The 404 Media Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The Video Game Industry’s Existential Crisis (with Jason Schreier) Nov 17, 2025

Show notes

The video game industry has had a turbulent few years. The pandemic made people play more and caused a small boom, which then subsided, resulting in wave after wave of massive layoffs. Microsoft, one of the major console manufacturers, is shifting its strategy for Xbox as the company shifts its focus to AI. And now, Electronic Arts, once a load-bearing publisher for the industry with brands like The Sims and Madden, is going private via a leveraged buyout in a deal involving Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Jared Kushner.

Video games are more popular than ever, but many of the biggest companies in the business seem like they are struggling to adapt and convert that popularity into stability and sustainability. To try and understand what the hell is going on, this week we have a conversation between Emanuel and Jason Schreier, who reports about video games for Bloomberg and one of the best journalists on this beat.

Jason helps us unpack why Microsoft is now aiming for higher-than-average profit margins at Xbox and why the company is seemingly bowing out of the console business despite a massive acquisition spree. We also talk about what the EA deal tells us about other game publishers, and what all these problems tell us about changing player habits and the future of big budget video games.

YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/6ydF7hD6cFI

Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content.

Microsoft Pushes Xbox Division to Hit Higher Profit Margins

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inside a Small Town's Fight Against a $1.2 Billion AI Datacenter Nov 12, 2025

Show notes

We start with Matthew Gault’s dive into a battle between a small town and the construction of a massive datacenter for America’s nuclear weapon scientists. After the break, Joseph explains why people are 3D-printing whistles in Chicago. In the subscribers-only section, Jason zooms out and tells us what librarians are seeing with AI and tech, and how that is impacting their work and knowledge more broadly.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/rHk580uKwHw

6:03 - Our New FOIA Forum! 11/19, 1PM ET
7:50 - A Small Town Is Fighting a $1.2 Billion AI Datacenter for America's Nuclear Weapon Scientists
12:27 - 'A Black Hole of Energy Use': Meta's Massive AI Data Center Is Stressing Out a Louisiana Community
21:09 - 'House of Dynamite' Is About the Zoom Call that Ends the World
30:35 - The Latest Defense Against ICE: 3D-Printed Whistles

SUBSCRIBER'S STORY: AI Is Supercharging the War on Libraries, Education, and Human Knowledge

Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Massive Archiving Effort at National Parks (with Jenny McBurney and Lynda Kellam) Nov 10, 2025

Show notes

If you’ve been to a national park in the U.S. recently, you might have noticed some odd new signs about “beauty” and “grandeur.” Or, some signs you were used to seeing might now be missing completely. An executive order issued earlier this year put the history and educational aspects of the parks system under threat–but a group of librarians stepped in to save it.

This week we have a conversation between Sam and two of the leaders of the independent volunteer archiving project Save Our Signs, an effort to archive national park signs and monument placards. It’s a community collaboration project co-founded by a group of librarians, public historians, and data experts in partnership with the Data Rescue Project and Safeguarding Research & Culture.

Lynda Kellam leads the Research Data and Digital Scholarship team at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries and is a founding organizer of the Data Rescue Project. Jenny McBurney is the Government Publications Librarian and Regional Depository Coordinator at the University of Minnesota Libraries. In this episode, they discuss turning “frustration, dismay and disbelief” at parks history under threat into action: compiling more than 10,000 images from over 300 national parks into a database to be preserved for the people.

YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/xrCElwgY5Co

‘Save Our Signs’ Archive and Submission Site

Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People Are Modding Meta Ray-Bans to Spy On You Nov 05, 2025

Show notes

We have something of a Meta Ray-Bans smart glasses bumper episode this week. We start with Joseph and Jason’s piece on a $60 mod that disables the privacy-protecting recording light in the smart glasses. After the break, Emanuel tells us how some people are abusing the glasses to film massage workers, and he explains the difference between a phone and a pair of smartglasses, if you need that spelled out for you. In the subscribers-only section, Jason tells us about the future of advertising: AI-generated ads personalized directly to you.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/tAmhRnHc16Q

1:00 - A $60 Mod to Meta’s Ray-Bans Disables Its Privacy-Protecting Recording Light

18:03 - Meta's Ray-Ban Glasses Users Film and Harass Massage Parlor Workers

SUBSCRIBER'S STORY: The Future of Advertising Is AI Generated Ads That Are Directly Personalized to You

Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Crackdown on ICE Spotting Apps (with Joshua Aaron) Nov 03, 2025

Show notes

Joseph speaks to Joshua Aaron, the creator of ICEBlock. Apple recently removed ICEBlock from its App Store after direct pressure from the Department of Justice. Joshua and Joseph talk about how the idea for ICEBlock came about, Apple and Google’s broader crackdown on similar apps, and what this all means for people trying to access information about ICE.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/WLpyObHkPqc

Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grokipedia Is Cringe Oct 29, 2025

Show notes

We start this week with Jason’s explanation of what Grokipedia is, and how it compares to the very much human-made Wikipedia. After the break, we talk all about the hell of updating Windows PCs and what that means specifically for Windows 10 users. In the subscribers-only section, Emanuel explains what a16z is doing with a ‘speedrun’ to a wholly AI-generated world.

Intro
0:00 - Merch drop
2:38 - Dark Wire: The Incredible True Story of the Largest Sting Operation Ever (use code WIRE20 for 20% off)
3:25 - First Contact: The Story of Our Obsession with Aliens

Stories
5:00 - Grokipedia Is the Antithesis of Everything That Makes Wikipedia Good, Useful, and Human
10:48 - Elon Musk's Grokipedia Pushes Far-Right Talking Points
23:04 - The End of Windows 10 Support Is an E-Waste Disaster in the Making
32:00 - Nathan Proctor interview

Subscriber's Stories:

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/LqYMoK7dlDA

Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hackers Dox ICE Oct 22, 2025

Show notes

We start this week with Joseph’s articles about a hacking group that doxed DHS, ICE, FBI, and DOJ officials. The group then sent us the personal data of officials from the NSA and a bunch of other government agencies. After the break, Emanuel revisits Wikipedia’s AI problem. In the subscribers-only section, Sam explains OpenAI’s inevitable path to an AI sex bot.
0:00 - Intro
0:50 - How Artists Are Keeping 'the Lost Art' of Neon Signs Alive
4:42 - Hackers Dox Hundreds of DHS, ICE, FBI, and DOJ Officials

13:53 - Hackers Say They Have Personal Data of Thousands of NSA and Other Government Officials

31:58 - Wikipedia Says AI Is Causing a Dangerous Decline in Human Visitors

SUBSCRIBER'S SEGMENT: OpenAI Catches Up to AI Market Reality: People Are Horny

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/7P2a4Y7P5UE
Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meta Tells Workers to ‘Go 5x Faster’ with AI Oct 15, 2025

Show notes

We start this week with Jason’s article about an internal Meta message telling workers to increase their output by 5x with AI. That’s five times, not five percent. After the break, Joseph and Sam tell us all about the catastrophic Discord breach. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph explains what happened when AI came for craft beer (nothing is sacred).

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/VJLHVJ-OOj8

TIMESTAMPS:

0:51 - Help Us Investigate Book Bans and Educational Censorship Around America

3:57 - Meta Tells Workers Building Metaverse to Use AI to ‘Go 5x Faster’

19:44 - The Discord Hack is Every User’s Worst Nightmare

SUBSCRIBER'S STORY: What Happened When AI Came for Craft Beer

This is a production of 404 Media, a journalist-owned tech website. Learn more and subscribe at: htttps://404media.co

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The End of Windows 10 Support Is an Environmental Disaster (With Nathan Proctor) Oct 13, 2025

Show notes

Jason is joined by US PIRG's right to repair campaign director Nathan Proctor, who explains why the imminent end of free support for Windows 10 computers is a ticking timebomb, with millions of computers slated for recycling centers and landfills. Nathan and Jason discuss the state of right to repair legislation all over the United States, the progress that has been made, and the next areas that right to repair experts are going to be focusing on.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Final Boss of AI Slop Oct 08, 2025

Show notes

We start this week with a couple of our articles about Sora 2, OpenAI’s new AI slop app. People are already using tools to remove watermarks from its AI-generated videos. Great! After the break, we talk about Apple and Google removing various ICE-spotting apps from their app stores, with Apple doing it after direct pressure from the U.S. government. In the subscribers-only section, we have a substantial update to a story concerning Flock and a woman who self-administered an abortion.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/fTz5ODv_uZQ

4:55 - OpenAI’s Sora 2 Copyright Infringement Machine Features Nazi SpongeBobs and Criminal Pikachus⁠

14:30 - People Are Farming and Selling Sora 2 Invite Codes on eBay⁠

25:27 - ⁠Sora 2 Watermark Removers Flood the Web⁠

29:08 - ICEBlock Owner After Apple Removes App: ‘We Are Determined to Fight This’⁠

37:39 - Google Calls ICE Agents a Vulnerable Group, Removes ICE-Spotting App ‘Red Dot’⁠

BONUS STORY: ⁠Police Said They Surveilled Woman Who Had an Abortion for Her 'Safety.' Court Records Show They Considered Charging Her With a Crime⁠

This is a production of 404 Media, a journalist-owned tech website. Learn more and subscribe at: htttps://404media.co

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices