The Vergecast

We are once again back to taking your questions on The Vergecast Hotline! (Call 866-VERGE11, or email [email protected].) This time, David has some thoughts on Apple's new product launch strategy, the impossible task of building a modular operating system, and more. Also: a theory on the word "theory."

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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admitted to having a relationship with a woman named Alice Huang (no relation). Was she a business partner, or was she a spy sent by the Chinese government to steal secrets from the most powerful person in AI? The Verge’s Liz Lopatto explains everything we know about the scandal, what a spy might want from Nvidia, and what could happen next for both Huangs.

Further reading:

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All around the internet, groups of media fans are hunting for and curating some of the best movie, music, and TV collections anywhere. And they're doing it all via BitTorrent. Verge contributor and Lowpass writer Janko Roettgers takes us into the world of private torrent trackers, where some people are saving culture and some people are just in it for the flicks.
Torrent Underground

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We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11.

0:00 Torrents Return
01:20 Private Trackers Explained
04:04 Rules Ratios And Leechers
05:56 The Prestige Ladder
10:00 Bounties And Salinger
12:55 Piracy Ethics Today
17:16 Streaming Backlash
19:45 What Private Really Means
22:12 Anti Piracy Crackdowns
25:44 Why People Do It
27:14 Is BitTorrent Growing
28:45 Curation Beats Algorithms
31:51 Enough Phone Kickstarter
33:50 Phone Prices

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The 2026 midterm elections in the US ended in a sweeping win for Democrats — and several dozen sweeping losses for the AI industry. Nilay and David dig into what the results will mean for data centers, Big Tech, and even the future of X. Then, they try to figure out whether anyone's making any money in AI — not so much, it turns out — and whether the touchscreen MacBook is worth the price.

Further reading:

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We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11.

0:00 Bezos Hair Transplant Hoax

01:15 Midterms Shockwave Begins

02:00 Corruption And Data Center Backlash

06:53 AI Products Not Worth It

09:26 What Democrats Can Do Now

11:15 Congress Investigations Lawyer Up

13:15 Hype Reels Take Over Politics

15:42 X Bubble Versus Real Life

22:47 Microblogging Decline And AI Regulation

23:56 Ossoff Speech And AI Doomerism

27:35 Google Then Versus OpenAI Now

33:35 Back From Break

33:42 OpenAI Search Claims

35:19 Google Moat Erodes

38:02 Monetizing AI Overviews

42:52 Ads Break Trust

45:49 Google Zero Spiral

47:43 Agents Reality Check

50:41 Token Spending Pullback

52:50 Muse Novelty Wears Off

01:00:16 Brendan Carr is a Dummy

01:02:00 FCC Heat On Carr

01:07:04 MacBook Pro Touchscreen

01:09:09 Touchscreen Love Hate

01:10:25 Dynamic Island Reality Check

01:11:17 Best Touch Use Cases

01:11:58 App Support And Optimization

01:14:10 MacBook Pro Verdict

01:14:27 Speakers And Trade Ins

01:15:42 Sales And Upgrade Timing

01:17:11 SpaceX Boost Mobile Drama

01:22:05 Ram Altman Cloud Take

01:29:31 AI Photo Editing Panic

01:37:13 Wrap Up And Plugs

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Morgann Book reads a lot of books. And, as a literary creator and podcaster, makes a lot of content about books. She joins the show to explain why BookTok loves all things romance and romantasy, why physical books are an important balance to digital life, and why she's not worried at all about the future of reading.

Further reading:

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Film director and camera nerd Rian Johnson sits down with Vergecast guest host and camera nerd David Imel for an unapologetically nerdy conversation about cameras. They chat about cinematography, Rian's viral Chromagraph Camera app, and check out David's vast collection of quirky equipment. (As of recording, Rian is still waiting for his to be delivered.)

Further reading:

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It's Election Day in the United States, and data centers have become a core issue in some of the country's most important midterm races. The Verge's Adi Robertson explains why people are uniting against data centers, why they've become a proxy for all kinds of other fights, and how this year's results might change the AI industry going forward.

Further reading:

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Streaming all your video games seems like such a good, simple idea. All your games, everywhere, on any screen you like — it's the dream! The Verge's Sean Hollister explains how the tech works now (which might be better than you think), why it'll take a huge amount of work to make it even a little bit better, and why games like Grand Theft Auto VI probably can't just live in the cloud.

Further reading:

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Nilay is going to buy the new touchscreen MacBook. But not for the touchscreen. He and David talk through Apple's new laptop, and what it means for Apple's other devices, including the tablet that used to be the future of everything. Then the hosts talk about Instagram's push into long-form video and its battle with AI content. Finally, it's time for Brendan Carr, Anthropic's S-1, robot vacuums, and the rest of the lightning round.

Further reading:

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We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11.

0:00 ProLED Cold Open

01:04 Touchscreen Mac Arrives

02:39 Why Apple Did Touch

05:27 App Store Pressure

07:54 Touch Is Just Enough

09:49 Influencer Event Demos

13:56 iPad Squeezed Middle

18:34 Luxury Hardware Bet

22:37 Duo Reality Check

28:18 Instagram Going Through It

29:07 AI Agents vs Ads

32:18 Zuck Escapes iPhone

32:41 Instagram Becomes TV

33:23 Slop Meme Deepfakes

36:09 Mosseri AI Crisis

42:58 Longform Video Push

44:34 Creators Demand Revshare

48:19 Loop Closing Arms Race

49:34 Reddit Versus Google Zero

53:22 AI Kills The Web

01:00:20 Brendan Carr is a Dummy

01:02:22 Spectrum Auction Plan

01:03:35 NOAA Weather Spectrum Fight

01:04:29 700 MHz Auction History

01:05:38 FCC Spectrum Power Grab

01:06:09 Privatizing Weather Data

01:09:27 Anthropic S1 Reality Check

01:12:34 AI Products Beat Models

01:16:55 Claude Goes Sentient

01:17:55 Copilot Leaves Smart TVs

01:21:16 Quiet Robot Vacuum Thoughts

01:25:03 Palmer Luckey Laptop Fight

01:30:10 X Replies and Racism

01:32:32 Wrap Up and Next Week

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Steve Jobs once said touchscreen laptops were a terrible idea. Now Apple is shipping one. The Verge's Antonio Di Benedetto tells us all about the new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR, how MacOS is changing for touch, why a laptop user might want a touchscreen, and whether MacBook and iPad are destined to become one.

Further reading:

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We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11.

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