The Vergecast: Ad-Free Edition

2024 is almost over, somehow. So we gathered a bunch of our Verge colleagues and told them each to tell us three things from the year: the biggest story, their favorite new tech thing, and their favorite new non-tech thing. We got a collection of big stories, cool gadgets, great movies, and more good stuff from the year that was.We're also planning a special episode for Tuesday, December 10th, all about The Verge and The Vergecast. So if you have questions about how we work, what we cover, why we talk about copyright law so much, or what Nilay is actually like to work with every day, tell us! Call 866-VERGE11, or email vergecast@theverge.com, and we'll answer as many as we can on the 10th. Thanks in advance!Further reading:Jay Peters: Story of the year: Google is a monopoly New thing of the year: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Non-tech thing of the year: XOXO Field Notes notebooks Jake Kastrenakes: Story of the year: All things AI New thing of the year: The Wiim Ultra amp Non-tech thing of the year: Chronoloy Justine Calma Story of the year: The US election, and the rise of nuclear power New thing of the year: Nurse Unseen Non-tech thing of the year: Sugarcane Vjeran Pavic: Story of the year: The Apple Vision Pro New thing of the year: The Fujifilm X100VI and the Kino app Non-tech thing of the year: Mountain Gazette Kylie Robison: Story of the year: Billionaire crybabies New thing of the year: Stardew Valley Non-tech thing of the year: Curated playlists Barbara Krasnoff: Story of the year: The US election New thing of the year: The Elgato Stream Deck Non-tech thing of the year: Googly eyes Alex Heath: Story of the year: The AI rat race New thing of the year: Granola Non-tech thing of the year: Shochu Ash Parrish: Story of the year: Grand Theft Auto VI and the Nintendo Switch 2, and more industry layoffs New thing of the year: The Playstation Portal Non-tech thing of the year: Bucephalus the puppy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Verge's Lauren Feiner joins Nilay and David to talk about the US government's proposal in its search antitrust case against Google. They discuss the future of Chrome, what a white-label search engine might look like, and how a Trump administration might change the course of this case altogether. Then Nilay and David talk about the week in AI and gadget news, from the latest on Amazon's new Alexa to Google bailing on tablets all over again. Finally, in the lightning round, they discuss Comcast spinning off its cable channels and the latest in the Threads / Bluesky competition.Further reading: DOJ says Google must sell Chrome to crack open its search monopoly Google responds to DOJ’s ‘extreme proposal.’ Google workers to DOJ: we need protections to make your breakup effective Apple fights to keep DOJ antitrust suit from reaching trial Amazon announces new Echo Show 21 and Echo Show 15 smart displays Google may be about to reboot its laptop and tablet hardware again Google reportedly cancels Pixel Tablet 2 and might quit the category — again Sonos’ smart TV plans might have found an OS Windows 365 Link is a $349 mini PC that streams Windows from the cloud Comcast is spinning off its cable TV business Trump names Brendan Carr as his FCC leader Strava closes the gates to sharing fitness data with other apps Inside Elon Musk’s messy breakup with OpenAI Threads’ custom feeds are already rolling out Threads’ algorithm will focus more on the people you follow Bose acquires premium audio brand McIntosh Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the third episode in our series about the future of music, we talk with Ge Wang. Ge is a professor at Stanford, a co-founder of Smule, the conductor of Stanford’s laptop orchestra, and has been at the center of technology and artistry for most of his life. We talk about how humans can use AI without giving in to it, what it means to truly play with technology, and the value of art and creativity and friction when it feels like all those things are being taken away.Further reading: Ge Wang’s website The future of computer music | Stanford University School of Engineering Ge’s viral TED talk: The DIY orchestra of the future From Wired: Behind the Scenes With the Stanford Laptop Orchestra Ge Wang: Human Well-Being Should Be AI Creators’ Goal Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nilay and David talk about the future of social, in light of Bluesky's recent surge in growth. Threads is huge, Bluesky is ascendent, Mastodon is... around, but can any of them become the next Twitter? Is that even the goal? After that, Kylie Robison joins the show and the gang discusses Apple's smart home device (which is just an iPad), the AI scaling slowdown, and a new twist in the delivery wars. In the lightning round, it's all about disclosures, wireless carriers, and the sad end of Freevee.Further reading: Twitter’s succession: all the news about alternative social media platforms  One million people have joined Bluesky in the past week. Bluesky adds 700,000 new users in a week The Guardian is quitting X. Remember the TikTok ban? Apple’s rumored six-inch ‘AI wall tablet’ could control your smart home by March 2025 Apple is reportedly working on an Apple Home security camera  Anthropic co-founder Darius Amodei said we’ll have artificial general intelligence “in 2026 or 2027.” Just Eat is selling Grubhub to Marc Lore’s Wonder for $650M Boost Mobile says it’s a real wireless carrier now Amazon is shutting down Freevee Trump says Elon Musk will lead ‘DOGE’ office to cut ‘wasteful’ government spending Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's show: sleep gadgets, AI DJs, and sneaky TVs. Victoria Song joins the show to talk about her experiences with the Eight Sleep mattress pad, the Oura Ring 4, and other sleep gadgets. Can you really measure your way to a better night of sleep? After that, Allison Johnson gives us her take on Spotify's AI DJ, and we wonder exactly how an AI tool is supposed to help us find and listen to music. Finally, Nilay Patel comes on to answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline about the Samsung Frame TVs — and how to figure out whether you need a TV at all.Further reading: Eight Sleep Pod 4 Ultra review: for sale, good night’s sleep, just $4,700 Ozlo Sleepbuds hands-on: resurrected and I’ve slept so good Oura Ring 4 review: still on top — for now Spotify’s AI is no match for a real DJ Samsung’s Frame TV is finally getting the knockoffs it deserves Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the