Podcast Episodes

PU 15: State Secret or Vibe Physics?

A recent patent application that made the news in Germany looks suspiciously like someone with chatbot delusion tried to vibe code a threat to NATO’s…

7 months ago

PU 14: Chat Control is Back

The EU still wants to read through every digital message every one of its citizens ever sends. After some pushback, the newest idea is that platforms…

7 months, 1 week ago

PU 13: The Cosmic Ray That Broke the A320

How a programming mistake in an avionics software update combined with a stray neutron from outer space to take down the best-selling passenger jet i…

7 months, 2 weeks ago

PU 12: No Such Thing as Free Speech in Germany

There is a big difference between the German freedom to have an opinion and actual freedom of speech in the American sense, as a new report on the Ge…

7 months, 3 weeks ago

PU 11: What Happened to UPS Flight 2976?

On 4 November, an MD-11 cargo plane operated by UPS crashed in Louisville, Kentucky, killing fourteen people. We know that the airplane lost its left…

7 months, 4 weeks ago

PU 10: The Great Canadian Ostrich Massacre

Canadian officials killed over 300 ostriches, a full year after they recovered from the avian flu they had suffered from. Out of pure bureaucratic sp…

8 months ago

PU 9: Your Bus is Controlled by China

Norwegian public transport authority Ruter has discovered undocumented cell modems in electric buses built by Chinese company Yutong, which enable th…

8 months, 1 week ago

PU 8: Robotics Slop

According to the Wall Street Journal, the 1X NEO is a $20,000 robot that does your chores. The problem is that NEO is really bad at it. And the thing…

8 months, 2 weeks ago

PU 7: Von der Leyen's Paper Maps

The story of how European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s plane was allegedly attacked by GPS jamming is a particularly egregious example…

8 months, 3 weeks ago

PU 6: Chat Control Denied

For now, the EU’s Chat Control legislation has been halted by German opposition. What is this new law? And why is it so dangerous?

Punching Upwards, E…

9 months ago