Podcasts

This week, Jonathan Haidt, author of “The Anxious Generation,” returns to the show to discuss new research about how social media is harming teens and what it’s been like to become the face of a global movement against the platforms. Then, we asked what you were building with Claude Code, and you blew us away. We’ll share some of our favorite projects that you sent us. And finally, we’re joined by PJ Vogt, the host of “Search Engine,” to talk about our early adventures in the Forkiverse and what we’ve learned so far about running a social media network. Guests: Jonathan Haidt, social psychologist and author of “The Anxious Generation" PJ Vogt, host of “Search Engine” Additional Reading: Mountains of Evidence Meta’s Internal Research An NYT Event in LA - Trump: The First Year of His Second Term We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscrib

Paul Rosolie is a naturalist, explorer, author of a new book titled Junglekeeper, and is someone who has dedicated his life to protecting the Amazon rainforest. https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep489-sc Transcript: https://lexfridman.com/paul-rosolie-3-transcript CONTACT LEX: Feedback – give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey AMA – submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama Hiring – join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring Other – other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact EPISODE LINKS: https://amzn.to/4q7vpAp https://instagram.com/paulrosolie https://junglekeepers.org https://paulrosolie.com https://amzn.to/3ww2ob1 SPONSORS: Perplexity: AI-powered answer engine. https://perplexity.ai/ BetterHelp: Online therapy and counseling. https://betterhelp.com/lex LMNT: Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix. https://drinkLMNT.com/lex Shopify: Sell stuff online. https://shopify.com/lex Fin: AI agent for customer service. https://fin.ai/lex Miro: Onl

Over the past year we’ve been working with the podcast “Search Engine” on a project that reimagines what the internet can be. What if instead of rage-baiting, a social platform incentivized friendly interaction and good faith discussion? Today we’re bringing “Hard Fork” listeners an episode we made with the “Search Engine” team called “The Fediverse Experiment” where we end up creating our own social media platform. Guest: PJ Vogt, host of the podcast “Search Engine.” Additional Reading: The Dream of the Fediverse Is Alive on Threads What Is Mastodon and Why Are People Leaving Twitter for It? We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Subscribe today at 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. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by

When four MIT grads decided to build a code editor while everyone else was building AI agents, they created the fastest-growing developer tool ever built. Cursor CEO Michael Truell joins a16z’s Martin Casado to discuss the deliberate constraints that led to breakthroughs: why they rejected the "democratization" narrative to focus on power users, how their 2-day work trials test for agency over credentials, and the strategic decision to own the editor when conventional wisdom said it was impossible. Follow Michael on X: https://x.com/mntruell Stay Updated: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends! Find a16z on X: https://x.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Listen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711 Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg Check out

In this episode, we sit down with David Kuo, VP of Marketing and Business Development at Point2 Technology, to explore the company’s radical approach to breaking the data center “copper cliff.” From RF-over-plastic waveguides to ultra-efficient retimers, Point2 is challenging a decade of assumptions about how AI clusters should be wired, and what’s possible when you rethink the link itself. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to IE+ for premium insights and exclusive content!

Users of X are asking the platform’s built-in A.I. chatbot, Grok, to remove clothing from images of celebrities and everyday people. We talk with the New York Times reporter Kate Conger about how some of the targets of this sexual harassment, including children and their families, are responding, and whether anyone will take action to stop it. Then, we recap a holiday break spent experimenting with Claude Code. We unveil what we built, how we did it and why the tool’s dramatic improvement could be scary for society. And finally, Casey debunks a viral Reddit post that accuses the food delivery industry of shocking exploitation. We explain how a scammer tried to fool us all using AI-generated evidence. Guests: Kate Conger, New York Times tech reporter covering X. Additional Reading: Elon Musk’s A.I. Is Generating Sexualized Images of Real People, Fueling Outrage Debunking the A.I. Food Delivery Hoax That Fooled Reddit We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard

Nvidia’s $5 billion investment in Intel is one of the biggest surprises in semiconductors in years. Two longtime rivals are now teaming up, and the ripple effects could reshape AI, cloud, and the global chip race. To make sense of it all, Erik Torenberg is joined by Dylan Patel, chief analyst at SemiAnalysis, joins Sarah Wang, general partner at a16z, and Guido Appenzeller, a16z partner and former CTO of Intel’s Data Center and AI business unit. Together, they dig into what the deal means for Nvidia, Intel, AMD, ARM, and Huawei; the state of US-China tech bans; Nvidia’s moat and Jensen Huang’s leadership; and the future of GPUs, mega data centers, and AI infrastructure. Resources: Find Dylan on X: https://x.com/dylan522p Find Sarah on X: https://x.com/sarahdingwang Find Guido on X: https://x.com/appenz Learn more about SemiAnalysis: https://semianalysis.com/dylan-patel/ Check out everything a16z is doing with artificial intelligence here, including articles, projects, and more podcasts

Happy New Year! We’re kicking things off by sharing our tech resolutions for 2026 and reflecting on how we fared with our social media and meditation goals from last year. Then, we open up the listener mailbag and answer your questions on data centers in space, who’s to blame when a customer service A.I. bot lies to you and whether it’s OK to deepfake Santa into your home security footage. Also, get your very own “Hard Fork” hats, now available at the Times Store: https://store.nytimes.com/products/hard-fork-baseball-cap Additional Reading: What I Learned About Productivity This Year Data Centers in Space + A.I. Policy on the Right + A Gemini History Mystery Shuffling Some Whimsy Into Poker and Blackjack We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Subscribe today at 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=p

Joel David Hamkins is a mathematician and philosopher specializing in set theory, the foundations of mathematics, and the nature of infinity, and he’s the #1 highest-rated user on MathOverflow. He is also the author of several books, including Proof and the Art of Mathematics and Lectures on the Philosophy of Mathematics. And he has a great blog called Infinitely More. https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep488-sc Transcript: https://lexfridman.com/joel-david-hamkins-transcript CONTACT LEX: Feedback – give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey AMA – submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama Hiring – join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring Other – other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact EPISODE LINKS: https://x.com/JDHamkins https://jdh.hamkins.org https://www.infinitelymore.xyz https://mathoverflow.net/users/1946/joel-david-hamkins https://jdh.hamkins.org/publications https://amzn.to/3MThaAt https://amzn.to/3YACc9A SPONSORS: Perplexity:

Joel David Hamkins is a mathematician and philosopher specializing in set theory, the foundations of mathematics, and the nature of infinity, and he’s the #1 highest-rated user on MathOverflow. He is also the author of several books, including Proof and the Art of Mathematics and Lectures on the Philosophy of Mathematics. And he has a great blog called Infinitely More. https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep488-sc Transcript: https://lexfridman.com/joel-david-hamkins-transcript CONTACT LEX: Feedback – give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey AMA – submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama Hiring – join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring Other – other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact EPISODE LINKS: https://x.com/JDHamkins https://jdh.hamkins.org https://www.infinitelymore.xyz https://mathoverflow.net/users/1946/joel-david-hamkins https://jdh.hamkins.org/publications https://amzn.to/3MThaAt https://amzn.to/3YACc9A SPONSORS: Perplexity:

with Kevin Roose

Kevin recently joined the hosts of The Wirecutter Show for a conversation about the A.I. products he’s using, strategies to make chatbots work better and his beloved robot vacuums Bruce Roose and Bruce Roose Deuce. It’s a conversation we think Hard Fork listeners will enjoy. We’ll be back in your feeds with our annual tech resolutions episode on Friday. Additional Reading Tips for Using A.I. Smarter With Hard Fork’s Kevin Roose We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Subscribe today at 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. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode is a special replay from The Generalist Podcast, featuring a conversation with a16z General Partner Martin Casado. Martin has lived through multiple tech waves as a founder, researcher, and investor, and in this discussion he shares how he thinks about the AI boom, why he believes we’re still early in the cycle, and how a market-first lens shapes his approach to investing. They also dig into the mechanics behind the scenes: why AI coding could become a multi-trillion-dollar market, how a16z evolved from a small generalist firm into a specialized organization, the growing role of open-source models, and why Martin believes AGI debates often obscure more meaningful questions about how technology actually creates value. Follow Mario Gabriele X: https://x.com/mariogabriele https://www.generalist.com/ Follow Martin Casado: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martincasado/ X: https://x.com/martin_casado The Generalist Substack: https://www.generalist.com/ The Generalist on You

This episode is a special replay from The Generalist Podcast, featuring a conversation with a16z General Partner Martin Casado. Martin has lived through multiple tech waves as a founder, researcher, and investor, and in this discussion he shares how he thinks about the AI boom, why he believes we’re still early in the cycle, and how a market-first lens shapes his approach to investing. They also dig into the mechanics behind the scenes: why AI coding could become a multi-trillion-dollar market, how a16z evolved from a small generalist firm into a specialized organization, the growing role of open-source models, and why Martin believes AGI debates often obscure more meaningful questions about how technology actually creates value. Follow Mario Gabriele X: https://x.com/mariogabriele https://www.generalist.com/ Follow Martin Casado: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martincasado/ X: https://x.com/martin_casado The Generalist Substack: https://www.generalist.com/ The Generalist on You

The leaders of the biggest A.I. labs argue that artificial intelligence will usher in a new era of scientific discovery, which will help us cure diseases and accelerate our ability to address the climate crisis. But what has A.I. actually done for science so far? To understand, we asked Sam Rodriques, a scientist turned technologist who is developing A.I. tools for scientific research through his nonprofit FutureHouse and a for-profit spinoff, Edison Scientific. Edison recently released Kosmos — an A.I. agent, or A.I. scientist to use the company’s language, that it says can accomplish six months of doctoral or postdoctoral-level research in a single 12-hour run. Sam walks us through how Kosmos works, and why tools like it could dramatically speed up data analysis. But he also discusses why some of the most audacious claims about A.I. curing disease are unrealistic, as well as what bottlenecks still stand in the way of a true A.I.-accelerated future. Guest: Sam Rodriques, founder and c

What if the next leap in artificial intelligence isn’t about better language—but better understanding of space? In this episode, a16z General Partner Erik Torenberg moderates a conversation with Fei-Fei Li, cofounder and CEO of World Labs, and a16z General Partner Martin Casado, an early investor in the company. Together, they dive into the concept of world models—AI systems that can understand and reason about the 3D, physical world, not just generate text. Often called the “godmother of AI,” Fei-Fei explains why spatial intelligence is a fundamental and still-missing piece of today’s AI—and why she’s building an entire company to solve it. Martin shares how he and Fei-Fei aligned on this vision long before it became fashionable, and why it could reshape the future of robotics, creativity, and computational interfaces. From the limits of LLMs to the promise of embodied intelligence, this conversation blends personal stories with deep technical insights—exploring what it really means t

This week, iRobot, the pioneering American robotics company behind the Roomba, filed for bankruptcy and announced that it would be taken over by its Chinese creditor. Colin Angle, a co-founder and a former longtime chief executive of the company, joins us to explain why the company lost its market dominance and what America should do to protect its newest crop of A.I. and robotics start-ups from the same fate. Then, we settle the score on our high, medium and low predictions from last year and lay down our new ones — including a spicy take on who will take over after Tim Cook at Apple. And finally, we wish all of our listeners a very happy holiday season with our annual tech-themed Christmas carol. Guest: Colin Angle, iRobot co-founder and former chief executive for over three decades. Additional Reading: Roomba Maker iRobot Files for Bankruptcy, With Chinese Supplier Taking Control iRobot Is in Trouble, but Roomba Is Already Dead Our 2025 Tech Predictions and Resolutions We want to he

In today’s episode, we sit down with Dr. Tamil Selvan Muthusamy, an interventional cardiologist trained in the UK and Europe, now practicing in Kuala Lumpur, to explore what may be the most important advance in cardiology in the last two decades: a new “bioadaptive” stent that actually moves and remodels with your arteries. We dive into why traditional rigid stents fail over time, how this new design dramatically cuts repeat heart events, and what it means for the millions of people worldwide living with coronary artery disease. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to IE+ for premium insights and exclusive content!

a16z's Martin Casado sits down with Shikhar Shrestha, CEO and cofounder of Ambient, the company bringing agentic AI to physical security. Shikhar shares how a traumatic armed robbery at age 12—and a security camera that no one was watching—sparked his mission to make every camera intelligent. They discuss how Ambient's AI monitors camera feeds in real-time to detect threats and prevent incidents before they happen, navigating COVID as a physical security company, building their own reasoning VLM called Pulsar, and why the future of security is AI not just detecting threats but automatically responding to them. If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends. Follow Shikhar on X: https://x.com/shikharshrestha Follow Martin on X: x.com/martin_casado Check out everything a16z is doing with artificial intelligence here, including articles, projects, and more podcasts. Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NO

Irving Finkel is a scholar of ancient languages and a longtime curator at the British Museum, renowned for his expertise in Mesopotamian history and cuneiform writing. He specializes in reading and interpreting cuneiform inscriptions, including tablets from Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian contexts. He became widely known for studying a tablet with a Mesopotamian flood story that predates the biblical Noah narrative, which he presented in his book “The Ark Before Noah” and in a documentary that involved building a circular ark based on the tablet’s technical instructions. https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep487-sc Transcript: https://lexfridman.com/irving-finkel-transcript CONTACT LEX: Feedback – give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey AMA – submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama Hiring – join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring Other – other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact EPISODE LINKS: https://www.instagram.com/

This week, Australia implemented the most aggressive social media ban in a democracy to date, kicking children under 16 off 10 of the most popular social platforms. We discuss how the platforms lost the argument around child safety and whether others will follow Australia’s lead. Then, the blogger Andy Masley joins us to separate fact from fiction on the topic of A.I. water use. Is it a distraction from other more pressing environmental concerns? And finally, our first-ever “Hard Fork” Wrapped: We break down our favorite “Hard Fork” stats from 2025 and bring you up to date on three of our biggest stories of the year. Guests: Andy Masley, blogger The Weird Turn Pro Additional Reading: A Grand Social Media Experiment Begins in Australia The A.I. water issue is fake Why Is Everyone So Wrong About A.I. Water Use? Trump Signs Executive Order to Neuter State A.I. Laws Trump Clears Sale of More Powerful Nvidia A.I. Chips to China We Asked Roblox’s C.E.O. About Child Safety. It Got Tense. We w