second episode in our three-part miniseries about the future of music, Charlie Harding, a music journalist and co-host of the Switched on Pop podcast, joins the show to tell the story of Auto-Tune. He walks us through how a simple plugin became such a recognizable sound in music, why both artists and fans gravitated to the Auto-Tune sound, and why Auto-Tune has continued to grow even through backlash in the music business. Then we look ahead to AI, and try to figure out what — if any — lessons we might be able to learn about the sound and culture of the AI era to come.Further reading: Charlie Harding on X Switched on Pop From Pitchfork: How Auto-Tune Revolutionized the Sound of Popular Music From Rick Beato: How Auto-Tune DESTROYED Popular Music From Gabi Belle: The Problem with Autotune on TikTok Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nilay and David talk about the election, and how The Vergecast plans to cover and talk about the next four years of the Trump administration. But only for a minute. Then it's onto our reviews of the new Mac Mini and MacBook Pro, which reset Apple's desktop and laptop lineup in an excellent way. After that, Sean Hollister joins the show to discuss his review of the PlayStation 5 Pro, the news about backwards compatibility for the Nintendo Switch successor, and the state of Nintendo's fight against emulators. In the lightning round, we talk about really expensive domain names, oddly named smart home standards, and cloud gaming whales. Which apparently exist.Further reading: Donald Trump wins the 2024 presidential election What does Trump’s election mean for EVs, Tesla, and Elon Musk?  All the Big Tech leaders congratulating Donald Trump  Google CEO says company should be ‘trusted source’ in US election Another Trump presidency is literally toxic — his opponents are gearing up for battle Here’s FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr sucking up to Donald Trump by threatening to take NBC off the air Apple Mac Mini M4 review: a tiny wonder Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2024) review: the Pro for everyone Amazon says it’s fixing the Kindle Colorsoft’s yellow screen Kindle Colorsoft owners complain of a yellow bar on the e-reader’s screen PS5 Pro review: how close is your TV? Nintendo’s next generation is off to a great start Nintendo says the Switch successor will be compatible with Switch games Why is Nintendo targeting this YouTuber? Did OpenAI just spend more than $10 million on a URL? The Matter smart home standard gains support for more devices, including heat pumps and solar panels Nvidia to cap game streaming hours on GeForce Now instead of raising fees Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

November 6th marks 10 years to the day since Amazon surprise-launched a new, cylindrical device called the Echo. It introduced the world to smart speakers, and to the idea that you might be able to get stuff done just by shouting aloud in your living room. But a decade in, what has Alexa really accomplished? The Verge's Jennifer Pattison Tuohy joins the show to talk through the history of Alexa, Amazon's struggles to improve and extend its voice assistant, and the promise of a language model overhaul that might in theory make Alexa far more useful. There's a chance Alexa's second decade might be even more interesting than the first.Further reading: Amazon just surprised everyone with a crazy speaker that talks to you Amazon Echo review: listen up Alexa, where’s my Star Trek Computer? Alexa, thank you for the music The Alexa Skills revolution that wasn’t The Amazon Echo graveyard Amazon’s supercharged Alexa won’t arrive this year Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the first episode in our three-part miniseries on the future of music, we tell the story of Track Star, a music game show that has become a viral hit on TikTok and Instagram. Jack Coyne, the show's friendly host, tells us how Track Star came to be, why the format works so well, and why A-list celebrities like Olivia Rodrigo, Ed Sheeran, and Kamala Harris are all clamoring to be on the show. Coyne also tells us where Track Star might go next — and why the future of music content might look a lot like the past.Further reading: Track Star on TikTok Jack Coyne on Instagram The Olivia Rodrigo episode The "Every Track Star Song" playlist The Malcolm Todd episode Public Opinion Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nilay and David discuss a big week in AI news, including the new web search features in ChatGPT and the reporting that Meta is working on something very similar. They also briefly talk about this quarter's tech earnings, and what they say about the ways AI is really being used. Then, Wall Street Journal columnist Joanna Stern joins the show to talk about Apple Intelligence, Apple's week of Mac launches, and why Siri still can't open her garage. Finally, in the lightning round, the hosts talk about Netflix's gentle push into social features, Tony Fadell's AI thoughts, and our endorsement of Kamala Harris.Further reading: OpenAI’s search engine is now live in ChatGPT Meta is reportedly working on its own AI-powered search engine, too Microsoft’s gaming revenue keeps going up, even though hardware sales are down Reddit is profitable for the first time ever, with nearly 100 million daily users Snap Inc. - Financials - Quarterly Results Apple’s Mac week: everything announced Apple announces redesigned Mac Mini with M4 chip — and it’s so damn small Watch Apple show off the M4 Mac Mini in its reveal video - The Verge Apple’s new Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, and Magic Trackpad have USB-C Apple put the Magic Mouse’s charging port on the bottom again Apple updates the MacBook Pro with M4 Pro and M4 Max chips Apple updates the iMac with new colors and an M4 chip Apple’s first smart home display could pay homage to a classic iMac Apple Intelligence is out WSJ: Apple’s Craig Federighi Explains Apple Intelligence Delays, Siri’s Future and More Netflix is making it easier to bookmark and share your favorite parts of a show Tony Fadell calls out Sam Altman Tim Walz and AOC are going to play Madden together on Twitch The Verge’s guide to the 2024 presidential election Tech leaders line up to flatter Trump’s ego Jeff Bezos is no longer relentlessly focused on customer satisfaction “You have a Washington Post problem.” From The New York Times: Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and the Billions of Ways to Influence an Election Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices