Recent reports on the advances of AI in computer coding could spell a major shift in the software sector and cause substantial shifts in society. Is the AI singularity upon us, and how do we handle this emerging future? Plus John and Eliana recommend the Mel Brooks documentary The 99 Year Old Man!
Ragebait, sponcon, A.I. slop — the internet of 2026 makes a lot of us nostalgic for the internet of 10 or 15 years ago.
What exactly went wrong here? How did the early promise of the internet get so twisted? And what exactly is wrong here? What kinds of policies could actually make our digital lives meaningfully better?
Cory Doctorow and Tim Wu have two different theories of the case, which I thought would be interesting to put in conversation together. Doctorow is a science fiction writer, an activist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the author of “Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It.” Wu is a law professor who worked on technology policy in the Biden White House; his latest book is “The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity.”
In this conversation, we discuss their different frameworks, and how they connect to all kinds of issues that plague the modern internet: the feeling that we’re being manipulated; the deranging of our politics; the squeezing of small businesses and creators; the deluge of spam and fraud; the constant surveillance and privacy risks; the quiet rise of algorithmic pricing; and the dehumanization of work. And they lay out the policies that they think would go furthest in making all these different aspects of our digital lives better.
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Annie Galvin. Fact-checking by Will Peischel. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Isaac Jones and Aman Sahota. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Rollin Hu, Kristin Lin, Emma Kehlbeck, Jack McCordick, Michelle Harris, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. And special thanks to Natasha Scott.
From time to time, the American people need to be reminded who is the boss. The boss is the US government. The citizenry are the serfs, the servants, the subordinates.
It’s a weird time for jobs numbers. Another month, another jobs report pushed back by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Averaging two private sources, ADP and Revelio Labs: an estimated 4,500 jobs were added in January. Sounds like … not many.
And, yet, the unemployment rate hasn’t seemed to have risen. This might be, in part, due to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. We’ll explain through the story of one Angeleno.
On today’s show, how bad are these job numbers? Or are they not bad at all? And what does immigration have to do with it?
Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, and Mike Johnson hint at plans to steal the midterm elections, from "nationalizing" the voting to straight-up sending ICE to "surround" the polls. Jon and Dan sound the alarm and offer Democrats some advice on how to respond. Then, they react to Border Czar Tom Homan's announcement that 700 DHS officers (out of 3,000) will be leaving Minneapolis, Vice President Vance's refusal to apologize to the family of Alex Pretti for calling him a "domestic terrorist," and Jeff Bezos's gutting of The Washington Post. Then Dan talks to Maine Governor and Senate candidate Janet Mills about ICE's operations in her state, what blue states can do to protect the midterms, and whether the Democratic Party has an age problem.
The Trump administration is celebrating an American Society of Plastic Surgeons recommendation to delay gender-related surgeries, which are rare. So how much is changing?
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons declared this week that it recommends surgeons delay gender-related surgeries until a patient is at least 19 years old.
The Trump administration called the move "another victory for biological truth in the Trump administration,” and said the group "has set the scientific and medical standard for all provider groups to follow.”
The administration is describing the new recommendations as a “watershed moment”, but gender-affirming surgeries in minors are rare. So how much will this change?
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org. This episode was produced by Alejandra Marquez Janse, with audio engineering by Tiffany Vera Castro.
It was edited by Diane Webber, Courtney Dorning and Patrick Jarenwattananon.
Restoring the rule of law and Constitutional government on immigration—something wrecked by Trump's rule-by-decree with federal agents—is vastly more important than expelling illegal immigrants.
The verdict against German anti-fascist Maja T, Epstein's connections across Europe, and repression of Islam in Russia. Then: high tensions in the High North, the human rights music project Daughters of Donbas – Songs of Stolen Children, and Slovenian ski jumpers in the Winter Olympics.
A major shift, it seems, in the Trump administration's approach to illegal aliens is taking place; what does this mean for Stephen Miller's hyper-aggressive approach and the White House's efforts to find a way to forestall a blue wave in November? Also, what is the purpose of these Iran negotiations? Give a listen.
