It’s time. The public betas for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and more are finally out for everyone to try. Jake Kastrenakes, Vee Song, and Antonio G. Di Benedetto give their takes on Apple’s Liquid Glass design language after two months of living with it. Antonio shares his experiences with macOS and the upgraded Spotlight, and Vee dives into the ups and downs of watchOS’s AI fitness coach. Then, Andy Hawkins and Eater's Matthew Kang talk about Tesla’s rough quarter, the new Tesla Diner, and what Epic Bacon has to do with it all. Finally, the Thunder Round returns, and we all learn what Labubus are.

Further reading:

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Summer blockbusters like the new Superman and Jurassic World movies may be doing great at the box office, but promoting them is more complicated than ever. The old celebrity playbook of magazine profiles, TV chat shows and press junkets isn’t enough in an era of audience fragmentation. Publicists now have to strategize which podcasts to make time for, and whether their clients will eat chicken on YouTube with Amelia Dimoldenberg or Sean Evans.

This week on The Vergecast, guest host Mia Sato talks to Vulture’s Fran Hoepfner to break down the ever-changing new media circuit, whether you’re a beloved A-lister, a formerly-beloved A-lister, or an aspiring A-lister.

Then, we take a deep dive with Sarah Fackrell into a controversial legal tactic brands are using to go after online sellers hawking everything from grumpy cat T-shirts to closet hooks.

Finally, Victoria Song joins Mia to answer a Vergecast hotline from a listener wondering whether an AI translator will be able to keep up with his partner’s Colombian mother. If you’ve got a question for us, call 866-VERGE11 or e-mail [email protected].

Further reading:

Box Office: ‘Superman’ Surpasses $400 Million Globally, ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ Nears $650 Million Milestone

The Celebrity Press-Tour Road Map

Fame and Frustration On the New Media Circuit

Sydney woman who sold a cartoon cat T-shirt told to pay US$100,000 in Grumpy Cat copyright case

How Does a Mom Get Slapped With a $250,000 Judgment Over $380 of Homemade Luke Combs Merch? Experts Cite ‘Cottage Industry’ of Mass Counterfeit Suits in Illinois

A SAD Scheme of Abusive Intellectual Property Litigation

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Would you like Siri more if it had a face? This week on The Vergecast, we’re talking about AI assistants getting smarter… and uncomfortably personal. The Verge’s Jennifer Pattison Tuohy joins the show to talk about her early tests of Alexa Plus, which is finally AI-powered and a lot more capable. Jake shares his uncomfortable first interaction with Grok’s anime girlfriend. And Waveform cohost David Imel is here to talk about Sony’s RX1R III and other premium “compact” cameras.

Finally, the THUNDER ROUND is back. New, improved, and still loud.

Further reading:

Email us at [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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On this episode of The Vergecast, we’re going to dive deep into why accessible design is universal design. First, guest host Victoria Song will chat with Jason Valley, a visually impaired Verge reader. Jason initially reached out to Victoria after her Live AI hands-on, challenging the notion that the feature was a “solution looking for a problem to solve.” Jason shares how the tech has helped him live a more independent life, what he’s hoping to see improve, and how the blind and low-vision community has enthusiastically embraced the technology.

After that, Victoria sits down with Be My Eyes CEO Mike Buckley. Be My Eyes is an app that pairs blind and low-vision users with sighted volunteers to help them go about their day. Buckley gives his thoughts about how accessible tech design benefits everyone, why smart glasses and AI are a natural combo, and what challenges and opportunities in this space remain.

And finally, we have features reporter Mia Sato on to answer a spicy question about smart glasses from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email [email protected]). Specifically, do smart glasses belong in the bedroom?

Further reading:

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Summer phone season kicks off with Samsung’s latest launch. Jake, Vee, and Allison talk about Samsung’s new lineup of foldables, including the very thin new Z Fold 7 and Allison’s disdain for the Z Flip 7 FE. Vee has impressions of Samsung’s new Galaxy Watch 8 lineup and its squircle-y new redesign. Then, it’s time to talk Big Tech shakeups. Apple’s COO is leaving, Zuckerberg is buying himself an AI dream team, X’s CEO is out — and its chatbot Grok is on a rampage. Finally, big things are in store for the Lightning Round… which shall henceforth be known as the THUNDER ROUND. Lots to talk about, including Lorde’s CD problems, Apple’s Liquid Glass changes, and HBO Max finally becoming HBO Max again.

Further reading:

Email us at [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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On this episode of The Vergecast, we kick off Hot Girl Vergecast Summer with a classic Vergecast segment: the mic test. Guest host Victoria Song is joined by Vergecast producers Andru Marino and Erick Gomez to see how the Nothing Headphone 1, Sony WH-1000XM6, Apple AirPods Max, and Bose QuietComfort Ultra hold up against what’s possibly the noisiest street in Brooklyn.

After that, Victoria is joined by Ladder CEO Greg Stewart to talk about what it takes to build a successful strength training app — especially for people just starting out. As it turns out, it’s quite challenging, between curating playlists, accommodating users’ different access to equipment, skill levels, and preferences for coaching styles. (And maybe, some occasional beef with Peloton?)

Lastly, we answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email [email protected]) about AI fitness summaries, whether people actually like them, what’s frustrating about them, and what scenarios they might actually be useful for.

Want to learn more about the topics in this episode? Here are some handy dandy links for your reference:

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One way to think about the tech industry is just as a series of people trying to build stuff they saw in movies and on TV. Some of that tech is great, some of it is deeply dystopian, and most of it would make the world a very different place if it suddenly existed. In this episode, a bunch of us try to figure out which tech we actually want to use. David is joined by The Verge’s Allison Johnson, Jennifer Pattison-Tuohy, Mia Sato, and Victoria Song — aka the hosts of Hot Girl Vergecast Summer — to draft their way through the movie, show, and game tech they’d want to make real. Some of the picks you’ll expect, and some we bet has never crossed your mind. And some big-name tech goes undrafted!

Once you've finished the show, make sure you take the poll and tell us who won: https://forms.gle/Q1wFhpzCdM3B5bqj9

Email us at [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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It's already the heat of summer, and the news keeps coming. Nilay, David, and Jake start the show with a bunch of tech news, including the latest on Tesla's robotaxi launch, some updates on the Trump Phone, new devices from Fairphone and Unihertz, and Meta's shifting strategy for face computers. After that, The Verge's Adi Roberston joins the show to talk about two important AI lawsuits that were both decided this week — one involving Anthropic and the other involving Meta — and what this particular battle means for who will win the AI war. Finally, in the lightning round, it's time for another round of Brendan Carr is a Dummy, some huge news in the HDMI world, and the end of the Blue Screen of Death.

Further reading:

Tesla’s robotaxis are operating in a regulatory vacuum 

Here’s a running list of all of Tesla’s robotaxi mishaps so far

The Trump Phone no longer promises it’s made in America 

The smaller Fairphone 6 introduces swappable accessories

The Titan 2 is a modern BlackBerry with 5G, Android, and two screens 

A week in Xbox VR with Microsoft and Meta’s new $399 headset 

Meta announces Oakley smart glasses that shoot 3K video 

Anthropic wins a major fair use victory for AI — but it’s still in trouble for stealing books

Meta’s AI copyright win comes with a warning about fair use

Senate confirms Trump’s FCC pick, Olivia Trusty

FCC Seeks Public Comments on Changing Broadcast Ownership Rules

Trump’s FTC agrees to Omnicom merger — with a gift to X 

Paramount Plus with Showtime is getting a rebrand 

Paramount delays $35M settlement with Trump as media giant fears bribery backlash: sources

The Paramount Risk in Settling Trump’s Lawsuit: ‘Bribery’?

The HDMI 2.2 specification supports 16K video at 60Hz

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Tesla is famous for throwing caution to the wind in the name of rolling out cool technology, so it was somewhat surprising to see its robotaxi service launch over the weekend in somewhat muted fashion. The Verge's Andy Hawkins joins the show to explain what, exactly, Elon Musk and co. launched, and what it says about the state of the self-driving revolution. After that, The Verge's Allison Johnson takes us through the history of MVNOs, and why they might just be the best deal in wireless carriers. We talk about Trump Mobile, Ryan Reynolds, e-SIMs, and what it would mean to make it easier to switch service. Finally, we answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline about how to free up storage on your iPhone. It's harder than it should be, but hopefully easier than you think.

Further reading:

Email us at [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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Starting a wireless carrier is easier than you might think. So is building a half-decent Android phone! But doing all the things Trump Mobile promises, at the price and on the schedule it says, seems awfully close to impossible. While Nilay's out, David and Jake chat with The Verge's Dominic Preston about what we know about Trump Mobile and the T1 Phone, why everyone wants to be a wireless carrier, and what it would actually take for this to work out. After that, David and Jake talk through some big news in the TV world, and the streaming takeover that appears to be happening faster all the time. Finally, in the lightning round, it's time for some brief FCC news, a check on the state of Siri, big questions about the ad-rich future of WhatsApp, a look at the new fediverse feed in Threads, and some thoughts on the Framework Laptop 12.

Further reading:

Trump Mobile launches $47 service and a gold phone 

Who is really behind the Trump Mobile T1 phone? 

Trump Mobile is a bad deal 

What is the deal with the Trump Mobile T1 Phone? 

What do Alabama, California, and Florida have in common?

How Donald Trump and Ryan Reynolds can easily sell you phone plans 

Even Klarna is launching a mobile phone service now

SmartLess Mobile | Don't get outsmarted. Get SmartLess Mobile.

Trump is giving TikTok another ban extension 

Streaming is eating cable and broadcast TV’s lunch. | The Verge

From Nieman Lab: For the first time, social media overtakes TV as Americans’ top news source

Max will show autoplaying video previews suggested by AI 

Senate confirms Trump’s FCC pick, Olivia Trusty 

Apple’s upgraded Siri might not arrive until next spring 

WhatsApp is officially getting ads 

WhatsApp’s rollout of ads will change the app forever 

Signal says it won’t add AI or ads like WhatsApp. | The Verge

Reddit will help advertisers turn ‘positive’ posts into ads 

Senate passes GENIUS stablecoin bill in a win for the crypto industry 

Threads is adding fediverse content and search to its feeds 

Framework Laptop 12 review: plastic fantastic | The Verge

Email us at [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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