Countdown to excitement! Every week Christina Warren, Brianna Wu and Simone de Rochefort have accelerated geek conversation. Tech, comics, movies, games and books, no galaxy is off limits!

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#447: The Beginning of the End

July 20th, 2023 · 57 minutes

Big news on the FTC appeal against Microsoft, and what’s next for the merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard. Who could possibly stand in their way!? And will they do a good job trying to stop this merger!? Then, Meta has released LLaMa 2, its large language model, which is not open source but a second, more interesting thing. Then, NBC …

#446: Bored Ape Check-in

July 13th, 2023 · 49 minutes

Twitter is unraveling over Threads, with a threatened lawsuit on the horizon. Then, we’re checking in with the Bored Apes! How are they doing? Oh… oh. Finally, an important Slate piece from Luke Winkie asks: was Napoleon hot?

#445: Many People Are Saying This

July 6th, 2023 · 60 minutes

Meta has launched its major Twitter competitor, Threads, and there’s a LOT to talk about – from privacy issues, to onboarding, to BRANDS!! How will it fare in the Twitterclone-verse, much less… the fediverse? Then, Twitter itself has had a weird week, to say the least.

#444: Who are the Mac Pro Pros?

June 29th, 2023 · 71 minutes

This week we’re discussing the Wall Street Journal’s extensive reporting on drug use among tech workers on Silicon Valley — from psilocybin to ketamine — and why it’s such a difficult, complicated issue to talk about. Then, the Mac Pro is here, but where are the Mac Pro Pros?? For dessert, an update on Bri’s search for the perfect drone!

#443: The Thrust is Wrong

June 22nd, 2023 · 55 minutes

The FTC is shaking and baking, with a lawsuit against Amazon for alleged dark patterns in the sign-up and cancellation process for Amazon Prime. But is this lawsuit really… it? Then, a feature at The Verge goes into the human labor that trains AI, and the shadow industry that makes it all work. For dessert: Brianna buys a drone!

#442: Reddit Black-out

June 15th, 2023 · 58 minutes

The Reddit black-out has begun, and there is a lot of news coming out of Reddit’s conflict with Christian Selig and other third-party app developers, in the wake of Reddit’s API changes. We’ll be discussing that and a huge roadblock in Activision and Microsoft’s proposed merger. Plus, it was Summer Game Fest this weekend! What looks good? All of i…

#441: How to Spend A Lot Of Money

June 8th, 2023 · 85 minutes

In news surprising no one, it’s an almost all-WWDC week here on Rocket! We’ve got OS updates and new MacBooks but the story sucking all the air out of the room is Apple Vision Pro headset. Christina interviews Inverse’s Raymond Wong, who demo’d the headset and has all the hands-on details. Plus, a money-grabbing choice by Reddit threatens beloved …

#440: Build-ing a Mystery

June 1st, 2023 · 53 minutes

Christina is back from Microsoft Build, with her take on all the tools that were announced during the event! Then, a panel of AI researchers has issued a statement that we need to mitigate the potential harm that could be caused by this explosive technology. What are some paths forward for doing that? And finally, Elizabeth Holmes has reported to …

#439: Human Errors

May 25th, 2023 · 60 minutes

Microsoft Build happened this week, along with a slew of AI-centric announcements! Brianna and Simone tackle the AI-integrated future of Windows 11 — are you ready to let ChatGPT buy you a house? Then, a disastrous Twitter Space has launched a new presidential candidate and we’re here to definitely just talk about the tech aspect of it. Also, Meta…

#438: Touching Livestock

May 18th, 2023 · 56 minutes

Simone is off touching sheep so Bri and Christina are left to their own devices. This week, after a brief Liz Holmes update, that means a spoiler-free dessert-up-front segment on The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, a discussion about Twitter’s new CEO and finally a discussion about whether or not AM radios should still come with cars.