Best known for coining the phrase “net neutrality” and his book The Master Switch, Tim Wu has a new book coming out in November called The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age. In it, he argues compellingly for a return to aggressive antitrust enforcement in the style of Teddy Roosevelt, saying that Google, Facebook, Amazon, and other huge tech companies are a threat to democracy as they get bigger and bigger. Nilay sits down with Wu for this week's interview episode of The Vergecas...
Sep 04, 2018•46 min•Ep. 320
This week, The Verge has been at IFA 2018, Europe’s big tech event. There are a lot of new gadgets, so Nilay, Dieter, and Paul go through their favorites on The Vergecast. Also, Apple announced its September event this week, and immediately following the announcement, iPhone and Apple Watch leaks surfaced. The crew discusses. And, of course, we have our fan-favorite segments: Liz’s “This week in Elon Musk” and Paul’s “Keyboard-in-the-front club: population 2” There’s a whole lot more in between ...
Aug 31, 2018•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 320
We're kicking off our secondary Vergecast episode of the week with an interview with Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith. In this wide-ranging interview , Smith expanded on why the company nearly shut down Gab.ai, the “free-speech” absolutist platform that’s become an alt-right favorite. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Aug 28, 2018•49 min•Ep. 319
This week on The Vergecast, Paul, Nilay, and Dieter start off the show with the news that Netflix is testing a payment feature to bypass Apple’s App Store fees, which leads into a larger discussion of (as Nilay calls it) “App Store chaos.” Paul seems pretty excited about “ray tracing” — a term that Nvidia is using for its upcoming graphics cards — so the crew explains what that means and how far ahead Nvidia is compared to its competition. Competition is a general theme in this week’s episode. W...
Aug 24, 2018•56 min•Ep. 319
We’ve got a whirlwind of an episode this week on The Vergecast. Nilay, Paul, and Dieter bring back Silicon Valley Editor and host of Converge Casey Newton to discuss Twitter’s bad week and what the heck is going on with them. But before that, there’s a whole lot of other things that came up. We reviewed both the Galaxy Note 9 and Android 9 Pie this week, so Dieter runs through everything you need to know about the two launches. We’ve also got two fresh segments this this week. Deputy Editor Liz ...
Aug 17, 2018•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 318
If you’ve been reading The Verge this week, then you know Samsung announced a few products. We got our hands on the Galaxy Note 9, the Galaxy Watch, and we even got to look at that Home speaker as well. That news is covered in a big chunk of The Vergecast this week, but there was also so much other stuff that happened. Adi Robertson was able to travel down to Plantation, Florida, to check out Magic Leap’s creator edition headset. She sits down with Nilay, Paul, and Dieter to discuss her experien...
Aug 10, 2018•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 317
In the thrilling conclusion to our three part epic miniseries, "Apple doesn't make the laptops we want," Nilay, Paul, and Dieter discuss how nothing really even matters because Apple is a phone company worth $1 trillion. Samsung, Amazon, and Tesla earnings are also discussed, along with Farhad Manjoo's "Frightful Five" thesis. Then, in "The Bezel Wars," our hosts discuss the Surface Go, iPad rumors, and the Windows 10 S life Dieter has been living. Paul's weekly segment about "Wireless Vapes" is...
Aug 03, 2018•53 min•Ep. 316
After a week of speculation on whether the new MacBook Pro was throttling performance under heat, Apple released a software fix to address the problem. Dieter’s review for the laptop (post software fix) published on Wednesday so Nilay, Paul, and Dieter discuss what happened with the product and how it performs. Dieter also reviewed the new Lenovo Smart Display, so there's a chunk of the show dedicated to that device, which exceeded expectations. And we’ve got another week of Elon Musk. Transport...
Jul 27, 2018•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 315
We’ve got a super stuffed episode of The Vergecast this week. First, the biggest news in tech right now is the European Commission’s ruling that Google has been unfairly using Android to push Google search on users, giving it an unfair advantage. Nilay, Dieter, and Paul sit down and discuss the implications. In the second half of the show, Dieter discusses some of the new MacBook Pro benchmarks that claim the processors may throttle performance due to cooling issues. Nilay got an exclusive inter...
Jul 20, 2018•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 314
This week on The Vergecast, Nilay and Dieter discuss an Apple event they were invited to this week for Apple’s updated MacBook Pros. Along with Paul, they dive into how creatives are using these machines, and what these new specs are. Another laptop announcement from this week is Microsoft’s Surface Go. The crew runs through their demo with the computer and discuss how it compares to the other Surface devices. And continuing with our trend, we also have a new edition of “This week in Elon Musk,”...
