Podcasts about Breakmaster Cylinder

We keep hearing over and over that generative AI is causing massive problems in education, both in K-12 schools and at the college level. Lots of people are worried about students using ChatGPT to cheat on assignments, and that is a problem. But really, the issues go a lot deeper, to the very philosophy of education itself. We sat down and talked to a lot of teachers — you'll hear many of their voices throughout this episode — and we kept hearing one cri du coeur again and again: What are we even doing here? What's the point? Links:  Majority of high school students use gen AI for schoolwork | College Board Quarter of teens have used ChatGPT for schoolwork | Pew Research Your brain on ChatGPT | MIT Media Lab My students think it's fine to cheat with AI. Maybe they're on to something. | Vox How children understand & learn from conversational AI | McGill University ‘File not Found' | The Verge Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder! Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David Risher was on Lyft's board for years, but only stepped in as CEO in 2023, to help turn the company around. He's done pretty well so far, but there are still a lot of open questions for him to face. It's not just competition for riders and drivers Lyft has to deal with; it's the future of transportation itself, and new AI tools that might take apps like Lyft out of the equation entirely. Links:  Lyft's first ‘robotaxis' are live in Atlanta | The Verge Tensor robocar will be “Lyft ready” out of the factory | Engadget Congrats, Lyft | The Verge Lyft's AI assistant offers drivers advice on how to make money | The Verge Lyft gets toehold in Europe with FreeNow acquisition | The Verge Lyft co-founders to step down as company struggles | New York Times How Silicon Valley enshittified the internet | Decoder Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder! Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Sarah Jeong, features editor at The Verge. I'm standing in for Nilay for one final Thursday episode here as he settles back into full-time hosting duties. Today, we've got a fun one. I'm talking to Cory Doctorow, prolific author, internet activist, and arguably one of the fiercest tech critics writing today. He has a new book out called Enshittifcation: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It. So I sat down with Cory to discuss what enshittification is, why it's happening, and how we might fight it.  Links:  Enshittification | Macmillan Why every website you used to love is getting worse | Vox The age of Enshittification | The New Yorker Yes, everything online sucks now — but it doesn't have to | Ars Technica The enshittification of garage-door openers reveals vast, deadly rot | Cory Doctorow Mark Zuckerberg emails outline plan to neutralize competitors | The Verge Google gets to keep Chrome, judge rules in antitrust case | The Verge How Amazon wins: by steamrolling rivals and partners | WSJ A new web DRM standard has security researchers worried | The Verge Netflix, Microsoft & Google just changed how the web works | The Outline Subscribe to The Verge⁠ to access the ad-free version of Decoder! Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You might think of ferns—if you think of them much at all—as the unassuming and understated members of the plant world. What could they teach us about philosophy or theology or wonder? It turns out quite a lot. When we explore that strange world of fern reproduction and learn about the two life phases of ferns it brings up questions about identity and what it means to be an individual. And the exploration itself becomes a practice of wonder and celebration of the diversity of life God creates.  Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Northern Points, Evan MacDonald, Superlegal, Pink Marble, Sarah Chapman, Lost Harmonies, Geoffrey Jerrall, and Klimenko Music, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.  

LexisNexis is one of the most important companies in the entire legal system. For ages it's been where you went to look up case law and do legal research. There isn't a lawyer today who hasn't used it — it's fundamental infrastructure for the legal profession, just like email or a word processor. But in 2025, apparently nobody can resist the siren call of AI, and LexisNexis is no different. The first word Sean said to describe LexisNexis wasn't “law” or “data,” it was “AI.” And I had questions, because so far AI has created just as much chaos and slop in the courts as anywhere else. Links:  Errors found in judge's withdrawn decision stink of AI | The Verge Why do lawyers keep using ChatGPT? | The Verge Conservative judge says AI could strengthen originalist movement | Reuters LexisNexis CEO says it's ‘a matter of time' before attorney loses a license | Fortune Two companies ruled legal tech for decades. AI is blowing that open | BI Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's guests are General Motors CEO Mary Barra and new GM Chief Product Officer Sterling Anderson. There's a lot of big news the company just announced, including a Google Gemini-powered AI assistant that's coming to new cars and an entirely new hardware and software platform coming to the Escalade IQ in 2028 alongside true Level 3 autonomous driving.  So I asked Mary about all of that and how she's navigating the current moment, and her company's relationship with the Trump administration. I also got into the details on GM's platform with Sterling, including its decision to ditch Apple CarPlay on its EVs and what all this looks like in the future as AI voice assistants and more capable autonomy come into the mix. Read the full transcript on The Verge.   Links:  GM says hands-free, eyes-off driving is coming to Escalade IQ | The Verge GM takes a $1.6 billion hit on EVs | ⁠The Verge GM software boss on ditching CarPlay | Decoder Ford CEO on China, tariffs, and the quest for a $30,000 EV | Decoder The EV tax credit is gone — now the hard part begins | Decoder GM blocks dealership from installing CarPlay retrofit kits in EVs | The Verge Everybody hates GM's decision to kill Apple CarPlay | The Verge GM hires ex-Tesla, Aurora exec as chief product officer | CNBC Cruise's robotaxi service will shut down as GM pulls its funding | The Verge Newsom names GM's Mary Barra as villain in fight with feds | Streetlight CA Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder! Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey everyone, it's Nilay. I'm back from parental leave, and I'm really excited to jump back into Decoder. Today's episode is a special one: I'm talking to Zocdoc CEO Oliver Kharraz, and we chatted live on stage at the TechFutures conference in New York City.  You're almost certainly familiar with ZocDoc — it's a platform that helps people find and book appointments with doctors. It's a classic of the early app economy. The big difference is that Zocdoc plugs into the U.S. healthcare system, which is of course a giant mess, and that means Zocdoc has a big moat. So we talked about competition, navigating the US healthcare system, and, of course, what AI is doing to medicine.  