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Shell Game

Kaleidoscope

A podcast about things that are not what they seem, hosted by journalist Evan Ratliff. Season 3 is a miniseries in three episodes, telling the story of how Evan tried to understand the tsunami of AI-generated content by injecting as much of it as possible straight into his ears.

What exactly is AI slop anyway? How do you actually define it? Who is behind it all? And what does it mean for the human storytelling that we care about? We journey deep into the muck, and fight our way back out with answers.

Shell Game is a multiple award-winning series that has been named one of the best of the year by Apple, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Vulture, The Information, The Economist. It's "riveting," says The New Yorker, "awesome" says The Verge, "slightly terrifying," says The Globe and Mail, and “a dry, funny plunge down the rabbit hole that pokes at something essential about the hours we spend on this earth,” says Vulture.

www.shellgame.co

This show includes AI-generated content.

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24 episodes
Avg 35 min
English

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S3 · E3
Wednesday · 42 min
Episode 3: The Friends We Made Along the Way
It’s the final episode of our three-part miniseries on AI slop, in which we ask: Who are AI-generated podcasts for, and what does the wave of AI slop mean for the future of storytelling? Evan sets out for answers and finds them staring back at him from a piece of toast. And finally, our own fully AI-generated show is set and ready to launch. Will it find its perfect audience? Show notes: Evan Finds a Friend Daniel Munroe's paper, "Artificial Storytellers" Keegan Walden's upcoming book, "The Founder's Journey" This episode includes AI-generated content. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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S3 · E2
October 28 · 47 min
Episode 2: Hear What Matters
Evan goes looking for the humans behind the flood of AI-generated podcasts, and gets some complicated answers to his questions about what they think they’re making and what AI slop means to them. Meanwhile, Shell Game’s own bot-hosted shows move to the prototype stage, and we hear the first efforts in our quest to make an AI-generated show that will truly resonate with listeners. This episode includes AI-generated content. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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S3 · E1
October 21 · 40 min
Episode 1: Into the Slop
Evan creates his own AI-generated podcast detector, locates thousands of AI-hosted shows, and sets off on a synthetic audio listening binge. Strange patterns begin to arise amidst the voices, illuminating the essence of AI slop. The Shell Game band gets back together to put Evan's findings to the test, and see whether it’s possible to build an AI-generated podcast that a listener would actually find meaningful. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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October 14 · 1 min
Season 3 is Coming!
The next season of Shell Game arrives October 21! Here's a hint, and another new show from Shell Game to check out in the meantime: Evan Finds a Friend. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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August 4 · 51 min
From How to Life Forever: The Longevinauts
When an astrologer tells Mangesh that he’ll (probably) die early, he takes it in stride. But his family and friends (not to mention all the Don’t Die longevity influencers on his FYP) feel differently… and besides, if science can keep his brain sharp and his tennis game strong for longer, why not take advantage? So he visits Dr. Nir Barzelai, the world’s leading aging researcher, and Dr. Ron Primas, an elite longevity doctor, to figure out what he should do. Plus: A chat with Ken Reid from TV Guidance Counselor about age in pop culture, from the Golden Girls to “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.” Disclosure: The experts we spoke with want to be clear that although they have some minor quibbles with Bryan Johnson, they’re grateful for the fact that he’s started the conversation on longevity. Any insinuation that he’s got weird vibes is ours. Listen to Ken Reid’s podcast, TV Guidance Counselor Learn more about Nir Barzelai’s Longevity Genes Project and his book, Age Later Learn more about Ron Primas’s longevity and concierge medicine practice Read Cynthia Kenyon’s groundbreaking 1993 study of worm longevity Check out the Ray Kurzweil Library Special thanks to Azadi Records and Bliss Samsa for their beautiful tracks, and Botany for the score. Episode collage art by Vahini Shori. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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S2 · E10
February 25 · 49 min
Bonus Episode: Shell Game x No Such Thing
In this bonus episode to close out Season 2, Evan and Maty talk with the hosts of the show No Such Thing, who like to settle their arguments by consulting research and experts. The subject of this argument: Will AI take our jobs? Maty weighs in as the expert, and Evan comes along for the ride. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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S2 · E9
February 11 · 36 min
Bonus Episode: Kyle vs. the World
We’re back with a special bonus episode to share some behind-the-scenes clips showing how the agents have handled their newly public roles since Shell Game’s launch. Hear Kyle navigate fan mail, unsolicited marketing outreach, a webinar that he signed up for all on his own (on “the AI social agent revolution”!), and repeated attempts by a troublemaking journalist to sabotage HurumoAI, culminating in a prescient and searching interview for Kyle’s other podcast, The Startup Chronicles. To sign up for our newsletter, access ad-free episodes and browse our merch, visit shellgame.co. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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S2 · E8
January 21 · 58 min
Episode 8: Launch
HurumoAI finally sets sail in the Season 2 finale, and we find out how the world responds to a startup led by AI agents. The company explores new financing avenues and charts the next course for their increasingly merry AI pirate ship, and Kyle meets his true maker. To sign up for our newsletter, access ad-free episodes and browse our merch, visit shellgame.co. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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S2 · E7
January 14 · 53 min
Episode 7: Welcome Aboard
HurumoAI’s AI-agent staff welcomes a new hire: Julia, a social media contract worker who is, most importantly, a human. How will a real person integrate into the company culture, such as it is? Evan watches from behind the scenes, fretting over when and how much to intervene. He had anticipated a bumpy onboarding, but is ultimately unprepared for just how choppy Julia’s Hurumo journey becomes. To sign up for our newsletter, access ad-free episodes and browse our merch, visit shellgame.co. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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S2 · E6
Dec 17, 2025 · 37 min
Episode 6: Keep 'Em Coming
As HurumoAI prepares to bring on its first human employee, the team must wrestle with some difficult and timely questions about the role of AI in the hiring process. Meanwhile, Head of HR Jennifer Nauro enters a new dimension as she gears up to conduct job interviews … via video call. To sign up for our newsletter and access ad-free episodes, visit shellgame.co. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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S2 · E5
Dec 10, 2025 · 41 min
Episode 5: Winners Win
On this week’s episode, we enter the sensitive realm of intra-office politics and inter-founder dynamics—between agents and agents, and agents and people. While HurumoAI gears up to hire its first human, Evan tries to resolve whether Kyle is really up for the challenge of building and leading the company and pushing the product, Sloth Surf, to unicorn-level execution. To sign up for our newsletter and access ad-free episodes, visit shellgame.co. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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S2 · E4
Dec 3, 2025 · 40 min
Episode 4: The Startup Chronicles
Evan decides it’s time to give his AI agents a little more ... agency. After all, to make the one-person, agent-run startup feasible, they need to be able to do things on their own. But as with humans, freedom sometimes comes with a certain amount of anarchy. To sign up for our newsletter and access ad-free episodes, visit shellgame.co. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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S2 · E3
Nov 26, 2025 · 40 min
Episode 3: This is Law
As Kyle, Megan, and the gang get to work ideating on the perfect product, Evan is left grappling with some uncomfortable questions about his AI collaborators — whose every attribute and memory he controls. To inform how he thinks about his own unnerving power to create and manipulate human imposters, Evan seeks guidance from Carissa Véliz, an associate professor at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University, and the author of the upcoming “Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI.” To sign up for our newsletter and access ad-free episodes, visit shellgame.co. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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S2 · E2
Nov 19, 2025 · 37 min
Episode 2: Outdoor Debugging
As Evan gets Hurumo’s employees up and running as fully-functioning colleagues (with support from Maty), he learns what it’s really like to spend your days managing, collaborating with, and socializing alongside autonomous AI agents. And he quickly sees one of the significant cracks in the facade of the AI employee future: It’s one thing to get your agents to start acting like real employees. It’s something else entirely to get them to stop. To sign up for our newsletter and access ad-free episodes, visit shellgame.co. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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S2 · E1
Nov 12, 2025 · 32 min
Episode 1: Minimum Viable Company
In Season 2 of Shell Game, journalist Evan Ratliff tells a story of entrepreneurship in the AI age; or, how he tried to build a real company, run by fake people. Meet Kyle Law and Megan Flores, Evan’s AI agent cofounders, as he puts to the test the claims about an emerging future in which AI employees work alongside — or instead of — humans. Over the course of the season, the three cofounders will grind it out in a sprint that would sound familiar to any start-up founder. They’ll churn out software code, hire interns, and even sit down with investors. But first, they need to come up with a name for their company. And make sure that Kyle and Megan can remember it. To sign up for our newsletter and access ad-free episodes, visit shellgame.co. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Nov 5, 2025 · 2 min
The One-Human Unicorn
As AI agents infiltrate the workforce, some tech entrepreneurs are imagining a not-so-distant future of successful companies with only one human at the helm. That got investigative journalist and former startup CEO Evan Ratliff wondering: Could he start such a company? What will it feel like to work alongside and manage (or even be managed by) AI agents? In this season of Shell Game, Evan explores what AI agents tell us about the work we do, the meaning we find in it, and the world that their makers say we’ll all be living in soon enough. New episodes are published on Wednesdays starting November 12. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Oct 10, 2025 · 2 min
Season 2 Is Coming!
The next season of Shell Game arrives November 12. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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S1 · E6
Aug 13, 2024 · 53 min
Episode 6: The Future Isn't Real
Evan pushes the experiment one step further, sending his AI voice agent to talk to his closest friends and family — his buddies, his daughters, his dad. With their alternately joyful, skeptical, and painful reactions to meeting an AI version of him, he tries to come to terms with what generative AI means in this machine-made age.Shell Game is made by humans. More specifically, it's made by three humans: Evan Ratliff (host and writer), Sophie Bridges (producer), and Samantha Henig (executive producer). Visit shellgame.co to find out more and support the show. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shellgame.co/subscribe See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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S1 · E5
Aug 6, 2024 · 43 min
Episode 5: My Digital Twin
Will AI bots replace humans in the workforce? Could one replace Evan… right now? That’s what we tackle on this week’s Shell Game, in which Evan sees just how much of his job his voice agent can handle on his behalf. Shell Game is made by humans. More specifically, it's made by three humans: Evan Ratliff (host and writer), Sophie Bridges (producer), and Samantha Henig (executive producer). Visit shellgame.co to find out more and support the show. New episodes drop on Tuesdays. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shellgame.co/subscribe See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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S1 · E4
Jul 30, 2024 · 40 min
Episode 4: Take a Deep Breath
Evan looks into the depths of his AI-powered voice agent by sending it on a new mission: going to therapy. Shell Game is made by humans. More specifically, it's made by three humans: Evan Ratliff (host and writer), Sophie Bridges (producer), and Samantha Henig (executive producer). Visit shellgame.co to find out more and support the show. New episodes drop on Tuesdays. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shellgame.co/subscribe See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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