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
47 snips
Apr 9, 2026 • 31min
OpenAI and Musk Fight Again; DOJ Mishandles Voter Data; Artemis II Comes Home
A simmering legal feud between OpenAI and Elon Musk heats up alongside SpaceX’s confidential IPO maneuvers. A Department of Justice lawyer is accused of misleading a judge about handling state voter rolls and privacy concerns. The Artemis II mission returns human lunar orbit to the spotlight with record views, crew moments, and debates about NASA funding versus private space efforts.
25 snips
Apr 7, 2026 • 40min
Can UpScrolled Keep Up With a Surge in Users?
Issam Hijazi, tech founder who built UpScrolled after 17 years in the industry, discusses his rapid-growth social app. He explains the chronological feed and anti-algorithm design. He recounts scaling from 150k to millions, rapid hiring, and building moderation with human-in-the-loop AI. He outlines monetization plans and handling controversy around content policies and location choices.
55 snips
Apr 2, 2026 • 28min
Iran Targets U.S. Tech; Polymarket’s Bar Flop; Trump's Plans for Midterms
McKenna Kelly, WIRED’s DC reporter who attended the Polymarket pop-up, gives a rain-soaked, on-the-ground scene report. She describes late openings, flubbed tech, sparse food, and the mix of crypto, press, and political types. The conversation also covers Iran’s threats to U.S. tech firms and the Trump administration’s moves to reshape midterm voting rules.
39 snips
Mar 31, 2026 • 48min
The Myth That AI Will Replace Language Learning
Luis von Ahn, Co-founder and CEO of Duolingo and inventor of reCAPTCHA, discusses why learning languages still matters even with AI translation. He covers Duolingo’s mission, AI-powered conversation practice, balancing mission with business pressures, and plans to expand into subjects like math. He also reflects on education philanthropy and the company’s AI-first strategy.
20 snips
Mar 24, 2026 • 40min
Trump's 80s Movie Approach to Foreign Policy w/ Chris Hayes
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.
15 snips
Mar 18, 2026 • 33min
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.
