Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson

By Andrew Sharp and Ben ThompsonTechnology

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Typical duration
26 min
per episode

Based on Podcast App listening data

Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson episodes

March 17, 2025 (Preview) Should Apple Buy Perplexity?, What Apple Could Learn from IBM, Vision Pro and Its Vaporware
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Metallica on Vision Pro, Non-Immersive Immersive Video, Ping and AI — Stratechery Update
Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino — Daring Fireball
Apple AI’s Platform Pivot Potential — Stratechery
A Google I/O Idea, The Smartphone AI Value Chain, Apple’s Developer Hang-Ups — Stratechery Update
Why Doesn’t Apple Enable Sustainable Businesses on the App Store? — Stratechery
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
15 min
March 13, 2025 Apple History and Apple Psychology, How Apple Should Capitalize On Its AI Potential, Why It Probably Won't
Revisiting Apple's nadir in the 1990s, along with internal friction that boiled over after Steve Jobs' passing, and explaining why Apple execs should—but probably won't—respond to the Apple Intelligence embarrassment by empowering third-party developers to build great AI products that run locally on the iPhone.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino — Daring Fireball
Apple AI’s Platform Pivot Potential — Stratechery
A Google I/O Idea, The Smartphone AI Value Chain, Apple’s Developer Hang-Ups — Stratechery Update
Why Doesn’t Apple Enable Sustainable Businesses on the App Store? — Stratechery (2013)
Macworld 1997: The return of Steve Jobs — YouTube
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
1 hr 9 min
March 10, 2025 (Preview) The Murky Future for the NBA, A Variety of Notes on Apple and AI, In Defense of Tech That Removes Friction
A question about the future of the NBA as the league sees record revenues and declining ratings, several emails about Apple's continued adventures in AI, and follow-ups to last week's episode on Formula 1, Amazon, chatbots as the AI UI, and tech that removes friction.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Apple Delays Siri Upgrade Indefinitely as AI Concerns Escalate — Bloomberg
Apple’s Shifting Differentiation — Stratechery
Behind the scenes with Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive,’ capturing the F1 drama of Season 7 — The Athletic
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
12 min
March 06, 2025 (Preview) YouTube Shall Inherit the Earth, NBC’s Peacock Strategy Then and Now, The Grim Future for Cable Networks
Surveying the streaming landscape in 2025, including YouTube’s opportunity to solve problems for millions of frustrated entertainment consumers, Peacock’s murky future, HBO and the Max mess, and lots more.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
An Interview with Michael Nathanson About the Streaming Endgame — Stratechery Interview
NBCUniversal is pinning Peacock’s streaming success on its $2.45 billion per year NBA deal — CNBC
Spotify Wants to Sell You Concert Tickets — Bloomberg
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
15 min
March 03, 2025 (Preview) Amazon Introduces an AI-Powered Alexa, Is OpenAI the New BlackBerry?, The Social Costs of Removing Friction
Andrew and Ben react to Amazon's announcement for an AI-powered Alexa that has been "100 percent re-architected," and then answer mailbag questions about OpenAI's long-term future, LLM confidence, LLMs and the future of the English language, how a hardware business like Manna should approach aggregators, and the social costs of tech that optimizes for efficiency and eliminates friction. At the end: A word about the most exciting app of 2025.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
With Alexa Plus, Amazon finally reinvents its best product — The Verge
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
13 min
February 27, 2025 AI Promises and Chip Precariousness, Policy Recommendations and a Changing World, Concerns and Counterpoints
A discussion of Ben's Stratechery article AI Promises and Chip Precariousness, including basic geography and evolving geopolitical considerations informing today's Taiwan tensions, the recent history of US policy surrounding chips, considerations for US policies going forward, and various concerns with lifting the chip ban and implementing stricter controls on chipmaking equipment.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
AI Promise and Chip Precariousness — Stratechery
Trump Team Seeking to Toughen Biden’s Chip Controls Over China — Bloomberg
Fab Whack-A-Mole: Chinese Companies are Evading U.S. Sanctions — SemiAnalysis
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
1 hr 26 min
February 24, 2025 (Preview) Apple’s Answer to the UK, Encryption History and Privacy’s Future, Waiting for Drone Delivery in the U.S.
The history underlying Apple’s decision to pull its Advanced Data Protection feature from the UK market, criticisms of the UK, Apple and a few of Apple’s loudest critics, and thoughts on the future of drone delivery after Ben’s interview with Manna CEO Bobby Healy. At the end: font guidance and memecoins.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
The iPhone 16e; Apple Intelligence Table Stakes; Apple vs. U.K, Continued — Stratechery Update
The U.K. Demands Back Door From Apple, Elon Musk’s OpenAI Bid — Stratechery Update
Encryption and the Uneasy Compromise, Netflix Earnings, The Aggregator’s Compounding Advantage — Stratechery Update
An Interview with Manna Founder and CEO Bobby Healy About Drone Delivery — Stratechery Interview
What Is a Tech Company? — Stratechery
Spotify and Joe Rogan, Culture and Principles, Music Versus Podcasts and the Long Run — Stratechery Update
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
15 min
February 19, 2025 (Preview) Xi Jinping and China's Tech Companies, The Long-Run Implications of the Chip Ban, and a Pessimistic Outlook for Taiwan
On today’s special crossover Sharp Tech/Sharp China episode, Ben Thompson and Bill Bishop discuss the private enterprise symposium and Xi Jinping's rapprochement with China's tech companies, and the connection between xAI and DeepSeek. Then, an extended debate on the chip ban, including its potential long-term consequences, and whether or not a course correction is possible. Finally, why the situation surround Taiwan is worrisome, and whether Trump is looking to make a deal.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Xi convenes private enterprise symposium; Wang Yi in Munich; Taiwan; Tesla FSD and US-China trade — Sinocism
DeepSeek FAQ — Stratechery
Grok-3, The Nvidia Shortcut, Competitive Implications — Stratechery Update
The ZTE Ban, Tech’s Trade War Risk, China’s Delayed Approval and Apple’s Pain — Stratechery Update
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
16 min
February 06, 2025 (Preview) Experimenting With OpenAI’s Deep Research, Another ChatGPT Moment, Won’t Someone Think of the Entry-Level Employees?
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Apple Earnings, OpenAI Deep Research, The Unbundling of Substantiation — Stratechery Update
OpenAI Releases AI Agent Designed to Act Like a Research Analyst — Bloomberg
The AI Unbundling — Stratechery
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
13 min
February 03, 2025 (Preview) Apple Abandons Its Smart Glasses, Google as the Yellow Pages, LLMs and the Overton Window
Answering mailbag questions on a report that Apple has abandoned its plans for smart glasses, Google, OpenAI and advertising, why LLMs struggle with sports statistics, whether generative AI will become more acceptable in media, and a few thoughts on manufacturing, tariffs, and the de minimis exception.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Apple Scraps Work on Mac-Connected Augmented Reality Glasses — Bloomberg
An Interview with Hugo Barra About Orion and Meta’s AR Strategy — Stratechery Interview
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
14 min