The Vergecast

Richard Lawler joins the show to chat about the Tyson / Paul fight, and more importantly the fact that Netflix didn't seem to be able to keep up. As live sports — and TV in general — move toward streaming, are even the biggest names in tech ready for what's coming? After that, Roland Allen, the author of The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper, tells us about the history of the notebook, and why we've been writing things down about our lives for centuries. Even in a digital world, Allen argues, you just can't beat the notebook. Finally, a question from the Vergecast Hotline sends producer Will Poor down a TikTok Shop rabbit hole.
Further reading:

Netflix served the Tyson vs. Paul fight to 60 million households

NFL fans worry Netflix’s bad Tyson vs. Paul stream means it can’t handle football

Netflix adds Beyoncé to live entertainment juggernaut

Netflix snagged global streaming rights for NFL Christmas Day games

Roland Allen’s website

The Notebook: a History of Thinking on Paper


Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the third episode in our series about the future of music, we talk with Ge Wang. Ge is a professor at Stanford, a co-founder of Smule, the conductor of Stanford’s laptop orchestra, and has been at the center of technology and artistry for most of his life. We talk about how humans can use AI without giving in to it, what it means to truly play with technology, and the value of art and creativity and friction when it feels like all those things are being taken away.
Further reading:

Ge Wang’s website

The future of computer music | Stanford University School of Engineering

Ge’s viral TED talk: The DIY orchestra of the future


From Wired: Behind the Scenes With the Stanford Laptop Orchestra


Ge Wang: Human Well-Being Should Be AI Creators’ Goal


Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nilay and David talk about the future of social, in light of Bluesky's recent surge in growth. Threads is huge, Bluesky is ascendent, Mastodon is... around, but can any of them become the next Twitter? Is that even the goal? After that, Kylie Robison joins the show and the gang discusses Apple's smart home device (which is just an iPad), the AI scaling slowdown, and a new twist in the delivery wars. In the lightning round, it's all about disclosures, wireless carriers, and the sad end of Freevee.
Further reading:

Twitter’s succession: all the news about alternative social media platforms 

One million people have joined Bluesky in the past week.

Bluesky adds 700,000 new users in a week

The Guardian is quitting X.

Remember the TikTok ban?

Apple’s rumored six-inch ‘AI wall tablet’ could control your smart home by March 2025

Apple is reportedly working on an Apple Home security camera 

Anthropic co-founder Darius Amodei said we’ll have artificial general intelligence “in 2026 or 2027.”

Just Eat is selling Grubhub to Marc Lore’s Wonder for $650M

Boost Mobile says it’s a real wireless carrier now

Amazon is shutting down Freevee

Trump says Elon Musk will lead ‘DOGE’ office to cut ‘wasteful’ government spending


Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's show: sleep gadgets, AI DJs, and sneaky TVs. Victoria Song joins the show to talk about her experiences with the Eight Sleep mattress pad, the Oura Ring 4, and other sleep gadgets. Can you really measure your way to a better night of sleep? After that, Allison Johnson gives us her take on Spotify's AI DJ, and we wonder exactly how an AI tool is supposed to help us find and listen to music. Finally, Nilay Patel comes on to answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline about the Samsung Frame TVs — and how to figure out whether you need a TV at all.
Further reading:

Eight Sleep Pod 4 Ultra review: for sale, good night’s sleep, just $4,700

Ozlo Sleepbuds hands-on: resurrected and I’ve slept so good

Oura Ring 4 review: still on top — for now

Spotify’s AI is no match for a real DJ

Samsung’s Frame TV is finally getting the knockoffs it deserves


Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the second episode in our three-part miniseries about the future of music, Charlie Harding, a music journalist and co-host of the Switched on Pop podcast, joins the show to tell the story of Auto-Tune. He walks us through how a simple plugin became such a recognizable sound in music, why both artists and fans gravitated to the Auto-Tune sound, and why Auto-Tune has continued to grow even through backlash in the music business. Then we look ahead to AI, and try to figure out what — if any — lessons we might be able to learn about the sound and culture of the AI era to come.
Further reading:

Charlie Harding on X

Switched on Pop

From Pitchfork: How Auto-Tune Revolutionized the Sound of Popular Music


From Rick Beato: How Auto-Tune DESTROYED Popular Music


From Gabi Belle: The Problem with Autotune on TikTok



Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nilay and David talk about the election, and how The Vergecast plans to cover and talk about the next four years of the Trump administration. But only for a minute. Then it's onto our reviews of the new Mac Mini and MacBook Pro, which reset Apple's desktop and laptop lineup in an excellent way. After that, Sean Hollister joins the show to discuss his review of the PlayStation 5 Pro, the news about backwards compatibility for the Nintendo Switch successor, and the state of Nintendo's fight against emulators. In the lightning round, we talk about really expensive domain names, oddly named smart home standards, and cloud gaming whales. Which apparently exist.
Further reading:

Donald Trump wins the 2024 presidential election

What does Trump’s election mean for EVs, Tesla, and Elon Musk? 

