Surprise - It's Not a Toaster

For 25 years Google organized the web so you could find the page you needed. Now it answers for you, buries the links, and sells a spot inside the answer. Ed Bennett and Chris Boyer take on Google going AI-first in search, from AI Overviews shoving the blue links to the bottom to ads that pay their way into the response and agentic checkout that skims the transaction. Then the back end, by way of...

You're not bad at remembering drug names. You're listening in on a conversation you were never the audience for. Ed Bennett and Chris Boyer take on the engineered weirdness of prescription drug names, inspired by a recent 99% Invisible episode on the topic. The visual silhouettes, the syllable structures, the FDA-cleared distinctiveness, all of it is built for the pharmacist on the prescription pa...

A meme is the most efficient way to move an idea. It is also the least accountable. Ed Bennett and Chris Boyer trace what memes actually do: compress complicated thinking, strip the citations, outrun every fact check. From the Marilyn Monroe line she never said to the Einstein insanity quote he never wrote to the Voltaire defense Voltaire didn't author, the accuracy was stripped out by design. The...

Every decade, the same behavioral design gets a new name and a fresh regulatory fight. Ed Bennett and Chris Boyer trace the structural lineage connecting online gambling, gamified stock trading, and prediction markets — three industries that borrowed the same dopamine playbook from the same design handbook. From the UIGEA's last-minute insertion into a port security bill to Robinhood's confetti to...

Getting real news shouldn’t feel like decoding a puzzle designed by someone who doesn’t want you to solve it. This week, Ed Bennett and Chris Boyer take on the modern news machine - from broadcast consolidation and partisan drift to the clickbait headline race and the increasingly buried links that pass for journalism on social platforms. If it feels harder to find verified, trustworthy informatio...

The book you downloaded is not the book the author wrote. It might have been quietly sensitivity-edited. It might now contain brand references the author never put there. Or, in the case of Pretty Little Liars, it just started mentioning TikTok in a scene from 2006. Ed Bennett and Chris Boyer dig into the silent modification of digital books - retroactive sensitivity edits, undisclosed product pla...

In this episode of Surprise - It’s Not a Toaster, Ed Bennett and Chris Boyer take on the growing frustration around algorithms. Not just how often they change, but how little control users actually have over what they’re being shown. From TikTok and Meta to Google and YouTube, personalization has become opaque, unpredictable, and increasingly unsettling. You don’t choose your feed anymore. You inh...

In this end-of-year episode of Surprise - It’s Not a Toaster, Ed Bennett and Chris Boyer take on the annual ritual of being “Wrapped.” What began as a fun reflection has turned into a full-blown platform performance review, with apps across music, social, productivity, fitness, and even calendars proudly telling you just how much of your life they consumed. Because nothing says personal growth lik...

In this very special holiday episode, Ed Bennett and Chris Boyer crack open the shimmering, pine-scented world of modern “smart” gifts — which somehow manage to be both futuristic and profoundly unnecessary. Think of it as a retro 1970s holiday catalog, except every item inside requires WiFi, a firmware update, and a dedicated support group. First up: the PetLibro smart litter box, a device so adv...

Hosts Ed Bennett and Chris Boyer face the modern entertainment apocalypse: streaming content. What started as freedom from cable has devolved into a fragmented, confusing, overpriced mess where your favorite show is always on the one service you canceled last month.  They unpack the chaos behind subscription juggling, studio feuds (yes, YouTube TV vs. ESPN/Disney, we see you), and why your monthly...

Ed Bennett and Chris Boyer open the episode with a semi-rant on the AI marketing hype machine - billions pouring in, big-tech companies tossing money back and forth, and everyone pretending this is about “innovation” rather than feeding the same circular economy of ads, analytics, and inflated expectations. Together, they debate whether AI will really “kill us,” economically or existentially - or...

Ed Bennett and Chris Boyer dive into the latest digital annoyance: chatbait. It’s the AI version of clickbait - when chat tools just can’t let go, coaxing you to “keep the conversation going” long after you got your answer. Think of it as emotional manipulation, but with better grammar. To prove the point, the hosts test ChatGPT with a “simple” NFL trivia question that quickly exposes how chatbots...

Ed Bennett and Chris Boyer kick things off with a rant about the subscription economy. From Columbia House record clubs in the 1970s to the boom of Blue Apron, Birchbox, and Stitch Fix, subscriptions once promised convenience and novelty. But today? Fatigue is setting in, boxes are piling up, and companies are scrambling to pivot away from the model. This week’s recommendation: author Ted Chiang....

Ed Bennett and Chris Boyer kick off with a rant about vertical video — because nothing says “breaking news” like watching a natural disaster unfold in portrait mode. Sure, TikTok made it trendy and one-handed filming is easy, but what happens when video shifts to massive screens like the Vegas Sphere or into Meta’s glasses? Spoiler: portrait might not age well. This week’s recommendation: the new...

Turns out the future of tech might not be sleek voice commands or intuitive design — it might just be one giant button you can’t miss. Ed and Chris debate the glory of the “big hard button,” skim (and snark) their way through Mary Meeker’s annual tech report, and then throw ChatGPT 5.0’s new preset personalities into the ring. Spoiler: “Cynic” might actually be the most honest of the bunch. Mentio...

You thought filters were just for photos? Think again. In this episode, Ed Bennett and Chris Boyer wade through the murky waters of modern digital life, where everything seems to be a filter: restaurant reviews, dating apps, social feeds, even healthcare choices. Have we filtered so much that we've lost the raw, the real, and the reliable? But it’s not all rant - there’s redemption. The hosts offe...

Chris Boyer and Ed Bennett step knee-deep into sludge. Not the metaphorical goo clogging your gutters, but the bureaucratic muck that slows down everyday life. Inspired by The Atlantic’s takedown of “customer service sludge,” they rant about hold purgatory, Kafkaesque support calls, and the modern art of being endlessly transferred. If you’ve ever yelled “representative!” into a phone like it was...

Chris Boyer and Ed Bennett dive nose-first into Apple’s latest design offense: Liquid Glass. Or as users have dubbed it, Liquid Ass. A sleek new look, sure — if you enjoy smudges, glare, and interfaces that feel like a fever dream. They unpack the aesthetic outrage and wonder aloud: has Apple finally jumped the shark into a puddle of its own reflection? The tech rec this week comes from Ed’s deep...

Chris Boyer and Ed Bennett unravel the oddly powerful pull of digital streaks. Whether it’s Duolingo applauding your 99-day run or the shame spiral from missing one puzzle in the NYT Games app, streaks are everywhere — and they’re working. We explore how streaks mirror childhood sticker charts, why they’re engineered to keep us hooked, and whether rituals wrapped in self-optimization might actuall...

In this episode of Surprise, It's Not a Toaster, Chris Boyer and Ed Bennett unleash a technical rant on the UX war crimes committed by modern video apps — with Zoom front and center. They talk about cluttered interfaces, vanishing buttons, and the "where's the dang meeting list?" UI mystery. Spoiler: The most-used features are hidden like Easter eggs. Our tech reco this week is Pleasant Green — a...

This week on Surprise! It’s Not a Toaster, we dive headfirst into the chaotic dumpster fire that is YouTube clickbait. Apparently, Henry Winkler has died 11 times, and there are at least 17 “official” trailers for John Wick 5. Spoiler: none of them are real. Welcome to the golden age of AI-generated garbage. Annoyance of the Week: YouTube Shorts and algorithm bait are breaking our brains. When eve...

In this episode, Ed Bennett and Chris Boyer unpack the dangers of being good at absolutely everything — which, spoiler alert, means you’re probably not good at anything. Inspired by Sam Altman’s curious desire to turn OpenAI into a social media empire, they dive into the concept of “everythingism” - a sociopolitical term that describes trying to be all things to all people… and doing none of it we...

Surprise! It’s Not a Toaster returns for season 2 with a full-frontal assault on the Internet of (Questionably Useful) Things.  Chris Boyer and Ed Bennett kick things off with a deliciously irritated rant about smart appliances that aren't actually smart. Why does your dishwasher need WiFi and a cloud account just to run a rinse cycle? When your toaster has a firmware update, maybe it’s time to as...

Ever clicked on a Facebook video promising something shocking only to watch 10 minutes of filler before realizing you've been played? Welcome to the world of Watchbait—those misleading, overhyped videos designed to manipulate your curiosity (and your patience). In this episode, Ed Bennett and Chris Boyer break down the worst offenders and share tips on how to avoid the bait-and-switch trap. Then,...

In this episode of Surprise – It’s Not a Toaster, Chris Boyer and Ed Bennett dive into the wild world of online comments—from YouTube rants to Google reviews and Twitter’s never-ending chaos (which is basically just one giant comment section). They trace the history of internet commenting, exploring how we went from early, nerdy UseNet forums to today’s digital free-for-all of trolling, toxicity,...