It sounds like something out of the Old West, but this year, Constitutional Sheriffs — law enforcement officers who believe they’re above state and federal oversight — have rounded up posses and set their sights on election security. WIRED’s Tim Marchman talks with reporter David Gilbert about how the Constitutional Sheriffs hitched their wagons to the big guns in the election denial movement, and how just one rogue county sheriff could call the entire presidential race into question.  Tim Marchman is @timmarchman. David Gilbert is @DaithaiGilbert. Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.Mentioned this week:'Take Back the States': The Far-Right Sheriffs Ready to Disrupt the Election by David GilbertFar-Right Sheriffs Want a Citizen Army to Stop ‘Illegal Immigrant’ Voters by David Gilbert

On Wednesday, a WIRED exclusive revealed that one of J.D. Vance’s financial policy advisers has posted a lot on Reddit about illicit substances. Given Vance’s hard stance on drugs, WIRED’s Tim Marchman and Makena Kelly join Leah to discuss why it matters that a member of his staff seems to have been using them. Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. Makena Kelly is @kellymakena. Tim Marchman is @timmarchman. Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.Mentioned this week:JD Vance Adviser Posted on Reddit for Years About Use of Cocaine, ‘Gas Station Heroin,’ Other Drugs by Makena KellyWe’ve been nominated for a Signal Award! Vote for us here: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2024/shows/general/technology

You might know him from Tesla and SpaceX, but now Elon Musk spends a lot of his time campaigning for former president Donald Trump. WIRED’s David Gilbert and Vittoria Elliott join Leah to talk about what Musk gets from going all in on Trump — and whether he’ll win Trump the White House. Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger.  David Gilbert is @DaithaiGilbert. Vittoria Elliott is @telliotter. Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.Mentioned this week:Elon Musk Spoke at a Trump Rally, Referenced ‘Dark MAGA,’ and Urged Supporters to Vote by Vittoria Elliott and Tess OwenRight-Wing Influencers Claim ‘They’ Defeated Physics, Geoengineered Hurricane Milton by Tess OwenWe’ve been nominated for a Signal Award! Vote for us here: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2024/shows/general/technology

Vice Presidential candidates Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. J.D. Vance faced off last night in their first and only debate. Will Vance’s repackaging of Trump’s record on issues like abortion and January 6 land with independents and swing state voters? Where was the fiery Walz who won social media by calling Republicans “weird?” And will any of this really matter on election day? WIRED’s Tim Marchman and Makena Kelly join Leah to discuss. Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. Makena Kelly is @kellymakena. Tim Marchman is @timmarchman. Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.Mentioned this week:No, Tim Walz Is Not Friends with School Shooters by David GilbertGet Your VP Debate Bingo Card Right Here by Makena Kelly

Gen Z is over it. The youngest generation of adults is inheriting a climate crisis, the ongoing fallout from a global pandemic, a polarized political landscape, and a tenuous economic reality.  And many Gen Z members, a generation more likely to identify as progressive than conservative, are ready for something to give.Enter: Gen Z for Change — a youth-led non-profit that brands itself as, "the place where the creator economy and progressive politics intersect on social media." The group leverages a hundreds-deep network of social media creators to spread calls to action over TikTok. They've also pulled on the programming expertise within their team to develop a caché of semi-automatic tools that take the guesswork out of engaging with their political agenda.Their latest tool, "Ceasefire Now!!" takes these efforts one step further — resulting in, by Gen Z for Change's count, two million emails calling for a ceasefire in Gaza hitting the inboxes of elected representatives in Washington every day.Share your thoughts on WIRED Politics Lab. As a token of our appreciation, you will be eligible to enter a prize drawing up to $1,000 after you complete the survey.https://selfserve.decipherinc.com/survey/selfserve/222b/76152?pin=1&uBRANDLINK=7&uCHANNELLINK=2

From political fundraisers to the presidential debate to a September 11 commemoration, far-right influencer Laura Loomer has become a staple in former president Donald Trump’s political entourage. WIRED’s David Gilbert and Tim Marchman join Leah to discuss Loomer’s history of conspiracies, Islamophobia, and how she ended up in Trump’s orbit.Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger.  David Gilbert is @DaithaiGilbert. Tim Marchman is @timmarchman. Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.Mentioned this week: Laura Loomer Is MAGA at Its Most Extreme—and She’s Closer to Donald Trump Than Ever by David GilbertShare your thoughts on WIRED Politics Lab. As a token of our appreciation, you will be eligible to enter a prize drawing up to $1,000 after you complete the survey.https://selfserve.decipherinc.com/survey/selfserve/222b/76152?pin=1&uBRANDLINK=7&uCHANNELLINK=2

