Broadcasting from Kevin’s new ADU bunker (goodbye Neuehouse, we barely knew you), Kevin and Alex are back with 80-ish minutes of tech, pranks, and philosophical spirals. From Apple’s latest brain-implants-that-go-in-your-ears to a Samsung fridge trying to sell you stuff while chilling your oat milk, it’s a full spectrum ride through what the internet's doing to us—sometimes with our permission, sometimes with ads. Also: AI fails, mystery stereo tubes, and a German slug with strong prank energy.

Chapter Markers
0:00:00 – Cold open
0:00:39 – Officially episode 20, welcome to the chaos.
0:01:03 – Kevin lost an office, gained a backyard studio.
0:02:24 – Studio tour features incense, Buddha, and a suspiciously nice stereo.
0:04:33 – Phones are ruining mindfulness and wrecking millennial intestines.
0:06:03 – Political engagement exists mostly to keep you angry.
0:09:16 – Alex pitches viral videos about artisanal charcoal.
0:11:05 – Kevin reviews face lasers, Alex reviews earbuds.
0:13:41 – ZBiotics wants to save your liver from you.
0:16:09 – Thanks San Francisco, next stop Chicago.
0:18:57 – AirPods Pro 3: now with live translation and pulse checks.
0:21:06 – An impromptu hearing test roasts the hosts’ ears.
0:22:27 – Apple keynotes should be heckled MST3K-style.
0:23:16 – Kevin hates phone cases, Alex chooses peach.
0:26:24 – MagSafe wallets meet crypto credit cards.
0:27:43 – Kevin turns credit points into a Japan trip.
0:30:16 – Apple pretends to avoid AI, then demos AI.
0:35:57 – Rumors fly about touchscreen Macs and chip envy.
0:37:54 – Claude AI shows off its straight-A student energy.
0:40:48 – LMNT: electrolytes, but Navy Seal-approved.
0:43:29 – Meta glasses want to record your entire existence.
0:47:37 – Tech companies now monetize the in-between moments.
0:51:10 – Zuckerberg’s AI kitchen demo burns the recipe.
0:55:25 – Samsung fridges now idle as ad billboards.
1:01:47 – Kevin asks if the internet can still be fun.
1:09:05 – Diggnation is officially everywhere now.
1:09:57 – Monarch Money: couples’ therapy disguised as budgeting.
1:12:36 – DeleteMe erases your data from shady corners of the web.
1:14:20 – A German slug pranks neighbors by ringing doorbells.
1:16:28 – Childhood pranks involved eggs, TP, and fire bags.
1:18:48 – Kids now bond over lag screens instead of bike rides.
1:20:26 – Wrapping up with meetups, studio thanks, and goodbyes.

Diggnation Episode 19 is part tech dispatch, part suburban diary. Kevin and Alex open with updates on sobriety, lawn mowing, and a Linux laptop built from scratch. Then it's into smart home experiments, including security cameras that yell at people a little too enthusiastically.

Digg news includes app store approvals, invite rollouts, a bot-thwarting system called the Human Captcha Project, and new plans for user-led communities. They also drop "Digg Daily," an AI-powered news podcast you can call by phone like it's 2006 again.

Other highlights include a Chinese EV promising 1000 miles per charge, some soul-searching about Tesla, a look at Polymarket’s ethical gray zones, and Chipotle being delivered by drone. Add in complaints about LA transit, the surprise return of CDs, and Google’s Pixel 10 flexing real-time translation.

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Chapter Markers
00:00:00 - Diggnation begins. You chose to press play.
00:01:22 - Kevin’s sober. Alex fought a spider.
00:03:08 - Lawns were mowed. Childhoods resurfaced.
00:05:14 - Kevin builds a Framework laptop. Linux approves.
00:08:19 - Security cameras now yell at people.
00:15:15 - Digg app gets approved. Embeds are live.
00:16:36 - Human Captcha Project launches. Your way into Digg.
00:17:36 - Users pitch ideas. Communities expand.
00:21:42 - Homemade beef jerky enters the chat.
00:23:20 - Digg Daily becomes a phone-in podcast.
00:29:30 - A Chinese EV promises 1000 miles.
00:38:07 - Sponsor: Delete Me. For digital vanishing acts.
00:42:08 - Prediction markets meet ethics. It's complicated.
00:54:45 - Chipotle delivery by drone is real.
00:59:43 - LA transit vs. DC. Everyone loses.
01:03:39 - Sponsor: Square. Business gets infrastructure.
01:05:21 - Sponsor: Element. Electrolytes want attention.
01:08:01 - CDs return. Audiophiles feel seen.
01:17:26 - Kids once entertained themselves. Wild.
01:21:30 - Pixel 10 does real-time translation.
01:28:46 - Pixel Watch and Apple Watch square off.
01:30:59 - Closing remarks. You made it.

