In today’s episode, Zöe is joined by WIRED’s Leah Feiger to run through five of the best stories you need to know about — from how AI is eliminating entry level jobs to how a secretive Democrat group is funding high-profile influencers. Then, Zöe and Leah dive into the scoop that AI researchers recently recruited to Meta’s Superintelligence Lab are already leaving — some of them, back to OpenAI.

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Join WIRED’s best and brightest as they provide an insider analysis of the overlap between tech and politics, from the influence of Silicon Valley on the Trump administration to how inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots fanned the fire on social protests.

Articles mentioned in this episode:

• Researchers Are Already Leaving Meta’s New Superintelligence Lab | WIRED
• AI Is Eliminating Jobs for Younger Workers | WIRED
• Elon Musk’s xAI Sues Apple and OpenAI Over App Store Rankings | WIRED
• A Dark Money Group Is Secretly Funding High-Profile Democratic Influencers | WIRED
• What It’s Like Watching Dozens of Bodies Decompose (for Science)

As the summer comes to an end, we’re thinking about what unplugging, going offline — the ultimate luxury — looks like in 2025. With a growing slate of apps aiming to reduce our screen time and some tech leaders trying to reinvent the internet as it was, where are we heading? WIRED’s features editor Jason Kehe joins us to discuss how as users we are now best positioned to take the power back.

Join us LIVE in San Francisco on September 9th

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Join WIRED’s best and brightest as they provide an insider analysis of the overlap between tech and politics, from the influence of Silicon Valley on the Trump administration to how inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (Ai) chatbots fanned the fire on social protests.

Articles mentioned in this episode:

• Going Dumb: My Year With a Flip Phone | WIRED
• Bluesky Is Plotting a Total Takeover of the Social Internet | WIRED
• Alexis Ohanian’s Next Social Platform Has One Rule: Don’t Act Like an Asshole | WIRED

The Reddit co-founder sits down for a wide-ranging conversation, from buying his first video game to meeting his future co-founder on the first day of college. When he’s not investing in the future of women’s sports, he’s relaunching Digg as the future of toxic-free social media.

Join WIRED’s best and brightest as they provide an insider analysis of the overlap between tech and politics, from the influence of Silicon Valley on the Trump administration to how inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots fanned the fire on social protests.

In today’s episode, Zöe is joined by WIRED’s Louise Matsakis to run through five of the best stories we published this week — from OpenAI’s being poised to become the highest valued startup in history, to how government staffing cuts have fueled an ant smuggling boom. Then, Zöe and Louise discuss the controversial deals that the Trump administration appears to be striking with chip manufacturers.

Join us LIVE in San Francisco on September 9th

• Get your tickets HERE

Articles mentioned in this episode:

• How DOGE Set Up a Shadow X Account for a Government Agency | WIRED
• OpenAI Is Poised to Become the Most Valuable Startup Ever. Should It Be? | WIRED
• Silicon Valley Is Panicking About Zohran Mamdani. NYC’s Tech Scene Is Not | WIRED
• Government Staffing Cuts Have Fueled an Ant-Smuggling Boom | WIRED
• Why Trump Flip-Flopped on Nvidia Selling H20 Chips to China | WIRED

Join WIRED’s best and brightest as they provide an insider analysis of the overlap between tech and politics, from the influence of Silicon Valley on the Trump administration to how inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots fanned the fire on social protests.

Vibe coding is everywhere, and it’s already drastically changing the tech industry — from shaping how software gets made to who gets hired. So back in July, our very own Lauren Goode went on a journey to become a vibe coder at one of San Francisco’s top startups. In this episode, she sits down with Mike to share her experience and they break down whether vibe coding really spells the end of coding as we know it.

Join us LIVE in San Francisco on September 9th

• Get your tickets HERE

Articles mentioned in this episode:

• Vibe Coding Is Coming for Engineering Jobs | WIRED
• Cursor’s New Bugbot Is Designed to Save Vibe Coders From Themselves | WIRED
• Cheap AI Tools May Come at a Big Long-Term Cost

Join WIRED’s best and brightest as they provide an insider analysis of the overlap between tech and politics, from the influence of Silicon Valley on the Trump administration to how inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots fanned the fire on social protests.

A conversation series that only WIRED could host, led by WIRED’s Global Editorial Director, Katie Drummond. Every week, Katie sits down with influential figures in culture, politics, business, science, and beyond for a discussion captured through the WIRED lens – equal parts geeky, intellectual and goblin mode. This series will feel like the internet and will sit at the intersection of technology, power, and culture. In an age of information overload, this series will provide its listeners “the ultimate luxury:” meaning and context. Or put another way, if you're looking for the soul of our new society in wild metamorphosis, our advice is simple. Listen to this podcast.

Join us LIVE in San Francisco on September 9th

• Get your tickets HERE

Join WIRED’s best and brightest as they provide an insider analysis of the overlap between tech and politics, from the influence of Silicon Valley on the Trump administration to how inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots fanned the fire on social protests.

In today’s episode, Zöe is joined by WIRED’s Jake Lahut to run through five of the best stories we published this week — from how the Trump administration is creating and sharing memes to make fun of deportations, to NASA’s ambitious goal to put nuclear reactors on the moon. Then, Zöe and Jake dive into why users kind of hated OpenAI’s GPT-5 release.

Join us LIVE in San Francisco on September 9th

• Get your tickets HERE

Articles mentioned in this episode:

• OpenAI Scrambles to Update GPT-5 After Users Revolt | WIRED
  The Trump Administration Is Using Memes to Turn Mass Deportation Into One Big Joke | WIRED
• Trump Family–Backed World Liberty Financial Sets Up $1.5 Billion Crypto Treasury | WIRED
• Inside the ‘Whites Only’ Community in Arkansas | WIRED
• Why the US Is Racing to Build a Nuclear Reactor on the Moon | WIRED

Join WIRED’s best and brightest as they provide an insider analysis of the overlap between tech and politics, from the influence of Silicon Valley on the Trump administration to how inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots fanned the fire on social protests.

Palantir Technologies is arguably one of the most notorious American corporations. Cofounded by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, the company has worked with ICE, the US Department of Defense, the Israeli military and sparked numerous protests in multiple countries. But what do they actually do?

Palantir is often called a data broker, a data miner, or a giant database of personal information. In reality, it’s none of these—but even former employees struggle to explain it. Luckily, WIRED staff writer Caroline Haskins joins us to decode Palantir for us.

Join us LIVE in San Francisco on September 9th

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Articles mentioned in this episode:

• What Does Palantir Actually Do?
• Palantir Is Helping DOGE With a Massive IRS Data Project
• ICE Is Paying Palantir $30 Million to Build ‘ImmigrationOS’ Surveillance Platform
• Lauren’s latest article: Lisa Su Runs AMD - and Is Out for Nvidia’s Blood

Join WIRED’s best and brightest as they provide an insider analysis of the overlap between tech and politics, from the influence of Silicon Valley on the Trump administration to how inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots fanned the fire on social protests.