Episodes

March 2, 2019

Casey Newton on His Facebook Moderators Piece

It's rare that I've seen an investigative piece get as much pickup as The Trauma Floor, Casey Newton's look at the secret lives of Facebook content moderators. It was all anyone could talk about at the beginning of the week.…
Guest: Casey Newton
March 1, 2019

Fri. 03/01 - Lyft Files For Its IPO

Lyft officially files for its IPO and do the numbers reveal concern for Uber, New York wants Jeff Bezos to reconsider, Tesla slashes prices, physical sales trump downloads when it comes to music, and the weekend longreads su…
Feb. 28, 2019

Thu. 02/28 - Make Any Day Amazon Day

Amazon Day gives you the ability to schedule your Prime Deliveries, Motorola teases more details about the foldable resurrection of the Razr phone, the state of the smartwatch market, and seemingly every messaging platform m…
Feb. 27, 2019

Wed. 02/27 - TikTok Bigger Than Instagram?

Fast flash storage for phones, TikTok passes a billion downloads, FedEx rolls out its own delivery bot, why you might be overpaying for cloud computing and why China wants to map the faces of pigs. Sponsors: Tiny.website Da…
Feb. 26, 2019

Tue. 02/26 - Might the FTC Undo Some Tech Mergers?

The Game of Thrones when it comes to modern tech platforms is very much up in the air, Satya Nadella defends making the HoloLens for the US Army, could the FTC undo previous tech mergers and that big Casey Newton piece about…
Feb. 25, 2019

Mon. 02/25 - Mobile World Congress Headlines

It’s a whole slew of headlines from Mobile World Congress: more foldable phones, dates for 5G chip sets and 5G coverage rollouts, and Microsoft unveils its HoloLens2. Plus: why Wikidata proves the bots still need us. Sponsor…
Feb. 24, 2019

The "Influencers" Beat With Taylor Lorenz

Taylor Lorenz, over at the Atlantic has the influencer beat down. I’ve told you about so many of her stories, often as longreads. You think influencers… the universe of YouTube stars, Instagram stars, social media stars gene…
Guest: Taylor Lorenz
Feb. 23, 2019

The State of The Gaming Industry With Jason Schreier @jasonschreier

Last week there was a bunch of gaming news, and if you’ll recall, I put a shout out to see if anyone could tell me what the heck is going on in the gaming space. Well, Jason Schreier, the news editor of Kotaku answered my Ba…
Feb. 22, 2019

Fri. 02/22 - The Most Acquisitive Unicorns

Facebook is shutting down its controversial Onavo app, Google’s streaming gaming service might get some hardware to go along with it, the most acquisitive unicorns and the weekend longreads suggestions. Here’s what you misse…
Feb. 21, 2019

Thu. 02/21 - YouTube's Ad Problem (Again) and Galaxy Reactions

Take-aways from all the hands-on reports with the new Samsung Galaxy S10 phones, hands-OFF reports about the Galaxy Fold, Apple teams up with Goldman Sachs on a new credit card, YouTube faces yet another scandal running ads …
Feb. 20, 2019

Wed. 02/20 - Galaxy Fold!

The foldable phone is here! And some regular new Galaxies too. Other stuff... (I'm late posting today... sorry! In a rush!) Sponsors: Castro Podcast App DataDogHQ.com/ridehome joybird.com/RIDE - 25% off your first order usi…
Feb. 19, 2019

Tue. 02/19 - Why Emoji Are Screwing Up Legal Cases

Qualcomm unveils a second gen 5G chip, Huawei’s founder hits back at the US, his biggest investors push back at Masa Son, and why emoji are causing problems in increasing numbers of court cases. Sponsors: The Castro Podcast…
Feb. 18, 2019

Mon. 02/18 - Ming-Chi Kuo: Here's Apple's Entire 2019 Lineup

Parliament calls Facebook a “digital gangster,” Australia’s Parliament was hacked, a full year of Apple lineup rumors, and since it’s a holiday here in the US, a mini longread segment. Sponsors: The Castro Podcast App Flat…
Feb. 17, 2019

Mark Gurman Says Apple “don't even know for sure” What Project Titan Is Building

Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, the reporter who gets Apple scoops like no other. Quick catch up with Mark about his recent scoops, but also some Apple analysis in general: Apple has spent as much as 3 billion dollars on its ori…
Feb. 16, 2019

NBC News' Jacob Ward On Data Vs. Privacy

Remember that first weekend longread from yesterday, from NBC’s Tech Correspondent Jacob Ward? As I said, it triggered some things that I’ve been thinking about for a while. About data and data harvesting and data capitalism…
Guest: Jacob Ward
Feb. 15, 2019

Fri. 02/15 - FTC To Fine Facebook?

More fallout and analysis of Amazon ghosting NYC, more signs of blockchain actually taking hold on Wall Street, Samsung’s lineup of gadgets leaks and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Tiny.website Data…
Feb. 14, 2019

Thu. 02/14 - Amazon to NYC: Drop Dead!

Amazon says thank you, but no thank you, to New York City, JP Morgan has its own crypto token, Google might try to come at the iPhone on price, and the legendary Lee Clow retires. Sponsors: Tiny.website DataDogHQ.com/rideh…
Feb. 13, 2019

Wed. 02/13 - Apple's Event About Services. But Which Ones?

An Apple event focused on services, a former Apple Vice President charged with insider trading, the larger gaming industry is having issues, and why your GPS device might have issues on April 6th of this year. Sponsors: Tin…
Feb. 12, 2019

Tue. 02/12 - Amazon Buys Eero

Amazon acquires Eero, Apple is putting marketing muscle behind AR, looks like everyone was abusing Apple’s Enterprise Certificate program, and the new video game sensation giving Fortnite a run for its money. Sponsors: Data…
Feb. 11, 2019

Mon. 02/11 - Trump Wants US To Get Serious About AI

The Trump Administration wants America to get serious about AI, Patch is actually profitable, Reddit raises a round, Apple Health for vets and hands on with AR navigation on Google Maps. Sponsors: Tiny.website DataDogHQ.com…
Feb. 10, 2019

The Economics of Spotify With Victor Luckerson of @ringer

Remember this longread piece? Is Spotify’s Model Wiping Out Music’s Middle Class? It's stuck with me because, a) I didn't quite understand how the math worked out and b) I thought it was an interesting take on the ARTIST sid…
Feb. 9, 2019

What IS 5G Anyway, With Ericsson's Peter Linder

I’ve told you plenty that this year, one of the big narratives, one of THE big stories... will be 5G. But what exactly IS 5G? Well, I spoke to Peter Linder, the head of 5G marketing, and evangelist at Ericsson. Here are all …
Guest: Peter Linder
Feb. 8, 2019

Fri. 02/08 - The Jeff Bezos Stuff

Yes, we’re gonna talk about the Bezos thing, is Amazon reconsidering HQ2, Sprint sues over 5G, maybe digital media is just fine, and the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: FlatironSchool.com/techmeme Metalab.co Links…
Feb. 7, 2019

Thu. 02/07 - Facebook Dinged In Germany; Killin' It In China

Germany is this week’s headache for Facebook, Twitter mixes up its MAU and DAU game, Cluno is subscriptions but for cars and Optimus Ride is what we mean by starting small with autonomous vehicles. Sponsors: Metalab.co Data…