This week on Diggnation: Kevin discovers a squatter secretly living in a staged LA home during a house tour, Alex tries to explain time dilation without having a full existential meltdown, and the team breaks down what actually happened at Digg’s first real-world community meetup. We’re talking mind blanking, deep meditation states that register as sleep, and why your brain sometimes just stops working for a bit. Plus: rollable laptops, modular microLED home theaters, ChatGPT’s 700 million users, and why we’re finally moving the Digg app out of TestFlight and into the App Store for real.

0:00:00 – Set flipped, drinks poured, chaos begins anew
0:07:06 – Found: one squatter, one closet, zero warning
0:10:28 – LA meetup: skeeball, tequila, surprisingly deep convos
0:12:09 – Groundbreakers now handing out keys to the castle
0:13:44 – TestFlight is dead; long live the public app
0:15:41 – Your brain sometimes goes full blank on purpose
0:17:55 – Kevin meditated so hard his ring thought he died
0:23:44 – Time isn’t real and Einstein broke everyone’s brain
0:26:27 – Laptops now roll up like scrolls, because of course
0:34:50 – ChatGPT hits 700M users, including your mom
0:36:54 – Claude, Gemini, Perplexity: the AI hunger games begin
0:58:03 – Kevin vs. boa constrictor: a wildly confident mismatch

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🧑‍🤝‍🧑 People Mentioned:
Justin (Digg's CEO)
Mau (Diggnation Producer)
Will Harlan (winemaker)
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Chris Hutchins (points/miles guy)

🧑‍💻 Users Mentioned:
@michde – Why does your mind go blank?
@sabbah – Zoo Asks People To Donate Their Healthy Pets As Food For Its Captive Predators
@linux – Defrag 98: Entertainment from My Youth Complete with Sounds

🛠️ Products & Brands Mentioned:
Z-biotics
Oura Ring
World of Warcraft
Lenovo Thinkbook Plus Gen 6
MicroLED displays
ChatGPT
Claude
Gemini (Google Ultra)
Perplexity
Square
Monarch Money
Ubiquiti
Amazon
Google Opal
American Express
Figma
Nvidia
Stripe
SpaceX
Wix
TikTok
Mac
NVR
C Drive
TestFlight
App Store
Google Play Store
OLED displays
Pixel 10
Apple Intelligence

Kevin’s 41 days sober and glowing, Alex voices a Viking, and AI is still deeply weird. This week, Kevin tries Google's "Flow" video tool, which turns your prompt into something between an ad and a fever dream. Alex talks loop group voice work on Predator: Killer of Killers, and Kevin explains why Eleven Labs’ new AI is scarily good at conversations. Also: red-tinted contact lenses that might give you night vision, Builders AI getting caught with 700 human coders, and a hot take on residuals from the streaming wars. Alex's kitchen remodel is still chaos, Kevin's skin is allegedly better, and yes, Apple is skipping straight to iOS 26. Because of course they are.

⏱️ Timestamps:
00:00 Intro and Welcome
01:43 Kevin Discusses Recent Travel (NYC)
02:22 Sober Life Update (41 Days), Physical Effects Discussed
06:32 Diggnation 20th Anniversary Mention (July 1st)
07:41 Alex's New Mac Laptop Purchase (M4 Pro)
13:03 Alex Tries Mascot Harlan Wine
14:16 Kevin Shares Google's Flow AI Video Generation Experiments
24:30 Watching the "Plastic Baby" AI Video
28:00 Discussion of Flow Features (Continuity, Extending Scenes)
29:20 Alex Reveals He is In Predator: Killer of Killers
38:17 Streaming Royalties, SAG/AFTRA, and AI Impact
0:50:54 Apple's Reported Jump to iOS 26
0:55:41 Kevin Shows His New iPhone and Hard Graft Sleeve
0:59:45 Reflections on Aging, Time, and Pet Toaster
1:01:04 Antarctica Trip for Kevin's 50th?
1:03:19 Builder.AI Exposed for Using Human Engineers
1:06:53 Satirical Builder.AI AI Video
1:09:34 Bitcoin and Crypto Bro Kidnapping Story
1:13:17 11 Labs Conversational AI 2.0 Demo
1:23:18 Infrared Contact Lenses Development
1:27:05 Apple AirPods Hearing Aid Feature
1:28:22 Attempting Mouse Contact Lens AI Video
1:32:25 Closing Remarks, Continued Sobriety Reflections

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LMNT – Zero-sugar electrolyte mix. Free sample pack with any purchase: https://drinklmnt.com/digg
ZBiotics – Pre-alcohol probiotic engineered by real scientists: https://zbiotics.com/digg
Monarch Money – Personal finance app that helps you manage your budget without judgment: https://monarchmoney.com/

📰 Top Stories:
Builders AI bankruptcy: https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/20/builders_ai_real_people/
Flow AI demo: https://ai.googleblog.com/2025/05/introducing-flow-google-video-generation
Infrared contact lens tech: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/night-vision-contact-lenses-infrared
Eleven Labs Conversational AI 2.0: https://elevenlabs.io/blog/conversational-ai-update
Apple skips to iOS 26: https://www.macrumors.com/2025/05/15/apple-ios26-2026-plan/

👤 People Mentioned:
Alex Albrecht – / alalbrecht
Kevin Rose – / kevinrose
Dan Trachtenberg – https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1502434/
Will Harlan – / willharlan
Alexis Ohanian – https://www.776.com/team/alexis-ohanian
Mauricio Balvanera – / maubrowncow
Heather (Alex’s wife) – still hates AirDrop
Betty White – timeless icon
Wim Hof – https://www.wimhofmethod.com/
Tim Ferriss – https://tim.blog/

🛍️ Products Mentioned:
Flow (Google AI tool) – https://ai.google/tools/flow/
Eleven Labs – https://elevenlabs.io/
Unreal Engine – https://www.unrealengine.com/
MacBook Pro Max – https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/
Mascot Harlan wine – https://www.harlanestate.com/mascot
Builder.AI – https://www.builder.ai/
AirPods Pro – https://amzn.to/3ZakGJV
Snapchat – https://www.snapchat.com/
FaceTime – https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204380
Kore Shorts (Vuori) – https://vuori.com/products/kore-short
Hard Graft – https://www.hardgraft.com/
Costco – https://www.costco.com/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/
Bitcoin – https://bitcoin.org/

🎧 Follow Diggnation:
Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/diggnation-rebooted/id1766027468
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/0bzwpvUwHNLiGqlcTCBKJZ
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/thediggnation

Kevin’s 15 days into sobriety, Alex is resin-printing door parts, and the Digg mobile app is quietly becoming a real thing.
This week, AI is either your creative assistant or the reason you need a new career—depending on how you feel about Marvel using bots for its opening credits.
Jayci Hayes joins with tales of heli-repelling wildfires, building GameCrib, working with Twitch in its early days, and launching a bottled margarita brand designed to protect citrus from UV light.
Also: Alex automates his home with Home Assistant (bye Echo), Apple finally loses its grip on in-app payments, and listener Graz emails in to offer custom Diggnation knives.
It’s a caffeine-fueled episode with actual emotional depth and at least one sincere conversation about electrolytes.

⏱️ Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:15 Kevin hits 15 days sober, skips red wine and Jack
07:19 Mascot wine list opens to listeners
08:41 Graz offers custom chef’s knives
10:46 Gemini AI codes games, Bolt builds apps
13:53 Kevin hits NYC, Alex sees plays
15:23 Sponsor: NordVPN
17:50 Made In Grill
20:59 Starlink camping + Amazon satellites
22:59 Digg app update + $115K raised
26:33 AI friends? Still weird
33:03 Reddit fights persuasive bots
39:33 Kevin goes all in on Home Assistant
41:48 Sponsor: LMNT
44:54 Guest: Jayci Hayes—fires, Twitch, margaritas
50:55 Runway AI makes an animated pilot
51:57 Will AI replace creatives?
1:03:04 Whoop 5.0 features + sleep guilt
1:11:27 Alex prints a custom spacer
1:19:06 Apple loses in-app payment fight

📦 Sponsors:
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Vuori – 20% off your first order of ridiculously comfortable clothes: https://vuori.com/DIGG
LMNT – Zero-sugar electrolyte mix. Free sample pack with any purchase: https://drinklmnt.com/digg

📰 Top Stories:
Reddit tightens AI bot rules: https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/06/reddit-will-tighten-verification-to-keep-out-human-like-ai-bots
Runway launches AI pilot: https://variety.com/2025/artisans/news/runway-ai-studio-animated-pilot-mars-siv-1236381403
Whoop 5.0 release: https://www.theverge.com/news/661773/whoop-5-news-price-specs-battery
Apple ruling on in-app payments: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2025-05-02/ruling-apple-app-store-epic-games
Made In’s new grill: https://madeincookware.com/collections/grill-pans-and-griddles

👤 People Mentioned:
Alex Albrecht – https://www.linkedin.com/in/alalbrecht/
Kevin Rose – https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinrose
Justin Mezzell – https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-mezzell/
Mau Balvanera – https://www.linkedin.com/in/maubrowncow/
Will Harlan – https://www.linkedin.com/in/willharlan
John Graziano – https://grazmakes.com/about
Mike Mazer – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemaser/
Jayci Hayes – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaci-hays-5174a6/
Theo Vaughn – https://www.theovon.com/
Mark Zuckerberg – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Zuckerberg

🛍️ Products Mentioned:
Barebones Pulaski Axe - https://amzn.to/4iX08fj
Made In Grill – https://madeincookware.com/collections/grill-pans-and-griddles
Home Assistant – https://www.home-assistant.io/
Echo Devices – https://amzn.to/3ZakGJV
Eleven Labs – https://elevenlabs.io/
Plex – https://www.plex.tv/
Apple Watch – https://amzn.to/3YJNadz
Aura Ring – https://amzn.to/437ikNb
Whoop 5.0 – https://amzn.to/43dJi5O
Runway AI – https://runwayml.com/
Fusion 360 – https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360
Formlabs – https://formlabs.com/
Disney+ – https://www.disneyplus.com/
Secret Invasion – https://www.disneyplus.com/browse/entity-4cfe6313-7f5e-4544-af84-d31bf718f65a
Photoshop – https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html
Kindle – https://amzn.to/3GPDnfP
Crucial Conversations – https://amzn.to/42Sz3VI

🎧 Follow Diggnation:
Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/diggnation-rebooted/id1766027468
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/0bzwpvUwHNLiGqlcTCBKJZ
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/thediggnation

We’re not saying nostalgia hits harder with a cocktail in hand. But it helps. Dr. Tiki and Lala from Tiki Bar TV join Alex and Kevin for a tropical-tinged episode full of old internet tales, new tech obsessions, and the slow unraveling of Alex's appendix-related trauma.

They sip Mascot wine, wrestle with home automation setups, and revisit the chaotic brilliance of the early web. Plus: robot horses, maple syrup whiskey, and the most ethical lottery heist ever attempted.

0:00 Intro
0:02 Mascot Wine & Tony Hawk memories – Fancy juice, legendary guests
0:05 Emergency Appendix Removal – Everything is fine, no one panic
0:09 Home Automation – Kevin gifts Alex cursed smart gear
0:14 Emails: Anxiety & Claustrophobia – Meditation, vodka, or both
0:22 Sponsor: Vuori – Soft clothes for hard emotional spirals
0:32 Lottery Hack – They did the math. It paid off.
0:39 Sponsor: LMNT – Electrolytes for the hungover and hopeful
0:43 Kawasaki’s Robot Horse – Childhood dreams, now rideable
0:44 Nintendo Switch 2 – New console, same impulse buy
0:47 Sponsor: Delete Me – Because your data is not vibing
0:49 Guest Segment: Jeff & Lala – The Tiki Bar TV reunion you didn’t know you needed
0:56 Mixology Interlude – Drinks. Weird ones. Made live.
1:01 Mixology Interlude continued – Still shaking things up
1:20 Wrap-up – Tiger count confirmed. French toast pending

💎 Episode Sponsors

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📢 Top Stories

Tiki Bar TV returns (kind of)
https://www.tikibartv.com

Home automation via Unifi
https://community.ui.com/stories/UniFi-Enhancing-the-household-through-automation-wireless-and-wired-access/d438fb9d-f4f7-4b2f-bfcd-d7e812855c6e

Nintendo Switch 2 preorders
https://www.nintendo.com/us/whatsnew/nintendo-maintains-nintendo-switch-2-pricing-retail-pre-orders-to-begin-april-24-in-u-s

Texas Lottery heist (the legal kind)
https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/these-guys-spent-25-million-to-win-the-lottery-they-almost-did/

Robot horses exist now, apparently
https://www.cnet.com/tech/rideable-horse-robot-viral-video-the-real-story-behind-it/

🎧 Listen and Follow
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0bzwpvU
Instagram: @thediggnation