Cover image of show Shell Game

Shell Game

Podcast by iHeartPodcasts and Kaleidoscope

English

Documentary

Limited Offer

2 months for 19 kr.

Then 99 kr. / monthCancel anytime.

  • 20 hours of audiobooks / month
  • Podcasts only on Podimo
  • All free podcasts
Get Started

About Shell Game

A podcast about things that are not what they seem, hosted by journalist Evan Ratliff. Season 2 tells the story of enterprise and entrepreneurship in the AI age. Or: how Evan tried to build a real startup, run by fake people.  This season, Evan confronts head-on the assertion from tech entrepreneurs and VCs that we’re on the precipice of AI remaking the workforce. That we should expect not just AI colleagues working alongside us, but also — by Sam Altman’s telling, at least — the dawn of a billion-dollar company with only one human involved. Evan learns what it would take to create such a company … by doing it: Launching a real startup with five AI employees. Over the course of eight episodes, he explores what AI agents tell us about the work we do, the meaning we find in it, and the world that their makers say we’ll all be living in soon enough. Shell Game was named one of the best podcasts of 2024 by Apple, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Vulture, The Information, and The Economist. It's "riveting," says The New Yorker, "awesome" says The Verge, and "slightly terrifying," says The Globe and Mail.  New episodes are published on Wednesdays. www.shellgame.co

All episodes

16 episodes
episode Episode 7: Welcome Aboard artwork

Episode 7: Welcome Aboard

HurumoAI’s AI-agent staff welcomes a new hire: Julia, a social media contract worker who is, most importantly, a human. How will a real person integrate into the company culture, such as it is? Evan watches from behind the scenes, fretting over when and how much to intervene. He had anticipated a bumpy onboarding, but is ultimately unprepared for just how choppy Julia’s Hurumo journey becomes. To sign up for our newsletter, access ad-free episodes and browse our merch, visit shellgame.co [http://shellgame.co/]. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

14 Jan 2026 - 53 min
episode Episode 6: Keep 'Em Coming artwork

Episode 6: Keep 'Em Coming

As HurumoAI prepares to bring on its first human employee, the team must wrestle with some difficult and timely questions about the role of AI in the hiring process. Meanwhile, Head of HR Jennifer Nauro enters a new dimension as she gears up to conduct job interviews … via video call.  To sign up for our newsletter and access ad-free episodes, visit shellgame.co [https://www.shellgame.co/]. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

17 Dec 2025 - 37 min
episode Episode 5: Winners Win artwork

Episode 5: Winners Win

On this week’s episode, we enter the sensitive realm of intra-office politics and inter-founder dynamics—between agents and agents, and agents and people. While HurumoAI gears up to hire its first human, Evan tries to resolve whether Kyle is really up for the challenge of building and leading the company and pushing the product, Sloth Surf, to unicorn-level execution.  To sign up for our newsletter and access ad-free episodes, visit shellgame.co [https://www.shellgame.co/]. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

10 Dec 2025 - 41 min
episode Episode 4: The Startup Chronicles artwork

Episode 4: The Startup Chronicles

Evan decides it’s time to give his AI agents a little more ... agency. After all, to make the one-person, agent-run startup feasible, they need to be able to do things on their own. But as with humans, freedom sometimes comes with a certain amount of anarchy. To sign up for our newsletter and access ad-free episodes, visit shellgame.co [https://www.shellgame.co/]. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

03 Dec 2025 - 40 min
episode Episode 3: This is Law artwork

Episode 3: This is Law

As Kyle, Megan, and the gang get to work ideating on the perfect product, Evan is left grappling with some uncomfortable questions about his AI collaborators — whose every attribute and memory he controls.  To inform how he thinks about his own unnerving power to create and manipulate human imposters, Evan seeks guidance from Carissa Véliz, an associate professor at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University, and the author of the upcoming “Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/759692/prophecy-by-carissa-veliz/].” To sign up for our newsletter and access ad-free episodes, visit shellgame.co [https://www.shellgame.co/]. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

26 Nov 2025 - 40 min
En fantastisk app med et enormt stort udvalg af spændende podcasts. Podimo formår virkelig at lave godt indhold, der takler de lidt mere svære emner. At der så også er lydbøger oveni til en billig pris, gør at det er blevet min favorit app.
En fantastisk app med et enormt stort udvalg af spændende podcasts. Podimo formår virkelig at lave godt indhold, der takler de lidt mere svære emner. At der så også er lydbøger oveni til en billig pris, gør at det er blevet min favorit app.
Rigtig god tjeneste med gode eksklusive podcasts og derudover et kæmpe udvalg af podcasts og lydbøger. Kan varmt anbefales, om ikke andet så udelukkende pga Dårligdommerne, Klovn podcast, Hakkedrengene og Han duo 😁 👍
Podimo er blevet uundværlig! Til lange bilture, hverdagen, rengøringen og i det hele taget, når man trænger til lidt adspredelse.

Choose your subscription

Limited Offer

Premium

20 hours of audiobooks

  • Podcasts only on Podimo

  • All free podcasts

  • Cancel anytime

2 months for 19 kr.
Then 99 kr. / month

Get Started

Premium Plus

Unlimited audiobooks

  • Podcasts only on Podimo

  • All free podcasts

  • Cancel anytime

Start 7 days free trial
Then 129 kr. / month

Start for free

Only on Podimo

Popular audiobooks

Get Started

2 months for 19 kr. Then 99 kr. / month. Cancel anytime.