All the Big Tech leaders congratulating Donald Trump 

Google CEO says company should be ‘trusted source’ in US election

Another Trump presidency is literally toxic — his opponents are gearing up for battle

Here’s FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr sucking up to Donald Trump by threatening to take NBC off the air

Apple Mac Mini M4 review: a tiny wonder

Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2024) review: the Pro for everyone

Amazon says it’s fixing the Kindle Colorsoft’s yellow screen

Kindle Colorsoft owners complain of a yellow bar on the e-reader’s screen

PS5 Pro review: how close is your TV?

Nintendo’s next generation is off to a great start

Nintendo says the Switch successor will be compatible with Switch games

Why is Nintendo targeting this YouTuber?

Did OpenAI just spend more than $10 million on a URL?

The Matter smart home standard gains support for more devices, including heat pumps and solar panels

Nvidia to cap game streaming hours on GeForce Now instead of raising fees


Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

November 6th marks 10 years to the day since Amazon surprise-launched a new, cylindrical device called the Echo. It introduced the world to smart speakers, and to the idea that you might be able to get stuff done just by shouting aloud in your living room. But a decade in, what has Alexa really accomplished? The Verge's Jennifer Pattison Tuohy joins the show to talk through the history of Alexa, Amazon's struggles to improve and extend its voice assistant, and the promise of a language model overhaul that might in theory make Alexa far more useful. There's a chance Alexa's second decade might be even more interesting than the first.
Further reading:

Amazon just surprised everyone with a crazy speaker that talks to you

Amazon Echo review: listen up

Alexa, where’s my Star Trek Computer?

Alexa, thank you for the music

The Alexa Skills revolution that wasn’t

The Amazon Echo graveyard

Amazon’s supercharged Alexa won’t arrive this year


Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the first episode in our three-part miniseries on the future of music, we tell the story of Track Star, a music game show that has become a viral hit on TikTok and Instagram. Jack Coyne, the show's friendly host, tells us how Track Star came to be, why the format works so well, and why A-list celebrities like Olivia Rodrigo, Ed Sheeran, and Kamala Harris are all clamoring to be on the show. Coyne also tells us where Track Star might go next — and why the future of music content might look a lot like the past.
Further reading:

Track Star on TikTok

Jack Coyne on Instagram

The Olivia Rodrigo episode

The "Every Track Star Song" playlist

The Malcolm Todd episode

Public Opinion


Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nilay and David discuss a big week in AI news, including the new web search features in ChatGPT and the reporting that Meta is working on something very similar. They also briefly talk about this quarter's tech earnings, and what they say about the ways AI is really being used. Then, Wall Street Journal columnist Joanna Stern joins the show to talk about Apple Intelligence, Apple's week of Mac launches, and why Siri still can't open her garage. Finally, in the lightning round, the hosts talk about Netflix's gentle push into social features, Tony Fadell's AI thoughts, and our endorsement of Kamala Harris.
Further reading:

OpenAI’s search engine is now live in ChatGPT

Meta is reportedly working on its own AI-powered search engine, too

Microsoft’s gaming revenue keeps going up, even though hardware sales are down

Reddit is profitable for the first time ever, with nearly 100 million daily users

Snap Inc. - Financials - Quarterly Results

Apple’s Mac week: everything announced

Apple announces redesigned Mac Mini with M4 chip — and it’s so damn small

Watch Apple show off the M4 Mac Mini in its reveal video - The Verge

Apple’s new Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, and Magic Trackpad have USB-C

Apple put the Magic Mouse’s charging port on the bottom again

Apple updates the MacBook Pro with M4 Pro and M4 Max chips

Apple updates the iMac with new colors and an M4 chip

Apple’s first smart home display could pay homage to a classic iMac

Apple Intelligence is out

WSJ: Apple’s Craig Federighi Explains Apple Intelligence Delays, Siri’s Future and More


Netflix is making it easier to bookmark and share your favorite parts of a show

Tony Fadell calls out Sam Altman

Tim Walz and AOC are going to play Madden together on Twitch

The Verge’s guide to the 2024 presidential election

Tech leaders line up to flatter Trump’s ego

Jeff Bezos is no longer relentlessly focused on customer satisfaction

“You have a Washington Post problem.”

From The New York Times: Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and the Billions of Ways to Influence an Election



Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kylie Robison joins the show to talk about the recent dueling AI blog posts from OpenAI's Sam Altman and Anthropic's Dario Amodei. What do these CEOs think the future of AI looks like? Then, Will Poor tells us the story of ShakeAlert, an earthquake alert system that has huge potential and some surprising challenges. On The Vergecast Hotline, Allison Johnson joins Will to figure out whether the iPhone's new Camera Control is really as fast as advertised.
Further reading:

Sam Altman: The Intelligence Age

Dario Amodei: Machines of Loving Grace

Anthropic’s CEO thinks AI will lead to a utopia — he just needs a few billion dollars first

OpenAI plans Orion AI model release for December

ShakeAlert

If you live on the West Coast and you have an iPhone, here's how to turn on the "Local Awareness" feature that speeds up WEA messages:

Download the MyShake app on for iOS

or for Android

Ready.gov's earthquake advice:

About emergency and government alerts on iPhone

Apple iPhone 16 and 16 Plus review: all caught up


Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices