TechStuff is getting a system update. Everything you love about Tech Stuff now twice the bandwidth with new hosts, Oz Woloshyn (Sleepwalkers) and Karah Preiss (Sleepwalkers).
Oz and Karah bring humour and wit to the table as they break down what's happening in tech...and what it says about us.
TechStuff is the podcast where technology meets culture.
We speak to the folks building the future to understand what tomorrow will look like and how our technology is changing us: how we live, how we love, how we work and even how we die. With a healthy dose of drama, too, as tech titans clash over their interstellar ambitions.
Get in touch here: [email protected]
This week, we’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes — all about the Sony Walkman. Jonathan Strickland dives into why Time named the portable device number 47 on a list of the 50 most influential gadgets of all time. How did the Walkman become a thing, and what influence has it had on how we experience music? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Writer and journalist Vauhini Vara has been entangled with the tech world for most of her life — first as a kid in the Seattle suburbs and a college student in the Bay Area, and then as a reporter covering Silicon Valley for The Wall Street Journal . But it wasn’t until she turned to creative writing that Vara began to see just how deeply technology had shaped her own life. Vara sits down with Karah to talk about her new book, Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age and how she’s learning to use t...
How can you detect AI music? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah unpack the music industry's scramble to build tech that labels AI-generated tracks. And the MIT study that took the internet by storm. On TechSupport, Politico’s Maggie Miller explains how the conflict between Iran and Israel was fought in cyberspace. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
When Yasmin Green joined Google almost two decades ago, she knew she wanted to focus on the complex problems facing humanity in a technological world – from violent extremism to political censorship. As the CEO of Jigsaw, a unit within Google that’s dedicated to understanding global challenges and applying technological solutions, she’s been able to do just that. Jigsaw’s most recent project took Green and her team to Bowling Green, Kentucky to figure out how they could use AI to improve a civic...
What does Google Search sound like? This week in the News Roundup, Oz explores Google’s new AI-generated audio summaries — and why a simple question like “what’s two plus two?” triggered a two-minute podcast. Then, Wikipedia tried its own AI experiment and faced backlash from editors. On TechSupport, Semafor ’s Reed Albergotti recasts Big Tech as characters from The Wizard of Oz and explains the current AI landscape. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Adam Clark Estes is a senior technology correspondent at Vox and the author of the User Friendly newsletter. Estes sits down with Oz to discuss Amazon’s expanding use of palm scanners and what that might mean for the future of healthcare and our biometric data. They also dive into Estes’ months-long experiment of trying about a dozen health trackers and whether or not it was worth it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
What’s inside AI’s black box? This week in the News Roundup, Oz unpacks the uncomfortable truth that even the people building today’s AI models often can’t explain how they work — or why they behave the way they do. But that hasn’t stopped tech companies from pushing colleges and universities to embrace chatbots. On TechSupport, 404 Media’s Jason Koebler explains the strange world of airport body scans and the future of the TSA. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
When the Biden administration announced the CHIPS and Science Act back in 2022, it was seen as a pivotal move to boost the US semiconductor industry and maintain America’s leadership in AI development. But the legislation was just one piece of a broader, multi-year strategy to counter China’s AI ambitions — and leading the way was Jake Sullivan, former National Security Advisor and longtime foreign policy figure. Sullivan sits down with Oz to discuss why he turned his attention to tech policy, h...
Did search just get worse? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah discuss how AI is reshaping search engines — for better or worse — and uncover a surprising downside of vibe coding. On TechSupport, journalist and ki ll switch host Dexter Thomas unpacks the murky early days of Nintendo and the unlikely figure who transformed it into the family-friendly empire we know today. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Ben Lamm is an entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Colossal Biosciences. That's the genetic engineering company making headlines for its bold mission – bringing extinct species back to life. From dire wolf pups to woolly mice, Colossal’s breakthroughs have sparked awe and controversy. Lamm sits down with Oz to unpack the science behind de-extinction, the ethical questions it raises, and what it could mean for the future of conservation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Vibecoding is everywhere—and it feels like anyone can launch an app. So we’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes: a look back at some of the biggest apps to crash and burn. Jonathan Strickland dives into the nostalgia—spotlighting programs that once seemed unstoppable, until they weren’t. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This is an episode of kill switch – a new podcast about our supercharged technological lives. In this episode, host Dexter Thomas explores the biggest hack you’ve never heard of and how one man saved us from complete disaster. This is the xz utils story. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Is it still ghosting if the chatbot texts you back? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah discuss the recent changes to Apple’s App Store policies, the future of brain implants, and the plans for AI-powered Netflix ads. On TechSupport, 404 Media’s Sam Cole explains how one startup is using chatbots to help people process being ghosted – and what that means about the state of our relationships. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Statistician David Spiegelhalter is no stranger to AI – he used it to help him research his recent book and, back in the late 70s, he helped develop foundational algorithms for the tech. So, he understands the pandora’s box that technology can represent, as well as the uncertainty embedded in its future development. Spiegelhalter sits down with Oz to unpack how we should interpret AI predictions, why better data matters and why we should consciously embrace uncertainty in our own lives. See omny...
Malcolm Gladwell visits Kennesaw State University to learn about Jiwoo, an AI Assistant that helps future teachers practice responsive teaching by simulating classroom interactions with students. Discover how AI can enhance teaching methods to prepare teachers for the classroom. This is a paid advertisement from IBM. The conversations on this podcast don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions. Visit us at https://www.ibm.com/think/podcasts/smart-talks See omnystudio.com/...
