TechStuff
Episodes
L’Oréal and IBM: AI-Powered Beauty
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, the show takes you behind the scenes at L'Oréal’s research center in New Jersey. Malcolm Gladwell delves into the complexities...
Week in Tech: Hot Maps and AI Judges
11 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Is betting on current events the ‘future of news’? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah ask AI if their favorite restaurants are ho...
The Story: Roblox and the ‘Prehistoric Era’ of Gaming w/ David Baszucki
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
David Baszucki is the co-founder and CEO of Roblox, the gaming platform that’s become a digital playground for millions of kids around the world...
TechStuff Classic: The Story of the Sony Walkman
04 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes — all about the Sony Walkman. Jonathan Strickland dives into why Time named the p...
The Story: Selfhood in the Digital Age w/ Vauhini Vara
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Writer and journalist Vauhini Vara has been entangled with the tech world for most of her life — first as a kid in the Seattle suburbs and a col...
Week in Tech: The Music Industry Strikes Back
27 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How can you detect AI music? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah unpack the music industry's scramble to build tech that labels AI-generated t...
The Story: Big Tech, Small Town w/ Yasmin Green
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When Yasmin Green joined Google almost two decades ago, she knew she wanted to focus on the complex problems facing humanity in a technological world ...
Week in Tech: There's No Place Like AI
20 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What does Google Search sound like? This week in the News Roundup, Oz explores Google’s new AI-generated audio summaries — and why a simpl...
TechSupport: The Two Sides of Biometric Data w/ Adam Clark Estes
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Clark Estes is a senior technology correspondent at Vox and the author of the User Friendly newsletter. Estes sits down with Oz to discuss Amazon...
Week in Tech: AI’s Problem Solving Problem
13 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What’s inside AI’s black box? This week in the News Roundup, Oz unpacks the uncomfortable truth that even the people building today’...
The Story: Are the US and China in a Tech War? w/ Jake Sullivan
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When the Biden administration announced the CHIPS and Science Act back in 2022, it was seen as a pivotal move to boost the US semiconductor industry a...
Week in Tech: Nintendo Thinks Sideways
06 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Did search just get worse? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah discuss how AI is reshaping search engines — for better or worse — ...
The Story: From Woolly Mice to De-Extinction w/ Ben Lamm
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ben Lamm is an entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Colossal Biosciences. That's the genetic engineering company making headlines for its bold miss...
TechStuff Classic: Big Apps That Flopped
30 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Vibecoding is everywhere—and it feels like anyone can launch an app. So we’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes: a look back at some...
The Story: The Biggest Hack That Never Happened
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is an episode of kill switch – a new podcast about our supercharged technological lives. In this episode, host Dexter Thomas explores the b...
Week In Tech: Can A Chatbot Help You Get Closure?
23 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Is it still ghosting if the chatbot texts you back? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah discuss the recent changes to Apple’s App Store ...
The Story: Embracing AI and All Life’s Uncertainties w/ David Spiegelhalter
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Statistician David Spiegelhalter is no stranger to AI – he used it to help him research his recent book and, back in the late 70s, he helped dev...
How AI Assistants Can Transform Education
20 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Malcolm Gladwell visits Kennesaw State University to learn about Jiwoo, an AI Assistant that helps future teachers practice responsive teaching by sim...
New Season of Smart Talks with IBM Coming Soon
17 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Smart Talks with IBM returns Tuesday, May 20th, and this season, we’re really shaking things up. Host Malcolm Gladwell will visit various compan...
Week in Tech: AI-Induced Psychosis
16 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What kind of technology do air traffic controllers use? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah discuss how AI determines your real age, why chatb...
The Story: The World According to SimCity w/ Chaim Gingold
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Chaim Gingold is a game designer and author of the book Building SimCity: How to Put the World in a Machine, which explores the simulation games creat...
Week in Tech: CheatGPT
09 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Could you be on a livestream for three years straight? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah explore the push to include AI education in schools...
The Story: Mineral Wars w/ Nicolas Niarchos
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nicolas Niarchos is a journalist whose work focuses on conflicts, migration and, most recently, the energy transition. Specifically, the hidden costs ...
Week in Tech: Who’s A Good Drone?
02 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Can AI help search-and-rescue dogs do their job? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah explore the AI-powered technologies being used in war and...
The Story: The Silicon Valley “Death Cult” w/ Evan Ratliff
30 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Evan Ratliff is an investigative journalist and podcast host. His Wired article, “The Delirious, Violent, Impossible True Story of the Zizians,&...
Week in Tech: Run, Robot, Run!
25 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Should you delete yourself from the internet? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah dig into humanoid robots running a half-marathon, the AI-gen...
The Story: Stargate and the Rise of SoftBank’s Gambling Man w/ Lionel Barber
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lionel Barber is a journalist, author, and former editor of the Financial Times. He’s interviewed state leaders like former US President Barack ...
Week In Tech: Zuck Takes the Stand
18 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How would Salvador Dalí have used generative AI? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah dig into this year’s most common uses for ge...
The Story: Me, My TV & My Second Screen w/ Jen Statsky
16 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jen Statsky is a comedian, writer, and producer who’s worked on some of TV’s biggest comedies like The Good Place, Parks & Recreation ...
Week in Tech: Tariffs, Ands Or Buts
11 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What’s a ‘mega API’? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah break down the ever-evolving landscape of tariffs and what it all m...
The Story: Whats Going Right w/ Reid Hoffman
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Reid Hoffman is a longtime entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author. Throughout his career, Hoffman has helped build or support some of the biggest...
Week in Tech: You, Me & Ghibli
04 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How do LLMs solve math problems? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah explore what AI models could mean for the fashion industry, the humble-bu...
The Story: McLaren F1 Racing's Human-Machine Interaction w/ Zak Brown
02 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Zak Brown is the CEO of McLaren Racing, the second-oldest Formula 1 team. When he joined in 2016, McLaren was in a difficult spot — lagging behi...
Week in Tech: 23andBankruptcy
28 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What even is a crypto mixer? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah dig into potential Slack-enabled corporate espionage, the recall of a Kim K-b...
The Story: Levittown Deepfakes
26 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is the first episode of a new podcast called Levittown. It’s a real-life horror story for the AI generation. In this six-part series from B...
Week in Tech: Careless People, Mindful Chatbots
21 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How do you calm down a chatbot? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and producer Eliza Dennis dig into the book that Meta doesn’t want you to read...
The Story: An Innovation Playground w/ Astro Teller
19 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Astro Teller is Alphabet’s Captain of Moonshots. He oversees projects at X – the moonshot factory behind innovations like Waymo and Google...
Week in Tech: Duping Big Tech’s Tech Test
14 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Could AI help you land an internship? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and producer Eliza Dennis explore the rise of vibecoding, what it means for th...
The Story: What is AI Love? w/ David Eagleman
12 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
David Eagleman is a neuroscientist, author, entrepreneur and host of the podcast Inner Cosmos. In his podcast, he explores how our brains interpret th...
Week in Tech: Can a Woolly Mouse Make a Mammoth?
07 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What if AI could read your mind? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and producer Eliza Dennis explore the latest tech investment in the US, Meta’...
The Story: A Spymaster Sheikh’s AI Ambitions w/ Bradley Hope
05 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Bradley Hope is a journalist, author and co-founder of Project Brazen, a narrative non-fiction production studio. His piece in Wired, ‘A Spymast...
What the Tech? w/ Jonathan Strickland in Doha
28 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Oz is on the road, at the Web Summit Qatar, and he’s not alone. Joining him from the iHeart pop-up studio in Doha is a very familiar ...
The Story: Russia’s Espionage ‘Laboratory’ w/ Ben Taub
26 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ben Taub is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and staff writer at The New Yorker. His piece, “Russia’s Espionage War in th...
TechStuff x Part-Time Genius: Redefining ‘Luddite’ w/ Brian Merchant
21 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, TechStuff teams up with Part-Time Genius for a special crossover episode. Oz and Mangesh Hattikudur, host of Part-Time Genius, discuss a la...
The Story: Liar, Liar, Deepfakes on Fire w/ Hany Farid
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hany Farid is a professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. He's been a leading voice on digi...
Week in Tech: Musk and Federal Money–A Love Story
14 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What do the Brits want from Apple? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and producer Eliza Dennis explore how lithium-ion batteries and wildfires don&rsq...
The Story: Denial Isn’t the Answer w/ Geoffrey Hinton
12 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Geoffrey Hinton is a computer scientist, cognitive psychologist, and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics. His work on artificial neural networks earn...
Week in Tech: Are You There God? It’s Me, AI
07 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Do smart fridges help business? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and producer Eliza Dennis unpack Walgreens’ refrigeration woes, the future of ...
The Story: Ask Lots of Questions w/ Meredith Whittaker
05 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Meredith Whittaker is the president of the Signal Foundation and serves on its board of directors. She is also the co-founder of NYU’s AI Now In...
Week In Tech: DeepSeek Freak Out
31 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Is China winning the AI race? This week in the News Roundup, the story that roiled US stock markets on Monday – DeepSeek. Oz and producer Eliza ...
The Story: Mars, Asterisk w/ Nathaniel Rich
29 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nathaniel Rich is a novelist, essayist and writer-at-large for The New York Times Magazine. Rich sits down with Oz to talk about his essay, “Can...
Smart Talks with IBM: How Infrastructure is Powering the Age of AI
28 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Malcolm Gladwell speaks with Ric Lewis, IBM’s Senior Vice President of Infrastructure. They ...
Week in Tech: Broval Office
24 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Is AI charging you different prices for groceries than your roommate? This week, Oz and Karah bring you a news roundup featuring a look at surveillanc...
The Story: Vibe Shift in the Valley w/ Jessica Lessin
22 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jessica Lessin is the founder and CEO of The Information, a media company that’s a trusted source for tech readers and tech leaders. She’s...
Week in Tech: Dox, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels
17 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Are you sharing misleading Instagram stories? This week, Oz and Karah bring you a news roundup including a ChatGPT-powered gun and a free app that&rsq...
The Story: How to be a (Rational!) Techno-Enthusiast w/ Nicholas Thompson
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nicholas Thompson is the former editor-in-chief of Wired and current CEO of The Atlantic. There, he negotiated a controversial partnership with OpenAI...
Week in Tech: Hungry Hungry Hippocampus
10 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How scared should we be of deceptive AI? Oz and Karah take the mic from Jonathan for their first episode of TechStuff and bring you a news roundup of ...
Introducing the new TechStuff hosted by Oz Woloshyn and Karah Preiss
09 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
TechStuff is getting a system update. Everything you love about TechStuff now twice the bandwidth with new hosts, Oz Woloshyn (Sleepwalkers) and Karah...
The Future of TechStuff (Is So Bright, Karah Has to Wear Shades)
08 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jonathan has his final episode, but more importantly introduces the new stewards of the podcast, Oz Woloshyn and Karah Preiss. These phenomenal storyt...
What the Tech Happened? Part Two
07 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We're looking at some of the big tech stories that have unfolded since TechStuff debuted in 2008. In this episode, we pick up in 2015 and look at the ...
What the Tech Happened? Part One
03 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Since TechStuff first launched in 2008, a lot of stuff has happened in the world of tech. Join Jonathan as he looks back on a big tech story for each ...
How Shannon Morse Works
01 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Back when he was a brand new tech podcaster, Jonathan met with fellow tech content creator (and fellow Discovery Digital Network veteran) Shannon Mors...
The 2024 Tech Predictions Report Card
30 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In late 2023, Jonathan made a bunch of predictions for how 2024 would turn out. How did he do? Do we have jetpacks and flying cars yet?See omnystudio....
TechStuff Gets Cozy With SMNTY
27 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Samantha and Anney from Stuff Mom Never Told You, pop by to talk about the cozy games genre. How did this casual category go from being an afterthough...
The Big Tech Stories of 2024
25 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From Big Tech versus the government to the little Martian helicopter that could, we look at some of the big tech stories to unfold in 2024! Keywords: ...
The Mysterious Havana Syndrome
23 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Noel and Ben (and, briefly, Matt) of Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know drop by to talk about the strange and mysterious Havana syndrome. Were US...
How Food Delivery Apps Don’t Work
20 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Former TechStuff co-host Lauren Vogelbaum comes back to TechStuff to talk about the chaotic, absurd, and sometimes infuriating world of food delivery ...
The Weird Story of the First Cyberattack
18 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How did a pair of 19th-century brothers hack into a government-controlled communications system? And what did they do with it? See omnystu...
TechStuff Talks Christmas Lights Shows
16 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For some people, a simple string of Christmas lights on a tree in the yard just isn't enough. How do those impressive Christmas light displays work?&n...
Tech News: Drones Over New Jersey
13 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mysterious drones flying over New Jersey have raised fears and questions. Plus, big tech companies start to court Donald Trump, the FTC is likely goin...
TechStuff Looks at Three AI Startups
11 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
2024 has been a huge year for AI. But why should we focus only on the enormous companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Amazon? We look at ...
Smart Talks with IBM: Responsible AI - Why Businesses Need Reliable AI Governance
10 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
To deploy responsible AI and build trust with customers, businesses need to prioritize AI governance. In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Ma...
Rerun: The Artemis Program
09 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
NASA is soliciting applications for its astronaut program in anticipation of sending men and women to the Moon. Learn all about the Artemis program, i...
The Internet Reacts to CEO's Murder
06 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The shooting of UnitedHealthCare's CEO Brian Thompson has prompted some dark, disturbing reactions online -- including misinformation. Plus, we have s...
Verisign and the .com Top Level Domain
04 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Did you know one company has the monopoly on the .com top level domain? How did Verisign become the one DNS registry for .com, and why did some politi...
Detecting Scams Through Critical Thinking
03 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The world of tech is nuanced, complex, and filled with jargon. That makes it the perfect breeding ground for scams and hoaxes. How can we defend ourse...
TechStuff is Thankful
29 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Over the years, many people have contributed to our little technology podcast to make it what it is today. In this episode, Jonathan spends some time ...
TechStuff Explores the Universe with Daniel and Kelly
27 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists and hosts of Daniel and Kelly’s Extraordinary Universe join the show to talk about media depictions of science, the importance of STEAM e...
Talking Crypto with the Financial Quarterback
25 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Financial analyst Josh Jalinski joins the show to talk about cryptocurrency from an investment point of view. We discuss concerns about crypto, opport...
US Department of Justice Proposes Google Sell Off Chrome Browser
22 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Department of Justice has a list of proposed actions Google must take to end anticompetitive practices, and Google is not happy about it. Apple pr...
TechStuff Is About to Change (And That's a Good Thing)
20 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After 16 and a half years, I will be stepping down from being the host of TechStuff. We'll talk more about the future of the show soon, but today's ep...
TechStuff Gets Auto-Tuned (Again)
18 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We look at the history of auto-tune, how it works, and how it impacted music and culture in general. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...
Rerun: Streaming Services that Sunk
15 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
While the streaming media landscape is crowded, it could be worse. In this episode, we look at some streaming services that didn't stand the test of t...
Rerun: Getting in Touch with Touchscreens
13 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What's the difference between a capacitive and a resistive touchscreen? Which came first? And are there other types of touchscreen technologies?See om...
TechStuff's Top Holiday Gift for 2024
11 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A little more than a decade ago, mobile computing revolutionized how we access software and the internet. It's about to happen again. At the top of my...
Rerun: The Sad Tale of Microsoft Zune
08 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Microsoft jumped into the mp3 player space a little late. Apple had been producing iPods for five years when the first Zune hit shelves. But that was ...
Rerun: What was the first mp3?
06 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When developing the mp3 compression algorithm, engineer Karlheinz Brandenburg used a specific song to tweak settings and get them just right. What was...
Sowing Seeds for the Future: Sabanto
05 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When Craig Rupp left Iowa in the 80s, he never wanted to step foot on a farm again. A whirlwind career as an engineer took him to some of the biggest ...
The Story of Microsoft Bing
04 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 2009, Microsoft announced a new search engine called Bing. What was Microsoft's strategy, how is Bing different from the dominant search engine Goo...
Tech News: Elections and Tech Clash
01 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We knew that the 2024 election season in the US would include some tough stories involving tech and potential election interference. In this episode, ...
REM Pods and Ghost Hunting
30 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What does an REM Pod do? How does it work? And why is Jonathan such a darn party pooper when it comes to ghost hunting? See omnystudio.com/listener ...
Doubly Exposing Spirit Photography
28 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the 19th century, some enterprising and unscrupulous photographers convinced vulnerable people that they had developed (pun intended) a way to phot...
Departing OpenAI Leaders Warn about AGI
25 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Description: The former senior advisor for OpenAI's now dissolved AGI Readiness division warns that no one, not even OpenAI, is actually ready for art...
Notorious Hackers
23 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Cybersecurity company Kaspersky has a list of the most notorious hackers of all time. We look at three of the entries, from the loose confederation of...
Smart Talks with IBM: How AI Can Accelerate Cybersecurity
23 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Malcolm Gladwell speaks with Jason Kelley, GM, Strategic Partners and Ecosystems at IBM, and Kristy Friedric...
Rerun: TechStuff's Spooky Halloween Spectacular!
21 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In celebration of Halloween, we take a look at an article from HowStuffWorks titled 10 Scary Modern Technologies. From drones to voices coming out of ...
Tech News: X Changes Prompt Some Users to Jump Ship
18 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
X, formerly known as Twitter, makes a major change to the block feature that has some users switching to alternatives. Plus, Meta holds layoffs across...
What Happened to Amazon's HQ2?
16 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 2018, more than 200 cities competed to become the site for Amazon's second headquarters. Late that year, Amazon would choose two locations. A year ...
TechStuff Takes a Walk with Robots
14 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Tesla showed off the Optimus humanoid robots recently. What's the history behind bipedal, humanoid robots? Why are they so hard to get right? Why woul...
Tech News: Tesla Fails to Wow Investors at We, Robot Event
11 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Elon Musk held his delayed Cybercab event while also showing off a new Robovan concept and Optimus humanoid robots. Investors, however, rem...