WIRED’s Makena Kelly and Tim Marchman join Leah to discuss the memorable moments, the policies and, of course, the conspiracies that came up in Tuesday’s presidential debate. Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. Makena Kelly is @kellymakena. Tim Marchman is @timmarchman. Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.Share your thoughts on WIRED Politics Lab. As a token of our appreciation, you will be eligible to enter a prize drawing up to $1,000 after you complete the survey.https://selfserve.decipherinc.com/survey/selfserve/222b/76152?pin=1&uBRANDLINK=7&uCHANNELLINK=2

A few months ago, everyone seemed worried about how AI would impact the 2024 election. Lately, it seems like some of the panic has dissipated, but political deepfakes — including pornographic images and video —  are still everywhere. Today on the show, WIRED reporters Vittoria Elliott and Will Knight on what has changed with AI and what we should worry about.Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. Vittoria Elliott is @telliotter. Will Knight is @willknight to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.Mentioned this week:OpenAI Is Testing Its Powers of Persuasion by Will KnightAI-Fakes Detection Is Failing Voters in the Global South by Vittoria Elliott2024 Is the Year of the Generative AI Election by Vittoria Elliott

The Democratic National Convention organizers really rolled out the blue carpet for influencers this year. Today on the show, WIRED senior reporter Makena Kelly joins from Chicago to talk about the Democrats’ strategy of favoring creators over journalists, and whether it will help them win votes. Plus, behind the scenes at the influencer after-parties. Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. Makena Kelly is @kellymakena.  Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.Mentioned this week: The DNC Is Officially the Influencer Convention by Makena KellyA Visual Guide to the Influencers Shaping the 2024 Election by Makena Kelly

Team Trump was winning the internet until the Harris-Walz campaign took over. But Democrats can’t just keep calling Republicans “weird” and celebrating Brat Summer until election day. Today on the show, writer and critic Hunter Harris on how Kamala Harris is harnessing social media and what comes next in the run-up to November.Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. Hunter Harris is @hunteryharris Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.Mentioned this week:Silk Presses Stick Together: Kamala Harris Secures Club Chalamet's Endorsement by Hunter HarrisLemme Say This by Peyton Dix and Hunter HarrisA Visual Guide to the Influencers Shaping the 2024 Election by Makena Kelly

The election denial movement lives on, thanks in part to the efforts of well-funded and well-organized far-right activists. Today on the show, CNN correspondent Donie O’Sullivan joins Wired Politics Lab to talk about his forthcoming documentary examining election deniers’ new tactics, and what happens after the November vote. Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. David Gilbert is @DaithaiGilbert. Donie O’Sullivan is @Donie. Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.Mentioned this week:Election Deniers Are Ramping Up Efforts to Disenfranchise Voters by David GilbertMisinfoNation: The Trump Faithful by Donie O’SullivanInside the Election Denial Groups Planning to Disrupt November by David Gilbert.

Q hasn’t posted anything since 2022. But a staggering number of Americans still buy into QAnon, the conspiracy movement steeped in claims that Satan-worshiping pedophiles run the US government. Today on the show, journalist and author Jesselyn Cook on QAnon’s lasting political ramifications and the relationships it destroys.Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. David Gilbert is @DaithaiGilbert. Jesselyn Cook is @JessReports. Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter hereMentioned this week:The Quiet Damage: QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family by Jesselyn Cook

Today, we're bringing you a special preview of the new season of the New Yorker investigative podcast In the Dark, hosted by Madeleine Baran. The series examines the killings of twenty-four civilians in Haditha, Iraq, and asks why no one was held accountable for the crime.In Episode 1, a man in Haditha, Iraq, has a request for the In the Dark team: Can you investigate how my family was killed?In the Dark is available wherever you get your podcasts: https://link.chtbl.com/itds3feeddrop

Today on WIRED Politics Lab, how Democratic megadonors in Silicon Valley are showing their support for Vice President Kamala Harris now that President Joe Biden has dropped out of the race. Plus, why posts from the far-right and Republican lawmakers calling Biden’s exit a ‘coup’ have exploded online.Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. Makena Kelly is @kellymakena. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. David Gilbert is @DaithaiGilbert. Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.Mentioned this week:Silicon Valley Donors Bailed on Biden. Kamala Harris Is Winning Them Back by  Makena Kelly and Lauren Goode The Right Reacts to Biden’s Withdrawal: It’s a ‘Coup’  by David GilbertThe Far Right Is Already Demonizing Kamala Harris by David Gilbert 

Right after former president Donald Trump was shot at his campaign rally in Pennsylvania, conspiracy theories exploded online. Today on WIRED Politics Lab, we discuss the subsequent calls for violence and civil war, and the way that militias are recruiting off of the incident. Plus, we report from the Republican National Convention on the reaction to Trump’s vice presidential nominee, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio.Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. David Gilbert is @DaithaiGilbert. Makena Kelly is @kellymakena.Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.Mentioned this week: Militias Are Recruiting Off of the Trump Shooting by Tess OwenFar-Right Extremists Call for Violence and War After Trump Shooting by David GilbertTrump Shooting Conspiracies Are Coming From Every Direction by David GilbertElon Musk Among Tech Heavyweights to Rally Behind J.D. Vance VP Pick by Makena KellyInfluencers Are Racing to Profit From the Trump Shooting by Makena Kelly

After President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate, speculations that Vice President Kamala Harris may fill the void are everywhere. Today on WIRED Politics Lab, how the far right is already pushing racist and misogynistic conspiracies that question Harris’ ability to be president. Plus, why RFK Jr. is looking to capitalize on the moment.Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. David Gilbert is @DaithaiGilbert. Vittoria Elliot is @telliotter. Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.Mentioned this week:The Far Right Is Already Demonizing Kamala Harris by David Gilbert This Is the Moment RFK Jr. Has Been Waiting For  by Vittoria ElliotUnwelcome at the Debate, RFK Jr.’s Star Shines on TikTok Live by Makena KellyConspiracy Theorists Aren’t Even Bothering With Biden’s Debate Performance by David Gilbert

Today on WIRED Politics Lab, the first part of a series from Marketplace that explains how the New Deal changed American society.

Today on  WIRED Politics Lab, Pod Save America co-hosts Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor join the show to discuss what the Biden administration has to say about Disinformation. Plus, how to wade through the social media muck and stay informed through this election. Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. Jon Favreau is @jonfavs. Tommy Vietor is @TVietor08. Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.Mentioned this week:Google’s and Microsoft’s AI Chatbots Refuse to Say Who Won the 2020 US Election by David Gilbert Extremist Militias Are Coordinating in More Than 100 Facebook Groups by Tess Owen The Biden admin has no firm plan to call out domestic disinformation in the 2024 election By Dan De Luce and Ken Dilanian, NBCHow the Right Won the Internet and How the Left is Fighting Back Journalist Sasha Issenberg on Offline with Jon FavreauDemocracy or Else By Jon Favreau, Tommy Vietor and Jon Lovett

Jake Lang was arrested for his involvement in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. From prison, he has organized an armed militia that now has thousands of members nationwide.Today on WIRED Politics Lab, reporter David Gilbert explains how this new militia came to be and its possible parallels to 2020. Plus, a look into the recent resurgence of far right extremism.Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. David Gilbert is @DaithaiGilbert. Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.Mentioned this week:A January 6 Rioter Is Leading an Armed National Militia From Prison by David GilbertExtremist Militias Are Coordinating in More Than 100 Facebook Groups by Tess Owen

Today on WIRED Politics Lab, we're digging into AI chatbots. In a bizarre turn of events, two AI chatbots are running for elected office for the first time—ever. VIC is campaigning for mayor in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and AI Steve is running for Parliament in the UK. Reporter Vittoria Elliot interviewed both of the bots and the people behind them. She explains their motivations, and if any of this is even legal. Meanwhile, reporter David Gilbert talks about how Google and Microsofts’ AI chatbots are refusing to confirm who won the 2020 election.Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. Vittoria Elliot is @telliotter. David Gilbert is @DaithaiGilbert. Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.Mentioned this week:An AI Bot Is (Sort of) Running for Mayor in Wyoming by Vittoria ElliotGoogle’s and Microsoft’s AI Chatbots Refuse to Say Who Won the 2020 US Election by David GilbertThere’s an AI Candidate Running for Parliament in the UK by Vittoria Elliot.

David Remnick talks with Katie Drummond, the global editorial director of Wired magazine, about the TikTok ban that just passed with bipartisan support in Washington. The app will be removed from distribution in U.S. app stores unless ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, sells it to an approved buyer. TikTok is suing to block that law. Is this a battle among tech giants for dominance, or a real issue of national security? Drummond sees the ban as a corporate crusade by Silicon Valley to suppress a foreign competitor with a superior product. The claim that TikTok is a national-security threat she finds “a vast overreach that is rooted in hypotheticals and that is rooted in hypocrisy, and in … a fundamental refusal to look across the broad spectrum of social media platforms, and treat all of them from a regulatory point of view with the same level of care and precision.”

In the largest global election year yet, generative AI is already being used to trick and manipulate voters around the world. Will this growing trend have real impact? Today on WIRED Politics Lab, we talk about a new online project that will be tracking the use of AI in elections around the world. Plus, Nilesh Christopher dives into the lucrative industry of deepfakes, and how politicians are using them to bombard Indian voters.Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. Vittoria Elliot is @telliotter. Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.Mentioned this week:AI Global Elections Project “Indian Voters Are Being Bombarded With Millions of Deepfakes. Political Candidates Approve,” by Nilesh Christopher“A Far-Right Indian News Site Posts Racist Conspiracies. US Tech Companies Keep Platforming It” by Vittoria Elliot and David Gilbert

Twitter is officially dead. Last week, twitter.com became x.com, marking the final step in a rebranding effort that the company’s owner, Elon Musk, announced last year. The change marks a shift for the now bird-less app under Musk’s reign, which has welcomed Nazis and white supremacists back onto the platform, dissolved its Trust and Safety council, and become a cesspool of disinformation and conspiracy. Meanwhile, people seem to still long for authentic connection—like with the Dublin to New York portal that connects the cities through a live video stream. Today on WIRED Politics Lab, we trace Twitter's demise, and delve into what the rise of the portal could mean for the evolution of how we talk to each other and consume politics online.Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. David Gilbert is @DaithaiGilbert. Makena Kelly is @kellymakena. Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.

Hasan Piker is one of the biggest political streamers on Twitch. With more than two million followers and streams that average eight hours a day, Hasan has become increasingly popular as more people are turning to the platform for news and political analysis. Today on WIRED Politics Lab, we talked to Hasan about his impact and what this shift could mean for the upcoming election.Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. Makena Kelly is @kellymakena. Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.

Campus protests over the war in Gaza have been going on for months at American universities. Now that they're at an all-time high, protests been getting a lot more attention— and tons of disinformation and conspiracies are spreading. Today on WIRED Politics Lab, we talk about some of that disinformation and what student journalists on the ground are doing to report the facts. Plus, we look at how foreign actors are exploiting the dissent.Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. David Gilbert is @DaithaiGilbert. Makena Kelly is @kellymakena.  Vittoria Elliot is @telliotter.  Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.

Far-right militia, extremist groups are using Facebook to organize ahead of the US presidential election. After laying low for several years after the Capitol riot on January 6, militia extremists have been quietly reorganizing, ramping up recruitment and rhetoric on Facebook—with apparently little concern that Meta will enforce its own ban against them, according to new research by the Tech Transparency Project shared exclusively with Wired. These groups, which are set up locally, encourage members to engage in combat training and recruitment.Today on WIRED Politics Lab, we discuss Facebook’s culpability, and what this means as we head into November.Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. David Gilbert is @DaithaiGilbert. Tess Owen is @misstessowen.  Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.

This might be the end of TikTok. President Joe Biden signed a bill this week which allows the US government to ban the platform if TikTok doesn't divest from it's China-based owner, ByteDance, within a year.Today on the show, we’re going to talk about what happens to TikTok now and how this new law affects the politicians and influencers who use TikTok.Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. Tori Elliott is @Telliotter.  Makena Kelly is @kellymakena. Write to us at [email protected]. Be sure to subscribe to WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.

In the year since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. officially launched his presidential campaign, his extreme conspiracies and very online outreach tactics have added up to a pretty effective independent bid. Today on Wired Politics Lab, we look into how RFK Jr. continues to build a following. We talk about his recent VP pick, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan, his media outreach, and the staff behind it all. And, of course, how his push for ballot access in the US might make him a spoiler candidate in the 2024 election.You can find more from Makena Kelly on RFK Jr. here, and from Anna Merlan here. Be sure to subscribe to WIRED Politics Lab here.

Election deniers are mobilizing their supporters and rolling out new tech to disrupt the November election. These groups are already organizing on hyperlocal levels, and learning to monitor polling places, target election officials, and challenge voter rolls. And though their work was once fringe, it's become mainstreamed in the Republican Party. Today on WIRED Politics Lab, we focus on what these groups are doing, and what this means for voters and the election workers already facing threats and harassment.Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here

Politics has never been stranger – or more online. Each week on WIRED Politics Lab, our reporters guide you through the exciting, challenging and sometimes entertaining vortex of internet extremism, conspiracies, and disinformation. Expect in-depth analysis and conversations based on facts and research. Plus, we’ll give you information you can actually use to lift the fog of disinformation we find ourselves in today.

Politics has never been stranger – or more online. Each week on WIRED Politics Lab, our reporters guide you through the exciting, challenging and sometimes entertaining vortex of internet extremism, conspiracies, and disinformation. Expect in-depth analysis and conversations based on facts and research. Plus, we’ll give you information you can actually use to lift the fog of disinformation we find ourselves in today.You can subscribe to the Wired Politics newsletter here.

Misinformation lives everywhere. False accounts of events, doctored photos, and purposely misleading news stories are quickly shared and passed around on social media, usually by well-meaning people who don’t know they’re sharing incorrect information. It's a big problem in the best of times, but the stakes become much higher during a heated crisis like the current Israel-Hamas war. As the violence in and around Gaza has continued to escalate, people are turning to places like X (aka Twitter) for the latest news on the conflict. But they've been met with a flood of bad info—old videos, fake photos, and inaccurate reports—that researchers say is unprecedented. This week on Gadget Lab, we talk with WIRED reporter David Gilbert about how misinformation and disinformation spreads across social media, and how recent changes made by X before the Israel-Hamas war have made the problem even worse. We also talk about how the proliferation of generative artificial intelligence tools is making fake photos and videos look more believable. Show Notes: Read David and Vittoria Elliot’s WIRED story about how disinformation is getting worse on X. Read David on the role misinformation played in coverage of the recent Gaza hospital explosion. Also read David’s story about how posts by X owner Elon Musk are seemingly making the platform’s misinformation problems worse. Recommendations: David recommends the book A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney. Mike recommends Bono’s memoir Surrender. Lauren would like you to send her workout playlists. (She prefers Spotify.) David Gilbert can be found on social media @daithaigilbert. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode talk to the Chief Intelligence Officer of Estonia, Luukas Ilves, about the country’s completely online government. In Estonia, citizens can access any government service, including voting, online. What would it take to create that kind of digital infrastructure in the United States? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode talk to Michael Casey, Chief Content Officer of the cryptocurrency news site, CoinDesk. Almost a year after a CoinDesk report kicked off a series of events that led to the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX, is there anyone who still believes in crypto?  Share your thoughts via our Listener Survey here: https://selfserve.decipherinc.com/survey/selfserve/222b/75187?pin=1&uBRANDLINK=7&uCHANNELLINK=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode talk to journalist Taylor Lorenz about her new book Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, And Power on the Internet. They talk about the rise of the modern influencer and how all of us have to make our peace with our online lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elon Musk’s presence in our lives is inescapable: his cars roam our streets, his satellites orbit our skies, and his purchase of X—formerly known as Twitter—has reshaped the social-media landscape. The staff writers Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss a recent biography of Musk, by Walter Isaacson, tracing the familiar archetype of the genius tech founder from the nineteenth-century robber baron to “Batman” ’s Bruce Wayne. The critics examine how, in recent years, the idea of the unimpeachable Silicon Valley founder has lost its sheen. Narratives such as the 2022 series “WeCrashed” tell the story of startup founders who make lofty promises, only to watch their empires crumble when those promises are shown to be empty. “It dovetails for me with the disillusionment of millennials,” Fry says, pointing to the dark mood that the 2007-08 financial crisis and the 2016 election brought to the country. “There’s no longer this blind belief that the tech founder is a genius who should be wholly admired with no reservations.”  New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode talk to education journalist and author of The Inequality Machine, Paul Tough about the future of higher education. Even as many Americans return to college campuses this month, rising costs and a lower return on investment has raised uncomfortable questions about just what those classes are all leading towards. Can college be saved? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode talk to Cory Doctorow, a writer, internet activist and the author of The Internet Con: How To Seize the Means of Computation. As the US government takes Google to court in an anti-trust case this week, Doctorow explains why he believes monopoly power has made the internet a miserable place and what we can do to get our digital lives back. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode talk to Chris Urmson, CEO of the self-driving truck company Aurora. They discuss new legislation in California that could help or hinder a driverless future, whether or not self-driving vehicles are actually safer and the consequences for the transportation industry if (human) truck drivers become unnecessary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon and Lauren talk to Noah Raford, a futurist. Raford spent nearly 15 years working as the UAE’s chief futurist where Noah’s job was to predict what was coming down the pike and offer suggestions on how to prepare for it. His advice? Get comfortable with discomfort. This episode originally aired on April 26, 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode talk to Kristen Ghodsee, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Everyday Utopia: What 2000 Years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life. Ghodsee outlines why the traditional nuclear family is failing us and how we can restructure care to build a better future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode talk to Mustafa Suleyman, the co-founder of DeepMind and InflectionAI. They discuss his new book, The Coming Wave, which outlines why our systems are not set up to deal with the next great leap in tech. Suleyman explains why it's not crazy to suggest that chatbots could topple governments and he argues for a better way to assess artificial intelligence (hint: it has to do with making a million dollars). The Coming Wave: Technology Power and the 21st Century’s Greatest Dilemma is available on September 5th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode are joined by c, or as she is more widely known, Grimes. Earlier this year, she launched elf.tech, a website where her fans can use AI to build their very own Grimes songs based on her vocals and stems. They talk about why c wants to push the boundaries of AI art, and why, despite being a techno-optimist at heart, she’s worried about our AI future. Check out the Big Interview with c by Steven Levy in the September issue of WIRED. If you missed our episode with Puja Patel, the editor in chief of Pitchfork, about the new wave of generative AI in music—and AI-generated Drake—you can catch up here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode talk to Aaron Perzanowski, a University of Michigan Law Professor and author of two books on our shifting definitions of ownership, The End of Ownership and The Right to Repair. They dive into why “buying” something means less than it used to and if consumers have any hope of clawing back some semblance of ownership rights from big corporations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode talk to Andrew Hessel, a scientist, writer and entrepreneur who is working to push forward the field of synthetic biology — the science of genetically modifying organisms for everything from vaccines to food production. They discuss how modified viruses can be used to treat a range of cancers, and the wide ranging, science-fiction-like implications of the field. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode talk to author Stephen Markley about his book The Deluge, a 900 page epic that attempts to lay out the next couple of decades of the climate crisis. They discuss what our climate future may entail and how future histories like Markley's help us all process and imagine a way through the coming catastrophes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode talk to Gül Dölen, a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins whose most famous work centers on how psychedelics affect octopus brains. Recently, her lab’s research has shown promising results regarding how psychedelics could help humans recover from everything from PTSD to a stroke. You can find Rachel Nuwer's profile on Gül Dölen in WIRED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have a Nice Future is off this week, so instead we're sharing an episode of WIRED's other podcast, Gadget Lab. Its hosted by Have a Nice Future cohost Lauren Goode and WIRED senior editor Michael Calore. Each week they unpack new developments in consumer technology and talk about how they will affect our lives.  On this episode, Lauren and Micheal are joined by Alden Wicker whose new book is called “To Dye For: How Toxic Fashion is Making Us Sick—And How We Can Fight Back”. They discuss the wide range of chemicals, dyes, and treatments that get put into our clothes, and offer tips on how to avoid the worst offenders while shopping for a new wardrobe. This episode originally aired June 29, 2023. Listen to every episode of Gadget Lab wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode talk to Celine Halioua, the founder and CEO of Loyal — a company that researches drugs to extend the lifespan of dogs. They talk about the real meaning of longevity and when these drugs might be given to humans in the future. You can find Tom Simonite’s profile on Celine Halioua and Loyal in WIRED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode talk to Jamie Beard, the founder of the Project Innerspace, about why geothermal energy could help solve the climate crisis -- but only if environmentalists and the oil and gas industry cooperate. You can find Maria Streshinsky's profile on Jamie Beard online at Wired.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode discuss how parking has shaped the American city with writer Henry Grabar. His new book Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World explores how the abundance of free parking in our urban centers may be holding them back. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode are joined by WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani to talk about how we should think about diet culture and weight management when sophisticated appetite suppressing drugs like Ozempic are on the rise. You can read Lauren's Big Interview online at Wired.com and in the July issue of the magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode are joined by Ethan Zuckerman, a leading scholar of how people form communities online and the founder of the Institute for Digital Public Infrastructure at UMass Amherst. Zuckerman talks about why Twitter isn't dead just yet, and what the future of the "digital public square" might look like. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's our first-ever crossover episode! This week Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode sit down with Puja Patel, co-host of The Pitchfork Review podcast, to discuss how AI is changing music. But first, they start with a pop quiz -- can our hosts differentiate between artists and their AI imposters? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode talk to MIT institute professor Daron Acemoglu about his new book Power and Progress, why we’re not necessarily destined for an AI takeover and why the writers' strike could be a harbinger for the rest of us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode talk to Meredith Whittaker, the president of the Signal Foundation, about whether we’re really doomed to give up all of our private information to tech companies. Whittaker, who saw what she calls the “surveillance business model” from the inside while working at Google, says we don’t need to go down without a fight and outlines strategies for getting our privacy back. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode interview Lidiane Jones, the CEO of Slack, about how to disconnect from your job when the future of work is increasingly always-on… thanks to things like Slack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Gideon and Lauren are joined by someone whose full-time job was to predict the future. Noah Raford spent nearly 15 years working as the UAE’s chief futurist, where he advised the government on how to prepare for all sorts of futuristic challenges, from pandemics to global warming. His advice? Get comfortable with discomfort.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode talk to Max Levchin, the CEO of the Buy Now Pay Later company Affirm, about the future of paying for things. But they also discuss the perils and pitfalls of socialism, biohacking, and so much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have a Nice Future is a new podcast from WIRED, where each week, WIRED’s Editor-in-Chief Gideon Lichfield and Senior Writer Lauren Goode speak with the top technologists, thinkers, and creators who are shaping this future we’re racing into. Every episode, we’ll ask each guest—and ourselves—the same question: Is this the future we want? And if not, where do we go from here? Our first episode airs April 12th! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the next few weeks, Get WIRED is bringing you episodes from Gadget Lab, WIRED's weekly tech news podcast! Be sure to subscribe here or wherever you get your podcasts. When you think of digital media, you probably think of something like a YouTube video or a meme. Something you can access for free, any time you want. But some relatively new technologies are being used to make pieces of digital media sellable, thereby creating a high-stakes market for them. These NFTs—or non-fungible tokens—are the latest internet buzzword, and they’ve raised a lot of questions about how we determine the value of online goods. This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior writer Kate Knibbs and WIRED politics writer Gilad Edelman talk to Lauren Goode about the nascent NFT ecosystem and what it's like to sell one of your tweets. Show Notes:  Read Kate’s story about selling her tweet here. Read Gregory Barber’s story about the climate impacts of NFTs here. Steven Levy's newsletter entry about NFTs is here. Read more about NFTs in the art world here. Recommendations:  Kate recommends the novel Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. Gilad recommends the yard game Kubb and also a way to make a quick cucumber infusion. Lauren recommends New Haven pizza. Kate Knibbs can be found on Twitter @Knibbs. Gilad Edelman is @GiladEdelman. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here. The advertising in this episode was developed by WIRED Brand Lab, a creative studio from the publisher of WIRED. The WIRED newsroom is not involved in the creation of Brand Lab content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the next few weeks, Get WIRED is bringing you episodes from Gadget Lab, WIRED's weekly tech news podcast! Be sure to subscribe here or wherever you get your podcasts. While augmented reality has long been billed as the "next big thing" it hasn't quite arrived. Some pretty basic logistical problems get in the way. The headsets are too clunky, there aren't many decent apps, and the setup process can be a mess. But companies like Microsoft, Google, and (potentially) Apple are working on these problems, with the ultimate goal of creating consumer-level mixed-reality devices. AR is coming, whether people are willing to wait for it or not. This week on Gadget Lab, we talk with WIRED digital director Brian Barrett about the future of mixed reality and when we'll all be wearing AR glasses. Show Notes:  Read Lauren’s story about mixed-reality headsets and Microsoft Mesh here. Read more about the HoloLens 2 here. Read about the AR “Mirrorworld” here. Follow all of WIRED’s AR coverage here. Read Lily Hay Newman’s story for Slate about how baths are better than showers here. Recommendations:  Brian recommends the novel A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet. Lauren recommends taking a bath. Mike recommends the mobile game Really Bad Chess for iOS or Android. Brian Barrett can be found on Twitter @brbarrett. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here. Advertising note: The ads in this episode were developed by WIRED Brand Lab, a creative studio from the publisher of WIRED. The WIRED newsroom is not involved in the creation of Brand Lab content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the next few weeks, Get WIRED is bringing you episodes from Gadget Lab, WIRED's weekly tech news podcast! Be sure to subscribe here or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, did you know that the new Mars rover is really cool? Its eyes see crazy different colors! It shoots out a helicopter drone! It can vaporize rocks with a laser! Plus, Perseverance traveled more than 292 million miles through space, so that makes it just about the best gadget ever. This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior correspondent Adam Rogers joins us to talk about all the wild tech built into Perseverance and what the big deal about Mars is anyway. Then a very special guest crashes the show to talk about cheese. Show Notes:  Read Adam’s story about the cameras on the Perseverance rover. Watch the video of the landing and read about it here. Read more about the LA musician who helped design the microphones on the rover here. Read Gilad Edelman on the health benefits of cheese. Preorder Adam’s book, Full Spectrum: How the Science of Color Made Us Modern, here. Recommendations:  Adam recommends granite tile drill bits for drilling through metal. Lauren recommends Vigorous Innovations massage gun. Mike recommends the tech news website Rest of World. Gilad Edelman recommends cheese, of course. Adam Rogers can be found on Twitter @jetjocko. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Gilad Edelman is @GiladEdelman. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here. WIRED Brand Lab is a creative studio from the publisher of WIRED. The WIRED newsroom is not involved in the creation of Brand Lab content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the next few weeks, Get WIRED is bringing you episodes from Gadget Lab, WIRED's weekly tech news podcast! Be sure to subscribe here or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you have a PlayStation 5? If so, good for you. If not, well, join the club. Sony’s newest game console has been very difficult to purchase since it was released in November—so much so that folks have resorted to using sniper bots, inside sources, and other shady practices to sidestep the scrum and snag that PS5. This week, we’re joined by Alan Henry and Saira Mueller from the WIRED video games team, and Jeffrey Van Camp from WIRED’s reviews team to talk about the issues keeping PS5 supplies low. They’ll also tell us about their own experiences trying to buy a console. At the end of the show, we share some shopping tips you can use on your own quest to get this year’s most scarce gadget. Show Notes:  Read some advice about how to (maybe) buy a PS5 here. Read more about the scalper bots buying up all the PS5s here.  Recommendations:  Saira’s recommendation is to try cryotherapy. Brrr! Alan recommends Discord, which is great for gaming parties. Jeff recommends that you get a snow shovel, because you never know when you might need it. Lauren recommends this CBS guide to how you can help people in Texas during this deadly cold weather. Mike recommends the Vice show Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia, now in its third season. Saira Mueller can be found on Twitter @SairaMueller. Alan Henry is @halophoenix. Jeff Van Camp is @JeffreyVC. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here. Advertising note: WIRED Brand Lab is a creative studio from the publisher of WIRED. The WIRED newsroom is not involved in the creation of Brand Lab content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the next few weeks, Get WIRED is bringing you episodes from Gadget Lab, WIRED's weekly tech news podcast! Be sure to subscribe here or wherever you get your podcasts. When Bitcoin first appeared out of digital thin air, it was hailed as having the potential to upend the way people spent money. But more than a decade later, cryptocurrency is still only trickling into the mainstream. This week, Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin and said it plans to start accepting it as a form of payment for its electric vehicles. The price of Bitcoin immediately spiked as the move seemed to signal a shift toward broader acceptance of cryptocurrency in general. But is this just another fleeting Elon Musk stunt, or will it actually be a sustainable way of doing business? This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED staff writer Greg Barber joins us to talk about Tesla's crypto plans, the reemergence of Dogecoin, and why the blockchain hasn't exactly revolutionized currency yet. Show Notes:  Read Greg’s story about Tesla and Bitcoin here. Read more about how WIRED lost over $500,000 in Bitcoin here. Don’t miss Greg's CRISPR cow cover story. And here’s a good David Bowie playlist. Recommendations:  Greg recommends the cooking website The Woks of Life. Mike recommends the Off the Record: David Bowie podcast from iHeartRadio. Lauren recommends the New York Times documentary Framing Britney Spears on Hulu. Greg Barber can be found on Twitter @GregoryJBarber. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here. Advertising note: WIRED Brand Lab is a creative studio from the publisher of WIRED. Gadget Lab and the WIRED newsroom are not involved in the creation of Brand Lab content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the next few weeks, Get WIRED is bringing you episodes from Gadget Lab, WIRED's weekly tech news podcast! Be sure to subscribe here or wherever you get your podcasts. Elon Musk made headlines again this week. As usual, it was something involving Mars, memes, Tesla, and ... monkey brain implants? These topics, among others, were the subject of a conversation Musk had on Clubhouse, the voice chat app that's big with Silicon Valley VC types. But Musk's appearance may have been a turning point for the app that moves it into the mainstream. After Musk's talk, Clubhouse's user base nearly doubled, going from 3 to 5 million almost overnight. It's a powerful, popular format, and one that other social media companies are eager to get muscle their way into. This week on Gadget Lab, former cohost of the show and WIRED senior writer Arielle Pardes joins us to dish about Elon, Clubhouse, and where this kind of social platform goes from here. Show Notes:  Read more about Elon Musk’s visit to Clubhouse. Coverage of GameStop and Robinhood is here. You can also listen to audio of Musk’s Clubhouse appearance. Recommendations:  Arielle recommends the wine delivery service from Eater Wine Club. Lauren recommends the show Your Honor on Showtime. Mike recommends the autobiography Being Ram Dass by, well, Ram Dass. Arielle Pardes can be found on Twitter @pardesoteric. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From our first episode "Citizen and the Bizarre World of Live-Streamed Crime", WIRED's Boone Ashworth introduces us to a surprising superuser of this neighborhood watch app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices