The Vergecast

The Vergecast is the flagship daily podcast from The Verge about small gadgets, Big Tech, and everything in between. Every Friday, Nilay Patel and David Pierce hang out and make sense of the week’s most important technology news. And Monday through Thursday, David leads a selection of The Verge’s expert staffers in an exploration of how gadgets and software affect our lives – and which ones you should bring into yours.

Last refreshed: June 17th, 2026 at 7:17 PM

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Episodes

The best headphone mic we've ever tested

Your headphones' microphone matters. A lot. And yet we never know how we sound to others, or whether we're clear to our AI assistants! So from time to time, we like to grab a bunch of headphones and put their microphones through some tough real-world tests. This time, with the help of The Verge's John Higgins, we discover the best-sounding mic we've ever tested. And no, it's not on a pair of AirPods. Not even close. Further reading: Anker’s new earbuds have the best call quality I’ve ever heard ...

Jun 17, 2026•33 min

The Mythos mess and your AI questions, answered

Anthropic and the US government are once again at odds, this time over the Claude Fable 5 model that either is, or is not, or might be, far too dangerous to release to the world. The Verge's Hayden Field explains what's going on with Fable, Mythos, and the whole idea of American AI exceptionalism, before also answering your questions about how WhatsApp and Siri might one day work together, and whether Apple messed up by calling it Siri AI.[10:24 AM] ⁠Inside the fight over Claude Mythos 5⁠ ⁠Anthr...

Jun 16, 2026•31 min

# The epic story of Markdown

Markdown is a system for writing that makes it readable to both humans and computers. It's all about the symbols. You use - to make a list, * for emphasis, ** for even more emphasis. Brackets and parentheses turn into links. Once you know Markdown, you might begin to think in Markdown. Right now it is absolutely everywhere: people are maintaining their Claude.MD files for conversing with AI bots, and writing their notes in Markdown editors like Obsidian. So where did Markdown come from? It came ...

Jun 15, 2026•35 min

Siri is good now??

We're all starting to test Apple's newest software post-WWDC, and the most surprising thing has happened: Siri actually seems to be pretty good now. Nilay and David discuss how that happened, and what it means for the AI industry, and all of us, that Apple's voice assistant is finally useful. Then, we have some news about Bluesky, Threads, and YouTube that adds up to a big change in social networks, plus the Hype Desk, Brendan Carr, the Trump Phone, and a really great deal for iPad users Further...

Jun 12, 2026•1 hr 39 min

YouTube is taking over Hollywood

Movies directed by YouTubers are suddenly blowing up at the box office. Backrooms and Obsession are both smash hits, and The Amazing Digital Circus had a big debut last week. Is this the moment YouTube truly takes over Hollywood? Julia Alexander, media correspondent at Puck, walks us through the much longer history of YouTube on the big screen, and helps us figure out where this all goes next. Is the future just really, really big YouTube videos? Further reading: ⁠Backrooms is at the forefront o...

Jun 11, 2026•34 min

Your biggest questions from Apple's WWDC

Now that we've had a couple of days to digest all the Siri AI updates, the new corner radii, and everything else Apple announced at its developer conference, we spend the episode answering all your most burning questions. What non-AI stuff are we excited about? How much catching up did Siri really do this week? And wait: what about the HomePod? Further reading: ⁠WWDC 2026: All the news from Apple’s developers conference⁠ ⁠5 things I already love from the iOS 27 beta⁠ ⁠Subscribe to The Verge⁠ for...

Jun 10, 2026•39 min

How Steve Jobs became Steve Jobs

Delving into Geoffrey Cain's book "Steve Jobs in Exile," this episode recounts Jobs' journey after being ousted from Apple, including his struggles at NeXT and the unexpected success at Pixar. It examines how these experiences, marked by early tyrannical behavior and a "reality distortion field," ultimately humbled him and taught him the pragmatic lessons necessary to become the effective leader who orchestrated Apple's historic comeback. The discussion reveals the complexity of his character and the pivotal moments that shaped his enduring legacy.

Jun 09, 2026•43 min

Siri AI, Screen Time, and the rest of WWDC 2026: The Vergecast Livestream

This episode breaks down Apple's unexpected WWDC 2026 keynote, which was dominated by AI announcements and a focus on user trust and device management. The hosts analyze Apple's strategy of playing catch-up in the AI space, integrating Gemini technology, and navigating the fine line between useful and " creepy" features. They also cover the new Siri voice, significant device compatibility cutoffs for OS 27, and what this means for the future of Apple's ecosystem.

Jun 08, 2026•1 hr 6 min

This is your laptop... on AI

It's developer conference season, and one of the themes so far has been big swings at AI apps. We've seen Gemini Spark, Microsoft Scout, and so many other attempts to figure out what people, and companies, actually want their AI to do. Nilay and David discuss their experiences with the apps, before turning to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's vision for the AI-filled laptop of the future. Finally, in the lightning round, it's time for the Hype Desk, Brendan Carr is a Dummy, a deeply dumb Meta hack, and ...

Jun 05, 2026•1 hr 46 min

Microsoft's plan to catch up in AI

Microsoft's commitment to AI is not news. Copilot has been everywhere for... a while now. But at this week's Build developer conference, the company made clear that it wants — and needs — to be a bigger player in the space. The Verge's Tom Warren joins David to talk about the new Scout AI assistant, the Solara operating system concept, and whether Microsoft can hang with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. Also: How's the new era of Xbox going? We’re also on video! Check us out on YouTube. Subscribe ...

Jun 04, 2026•29 min

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