Jul 13, 2018•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 313
The Vergecast starts off this week in a traditional fashion with a talk about dongles — Microsoft’s $80 USB-C dongle to be exact. But there’s a whole bunch of little things that also happened this week that Nilay, Dieter, and Paul discuss. We’ve got Apple acknowledging the problem with its MacBook keyboards, Google demoing Duplex, and Apple releasing the Mojave public beta. Also this week, we bring you two new rotating segments on the show. First we have transportation reporter Sean O’Kane with ...
Jun 29, 2018•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 312
Instagram announced on Wednesday a standalone app called IGTV, a place for watching long-form vertical video. Casey and Ashely — who went to Instagram’s event that announced the app — talk with Nilay, Dieter, and Paul about their initial feelings about the platform and predict how it will fit into the social mediasphere. Also, Nilay Patel sits down with Kara Swisher to talk about the recent AT&T and Time Warner merger. Kara published a book in 2003 about the AOL and Time Warner merger There Must...
Jun 22, 2018•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 311
In addition to our classic Nilay, Dieter, and Paul trio, we’ve added a few things this week. To give you the best coverage of E3, culture editor Laura Hudson gives us a quick rundown of the news from the expo to start off the show In the second half of the show, Nilay sits down with Sonos CEO Patrick Spence. Don’t worry, there’s plenty of other classic Vergecast — some gadget talk, Paul’s weekly segment (you know, “How big is the Moon?”), and some deep dives into net neutrality, antitrust law, a...
Jun 15, 2018•1 hr 44 min•Ep. 310
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference happened this week, and Nilay, Dieter, Jake, and Ashley are on top of it. Second half of the show, we’ve got Dieter’s exclusive look at the Sonos Beam, Microsoft buying GitHub, a new Fire TV thingy, and breaking news for Essential. There’s a whole lot more in between that — like Paul’s weekly segment (hosted by Jake Kastrenakes) “Hey look at this thing I just found on theverge.com“ — so if you listen to it all, you’ll get it all. 02:48 - Apple’s Worldwide ...
Jun 08, 2018•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 309
The Vergecast is here once again to fulfill the weekly prophecy of illuminating tech news. This week, Dieter is at Recode’s Code Conference, but he still calls in to talk to Nilay, Natt, and Paul about what he saw and heard. Also, Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is next week, so the crew runs through what to expect. There’s a whole lot in between that — like Paul’s weekly segment “Embarrassingly parallel,” rumors about the next Pixel phone, and some deep philosophy about whether a phone ...
Jun 01, 2018•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 308
Are you driving somewhere for the holiday weekend? Here at _The Verge_ we'd like to encourage you to use a car that's wholly or at least primarily powered by dirty fossil fuels. On this week's episode of _The Vergecast_, Nilay, Natt, Casey, and Paul discuss how we're financially beholden to Big Car, and what to do about it now that Elon Musk has called us out on our bias. We also got a chance to discuss Nilay's insane theory about Apple's dongle suppression campaign, Mark Zuckerberg's wacky trip...
May 25, 2018•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 307
The Vergecast trio comes together this week to discuss an internal Google video that was obtained by The Verge titled “the Selfish Ledger.” That topic takes up a good chunk of the show, but there’s a lot more after that. Nilay, Paul, and Dieter jump into other Google-related topics, like what’s happening to YouTube Red, Google Duplex theories, and a list of gadget news. They were able to fit in Paul’s weekly segment he does every week “Don’t block my chain,” so if you listen to it all, you’ll ge...
May 18, 2018•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 306
Ctrl-Walt-Delete returns for a special episode all about the iMac 20th anniversary. Walt Mossberg and Nilay Patel reminisce on the introduction of Apple's iMac, and how it influenced the open web and computers going forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 11, 2018•32 min•Ep. 305
So much happened this week in the world of The Verge. Both Google and Microsoft hosted their annual developer conferences and announced a whole bunch of stuff, so Nilay, Paul, Natt, and Dieter gather to break it down and give you the highlights. And this wouldn’t be an episode of The Vergecast without the segment Paul does every week, “Kick flip the kickstand script.” It’s a big one, so listen to the whole episode to get everything you need for this massive week in tech news. 01:28 - 10 Biggest ...
May 11, 2018•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 305
This week on The Vergecast, Nilay returns to the show after welcoming a child! Dieter is out this week, so Nilay and Paul bring on Adi Robertson and Casey Newton to discuss what happened at Facebook’s F8 developer conference, the Oculus Go, and some earnings talk. There are also a lot of new Instagram features. Is it slowly just becoming Facebook? There’s a lot more in between that — like Paul’s weekly segment “Safety first!’ they said” — so if you listen through this whole episode, you’ll be al...
