TechStuff

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Week in Tech: Cast Your Ballot On Discord Sep 26, 2025

Show notes

Who are the teens debugging in the bathroom? This week in tech news, there’s a Gen Z-led revolution in Nepal and Discord made it possible. Early 2000s hustle culture is so back in Silicon Valley — at least for teen tech founders. Then, there’s a new AI-generated political satire show airing on Russian state TV. And Albania gets an AI-avatar to seek out corruption. Finally, on Chat and Me, how ChatGPT is helping one user through a new diagnosis.

Also, we want to hear from you: If you’ve used a chatbot in a surprising or delightful (or deranged) way, send us a 12 minute voice note at techstuffpodcast@gmail.com.

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The Story: ON CRISPR: The Story of Jennifer Doudna with Walter Isaacson Sep 24, 2025

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This week, we’re bringing you the first episode of Season 3 of the podcast ON CRISPR. Walter Isaacson — the bestselling biographer behind Musk, Einstein and Steve Jobs and journalist Evan Ratliff (Shell Game, Mastermind, Longform) take a behind-the-scenes look at the story of Jennifer Doudna, one of the scientific pioneers behind the gene editing software, CRISPR.

In this episode, Evan sits down with Walter Isaacson to discuss Doudna’s upbringing, the history of DNA’s discovery and gene editing, and Baby KJ, a CRISPR patient who represents a milestone for both researchers and patients.

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Week in Tech: Why the Charlie Kirk Video is Everywhere Sep 19, 2025

Show notes

What does the viral video of Charlie Kirk’s assassination say about the state of content moderation on social media? This week, Oz and Karah unpack the complexities of moderating graphic-but-newsworthy content, and why tech companies commitment to moderation has waned in recent years. Then, Karah talks to a student in New York about how they’re adjusting to not having access to their phone during the school day. Then, on Chat and Me, a woman uses ChatGPT to diagnose her mother’s mysterious ailment.

Also, we want to hear from you: If you’ve used a chatbot in a surprising or delightful (or deranged) way, send us a 12 minute voice note at techstuffpodcast@gmail.com.

Sources:

Charlie Kirk Was Shot and Killed in a Post-Content-Moderation World

From burner phones to decks of cards: NYC teens are adjusting to the smartphone ban

Larry Ellison’s personal fortune soars on back of Oracle’s share price surge

5,000 Podcasts. 3,000 Episodes a Week. $1 Cost Per Episode — Behind an AI Start Up’s Plan

Labour MPs accused of using ChatGPT to write speeches

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The Story: Social Media is Ruining Our Sex Lives Sep 17, 2025

Show notes

This week, we take a deep dive into why Gen Z isn’t having sex. Karah talks with Carter Sherman, a reproductive health and justice reporter for The Guardian, and author of the book The Second Coming: Sex and the Next Generation's Fight Over Its Future. They unpack how tech factors into the “Sex Recession,” sex as a proxy measure for empathy and human connection, and how all of this is a lot more political than you might think.

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Week in Tech: Turning China's Surveillance Against Itself Sep 12, 2025

Show notes

What does getting older actually feel like? This week, Oz and Karah discuss MIT Researchers who are using technology to simulate aging. Then, Oz tells the story of an activist who used China’s surveillance state as a form of protest. Karah dives deep into the weird world of humans quietly training chatbots. And finally, on Chat and Me, is replacing your therapist with ChatGPT a good idea?

Also, we want to hear from you: If you’ve used a chatbot in a surprising or delightful (or deranged) way, send us a 12 minute voice note at techstuffpodcast@gmail.com.

Sources:

My Day as an 80-Year-Old. What an Age-Simulation Suit Taught Me.

She Sacrificed Her Youth to Get the Tech Bros to Grow Up

A Hidden Camera Protest Turned the Tables on China’s Surveillance State

Inside the lucrative, surreal, and disturbing world of AI trainers

Sam Altman, Tim Cook, and other tech leaders lauded Trump at a White House AI dinner

“First of its kind” AI settlement: Anthropic to pay authors $1.5 billion

AirPods Pro 3 arrive with heart-rate sensing and live translation using Apple Intelligence

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The Story: Russian Bots vs American Gamblers Sep 10, 2025

Show notes

This week, we’re all in. Oz chats with Kit Chellel, a Bloomberg writer who focuses on gambling, technology, and sports betting. He wrote an article about a secret Russian bot farm that infiltrated the world of online poker in the early 2000s. We follow Kit from Siberia to Armenia, and get a peek into just how bots can make or break the future of online poker.

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Ferrari Fandom, Supercharged by AI Sep 09, 2025

Show notes

Scuderia Ferrari and IBM are redefining fan engagement with AI-driven insights, and cutting-edge digital tools. Learn how IBM is helping Scuderia Ferrari deepen connections with its almost 400 million fans worldwide, driving innovation and community in the digital age.

This is a paid advertisement from IBM. The conversations on this podcast don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

Visit us at https://www.ibm.com/think/podcasts/smart-talks

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TechStuff Redux: Mars, Asterisk w/ Nathaniel Rich Sep 05, 2025

Show notes

We’re taking this week off! But don’t worry, we’ll be back with new episodes starting September 10th. In the meantime, we’re sharing some of our favorite interviews from the year so far. This week, Oz talks with writer Nathaniel Rich about one of the biggest challenges of sending humans to Mars: isolation.

Nathaniel Rich is a novelist, essayist and writer-at-large for The New York Times Magazine. Rich sits down with Oz to talk about his essay, “Can Humans Endure the Psychological Torment of Mars?” The piece explores NASA's CHAPEA (“Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog”) mission, a simulation meant to test a major challenge of Mars missions isolation.

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TechStuff Redux: Russia’s Espionage ‘Laboratory’ w/ Ben Taub Sep 03, 2025

Show notes

We’re taking this week off! But don’t worry, we’ll be back with new episodes starting September 10th. In the meantime, we’re sharing some of our favorite interviews from the year so far. This week, Oz talks with journalist Ben Taub about Russia’s ice-cold testing ground for new espionage tech.

Ben Taub is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and staff writer at The New Yorker. His piece, “Russia’s Espionage War in the Arctic,”covers tensions at the Russian border with Norway, an area Russia uses as a testing ground for future intelligence operations. Taub sits down with Oz to discuss the technology being used for survival and for espionage, as the war in Ukraine has escalated tensions.

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TechSupport: 22 Jobs For An AI Future Aug 29, 2025

Show notes

We’ve all read the headlines that AI will take over white-collar jobs. But this week, Oz and Karah spoke with journalist Robert Capps about the 22 new roles that might exist in an AI-partnered workplace. Plus, Robert tests AI’s journalism skills. There’s not much to worry about.

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