Links:  "Superhuman" AI could transform medicine, Zocdoc CEO says | Axios How AI is changing your doctors appointments | Fast Company This Strategy ‘Nearly Killed' Zocdoc. | Inc. Zocdoc Turns 18 | Oliver Kharraz / LinkedIn Meet Zo, the AI Phone Assistant for healthcare | Zocdoc Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Jake Kastrenakes, executive editor at The Verge. I'm filling in for Nilay here while he settles back into full-time hosting duties. We've got a very good episode for you today. My guest is Verge transportation editor Andy Hawkins, and we're talking about the federal EV tax credit.  The tax credit expired at the end of September, and there are a lot of questions about what happens to the auto industry after its demise. This is a really hard, complicated set of problems, with a lot of moving parts, so I was really excited to have Andy on the show to break down all of these components and give us a clearer picture about what's coming next.  Links:  The EV tax credit is dead — here's what happens next | The Verge GM takes a $1.6 billion hit on EVs | The Verge Ford CEO Jim Farley on China, tariffs, and affordable EV | The Verge Ford lost $5 billion on EVs in 2024, teases new models | The Verge EV makers fill tax-credit void with costly discounts | Automotive News So much for Ford and GM's scheme to extend the EV tax credit | The Verge Stellantis replaces EV tax credit with its own discount | Automotive News Tesla sales picking up thanks to expiring tax credit | The Verge California Reverses Pledge To Revive EV Tax Credit | SF Chronicle Global EV sales growth slows to 15% in August, research firm says | Reuters Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder! Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Theologian Rebecca Copeland joins Jim Stump to talk about how we think about sin in a world full of wicked problems—complex, interconnected issues like climate change, inequality, and mistrust in science. Our usual theological categories often fall short: sin as personal moral failure doesn't capture the systemic nature of these problems, and sin as an inherited condition can leave us feeling powerless. Copeland offers another way of understanding sin—what she calls unoriginal sin—that helps us recognize both our complicity in broken systems and our capacity for repentance and healing. The conversation moves from deep theology to practical questions about how we live responsibly and hopefully in a tangled, imperfect world. Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Nick Petrov, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc. Check out Rebecca's Book, Entangled Being, here.

This is Hayden Field, senior AI reporter at The Verge and your Thursday episode guest host. It's been a very big news week in AI, and a lot of it had to do with OpenAI, its DevDay in San Francisco this week, and the viral explosion of AI-generated video thanks to the company's new Sora app.  So I brought in Kanjun Qiu, CEO of AI startup Imbue and a close watcher of the industry, to break down what's really happening, why it's happening, and the societal implications of it all. Links: All of the updates from OpenAI DevDay 2025 | The Verge OpenAI wasn't expecting Sora's copyright drama | The Verge I've fallen into Sora's slippery slop | The Verge Sora 2 users are having fun with Sam Altman's face | The Verge OpenAI will let developers build apps that work inside ChatGPT | The Verge OpenAI wants ChatGPT to be your future operating system | Wired Sora 2 watermark removers flood the web | 404 Media What the arrival of AI-fabricated video means for us | NYT Recruiters use AI to scan résumés — applicants are trying to trick it | NYT Employers are buried in AI-generated résumés | NYT Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. This episode was edited by Xander Adams. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I'm Joanna Stern, the senior personal tech columnist at The Wall Street Journal, and this is my final Decoder episode filling in for Nilay while he's out on parental leave. My guest today: Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe. This is RJ's third time on the show, and it felt like the perfect follow-up to my conversation last week with Ford CEO Jim Farley. I loved the idea of going straight from Ford to Rivian. And if you listened to the Farley episode, this one flows nicely. RJ and I cover a lot of the same challenges: tariffs, China, EV pricing. Of course, I also asked about CarPlay.  Links:  A pretty fascinating look under the hood of the Rivan R2 | The Verge Rivian CEO says CarPlay isn't going to happen | The Verge Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe says too many carmakers are copying Tesla | Decoder Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe isn't scared of the Cybertruck | Decoder Rivian breaks ground on $5 billion Georgia plant | AP Rivian narrows 2025 delivery guidance Q3 as production slips | WSJ Rivian R2 remains on track for $45,000 and 2026 production | Car and Driver Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Hayden Field, senior AI reporter at The Verge and your Thursday episode guest host. Today, I'm talking with David Hershey, who leads the applied AI team at Anthropic. I wanted to have David on because earlier this week, Anthropic released a brand-new AI model called Claude Sonnet 4.5 that's been making waves. So I wanted to sit down with David, who spends a lot of time testing out what modes like Claude Sonnet 4.5 can and can't do, to ask him where we are on this promise of AI agents, and also what the path forward looks like as agentic technology progresses. Links:  Anthropic releases Claude Sonnet 4.5 in latest bid for AI agents | The Verge ChatGPT's built-in Buy Now button has arrived | The Verge OpenAI really wants you to start your day with ChatGPT Pulse | The Verge Anthropic's Claude AI is playing Pokémon | The Verge  AI agents are science fiction not yet ready for primetime | The Verge Agents are the future AI companies promise and need | The Verge  Amazon is betting on agents to win the AI race | Decoder Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our best scientific models make it clear that society needs a big change at a global scale in order to limit irreversible damage—what good can individual actions and attitudes do in the face of this immense problem? Today's guest, Debra Rienstra, argues that the right relationship with the Earth can actually make all the difference and that new worlds of hope are built in hidden refuges amidst the surrounding devastation. Genuine lament and grief help reorient us toward the beauty and majesty of creation. Only once this groundwork has been laid can we truly repent for what we have done—and begin the work of hope for a better future.  Additional Resources: Learn more about Debra's book, Refugia Faith Sign up for the Refugia newsletter Find new episodes of Refugia Podcast Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Pink Marble courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.  This episode originally aired on Mar 10, 2022.

This is Joanna Stern, senior personal technology columnist at The Wall Street Journal. I'm the last Monday guest host filling in for Nilay here on Decoder while he's out on parental leave with his adorable new son, and I'm very excited to be talking today to Ford CEO Jim Farley. I'm a longtime Decoder listener and my favorite episodes are car episodes. I think car CEOs are currently facing some of the most fascinating and complex challenges in both tech and business. So when I was asked to guest host the show I said, “That's it, car CEOs.” And Farley was at the top of the list. This was a great conversation that covered a lot of ground. I think you're going to like it.  Links: I've been driving an EV for a year. I have only one regret. | WSJ Ford reveals breakthrough process for lower priced EVs | The Verge Ford is betting the future on smaller EV batteries | The Verge Ford is doubling down on EVs — the timing is awful | The Verge Ford's CEO on the essential economy and its untapped potential | Aspen Institute Ford rejigs EV plans after suffering billions in losses | NYT Why Americans can't buy the world's best electric car | NYT Ford CEO Jim Farley on building the electric F-150 | Decoder Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Hayden Field, senior AI reporter at The Verge — and your Thursday episode guest host. I have another couple of shows for you while Nilay is out on parental leave, and we're going to be spending more time diving into some of the unforeseen consequences of the generative AI boom. Today, I'm talking with Heidy Khlaaf, who is chief AI scientist at the AI Now Institute, about the tech industry's shift toward AI military applications. I wanted to know what's motivated this shift, and why Heidy thinks leading AI firms are being far too cavalier about deploying generative AI in high-risk scenarios. Links: OpenAI is softening its stance on military use | The Verge OpenAI awarded $200 million US defense contract | The Verge OpenAI is partnering with defense tech company Anduril | The Verge Anthropic launches new Claude service for military and intelligence use | The Verge Anthropic, Palantir, Amazon team up on defense AI | Axios Google scraps promise not to develop AI weapons | The Verge Microsoft employees occupy headquarters in protest of Israel contracts | The Verge Microsoft's employee protests have reached a boiling point | The Verge Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Guest host Hank Green talks with his friend Dropout CEO Sam Reich about keeping a business simple, trying to run a company the “right way,” and why the internet should be full of as many weird little projects as possible. Links:  How CollegeHumor reinvented itself for the new internet age | People CollegeHumor shaped online comedy. What went wrong? [2020] | Wired ‘I believe in this enough to try to do it myself' [2020] | Digiday Jacob Wysocki needed a minute to process that Game Changer | Vulture Game Changer smartly weaponizes its online following | Mashable Vimeo CEO Philip Moyer is betting on the human touch | Decoder Vimeo to be acquired by Bending Spoons for $1.38B | The Verge Transcript:  Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Verge senior AI reporter Hayden Field and New York Times reporter Kashmir Hill discuss the significant mental health impact AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT, can have on users — both people in crisis, and also people who seemed stable. This episode contains non-detailed discussions of suicide and mental illness. If you or someone you know is in crisis, considering self-harm, or needs to talk, please call the Lifeline at 988. Links:  A teen was suicidal. ChatGPT was the friend he confided in. | New York Times Sam Altman says ChatGPT will stop talking about suicide with teens | The Verge Chatbots can go into a delusional spiral. Here's how. | New York Times Why is ChatGPT telling people to email me? | New York Times They asked an AI chatbot questions. The answers sent them spiraling. | New York Times She is in love with ChatGPT | The New York Times ‘I feel like I'm going crazy': ChatGPT fuels delusional spirals | Wall Street Journal Meta, OpenAI face FTC inquiry on chatbots' impact on kids | Bloomberg Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ticks are among the most detested creatures in all of nature—but what happens when we look closer? In this Cool Creatures episode, Colin follows Calvin University professor Will Miller and some of his students into the field as they study ticks and the diseases they carry. As we explore ticks we find ourselves asking questions about public health, parasitism, and theology. Are ticks only dangerous pests or can they also open our eyes to the complexity and beauty of creation?  Helpful Resources: CDC Tick Bite Guidance Mayo Clinic Guide to Ticks and Diseases Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Evan MacDonald, Pavel Yudin, Nathan King, Cosmo Lawson, Vesper Tapes, Ricky Bombino & Elizabells, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

This is Hank Green, the cofounder of Complexly. I'm back for my second guest hosting spot here on Decoder while Nilay is out on parental leave. Today, I'm talking with Digitas CEO Amy Lanzi, who runs a major marketing and ad agency. You might remember Amy; Nilay interviewed her for Decoder live at an event in New York City almost a year ago. But Nilay, who runs what might be the last website on Earth, has a very different perspective on the world of digital marketing than I do. So as a career YouTuber, I had a lot of questions for someone in a position like Amy's.  Links:  Digitas unveils new generative AI platform, Digitas AI |  Digitas Amy Lanzi on steering Digitas through the demands of modern marketing | Sightly Introducing Reddit Community Intelligence | Reddit Digitas North America announces Amy Lanzi as CEO | Digitas Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Alex Heath. For my final episode as your Thursday episode guest host, I recently sat down with Bret Taylor, the CEO of AI startup Sierra and the chairman of OpenAI, for a live event in San Francisco hosted by Alix Partners.  