Smart Talks with IBM returns Tuesday, May 20th, and this season, we’re really shaking things up. Host Malcolm Gladwell will visit various companies to tell stories of how IBM clients are using artificial intelligence and data to transform the way they do business. This is a paid advertisement from IBM. Visit us at ibm.com/smarttalks See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
What kind of technology do air traffic controllers use? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah discuss how AI determines your real age, why chatbots can lead to delusions and what to know about a familiar sounding blood-testing startup. On TechSupport, features writer at New York Magazine’s Intelligencer, James D. Walsh, explains how AI-fueled cheating has overtaken college campuses, what students are saying and how educators are trying to address it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...
Chaim Gingold is a game designer and author of the book Building SimCity: How to Put the World in a Machine , which explores the simulation games created by developer Will Wright. Gingold sits down with Oz to discuss why a computer game about city planning became such a big hit in the ‘90s, the surprising legacy of SimCity, and the deeper cultural and technological significance of simulation games. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Could you be on a livestream for three years straight? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah explore the push to include AI education in schools, the parallel universe of the Chinese car market and why criminals should be wary of Interpol. On TechSupport, The Washington Post ’s technology reporter Drew Harwell reflects on his time shadowing Emilycc, the record-breaking Twitch streamer – and why people have been tuning in 24-hours a day for the past three years. See omnystudio.com/listener ...
Nicolas Niarchos is a journalist whose work focuses on conflicts, migration and, most recently, the energy transition. Specifically, the hidden costs of extracting minerals like cobalt, which remains a critical element in the technology we use to run our lives. Niarchos sits down with Oz to discuss what he’s observed in mineral-rich Congo and Indonesia – and how the battle for geopolitical advantage over these natural resources are overturning the world order. See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...
Can AI help search-and-rescue dogs do their job? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah explore the AI-powered technologies being used in war and why some Meta staffers worry about underage users interacting with their AI companions. On TechSupport, Olivia Carville, an investigative reporter at Bloomberg and the host of the podcast Levittown , discusses the Take It Down Act and what it means for the future of the internet. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Evan Ratliff is an investigative journalist and podcast host. His Wired article, “The Delirious, Violent, Impossible True Story of the Zizians,” marked the culmination of a two-year deep-dive into a group of young tech radicals and their spiral into violence. Ratliff sits down with Oz to unpack how the group formed, what they believed – the parts we can decipher, at least – and how those beliefs led to alleged murder. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Should you delete yourself from the internet? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah dig into humanoid robots running a half-marathon, the AI-generated personas helping law enforcement interact with potential suspects and Google’s updated ‘Results About You’ tool. On TechSupport, Jeff Rosenthal, the co-founder of the venture capital firm CIV, discusses the role of private investment in building out energy infrastructure to meet the AI boom. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informatio...
Lionel Barber is a journalist, author, and former editor of the Financial Times . He’s interviewed state leaders like former US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But in Gambling Man: The Wild Ride of Japan’s Masayoshi Son , Barber chronicles the life of SoftBank’s enigmatic CEO from his childhood as an ethnic Korean in Japan to becoming the richest man in the world – briefly. Barber sits down with Oz to discuss the impact SoftBank’s investments have had on technology. S...
How would Salvador Dalí have used generative AI? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah dig into this year’s most common uses for generative AI, the rise of code editor, Cursor, and how Google DeepMind’s Veo2 interprets a surrealist screenplay. On TechSupport, The Washington Post’s staff writer, Naomi Nix, discusses the first week of Meta’s antitrust trial. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jen Statsky is a comedian, writer, and producer who’s worked on some of TV’s biggest comedies like The Good Place , Parks & Recreation and Broad City . Most recently, she’s been behind the scenes as one of the co-creators of the hit show Hacks . Jen sits down with Karah to talk about how writing and producing for TV has changed in the face of accelerating AI, the “second-screening” phenomenon, and the optimization of streaming services. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
What’s a ‘mega API’? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah break down the ever-evolving landscape of tariffs and what it all means for tech companies, Tinder’s ChatGPT-powered dating game, and the rise of ‘Frankenstein’ laptops in India. On TechSupport, The Wall Street Journal’s Family & Tech Columnist Julie Jargon explains how imposter scams are becoming more believable thanks to generative AI. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Reid Hoffman is a longtime entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author. Throughout his career, Hoffman has helped build or support some of the biggest tech companies we know today. He was one of PayPal’s first employees, a co-founder of LinkedIn and an early investor and board member for OpenAI. These days, Hoffman spends a lot of time thinking about the potential positive outcomes of AI development, which is the subject of his latest book — Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right with our AI ...
How do LLMs solve math problems? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah explore what AI models could mean for the fashion industry, the humble-but-mighty device our modern world depends on, and what Anthropic’s researchers learned about the inner workings of their LLM. On TechSupport, The Washington Post’s technology reporter Gerrit De Vynck explains the state of the AI race and how some of tech’s biggest companies are vying for position. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Zak Brown is the CEO of McLaren Racing, the second-oldest Formula 1 team. When he joined in 2016, McLaren was in a difficult spot — lagging behind in race wins, sponsorships, and morale. Brown set out to transform the team by elevating their in-house racing technology and fostering active collaboration. He led the team to win the F1 Constructors’ Championship last year, their first one after more than 25 years. In this episode, Oz visits McLaren's headquarters to speak with Brown about how the t...
