kill switch

A tech journalist frames a human-first look at innovation and risk. Conversations range from de-extinction and deepfakes to AI companions and ChatGPT therapy. Investigations preview AI stalking and identity harms. A promise to keep people, not algorithms, in control.

Ethan Zuckerman, internet scholar and activist who helped build Tripod, reflects on the web he helped create. He discusses how ad models and pop-ups reshaped the internet. He explores forgetful advertising, ethical alternatives to surveillance-driven ads, middleware like blockers, and building public digital infrastructure and co-op approaches.

Parth MN, independent journalist who reported ‘Death of an Indian tech worker,’ brings on-the-ground reporting about India’s tech workforce and suicides. He describes intense work pressure and burnout. He traces 24/7 schedules driven by outsourcing and global time zones. He examines legal gaps, muted accountability, and the human cost for families.

Makena Kelly, WIRED senior politics writer who covers tech and government, breaks down Palantir’s ties to immigration enforcement. She explains Foundry, Immigration OS and ELITE. She also describes data sources, embedded engineers, internal staff confusion, and how Palantir’s public storytelling masks its government reach.

Will Knight, senior WIRED writer who covers AI policy and industry trends, joins to unpack the Anthropic–government clash. He traces the DOD contract disputes, Anthropic’s refusal to enable mass surveillance or autonomous weapons, the unusual supply-chain-risk label, and how rivals and politics shaped the fight. Short, sharp takes on how AI and defense are colliding.

Amanda Gerut, West Coast editor at Fortune who covers Silicon Valley and tech investments, walks through the surge of fertility startups and polygenic screening. She explains how AI-driven embryo analysis and gene editing are being funded. Conversation covers which traits can be screened, costs and who can access these services, and the inequality and ethical questions they raise.

Ryan Broderick, a journalist who studies internet culture, joins to unpack AI companionship trends. They explore early bots, pandemic-driven attachments, VTuber fandom, OnlyFans/outsourced chats, and real-world harms from trusting AIs. Short, sharp takes on who leans into AI intimacy and whether it will scale.

Tech companies are constantly putting out new products to chase the hype – but they’re not all winners. Each year, nonprofit consumer advocates put on an award ceremony recognizing the lousiest of the bunch, called the Worst in Show. Dexter talks with Liz Chamberlain, who runs Worst in Show, about this year’s awards, the products that earned them (spoiler: a product featured during the Super Bowl is on the list), and what we risk when we chase the hype (read: add AI to everything). Got something you’re curious about? Hit us up killswitch@kaleidoscope.nyc, or @killswitchpod, or @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky. Read + Watch:  This year’s Worst In Show: https://www.ifixit.com/News/115344/worst-in-show-returns-at-ces-2026-calling-out-gadgets-that-make-things-worse Worst In Show website: https://www.worstinshowces.com/  kill switch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@killswitch_pod See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tim Wu, legal scholar and author of The Age of Extraction, traces how tech shifted from idealism to extracting value. He recounts key moments like major acquisitions, platform consolidation, and Amazon's marketplace tactics. Conversations cover the rise of convenience-driven lock-in, risks to democracy from concentrated tech power, and whether AI will disrupt or deepen platform control.

When an editor at a local magazine in Toronto received a pitch from a promising new freelancer, he didn’t expect it to spiral into an obsessive investigation. What followed was a deep dive into a web of fake interviews, impossible bylines, and fake reporting. Dexter talks with Nicholas Hune-Brown to trace how he uncovered an AI journalist and what it reveals about journalism today.  Got something you’re curious about? Hit us up killswitch@kaleidoscope.nyc, or @killswitchpod, or @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky. Read:  “Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era”  https://thelocal.to/investigating-scam-journalism-ai/  “The Fallout From Our AI Freelancer Investigation” https://thelocal.to/fallout-from-ai-freelancer-investigation/ The Local’s recent issue, “The Cost of Care” https://thelocal.to/winter-2026/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.