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Behind every innovation is a new kind of power. TechStuff unpacks how technology reshapes influence, creativity, and control, from Silicon Valley’s rising moguls to the cultural forces they create. Because tech is the new religion, economy, and entertainment, all at once.

Each week, Oz Woloshyn and the brightest minds covering tech dig into the weird, funny, and sometimes unsettling ways technology, AI, and the internet shape our daily lives. From AI and social media to privacy, digital burnout, and the creator economy, they ask how all this innovation is changing who we are, how we work, love, and make meaning.

Smart talk, strange stories, and the questions everyone’s Googling: whether AI will replace us, how social media is affecting our kids, and what it all says about us.

Get in touch here: techstuffpodcast@gmail.com

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August 3 · 37 min
Shell Game: 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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July 31 · 41 min
Chinese Humanoid Robots Aren’t Welcome Here, US Says - Week in Tech
Why is the US banning more Chinese technology? Reed Albergotti (Semafor) fills us in on the robot ban and what it means for American innovation. Then, new research on why Chinese open-source AI models may not be as big a threat as Washington makes it seem. Taylor Lorenz (User Mag) tells us about Substack’s new AI detection tool and what it reveals about how creators’ are using AI to build their content. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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July 29 · 33 min
Cerebras Built a New Way to Make Sand Think - The Story
What does it take to power the AI boom? Steve Vassallo, a roboticist turned General Partner at Foundation Capital, helped semiconductor company Cerebras figure it out. Steve and Oz discuss why AI workloads demanded an entirely new kind of chip, what "wafer scale" actually means, and how a decade of near-failures — including a system that literally caught fire — led to the largest semiconductor IPO to date and deals with OpenAI and AWS. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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July 28 · 44 min
Trust Needs Proof: Who Really Controls Your AI?
As AI adoption accelerates and global regulations evolve, digital sovereignty has shifted from policy concept to board-level priority. In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Malcolm Gladwell sits down live at VivaTech with IBM’s Ana Paula Assis and AXA CIO Giovanni D’Aniello to explore how organizations can balance innovation, control, trust, and resilience in the age of AI. This is a paid advertisement from IBM. The conversations on this podcast don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions. Visit us at https://www.ibm.com/think/podcasts/smart-talks See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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July 24 · 43 min
Did the AI Catastrophe Just Happen? - Week in Tech
How much can we actually trust AI to stay inside the lines? Nitasha Tiku (The Washington Post) on the OpenAI models that went rogue — and why this isn't necessarily a sign of the end times… just sloppy security. Reed Albergotti (Semafor) on the company that wants to help anyone make software to power robots. Do we even have to talk about what that means for the future of human labor? Finally, Taylor Lorenz (User Mag) on Phoebe Gates' AI shopping startup Phia. Is it too early to call it nepo slop? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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July 22 · 34 min
What is Palantir’s Alex Karp Thinking? - The Story
What are we supposed to make of Palantir — a company whose software has helped organizations save lives, and end them? And what of CEO Alex Karp's warnings that AI could upend American democracy? Journalist Michael Steinberger spent six years reporting on Karp for his biography, The Philosopher in the Valley: Alex Karp, Palantir, and the Rise of the Surveillance State. He tells Oz that Alex Karp, the former progressive, is a provocateur who embraces the complexity of Palantir’s work and reputation. Additional Reading: The Philosopher in the Valley: Alex Karp, Palantir, and the Rise of the Surveillance State | Simon & Schuster See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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July 19 · 33 min
Shell Game: 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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July 17 · 37 min
Are You Ready For A ‘Hot Surveillance Summer’? - Week in Tech
Who’s afraid of China’s open-source AI models? Nitasha Tiku (The Washington Post) breaks down the secret battle between Silicon Valley and Chinese AI labs, why Anthropic was surveilling China-based users, and whether "adversarial distillation" is a national security threat or just a term American companies invented to protect their bottom line. Then: ‘hot surveillance summer’ is here. Taylor Lorenz (User Mag) on the changing public perception of smart glasses, why the Kylie Jenner partnership was so successful, and where this trend may lead. Also, Apple is suing OpenAI for allegedly stealing trade secrets. Additional Reading: Inside the secret AI war between Silicon Valley and China | The Washington Post Hot Surveillance Summer, AKA Why Smart Glasses Feel Different This Time | User Mag See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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July 15 · 1 hr
Skyline Drive: Organ Trail
Did you love TechStuff’s last episode, 'The Tech That Helps You Live Forever', and want to hear more from Mangesh Hattikudur? Check out Episode 5 of the podcast Skyline Drive: How to Live Forever. In this season of Skyline Drive, Mangesh Hattikudur (Part-Time Genius, Mental_Floss) dives into the booming business of living forever—meeting the scientists, biopunks, and entrepreneurs trying to turn immortality into reality, and framing death as a choice. But the more he learns about an immortal future, the more he finds himself drawn to the people he loves…and wondering if an endless life can be a meaningful one. Skyline Drive: How to Live Forever is the follow up to the beloved Skyline Drive (season 1), named a “Series Essential” — an Apple Podcasts honor for top-tier narrative podcasts — and highlighted on several Best of Year lists including NYMag, Guardian, and others. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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July 15 · 35 min
The Tech That Helps You Live Forever - The Story
What's it like to feel your body age in minutes? And will this tech actually affect how long we live? Oz sits down with Mangesh Hattikudur, host of Skyline Drive: How to Live Forever, to find out. This season, Mangesh dives into a world familiar to many Silicon Valley billionaires: longevity. He meets the scientists, entrepreneurs, biopunks, and researchers seeking ways to extend life itself — and speaks with the co-founder of a mysterious start-up, a company that sent the MIT Technology Review this statement: "Any allegations of intent or conspiracy to create human clones or humans with brain damage are categorically false." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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July 10 · 44 min
Why Animal Rights Advocates Are Investigating AI Consciousness - Week in Tech
Do chatbots have feelings? Anthropic, Google, and Meta are hiring computer scientists, neuroscientists, and philosophers to find out. Nitasha Tiku (The Washington Post) explains why the search for AI consciousness has gone from fringe theory to Silicon Valley mainstream, and why the answer matters more than you think. Then, Taylor Lorenz (User Mag) traveled cross-country to attend an anti-big tech festival in New York City called the Summer of Ludd. She tells us about cleansing her laptop, talking to the event’s puppet spokesperson, and learning what these young organizers hope the future holds. Finally, Reed Albergotti (Semaphor) on what happens when your AI coding agent goes rogue while you're on vacation in the Alps — and the heroic lengths required to reach an actual human at OpenAI. Additional Reading: AI Makes Mistakes, Too | Semafor They built the world's most powerful AI. They're facing a mystery they can't explain. | The Washington Post See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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July 8 · 36 min
Big Tech’s Most Valuable Product Isn’t AI. It’s the Belief that AI is Inevitable - The Story
Do you work with machines, or for machines? Cory Doctorow, who coined the term “enshittification,” has a new book that asks exactly that. In The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI: How to Think About Artificial Intelligence Before It's Too Late, he challenges the belief that AI is inevitable, explains why tech boosters are pushing this message, and how it leads to companies that are “too big to fail… too big to jail… too big to care.” Cory Doctorow and Oz discuss the economics of a bubble, algorithmic wage discrimination, and what you can do to help save your industry from disruption. Additional Reading: The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI: How to Think About Artificial Intelligence Before It's Too Late | Verso Books See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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July 5 · 53 min
Shell Game: 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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July 3 · 40 min
TechStuff Redux: How Google DeepMind Accidentally Started the AI Race
What drives a man to turn down half a million pounds at 18, test Mark Zuckerberg's sincerity over dinner, and wonder aloud if he can win a second Nobel Prize? For Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, the answer is a lifelong pursuit of artificial general intelligence — and an unshakeable belief that the technology he's creating will change everything about what it means to be human. Oz speaks with journalist and author Sebastian Mallaby about his new book, The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence, tracing Demis's extraordinary journey from chess prodigy to the man at the center of the most consequential technological race of our time. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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July 1 · 35 min
This Founder's Failed Social Networking Site Led to a Multi-Billion Dollar Idea - The Story
How do you build a billion-dollar startup? Ask Mark Pincus. The founder of Zynga and creator of FarmVille, Mark turned a $350,000 personal investment into one of the most successful gaming companies in history — eventually selling to Take-Two Interactive for over $12 billion. Along the way, he invested early in Facebook, launched one of the first social networks, and learned more from his failures than his wins. In his new book, Life at the Speed of Play: Launch Products People Love!, Mark shares the product philosophy and founder mindset behind his biggest successes and his biggest swings. In this episode, Mark sits down with Oz to talk about why control is the secret to creativity and what it really takes to spot an opportunity before it's obvious to build something the world didn't know it needed. Additional Reading: Life at the Speed of Play See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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June 30 · 44 min
The Quantum Shift in Biomedical Discovery
When Dr. Lara Jehi began treating epilepsy patients in the 2000s, critical surgical decisions were driven more by clinician intuition and expertise than data. Today, she is a leader of IBM and Cleveland Clinic’s Discovery Accelerator, using advanced AI and quantum computing to transform how researchers analyze data, simulate molecules, accelerate drug discovery, and develop more precise treatments. Malcolm Gladwell talks with Dr. Jehi about how quantum computing is changing biomedical research, and what these breakthroughs could mean for the future of healthcare and life sciences. This is a paid advertisement from IBM. The conversations on this podcast don’t necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions. Visit us at https://www.ibm.com/think/podcasts/smart-talks See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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June 28 · 43 min
Shell Game: 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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June 26 · 37 min
TechStuff Redux: More AI in Space Than on Earth? Really!?
Is building data centers in space actually feasible? It may be, thanks to Ariel Ekblaw. The scientist, VC investor and co-founder and CEO of Aurelia Institute has devoted her life to democratizing space and ensuring that humans will one day be a spacefaring species. Ariel sits down with Oz to discuss self-assembling space architecture, how science-fiction influences her inventions, and why she doesn’t think billionaires investing in space is a bad thing. Download SAILY in your app store and use our code techstuff at checkout to get an exclusive 15% off your first purchase! For further details go to https://saily.com/techstuff See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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June 24 · 38 min
The Man Who Wrote the AI Textbook Says We're Heading For Extinction - The Story
How close are we to human extinction because of AI? Leading AI expert Professor Stuart Russell believes we’re much too close for comfort and has been raising the alarm for a few years. Ironically, Stuart himself wrote the book that laid the foundation for AI research back in the 1990s. And he was the only AI expert Elon Musk’s team called upon during their trial with OpenAI. Stuart joins Oz to discuss what changed his mind about pursuing AI superintelligence and makes the argument that human extinction is being treated as an external liability in favor of shareholders. EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/techstuff Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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June 22 · 41 min
Shell Game: 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. 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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