Would you live in a zero labor home – with a robot? This week, the latest trends and gadgets coming out of CES in Las Vegas and what Karah learned about consenting to biometric surveillance at a Wegmans. Then, Oz takes us to a peptide rave and Karah unveils how influencers and OnlyFans models are getting US visas — they can thank John Lennon.  

If you’ve used a chatbot in an unusual or surprising way, send us a 1–2 minute voice note at [email protected].

Additional Reading: 

• What to expect at CES 2026 | The Verge 
• NYC Wegmans is storing biometric data on shoppers' eyes, voices and faces | Gothamist 
• Chinese Peptides Are The Latest Biohacking Trend In The Tech World | New York Times 
• Influencers and OnlyFans models dominate US ‘extraordinary’ artist visas | Financial Times

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What’s your New Year’s Resolution? We want to help you keep it. The Verge’s senior tech reviewer, Victoria Song, joins the pod to tell us what tech can help you develop better habits, which wearable is worth buying, and why a new mattress could change your whole sleep game.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What was your tech takeaway in 2025? And what is going to be the big story in 2026? Oz sits down with the author of The Running Ground and The Atlantic’s CEO, Nicholas Thompson, to discuss the odd intersection between tech and religion, the tech to compensate media companies for AI training data, who OpenAI’s real rival is, why we don’t understand how AI works, and much, much more.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Could you resist falling for an AI companion? We’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes of 2025: author and journalist Sam Apple takes us on romantic getaway for people who are in love with their AI companions He wrote a piece for Wired about what he observed that weekend, whether the love between humans and AI is real, and what the future of dating could look like in a world with AI companions.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the companies you couldn’t ignore this year was NVIDIA, so we’re re-airing a conversation Oz had with Stephen Witt, a frequent contributor to The New Yorker and author of The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, NVIDIA, and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip. They discuss what’s made NVIDIA the most valuable chip company in the world, how a single piece of hardware changed the world forever, and why data centers are shrouded in so much secrecy.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What was your internet obsession this year? Karah is joined by writer and podcast host, Aminatou Sow, to talk about what they watched — and what rotted their brains — in 2025. They talk about niche internet obsessions, vertical shorts, AI depicting the oldest generation, and the never-ending Wicked press tour. 

Additional Reading/Watching: 

• Exploring My Mustard Collection | Tiktok
• Scottish Weather Rant | TikTok 
• Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande vs Lie Detector | Vanity Fair
• Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande discuss their working dynamic 
• Creepy AI Grandpa | Tiktok

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you a gift go-getter, or a holiday procrastinator? This week, Karah spoke with Kyle Chayka, tech writer for The New Yorker and author of the book “Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture”. They talk about his gadget gift guide, how analog products are back in style, and why books are his preferred gift of choice. Oz also shares the hottest toy of the year: a console that helps the whole family stay active. 

Additional Reading: 

• The Hottest Toy of the Year Is Made by a Tech Startup You’ve Never Heard Of
• A Holiday Gift Guide: The Newest Strangest Gadgets and Apps

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is nuclear fusion the clean energy we need? Oz speaks with Commonwealth Fusion Systems' scientist and engineer Alex Creely and fashion designer Gabriela Hearst about why the public should get excited about nuclear fusion. Together, they discuss what it will take to commercialize fusion, how Gabriela’s 2022 fashion show changed the public conversation, and whether we’ll have nuclear fusion by 2030.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Should LLMs monitor crime? This week, Oz tells us why the US pharmaceutical industry may have competition… and why we’ve yet to see a flood of new products from AI drug discovery companies. Then, Karah explains how a telecommunications company is feeding recordings of inmate phone calls into LLMs that can then monitor future calls for planned crimes. Also, the UK government wants to cross-reference CCTV footage with the passport photo database, there’s a new self-made female billionaire in town — the youngest yet — and the newest billion dollar company sells blueberries the size of golf balls. And then, on Chat and Me, a deep fake interview has international consequences. 

ADDITIONAL READING: 

• Art Basel show by Beeple has realistic Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg robot dogs pooping NFTs | Page Six  
• Why is AI struggling to discover new drugs? | Financial Times 
• Will the next blockbuster drug come from China? | Financial Times 
• An AI model trained on prison phone calls now looks for planned crimes in those calls | MIT Technology Review 
• Live facial recognition cameras planned for every town centre | Telegraph
• Kalshi’s Cofounder Is Now World’s Youngest Self-Made Woman Billionaire | Forbes 
• Ray Dalio is backing a $1 billion blueberry unicorn that sells berries nearly the size of golf balls | Fortune

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does the death of restaurants look like? Ellen Cushing, staff writer for The Atlantic, joins Karah to talk about the rise of delivery apps and the fall of the in-person dining experience. They discuss how delivery apps became part of the millennial lifestyle subsidy, how they reshaped what’s on the menu, and why this feels all too similar to what’s happening to movie theaters. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.