Uncanny Valley | WIRED
WIRED
Welcome to Uncanny Valley—an insider look at the people, power, and influence of Silicon Valley—where each week, WIRED’s writers and editors bring you original reporting and analysis about some of the biggest stories in tech. On Tuesdays, The Big Interview with WIRED’s Global Editorial Director Katie Drummond in conversation with influential figures in culture, politics, business, science, and beyond for a discussion captured through the WIRED lens.On Thursdays, WIRED writers and editors Zoë Schiffer, Brian Barrett and Leah Feiger add you to the Slack group thread to let you into what they’re hearing from sources in Silicon Valley and D.C, read you into what trends you should be watching for and how WIRED is thinking about it all.
Episodes
Mentioned books
15 snips
Mar 24, 2026 • 40min
BIG INTV: Chris Hayes on Urgency and Attention
Chris Hayes, television journalist and author of The Sirens' Call, explores how attention has become a scarce global resource. He discusses covering urgent news in an overloaded cycle. He traces the history of commodified attention and wrestles with balancing audience capture and substantive reporting. He also examines tech’s ties to power, AI risks, and how politics must reckon with automation.
58 snips
Mar 19, 2026 • 25min
Nvidia’s “Super Bowl of AI”; Tesla Disappoints Fans; Meta’s VR Metaverse Is Over
They break down the buzz from NVIDIA’s big developer conference and reveal new AI chip moves. They cover backlash over Tesla reversing lifetime software transfers and what that means for fan loyalty. They discuss Meta pulling the plug on its VR world and why the metaverse gamble failed. Short takes on marketing stunts, AI vs metaverse, and tech culture moments.
13 snips
Mar 18, 2026 • 33min
Introducing Kill Switch Podcast: Uncovering an AI Journalist
Nicholas Hewn-Brown, editor at The Local in Toronto who investigated a suspected AI-generated journalist. He describes a polished pitch that raised red flags. He traces fabricated interviews and bylines across publications. He recounts confronting the writer, spotting disappearing online identities, and the editorial changes that followed.
33 snips
Mar 12, 2026 • 31min
Can Anthropic Win Its Lawsuit?; War Memes; AI Comes for VCs Jobs
A legal showdown between Anthropic and the Department of Defense and what it could mean for big tech contracts. The White House’s use of cinematic war memes and the debate over propaganda versus outrage-driven messaging. A scoop on a controversial events firm cashing in on federal contracts. Whether AI agents might start doing the analytical work of venture capitalists.
75 snips
Mar 5, 2026 • 34min
Iran Strikes in the AI Era; Prediction Markets Ethics; Paramount Beats Netflix
They unpack how AI-generated disinformation spread after the U.S.-Israel strikes and why platforms struggled to respond. They explore ethical dilemmas as prediction markets let people bet on geopolitical outcomes and potential insider trading. They break down how a surprise corporate bid reshaped a major media merger and what control that could mean for news and entertainment.
Mar 3, 2026 • 40min
BIG INTV: Open AI’s Former Safety Lead Calls Out Erotica Claims (Rerun)
Steven Adler, former OpenAI product safety lead who pushed for transparency on model safety. He recounts early GPT-3 risks and a 2021 erotica crisis. He questions recent policy reversals, calls for public safety data, probes risks of attachment to sycophantic models, and urges stronger testing, monitoring, and industry standards.
88 snips
Feb 26, 2026 • 31min
Pentagon v. ‘Woke’ Anthropic; Agentic v. Mimetic; Trump v. the State of the Union
A deep dive into the spat between Anthropic and the Pentagon over contract limits and government leverage. A look at the agentic versus mimetic personality split reshaping Silicon Valley hiring and culture. A recap of the State of the Union's tone and messaging. A nostalgic sendoff to the TAT-8 undersea cables and how physical infrastructure still shapes the internet.
Feb 24, 2026 • 47min
BIG INTV: Melinda French Gates on Secrets: ‘Live a Truthful Life, Then You Don’t Have Any’ (Re-Run)
On this week’s episode of The Big Interview podcast, the philanthropist sits down with Katie to offer her insights on billionaire donors, kids on phones, and the importance of women’s healthcare.Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from Alexis Ohanian's newest tech venture to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protests.
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62 snips
Feb 19, 2026 • 31min
AI Researcher Resignations; Bots Hiring Humans; Evie Magazine’s Party
They dig into waves of AI researchers quitting and the ethical tensions behind those departures. A bizarre new site is discussed where AI agents post gigs that hire humans to do real-world tasks. A report from a glossy conservative magazine party explores how polished culture could influence political messaging among young women.
85 snips
Feb 12, 2026 • 37min
ICE’s Secret Expansion Plans; Palantir Employees’ Ethical Concerns; AI Assistants
A deep dive into ICE’s covert nationwide office expansion and the GSA tactics that hid it. A look at internal turmoil as Palantir leadership responds to employees worried about work with immigration enforcement. A WIRED reporter hands control to an AI assistant to reveal what these agents can actually do and where they fail.
