Material is a weekly discussion about the Google and Android universe. Your intrepid hosts try to answer the question, “What holds up the digital world?” The answer, so far, is that it’s Google all the way down.

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#421: The Me Show

July 20th, 2023 · 78 minutes

Flo is back next week! So Andy is exploiting this final solo episode to make it all about Him. His frustrations about saving web archives from Chrome. He still heroically pivots to his own opinions about technology’s responsibilities to move the needle.

#420: The Snowball of Trust

July 14th, 2023 · 80 minutes

Andy’s joined by a special guest this week: Jason Howell, host of All About AndroidA new rash of civil lawsuits that content creators have filed against Google and other makers of AI language models. And then we talk phones.

#419: Oh...Canada.

July 6th, 2023 · 71 minutes

Canada is the latest country to decide that somebody should be on the hook for the news industry’s financial issues, and it might as well be Google. Meanwhile, Google urges its AI models to both learn more and forget more.

#418: Google Is A Soft Cheese Company

June 29th, 2023 · 74 minutes

Andy mourns the loss of Google’s Iris smart glasses, because he knows so way much more than Google or Apple about VR and XR. Reviews of the Pixel Fold are in! And reading coverage of last week’s Vidcon helps Andy be less judgmental about The Avengers.

#417: It Prefers To Stay Inside The House

June 22nd, 2023 · 69 minutes

Reviews of the new Pixel Tablet are in, and it looks like maybe the world is about to fall slap-happy in love! Chromebooks are about to receive the X-gene, and Gannett Newspapers celebrates the first day of Summer.

#416: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner In Bed

June 15th, 2023 · 68 minutes

Why on Earth did Google release so many new features and updates on Flag Day? Well, Google bothered to create ‘em so Material is going to talk about ‘em. Oh, and also the EU is honking down Google’s snorkel about why it thinks it’s evil.

#415: Super-Soakers Filled With Dysentery

June 8th, 2023 · 46 minutes

All of this week’s stories come from Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference! Apple’s Vision Pro headset offers discussion about VR versus AI. Apple announced that they’re addressing iPhone users’ complaints about green bubbles in group messages.

#414: Belief in a Higher Weirdo

June 1st, 2023 · 67 minutes

Andy has access to the new AI-enhanced Google Search and is delighted to discover that he can now waste time on Reddit far more effectively. He also has access to a new web browser that’s so innovative that he’s compelled to give Chrome a lecture.

#413: Nickel-And-Diming My Attention Span

May 26th, 2023 · 41 minutes

Andy comes right out and admits that his brain is like wet sand. All to make a larger point which may or may not land, because, as established, his brain is like wet sand.

#412: The Other Shoe

May 18th, 2023 · 61 minutes

Andy has a peculiar theory about system administration. Then the episode goes back to Google I/O. A beloved children’s cereal mascot is made to suffer. And Google has a wonderful plan to make top-level-domains both goofy and radically dangerous.