Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchDrag It All To Hell, 2025.10.27
Episode 66
It's been six months since our last all-Hell episode! In honor of Halloween season, we take a long journey into the very scary Fresh AI Hell mines. Topics include terrifying uses of AI in education, …
Published on 10 hours ago
Crunching the Numbers (with Decca Muldowney), 2025.10.20
Episode 65
So-called AI tools are increasingly infiltrating newsrooms, particularly when it comes to data analysis. DAIR writer-in-residence Decca Muldowney joins us to discuss the need for journalists to disti…
Published on 2 weeks, 5 days ago
Building Worlds Through Better Reading (with Reo Eveleth), 2025.09.29
Episode 64
Powerful AI boosters claim to love science fiction novels, but why do they always seem to take the wrong lessons from them? Reporter and writer Reo Eveleth joins us to discuss the ways tech leaders m…
Published on 1 month ago
Three Years of Ridicule as Praxis, 2025.09.19
Episode 63
It's Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000's third birthday! To celebrate, Emily and Alex respond to listener questions about the show, and reflect on the past and future of AI hype. Topics range from how to …
Published on 1 month, 2 weeks ago
The Robo-Therapist Will See You Now (with Maggie Harrison Dupré), 2025.08.18
Episode 62
Talking to chatbots can have serious mental health consequences — fueling delusions and leading users away from consensus reality. Futurism writer Maggie Harrison Dupré joins us to unpack the hype ar…
Published on 2 months, 1 week ago
Winning the Race to Hell (with Sarah Myers West and Kate Brennan), 2025.08.04
Episode 61
Trump’s “AI Action Plan” is his latest attempt to turn AI hype into official national policy. Kate Brennan and Sarah Myers West, of the AI Now Institute, join us to dig through this pile of deregulat…
Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago
Vibe Coding: Four Security Nightmares in a Trenchcoat (with Susanna Cox), 2025.07.21
Episode 60
After many months of making fun of the term "vibe coding," Emily and Alex tackle the LLMs-as-coders fad head-on, with help from security researcher Susanna Cox. From one person's screed that proclaim…
Published on 3 months ago
Et Tu, American Federation of Teachers? (with Charles Logan), 2025.07.14
Episode 59
The chatbot boosters are looking for educators to play brand ambassador for more intrusion of so-called "AI" into the classroom. From the American Federation of Teachers' new partnership with OpenAI …
Published on 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Why "AI" Is a Con: Our Book Launch! (with Vauhini Vara), 2025.05.08
It's finally here! The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want hit the shelves in May. In this special bonus episode, Alex and Emily speak to tech journalist Vauhini Vara a…
Published on 4 months, 1 week ago
"Like Magic Intelligence in the Cloud", 2025.05.26
Episode 58
Because Sam Altman hates opening his laptop, OpenAI is merging with iPhone guy Jony Ive's design firm in the name of some mysterious new ChatGPT-enabled consumer products: Alex and Emily go full Myst…
Published on 4 months, 4 weeks ago