Bret has worked at Google, Facebook, and Salesforce in high-level, executive roles, and he led Twitter's board during Elon Musk's takeover, so very few people have seen the tech industry up close like Bret has. Now, he's all in on AI. We covered a lot of ground in this conversation, and I hope you find Bret's perspective as fascinating as I did. Links: Ex-Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor's Sierra is the latest $10 billion AI startup | CNBC I talked to Sam Altman about the GPT-5 launch fiasco | Verge Sam Altman says ‘yes,' AI is in a bubble | Verge MIT study on AI profits rattles tech investors | Axios GPT-5 Pro can prove new, interesting mathematics | Sebastien Bubeck AI chatbots are ready to talk to customers. Sort of. | WSJ How is AI different than other technology waves? | Acquired Podcast Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Hank Green, cofounder of Complexly. You might remember last year when I turned the tables on Nilay and interviewed him on his own show. That was a ton of fun, and it was so much fun that they've brought me back again. This time, I'm stepping in for Nilay to host the next few Decoder episodes while he's out on parental leave.  Today, I'm talking with a very special guest: Sal Khan, the founder and CEO of Khan Academy. Sal was actually Nilay's second-ever guest on Decoder, back in 2020. And well, a whole lot has changed since then. So I wanted to have Sal back on to ask what it's like running Khan Academy today, in the aftermath of the pandemic. But also how online learning is about to change, in really dramatic ways, due to artificial intelligence. Links:  Sal Khan on A.I.'s promise and its risks | NBC News (YouTube) The best-case scenario for AI in schools | BBC News Meet Khanmigo: the student tutor AI being tested in schools | 60 Minutes| 60 Minutes Remote learning is here to stay — can we make it better? | Decoder Hank Green makes Nilay Patel explain why websites have a future | Decoder In classrooms, teachers put AI tutoring bots to the test | NYT Elite colleges have found a new virtue for applicants to fake | NYT Everyone Is cheating their way through college | New York Magazine Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Despite being one of the most valuable companies in the world, OpenAI is still technically a nonprofit. That's what set the stage for the dramatic board coup in 2023 that briefly ousted Sam Altman as CEO. And now, OpenAI is trying to shake this nonprofit structure so it can raise even more money and, eventually, go public. There's a lot at stake here, and not just for OpenAI. Links:  OpenAI abandons plans to become a for-profit company | Verge Why California's AG must continue investigation into OpenAI | CalMatters An open letter to OpenAI | EyesOnOpenAI OpenAI eyes $50B valuation in potential employee share sale | Reuters OpenAI thinks its critics are funded by billionaires | San Francisco Standard Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What happens when a theologian and an evolutionary biologist walk into a lab together—one asking questions about God through the strange world of microbes, the other studying the tiny ecosystems in our armpits and sourdough starters? In this episode, we hear the answer through the story of Aminah Al-Attas Bradford, a theologian who found herself researching yeast in the ecology lab of Rob Dunn, a biologist known for uncovering the microbial life all around us. Their collaboration leads to surprising questions about dust, microbes, matter, and meaning, and shows what can happen when science and theology meet in the middle in curious, unshielded conversation. Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Babel, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc. Check out Rob's book The Call of the Honeyguide: What Science Tells us About How To Live Well with the Rest of Life

Hello, and welcome to Decoder! This is Senior Producer Nick Statt. We're on a small break for the end of summer, and, sadly, Nilay will still be out a little while longer when we come back. But we have an excellent slate of guest host episodes starting up next month, so stay tuned for those.  In the meantime, we wanted to bring back one of our favorite Decoder interviews from earlier this year. It's with Bookshop CEO Andy Hunter, who back in January launched a pretty bold ebook initiative to take on Amazon and Kindle. It's been about seven months, but Bookshop has seen big results, including more than $1 million in ebook sales. So we thought it was a good time to revisit our conversation with Andy.   Links:  Bookshop.org reports 65% growth, e-books add $1 Million in sales | Publishers Weekly Bookshop CEO Andy Hunter's crusade to save books from Amazon | Decoder Bookshop.org is launching an ebook store to take on Amazon | Verge Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Far from the old picture of life as a mindless, mechanical process, new research is showing that even the simplest organisms—like bacteria—exhibit signs of purpose, agency, and decision-making. Biologist and author Sy Garte returns to Language of God to talk about how this might be a pointer to God. Following from his new book, Beyond Evolution: How New Discoveries in the Science of Life Point to God, Sy invites us into a fascinating and accessible look at how recent developments in biology are shifting our understanding of evolution. Without overstating or oversimplifying, he explores how the science of life opens space for wonder, meaning, and even theological reflection. Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Diverse Music courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

Hello! Decoder senior producer Kate Cox here. I'm afraid I'm still not Nilay, but I hope you've been enjoying our series of guest hosts this summer while he's out on parental leave. We have a few more really great guest episodes coming up, before Nilay returns to the host chair later this fall, so stay tuned. The production team is taking our own break this week, so while we're off we're excited to share this episode of The Gray Area with you. Students all over the country — including my own kids, thank goodness — are back in school right around now, and so we thought it would be a perfect time to revisit host Sean Illing talking with journalist James Walsh about how AI tools like ChatGPT have kicked off a new cheating arms race that's proving extremely disruptive to college education.  There are a lot of big Decoder ideas — and problems — wrapped up in all this. Okay, The Gray Area, with Sean Illing. Enjoy.  Links: If AI can do your classwork, why go to college? | The Gray Area Everyone Is cheating their way through college | New York Magazine How to get students to stop using AI | Verge I used the ‘cheat on everything' AI tool and it didn't help me cheat on anything | Verge Inside the frat-bro startup that wants you to ‘cheat on everything' | SF Standard A new headache for honest students: proving they didn't use AI | NYT Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Alex Heath, your Thursday episode guest host and deputy editor at The Verge. One of the biggest topics in AI these days is agents — the idea that AI is going to move from chatbots to reliably completing tasks for us in the real world. But the problem with agents is that they really aren't all that reliable right now. There's a lot of work happening in the AI industry to try and fix that, and that brings me to my guest today: David Luan, the head of Amazon's AGI research lab, a cofounder of Adept, and a former VP of engineering at OpenAI. David and I discussed the release of GPT-5, what Amazon wants with agents, and where he thinks the AI race is headed next. Read the full transcript on The Verge. Links:  The Platonic Representation Hypothesis | Phillip Isola Amazon plays catch-up with new Nova models to generate voices, video | Verge Amazon's new AI agent is designed to do your shopping | Verge Microsoft is racing to build an AI ‘agent factory' | Verge OpenAI's new ChatGPT Agent can control an entire computer | Verge 24 hours with Alexa Plus: we cooked, we chatted, and it kinda lied to me | Verge Why AI researchers are getting paid like NBA All-Stars | Decoder OpenAI's Windsurf deal is off — and Windsurf's CEO is going to Google | Verge This is Big Tech's playbook for swallowing the AI industry | Command Line Amazon hires founders away from AI startup Adept | TechCrunch Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Obsidian is a note-taking and productivity app that occupies the same "second brain" space as competitors like Notion — but in a lot of ways, it's also startlingly different. Obsidian's files are Markdown-based, stored locally on your own devices, and completely free to use. Steph Ango, the CEO, is also different in a lot of ways: He's not an Obsidian founder, but instead came to the role from being basically a member of the fan development community. His take on software, productivity, and business is refreshingly old-fashioned in a lot of good ways, while he's also leading a very 21st century startup.  Read the full transcript on The Verge. Links:  I'm joining Obsidian as CEO | Obsidian Blog About Obsidian (Manifesto) | Obsidian Narvar acquires Lumi (2021) | Narvar  After 15 years whipping the llama's ass, Winamp shuts down | TechCrunch Notion's Ivan Zhao wants you to demand better from your tools | Decoder Book Review: “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running” | National Geographic Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt; our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Alex Heath, your Thursday episode guest host and deputy editor at The Verge. Today, I'm talking to a very special guest: Nick Turley, OpenAI's head of ChatGPT.  While Sam Altman is definitely the public face of OpenAI, Nick has been leading ChatGPT's development since the very beginning, and it's now the fastest-growing software product of all time with more than 700 million weekly users. So, Nick and I talk about the backlash against OpenAI's removal of its GPT-4o model, the future of ChatGPT itself, solving hallucinations, and why he thinks it eventually won't look like a chatbot at all.  Links:  ChatGPT won't remove old models without warning after GPT-5 backlash | Verge ChatGPT is bringing back 4o as an option because people missed it | Verge GPT-5 is being released to all ChatGPT users | Verge The 6 biggest changes coming to ChatGPT | Verge ChatGPT has 20 million paying subscribers | Verge Elon Musk says he's suing Apple for rigging App Store rankings | Verge OpenAI's ChatGPT to hit 700 million weekly users | CNBC Chatbots can go into a delusional spiral. Here's how it happens | NYT ChatGPT gave instructions for murder, self-mutilation, and devil worship | The Atlantic ‘I feel like I'm going crazy': ChatGPT fuels delusional spirals | WSJ Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. This episode was edited by Xander Adams. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Born out of a cultural moment of growing distrust in science, BioLogos' Science is Good initiative explores how Christians can be a voice for the goodness of science. The episode connects the three parables of Matthew 25—about wisdom, stewardship, and mercy—with the work of three scientists whose careers exemplify these virtues. Epidemiologist Emily Smith shares how data-driven health work among the global poor reveals a form of wisdom that prepares for the needs of the most vulnerable. Se Kim, a science policy expert, reflects on the gift of scientific aptitude and the importance of investing in people and communities often left out of the scientific enterprise. And Francis Collins tells the story of hepatitis C, a curable disease still claiming lives, and how mercy means doing whatever it takes to bring healing to the “least of these.” Throughout, pastor Jason Miller offers insight into how Jesus' parables can still form our character—even in our attitudes toward science.  Together, their stories serve as a faithful answer to the call: Science is good—and we are invited to live in the light of that truth. Theme song and credits m usic by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Robert Meunier courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

In this bonus episode, CJ's father, Corey Sr., speaks publicly about his son's death for the very first time. We also meet close family friend Dwayne Brooks, who was witness to the Stephen Lawrence murder. Corey Junior Davis was just 14 when he was shot dead on the afternoon of 4 September 2017. In this series, crime correspondent John Simpson exposes the systemic failings, rivalries and silence surrounding CJ's killer.This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism here.Original Music by Cam Shuck - satellitestudios.co.ukAdditional Music by Breakmaster Cylinder and Jordan Powell."Candlepower" by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under CC BY 3.0.Clips: BBC, ITV, Sky News, ITN. This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We dive into the brutal reality of London's gangland, where imprisoned but still powerful leaders Young Dizz and CB preside over the rival Beckton Boys and Woodgrange gangs. CJ's name appears on a leaked police “gang matrix”, giving rise to the chilling question: Was CJ Davis a targeted victim of this deadly turf war?Corey Junior Davis was just 14 when he was shot dead on the afternoon of 4 September 2017. In this series, crime correspondent John Simpson exposes the systemic failings, rivalries and silence surrounding CJ's killer.This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism here.Original Music by Cam Shuck - satellitestudios.co.ukClips: UK Drill YouTube channel, Olympic YouTube Channel, BBC3.Additional music: Jordan Powell, Chris Zabriskie (licensed under Creative Commons) and Breakmaster Cylinder.This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We meet CJ Davis's mother Keisha McLeod and hear about the promising early years and the struggles of a young boy who, in his final 18 months, was sucked into an underworld of drug deals and gang crime. Corey Junior Davis was just 14 when he was shot dead on the afternoon of 4 September 2017. In this series, crime correspondent John Simpson exposes the systemic failings, rivalries and silence surrounding CJ's killer.This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism here.Original music by Cam Shuck - satellitestudios.co.ukAdditional music by Jordan Powell, Daniel Birch and Breakmaster Cylinder.Actors: Praise Aguda, Tione Chance.Clips used: BBC, ITV, UK Drill YouTube channel.This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Casey Newton, founder and editor of Platformer and cohost of the Hard Fork podcast. This is the second episode of my productivity-focused Decoder series I'm doing while Nilay is out on parental leave. Today, I'm talking with Notion cofounder and CEO Ivan Zhao. I've followed Notion for quite some time now — I'm a big fan, and I use Notion as part of my workflow with Platformer. So I was very excited to get Ivan on the show to discuss his philosophy on productivity, how he's grown his company over the last decade, and where he sees the space going in the future.  Links:  Introducing Notion AI for Work | Notion Notion Mail is a minimalist but powerful take on email | Verge Notion's new Q&A feature lets you ask an AI about your notes | Verge Notion takes on AI notetakers with its own transcription feature | TechCrunch The impossible dream of good workplace software | Decoder When AI has better taste than you | Julie Zhuo / The Looking Glass Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Alex Heath, deputy editor at The Verge. My guest today is GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke. In many ways, GitHub Copilot set off the current AI coding boom. But since Thomas was on the show a year ago, the rise of vibe coding has shifted the buzz to newer platforms like Cursor and Windsurf. As you'll hear in our conversation, Thomas is thinking a lot about the competition, and GitHub's role in the future of software development.  Links: Developers, Reinvented | Thomas Dohmke / GitHub Developer Odyssey | Thomas Dohmke / GitHub Why tech is racing to adopt AI coding, with Cursor's Michael Truell | Decoder GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke says AI needs competition to thrive | ⁠⁠Decoder⁠⁠ Up to 30 percent of some Microsoft code is now written by AI | Verge GitHub launches its AI app-making tool in preview | Verge Microsoft is getting ready for GPT-5 with a new Copilot smart mode | Verge Zuckerberg: AI will write most Meta code within 18 months | Engadget Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. This episode was edited by Xander Adams. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Casey Newton, founder and editor of the Platformer newsletter and cohost of the Hard Fork podcast. I'll be guest hosting the next few episodes of Decoder while Nilay is out on parental leave. For the next three weeks, I'll be talking to leaders in the productivity space about what they're building, and how they can help us get things done.  My guest today: Michael Truell, the CEO of Anysphere, the maker of automated programming platform Cursor AI. I sat down with Michael to talk about his product and how it works, why coding with AI has seen such incredible adoption, and what the future of automated programming really looks like.  Read the full transcript on The Verge. Links:  Anysphere, hailed as fastest growing startup ever, raises $900 Million | Bloomberg AI coding assistant Cursor draws a million users without even trying | Bloomberg Anthropic rehires AI leaders from Anysphere | The Information Cursor apologizes for unclear pricing changes that upset users | TechCrunch OpenAI looked at buying Cursor creator before turning to rival Windsurf | CNBC Interview with Anysphere CEO Michael Truell about coding with AI | Stratechery Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Alex Heath, your Thursday episode guest host and deputy editor at The Verge. Today I'm joined by Hayden Field, The Verge's new senior AI reporter to talk about the AI talent wars and why some researchers are suddenly getting traded like their NBA superstars. Both Hayden and I have been reporting on this for the past several weeks to get a sense of much these companies are paying for top talent, why Big Tech firms like Google are opting to hire instead of acquire, and what it means that some of the most sought-after AI experts in the world are no longer motivated by money alone.  Links:  OpenAI's Windsurf deal is off — and Windsurf's CEO is going to Google | Verge Mark Zuckerberg promises you can trust him with superintelligent AI | Verge Meta is trying to win the AI race with money — but not everyone can be bought | Verge Meta says it's winning the talent war with OpenAI | Command Line Google gets its swag back | Command Line The AI talent wars are just getting started | Command Line Meta tried to buy Safe Superintelligence, hired CEO Daniel Gross instead | CNBC Apple loses top AI models executive to Meta's hiring spree | Bloomberg Meta's AI recruiting campaign finds a new target | Wired Anthropic hires back two coding AI leaders From Anysphere | The Information Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dorothy Boorse describes herself as a child who used to be caught up looking at ants and other small and overlooked things. Later microscopes enhanced the possibilities of her attention. She followed science as it revealed its beauty to her but science also became a tool to help solve problems, to promote health and to improve the lives of people. She hasn't worked out the answers to all the questions but she offers the wisdom gained over a career studying ecology within a community of Christian faith.  Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Northern Points courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

This is CNBC journalist Jon Fortt. This is the last episode I'll be guest-hosting for Nilay while he's out on parental leave. My guest today is Richard Robinson, who is the cofounder and CEO of legal tech startup Robin AI.  Richard is a corporate lawyer-turned-startup founder working on AI tools for the legal profession. But law and AI have not mixed well. So I wanted to ask Richard about hallucinations, how lawyers can use AI today, and what it will really take to place our trust in an AI lawyer. Read the full transcript on The Verge. Links:  Legal tech startup Robin AI raises another $25 million | Fortune Why do lawyers keep using ChatGPT? | Verge Judge slams lawyers for ‘bogus AI-generated research' | Verge Lawyers using AI must heed ethics rules, ABA says in first formal guidance | Reuters Lawyers fined for submitting bogus case law created by ChatGPT | AP The ChatGPT lawyer explains himself | NYT Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Alex Heath, your Thursday episode guest host. Today I'm talking with Gaurav Misra, the CEO of Captions. You may not have heard of Captions yet, but by now, you've probably seen a video that was generated using its AI models. The company's Mirage Studio platform lets anyone generate AI versions of real people, and the results are alarmingly realistic.  Captions just put out a blog post titled, “We Build Synthetic Humans. Here's What's Keeping Us Up at Night.” It's a good overview of the state of deepfakes and where they're headed. So Gauraav and I sat down to discuss the trajectory of deepfake technology and what might be done to prevent it from being misused.  Links:  We build synthetic humans. Here's what's keeping us up at night | Captions Google's Veo 3 AI video generator is a slop monger's dream | Verge Gemini AI can now turn photos into videos | Verge Trump just unveiled his plan to put AI in everything | Verge Racist videos made with AI are going viral on TikTok | Verge Microsoft wants Congress to outlaw AI-generated deepfake fraud | Verge YouTube is supporting the ‘No Fakes Act' targeting unauthorized AI replicas | Verge This Tom Cruise impersonator is using deepfake tech to impressive ends | Verge Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if the entire sound of modern podcasting can be traced back to a single Grateful Dead song uploaded in 2001? We uncover the musical lineage that connects NPR's classical gravitas to dubstep wobbles, from the very first RSS feed experiment to the mysterious masked composer who's scored over 200 podcast themes and shaped what millions of people hear when they hit play. This deep dive reveals how podcast music evolved from classical public radio strings into today's signature blend of plinking pianos, breakbeats, and irreverent sampling—plus an exclusive interview with the enigmatic Breakmaster Cylinder, the "Han Zimmer of podcasting" who's been hiding behind a robot helmet for over a decade. MORE Subscribe to our newsletter SONGS DISCUSSED Grateful Dead "Truckin'" Adam Curry "Daily Source Code" theme NPR "All Things Considered" theme Don Voegeli "All Things Considered" original theme (1971) Don Voegeli "All Things Considered" jazz funk version (1976) NPR "All Things Considered" orchestral version (1983/1995) The Daily theme WNYC "On the Media" theme by Ben Allison "Disposable Genius" Christopher Lydon "Radio Open Source" theme by Dafnis Prieto Disparition "The Ballad of Fielder and Mourn" (Welcome to Night Vale theme) Serial theme Joe Rogan Experience theme Call Her Daddy theme Snap Judgment theme The Breakfast Club theme WTF with Marc Maron theme by John Montagna "Lock the Gate" Reply All theme by Breakmaster Cylinder Breakmaster Cylinder "Outside In" theme Breakmaster Cylinder "Bird Note" (Claire de Lune with loon calls) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Jon Fortt, CNBC journalist. I'm guest-hosting for a couple more episodes of Decoder this summer while Nilay is out on parental leave. Today, I'm talking with a very special guest: Gil Duran, an old friend, journalist, and author of The Nerd Reich, a newsletter and forthcoming book about the shifting politics of Silicon Valley and the rise of tech authoritarianism. Links:  Is Peter Thiel the Antichrist? NYT didn't think to ask | The Nerd Reich How tech authoritarianism becomes reality | The Nerd Reich Curtis Yarvin's Plot Against America | The New Yorker The rise of techno-authoritarianism | The Atlantic JD Vance thinks monarchists have some good ideas | The Verge Startups meeting with Trump officials to push for deregulated ‘Freedom Cities' | Wired Peter Thiel-linked startup wants to build the “next great city” in Greenland | Inside Hook Bitcoin could replace dollar If US debt grows says Coinbase CEO | CryptoSlate Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Alex Heath, deputy editor at The Verge. Nilay's out on parental leave for the next few months, so I'll be stepping in to host our Thursday episodes while he's out. My guest today is Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas, who is betting that the browser is where more useful AI will get built.  Perplexity just released Comet, an AI web browser for the Mac and Windows that's still in an invite-only beta. I've been using it, and it's very interesting. In this conversation, Aravind and I also discussed the future of Perplexity, the AI talent wars, and why he thinks people will eventually pay thousands of dollars for a single AI prompt. Links:  Perplexity just launched an AI web browser | Verge Perplexity wants to buy Chrome if Google has to sell it | Verge The Dia browser is a big bet on the. web and AI | Verge Perplexity's CEO on fighting Google & the AI browser war | Command Line Perplexity launches a $200 monthly subscription plan | Verge Meta says it's winning the talent war with OpenAI | Verge Meta is trying to win the AI race with money | Verge Meta held talks to buy Perplexity and others | Command Line Inside Mark Zuckerberg's AI hiring spree | Command Line Perplexity is ready to take on Google | Command Line Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Jon Fortt, CNBC journalist, co-host of Closing Bell Overtime, and creator and host of the Fortt Knox podcast. I'm stepping in to guest host a few episodes of Decoder this summer while he's out on parental leave, and I'm very excited for what we've been working on. For my first episode of Decoder, a show about how people make decisions, I wanted to talk to an expert. So I sat down with Cassie Kozyrkov, the CEO and founder of AI consultancy Kozyr and the former chief decision scientist at Google. Links:  Google's ‘chief decision scientist' explains why she left the company | Fortune What is Decision Science? | DataCamp (YouTube) Is It All About the Data? | DLD24 (YouTube) Cassie Kozyrkov on how AI can be a leadership partner | WorkLab Decision Intelligence with Cassie Kozyrkov | Google Cloud Platform Podcast Why AI and decision-making are two sides of the same coin | Cassie Kozyrkov Google's got a chief decision scientist. Here's what she does | Wired Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this episode of Decoder, Ellis Hamburger — former journalist at The Verge, early Snap employee, and founder of the brand strategy studio Meaning — joins guest host Alex Heath to share why many AI founders are missing the bigger picture. Links: Meaning | Ellis Hamburger Social media is doomed to die | Verge I used the ‘cheat on everything' AI tool and it didn't help me cheat on anything | Verge Hideo Kojima sees Death Stranding 2 as a cautionary tale | Verge Apple heard your complaints about the Liquid Glass | Verge Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's summertime, which means it's time for our annual grilling episode. In years past we've talked to the leaders of Big Green Egg, Traeger, and Blackstone, and it's always fascinating how those companies have all the same kinds of problems and ideas as any of the tech companies we have on the show.  This time, I finally had the opportunity to sit down with SharkNinja CEO Mark Barrocas. We've wanted to have SharkNinja on the show for years now, mostly because it has the best name of any company I think we've ever had on Decoder — it perfectly describes the structure of the company. And just in time for our grilling episode, the Ninja division of Mark's business just launched its first ever grill.  Check out the full transcript here on The Verge. Links:  Ninja announces its first ever propane grill with the FlexFlame | Tom's Guide How SharkNinja became a viral marketing machine | Ad Age How airfryer brand SharkNinja became a $1bn UK household name | The Sunday Times Mark Zuckerberg just declared war on the entire advertising industry | Verge Dyson, SharkNinja settle patent lawsuits over bagless vacuums | Bloomberg How arson led to a culture reboot at Traeger | Decoder Big Green Egg is inviting zoomers to the cult of kamado cooking | Decoder How Blackstone became the darling of grill TikTok | Decoder Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Jay Butler is an infectious disease physician, epidemiologist, and former Deputy Director for Infectious Diseases at the CDC. We had the joy of hosting Dr Butler in the BioLogos offices recently where we shared his perspective on public health as a ministry, discussing his career journey from the CDC to working with Alaska Native communities. He also delves into the history of measles, its impact, and the groundbreaking development of the MMR vaccine, which has saved millions of lives globally. The conversation explores the challenges of public trust in medical research and institutions, especially concerning vaccines, and how science and faith can come together to pursue truth and improve public health outcomes. Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Dark Blue Studio courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.  Additional Resources: BioLogos Open Letter to People of Faith about Science BioLogos Common Question - Should Christians Get Vaccinated?

Today, I'm talking with Matt Mullenweg, the founder and CEO of Automattic and the public face of WordPress. Last year, Matt essentially went to war, publicly and in the courts, against a hosting company called WP Engine, and there's been significant fallout at Automattic and the broader WordPress community.   It's been a long, drawn-out saga. That said, Matt was willing to come on the show and talk through some of this thinking here, why he made some of the decisions he did, and also what he regrets about how some of this went down.  Links:  The messy WordPress drama, explained | Verge Celebrating 20 Years of Automattic | Automattic Matt Mullenweg: ‘WordPress.org just belongs to me' | Verge Automattic offered employees another chance to quit over | Verge WordPress owner Automattic is laying off 16 percent of workers | Verge Tumblr will move all of its blogs to WordPress | Verge Beeper was just acquired by Automattic | Verge Automattic acquires relationship manager Clay | TechCrunch How WordPress and Tumblr are keeping the internet weird | Decoder How to buy a social network, with Tumblr CEO Matt Mullenweg | Decoder Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You heard the pitches. Now hear the aftermath. The Season 13 Finale brings you founder wins, surprises, pivots—and one last chance to invest. With in-depth updates on four standout companies and quick hits on the rest, this finale delivers the full story. ... Watch the finale on YouTube (@thepitchshow) and Patreon (@ThePitch) Subscribe to our public email newsletter: insider.pitch.show Apply to join our private investor community and invest in The Pitch Fund II: thepitch.fund Join us backstage at our next taping in Napa pitch.show/napa … Music in this episode by Fleece Panther, The Muse Maker, Breakmaster Cylinder, Cold Storage Percussion Unit, Strange Knight, Boxwood Orchestra, Joya, Angular Wave Research, Peter Jean and The Runaway Queen, Carey Haynes, Onders, Shaky Faces, AYO, Imagined Nostalgia, Astronaut Club, Freedust, Cafe Nostro, and The Brow. … *Disclaimer: No offer to invest in the startups featured on this episode is being made to or solicited from the listening audience on today's show. The information provided on this show is not intended to be investment advice and should not be relied upon as such. The investors on today's episode are providing their opinions based on their own assessment of the business presented. Those opinions should not be considered professional investment advice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, I'm talking with Hinge founder and CEO Justin McLeod. Hinge is one of the biggest dating apps in the United States — it's rivaled only by Tinder, and both are owned by the massive conglomerate Match Group, which has consolidated a huge chunk of the online dating ecosystem. Justin and I dug into that here, and we also explored some of the thorny issues around AI and dating, Hinge's monetization, and data privacy in the second Trump administration. This is a fun one, with a whole lot going on. I think you'll like it.  Read the full interview transcript here on The Verge. Links:  How We Do Things | Hinge Hinge's First Gen Z Report | Hinge Hinge's new AI feature judges your prompt responses | TechCrunch When Cupid Is a prying journalist | NYT / Modern Love Tinder CEO Faye Iosotaluno to step down in July | CNBC Match Group CEO Rascoff to lead struggling Tinder app | WSJ Replika CEO says it's okay if we end up marrying AI chatbots | Decoder Apple ordered to keep web links in the App Store | Verge Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices