Podcast appearances and mentions of John Yang

This Sunday is the final broadcast of PBS News Weekend, at least for the foreseeable future. PBS cancelled the show due to the loss of federal funding for public media. As our team signs off the air, anchor John Yang looks back at some of our top stories and highlights over the years. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

By some estimates, about 90% of prescriptions in the U.S. are filled with generic drugs. The Food and Drug Administration says that all agency-approved generic drugs "have the same high quality" as brand-name drugs, but a ProPublica investigation found that the FDA rarely tests the quality of generic drugs. John Yang speaks with investigative reporter Debbie Cenziper for more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

This week's series of shootings by federal agents enforcing Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration have sparked a weekend of protests. Voices of anger and outrage were heard at rallies and demonstrations across the country. John Yang speaks with Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, a progressive advocacy group that helped organize Saturday's protests, for more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

In the first lawsuit of its kind, the city of San Francisco is suing 11 of the nation's top food companies, saying they sell ultra-processed food knowing they are harmful to health. By some estimates, more than 60% of food consumed in the U.S. is ultra-processed. John Yang speaks with Ashley Gearhardt, a University of Michigan psychology professor who studies addiction, to learn more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

In the first lawsuit of its kind, the city of San Francisco is suing 11 of the nation's top food companies, saying they sell ultra-processed food knowing they are harmful to health. By some estimates, more than 60% of food consumed in the U.S. is ultra-processed. John Yang speaks with Ashley Gearhardt, a University of Michigan psychology professor who studies addiction, to learn more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

From creating SWE-bench in a Princeton basement to shipping CodeClash, SWE-bench Multimodal, and SWE-bench Multilingual, John Yang has spent the last year and a half watching his benchmark become the de facto standard for evaluating AI coding agents—trusted by Cognition (Devin), OpenAI, Anthropic, and every major lab racing to solve software engineering at scale. We caught up with John live at NeurIPS 2025 to dig into the state of code evals heading into 2026: why SWE-bench went from ignored (October 2023) to the industry standard after Devin's launch (and how Walden emailed him two weeks before the big reveal), how the benchmark evolved from Django-heavy to nine languages across 40 repos (JavaScript, Rust, Java, C, Ruby), why unit tests as verification are limiting and long-running agent tournaments might be the future (CodeClash: agents maintain codebases, compete in arenas, and iterate over multiple rounds), the proliferation of SWE-bench variants (SWE-bench Pro, SWE-bench Live, SWE-Efficiency, AlgoTune, SciCode) and how benchmark authors are now justifying their splits with curation techniques instead of just "more repos," why Tau-bench's "impossible tasks" controversy is actually a feature not a bug (intentionally including impossible tasks flags cheating), the tension between long autonomy (5-hour runs) vs. interactivity (Cognition's emphasis on fast back-and-forth), how Terminal-bench unlocked creativity by letting PhD students and non-coders design environments beyond GitHub issues and PRs, the academic data problem (companies like Cognition and Cursor have rich user interaction data, academics need user simulators or compelling products like LMArena to get similar signal), and his vision for CodeClash as a testbed for human-AI collaboration—freeze model capability, vary the collaboration setup (solo agent, multi-agent, human+agent), and measure how interaction patterns change as models climb the ladder from code completion to full codebase reasoning. We discuss: John's path: Princeton → SWE-bench (October 2023) → Stanford PhD with Diyi Yang and the Iris Group, focusing on code evals, human-AI collaboration, and long-running agent benchmarks The SWE-bench origin story: released October 2023, mostly ignored until Cognition's Devin launch kicked off the arms race (Walden emailed John two weeks before: "we have a good number") SWE-bench Verified: the curated, high-quality split that became the standard for serious evals SWE-bench Multimodal and Multilingual: nine languages (JavaScript, Rust, Java, C, Ruby) across 40 repos, moving beyond the Django-heavy original distribution The SWE-bench Pro controversy: independent authors used the "SWE-bench" name without John's blessing, but he's okay with it ("congrats to them, it's a great benchmark") CodeClash: John's new benchmark for long-horizon development—agents maintain their own codebases, edit and improve them each round, then compete in arenas (programming games like Halite, economic tasks like GDP optimization) SWE-Efficiency (Jeffrey Maugh, John's high school classmate): optimize code for speed without changing behavior (parallelization, SIMD operations) AlgoTune, SciCode, Terminal-bench, Tau-bench, SecBench, SRE-bench: the Cambrian explosion of code evals, each diving into different domains (security, SRE, science, user simulation) The Tau-bench "impossible tasks" debate: some tasks are underspecified or impossible, but John thinks that's actually a feature (flags cheating if you score above 75%) Cognition's research focus: codebase understanding (retrieval++), helping humans understand their own codebases, and automatic context engineering for LLMs (research sub-agents) The vision: CodeClash as a testbed for human-AI collaboration—vary the setup (solo agent, multi-agent, human+agent), freeze model capability, and measure how interaction changes as models improve — John Yang SWE-bench: https://www.swebench.com X: https://x.com/jyangballin Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: John Yang on SWE-bench and Code Evaluations 00:00:31 SWE-bench Origins and Devon's Impact on the Coding Agent Arms Race 00:01:09 SWE-bench Ecosystem: Verified, Pro, Multimodal, and Multilingual Variants 00:02:17 Moving Beyond Django: Diversifying Code Evaluation Repositories 00:03:08 Code Clash: Long-Horizon Development Through Programming Tournaments 00:04:41 From Halite to Economic Value: Designing Competitive Coding Arenas 00:06:04 Ofir's Lab: SWE-ficiency, AlgoTune, and SciCode for Scientific Computing 00:07:52 The Benchmark Landscape: TAU-bench, Terminal-bench, and User Simulation 00:09:20 The Impossible Task Debate: Refusals, Ambiguity, and Benchmark Integrity 00:12:32 The Future of Code Evals: Long Autonomy vs Human-AI Collaboration 00:14:37 Call to Action: User Interaction Data and Codebase Understanding Research

President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said Sunday that they are closing in on a peace proposal aimed at ending the war with Russia. The two leaders met at Mar-a-Lago in Florida for talks that involved just the U.S. and Ukraine. John Yang speaks with Michael McFaul, who teaches at Stanford University and was U.S. ambassador to Russia in the Obama administration, to learn more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said Sunday that they are closing in on a peace proposal aimed at ending the war with Russia. The two leaders met at Mar-a-Lago in Florida for talks that involved just the U.S. and Ukraine. John Yang speaks with Michael McFaul, who teaches at Stanford University and was U.S. ambassador to Russia in the Obama administration, to learn more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

From twinkling Christmas markets across Europe to vibrant displays of poinsettia in Mexico City, the Christmas spirit takes many forms. John Yang takes a look at how Christians around the world are celebrating the season. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Trump’s pressure on Venezuelan President Maduro mounted Sunday as the Coast Guard went after another oil tanker that U.S. officials accused of helping Venezuela circumvent sanctions. Last week, Trump announced a “total and complete blockade of all sanctioned tankers heading to and from Venezuela.” John Yang speaks with Reuters national security correspondent Idrees Ali for more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Trump's pressure on Venezuelan President Maduro mounted Sunday as the Coast Guard went after another oil tanker that U.S. officials accused of helping Venezuela circumvent sanctions. Last week, Trump announced a "total and complete blockade of all sanctioned tankers heading to and from Venezuela." John Yang speaks with Reuters national security correspondent Idrees Ali for more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

From twinkling Christmas markets across Europe to vibrant displays of poinsettia in Mexico City, the Christmas spirit takes many forms. John Yang takes a look at how Christians around the world are celebrating the season. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

From twinkling Christmas markets across Europe to vibrant displays of poinsettia in Mexico City, the Christmas spirit takes many forms. John Yang takes a look at how Christians around the world are celebrating the season. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Four new portraits have gone up at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, showcasing this year’s recipients of the Portrait of America award for their transformative contributions to American history and culture. One of them is Temple Grandin, who has transformed animal welfare around the world and affected public perception of autism. John Yang speaks with Grandin for our Weekend Spotlight. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Overnight, the Justice Department released hundreds more heavily redacted pages of material it had gathered on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. They come in addition to the thousands of pages released Friday, but what has been made public so far falls short of the full disclosure required by the law Congress passed last month. John Yang speaks with Reuters correspondent Jeff Mason for more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Four new portraits have gone up at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, showcasing this year's recipients of the Portrait of a Nation award for their transformative contributions to American history and culture. One of them is Temple Grandin, who has transformed animal welfare around the world and affected public perception of autism. John Yang speaks with Grandin for our Weekend Spotlight. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

In Providence, Rhode Island, two Brown University students were killed and nine others wounded in a shooting Saturday in a classroom. Authorities say a person of interest was taken into custody at a hotel about 20 miles from Providence. John Yang speaks with Ocean State Media reporter Ian Donnis in Rhode Island for more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Surveys consistently rank Patagonia as one of the most reputable brands in America, not just for its outdoor gear, but also for being good environmental stewards. The story of both the company and its iconoclastic founder is told in a new book, “Dirtbag Billionaire: How Yvon Chouinard Built Patagonia, Made a Fortune, and Gave It All Away.” John Yang speaks with author David Gelles for more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

