The Vergecast

Latest Episodes:

The Vergecast Matter Holiday Spec-tacular Dec 20, 2024

Show notes

Happy holidays! Before we disappear into family time and catching up on our favorite shows, we have one more episode for you. And it's 90 minutes of deep nerdery about the smart home. Every year, we try to dig into one standard or spec that has impacted our lives this year, and we couldn't think of anything more potentially great and occasionally infuriating than Matter. Matter is supposed to be the protocol that makes the smart home work — so, uh, how's that going? The Verge's Jennifer Pattison Tuohy joins to discuss the state of the smart home, before we play a game to see how well we understand things. Then, Home Assistant creator Paulus Schoutsen tells us what it's like to try and make Matter work, and where we might be headed next year.

Further reading:

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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Gemini, GTA, and the search for the next big thing Dec 17, 2024

Show notes

The Verge's Victoria Song and Kylie Robison join the show to talk about all of Google's recent AI and XR announcements, and the company's big and Gemini-powered vision for the future of computing. Then Chris Grant, the group publisher for Polygon and The Verge, explains why GTA VI and the Nintendo Switch 2 are so important to the future of gaming — plus a few predictions about how they'll turn out. Finally, The Verge's Helen Havlak answers a hotline question about how she plans her garden in Figma. Which is a real thing she really does.

Further reading:

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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Tech in 2025: who's in and who's out Dec 15, 2024

Show notes

For the second episode in our two-part 2025 preview, Nilay and David are once again joined by Wall Street Journal columnist (and friend of The Verge) Joanna Stern to talk about what will, and won't, happen in tech next year. This time, David joins us after a quick jaunt to the end of next year, and relays a bunch of things that happened in tech in 2025. But some of them are lies. Joanna and Nilay have to decide which things really will happen next year, and which won't. As always, the hosts get points for good guesses and negative points for bad ones. And once we're all in late 2025, we'll declare a winner.

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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Searching for the first great AI app Dec 13, 2024

Show notes

Nilay, David, and The Verge's Richard Lawler talk about a big week in AI news. First, they go over all the latest on Google's Gemini 2.0 launch, and try to figure out whether Project Astra and Project Mariner will ever turn into products people use. They also discuss OpenAI's release (and un-release) of Sora, the new Reddit Answers tool, and what's new in iOS 18.2. Finally, in the lightning round, there's talk of YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Sonos, and Cruise. There also is and isn't talk of quantum computing. Because that's possible now.

Further reading:

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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The Vergecast Vergecast, part two Dec 10, 2024

Show notes

A week ago, The Verge launched a subscription. And you had questions! So we have answers. The Verge’s Helen Havlak and Nilay Patel join the show to talk about how we priced the subscription, why ad-free podcasts are hard to do, Apple News, what we do during ad breaks, and much more. And if we didn’t answer your question, let us know! Call the Vergecast Hotline at 866-VERGE11, or email vergecast@theverge.com, with all your questions. Thanks to everyone who sent them in!

Further reading:

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Our hottest and coldest 2025 takes Dec 08, 2024

Show notes

Welcome to our two-part preview of the year to come! For the first installment, Nilay, David, and Wall Street Journal columnist Joanna Stern bring all the predictions for 2025 — their mildest, medium-est, and spiciest ideas about the year to come. Each host presents their take on TikTok bans, social platforms, smart homes, streaming services, and more, and the others get to decide whether they agree. Whoever gets the most right at the end of the year will win a big prize. (There's a points system for determining all that, but we'll figure that out later.)

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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AGI is coming and nobody cares Dec 06, 2024

Show notes

Nilay and David talk a bit about this week’s launch of the Verge subscription, plus what’s coming next. (There’s still time to send questions for next week! 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com.) Then they talk about the streaming news of the week, and the ways streaming services are continuing to act like cable companies. Then Kylie Robison joins to talk about the lowering stakes for AGI, shipmas at OpenAI, and more. Finally, in the lighting round, it’s crypto and browsers and Intel. And more crypto.

Further reading:

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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A gadget lover's guide to the great outdoors Dec 03, 2024

Show notes

The Verge's Thomas Ricker joins the show with an update on his question to live the #vanlife. He shares stories about Starlink Mini, the new Peak Design backpack everyone loves, converting a Sprinter van to a mobile apartment, and more. Then, The Verge's Andru Marino takes us through his tests on a bunch of new creator- and social-friendly microphones, which plug into your phone and promise to make everything sound better. Finally, we answer a question about web browsers on the Vergecast Hotline.

(Don't forget to send us your questions about The Verge and The Vergecast for next week's episode! Call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com with all your most meta questions.)

Further reading:

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Our biggest stories and favorite things of 2024 Nov 29, 2024

Show notes

2024 is almost over, somehow. So we gathered a bunch of our Verge colleagues and told them each to tell us three things from the year: the biggest story, their favorite new tech thing, and their favorite new non-tech thing. We got a collection of big stories, cool gadgets, great movies, and more good stuff from the year that was.

We're also planning a special episode for Tuesday, December 10th, all about The Verge and The Vergecast. So if you have questions about how we work, what we cover, why we talk about copyright law so much, or what Nilay is actually like to work with every day, tell us! Call 866-VERGE11, or email vergecast@theverge.com, and we'll answer as many as we can on the 10th. Thanks in advance!

Further reading:

Jay Peters:

Story of the year: Google is a monopoly
New thing of the year: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Non-tech thing of the year: XOXO Field Notes notebooks

Jake Kastrenakes:

Story of the year: All things AI
New thing of the year: The Wiim Ultra amp
Non-tech thing of the year: Chronoloy

Justine Calma

Story of the year: The US election, and the rise of nuclear power
New thing of the year: Nurse Unseen
Non-tech thing of the year: Sugarcane

Vjeran Pavic:

Story of the year: The Apple Vision Pro
New thing of the year: The Fujifilm X100VI and the Kino app
Non-tech thing of the year: Mountain Gazette

Kylie Robison:

Story of the year: Billionaire crybabies
New thing of the year: Stardew Valley
Non-tech thing of the year: Curated playlists

Barbara Krasnoff:

Story of the year: The US election
New thing of the year: The Elgato Stream Deck
Non-tech thing of the year: Googly eyes

Alex Heath:

Story of the year: The AI rat race
New thing of the year: Granola
Non-tech thing of the year: Shochu

Ash Parrish:

Story of the year: Grand Theft Auto VI and the Nintendo Switch 2, and more industry layoffs
New thing of the year: The Playstation Portal
Non-tech thing of the year: Bucephalus the puppy

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The government's plan to break up Google Nov 22, 2024

Show notes

The Verge's Lauren Feiner joins Nilay and David to talk about the US government's proposal in its search antitrust case against Google. They discuss the future of Chrome, what a white-label search engine might look like, and how a Trump administration might change the course of this case altogether. Then Nilay and David talk about the week in AI and gadget news, from the latest on Amazon's new Alexa to Google bailing on tablets all over again. Finally, in the lightning round, they discuss Comcast spinning off its cable channels and the latest in the Threads / Bluesky competition.

Further reading:

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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