Uncanny Valley | WIRED

In recent days, Los Angeles residents have taken to the streets to protest the Trump administration’s immigration policies and the increasingly frequent ICE raids. WIRED’s Senior Politics Editor Leah Feiger joins Zoë Schiffer, Director of Business & Industry, to discuss the related flood of information on social media, and how AI chatbots like Grok and ChatGPT are delivering incorrect and at times, inflammatory answers. Articles mentioned in today’s episode: AI Chatbots Are Making LA Protest Disinformation WorseI Joined Every Class Action Lawsuit I Could Find, and So Can YouVibe Coding Is Coming for Engineering Jobs You can follow Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky @zoeschiffer and Leah Feiger @leahfeiger. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In the past six months, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and others have released web-browsing agents that are designed to complete tasks independently, with only minimal input from humans. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has even called AI agents “the next giant breakthrough.” On today’s episode, we'll dive into what makes these agents different from other forms of machine intelligence, and whether their capabilities can live up to the hype. You can follow our hosts on Bluesky—Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

WIRED's Senior Politics Editor Leah Feiger joins Zoë Schiffer, WIRED's Director of Business & Industry to discuss the ongoing fallout between President Trump and Elon Musk, and the future of DOGE. Articles mentioned in the episode: Conspiracy World Thinks the Musk-Trump Breakup Is a 'Psyop'DOGE Is on a Recruiting Spree Silicon Valley Is Starting to Pick Sides in Musk and Trump’s BreakupWIRED Talked to a Fired DOGE Staffer About Who Was Really in ChargeTrumpworld Is Getting Tired of Laura Loomer. They Hope the President Is TooThe Epic Rise and Fall of a Dark-Web Psychedelics KingpinYou can follow Zoë Schiffer and Leah Feiger on Bluesky: @zoeschiffer , @leahfeiger Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Expanded deportations, a virtually shutdown asylum process, increased scrutiny of H1-B visa applicants—immigration policy has been overhauled under the latest Trump administration. And, just last week the Trump administration said it would begin revoking the visas of some Chinese students who are currently studying at U.S. schools. On today’s episode, we dive into the impacts that these changes could have on the tech industry from the talent pipeline to future innovations. Articles mentioned in this episode: The Trump Administration Wants to Create an ‘Office of Remigration’, US Tech Visa Applications Are Being Put Through the Wringer You can follow our hosts on Bluesky—Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

There’s been a lot of talk about how AI tools like ChatGPT are changing education. Students are using AI to do research, write papers, and get better grades. So today on the show, we debate whether using AI in school is actually cheating. Plus, we dive into how students and teachers are using these tools, and we ask what place AI should have in the future of learning. You can follow our hosts on Bluesky—Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

WIRED’s Senior Writer, Andy Greenberg, has been reporting on ghost guns for years. He first used a 3D printer to assemble a gun more than a decade ago, and says that today’s process is not only faster, but cheaper. We talk to Andy about how he legally printed the same gun Luigi Mangione allegedly used in the alleged killing of the United Healthcare CEO last year, and whether US law is keeping up with the technology of 3D printed guns. Articles mentioned in this episode: We Made Luigi Mangione’s 3D-Printed Gun—and Fired It Bluesky Is Plotting a Total Takeover of the Social InternetThe Delirious, Violent, Impossible True Story of the ZiziansYou can follow Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky @zoeschiffer Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Elon Musk says he’s stepping back from his role with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency to turn his attention to his businesses—most urgently to Tesla, which has faced global sales slumps in recent months. Today on the show, we discuss how our understanding of DOGE has evolved over the past five months and what we think will happen when Musk scales back. You can follow our hosts on Bluesky—Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Pornhub is currently not available in more than a third of US States, due to new age verification laws. And just last week, two Republican senators introduced a bill which could ban pornography across the country. The looming threat on the industry was not lost on some of the biggest names in the adult film industry at this year’s Pornhub Awards. In fact, it was central to the event’s theme. WIRED’s Manisha Krishnan was there, and on this week’s episode tells us all about the event, and how Pornhub’s story is at the center of tech and politics today. Articles mentioned in this episode: Your Favorite Porn Stars Are Sick of Being Censored. But They’re Not Going AwayThe Biggest Dating App Faux Pas for Gen Z? Being CringeNorth Korea Stole Your Job Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In the days before his inauguration, President Trump announced his own cryptocurrency, TRUMP coin, a move that could stand to make the Trump family significantly wealthier. And now, Trump has offered investors something else– access to him, when he recently announced he’ll hold a private dinner with the largest investors in TRUMP coin. In this week’s episode, we talk about Trump's venture into cryptocurrency and the giant web of ethical concerns it presents. You can follow our hosts on Bluesky—Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

