Search Engine

Are you a good driver?

The story of how a secret project at Google led to driverless cars on American roads. And, an answer to the question: are the robots actually safer drivers than we are?  Driven: The Race to Create the Autonomous Car [https://www.amazon.com/Driven-Race-Create-Autonomous-Car/dp/1501199439] , Alex Davies ⁠Support Search Engine! [https://searchengine.supercast.com/] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy [https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Odd Lots x Search Engine

This week, we’re sharing an episode from Odd Lots. An interview with The Economist's Mike Bird about how Chinese real estate became the biggest bubble in history. You can find more episodes from Odd Lots here [https://www.bloomberg.com/oddlots]. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy [https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Mysteries of Claude

Anthropic hired philosophers to teach its AI to be good. In their tests, the AI blackmailed a human to keep itself alive. Writer Gideon Lewis-Kraus went inside the company to figure out what's going on with Claude, and whether anyone can actually control it.  Read Gideon's story here [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/02/16/what-is-claude-anthropic-doesnt-know-either] Support Search Engine! [https://searchengine.supercast.com/] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy [https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Why don’t we eat people? (classic)

A question from a four-year-old tips us into an investigation of one of our most fundamental taboos: cannibalism. With help from New Yorker food critic Hannah Goldfield and writer Kelefa Sanneh. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy [https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

How Peptides Conquered the Internet

Two decades ago, bodybuilders on niche internet forums started injecting peptides. Now they're in the secret mini-fridges of some teenage boys. How did they get there? We track their crooked path from Silicon Valley to jaw-smashing influencers. Check out Jasmine Sun's work [https://jasmi.news/?utm_campaign=profile_chips] (and her piece on peptides [https://jasmi.news/p/bio-acc-dictionary]) Check out Ezra Marcus' work [https://nymag.com/author/ezra-marcus/] (and his piece on peptides [https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/peptides-from-instagram-china-wellness-cure.html]) Support Search Engine! [https://searchengine.supercast.com/] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy [https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]