Weird Things

By Andrew Mayne

Between science and fiction.... more

· Natural Sciences

4.5

329329 ratings

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FAQs about Weird Things:

How many episodes does Weird Things have?

The podcast currently has 1,052 episodes available.

Weird Things episodes:

February 21, 2025 Asteroids, AI, and the Art of Avoiding Armageddon

In a thrilling episode devoid of AI discussions (initially), Andrew, Brian, and Justin tackle the alarming news of an asteroid, dubbed ‘Kanye’s next album’, with a 2.2% chance of colliding with Earth. The trio explores various mitigation strategies, including nuclear options, while lamenting their AI tool’s refusal to cooperate on other matters. The conversation shifts to the groundbreaking AI tool, Deep Research, and its potential to revolutionize information gathering. They also delve into the cultural significance of Bigfoot, based on a detailed report generated by Deep Research. The episode wraps up with a discussion on the latest Fantastic Four trailer, expressing cautious optimism for the film.
Picks:
Andrew: Mac Whisper
Brian: The Expanded Mind: Thinking Outside the Brain
Justin: Severance
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Download url: https://weirdthingspodcast.com/uploads/20250211150336_250207-Weird-Things_mixdown.mp3
[podcast]https://weirdthingspodcast.com/uploads/20250211150336_250207-Weird-Things_mixdown.mp3
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57min
February 05, 2025 The AI Frontier: Deep Dive into DeepSeek, O3, and Beyond
The episode opens with a long discussion of DeepSeek, its V3 and R1 reasoning models, and why the release caused such a big reaction in AI circles and on Wall Street. Andrew says DeepSeek appears to have made real efficiency gains in training and hardware use, while Justin argues the market overreacted to the idea that less compute would be needed; both stress that the models do not mean chips or compute are suddenly unnecessary (L17-L17, L25-L25, L49-L49, L53-L57, L61-L65, L73-L77, L101-L105). The conversation then shifts to OpenAI's O3 and to a live, hands-on demo of generating simple games and 3D scenes with AI. Brian and Andrew iterate on a crude side-scrolling Mobius-strip game in CodePen, then experiment with A-Frame, a generated planetarium, and an explainer for radio telescopes, using the examples to argue that AI is becoming a practical tool for prototyping, brainstorming, and building educational or creative projects faster (L117-L117, L123-L145, L149-L181, L191-L209, L235-L241, L247-L253, L275-L289, L315-L317, L323-L333). Key topics DeepSeek efficiency gains and model optimization: Andrew describes DeepSeek as having made real, original optimization improvements, especially around data movement, compression, and training efficiency under chip export constraints. Uncertainty about data provenance and bootstrapping: The hosts note possible data contamination or use of model outputs, but they are careful to say those suspicions do not fully explain DeepSeek's success
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1h 3min
February 02, 2025 AI’s Latest Leap: Operator and the Future of Internet Browsing
The episode opens with a discussion of DeepSeek's V3 and R1 models, which the hosts describe as highly capable and unusually efficient. They frame the reaction as part of a broader open-source versus closed-source AI debate, while also noting uncertainty and controversy about whether some of DeepSeek's progress came from training on frontier model outputs or distillation. The hosts stress that the technical achievements are real, even if the competitive landscape and provenance are murky. A large portion of the episode is spent reacting to OpenAI's Operator, a browser-controlling agent that can log in, navigate websites, and work inside cloud-hosted browser sessions. The hosts demonstrate and discuss practical uses like Google Docs, Notion, CSV creation, image searching, and meme generation, while also emphasizing that the tool is still slow, brittle, and limited by logins, CAPTCHAs, and permissions. They broaden the conversation into the implications of agentic browsers for workflows, traffic metrics, monetization, access control, and the larger direction of AI development. Key topics Open-source versus closed-source AI competition: The hosts discuss DeepSeek, Meta's Llama models, and OpenAI's releases as part of a fast-moving competition between open and closed AI systems. They describe open source as a major current moment, while also recognizing that frontier commercial labs continue to advance quickly. Model efficiency and distillation: Andrew emphasizes that DeepSeek's
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0min
February 01, 2025 AI’s Latest Leap: Operator and the Future of Internet Browsing

Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood explore the rapid advancements in AI, particularly highlighting the Chinese AI model Deep Seek and OpenAI’s latest creation, Operator. They discuss the technical achievements and controversies surrounding Deep Seek, its implications for the AI community, and the groundbreaking capabilities of Operator in controlling a browser to perform tasks. The conversation also touches on the broader impacts of AI on society, the internet, and how these tools could change our interaction with digital spaces.
Picks:
Andrew Mayne: Operator
Justin Robert Young: Operator
Brian Brushwood: Operator
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Download url: https://weirdthingspodcast.com/uploads/20250201201846_250124_-_weird_things_podcast.mp3
[podcast]https://weirdthingspodcast.com/uploads/20250201201846_250124_-_weird_things_podcast.mp3
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48min
January 25, 2025 The AI Frontier: Hitting Walls and Vaulting Over Them
The episode opens with a discussion of rapid recent AI releases and whether AI has "hit a wall." Andrew points to OpenAI's O3 and Google video models as evidence that capabilities are still advancing, while Justin uses the ARC Prize and AGI as the lens for asking how quickly systems are improving and whether a reasonable AGI label could arrive within the next year. Andrew's response emphasizes the "jagged frontier": models can be very strong on some tasks and weak on others, so benchmark gains do not translate cleanly into broad intelligence. A major middle section focuses on DeepSeek, which the hosts describe as a highly capable Chinese model that has excited open-source enthusiasts and alarmed frontier-lab skeptics. Andrew argues the model should be understood in context: export restrictions may have pushed efficiency work, but the model likely also benefited from distilled outputs from frontier models and other structured training data, so it is not a clean from-scratch achievement. The episode then turns to YouTube's AI-training opt-in controls, the copyright and compensation questions around creator data, the growing reputational stigma around obvious AI-generated creative work, and predictions for 2025 that include more AI-automated workflows, a company announcing AGI, and more AI-assisted email handling. Key topics AI benchmark gains and the "hitting a wall" narrative: The hosts contrast media claims that AI has stalled with examples of large benchmark jumps, especiall
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0min
January 24, 2025 The AI Frontier: Hitting Walls and Vaulting Over Them
Andrew Mayne, Brian Brushwood, and Justin Robert Young dive into the latest in AI advancements and the philosophical and practical implications of artificial general intelligence (AGI). They start with a discussion on recent developments from OpenAI and Google, segue into a Wall Street Journal article questioning if AI has hit a developmental wall, and then explore the significant leap in AI capabilities with OpenAI’s O3 model. The conversation shifts to the potential for AGI within the next year and the emergence of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI model that has caused a stir in the AI community. Throughout, they explore the nuances of AI development, the potential for AGI, and the ethical considerations of AI training data.
Picks:
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Download url: https://weirdthingspodcast.com/uploads/20250102203229_2024-12-27-weird-things-mixdown.mp3
[podcast]https://weirdthingspodcast.com/uploads/20250102203229_2024-12-27-weird-things-mixdown.mp3
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1h 7min
January 24, 2025 A Timeless Dive into the Future and Past of Entertainment
In this episode, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood take listeners on a fascinating exploration of entertainment’s past, present, and future. They kick off with a nostalgic look at how theme parks like Universal Studios have evolved, highlighting the technological advancements in attractions such as the Born Stunt Spectacular. The conversation then shifts to the potential of AI in creating immersive experiences, with Andrew sharing insights into reasoning models and the concept of AI agents. They also touch upon the importance of classic sci-fi literature, like ‘A Canticle for Leibowitz’, in understanding the roots of many modern narratives. The episode wraps up with a discussion on the implications of AI in programming and the potential for AI to revolutionize how we interact with technology and each other. Picks: Justin Robert Young: DEF CON Plan about Audio and Electronics Brian Brushwood: A Canticle for Leibowitz Andrew Mayne: Nosferatu by Robert Eggers
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0min
January 24, 2025 The AI Frontier: Robotics, Simulators, and the Future of Labor
The episode opens with a discussion of OpenAI's Shipmas announcements and a comparison with Google's recent AI releases. The hosts focus on OpenAI's o3 model, describing it as a real, usable research milestone and noting that it scored highly on the ARC Prize benchmark and coding evaluations, while also acknowledging that some announced features are not immediately available to everyone. The conversation then broadens into how current AI tools are being used in practice. The hosts talk about ChatGPT integrations with Notion, desktop and screen-sharing features, model switching when one tool is not suited to a task, and the brittleness of AI outputs when prompts or settings change. The latter half shifts to robotics and simulators, especially how physics simulation could accelerate robotics development and how cheaper, more capable robots could change labor and local production. The episode closes with several media picks. Key topics OpenAI Shipmas and Google's AI announcements: The hosts compare OpenAI's 12 days of releases with Google's announcements, arguing that OpenAI's products are more immediately usable while Google's demos appear more limited in access. o3, ARC Prize, and AI benchmarks: A major segment focuses on o3, the ARC Prize visual reasoning benchmark, and coding evals. Andrew explains how the benchmark works and why the o-series models' higher scores matter. AI workflow integration and desktop assistance: The speakers discuss ChatGPT working with Notion, screen
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0min
January 23, 2025 A Timeless Dive into the Future and Past of Entertainment

In this episode, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood take listeners on a fascinating exploration of entertainment’s past, present, and future. They kick off with a nostalgic look at how theme parks like Universal Studios have evolved, highlighting the technological advancements in attractions such as the Born Stunt Spectacular. The conversation then shifts to the potential of AI in creating immersive experiences, with Andrew sharing insights into reasoning models and the concept of AI agents. They also touch upon the importance of classic sci-fi literature, like ‘A Canticle for Leibowitz’, in understanding the roots of many modern narratives. The episode wraps up with a discussion on the implications of AI in programming and the potential for AI to revolutionize how we interact with technology and each other.
Picks:
Justin Robert Young: DEF CON Plan about Audio and Electronics
Brian Brushwood: A Canticle for Leibowitz
Andrew Mayne: Nosferatu by Robert Eggers
Support Weird Things on Patreon
Subscribe to the Weird Things podcast on iTunes Podcasts
Podcast RSS feed
Download url: https://weirdthingspodcast.com/uploads/20250115204407_250115_-_weird_things_podcast.mp3
[podcast]https://weirdthingspodcast.com/uploads/20250115204407_250115_-_weird_things_podcast.mp3
...more
1h 1min
January 23, 2025 The AI Frontier: Robotics, Simulators, and the Future of Labor

In this episode, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood discuss the recent flurry of AI announcements from OpenAI’s Shipmas event and Google’s AI developments. They explore the implications of advanced AI models like GPT-3 and OpenAI’s O3, touching on their potential to revolutionize coding, problem-solving, and even the future of robotics and labor. The hosts speculate on how these technologies could lead to a new era of automation, where tasks from coding to physical labor could be handled by AI-driven robots. They also touch on the concept of physics simulators and their role in advancing robotics by allowing for more efficient testing and development.
Picks:
Brian: The Good Place
Justin: We Have Never Been Woke by Musa al-Gharbi
Andrew: What We Do in the Shadows
Support Weird Things on Patreon
Subscribe to the Weird Things podcast on iTunes Podcasts
Podcast RSS feed
Download url: https://weirdthingspodcast.com/uploads/20241223155519_2024-12-20-Weird-Things_mixdown.mp3
[podcast]https://weirdthingspodcast.com/uploads/20241223155519_2024-12-20-Weird-Things_mixdown.mp3
...more
58min

FAQs about Weird Things:

How many episodes does Weird Things have?

The podcast currently has 1,052 episodes available.

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