May 04, 2018•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 303
This week on The Vergecast, Dieter, Natt, and Paul are still without Nilay but there’s a whole lot to talk about. Google made some changes with Gmail — which is now live, and Snap surprised us this week with their new edition of Spectacles — but what makes them different from the original model? Also, there’s a whole bunch of Amazon news and rumors this week, including an Echo Dot for your child. There’s even a whole lot more in between that — like the segment Paul does every week (say it with m...
Apr 27, 2018•57 min•Ep. 302
It was a slow week until Google decided to attempt another fix for Android messaging and Nintendo made the entire staff fall in love with cardboard. Nilay’s still on paternity leave, but Dieter and Paul are joined again by Technology Editor Natt Garun to explain it all. We also jumped on the hot-button issues like the Russian ban of Telegram and how Alexa Skill Blueprints aren’t Turing complete. And, of course, Paul’s weekly segment “Ring-a-ding-ding” has all the insightful Bluetooth MIDI access...
Apr 20, 2018•56 min•Ep. 302
After a week of Facebook-intensive news, The Vergecast is here to break it all down for you. Nilay is out this week, so Dieter and Paul welcome senior editor Natt Garun and Silicon Valley editor Casey Newton to the show to go over all the news. Even though Mark Zuckerberg took up most of the site this week, there was a still a lot of other stuff happening. Spotify may be releasing some hardware products, we reviewed the Huawei P20 Pro, and the cast gets into some classic talk about the web. Ther...
Apr 13, 2018•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 301
It is episode 300 of The Vergecast! To celebrate, Nilay, Dieter, and Paul start the show by explaining inside jokes that have been stamped into the show over the past few years. Don’t understand what Scissor Vodka is? Are you wondering why Bixby is a dog? Do you need to know why Paul says his name at the end of each episode? Well, we took the time to answer that. Also, there’s some news that came out this week. We have an iPad review, some Mark Zuckerberg updates, and a little bit of Apple drama...
Apr 06, 2018•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 300
We’ve got a bunch of tech luminaries on The Vergecast this week to help us understand the week in tech news. Nilay, Dieter, and Paul welcome Lauren Goode back to the show for her last week at The Verge to discuss the new iPads that Apple released this past Tuesday. Lauren and Dieter went to Chicago for the event, so they share their experience and insight on the new products and their relationship with the education field. After that, the crew bring in senior reporter Russell Brandom to help us ...
Mar 30, 2018•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 299
Nilay talks one-on-one with Casey Neistat about a multitude of topics, including Beme, his view of YouTube, Twitch, and other platforms, sponsorship, and what he’s up to next. It’s exactly what you’d expect from Neistat, honest and direct. If you already listened to the edited version on The Vergecast this week, skip to 11:50. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 23, 2018•48 min•Ep. 298
It’s loaded Vergecast this week. Nilay, Paul, and Dieter welcome back Silicon Valley editor Casey Newton to break down the Cambridge Analytica scandal at Facebook, after talking through predictions for next week’s Apple event. But first, another Casey makes his debut on The Vergecast — Casey Neistat! Nilay talks one-on-one with Casey about a multitude of topics, including Beme, his view of YouTube, Twitch, and other platforms, sponsorship, and what he’s up to next. It’s exactly what you’d expect...
Mar 23, 2018•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 298
This week on The Vergecast, Nilay, Dieter, and Paul are back in New York City after being at SXSW last weekend. To kick off the show, they welcome back senior writer Sarah Jeong to explain a $1.6 billion lawsuit between Spotify and Wixen Publishing. In the second half of the show, the trio discusses recent reports of the inner workings of Siri — including the history and how it stands today. There’s a lot more in between that — like the segment Paul does every week, “Untitled” — so listen to it ...
Mar 16, 2018•59 min•Ep. 297
This week, The Vergecast is down in Austin, Texas for South by Southwest 2018 in front of a live audience. Nilay, Dieter, Casey, and Ashley run through the news and share their expertise about Google’s new plan to make the web faster, using Samsung’s Galaxy S9, and Android P for developer testing. If you wanted to see the show, sorry you missed it! But good news for you, I recorded it so you can listen to it whenever you want. And here’s the articles discussed on the show this week: 00:45 - Goog...
Mar 10, 2018•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 296
The Vergecast trio is back and so is gadget news. Mobile World Congress was this week, and so much happened in the world of The Verge. Nilay, Dieter, and Paul have everything you need to know. A few other things sprinkled in are the next Light Phone 2, Google Clips review, and a little bit of camera talk — so listen to it all, and you’ll get it all. 03:07 - Samsung’s Galaxy S9 packs an upgraded camera in a familiar body 17:22 - Vivo’s Apex concept phone 19:15 - The Clone Wars: iPhone X copycats ...
Mar 02, 2018•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 295
