Basic Intelligence: https://basic.in

Kevin Rose left venture capital to start an incubator. Plus: robots outrunning people, Apple's AI miss, and the greatest insurance scam involving a bear suit.

Kevin and Alex hadn't seen each other in over a month and had a lot to catch up on. Kevin walked through why he stepped away from TruVentures after nine years to go back to building full time - and what he's been working on at Basic Intelligence. The short version: he crawled 9 million connections on X and built a recursive ranking system that surfaces the 1,000 people who actually drive AI discovery. The algorithm works so well that Kevin isn't even in his own top 1,000.

They also dug into Apple replacing Tim Cook with John Ternus and whether Tim missed the AI window when he had Siri in every pocket. A bipedal robot beat the human half marathon world record by 7 minutes - one year after the fastest robot took 2 hours and 40 minutes. Amazon dropped another $25 billion into Anthropic, whose Mythos model just found exploits in OpenBSD after 12 years of zero breaches. Alex is hand-building a mechanical watch and won't shut up about it. And they close with the best insurance scam you've ever heard - a guy in a bear suit, barbecue shredders, and a $400,000 Rolls-Royce.

0:00:00 Kevin and Alex catch up over Pliny the Younger
0:01:27 Why Kevin Rose left venture capital to build again
0:04:23 Announcing Basic Intelligence and the future of Digg
0:06:16 Building PageRank for humans with 9 million social connections
0:13:28 Alex is building a mechanical watch from scratch
0:19:31 Alaska road trip north of the Arctic Circle
0:21:31 Tim Cook missed AI and Apple has a new CEO
0:28:14 A robot beat the human half marathon record by 7 minutes
0:31:35 Robot firefighters and buying your first robot at Costco
0:37:53 Amazon bets $25 billion more on Anthropic
0:43:31 Anthropic Mythos cracked the most secure OS after 12 years
0:46:55 App Store submissions up 60% because everyone codes with AI
0:48:04 44% of Deezer music is AI and fake sympathy Shopify scams
0:50:37 Trent Reznor reinvented his sound and crushed Coachella
0:57:29 The bear suit Rolls-Royce insurance scam

Kevin Rose: https://x.com/kevinrose |   / kevinrose 
Alex Albrecht: https://x.com/alexalbrecht

Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht sit down for a heavy one. Digg's beta has been shut down, and the team had to make painful layoffs. Kevin breaks down the two forces that hit at the same time: usage that never reached the right product-market fit, and a relentless wave of AI-powered SEO spam attacks that exploited Digg's legacy Google authority and eroded platform trust faster than a small team could fight back. Kevin announces he's leaving True Ventures to return to Digg full-time, and lays out a vision for rebuilding with a tiny AI-augmented team that can punch above its weight class. The nostalgia play is done, and the next version of Digg will break the mold entirely. The rest of the episode covers the state of AI coding tools, how Claude Code is turning non-engineers into builders, the agentic future of computing, a hands-on look at the MacBook Neo, reactions to the AirPods Max 2 and Rivian R2 announcements, and a spirited debate about a color-changing condom that detects STIs.

SPONSORS
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CHAPTER MARKERS
0:00 Cold Open
0:48 Welcome to Diggnation Ep. 28
1:32 "It's Been a Week"
1:55 Digg Beta Shut Down and Layoffs
2:39 Why Product-Market Fit Wasn't There
3:12 AI Coding Crossed the Last Mile
4:10 Helping the Team Find New Homes
4:38 Back to the Drawing Board
5:12 Parasitic SEO Attacks on Digg
7:07 AI Agents Are Destroying Platforms
8:39 When Trust Is Your Product
10:05 The Go-Forward Plan for Digg
12:23 Kevin Leaves True Ventures to Return Full-Time
12:37 Why Now Is the Best Time to Be a Builder
13:45 Using Claude Code as a Technical Co-Founder
13:58 How AI Changed the Way Alex Talks to Humans
17:04 Robocalls, Prompt Injection, and the Cupcake Test
18:30 AI-Generated Snoop Dogg Birthday Song Demo
21:16 Team Regroup: Funding Intact, New Direction
23:04 Silver Lining: Now Digg Can Break the Mold
26:55 iPhone 17E First Look
28:20 Claude Cowork and Scheduled Tasks Explained
30:50 AI Will Be Intertwined with Every OS
33:11 Chat vs. Agents vs. Code: What's the Difference?
34:50 Claude Code /mobile: Code from Your Phone
35:30 The Post-Software World
37:25 YOLO Mode and Dedicated AI Machines
42:46 AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Too Heavy
45:33 Bowers and Wilkins and Nothing Headphones
47:40 Live Translation with AirPods
49:01 Rivian R2: Range, Price, and Self-Driving
50:54 What Are the Levels of Self-Driving? (Live AI Q&A)
55:10 Rivian Fleet Vans and the Camper Van Dream
57:20 MacBook Neo Hands-On: $599 Apple Laptop
59:55 Neo as a Dedicated AI Coding Machine
1:02:18 Mac Mini vs. MacBook Neo at the Same Price
1:03:31 Teens Invent STI-Detecting Color-Changing Condom
1:10:35 See You in a Few Weeks

In this week's episode, Kevin and Alex reunite after Alex's whirlwind trip to the UK, where he survived Manchester, explored Edinburgh's frigid beauty, and spectacularly broke his Dry January streak at a house party on January 31st. The conversation quickly turns to Kevin's upcoming birthday and his ambitious "year of health" plan to get absolutely shredded by his next tortoise-year milestone (yes, they calculated his age in giant tortoise years - he's only 34). The duo dives deep into the AI revolution, discussing the massive news that OpenClaw's creator Peter Steinberg has joined OpenAI, and what this means for the future of AI agents that can literally call restaurants, navigate phone trees, and order more booze for your party via robot dog. They also unpack a new study claiming AI fails at 96% of jobs - but Kevin points out the terrifying flip side: it's only been three years and AI has already captured 4% of human work.

The episode takes a wild turn when Alex pulls up footage of Chinese humanoid robots performing kung fu at the Spring Festival Gala, prompting legitimate concerns about why anyone would train robots in martial arts. Apple's upcoming March 4th event gets the skeptical treatment it deserves - when was the last time an Apple announcement actually blew anyone's mind? The hosts wrap up by discussing Logan Paul's $16.4 million Pokemon card sale and Kevin's newfound obsession with Disney's Lorcana trading card game, complete with a heartbreaking reminder that Kevin lost his entire comic book collection (including first-edition X-Men and Amazing Spider-Man) in the LA fires. Justin stops by to tease Digg's upcoming video posts feature and the new Grid View for visual communities.

Sponsors

Mercury: Banking redesigned for entrepreneurs — apply online in minutes
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DeleteMe: Get 20% off and remove your personal data from hundreds of sites
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Chapters
0:00:00 - Kirkland Champagne: The Official Drink of Chaos
0:00:18 - Welcome to Diggnation, Ex-Girlfriends Please Email In
0:01:51 - Kevin Doesn't Know What Spin the Bottle Is (Sure, Jan)
0:
02:07 - Alex's Scotland Adventure Was Beautiful and Freezing
0:03:42 - Alex's Dry January: A Heroic 30.5 Day Journey
0:05:05 - Ten Hours in the Frankfurt Airport, Send Help
0:06:36 - Kevin Is Only 34 in Giant Tortoise Years
0:09:01 - The Year of Getting Absolutely Shredded
0:10:45 - Ben's Philosophy: Does Booze Increase Enjoyment?
0:14:06 - OpenClaw Creator Joins OpenAI, VCs Are Crying
0:18:36 - AI Agents That Call BMW So You Don't Have To
0:21:03 - Robot Dog Orders More Alcohol for Your Party
0:25:16 - China Is Teaching Robots Kung Fu, We're All Doomed
0:28:45 - Would You Get a Massage From a Kung Fu Robot?
0:35:33 - The Costco Wine Hack That Changed Heather's Life
0:37:14 - Kevin's Childhood String Cheese Column Obsession
0:39:34 - AI Fails at 96% of Jobs (But Give It Five Years)
0:43:44 - Your Fitness App Is About to Become Obsolete
0:46:48 - Alexa, Say "Breakfast" in Every Room Challenge
0:47:07 - Apple's March Event: When Did We Stop Caring?
0:50:50 - Remember When the iPhone Was Actually Exciting?
1:00:00 - Logan Paul's $16.4 Million Pokemon Card Flex
1:02:00 - Kevin Discovers Lorcana and Catches the Bug
1:05:50 - Kevin Lost First-Edition X-Men in the Fire
1:09:01 - Digg Updates: Grid View and Video Posts Coming Soon
1:11:07 - Until Next Time, Stay Sober (Or Don't)

https://digg.com is live! Public beta is open for community creation!

January’s almost over, which means it’s either too late or just early enough to still say “Happy New Year.” In this episode, Kevin and Alex wade through that awkward seasonal purgatory, debate etiquette, and naturally land on Alex’s go-to insult: “Eat the bag.”

Kevin checks in on Dry January and confirms that sleep is, in fact, real. The conversation takes a turn into the serious realities of alcohol withdrawal before pivoting to some big Digg news: the public beta is officially live, and you can now create your own Communities. Yes, that includes one called /onlyfans, which has absolutely nothing to do with what you think unless you are deeply into industrial air movers.

From there, it’s a full tech firehose. The Metaverse is officially declared dead, Claude Code is writing entire web apps in minutes, and a startup called Humans just raised $480 million to make AI more collaborative, or possibly sentient. Also on the docket: foldable iPhones, mindfulness, Matt Damon’s attention span, and why chicken wings keep showing up in self-driving cars.

This one’s got layers.

Sponsors

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Chapter Markers

00:00 Intro
00:44 When Is It Too Late to Say “Happy New Year”?
01:28 Alex’s All-Purpose Insult: “Eat the Bag”
03:32 Dry January Update: Alex Hits 20 Days
04:52 Alcohol Withdrawal Gets Real
07:16 Digg Public Beta and Build-Your-Own Communities
08:36 The Confusing Purity of the “/OnlyFans” Community
09:33 AI Moderation Logs That Actually Make Sense
11:11 The Metaverse Is Dead. Long Live Reality
14:37 Matt Damon and the Shrinking Human Attention Span
15:40 Why VR and AR Still Feel Like Homework
19:16 Mindfulness, Explained by Thich Nhat Hanh
22:51 The Meaning of Life
24:53 John Cleese on Why Failure Is the Whole Point
27:01 Kevin’s New Coding Obsession: Compound Engineering
30:04 AI Context Windows and How the Magic Works
40:02 Foldable iPhones in 2026? Let’s Argue
42:34 iPad vs Mac and the UX Identity Crisis
44:18 Humans Raises $480M to Make AI Less Robotic
53:50 Tesla Goes Subscription-Only for Full Self-Driving
55:46 Tensor Auto and the Semi-Sentient Rideshare Wars
1:00:25 People Are Leaving Trash in Waymos. Including Wings
1:02:07 Outro

Diggnation is back for 2026. In this New Year’s episode, Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht dive into Dry (ish) January, accidental woodworking injuries, and why Kevin's Peloton crush might be more motivating than your therapist. On the tech side, Kevin drops a quiet-but-clear hint for Digg beta users to keep an eye out. The guys talk about Samsung’s decision to ship Google’s Gemini AI to 800 million devices, which feels like a major win for Google’s ecosystem. On the tech side, Kevin gives a heads up to Digg beta users: Communities are coming. Now is a good time to start paying attention.

Also on deck: a bizarre Waymo vs. Santa Monica standoff involving robotic cars and 3 a.m. backup beeping, a Garmin plane that landed itself (because the pilot didn’t), and a Lego set that lights up on its own. Other stops include futuristic cartilage regrowth injections, the return of "Dolphin Shorts" via a Hooters rebrand nobody asked for, and an existential debate about smart fridges.

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YouTube Chapter Markers

00:00 Intro
02:41 Resolutions Nobody Asked For: Pilates & Productivity
03:36 Can Saunas Cure Depression or Just Make You Sweatier?
04:52 Kevin Gets Stabbed by Wellness (Acupuncture Chat)
06:02 Peloton and the German Instructor Who Yells in Motivation
07:13 Holiday Haul: Singing Bowls and the Rise of Vibe Decor
09:07 Spoon Carving, Blood Loss & $400 Japanese Hammers
12:30 Coming Soon: Digg Communities That Don’t Look Like Reddit
14:00 Samsung Gives 800M Devices a Gemini AI Glow-Up
20:31 Waymo Cars Are Beeping Insomnia Into Santa Monica
25:06 Self-Driving Cars Are Scanning Your Kids for Booster Seats
33:25 Lego Bricks Just Got Smarter (and Slightly Haunted)
37:07 How Boredom Became the New Self-Care Hack
42:10 Garmin Autoland: The Plane That Landed Itself
47:56 Parachutes for Planes and Other Backup Plans
56:53 Can Amazon's “Art Line” TV Beat the Samsung Frame?
1:01:00 Streaming Loyalty Tests: Apple TV, We See You
1:03:19 Movies Worth Hoarding Forever (Anchorman & Jack Reacher?)
1:05:08 Injecting Knees With Youth: The Cartilage Comeback
1:08:44 Dementia-Fighting Protein or Supervillain Serum?
1:09:54 Smart Fridge Fatigue vs. Bird Watching for Fun
1:13:05 Kamado Joe Smoker Review: BBQ Tech Gets Serious
1:15:23 Hooters Rebrands, Dolphin Shorts Return, Internet Shrugs

This holiday episode is a greatest hits tour of Diggnation Rebooted with Kevin and Alex in peak end of year form. Scotch gift exchanges and fighting Mike Tyson for $500,000 is a reasonable life choice. There are pronunciation corrections, especially Hyundai, plus plenty of love for retro futuristic concept cars.

AI takes center stage as the duo talks creativity and productivity with tools like Cursor and ChatGPT, including negotiation tricks and extremely questionable AI day trading strategies. The conversation also covers the Telepathy Tapes podcast, autism, neurodiversity, and Alex’s experience with aphantasia. Kevin finally understanding Netflix and chill.

Chapter Markers
00:00 Intro
04:22 Mike Tyson vs $500K
07:52 Hyundai Pronunciation and Car Concepts
13:00 Digg Beta Community Update
16:30 Building AI Web Apps on the Road
18:28 Telepathy Tapes, Autism, and Curiosity
21:56 AI Trading and Bad Financial Ideas
24:55 ChatGPT Negotiation Tactics
29:50 Kevin Discovers Netflix and Chill
31:38 Aphantasia Explained
35:50 Emotions, Money, and Decisions
37:41 End of Year Montage

Alex and Kevin break in the new Digg warehouse studio with brandy cocktails, French pastry flexes, and a surprisingly serious challenge—can Alex stay sober for all of 2025?

They cover Netflix’s rumored $84B move to buy Warner Bros. Discovery (yes, including HBO and DC Comics), AI tools that drop your face into fake movie scenes, and the rise of “etiquette camps” for startup founders. Also: teens in Australia are happy to be banned from social media, a spider-shaped robot now performs endoscopies, and the famous Japanese 7-Eleven egg salad sandwich finally lands in the U.S.—with questionable results.

All that, plus rucking vests, doomscroll detoxing, and a Kindle Color that might actually be good.

SPONSORS

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and use code DIGG at checkout for 15% off any first-time order of ZBiotics probiotics.

Henson Shaving
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and enter DIGG at checkout to get a free pack of 100 blades with your purchase.
(Note: You must add both the blades and the razor for the discount to apply.)

Wispr Flow
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Monarch Money
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for half off your first year.

DeleteMe
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⏱️ CHAPTERS

00:00 Intro
 03:00 Holiday cocktails get dangerously brandy-forward
 04:41 Kevin explains his weighted rucking vest
 07:23 Inside Digg’s new office + upcoming community features
 13:06 New Year’s goals: chess apps and digital pianos
 15:00 The bet: Can Alex stay sober for all of 2025?
 21:10 Netflix may buy Warner Bros. Discovery for $84B
 30:28 Silicon Valley founders now attend etiquette bootcamp
 41:28 Australian teens are glad social media is banned
 49:10 Nano Banana AI drops you into fake movie scenes
 53:40 Deepfakes, bot farms, and internet misinformation
 1:03:37 Pill-sized robot crawls your gut for science
 1:09:05 Kindle Color Scribe vs. the Remarkable showdown
 1:18:57 Japan’s viral 7-Eleven egg sandwich hits the U.S.

This week on Diggnation, Kevin ends his seven-month break from alcohol with a glass of wine and some podcast-inspired reflection on why being too rigid about anything might be its own kind of burden, While Alex sips wine and regrets live theater. Kevin reveals he has aphantasia, aka the inability to conjure mental images, which he says disqualifies him from certain forms of _ahem_ nostalgia. The pair dive into the existential horror of AI-enabled children’s toys that suggest you play with knives and explore kinks. On a lighter note, converting vintage cars to electric sparks a surprisingly feasible business idea. Waymo’s freeway rollout gets love, as the duo dreams of an L.A. where robots take the wheel and people take naps. Meanwhile, Michael Burry shorting AI stocks makes Kevin wonder if we’re still in early-internet territory or just early-stage delusion. Bezos launches an AI company because of course he does, and Nintendo drops the first look at its live-action _Zelda_ movie, which may or may not have been necessary. Also: eggnog aging, budgeting apps, and a play that made Alex fear for his life. It’s an episode.

Chapter Markers

00:00:00 - Kevin's First Sip in 7 Months 
00:00:56 - Welcome to Episode 23 
00:02:58 - Rethinking Alcohol Rules 
00:07:44 - Aged Eggnog: Discuss 
00:09:25 - The Two-Two-Two Rule Returns 
00:12:15 - Birthday Trips and Holiday Plans 
00:14:08 - LA Auto Show Highlights 
00:15:14 - Converting Classic Cars to EV 
00:17:47 - EV Startups: Why It’s Hard 
00:19:20 - Zelda Movie: First Look 
00:20:26 - Who Is Wes Ball? 
00:22:53 - AI Toys Gone Wild 
00:24:49 - Kuma Bear’s Kink Talk 
00:33:48 - Predator and The Red Carpet 
00:34:47 - Christmas Music Timing War 
00:37:05 - Kevin Has Aphantasia
00:40:49 - The Spank Bank Problem 
00:43:44 - Creativity With Constraints 
00:52:56 - Waymo Hits the Freeway 
00:53:52 - Driverless Rides + Paranormal Play 
01:02:47 - Game Awards: Who’s Nominated 
01:08:42 - Burry Bets Against AI 
01:10:53 - AI: Bubble or Beginning? 
01:18:07 - Internet vs. Quantum Hopes 
01:19:30 - Bezos Launches Prometheus AI 
01:21:26 - Robots and Retail 
01:24:14 - Episode Wrap-Up

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Mizzen and Main – Go to https://mizzenandmain.com and use promo code Digg20 for 20% off your first purchase.

Monarch – Get 50% off your first year with code DIGG at https://monarch.com

DeleteMe – Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan at joindeleteme.com/DIGG with promo code DIGG at checkout.

In this episode, we go full spectrum, from the rise of AI-powered web browsers like ChatGPT’s Atlas and OpenAI’s latest updates, to what it’s actually like hitting six months sober and realizing Jack Daniels might still text back.

We celebrate some new EV purchases (yes, there’s a BMW iX involved), talk about Rivian’s new electric bike, and break down one of the boldest art heists in modern history, where a crew literally used a bucket truck to steal royal jewels from the Louvre.

Somewhere between Apple’s innovation slump, the philosophy of consciousness, and the idea that our brains are just rendering reality like a bad GPU, we try to make sense of existence one story at a time.

Basically, it’s us doing what we do best: chasing tech, culture, and absurdity until it all makes some kind of sense.

📝 Key Points

• Kevin hits six months sober and talks about resetting his relationship with alcohol
• Alex unveils his new BMW iX EV and breaks down its design and performance
• New AI-powered browsers like ChatGPT Atlas shake up how we search the web
• Kevin orders the new Rivian electric bike with 100-mile range and smart features
• Breakthrough retina-implant tech gives vision back to people with macular degeneration
• Deep dive into consciousness, perception, and whether reality is just “rendered” in our brains
• Debate over Apple’s next AI move: build its own model or partner with OpenAI or Google
• Meta’s identity crisis and why the company keeps missing real innovation
• Why a 500-mile EV range could change how drivers emotionally connect to electric cars
• The Louvre Museum jewel heist: thieves, a bucket truck, and French security fails
• Reflecting on time, mortality, and the truth that every 100 years everyone is new
• Finding meaning in the moment instead of doom-scrolling through negativity

⏱ Chapters

00:00 Intro
05:00 The Shirtening Cometh: Computer Costume Creativity
12:00 Louvre Larceny: Art Theft Gone Wild
17:00 Brain Zaps for Gym Motivation
19:00 AI Browsers: The Future of Web Surfing?
27:00 Kevin’s Crypto Conundrum
30:00 The Great Car Reveal: Alex’s New Ride
37:00 Electric Dreams: The Future of EVs
43:00 Two-Wheeled Freedom: Kevin’s E-Bike Adventure
48:00 Seeing Is Believing: Retina Implant Breakthroughs
54:00 The Philosophical Rabbit Hole
1:02:00 Time Flies: The Fleeting Nature of Existence
1:07:00 Living in the Moment: Kevin’s Life Philosophy
1:11:00 Apple’s Appetite for AI: To Build or to Partner?
1:17:00 The Meta Muddle: Facebook’s Identity Crisis
1:21:00 iPhone Woes: Apple’s Production Predicament
1:24:00 Wrapping Up: Sober Reflections and Future Fun

🪒 Sponsors

Monarch – Get 50% off your first year when you use code DIGG at monarch.com

Henson Shaving – Use code DIGG at HENSONSHAVING.com/DIGG to get a free pack of 100 blades with your razor purchase. You must add both the blades and the razor for the discount to apply.

Claude (by Anthropic) – Sign up at claude.ai/DIGG to get 50% off Claude Pro for your first three months.

Mizzen & Main – Visit mizzenandmain.com and use code DIGG20 for 20% off your first purchase.

RSVP for Chicago Digg Meetup! https://app.getriver.io/beta/events/digg-human-captcha-chicago-irl-meetup-sc1

In this week’s Diggnation:
Kevin and Alex drink a mysterious brain fuel that tastes like chemical warfare, get roasted by OpenAI’s video model (bald caps included), and pitch a LAN party for aging nerds. They also question if computer science degrees still matter, fantasize about neurotech that forces you to work out, and ask the most pressing question of our time: what if Instagram was just... Instagram again? Oh, and there's a legit HIV prevention breakthrough hiding in there, too.

Sponsors

ZBiotics
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Square
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Claude (by Anthropic)
Get 50% off your first three months of Claude Pro at claude.ai/DIGG

DeleteMe
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Monarch Money
Get 50% off your first year at monarchmoney.com with code DIGG

Chapter Markers

00:00 Intro
03:01 The Shirtening Cometh + When Digg Collabed with Nike
06:06 Happy Birthday, Now Here’s a Deep Cut About Early Digg
07:42 Kevin’s Pro Phone Era and Apple’s Unhinged Glass UI
10:13 Tron Eris, Fake Beer, and Probiotics for Grown-Up Drinkers
14:15 Sora 2 Balds Kevin, Internet Debates If It’s an Upgrade
17:18 Deepfakes, Surrogates, and the Death of “That’s Clearly Fake”
21:31 Brain Zaps for Gym Motivation: Welcome to the Neurotech Era
26:11 Huawei Shrinks AI, Your GPU Fan Starts Screaming
28:36 Local AI Models, No Cloud, No Corporate Listening Devices
34:10 Sponsored by Square: Tap to Pay, Stay for the Data
35:56 Claude 4.5 Fixes Code, GPT-5 Throws Vibes and Errors
41:20 Why Build Apps When AI Can Just Read Your Mind
42:44 Kevin Gives Away Free App Ideas, Again
45:46 “Old Man Weekend”: LAN Parties, Diner Coffee, No Wi-Fi Allowed
52:13 Sponsor Break: Delete Yourself, Then Budget Wisely
54:12 The $40 HIV Shot That Could Change Everything
56:30 Herpes, Stats, and the Stigma Nobody Wants to Talk About
1:02:14 Instagram, But Worse: Where Photos Go to Die
1:07:07 Windowless Jet, Giant Screens, and One Extremely Texas Grill