What's New

By SpokenLayer

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The latest in-depth coverage covering the intersection of technology and culture will help you make sense of a world in constant transformation. Join us as we explore the ways technology is changing our lives.

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What's New episodes:

04.24.2024
Bitcoin Miners Brace for the ‘Halving’—and Race to Cash In
The Bitcoin halving is imminent. Crypto mining companies are reaching for every trick in the book to survive it. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about...
04.23.2024
Plant-Based Meat Boomed. Here Comes the Bust
Sales of vegan meat are trending downward in the US, with companies scrambling to win back customers. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad...
04.22.2024
The Real-Time Deepfake Romance Scams Have Arrived
Smooth-talking scammers known as “Yahoo Boys” use widely available face-swapping tech to carry out elaborate romance scams. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your...
04.19.2024
What If Your AI Girlfriend Hated You?
AngryGF offers a perpetually enraged chatbot intended to teach men better communication skills. WIRED took it for a spin. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about...
04.18.2024
How One Author Pushed the Limits of AI Copyright
Elisa Shupe was initially rebuffed when she tried to copyright a book she wrote with help from ChatGPT. Now the US Copyright Office has changed course—but there’s a catch. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more...
04.17.2024
Google Workers Protest Cloud Contract With Israel's Government
Google employees are staging sit-ins and protests at company offices in New York and California over “Project Nimbus,” a cloud contract with Israel's government, as the country's war with Hamas continues. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time...
04.16.2024
It Takes Guts, Not College, to Fix Wind Turbines for a Living
Want one of the fastest-growing jobs in the US? Get used to being high. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
04.15.2024
Bird Flu Is Spreading in Alarming New Ways
H5N1 has infected cattle across the US and jumped from a mammal to a human for the first time. Experts fear it may someday evolve to spread among humans. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for...
04.12.2024
Eric Schmidt Warned Against China’s AI Industry. Emails Show He Also Sought Connections to It
Transparency advocates say that Eric Schmidt's pursuit of “personal” connections with AI companies in China represents a concerning conflict of interest. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn...
04.11.2024
Europe Rules That Insufficient Climate Change Action Is a Human Rights Violation
In a landmark ruling, the European Court of Human Rights found that Switzerland had not done enough to protect its citizens from climate change—blowing open the door for further cases against governments. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next...
04.10.2024
Students Are Likely Writing Millions of Papers With AI
Turnitin, a service that checks papers for plagiarism, says its detection tool found millions of papers that may have a significant amount of AI-generated content. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and...
04.09.2024
How I Became a Python Programmer—and Fell Out of Love With the Machine
When I started coding, I was suspicious of all the abstractions. Then I discovered the Django framework. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad...
04.08.2024
A TikTok Whistleblower Got DC’s Attention. Do His Claims Add Up?
Zen Goziker worked at TikTok for only six months. Many of his allegations about the company and the US government are improbable. But he still may have shaped how the app is viewed in Washington. Thanks for listening to WIRED....
04.05.2024
OpenAI’s GPT Store Is Triggering Copyright Complaints
A publisher says some chatbots in OpenAI’s GPT Store were created using its copyrighted textbooks. OpenAI has taken down some of the bots but could face more complaints from rights holders. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time...
04.04.2024
Meta Kills a Crucial Transparency Tool At the Worst Possible Time
CrowdTangle helps researchers track disinformation, but Meta will close it down before the US election. The tool's cofounder, Brandon Silverman, says it's time to force companies to share data. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more...
04.03.2024
Citizen Zoo Is Rewilding the UK, One Grasshopper at a Time
The London-based social enterprise is turning regular people into at-home zookeepers. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
04.02.2024
How to Resist the Temptation of AI When Writing
Follow these tips to produce stronger writing that stands out on the web even in the age of AI and ChatGPT. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn...
04.01.2024
Smartphones Do or Don’t Harm Kids! So Which Is It?
Two new books offer radically different approaches to how people should think about smartphones and social media. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your...
03.29.2024
The Earth Will Feast on Dead Cicadas
Two cicada broods, XIX and XIII, are emerging in sync for the first time in 221 years. Birds, trees, and dirt are about to get the banquet of a lifetime. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time...
03.28.2024
The Baltimore Bridge Collapse Is About to Get Even Messier
Closing the city’s seaport will send shockwaves across global shipping. Supersized container ships pose a growing risk to bridges and other infrastructure when things go wrong. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and...
03.27.2024
Enjoy Your Favorite Wine Before Climate Change Destroys It
Extreme heat and droughts are making it harder to grow grapes in many traditional regions. Here’s how scientists are helping the industry adapt. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this...
03.26.2024
A Deepfake Nude Generator Reveals a Chilling Look at Its Victims
WIRED reporting uncovered a site that “nudifies” photos for a fee—and posts a feed appearing to show user uploads. They included photos of young girls and images seemingly taken of strangers. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time...
03.25.2024
Why You Hear Voices in Your White Noise Machine
If you've ever heard music, voices, or other sounds while trying to sleep with a white noise machine running, you're not losing your mind. Here's what's going on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
03.22.2024
The Feds Are Trying to Get Plants to Mine Metal Through Their Roots
Some species can absorb extreme amounts of nickel from soils. Such “phytomining” could help provide batteries essential for the renewable revolution. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn...
03.21.2024
The World Needs to Crack Battery Recycling, Fast
The shift to electric vehicles is exciting, but it will leave us with thousands of tonnes of spent batteries. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about...
03.20.2024
Why Is the Slack Hold Music So Haunted and So Good?
Those sounds you hear when you’re alone in a Huddle aren’t canned. They’re uncanny. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
03.19.2024
The Designer Who’s Trying to Transform Your City Into a Sponge
Kongjian Yu pioneered China’s “sponge city” concept—less concrete and more green spaces to exploit stormwater instead of fighting it. Metropolises all over the world are following suit. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from...
03.18.2024
States Are Lining Up to Outlaw Lab-Grown Meat
Around 46 million Americans live in states that have introduced bills to ban cultivated meat, the latest escalation in a surprising culture war. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read...
03.15.2024
Regulators Need AI Expertise. They Can’t Afford It
The European AI Office and the UK government are trying to hire experts to study and regulate the AI boom—but are offering salaries far short of industry compensation. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories...
03.14.2024
Ageism Haunts Some Tech Workers in the Race to Get Hired
Hundreds of thousands of tech workers have been laid off since 2022. Some who don’t fit the young coder archetype say being more experienced can feel like a disadvantage. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more...
03.13.2024
Rampant Wildfires Are Threatening a Collapse of the Amazon Rainforest
Rainforests in South America are burning this year faster than ever before, setting the course for a collapse of the Amazon in the coming decades. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and...
03.12.2024
The Quest to Give AI Chatbots a Hand—and an Arm
Robotics startup Covariant is experimenting with a ChatGPT-style chatbot that can control a robotic arm, as a way to create machines that can be more helpful in the physical world. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for...
03.11.2024
Apple Could Be the First Target of Europe's Tough New Tech Law
An architect of the EU's tough new Digital Markets Acts says Apple would be a logical first candidate for investigation under the law, which aims to “break open” tech platforms. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time...
03.08.2024
Europe Is Breaking Open the Empires of Big Tech
Tech giants have to comply with a new EU law that is set to change the internet. It aims to force open the biggest platforms to encourage competition and give users more choice in their digital lives. Thanks for listening to...
03.07.2024
Scientists Are Inching Closer to Bringing Back the Woolly Mammoth
De-extinction startup Colossal Biosciences claims it has found a way to reprogram elephant cells, a technical breakthrough that could lead to the return of the long-lost mammals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
03.06.2024
The Mysterious Case of the Missing Trump Trial Ransomware Leak
The notorious LockBit gang promised a Georgia court leak "that could affect the upcoming US election.” It didn't materialize—but the story may not be over yet. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com...
03.05.2024
Google’s Deal With StackOverflow Is the Latest Proof That AI Giants Will Pay for Data
StackOverflow’s programming community will power a version of Google’s Gemini chatbot. It’s part of a new breed of AI data licensing deals with websites seeking a cut of the generative AI boom. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next...
03.04.2024
Elon Musk’s Lawsuit Against a Group That Found Hate Speech on X Isn’t Going Well
X alleges that the Center for Countering Digital Hate cost it millions by showing that hate speech was spreading on the platform. In a hearing Thursday, a federal judge sounded skeptical of those claims. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk...
03.01.2024
Tesla’s Charging Network is Now Open to Other EVs and Ford Is First In Line
From today, Ford electric car drivers can plug into the Supercharger network. You can bet more makers will follow. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about...
02.29.2024
RIP Apple Car. This Is Why It Died
Any tech company moving into the auto space needs a manufacturing partner. But the Apple's EV died as it lived: alone. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn...
02.28.2024
A Discarded Plan to Build Underwater Cities Will Give Coral Reefs New Life
A 1970s plan to grow underwater limestone objects has been repurposed as a way of regenerating the seabed, reestablishing corals, and stopping coastal erosion. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read...
02.27.2024
Neuralink’s First Brain Implant Is Working. Elon Musk’s Transparency Isn’t
Elon Musk says Neuralink’s first human trial subject can control a computer mouse with their brain, but some researchers are frustrated by a lack of information about the study. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more...
02.26.2024
Google Tweaked Search to Comply With EU Rules. Yelp Says It Makes Results Even More Unfair
Google says its new designs comply with the Digital Markets Act, which bars platforms from favoring their own tools. Yelp says tests show one tweak made people even more likely to stick with Google. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk...
02.23.2024
This Small Wearable Device Reduces Parkinson’s Symptoms
People with Parkinson’s have fewer tremors when they receive rhythmic physical stimulation—so a UK startup has created a coin-sized vibrating device to help patients move more easily. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from...
02.22.2024
Climate Finance Is Targeting the Wrong Industries
Roughly half of the world’s emissions currently can’t be reduced, yet green investment continues to avoid the sectors that need the most help—manufacturing, agriculture, and the built environment. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories...
02.21.2024
AI Is Coming for the Experts. First, It Needs Their Help
A new workforce of language experts, creative writers, and nuclear physicists are turning to data labor—and potentially making their future jobs obsolete in the process. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and...
02.20.2024
A Virus Found in Wastewater Beat Back a Woman’s ‘Zombie’ Bacteria
Viruses called phages offer a promising treatment option for bacterial infections when antibiotics stop working, but they have limitations. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read this story here. Learn more about...
02.19.2024
The Feds Just Bet Even Bigger on American-Made Heat Pumps
The US Department of Energy is announcing another $63 million to supercharge domestic manufacturing of the devices—in the name of national, energy, and climate security. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com...
02.16.2024
Smoking Alters Your Immune System for Years After You Quit
By switching genes on and off, cigarettes have a long-lasting effect on immunity, and appear to shape your immune system just as much as aging. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and...
02.15.2024
AI Is Rewiring Coders’ Brains. Yours May Be Next
The CEO of GitHub says half of all code produced by users of the Copilot programming helper is now AI-generated—but that there’s no sign the technology will replace human coders. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for...

What's What's New about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

What's New episodes:

Bitcoin Miners Brace for the ‘Halving’—and Race to Cash In

Plant-Based Meat Boomed. Here Comes the Bust

The Real-Time Deepfake Romance Scams Have Arrived

What If Your AI Girlfriend Hated You?

How One Author Pushed the Limits of AI Copyright

Google Workers Protest Cloud Contract With Israel's Government

It Takes Guts, Not College, to Fix Wind Turbines for a Living

Bird Flu Is Spreading in Alarming New Ways

Eric Schmidt Warned Against China’s AI Industry. Emails Show He Also Sought Connections to It

Europe Rules That Insufficient Climate Change Action Is a Human Rights Violation

Students Are Likely Writing Millions of Papers With AI

How I Became a Python Programmer—and Fell Out of Love With the Machine

A TikTok Whistleblower Got DC’s Attention. Do His Claims Add Up?

OpenAI’s GPT Store Is Triggering Copyright Complaints

Meta Kills a Crucial Transparency Tool At the Worst Possible Time

Citizen Zoo Is Rewilding the UK, One Grasshopper at a Time

How to Resist the Temptation of AI When Writing

Smartphones Do or Don’t Harm Kids! So Which Is It?

The Earth Will Feast on Dead Cicadas

The Baltimore Bridge Collapse Is About to Get Even Messier

Enjoy Your Favorite Wine Before Climate Change Destroys It

A Deepfake Nude Generator Reveals a Chilling Look at Its Victims

Why You Hear Voices in Your White Noise Machine

The Feds Are Trying to Get Plants to Mine Metal Through Their Roots

The World Needs to Crack Battery Recycling, Fast

Why Is the Slack Hold Music So Haunted and So Good?

The Designer Who’s Trying to Transform Your City Into a Sponge

States Are Lining Up to Outlaw Lab-Grown Meat

Regulators Need AI Expertise. They Can’t Afford It

Ageism Haunts Some Tech Workers in the Race to Get Hired

Rampant Wildfires Are Threatening a Collapse of the Amazon Rainforest

The Quest to Give AI Chatbots a Hand—and an Arm

Apple Could Be the First Target of Europe's Tough New Tech Law

Europe Is Breaking Open the Empires of Big Tech

Scientists Are Inching Closer to Bringing Back the Woolly Mammoth

The Mysterious Case of the Missing Trump Trial Ransomware Leak

Google’s Deal With StackOverflow Is the Latest Proof That AI Giants Will Pay for Data

Elon Musk’s Lawsuit Against a Group That Found Hate Speech on X Isn’t Going Well

Tesla’s Charging Network is Now Open to Other EVs and Ford Is First In Line

RIP Apple Car. This Is Why It Died

A Discarded Plan to Build Underwater Cities Will Give Coral Reefs New Life

Neuralink’s First Brain Implant Is Working. Elon Musk’s Transparency Isn’t

Google Tweaked Search to Comply With EU Rules. Yelp Says It Makes Results Even More Unfair

This Small Wearable Device Reduces Parkinson’s Symptoms

Climate Finance Is Targeting the Wrong Industries

AI Is Coming for the Experts. First, It Needs Their Help

A Virus Found in Wastewater Beat Back a Woman’s ‘Zombie’ Bacteria

The Feds Just Bet Even Bigger on American-Made Heat Pumps

Smoking Alters Your Immune System for Years After You Quit

AI Is Rewiring Coders’ Brains. Yours May Be Next