When former national security advisor Mike Waltz had a picture taken of him last week, he didn’t expect for the whole world to see that he was using TeleMessage, a messaging app similar to Signal. Now the app has been hacked, with portions of data linked to government entities like Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and companies like Coinbase. Today on the show, we’re joined by WIRED senior writer Lily Hay Newman to discuss what this incident tells us about the growing vulnerabilities in government communications. Articles mentioned in this episode: Mike Waltz Has Somehow Gotten Even Worse at Using SignalThe Signal Clone the Trump Admin Uses Was HackedThe Signal Clone Mike Waltz Was Caught Using Has Direct Access to User Chats You can follow Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky @zoeschiffer, and Lily Hay Newman @lhn. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In the year 2000, measles were declared eliminated from the United States. But thanks to declining vaccination rates, Americans may have to contend with a much scarier future for the deadly disease. Today on the show, we talk about the state of measles, and we explain the role Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, has played in the shifting culture around vaccines in America. You can follow our hosts on Bluesky—Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

President Trump’s tariff standoff with China has caused chaos, confusion and major delays for companies of all shapes and sizes. As everyone waits to see what happens next, some businesses that depend on international trade are already feeling major impacts, saying that they might not meet their production deadlines. And one of those deadlines is pretty important: Christmas. Today on the show, we're joined by WIRED's Senior Business Editor Louise Matsakis to talk through the latest on tariffs. Articles mentioned in this episode Donald Trump Is Already Ruining ChristmasOpenAI Adds Shopping to ChatGPT in a Challenge to GoogleThe Agonizing Task of Turning Europe’s Power Back On You can follow Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky @zoeschiffer. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Under the new Trump administration, more and more visa holders and foreign visitors are being detained or denied entry at the border. It’s also becoming more common for people to be questioned or detained because of content on their phones, laptops and cameras. In today’s episode, we’ll tell you what you need to know about your carrying devices across the US border, and how to stay safe. Plus, we share some pretty spectacular recommendations for your downtime. You can follow our hosts on Bluesky—Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

China has long been a really important market for Tesla and for Elon Musk, but after the rising US tariffs and rising competition in the electric vehicle market – Tesla may be on the outs in China. Today on the show, we’re joined by Zeyi Yang, senior writer at WIRED, to talk about what it all means for Elon Musk’s company. Articles mentioned in this episode DOGE Is Building a Master Database to Surveil and Track ImmigrantsStumbling and Overheating, Most Humanoid Robots Fail to Finish Half-Marathon in BeijingYou can follow Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky @zoeschiffer. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

There have been a number of protests in the past few months pushing back against President Trump’s most recent policy changes, and we're likely to see more. Today on the show, WIRED’s Senior Editor of Security and Investigations, Andrew Couts, talks us through the technology being used by law enforcement to surveil protests, how surveillance tech has evolved over the years, and what it means for anyone taking to the streets or posting to social media to voice their concerns. Plus, we share WIRED tips on how to stay safe, should you choose to protest. You can follow our hosts on Bluesky— Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The trial between the US Federal Trade Commission and Meta began this week—and the future of the company is at stake. The FTC wants Meta to sell off two prized assets, Instagram and WhatsApp, arguing that it acquired them illegally to suppress competition. Today on the show, Senior Writer Paresh Dave joins host Zoë Schiffer to talk about what we know right now about the government’s case—and what we learned when Mark Zuckerberg took the stand Monday. Articles mentioned in this episode FTC v Meta Trial: The future of Instagram and Whatsapp is at stake Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It’s been total chaos since President Trump announced tariffs last week. Despite the endless reporting on this story, none of it really makes any sense yet. So today, we attempt to make sense of how the tariffs could revamp the entire tech industry and what you can do to deal with this new normal. You can follow our hosts on Bluesky— Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

WIRED’s Louise Matsakis joins Zoë Schiffer, WIRED’s Director of Business & Industry, to talk about this week’s market madness and why the US probably won’t have armies of people screwing in little screws to make iPhones anytime soon. Articles mentioned in this episode: Trump Tariffs Hit Antarctic Islands Inhabited by Zero Humans and Many PenguinsTrump and DOGE Defund Program That Boosted American Manufacturing for Decades Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It's long been believed that Silicon Valley is a hotbed for libertarian ideals, but where did that idea come from? Aside from some high-profile tech founders and investors who either identify as libertarian or express libertarian-esque beliefs, does this set of ideologies really define the Valley? And what is libertarianism anyway? You can follow Michael Calore on Bluesky at @snackfight, Lauren Goode on Bluesky at @laurengoode, and Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky @zoeschiffer. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The mission of Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurs has long been to change the world. But, how do you know whether a pursuit is good or bad? ACTS17 collective, a Christian faith based group of tech entrepreneurs, says a strong relationship with God is the answer. Today on the show, we talk about the people promoting a faith-based approach to tech, we learn what a “good quest” is, and we ask, what impact religion will have on the type of ventures the valley pursues in the future? Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices