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It's time for a new series on The Vergecast! (It still needs a name. Please help.) We're going to give Verge staffers a challenge, and regroup a few weeks later to see who did it best. We're starting with some vibe coding. The Verge's Jake Kastrenakes and Hayden Field share what they've made with AI that has actually stuck in their lives, before David gives the challenge: build a website to solve a problem in your life. The more ambitious and impressive the better. We'll be back with the results soon, and in the meantime, send us ideas for more challenges! (Also, names for the series. PLEASE.) Further reading: Anthropic's Mythos 5 is back | The Verge Supreme Court allows firing of FTC commissioners, ends agency independence Comcast is splitting in two | The Verge WhatsApp is launching usernames: here's how to reserve yours | The Verge Welcome to the personal software revolution I used Claude to vibe-code my wildly overcomplicated smart home Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apple's annual developer conference keynote was a strange one this year. The company breezed by its normal slew of operating system upgrades, and talked instead about helping people manage their relationships with their devices, and AI. Lots and lots of AI. On this post-keynote livestream, David Pierce, Hayden Field, and Jake Kastrenakes give their first takes on Siri AI, the Apple Intelligence features coming this fall, Apple's new Screen Time design, and everything else we liked and disliked from the keynote. Including the corner radii. Further reading: Apple WWDC 2026: The 7 biggest announcements Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. (Timestamps are approximate.) 00:00:00 Intro 00:03:00 Why This Keynote Felt Chaotic 00:05:00 AI Takes Center Stage 00:06:00 Apple Plays Catch Up 00:09:00 Privacy and Private Cloud 00:12:00 Useful Versus Creepy AI 00:18:00 Why Apple Went All In 00:25:00 New Siri Voice 00:33:00 Siri App Intents 00:37:00 Vibe Coding Shortcuts 00:39:00 Siri Goes Orb Mode 00:41:00 Too Many Siri Gestures 00:42:00 Apple Trust and Screen Time 00:46:00 Kids Safety and App Responsibility 00:50:00 App Store Dissonance and Regulation 00:52:00 OS 27 Device Cutoffs 00:59:00 Favorite Features and Liquid Glass 01:04:00 Dictation Confusion and Wrap Up Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Vergecast is officially a daily show! We kick things off with the return of 90 Seconds on The Verge, a peek at the top stories on theverge.com. Then, we turn to our old pal Casey Neistat for some advice. Casey vlogged every day for 800 days straight, and has some thoughts on the pros and cons of daily posting, the state of YouTube in 2026, and how to make things every day without losing your mind in the process. We're also on video! Check us out on YouTube. Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters and our ad-free podcast feed. We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Before we get into this week's tech news, we have some corporate news to discuss, and some very exciting Vergecast news to share. (If you have questions about either one, hit us up: vergecast@theverge.com or 866-VERGE11!) Then, Nilay and David get back into the weeds on all things Google I/O, and in particular the ways AI is changing the Google Search experience. When Gemini can find things for you, make things for you, even buy things for you, are you even searching anymore? Finally, in the lightning round, it's time for the Hype Desk, Brendan Carr is a Dummy, SpaceX, the Trump Phone, and some very confusing social networks. Further reading: The future of Google is a search box that does everything Google is building a ‘universal' AI shopping cart that tracks prices, offers suggestions, and finds discounts Demis Hassabis said this might be the ‘foothills of the singularity.' What? Google is trying to make deepfake detection more accessible Google Search's AI evolution includes more ads Google's AI future demands trust — and your personal data Why does the Googlebook exist? The FCC voted to ‘streamline' tracking US broadband quality. In SpaceX's IPO, Elon Musk is the risk factor Spotify is verifying podcasts made by real people too. NBC just got the Trump phone. Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. (Timestamps are approximate.) 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:00 Vox Media Sale 00:08:00 What Changes for The Verge 00:12:00 Vergecast Goes Daily 00:18:00 Feedback and Launch Details 00:23:00 Google I O Vibe Check 00:24:00 Agents Everywhere at Google 00:25:00 Search Becomes the Platform 00:26:00 Singularity Talk Whiplash 00:31:00 Monetizing AI and Google Zero 00:37:00 Shopping Web Takes Over 00:39:00 Agents Replace Browsing 00:43:00 Canvas Makes Apps 00:49:00 Google Book Devices Pitch 00:51:00 Agents Break App Economics 00:53:00 Traffic Deal Is Over 01:01:00 Hype Desk Forza Horizon 6 01:07:00 Subnautica 2 Surprise Hit 01:11:00 Brendan Carr is a Dummy 01:14:00 Broadband Map Complaints 01:21:00 Spotify AI Whiplash 01:25:00 Deepfake Detection Reality 01:30:00 SpaceX IPO Breakdown 01:34:00 Trump Phone In Wild 01:37:00 Wrap Up And Plugs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Google I/O was, predictably, all about AI this year. And if it actually works, a lot of this stuff could be pretty useful! Immediately after the two hour long keynote (that contained approximately 190 total mentions of the terms "AI" and "Gemini") The Verge's senior AI reporter Hayden Field and executive editor Jake Kastrenakes went live on YouTube with their reactions. Further reading: The 13 biggest announcements at Google I/O 2026 The 5 biggest changes coming to Gemini Google Search is getting its biggest changes ever Inside Google's Beam Lab, an AI face appears We're also on video! Check us out on YouTube. Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters and our ad-free podcast feed. We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this episode of the Grow A Small Business Podcast, host Troy Trewin interviews Gulliver Moore shares how he scaled Sunday Treat alongside his co-founder Oliver Clubb from a freelance director/DP partnership into a £2M creative agency serving global brands like Google, Disney, and Revolut. In this episode, Gulliver reveals how consistent 20% year-over-year growth, smart hiring, strong company culture, and high-performing video marketing helped the agency expand to a 14-person team with clients across the US and Europe. He also explains how Sunday Treat is adapting to AI, building viral content strategies, and maintaining creativity while scaling fast. Gulliver shares honest lessons about leadership, delegation, difficult management decisions, and why founders should never delegate hiring. The conversation is packed with insights on business growth, branding, team building, and creating a sustainable agency in today's competitive digital landscape. Why would you wait any longer to start living the lifestyle you signed up for? Balance your health, wealth, relationships and business growth. And focus your time and energy and make the most of this year. Let's get into it by clicking here. Troy delves into our guest's startup journey, their perception of success, industry reconsideration, and the pivotal stress point during business expansion. They discuss the joys of small business growth, vital entrepreneurial habits, and strategies for team building, encompassing wins, blunders, and invaluable advice. And a snapshot of the final five Grow A Small Business Questions: What do you think is the hardest thing in growing a small business? Gulliver Moore shared that the hardest part of growing a business is consistently delivering on big promises while maintaining quality and trust with clients. What's your favorite business book that has helped you the most? Gulliver Moore said his favorite business book is Radical Candor because it deeply influenced how he manages people, gives feedback, and builds an honest company culture. He also highly recommended The Making of a Manager for its practical advice on leadership and team management. Are there any great podcasts or online learning resources you'd recommend to help grow a small business? Gulliver Moore recommended podcasts like Hard Fork, The Vergecast, and Today in Focus to stay updated on technology, AI, and current events. He also emphasized learning through experimentation, especially with AI tools, social media content creation, and hands-on business experience rather than relying heavily on formal coaching or consultants. During the conversation, host Troy Trewin additionally recommended Marketing School, Uncensored CMO, and Everyday AI for marketing and business growth insights. What tool or resource would you recommend to grow a small business? Gulliver Moore recommended using Claude AI for brainstorming, strategy, copywriting, and improving workflows with AI. He also highlighted Monday.com as a powerful CRM and project management system for organizing teams and client work, while Figma was his preferred platform for creating visually engaging presentations and creative assets. He emphasized that combining strong systems, consistency, and AI tools can significantly improve productivity and business growth. What advice would you give yourself on day one of starting out in business? Gulliver Moore said he would tell himself to trust the process, stay patient, and focus on consistently hiring great people. He emphasized that long-term success comes from building a strong team culture, trusting your instincts during hiring, and sticking with the journey even when growth feels slow or uncertain. Book a 20-minute Growth Chat with Troy Trewin to see if you qualify for our upcoming course. Don't miss out on this opportunity to take your small business to new heights! Enjoyed the podcast? Please leave a review on iTunes or your preferred platform. Your feedback helps more small business owners discover our podcast and embark on their business growth journey. Quotable quotes from our special Grow A Small Business podcast guest: Hiring the right people is the most important investment you can make in your business — Gulliver Moore You don't need to control everything — great teams do amazing work when you trust them — Gulliver Moore Consistency in your process will eventually create the growth you're looking for — Gulliver Moore
We get a lot of questions about how we make The Vergecast. And why we make The Vergecast. And how we make money, and journalism, and everything. So every once in a while, we try to answer those questions! In this episode, David and Nilay are joined by The Verge's publisher, Helen Havlak, to talk about video podcasts, ads, subscriptions, Nilay's jackets, and much more. Curious about those video podcasts we discussed? Check us out on YouTube. Jealous of those Verge subscriptions we discussed? Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters and our ad-free podcast feed. Have more questions for us? We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. --EPISODE RUNDOWN-- (Timestamps are approximate.) 00:00:00 David's late night stroll 00:02:00 Today's Vergecast is about The Vergecast 00:03:00 New verge.com website just dropped 00:09:00 Following feature insights 00:13:00 Open Social Web plans 00:25:00 Verge audience demographics 00:31:00 Monetization 00:48:00 Audio vs. video podcasts 00:54:00 Supporting The Verge 01:00:00 Old Verge video style 01:07:00 Verge alumni 01:12:00 Why is it called Brendan Carr is a Dummy? 01:14:00 Nilay's jackets 01:21:00 How has gadget blogging changed? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
For the first time in 15 years, Apple is getting a new CEO. Tim Cook is stepping down, and John Ternus is taking the biggest job at one of the biggest companies in the world. News this big can only mean one thing: emergency Vergecast! Nilay and David broke down the news, their immediate reactions, and what they think might be in store for Apple going forward. To watch our livestreams as they stream live, check us out on YouTube. Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters and our ad-free podcast feed. We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Hey everyone... so, in case you haven't heard... this show, Future Around & Find Out, has been nominated for a Webby for best tech podcast! *** VOTE HERE: https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2026/podcasts/shows/technology ***I was kind of being chill about this. I am, admittedly, not my own best hype man, but then I got riled up when I heard the hosts of The Vergecast, one of the other nominees and last year's winner, complain that they weren't winning by enough votes and that they wanted to win by such a large margin that it -- quote -- hurts everyone's feelings. Well, those are my feelings Nilay Patel was talking about! Look, I like the Verge -- and I definitely didn't have them on my list of people I might feud with this years -- but f* those guys! Let's win this thing!So could you please vote? Today, April 16th is the last day to do so and we're currently just behind, in second place. The link to vote is in the show notes. You can also find it on the show's website at Future Around dot comAnd what is it you're voting for? Well, if you've been listening then you already know what this show is all about, but I also thought for newbies and even for long time listeners, it might be fun for you to hear exactly what the Webby judges listened to when they voted for FAFO to be a best tech podcast nominee. They ask for ten minutes of audio, so I made a highlight reel — and here it is.*** VOTE HERE: https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2026/podcasts/shows/technology ***
During the height of the cryptocurrency craze a few years ago, the actor Ben McKenzie found himself wondering why no one else was seeing what he was seeing. He joins the show to explain his yearslong attempt to understand Bitcoin and the crypto world, all of which is in his new documentary Everyone Is Lying to You For Money. (You can probably guess how he feels.) After that, The Verge's Victoria Song tells us about her testing of continuous glucose monitors, which have gone from medical device to influencer trend in some worrying ways. Finally, we answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com!) about why all our gadgets seem the same these days. Vote for The Vergecast in the Webby Awards! A vote for The Vergecast is a vote that Brendan Carr is a dummy, that buttons are good, and that party speakers rule the world. Voting is open until April 16. https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2026/podcasts/shows/technology Further reading: Everyone is Lying to You for Money Low interest rates and loneliness: the origins of the pandemic crypto boom Continuous glucose monitoring made me continuously crazy Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. (Timestamps are approximate.) 00:00:00 Sprinkler Duty Intro 00:03:00 Ben McKenzie Crypto Journey 00:04:00 Is Crypto Really Money 00:09:00 El Salvador Reality Check 00:11:00 Could Crypto Ever Work 00:14:00 Crypto Culture 00:19:00 Casino Capitalism And Crime 00:23:00 Why Bitcoin Keeps Rising 00:30:00 CGMs Explained 00:32:00 FDA OTC And Wellness Boom 00:33:00 Government Push For Wearables 00:39:00 Longevity Wearables Boom 00:41:00 Why Try CGMs 00:44:00 Scary Readings Doctor Visit 00:47:00 Living in the Data 00:48:00 Apps Scores Calibration 00:51:00 Disordered Eating Spiral 00:54:00 No Consensus for Non Diabetics 00:57:00 Medication Tradeoffs 01:00:00 Wellness vs Medical Regulation 01:04:00 Using CGMs Thoughtfully 01:10:00 Vergecast hotline 01:11:00 Why Gadgets Got Bland 01:22:00 Final Thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In a week filled with important news about important people, David and Nilay start the show with the biggest news of all: their silly tech projects. After some updates on iMac repurposing and vibe-coded productivity tools, the hosts turn to the state of OpenAI, and the big story from The New Yorker about whether we should trust CEO Sam Altman with the future of AI. After that, it's time for the lightning round, with the latest Brendan Carr is a Dummy shenanigans, and the New York Times' latest attempt to identify Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin. Is it, in fact, Adam Back? And does it even matter? Vote for The Vergecast in the Webby Awards! A vote for The Vergecast is a vote that Brendan Carr is a dummy, that buttons are good, and that party speakers rule the world. Voting is open until April 16. https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2026/podcasts/shows/technology Further reading: First photos of solar eclipse from Artemis II crew look almost too good to be real Artemis II astronauts break a record, name a crater Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted? | The New Yorker The vibes are off at OpenAI Sam Altman is “unconstrained by truth.” OpenAI's AGI boss is taking a leave of absence OpenAI made economic proposals — here's what DC thinks of them CNN Defends Authenticity Of Iranian “Victory” Statement After Donald Trump Posts Irate Claim It Was A “Fraud” From The New York Times: Who Is Satoshi Nakamoto? My Quest to Unmask Bitcoin's Creator The latest Satoshi Nakamoto unmasking. Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Cookie banners — those pop-ups that appear on practically every webpage demanding you accept their tracking systems — are one of the most consistent low-grade annoyances of life online. But Kate Klonick, a professor and writer, argues they're actually much worse than that, and the only plausible solution is to get rid of them entirely. After that, The Verge's Allison Johnson tells us about her AI-enhanced Google Maps experience, and why the new Ask Maps feature has the potential to be both incredibly cool and incredibly creepy. Then, she helps David answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com!) about whether E Ink phones might solve all our problems. Vote for The Vergecast in the Webby Awards! A vote for The Vergecast is a vote that Brendan Carr is a dummy, that buttons are good, and that party speakers rule the world. Voting is open until April 16. https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2026/podcasts/shows/technology Further reading: Ban Cookie Banners: A Case Study in Tech Regulation by Kate Klonick Kate's website Google Maps is getting AI-powered ‘Ask Maps' feature and more immersive navigation I let Gemini in Google Maps plan my day and it went surprisingly well TCL's new Nxtpaper phones have a dedicated button for maximum monochrome Boox Palma 2 Pro review: one step forward, one step back Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We love a ranking here on The Vergecast, and it's time for the hardest one yet: David and Nilay compare notes on the 50 best products Apple has ever made, and see how their answers stack up to the many, many voters on The Verge this week. Before that, though, it's time for a bit of AI news — surprise, it's enterprise software! — and the comeback of the Hype Desk. After all that, and after the rankings, we do a round of Brendan Carr is a Dummy, talk about the fediverse, and repurpose our old iMacs. Vote for The Vergecast in the Webby Awards! A vote for The Vergecast is a vote that Brendan Carr is a dummy, that buttons are good, and that party speakers rule the world. Voting is open until April 16. https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2026/podcasts/shows/technology Further reading: OpenAI's big numbers: $122 billion funding round, 900 million weekly ChatGPT users. Why OpenAI killed Sora I think Google is taking a couple digs at OpenAI about Sora. Apple's third-party Siri Extensions could lead to an AI App Store. Microsoft's new ‘superintelligence' game plan is all about business OpenAI acquires TBPN | OpenAI Apple turns 50: celebrating five decades of the tech giant Everything is iPhone now Steve Jobs and the greatest run of products in tech history How the invention of QuickTime changed computers forever The triumphs and failures of Apple without Steve Jobs The Apple product that really changed the industry: the MacBook Air Apple at 50: a visual history The origin story of Apple's long-running relationship with Foxconn Apple's long, bitter App Store antitrust war Snazzy Labs' iMac - Studio Display Mod Guide Flipboard Surf launches social websites combining Bluesky, Mastodon, RSS, and more These Raspberry Pi price hikes are no joke Today is the final day to save up to $150 on a PS5 before the price goes up Sony temporarily suspends memory card sales due to shortages The White House has an app now, and Trump wants you to report people to ICE on it What's inside the White House app? Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We start with some important business: Nilay has a flight to catch, and is very worried he won't catch it. Also, it's Apple's 50th anniversary next week, and we're going to spend the week debating which Apple products are the best Apple products. (Head to the ad-free Vergecast feed to hear our selection show!) But mostly, this episode is about social media. In two key trials this week, juries found social platforms liable not for the content they display but for the actual structure and features of the platform. That could change the way social media companies act, and how users fight back. After that, it's time for the silliness of the router ban, the latest in the chatbot wars, and an update on what's happening with Grammarly's Expert Voices feature. Further reading: Rank your top 50 Apple products Verge subscribers, here's how to set up ad-free podcasts The TSA is broken — is privatization next? What is ICE actually doing at American airports? Meta misled users about its products' safety, jury decides Meta and YouTube found negligent in landmark social media addiction case Social media on trial: tech giants face lawsuits over addiction, safety, and mental health What it was like to watch grieving parents stare down Mark Zuckerberg in court A bombshell child safety leak changed Meta — for the worse Internal chats show how social media companies discussed teen engagement 2026 is the year of social media's legal reckoning The US government just banned consumer routers made outside the US The United States router ban, explained FCC green-lights Nexstar's $6.2B merger with rival TV station owner Tegna Cox Communications not liable for pirated music, Supreme Court rules Confronting the CEO of the AI company that impersonated me North Carolina man pleads guilty to AI music streaming fraud. Apple is testing a standalone app for its overhauled Siri OpenAI is planning a desktop ‘superapp' This is Microsoft's plan to fix Windows 11 OpenAI just gave up on Sora and its billion-dollar Disney deal The age of piracy ended with LimeWire | Version History Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
While most phone makers work hard to ensure their products don't start fires, Oukitel made a phone that starts fires on purpose. This week on The Vergecast, Dominic Preston joins Editor-in-Chief Nilay Patel to wrap up all the weird and wonderful phones he and the team saw at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Then, Sean Hollister takes us through Google and Epic's enemies-to-lovers saga: A secret $800 million deal, a non-disparagement agreement, and something about the metaverse for some reason. Plus: Nilay just had the best home movie experience of his life thanks to the Kaleidescape 8TB solid-state server, Dom's charging his smart phone on a mini racecar, and Sean delivers some disappointing news about the Lego smart brick we were all rooting for. And Brendan Carr is still being a dummy. Further reading: Nothing is finally covering up with the slim, metal Phone 4A Pro Nothing couldn't wait to show off the Phone 4A Nothing's Headphone A are something worth considering Honor's Robot Phone is a bad robot, an interesting camera, and maybe your friend Honor claims its Robot Phone will launch later this year Honor's Magic V6 is the first foldable with an IP69 rating Xiaomi's Leica Leitzphone mostly earns the name Xiaomi, unlike Google and Samsung, thinks camera hardware comes first Xiaomi 17 is a small(ish) phone with a big(ish) battery Here's the upgrade to my favorite phone camera of last year Tecno is doing a modular phone (again) Lenovo made a Framework-like laptop with modular ports — and a second screen Google isn't waiting for a settlement — the 30 percent Android app store fee is dead Here's how Google describes its fee-reducing Apps Experience and Games Level Up programs Epic and Google have signed a special deal for a new class of ‘metaverse' apps Tim Sweeney signed away his right to criticize Google until 2032 Fortnite is returning to Google Play globally FCC Chair Brendan Carr is pushing for US-based call centers I'm not ashamed to admit the Kobo Remote is the best gadget I've bought this year Did Live Nation punish a venue by taking Billie Eilish away? I charge my phone on a racing car. Do you? Investigating the 61-pound machine that eats plastic and spits out bricks Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apple released a bunch of new iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Studio Displays this week. The Verge's Nilay Patel and David Pierce tried them all this morning, and are back to share their thoughts live. Further reading: All the news about Apple's MacBook Neo, iPhone 17E, and more Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Samsung just launched its newest phones, the Galaxy S26 lineup, and wow is it full of Vergecast stories. There's the very cool new Privacy Display, which seems genuinely useful; there's the AI-powered camera, which seems like a disaster waiting to happen; and there's the new agentic AI in Android, which Google and Samsung might be positioned to actually pull off. After talking through all the new stuff, Nilay and David discuss the recent executive shakeup at Xbox, and try to figure out why Microsoft just can't win in games. Finally, in the lightning round, it's time for Brendan Carr is a dummy, some truly remarkable charts, and much more. Further reading: Samsung Unpacked 2026: live updates from the Galaxy S26 announcement event Samsung Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus hands-on: More of the same Samsung AI photos Google Gemini can book an Uber or order food for you with new agentic AI features Google and Samsung just launched the AI features Apple couldn't with Siri I'm super impressed with the Galaxy S26 Ultra's new Privacy Display Samsung announces Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro at Unpacked 2026 Xbox shakeup: Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond are leaving Microsoft Xbox chief Phil Spencer is leaving Microsoft Read Xbox chief Phil Spencer's memo about leaving Microsoft Sarah Bond is leaving Xbox Read Xbox president Sarah Bond's memo about leaving Microsoft. Inside Microsoft's big Xbox leadership shake-up Read Microsoft gaming CEO Asha Sharma's first memo on the future of Xbox New Microsoft gaming CEO Asha Sharma says “hear you” to complaints about a lack of Xbox exclusives. New Xbox CEO: ‘The plan's the plan until it's not the plan.' Microsoft says today's Xbox shake-up doesn't mean game studio layoffs Billions of dollars later and still nobody knows what an Xbox is Chairman Carr Announces Pledge America Campaign Does Anthropic think Claude is alive? Define ‘alive' Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas AI Scenarios chart Youtube Chair Drama OpenAI's Stargate struggles. OpenAI's first ChatGPT gadget could be a smart speaker with a camera Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
January brings two things in Vergecast-land: CES, and New Years' Resolutions. We start this episode with a dive into the story of this year's biggest tech show, the Lego Smart Brick, which is either a clever way of thinking about creativity or the end of creativity as we know it. Sean Hollister explains how the Smart Brick works, and how Lego can make sure it ends the right way. Then, Platformer's Casey Newton discusses his productivity system, his adventures in Claude Code, and how you too can make yourself a little more productive this year — with or without AI. Further reading: Lego announces Smart Brick, the ‘most significant evolution' in 50 years Lego's Smart Bricks aren't just an experiment I played with the Lego Smart Brick From Platformer: The project that turned me into a Claude Code believer From Platformer: What I learned about productivity this year Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
2026 is just beginning, and it's already time for the biggest gadget event of the year. As the Verge team heads to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show, David and Nilay run through as many of the newly announced products as they can. There are robots, art TVs, phones, more robots, smart Legos, smart home gizmos, and still more robots. Some of this stuff will ship, and might even be a big hit. Some of it, well, won't. But it's all an interesting look into what's happening in tech right now.Also: if you're in Vegas for CES, come see us live! We'll be at the Brooklyn Bowl on Wednesday, January 7th, for live recordings of Decoder and The Vergecast, and we'd love to see you there. Further reading: This robot companion is a cameraman for your pet LG says its CLOiD home robot will be folding laundry and making breakfast at CES SwitchBot brings a humanoid home robot to CES You can't buy Zeroth's WALL-E robot in the US, but you can get its cousin This startup brought WALL-E to life and will also sell you WALL-E's weird cousin Kicking Robots, by James Vincent The Clicks Power Keyboard is also a backup battery for your phone The Clicks Communicator is a BlackBerry for your phone I just want to keep unfolding the Samsung Z TriFold The Aliro smart lock standard for NFC and UWB unlocking will launch this year Lutron adds smart wood blinds to its Caséta line. Bosch's fancy coffee machine is getting Alexa Plus The new Ultraloq smart lock uses both your face and your palm to let you in Lockin's new vein-scanning smart lock has a video doorbell and recharges wirelessly Hands-on with the Mui Board: a wooden smart home controller The Mui Board will support mmWave sleep tracking and gesture control You can unlock SwitchBot's first deadbolt smart lock with your face Lifx launches a smart mirror and a $30 dimmer switch that can control smart bulbs Lockly's new smart locks will support Matter and NFC GE Lighting's new Matter-compatible smart shades start at just $300 The LG OLED evo W6 Wallpaper TV makes its return at CES RGB is the next big thing in OLED gaming monitors Belkin's new HDMI adapter wirelessly connects to screens from 130 feet LG's new Gallery TV, designed for displaying art, will be at CES 2026 Samsung brings back the Timeless Frame with its biggest Micro RGB TV at CES. TCL debuts a new quantum dot and color filter technology with the X11L Gemini on Google TV is getting Nano Banana and voice-controlled settings Amazon announces a Samsung Frame competitor with the Ember Artline TV Amazon Fire TV OS gets a revamp that's more modern and pleasing LG's new karaoke-ready party speaker uses AI to remove song vocals Would you let AI cut your hair? A developer for a ‘major food delivery app' says the ‘algorithms are rigged against you Lego announces Smart Brick, the ‘most significant evolution' in 50 years | The Verge Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is now blogging about AI slop “Feed is dead.” Adam Mosseri on how Instagram exists in the age of AI-generated images The Trump phone just missed another release date Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The world runs on RAM, and RAM is harder than ever to get your hands on. What's happening here? Every year, the Vergecast team spends the holiday season going deep on a single spec or technology, and this year it's all about Random Access Memory. (No, that's not a Daft Punk album.) Nilay, David, and Sean Hollister explain what RAM is, why it matters, how it became a precious commodity, and what it means for the future of chips around the world. We also play some games. We do… okay at the games. Happy Holidays! Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Åhead of our last Friday episode of 2025, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr did The Vergecast an enormous favor: he went in front of Congress and said a bunch of wild things about regulation. So, of course, Nilay and David have to talk about them. For a really long time. After that, the hosts look at all the ways YouTube and Netflix are becoming more like one another, and then update the Go90 Scale of Doomed Streaming Services to round out the year. Finally, in the lightning round, there's talk of web apps, EVs, Bluesky, and the metaverse. Further reading: The Vergecast live at CES Brendan Carr doesn't regret his threats to broadcasters Former FCC Chairman Michael Powell: ‘Cable companies are at the mercy of content companies' The Oscars will stream on YouTube in 2029 Netflix's next big TV game is FIFA soccer My Favorite Murder and The Breakfast Club podcasts are ditching YouTube for Netflix Warner Bros. wants its shareholders to reject Paramount's latest offer Netflix is “100% committed” to releasing WB films in theaters. Even Jared Kushner thinks the Paramount WB bid sucks. Peacock will bombard you with ads as soon as you open the app HBO Max's new channels keep Friends and Game of Thrones playing 24/7 Instagram is putting Reels on your TV LG forced a Copilot web app onto its TVs but will let you delete it Mercedes-Benz discontinues feature that syncs music to driving Ford's big bet on EVs didn't pan out — now it's pivoting to hybrids and energy storage Bluesky claims its new contact import feature is ‘privacy-first' Gemini 3 Flash is here, bringing a ‘huge' upgrade to the Gemini app The ChatGPT app store is here Alexa Plus' website is live for some users Meta pauses third-party Horizon VR headsets program Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Technically, the Netflix / Warner Bros. news is almost a week old, but what a week it has been! And so, after some follow-up on smart shades and CES, Nilay and David talk through all that's at stake in the fight between Paramount and Netflix — and whether it's even possible for someone to win this deal. After that, Charlie Harding, co-host of Switched on Pop and honorary Vergecast intern, explains how AI is taking over the country music scene in Nashville. He also makes us a song, and it's a jam. Lastly, the hosts talk about font news (with a special guest), Brendan Carr, smart rings, garage wars, and more. Further reading: The Verge subscription turns one Netflix is buying Warner Bros. for $83 billion Paramount launches a hostile $108 billion bid to snatch Warner from Netflix David Ellison pitches Paramount's $108 billion hostile bid for WBD as “pro consumer.” Behind Paramount's Relentless Campaign to Woo Warner Discovery and President Trump New Paramount Speaks: Theatrical Films, Streaming Investment and Tech Upgrades Are Top Priorities Netflix CEO made a visit to the White House before buying Warner Bros. Trump isn't sold on the Netflix-Warner Bros. deal Netflix's leadership thinks the Warner Bros. deal won't be like other big media mergers. Welcome to the big leagues, Netflix There are no good outcomes for the Warner Bros. sale OpenAI's billion-dollar Disney deal puts Mickey Mouse and Marvel in Sora Get ready for an AI country music explosion Brendan Carr is a Dummy Chamberlain's new technology blocks aftermarket controllers from working with its garage door openers The Pebble Index 01 is a smart ring with a built-in microphone Calibri is too woke for the State Department | The Verge Gruber got a copy of the thing Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It's a holiday week for many of us, which means a lot of Turkey Trots and a lot of TV. We have something for both in this episode! First, Nick Thompson, the CEO of The Atlantic and author of the new book, The Running Ground, joins the show to talk about his lifelong journey as a runner, and all the tech — from smartwatch to shoes to custom GPTs — he uses in training. After that, The Verge's John Higgins makes his first Vergecast appearance to help us understand how motion smoothing works, why you should turn it off, and all the other ways you can improve your TV watching experience this holiday season. Finally, David follows up on a question on the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com!) with some recommendations on inexpensive earbuds worth cranking up the volume on. Further reading: Nick Thompson's book, The Running Ground From The Atlantic: Why I Run TV manufacturers unite to tackle the scourge of motion smoothing Dear Roku, you ruined my TV How to turn off motion smoothing on your high-definition TV Samsung's Frame TV is finally getting the knockoffs it deserves Samsung announces The Frame Pro: could this be the perfect TV? Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
@TheVerge Bring back the iBook, you cowards | The Vergecast https://youtu.be/Br00gLOtB-c?si=RSIusn8Cl_7u5_Nf @leavesinthewind7441 Tara Isabella Burton https://youtu.be/9nBMntBcfFg?si=AunbnqFCi26f-iUu @EducatingForLiberty The Case for Techno-Optimism? | Project Cosmos EP:03 https://youtu.be/WlO6S6oesac?si=CwK370bPJkHTGyuB https://x.com/PaulVanderKlay/status/1990796411252977916 VanderKlips and PVK Backcatalog Radio Livestream Live Stream https://www.youtube.com/live/PXjfrG9nrnc?si=vuQXVig4ZKeItPds @Neal_Daedalus Neal / Nick / Zepp - 1 https://youtu.be/62vRGH1-n8w?si=Q8hqUiLB_QbFalU4 https://www.livingstonescrc.com/give Register for the Estuary/Cleanup Weekend https://lscrc.elvanto.net/form/94f5e542-facc-4764-9883-442f982df447 Paul Vander Klay clips channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX0jIcadtoxELSwehCh5QTg https://www.meetup.com/sacramento-estuary/ My Substack https://paulvanderklay.substack.com/ Bridges of meaning https://discord.gg/mQGdwNca Estuary Hub Link https://www.estuaryhub.com/ There is a video version of this podcast on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/paulvanderklay To listen to this on ITunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/paul-vanderklays-podcast/id1394314333 If you need the RSS feed for your podcast player https://paulvanderklay.podbean.com/feed/ All Amazon links here are part of the Amazon Affiliate Program. Amazon pays me a small commission at no additional cost to you if you buy through one of the product links here. This is is one (free to you) way to support my videos. https://paypal.me/paulvanderklay Blockchain backup on Lbry https://odysee.com/@paulvanderklay https://www.patreon.com/paulvanderklay Paul's Church Content at Living Stones Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh7bdktIALZ9Nq41oVCvW-A To support Paul's work by supporting his church give here. https://tithe.ly/give?c=2160640 https://www.livingstonescrc.com/give
Enshittification. It's fun to say, hard to spell, and a useful descriptor of exactly how the internet has gone wrong. Cory Doctorow, the author and activist who coined the term a few years ago, recently published a book on the subject, called Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It. He was on Decoder a few weeks ago to explain what happened, and joins The Vergecast this week to help us figure out what to do about it. Can we, as regular people on the internet, help to de-enshittify the place? What responsibility do we have, and what kinds of choices should we be making? Cory has lots of thoughts on whether you can shop your way out of a monopoly, and what it really takes to enact structural change online. Further reading: Cory Doctorow on Decoder Read Cory's book, Enshittification Cory's last Vergecast appearance From Pluralistic: How monopoly enshittified Amazon AI is killing the old web, and the new web struggles to be born FTC files a massive antitrust lawsuit against Amazon Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Here at The Vergecast, we get a lot of questions. Questions from you, which we love! Questions that, for some reason, often tend to be about the smart home and why it's often not so very smart. So on this episode, the first in a two-part series, The Verge's Jennifer Pattison Tuohy helps us answer a whole bunch of your questions. Questions like: what's Apple's deal with the smart home? Are there any good smart faucets? And what's about to happen to my robot vacuum cleaner? Jen helps us wade through all that and more. We also go on a long diversion about smart smoke detectors, which are pretty awesome. Further reading: My smart kitchen: the good, the bad, and the future Moen's Smart Faucet with Motion Control is totally hands free, and works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant The future of the Roomba, and the best robot vacuums This smart smoke alarm could be a worthy Nest Protect replacement Home Assistant's next era begins now Apple's plan for AI could make Siri the animated center of your smart home What's in a smart home reviewer's backyard How Matter works, where it's headed, and why it matters The problems with AI in the smart home and how Amazon and Google plan to fix them Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
1x Neo made a humanoid robot to load your dishwasher, OpenAI acquires Sky, including the team behind the original Workflow app that became Shortcuts, Microsoft X OpenAI deal for future IPO and AGI, Nvidia hits a $5 trillion milestone.Bonus Episode: Everyday Carry YouTube, Kids and College. Listen here!Sponsored by:Claude AI - Ready to tackle bigger problems? Sign up for Claude today and get 50% off Claude Pro, which includes access to Claude Code at: claude.ai/primaryGusto - Try Gusto today at gusto.com/primary, and get three months free when you run your first payroll!Show Notes via EmailWatch on YouTube!Support the showLinks from the showStephen on the Vergecast - YouTubeThe Vergecast Episode on Apple Podcasts (00:03:28)I Tried the First Humanoid Home Robot. It Got Weird. | WSJ - YouTubeSky Acquired by OpenAI - MacStoriesFrom the Creators of Shortcuts, Sky Extends AI Integration and Automation to Your Entire Mac - MacStoriesAltman touts trillion-dollar AI vision as OpenAI restructures to chase scale | ReutersExclusive | OpenAI's Promise to Stay in California Helped Clear the Path for Its IPO - WSJOpenAI has an AGI problem — and Microsoft just made it worse | The VergeApple in China (01:01:00)Amazon Just Announced 14,000 Layoffs. CEO Andy Jassy Meant It When He Said AI Would Replace Jobsmensjournal.comThe State of the AI Industry is Freaking Me Out - YouTubeWarren Buffett: I Look In The Mirror For Advice - YouTubeBecoming Superhuman (00:00) - Intro (03:28) - Stephen on The Vergecast (05:29) - 1x Neo Humanoid Robot (09:51) - OpenAI Aquires Sky (14:09) - Show Start (17:21) - Microsoft X OpenAI Deal (26:01) - Sponsor: Claude AI (28:08) - Sponsor: Gusto (29:30) - OLED on Macs (35:39) - Amazon Lays Off 14K (39:26) - Nvidia Hit $5T (49:46) - Grammarly is Superhuman (56:30) - Grokipedia (01:00:23) - Listener Voicemails (01:11:55) - Battery Percent or Miles For EV ★ Support this podcast ★
Tue, 21 Oct 2025 11:15:00 GMT http://relay.fm/cortex/172 http://relay.fm/cortex/172 David Pierce – State of the Workflow 172 Myke Hurley Myke talks to The Verge's David Pierce about the workflow behind his Humane AI Pin review, how he collaborates to make podcasts like The Vergecast, and how his Installer newsletter helps him highlight the positive side of the internet each week. Myke talks to The Verge's David Pierce about the workflow behind his Humane AI Pin review, how he collaborates to make podcasts like The Vergecast, and how his Installer newsletter helps him highlight the positive side of the internet each week. clean 5352 Myke talks to The Verge's David Pierce about the workflow behind his Humane AI Pin review, how he collaborates to make podcasts like The Vergecast, and how his Installer newsletter helps him highlight the positive side of the internet each week. This episode of Cortex is sponsored by: Squarespace: Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code CORTEX. Fitbod: Get stronger, faster with a fitness plan that fits you. Get 25% off your membership. Incogni: Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code CORTEX with this link and get 60% off an annual plan. Guest Starring: David Pierce Links and Show Notes: Get Moretex – More Cortex, with no ads. Submit Feedback
Tue, 21 Oct 2025 11:15:00 GMT http://relay.fm/cortex/172 http://relay.fm/cortex/172 Myke Hurley Myke talks to The Verge's David Pierce about the workflow behind his Humane AI Pin review, how he collaborates to make podcasts like The Vergecast, and how his Installer newsletter helps him highlight the positive side of the internet each week. Myke talks to The Verge's David Pierce about the workflow behind his Humane AI Pin review, how he collaborates to make podcasts like The Vergecast, and how his Installer newsletter helps him highlight the positive side of the internet each week. clean 5352 Myke talks to The Verge's David Pierce about the workflow behind his Humane AI Pin review, how he collaborates to make podcasts like The Vergecast, and how his Installer newsletter helps him highlight the positive side of the internet each week. This episode of Cortex is sponsored by: Squarespace: Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code CORTEX. Fitbod: Get stronger, faster with a fitness plan that fits you. Get 25% off your membership. Incogni: Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code CORTEX with this link and get 60% off an annual plan. Guest Starring: David Pierce Links and Show Notes: Get Moretex – More Cortex, with no ads. Submit Feedback
Nilay's back! And you can listen to The Vergecast with no ads, if you're a Verge subscriber! Big week, really. Nilay and David start the show by talking about ads, podcasts, platforms, and subscriptions. Then they talk a bunch about Apple's new M5-powered MacBook, iPad, and Vision Pro, and whether a chip bump is worth getting excited about. After that, Nilay reflects on a summer of using AI products, and explains why you can tell the whole story of this generation of AI just by talking about the smart home. Finally, in the lightning round, the hosts talk about AI song covers, Apple TV, TiVo, Roku, Cybertrucks, and the exploding Pixel 10 Pro Fold. Help us improve The Verge: Take our quick survey at theverge.com/survey. Further reading: Ad-free Verge podcasts have arrived Netflix is making a big bet on video podcasts Apple's 2025 iPad Pro comes with an M5 chip inside Apple just upgraded the Vision Pro with an M5 chip and new strap Apple's 14-inch MacBook Pro gets an M5 chip bump and faster storage Logitech made an Apple Pencil-like stylus for the Vision Pro Apple's rumored smart home display hub might start at $350 Samsung officially teases Moohan headset launch for next week Apple's future smart glasses could have two separate UIs. ChatGPT will soon help you shop at Walmart. How OpenAI plans to make all its money. Microsoft wants you to talk to your PC and let AI control it As Microsoft bids farewell to Windows 10, millions of users won't Spotify says it's working with labels on ‘responsible' AI music tools DirecTV will soon bring AI ads to your screensaver OpenAI partners with Broadcom to produce its own AI chips Sam Altman says ChatGPT will soon sext with verified adults Apple TV Plus is being rebranded to… Apple TV Apple exec on Apple TV rebranding: ‘let's just do it' Google's Pixel 10 Pro Fold is the first to ‘go up in smoke during a bend test,' JerryRigEverything says Roku's AI-upgraded voice assistant can answer questions about what you're watching DirecTV will soon bring AI ads to your screensaver Soul Against the Machine TiVo has sold its last DVR Tesla Cybertruck sales are flatlining Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
If you're a paid subscriber to The Verge, there's great news: You can now listen to Decoder, Version History, and The Vergecast completely ad-free. Just head to your Account Settings page to opt-in and start listening without ads. Not a member of The Verge yet? No worries! You can sign up at theverge.com/subscribe to get ad-free podcasts, plus other perks like exclusive newsletters and unlimited access to everything we publish. More here: Verge subscribers, here's how to set up ad-free podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
If you're a paid subscriber to the Verge, there's great news: you can now listen to Decoder, Version History, and The Vergecast completely ad-free. Just head to your Account Settings page to opt-in and start listening without ads. Not a member of The Verge yet? No worries! You can sign up at theverge.com/subscribe to get ad-free podcasts, plus other perks like exclusive newsletters and unlimited access to everything we publish. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Hooked on LinkedIn's Queens? Gotta extend your Wordle streak in the New York Times games app before you start your day? You're in good company on today's Vergecast episode. Allison Johnson is joined by Simon Anthony and Mark Goodliffe, world-class puzzle champs and hosts of the delightful Cracking the Cryptic, a YouTube channel where they solve a puzzle on camera every single day. They specialize in Sudoku — and not just the classic number games you might be familiar with. Simon and Mark tackle mind-bending, seemingly impossible puzzles, working through it all in realtime, sometimes over the course of several hours. What happens when you get stuck? How can you tell the difference between a puzzle made by a human and a computer-generated one? Why are we addicted to puzzle games all of a sudden? They help us crack the clues. Then Allison sits down with Marc Levoy, one of the pioneers of computational photography, to talk about his new camera app: Project Indigo. Levoy is known for his earlier work on the Pixel camera, and was a driving force in shaping phone photography into what it is now. We last caught up with him in 2020 when he left Google for Adobe, so we got up to speed on what the heck he's been doing for the last five years — and the important difference between HDR and an HDR-ish photo. Finally, Allison takes a hotline question from someone who is not particular about their phone camera's image quality, but does have a beef with camera bumps. Cracking the Cryptic — YouTube This 25-minute video is the most riveting sudoku puzzle you will ever watch The Atlantic is making a big push into games I regret to inform you that LinkedIn's games are very fun The mastermind of Google's Pixel camera quietly left the company in March The brain behind the Google Pixel camera is building a universal camera app for Adobe Marc Levoy on the balance of camera hardware, software, and artistic expression Adobe launches a new ‘computational photography' camera app for iPhones Adobe's new camera app is making me rethink phone photography Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This week on The Vergecast, Chris Niccolls and Jordan Drake of PetaPixel's YouTube channel join The Verge's Allison Johnson and Vjeran Pavic to geek out about the last half-decade of camera advancements — the good, the bad, and the Sigma BF of it all. Then, Allison is joined by Verge News Editor and fellow phone nerd Dominic Preston to help answer a boatload of listener questions from people contemplating which smartphone to buy next. They help navigate the intricacies of living in a mixed iOS/Android household to the best options for someone who wants a headphone jack (spoiler alert: there aren't many). It's a mega-hotline-turned-therapy session for iPhone Mini owners reluctant to let go of their tiny phones in a world where phones come in two sizes: big and bigger. Further reading: Sigma BF review: Beautiful Foolishness — PetaPixel The Fujifilm X half is Just Plain FUN! — PetaPixel Fujifilm X Half hands-on: whimsical, refreshing, and simply fun Sigma BF review: the perfect camera for a minimalist In pursuit of a viral, five-year-old compact camera Samsung Galaxy S25 review: incredibly iterative Nothing Phone 3 review: flagship-ish If you really want a smaller phone, try the tiny Jelly 2 Oppo Find N5 review: the final evolution of foldables Honor launches the ‘world's thinnest' foldable Motorola spoiled a good budget phone with bloatware The Xperia 1 VII is a greatest hits of Sony R&D The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra isn't so ‘ultra' anymore The Fairphone 6 no longer feels like a compromise (except in the US) My first DIY phone fix made me a self-repair believer Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold review: in great shape Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 review: stunning, bendy, and spendy Ditching my phone for an LTE smartwatch was a humbling experience I took my own advice and bought a last-gen iPhone — I regret nothing How Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip failed me without actually breaking Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This week on The Vergecast, the co-founder and former CEO of iRobot, Colin Angle, joins The Verge's smart home reviewer, Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, to discuss what the ideal home robot is. Are we close to creating a Rosie the Robot — an all-in-one humanoid robot that can take care of our homes, or should we take an entirely different approach to home robotics? They dive into the advances in technology powering this shift and ponder what purpose robotics in the home should really serve. Then, Jen takes a journey back into smart home history to help us understand its future. Grant Erickson, Principal of Nuovations, a former Apple, Nest, and Google engineer who was part of the team that developed Thread, joins the show. He shares the story of how and why, back in 2011, the Nest team, led by Tony Faddell and Matt Rogers, decided to create a smart home protocol. It involves a thermostat, fragmented ecosystems, and one of the best smart home products ever made. They discuss how Thread became the foundation of the Matter smart home standard — an unprecedented industry collaboration with a herculean task — to make the smart home simpler. To close out the show, Grant sticks around to help answer a Vergecast hotline question (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com) about how Matter manages your data. Further reading: Maybe I don't want a Rosey the Robot after all Amazon left Roomba with a huge mess to clean up Figure will start ‘alpha testing' its humanoid robot in the home in 2025 Amazon Astro review: too much Alexa, not enough arms Samsung is finally releasing Ballie This Pixar-style dancing lamp hints at Apple's future home robot iRobot's founder is working on a new kind of home robot iRobot OS is the newest ‘brain' for your Roomba Amazon bought iRobot to see inside your home I tested a robot vacuum with an arm, and my dog may never forgive me Inside the Nest: iPod creator Tony Fadell wants to reinvent the thermostat Nest CEO Tony Fadell on Google acquisition Fire drill: Can Tony Fadell and Nest build a better smoke detector? How big companies kill ideas — and how to fight back, with Tony Fadell Situation: there are too many competing smart home standards Matter's plan to save the smart home Nest's home security system costs $499 and comes with magnetic door sensors Google says Matter is still set to fix the biggest smart home frustrations Thread is Matter's secret sauce for a better smart home Nanoleaf launches a smart switch after eight years of trying Thread count: Ikea is stitching together a smarter home Why Thread is Matter's biggest problem right now The four changes in Thread 1.4 that could fix the protocol It could be 2026 before all your Thread border routers work together Matter will be better in 2025 — say the people who make it The Nest Learning Thermostat gets its biggest upgrade in over a decade killedbygoogle.com Google's ADT partnership finally has a new home security product to show for it Google discontinues Nest Protect smoke alarm and Nest x Yale door lock Google discontinues its Google Nest Secure alarm system Appliance makers are teaming up to reduce your electricity usage — and save you cash Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
GPT-5 is here, and it's not going so well. This week on The Vergecast, Jake, Vee, and Hayden discuss the bumpy launch of OpenAI's latest model and why GPT-5 isn't as big of a leap as GPT-4. Then, everyone shares their vibe coding projects and the bumpy journey to making anything usable. After that, our newest segment: Corporate Shenanigans, where we rate the week in strange corporate moves on a scale from “actually serious” to “total joke.” Finally, the Thunder Round returns, new and improved, to discuss ditching your phone for a smartwatch, doctors relying too much on AI, AOL dial-up shutting down, the Pebble Time 2, and why you shouldn't trust what AI chatbots say about themselves. Further reading: ChatGPT won't remove old models without warning after GPT-5 backlash OpenAI will update GPT-5's “personality” after user backlash ChatGPT is bringing back 4o as an option because people missed it Sam Altman shared more about what went wrong with those GPT-5 graphs OpenAI gives some employees a ‘special' multimillion-dollar bonus Anthropic just made its latest move in the AI coding wars Anthropic's Claude chatbot can now remember your past conversations Perplexity offers to buy Google Chrome for $34.5 billion Apple is suing Apple Cinemas Apple Cinemas responds to Apple lawsuit Apple returns blood oxygen monitoring to the latest Apple Watches Elon Musk says he's suing Apple for rigging App Store rankings Ditching my phone for an LTE smartwatch was a humbling experience Here's a look at the final Pebble Time 2 design Some doctors got worse at detecting cancer after relying on AI Google's healthcare AI made up a body part — what happens when doctors don't notice? Chatbots aren't telling you their secrets AOL is finally shutting down dial-up Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy of The Verge joins Mikah Sargent on this episode of Tech News Weekly! Apple is rumored to launch a series of AI-powered devices, the upcoming Pebble Time 2's design is shown off, a look into a global SMS phishing scam ring, and the blood oxygen feature is returning to Apple Watches? Apple is seeking to expand its product offerings into AI-powered robots, home security, and smart displays, according to a report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Eric Migicovsky, founder of Pebble smartwatches, unveils the design of the company's Pebble Time 2* watch. Harrison Sand, Senior Security Consultant for mnemonic, unveils Darcula. This global SMS phishing-as-a-scam ring sends SMS messages hoping to steal credentials from those who click on the links in the messages. And Apple announces that it's bringing back the Blood Oyxgen feature for Apple Watches, which was a clever workaround following a recent U.S. Customs ruling against Masimo. Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Guest: Harrison Sand Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: zocdoc.com/tnw cachefly.com/twit
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy of The Verge joins Mikah Sargent on this episode of Tech News Weekly! Apple is rumored to launch a series of AI-powered devices, the upcoming Pebble Time 2's design is shown off, a look into a global SMS phishing scam ring, and the blood oxygen feature is returning to Apple Watches? Apple is seeking to expand its product offerings into AI-powered robots, home security, and smart displays, according to a report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Eric Migicovsky, founder of Pebble smartwatches, unveils the design of the company's Pebble Time 2* watch. Harrison Sand, Senior Security Consultant for mnemonic, unveils Darcula. This global SMS phishing-as-a-scam ring sends SMS messages hoping to steal credentials from those who click on the links in the messages. And Apple announces that it's bringing back the Blood Oyxgen feature for Apple Watches, which was a clever workaround following a recent U.S. Customs ruling against Masimo. Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Guest: Harrison Sand Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: zocdoc.com/tnw cachefly.com/twit
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy of The Verge joins Mikah Sargent on this episode of Tech News Weekly! Apple is rumored to launch a series of AI-powered devices, the upcoming Pebble Time 2's design is shown off, a look into a global SMS phishing scam ring, and the blood oxygen feature is returning to Apple Watches? Apple is seeking to expand its product offerings into AI-powered robots, home security, and smart displays, according to a report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Eric Migicovsky, founder of Pebble smartwatches, unveils the design of the company's Pebble Time 2* watch. Harrison Sand, Senior Security Consultant for mnemonic, unveils Darcula. This global SMS phishing-as-a-scam ring sends SMS messages hoping to steal credentials from those who click on the links in the messages. And Apple announces that it's bringing back the Blood Oyxgen feature for Apple Watches, which was a clever workaround following a recent U.S. Customs ruling against Masimo. Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Guest: Harrison Sand Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: zocdoc.com/tnw cachefly.com/twit
This week on The Vergecast, we enter the Jen-era of Hot Girl Vergecast Summer, with a deep dive into the business of the smart home. The Verge's smart home reviewer, Jennifer Pattison Tuohy (aka Jen), chats with Ken Fairbanks, a longtime customer of Insteon who ended up buying the smart lighting company when it went into bankruptcy. Ken shares the story of how one of the original smart lighting protocols, founded in the post-X10 era when home automation moved from wired to wireless, floundered, and how he and a band of users brought it back from the dead. He dishes what he's learned about how to keep the lights on — from customer loyalty and the value of subscriptions, to what tariffs are doing to the industry and how some hardware companies are just pyramid schemes. Then, in a special supersized (and we mean SUPER) Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com), Jen is joined by smart home expert Richard Gunther, co-host of The Smart Home Show, to tackle a bunch of your burning smart lighting questions. They answer everything from how to move your smart home to which Thread border router you should buy for your Matter setup. Plus, they run down their own smart lighting set-ups. Further reading: Insteon's troubles are a smart home tale as old as time Insteon Raises the Curtain for the Next Act Someone turned Insteon's lights back on Insteon customers turned Insteon's lights back on Thread count: Ikea is stitching together a smarter home Smart switches or smart bulbs? How to choose the right smart lighting for your home Controller for HomeKit Philips Hue Play sync box and gradient lightstrip review: wholly unnecessary, totally delightful Taming Wi-Fi in the Smart Home: Leviton's new smart light switches don't require a neutral wire Every smart home device that works with Matter Aqara's new seven-inch home control tablet can replace a light switch These smart lights could solve the kitchen cabinet problem Hue launches a pricey new sunrise lamp Smart string light showdown: Nanoleaf versus Lifx The best floodlight camera to buy right now How to move a smart home Moving a smart home - The Smart Home Show Living with the ghost of a smart home's past Smart ceiling light showdown: Aqara T1M versus Nanoleaf Skylight Binding should be the next big thing for smart home devices Aqara adds support for 50 new Matter device types Flic is ready to control all your Matter devices Thread is Matter's secret sauce for a better smart home Google Nest Thread border routers Google TV Streamer review: smarter than your average set-top box Google Nest Hub (2nd-gen) review: sleep on it Why Thread is Matter's biggest problem right now The four changes in Thread 1.4 that could fix the protocol Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this bonus episode of The Vergecast, Senior Reviewer Victoria Song sits down with a bunch of Verge staffers to talk about how they use AI tools in their everyday lives. Not all of it went smoothly — we definitely get into the ways these tools fall short — but we explore how AI can be used to help bedtime go more smoothly for parents, plan big cross-country moves, supplement your internet searches (always double-check!), and even vibe code an app for your next tabletop role-playing game. If you have any examples where AI was useful to you, we'd love to hear them. (For what it's worth, we'd also love to hear stories where it spectacularly failed.) Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This week on The Vergecast, guest host Mia Sato talks to YouTube fitness pioneer Cassey Ho (better known as Blogilates) about the well-oiled machine that is the dupe economy. Ho shares her experience creating her own line of athletic wear that sooner or later gets ripped off by countless copycats — and how she tries to fight back. Then, Mia brings an audio diary from a visit to Fabscrap, a textile recycling facility in Brooklyn, that is working to save fabric and other materials from the landfill. Fashion is a wasteful industry, not unlike tech — luckily, there are people like Fabscrap staff and volunteers who are working towards solutions. Finally, Victoria Song swings by to help answer a hotline question about how to make the high-tech Clueless closet a reality. If you have a question for us, call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com. Further reading How dupes turned online shopping upside down Lululemon sues Costco over viral alleged “dupes” The US finally acknowledges textile waste in new report Your stuff is actually worse now Ghana becomes dumping ground for the world's unwanted used clothes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Summer blockbusters like the new Superman and Jurassic World movies may be doing great at the box office, but promoting them is more complicated than ever. The old celebrity playbook of magazine profiles, TV chat shows and press junkets isn't enough in an era of audience fragmentation. Publicists now have to strategize which podcasts to make time for, and whether their clients will eat chicken on YouTube with Amelia Dimoldenberg or Sean Evans. This week on The Vergecast, guest host Mia Sato talks to Vulture's Fran Hoepfner to break down the ever-changing new media circuit, whether you're a beloved A-lister, a formerly-beloved A-lister, or an aspiring A-lister. Then, we take a deep dive with Sarah Fackrell into a controversial legal tactic brands are using to go after online sellers hawking everything from grumpy cat T-shirts to closet hooks. Finally, Victoria Song joins Mia to answer a Vergecast hotline from a listener wondering whether an AI translator will be able to keep up with his partner's Colombian mother. If you've got a question for us, call 866-VERGE11 or e-mail vergecast@theverge.com. Further reading: Box Office: ‘Superman' Surpasses $400 Million Globally, ‘Jurassic World Rebirth' Nears $650 Million Milestone The Celebrity Press-Tour Road Map Fame and Frustration On the New Media Circuit Sydney woman who sold a cartoon cat T-shirt told to pay US$100,000 in Grumpy Cat copyright case How Does a Mom Get Slapped With a $250,000 Judgment Over $380 of Homemade Luke Combs Merch? Experts Cite ‘Cottage Industry' of Mass Counterfeit Suits in Illinois A SAD Scheme of Abusive Intellectual Property Litigation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Would you like Siri more if it had a face? This week on The Vergecast, we're talking about AI assistants getting smarter… and uncomfortably personal. The Verge's Jennifer Pattison Tuohy joins the show to talk about her early tests of Alexa Plus, which is finally AI-powered and a lot more capable. Jake shares his uncomfortable first interaction with Grok's anime girlfriend. And Waveform cohost David Imel is here to talk about Sony's RX1R III and other premium “compact” cameras. Finally, the THUNDER ROUND is back. New, improved, and still loud. Further reading: 24 hours with Alexa Plus: we cooked, we chatted, and it kinda lied to me Alexa Plus launches to “small number” of people More than a million people now have Alexa Plus Elon Musk's AI bot adds a ridiculous anime companion with ‘NSFW' mode I spent 24 hours flirting with Elon Musk's AI girlfriend System prompt dump of xAI / Grok's new AI anime girlfriend Elon Musk teases AI anime boyfriend based on Edward Cullen “We will, of course, have another character inspired by Mr. Darcy” xAI has open roles for building AI “waifus.” US government announces $200 million Grok contract a week after ‘MechaHitler' incident Grok will no longer call itself Hitler or base its opinions on Elon Musk's, promises xAI Sony's pocket-sized RX1R camera returns with its first update in 10 years Original RX1R RX1R II Google exec: ‘We're going to be combining ChromeOS and Android' Our biggest questions about ChromeOS and Android merging Ikea goes all in on Matter/Thread Eric Migicovsky Texts.com Google Nest subscription The next batch of emoji includes Bigfoot Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
On this episode of The Vergecast, we're going to dive deep into why accessible design is universal design. First, guest host Victoria Song will chat with Jason Valley, a visually impaired Verge reader. Jason initially reached out to Victoria after her Live AI hands-on, challenging the notion that the feature was a “solution looking for a problem to solve.” Jason shares how the tech has helped him live a more independent life, what he's hoping to see improve, and how the blind and low-vision community has enthusiastically embraced the technology. After that, Victoria sits down with Be My Eyes CEO Mike Buckley. Be My Eyes is an app that pairs blind and low-vision users with sighted volunteers to help them go about their day. Buckley gives his thoughts about how accessible tech design benefits everyone, why smart glasses and AI are a natural combo, and what challenges and opportunities in this space remain. And finally, we have features reporter Mia Sato on to answer a spicy question about smart glasses from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com). Specifically, do smart glasses belong in the bedroom? Further reading: Live AI on Meta's smart glasses is a solution looking for a problem Meta's smart glasses can now describe what you're seeing in more detail The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses actually make the future look cool Be My Eyes AI offers GPT-4-powered support for blind Microsoft customers The principles of wearable etiquette Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
On this episode of The Vergecast, we kick off Hot Girl Vergecast Summer with a classic Vergecast segment: the mic test. Guest host Victoria Song is joined by Vergecast producers Andru Marino and Erick Gomez to see how the Nothing Headphone 1, Sony WH-1000XM6, Apple AirPods Max, and Bose QuietComfort Ultra hold up against what's possibly the noisiest street in Brooklyn. After that, Victoria is joined by Ladder CEO Greg Stewart to talk about what it takes to build a successful strength training app — especially for people just starting out. As it turns out, it's quite challenging, between curating playlists, accommodating users' different access to equipment, skill levels, and preferences for coaching styles. (And maybe, some occasional beef with Peloton?) Lastly, we answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com) about AI fitness summaries, whether people actually like them, what's frustrating about them, and what scenarios they might actually be useful for. Want to learn more about the topics in this episode? Here are some handy dandy links for your reference: Nothing Headphone 1 review Sony WH-1000XM6 hands-on Apple AirPods Max review Bose QuietComfort Ultra review A lazy person's guide to getting into shape Ladder isn't done trolling Peloton The unbearable obviousness of AI fitness summaries Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Developer conference season is almost over, but we've got one show left to see: Apple's WWDC begins on Monday. Nilay, David, and Joanna Stern spend time going through both what they expect to see at the show, and why this year's WWDC might feel a bit different than in years past. Apple is in a tricky place with regulators, developers, and users alike, and has some genuine explaining to do. After that, they talk about the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, and David's surprisingly easy adventure to acquire one. We also have a bit of smart glasses and AI gadgets news to discuss, so we do that too. Then it's time for Brendan Carr is a Dummy, and an update on a couple of the interesting new fediverse projects launching this week. Further reading: Verge subscriptions are on sale 40 percent off American Society of Magazine Editors Announces National Magazine Awards 2025 Winners Apple ordered to keep web links in the App Store Payment companies team up to help developers ditch App Store billing Apple could be adding camera controls and sleep detection to your AirPods Switch 2 launch: where to find restocks online and in-store Look inside the Nintendo Switch 2 with the console's first teardown Mario Kart World's designers had to rethink everything to make it open world Nintendo is updating even more games for the Switch 2 Here's what's inside Meta's experimental new smart glasses Meta's reportedly shopping for exclusive content on its upcoming VR headset Meta reportedly sidelined ‘Quest 4' designs for a goggles-like mixed-reality headset FCC investigation looms over EchoStar's missed interest payments and a new satellite From Ars Technica: FCC Republican resigns, leaving agency with just two commissioners Jony Ive's OpenAI device gets the Laurene Powell Jobs nod of approval ChatGPT's goal is to be a ‘super assistant' for every part of your life Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Help us plan for the future of The Vergecast by filling out a brief survey: voxmedia.com/survey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We've talked many times on The Vergecast about the dream of the perfect charger. We call it The God Cable, and imagine it would charge everything, at full optimized speed, no matter what you plug in. Well, one company tried to make it – sort of. TwelveSouth founder Andrew Green joins the show to talk about how his company developed its newest product, the PowerCord, and why actually the God Cable might be both impossible and a bad idea. After that, The Verge's Tina Nguyen joins the show to talk about her experience at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas, the rise of $TRUMP, and how crypto and the government became so intertwined. Finally, we answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline about AI agents, and the tasks we should (and shouldn't) offload to our chatbots. Further reading: The TwelveSouth PowerCord The Vergecast USB-C Holiday Spec-tacular Everything you need to know about switching to USB-C How a crypto bro shorted $TRUMP coin — and scored a dinner with the President Presidential seals, $100,000 watches, and a Marriott afterparty Trump's media company says it's buying $2.5 billion in Bitcoin The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act will soon ramp up in Congress. Crypto funds seized by the government may go into a ‘digital Fort Knox' Google's future is Google googling OpenAI's new Operator AI agent can do things on the web for you Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It's time, once again, to see what's what in the streaming wars. For the third year in a row, our hosts — this time Nilay, David, and The Verge's Jake Kastrenakes — have to build a roster of streaming options that will win awards, show 4K content, satisfy their live TV needs, and much more. First, the hosts decide who won last year's competition, and then they pick their favorites for 2025. Make sure you listen to the episode before you read this, but here are the results of the draft: Jake's picks: Cheap: Tubi Awards: Netflix 4K: Hulu Live: Instagram Live Niche: PBS Passport Content: LoFi Girl Wild Card: Kanopy Nilay's picks: Cheap: TikTok Awards: Max 4K: Disney Plus Live: Sunday Ticket Niche: Kaleidescape Content: CNBC Wild Card: F1 TV David's picks Cheap: Peacock Awards: Amazon Prime 4K: YouTube Premium Live: YouTube TV Niche: BritBox Content: Stranger Things season 5 Wild Card: Paramount Plus We want to know who you think won the draft! Email us at vergecast@theverge.com, or call The Vergecast Hotline at 866-VERGE11, and tell us all your thoughts. And if you want to catch up, you can check out our draft from 2024 and from 2023. A lot has changed, and nothing has. The Vergecast was nominated for a Webby, which means we can win a Webby People's Voice Award and that's voted online by you! So we'd love your support. You can vote at the link:https://bit.ly/3DXFgpN Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Welcome to tech in 2025, where everything's made up and the numbers don't matter. Nilay, David, and The Verge's Jake Kastrenakes start the show by running down the latest tariff news, the uncertain future facing tech companies of all sizes, and what we're learning so far about how they're responding. After that, the hosts talk about a big week in AI news, including Meta's sketchy benchmark numbers and the latest damning reporting about the future of Siri. Finally, in the lightning round, it's time for America's favorite podcast within a podcast, Brendan Carr is a Dummy, along with some news about the TikTok ban and the Pixel 9A. And then some more tariff numbers, because they just never stop. Further reading: The Vergecast was nominated for a Webby, which means we can win a Webby People's Voice Award and that's voted online by you! So we'd love your support. You can vote at the link:https://bit.ly/3DXFgpN Sony adds three new speakers to bass-boosted ULT Power Sound lineup Sony seemingly bakes tariff penalty into its new US TV pricing Samsung's The Frame Pro was never going to be cheap — and it isn't Trump's tariffs are officially in effect, including 104 percent on China China retaliates with additional 50 percent tariff on US goods Trump announces a ‘90-day pause' on tariffs outside of China Trump believes iPhones can be made in the US, says White House Get your screwdrivers ready. Apple quickly shipped 600 tons of iPhones to ‘beat' the new tariffs Trump triples tariffs on low value packages from China and Hong Kong Some Shein and Temu ‘haul video' creators are stocking up Shein's supply chain uncertainties. Amazon is already changing its ultra-cheap Temu copycat Framework stops selling some of its cheapest laptops due to Trump tariffs Framework delays Laptop 12 orders in the US over tariffs Framework will open US preorders for Laptop 12 after all: tomorrow, starting at $549. Framework raised prices and then un-raised them an hour later because of Trump Price hikes, idled factories, layoffs: how car companies are responding to Trump's tariffs China will show fewer US films in response to tariffs Trump's new tariffs leave small creators scrambling Arduboy creator says his tiny Game Boy won't survive Trump's tariff Trump's latest tariffs may set the smart home industry back Nintendo boss on Switch 2 and tariffs: ‘we are actively assessing what the impact may be' Trump's tariffs ‘pause' could help Nintendo ship more Switch 2s Musk calls Trump's trade chief ‘dumber than a sack of bricks.' We just declared a trade war with the world Meta gets caught gaming AI benchmarks with Llama 4 Siri in The Information Amazon plays catch-up with new Nova AI models to generate voices and video Shopify CEO says no new hires without proof AI can't do the job Most Americans don't trust AI — or the people in charge of it Adobe is building AI agents for Photoshop and Premiere Pro Samsung is finally releasing Ballie, its rolling home robot Sam Altman and Jony Ive's AI project could involve a screenless device. Trump Is Now Mandating His Cabinet/Loyalist Wear "Trump Golden Bust" Pins From Ars Technica: The speech police: Chairman Brendan Carr and the FCC's news distortion policy From Variety: FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez Sounds Alarm Over Trump Administration's ‘Absolute Pattern of Censorship and Control' From the FCC: Spectrum Is Back—Again! FCC eyes major satellite rule revamp in spectrum-sharing shakeup Trump delays TikTok ban again Trump's TikTok delay is ‘against the law' top Senate Intelligence Democrat says The US told Apple to keep TikTok in the App Store. Instagram might finally release an iPad app Google Pixel 9A review: a midrange phone done right Pixel 9A hits stores, and it's still $499. Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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