For more than 40 years, Beverly and Dereck Joubert have lived with, photographed and filmed African wildlife. Their images bear witness not just to the majesty of life on the continent, but also the host of threats that confront both the animals and the wilderness. John Yang speaks with the Jouberts about their new book, “Wild Eye: A Life in Photographs,” and their decades of work. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

This year it might not be the Grinch who threatens to steal Christmas, but tariffs. According to an analysis by Lending Tree, if Trump’s tariffs had been in place last year, they would have increased consumer costs by $28 billion — about $130 per shopper. John Yang speaks with Nathan Gordon, president of online retailer Christmas Central, about the effect of tariffs on seasonal shopping. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

For more than 40 years, Beverly and Dereck Joubert have lived with, photographed and filmed African wildlife. Their images bear witness not just to the majesty of life on the continent, but also the host of threats that confront both the animals and the wilderness. John Yang speaks with the Jouberts about their new book, “Wild Eye: A Life in Photographs,” and their decades of work. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

For more than 40 years, Beverly and Dereck Joubert have lived with, photographed and filmed African wildlife. Their images bear witness not just to the majesty of life on the continent, but also the host of threats that confront both the animals and the wilderness. John Yang speaks with the Jouberts about their new book, “Wild Eye: A Life in Photographs,” and their decades of work. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

The Trump administration has reached a joint settlement with seven states that will effectively shut down a key Biden-era student loan relief program. But what about the roughly 7 million people currently enrolled in it? Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, The Washington Post’s national higher education reporter, joins John Yang to break down the impact on borrowers in the months ahead. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

The Trump administration has reached a joint settlement with seven states that will effectively shut down a key Biden-era student loan relief program. But what about the roughly 7 million people currently enrolled in it? Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, The Washington Post’s national higher education reporter, joins John Yang to break down the impact on borrowers in the months ahead. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

White House envoys met again with Ukrainian officials on Saturday to discuss Trump’s proposed path to peace. The administration’s national security strategy released this week says ending the war in Ukraine is a “core” U.S. interest, reflecting a shift from the stance of previous administrations, including Trump’s first term. John Yang speaks with the Atlantic Council’s Matthew Kroenig for more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

White House envoys met again with Ukrainian officials on Saturday to discuss Trump’s proposed path to peace. The administration’s national security strategy released this week says ending the war in Ukraine is a “core” U.S. interest, reflecting a shift from the stance of previous administrations, including Trump’s first term. John Yang speaks with the Atlantic Council’s Matthew Kroenig for more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

About one in four college students is both first-generation and from low-income backgrounds, making the path to a college degree especially challenging. At Boston College’s Messina College, a new, two-year, fully residential associates degree program, a wide range of support is helping change that. John Yang visited the campus to learn more as part of our ongoing series, Rethinking College. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

When adventurers talk about Mount Everest, most often it's about climbing the world's highest peak. In October, Jim Morrison became the first person to ski down Everest’s most dangerous route. The feat was chronicled by mountaineer and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Jimmy Chin for an upcoming National Geographic documentary. John Yang speaks with Morrison for more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

When adventurers talk about Mount Everest, most often it's about climbing the world's highest peak. In October, Jim Morrison became the first person to ski down Everest’s most dangerous route. The feat was chronicled by mountaineer and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Jimmy Chin for an upcoming National Geographic documentary. John Yang speaks with Morrison for more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Jonathan Capehart of MS NOW and Peter Wehner, a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a senior fellow at the Trinity Forum, join John Yang to discuss the week in politics, including President Trump's push for an even tougher crackdown on immigration in the days following the shooting of two National Guard members by an Afghan national on the streets of Washington. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Jonathan Capehart of MS NOW and Peter Wehner, a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a senior fellow at the Trinity Forum, join John Yang to discuss the week in politics, including President Trump's push for an even tougher crackdown on immigration in the days following the shooting of two National Guard members by an Afghan national on the streets of Washington. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

A political earthquake in Ukraine has taken place as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andrii Yermak, the country’s second-most-powerful person, was forced to resign amid a corruption scandal. This comes as Ukraine is enmeshed in negotiations with the Trump administration on a possible end to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Jack Hewson joins John Yang with the latest from Kyiv. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

A political earthquake in Ukraine has taken place as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andrii Yermak, the country’s second-most-powerful person, was forced to resign amid a corruption scandal. This comes as Ukraine is enmeshed in negotiations with the Trump administration on a possible end to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Jack Hewson joins John Yang with the latest from Kyiv. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Jonathan Capehart of MS NOW and Peter Wehner, a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a senior fellow at the Trinity Forum, join John Yang to discuss the week in politics, including President Trump's push for an even tougher crackdown on immigration in the days following the shooting of two National Guard members by an Afghan national on the streets of Washington. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

The shooting of two National Guard troops near the White House has intensified focus on the Trump administration’s use of military force to crack down on crime in cities led by Democrats. Juliette Kayyem, faculty director of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Homeland Security Project and an assistant DHS secretary during the Obama administration, joins John Yang to discuss. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

On the day before Thanksgiving, a major winter storm and a plunge in temperatures are wreaking havoc with many travelers' schedules. Temperatures will drop to 20 degrees below normal in much of the central and eastern parts of the country, and flight delays are piling up. John Yang reports. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Hundreds of miles from the U.N. conference on climate change that wrapped this weekend in Belém, Brazil, scientists are conducting a first-of-its-kind experiment that could help future policymakers address the issue. John Yang reports. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Hundreds of miles from the U.N. conference on climate change that wrapped this weekend in Belém, Brazil, scientists are conducting a first-of-its-kind experiment that could help future policymakers address the issue. John Yang reports. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Last September, a chemical fire in Conyers, Georgia, sent a toxic cloud over the area. A Georgia Public Broadcasting podcast called “Manufacturing Danger: The BioLab Story” examined that day, what led up to it, and the immediate aftermath. Now, a second season of the podcast looks at health consequences for residents a year later. John Yang speaks with GPB’s Pamela Kirkland for more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

In a small town in northern Italy, there’s a barista who has been brewing espressos and serving coffees for more than 80 years. She’s still going strong as she turns 101 this weekend, with no intention of retiring. John Yang reports. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

This weekend is the halfway point for the 30th U.N. climate summit known as COP30. In a report issued days before the meeting began, the World Meteorological Organization said 2025 is “on track to be among the three warmest years on record.” New York Times international climate reporter Somini Sengupta, who just returned from COP30, joins John Yang to discuss. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Last September, a chemical fire in Conyers, Georgia, sent a toxic cloud over the area. A Georgia Public Broadcasting podcast called “Manufacturing Danger: The BioLab Story” examined that day, what led up to it, and the immediate aftermath. Now, a second season of the podcast looks at health consequences for residents a year later. John Yang speaks with GPB’s Pamela Kirkland for more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

President Trump continues to be dogged by Jeffrey Epstein, a man who’s been dead for more than six years. The president on Friday broke with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time staunch ally who was among four House Republicans who joined all 214 Democrats to force a vote next week on releasing the Justice Department’s Epstein files. Jonathan Lemire of The Atlantic joins John Yang to discuss. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Aid groups say tens of thousands of people have fled violence in el-Fasher, a city in the Darfur region of Sudan, which is in the midst of a yearslong civil war. This follows an official declaration that famine is spreading through the northeastern African nation. John Yang speaks with Sheldon Yett, UNICEF’s representative in Sudan, for more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Medical imaging, like X-rays and CT scans, are routine, non-invasive and painless tools used by doctors to make diagnoses. But a recent study of about 4 million children published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that the radiation exposure from imaging could pose a risk for pediatric cancer. John Yang speaks with Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman, the study’s lead author, to learn more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

One of the latest relationship tests to go viral is the “bird theory,” racking up millions of views on social media. It’s based on a theory developed by couples researcher John Gottman about the importance of engaging with partners when looking for a connection. John Yang speaks with licensed clinical psychologist Alexandra Solomon to learn more about the test and what it reveals. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Any possible optimism that lawmakers would reach a deal this weekend to end the longest government shutdown on record has faded. The Senate held its first Saturday session since the shutdown began, but no votes were scheduled. John Yang speaks with former FAA administrator Randy Babbitt and Supreme Court analyst Amy Howe about two widespread effects of the shutdown: air travel and SNAP benefits. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Dick Cheney, one of the most influential and polarizing vice presidents in American history, died at age 84. He served alongside President George W. Bush for two terms, a period that saw the 9/11 attacks and the start of two major wars. Cheney's family said he passed away due to complications of pneumonia, along with cardiac and vascular disease. John Yang looks back at Cheney's career and legacy. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

A previously unknown work by one of the great French impressionists has come to light and will soon go on the auction block. John Yang reports. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Sunday marks day 33 of the government shutdown with no end in sight. Approximately 650,000 furloughed federal workers received fresh notices telling them to stay home without working and without pay, and many are beginning to feel the pinch. John Yang speaks with Jeremy Mayer at George Mason University for more on what could soon become the longest shutdown on record. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy