costs behind the world’s battery boom. In this episode, he and Oz trace how the race for cobalt and other critical metals is re...

How do you feel about AI in your art, your music, and your video games? Oz is joined by Kill Switch host, Dexter Thomas, to discuss Switchbot's AI Art Frame and the video gamers who are holding developers to account. But will the anti-AI outrage continue to make change? Then, Oz updates us on last week’s World Economic Forum — one Davos attendee spent the night in jail and Canada&rsquo...

Audrey Tang’s path to government had very unusual origins: she is a hacker, an anarchist and the world’s first non-binary government minister. She now serves as Taiwan’s Cyber Ambassador and continues to advocate for greater internet freedom and civic participation globally. Audrey sits down with Oz to discuss Taiwan’s AI chip manufacturing and how it impacts their contenti...

You’re meeting us at a ‘very Chinese time in our lives’ and today’s episode is no exception — it’s all about China. First, Oz explains China’s attempt to claw a Singaporean AI company, Manus, back from Meta. And why Chinese customs are rejecting NVIDIA H200 chips. Is China fighting back? Then, Karah fills us in on why everyone on TikTok is saying they are...

Ever wonder why Gen Z is so obsessed with Millennial culture? Casey Lewis can tell you. She’s a trend researcher and author of “After School,” a Substack newsletter about youth and internet culture. Casey joins Karah to discuss why Gen Z is doubling down on nostalgia and buying up analog products. She runs through the latest trends you may have seen, but didn’t understand&h...

What would you do if AI took your clothes off? Elon Musk’s AI model, Grok, will strip women of their clothes when prompted and the results are all over X.com. “Nudify” apps and communities have been doing this for years, but now it’s trending on one of the biggest social media platforms out there. And no one is protected—even children. Karah sits down with Samantha Co...

Eliot Peper gets paid to dream about the future. He’s a science fiction writer who has stumbled into an unusual position: writing speculative fiction for Fortune 500 companies. He is also the Head of Story at Portola, which is an AI-companion company. Eliot is responsible for developing a whole new alien culture and forming the personalities of your new favorite AI creature. Karah and Eliot...

NASA and IBM have developed advanced AI foundation models that analyze satellite data to reveal patterns across Earth and beyond. These tools are already driving real‑world impact, from helping Kenya plan the planting of 15 billion trees to enabling the UK to track harmful algae blooms. This collaboration provides strategic insights for climate action, environmental monitoring, and emergency respo...

Would you live in a zero labor home – with a robot? This week, the latest trends and gadgets coming out of CES in Las Vegas and what Karah learned about consenting to biometric surveillance at a Wegmans. Then, Oz takes us to a peptide rave and Karah unveils how influencers and OnlyFans models are getting US visas — they can thank John Lennon.   If you’ve used a chatbot...

What’s your New Year’s Resolution? We want to help you keep it. The Verge’s senior tech reviewer, Victoria Song, joins the pod to tell us what tech can help you develop better habits, which wearable is worth buying, and why a new mattress could change your whole sleep game.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What was your tech takeaway in 2025? And what is going to be the big story in 2026? Oz sits down with the author of The Running Ground and The Atlantic’s CEO, Nicholas Thompson, to discuss the odd intersection between tech and religion, the tech to compensate media companies for AI training data, who OpenAI’s real rival is, why we don’t understand how AI works, and much, muc...

Could you resist falling for an AI companion? We’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes of 2025: author and journalist Sam Apple takes us on romantic getaway for people who are in love with their AI companions He wrote a piece for Wired about what he observed that weekend, whether the love between humans and AI is real, and what the future of dating could look like in a world with AI com...

One of the companies you couldn’t ignore this year was NVIDIA, so we’re re-airing a conversation Oz had with Stephen Witt, a frequent contributor to The New Yorker and author of The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, NVIDIA, and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip. They discuss what’s made NVIDIA the most valuable chip company in the world, how a single piece of hardware change...

What was your internet obsession this year? Karah is joined by writer and podcast host, Aminatou Sow, to talk about what they watched — and what rotted their brains — in 2025. They talk about niche internet obsessions, vertical shorts, AI depicting the oldest generation, and the never-ending Wicked press tour.  Additional Reading/Watching:  Exploring My Mustard Collection | T...

Are you a gift go-getter, or a holiday procrastinator? This week, Karah spoke with Kyle Chayka, tech writer for The New Yorker and author of the book “Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture”. They talk about his gadget gift guide, how analog products are back in style, and why books are his preferred gift of choice. Oz also shares the hottest toy of the year: a console that help...

Is nuclear fusion the clean energy we need? Oz speaks with Commonwealth Fusion Systems' scientist and engineer Alex Creely and fashion designer Gabriela Hearst about why the public should get excited about nuclear fusion. Together, they discuss what it will take to commercialize fusion, how Gabriela’s 2022 fashion show changed the public conversation, and whether we’ll have nuclear fus...

Should LLMs monitor crime? This week, Oz tells us why the US pharmaceutical industry may have competition… and why we’ve yet to see a flood of new products from AI drug discovery companies. Then, Karah explains how a telecommunications company is feeding recordings of inmate phone calls into LLMs that can then monitor future calls for planned crimes. Also, the UK government wants to c...

What does the death of restaurants look like? Ellen Cushing, staff writer for The Atlantic, joins Karah to talk about the rise of delivery apps and the fall of the in-person dining experience. They discuss how delivery apps became part of the millennial lifestyle subsidy, how they reshaped what’s on the menu, and why this feels all too similar to what’s happening to movie theaters.&nbs...

Is unplugging from your phone the ultimate luxury? This week, Oz introduces us to the businesses that specialize in “dimming the sun” and Karah introduces us to “LinkedIn Face.” Polymarket’s bets lead to disinformation about Russia’s war with Ukraine. 23andMe reveals secret families — and secret inheritances. And Oz and Karah almost cry over the latest inv...