This week, get ready for a whole loot box of gaming-related stories!
First up, we find out about a video game that could give people the power to battle misinformation.
We also hear how scientists are putting harbour seals in front of a computer monitor to decipher how they navigate under the water.
And Dr Brett Kagan from Cortical Labs joins us down the line to tell us why he taught a clump of brain cells to play the 1970s arcade game Pong.
Along the way, we discover what happens when artificial intelligence tries to explain idioms, we learn about a tiny frog named after Bilbo Baggins and try to establish whether or not video games benefit your brain.
All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements.
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Kai Kupferschmidt and Leonie Joubert
Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Margaret Sessa Hawkins, Imaan Moin and Minnie Harrop
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This is one of my favorite episodes of the show in recent memory. It’s a conversation with the author Salman Rushdie about the experience of losing control of your identity in the world. This happened to Rushdie in the most extreme way. But many of us know some milder version of this — and increasingly so in the age of social media. Rushdie’s story is hard to wrap your mind around. When he published his fourth novel, “The Satanic Verses,” in 1988, he was a literary star. And then the Ayatollah of Iran issued a fatwa calling for his assassination. In this episode, Rushdie recounts the ways that upended his world, creating a “shadow self” that he would spend years trying to escape. And he reflects on the different ways he’s wrestled with that shadow self — in the years following the fatwa and then more recently, after a 2022 knife attack that nearly killed him.
This episode was originally recorded in April 2024.
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Annie Galvin. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Isaac Jones. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Rollin Hu, Elias Isquith, Marina King, Jan Kobal, Kristin Lin and Jack McCordick. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. Special thanks to Sonia Herrero and Mrinalini Chakravorty.
Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
On the morning of August 27, 1883, one of the most destructive natural disasters of the 19th century occurred between the islands of Java and Sumatra, in what is today the nation of Indonesia.
After weeks of low-level rumblings, a volcanic eruption totally obliterated the mountain that it had formed.
The devastation wasn’t limited to the immediate area around the volcano. The blast’s effects literally affected the entire planet.
Learn more about the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa and its devastating impact on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
If you've heard the phrase "Automate the boring things" for Python, this episode starts with that idea and takes it to another level. We have Glyph back on the podcast to talk about "Programming YOUR computer with Python." We dive into a bunch of tools and frameworks and especially spend some time on integrating with existing platform APIs (e.g. macOS's BrowserKit and Window's COM APIs) to build desktop apps in Python that make you happier and more productive. Let's dive in!
While President Trump demands his administration investigate the former president's pardons and executive orders, we're left thinking about President Joe Biden again…and where it all went wrong. Alex Thompson, national political correspondent for Axios and co-author of the new book, "Original Sin," joins us to talk about Biden's decline in office and how the people around him covered it up.
And in headlines, President Trump and Elon Musk trade attacks on social media over the Big Beautiful Bill, Trump bans citizens of 12 countries from traveling to the US, and a Massachusetts teen detained by ICE is released on bond.
What happened between President Trump and Elon Musk? Their former alliance has now turned into a full-blown, public feud, with political power and billions of dollars at stake.
Also, three new unanimous Supreme Court rulings to tell you about, including one that’s expected to open the door to more reverse discrimination lawsuits.
Plus, Amazon is training a new kind of delivery worker that isn’t human, Aaron Rodgers picks a new team with a high-profile showdown set to open the season, and where to score free donuts for National Donut Day.
Those stories and even more news to know in about 10 minutes!
Join us every Mon-Fri for more daily news roundups!
Donald Trump and Elon Musk's romance comes to a fiery end as the two erupt into an explosive feud, attacking each other across social media. Jon and Dan comb through the insults, including Elon calling for Trump's impeachment, Trump threatening to end all of Elon's government contracts, and, our personal favorite, Elon tweeting that Donald Trump is in the Epstein files. Fun day! The guys also discuss Trump's recent slate of executive orders: another round of attacks on Harvard University, a 2025 version of Trump 1.0’s infamous Muslim ban, and an investigation into the alleged coverup of President Biden's mental and physical health. Then, Jon and Lovett sit down with Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson for an extended interview about their New York Times bestselling book, Original Sin, which reckons with Biden's decision to run for reelection.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
