TechStuff

This week, the show takes you behind the scenes at L'Oréal’s research center in New Jersey. Malcolm Gladwell delves into the complexities of cosmetic formulation and the AI partnership with IBM. Learn how AI is poised to revolutionize the creation of beauty products, to make them even more sustainable and innovative. This is a paid advertisement from IBM. The conversations on this podcast don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions. Visit us at https://www.ibm.com/think/podcasts/smart-talks [https://www.ibm.com/think/podcasts/smart-talks] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Is betting on current events the ‘future of news’? This week in the News Roundup, Oz and Karah ask AI if their favorite restaurants are hot or not and why Gen Z is nostalgic for a world without the internet. They also discuss Wimbledon’s new AI judges and how drones are impacting beach days. Plus, we want to hear from you! If you’ve found yourself turning to ChatGPT, Grok, Claude, Gemini or any other chatbot for help with a particular task or to answer unusual questions – we want to hear about it. Send us a 1-2 minute voice note to techstuffpodcast@gmail.com. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

David Baszucki is the co-founder and CEO of Roblox, the gaming platform that’s become a digital playground for millions of kids around the world. Baszucki sits down with Oz to talk about how Roblox became one of the most beloved tech platforms for the younger generations, and why he believes gaming is still in its “prehistoric era.” They also dive into one of the platform’s biggest challenges—safety—and what Roblox is doing to protect its users. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

This week, we’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes — all about the Sony Walkman. Jonathan Strickland dives into why Time named the portable device number 47 on a list of the 50 most influential gadgets of all time. How did the Walkman become a thing, and what influence has it had on how we experience music? See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Writer and journalist Vauhini Vara has been entangled with the tech world for most of her life — first as a kid in the Seattle suburbs and a college student in the Bay Area, and then as a reporter covering Silicon Valley for The Wall Street Journal. But it wasn’t until she turned to creative writing that Vara began to see just how deeply technology had shaped her own life. Vara sits down with Karah to talk about her new book, Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age and how she’s learning to use technology as a writing tool, while remaining critical of the industry. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.