Hard Fork

Hard Fork’s 50 Most Iconic Technologies of 2025

Last year we debuted Hard Fork’s 100 Most Iconic Technologies list, in which we ranked the technologies from across all of history that best define life as we know it. To our surprise, it became one of our most popular episodes ever. So now we’re doing it again — with a twist. All year, we’ve been collecting ideas for the 50 Most Iconic Technologies of 2025, and this week we present them to you, along with our case for why each entry played an important part in defining this year, for better or worse.   Additional Reading:  * Check out last year’s list: Hard Fork’s 100 Most Iconic Technologies  [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/29/podcasts/hardfork-iconic-100-technologies.html] * Meet the Artist Who Bedazzled Naomi Osaka’s Labubus [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/04/style/naomi-osaka-labubu-us-open.html]   We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com [hardfork@nytimes.com]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/hardfork] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@hardfork]. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://nytimes.com/podcasts] or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher [https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher]. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

The Interview: How Wikipedia Is Responding to the Culture Wars

Last month our colleague Lulu Garcia-Navarro had a conversation with Wikipedia’s co-founder Jimmy Wales about the challenges the site is facing — including by right-wing influencers who claim it is biased and by A.I. chatbots that compete with its content. We found the conversation interesting, and think you might too. So to tide you over until our special holiday episode on Friday, we’re bringing you that conversation from the New York Times podcast “The Interview.”   Guests:  * Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia and author of “The Seven Rules of Trust: A Blueprint for Building Things That Last”   Additional Reading: * The Culture Wars Came for Wikipedia. Jimmy Wales Is Staying the Course. [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/magazine/jimmy-wales-interview.html] * Elon Musk Challenges Wikipedia With His Own A.I. Encyclopedia [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/technology/grokipedia-launch-elon-musk.html] * Elon Musk Groks Wikipedia [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/31/podcasts/characterais-teen-chatbot-crackdown-elon-musk-groks-wikipedia-48-hours-without-ai.html]   We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com [hardfork@nytimes.com]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://nytimes.com/podcasts] or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher [https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher]. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

We Asked Roblox’s C.E.O. About Child Safety. It Got Tense.

Roblox's popularity has exploded among kids since the pandemic. Today Roblox has more than 150 million daily active users, and functions as one of the primary online gathering places for preteens. But precisely because Roblox is so popular with children, it has also attracted the attention of adult predators. This week we’re joined by Roblox chief executive David Baszucki for a conversation about how the company is responding to allegations that it has become unsafe for children, and the new measures the gaming platform says it’s now implementing to protect them. Guests: * David Baszucki, chief executive of Roblox Additional Reading:  * Roblox Sued for Wrongful Death After Teenager’s Suicide [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/12/technology/roblox-lawsuit-child-safety.html] * Generation Alpha’s FarmVille Is Growing Like Crazy in Roblox [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/arts/grow-garden-roblox-record.html]   We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com [hardfork@nytimes.com]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/hardfork] and TikTok. [https://www.tiktok.com/@hardfork] Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://nytimes.com/podcasts] or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher [https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher]. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Google's Gemini 3 Is Here: A Special Early Look

Google’s much anticipated new large language model Gemini 3 begins rolling out today. We’ll tell you what we learned from an early product briefing and bring you our conversation with Google executives Demis Hassabis and Josh Woodward, just ahead of the launch.   Guests: * Demis Hassabis [https://blog.google/authors/demis-hassabis/], chief executive and co-founder of Google DeepMind * Josh Woodward [https://blog.google/authors/josh-woodward/], vice president of Google Labs and Google Gemini   Additional Reading:  * The Man Who ‘A.G.I.-Pilled’ Google [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/23/podcasts/google-ai-demis-hassabis-hard-fork.html]   We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com [hardfork@nytimes.com]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/hardfork]and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@hardfork]. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://nytimes.com/podcasts] or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher [https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher]. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Data Centers in Space + A.I. Policy on the Right + A Gemini History Mystery

This week, we talk about Google’s new plan to build data centers in space. Then, we’re joined by Dean Ball, a former adviser at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Ball worked on the Trump administration’s A.I. Action Plan, and he shares his inside view on how those policies came together. Finally, Professor Mark Humphries joins us to talk about a strange Gemini model that offered mind-blowing results on a challenging research problem.   Guests: * Dean Ball [https://www.hyperdimensional.co/], senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation and former White House senior policy adviser for artificial intelligence and emerging technology * Mark Humphries [https://generativehistory.substack.com/], professor of history at Wilfrid Laurier University Additional Reading:  * Towards a Future Space-Based, Highly Scalable A.I. Infrastructure System Design [https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/suncatcher_paper.pdf] * What It's Like to Work at the White House  [https://www.hyperdimensional.co/p/what-its-like-to-work-at-the-white] * Has Google Quietly Solved Two of AI’s Oldest Problems? [https://generativehistory.substack.com/p/has-google-quietly-solved-two-of]   We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com [hardfork@nytimes.com]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/hardfork] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@hardfork]. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://nytimes.com/podcasts] or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher [https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher]. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.