Boosters and Mandates

It's September, which can only mean one thing: Apple's got some new products. This week, the company held a virtual event to detail its slate of upcoming iPhones, iPads, and smartwatches. Along with the new chips, Apple showed off some flashy photo and video features meant to appeal to pro users. But are those features all they're cracked up to be? And do you really need to buy the new hardware in order to use them?This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED reviews editor Julian Chokkattu joins us to talk about everything Apple announced this week and what you need to know before upgrading.Show Notes: Read all about the new iPhone 13. Also check out the changes to the iPad Mini. Here’s everything Apple announced at its event this week. Here’s Lauren and Julian’s story about Google’s new tensor chip in its Pixel 6 phone. Read Julian’s guide to iPhone 12 accessories. And you bet your ass we talked about cargo pants again.Recommendations: Julian recommends Apple’s MagSafe ecosystem for your phone accessories. Mike recommends just using the iPad Mini instead of a phone. Lauren recommends the docu-series LuLaRich on Amazon Prime.Julian Chokkattu can be found on Twitter @JulianChokkattu. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

17 Syys 202132min

This week, Hurricane Ida swept through the southern US, hitting Louisiana and parts of Mississippi especially hard. The storm disabled the power grid across Louisiana, including heavily populated areas like New Orleans, and officials say it could be weeks before power is fully restored. It's not the first disaster to reveal how woefully unprepared our infrastructure is for weathering disasters—and it won't be the last.This week on Gadget Lab, we talk with WIRED senior writer Lily Hay Newman about what caused the power problems in New Orleans, and how humanity can prepare for unexpected disasters (like solar flares) that might come in the near future.Show Notes: Read Lily’s story about the power outages in New Orleans. Also read her story about how solar storms could cause an internet apocalypse.Recommendations: Lily recommends upgrading from your iPhone 6S (or earlier), since Apple is about to stop supporting security updates on older phones. Lauren recommends the August 31 episode of The New York Times’ podcast The Daily, about America’s final hours in Afghanistan. Mike recommends the show Justified, which you can watch on Hulu.Lily Newman can be found on Twitter @lilyhnewman. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

3 Syys 202128min

The metaverse. A simulated world, controlled with inputs from our reality to merge cyberspace and meatspace into one plane of existence. If this sounds like a sci-fi concept from the early ‘90s, that’s because it is. But now Facebook is trying to make the metaverse a reality.The company has been exploring AR and VR tech with the goal of manufacturing a virtual experience that allows users from all over the world to interact in a shared dimension. So far, the most promising metaverse concept the company has shown off is a VR conference room for business meetings. Not super exciting, folks! However, Facebook has demonstrated that its tech has the potential to re-frame how we interact in the future—provided we all use Facebook headsets and apps from the Oculus store to meet up within the confines of Facebook’s platform.This week on Gadget Lab, we talk with Peter Rubin, WIRED contributor and author of the book Future Presence, about Facebook’s grand vision and whether an open, platform-agnostic version of the metaverse will ever fully materialize.Show Notes: Read Peter’s story about Facebook’s Horizon Workrooms. Also, his story about the metaverse in Ready Player One. Peter’s book, Future Presence, is now out in paperback. Read Lauren’s story about Facebook’s wrist wearables. And Gilad Edelman has a take on cargo pants, obviously. Recommendations: Peter recommends the show Reservation Dogs. Lauren recommends taking a staycation, because you deserve it. Mike recommends Peter’s newsletter, The Peter Principle.PeterRubin can be found on Twitter @provenself. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

27 Elo 202136min

By now, Google has gotten the hang of making solid affordable phones. Its new Pixel 5A has just about all the features most people need in a phone, and the company is selling the handsets for the decent price of $450. But Google isn't stopping at functional. It's also betting big on fancy. Later this year, the company will release the Pixel 6, a much more expensive phone with a cutting-edge design and an advanced set of software features. Inside of this new flagship phone is a custom processor called Tensor that could spell some changes for the Android operating system.This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED reviews editor Julian Chokkattu joins us to talk about the new Pixel phones and Google's plans for the future.Show Notes: Read Julian’s review of the Pixel 5A. His video walkthrough of the phone is here. Read our story about Google’s new custom Tensor chips. And check out our picks for the best cheap phones. And f**k everything, we’re doing five blades.Recommendations: Julian recommends the film The Green Knight. Mike recommends Gilad Edelman’s WIRED story “It's Time to Bring Back Cargo Pants.” Lauren recommends donating to the International Women’s Media Foundation to support women journalists reporting in Afghanistan. Julian Chokkattu can be found on Twitter @JulianChokkattu. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

20 Elo 202131min

Recently, Apple revealed some new technical measures in Messages, iCloud, Siri, and search that are meant to protect children from sexual abuse online. Apple says that its new blend of on-device and cloud-based processing will strike a balance between user safety and user privacy. But some cryptography experts aren't convinced, and worry that the measures could open the door to other privacy breaches and government surveillance.  This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior cybersecurity writer Andy Greenberg joins us to talk about how Apple's tech works, and the company's delicate balancing act between safety and privacy.Show Notes: Read Andy’s story about Apple’s new tech.Recommendations: Andy recommends the book Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe, and also the new Mortal Kombat movie. Lauren recommends Vauhini Vara’s story “Ghosts” in Believer Magazine. Mike recommends Brian Raftery’s “Gene and Roger” series of The Ringer’s The Big Picture podcast.Andy Greenberg can be found on Twitter @a_greenberg. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

13 Elo 202128min

Internet memes seem harmless enough. A few pictures of cats with some grammatically incorrect text—what could go wrong? Well, memes have come a long way since the early days of the internet. For more than a decade, memes have been deployed as a weapon in culture wars. And they’re even more persuasive than most people realize. A well-placed meme on somebody’s social media timeline can lead them down a rabbit hole of radicalization, misinformation, and extremism.This week on Gadget Lab, we talk with Emily Dreyfuss, a senior editor at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy about how memes have shaped politics and culture.Show Notes: Read more about all kinds of disinformation at Harvard Shorenstein Center’s Media Manipulation Casebook. Here’s Emily’s story about her life as a robot. Read Angela Watercutter’s story about the Bernie Sanders mittens memes.Recommendations: Emily recommends that you look up what happens to an artichoke if you let it flower, and also American Nations by Colin Woodard. Mike recommends r/random, which takes you to a different subreddit every time you click. Lauren recommends the HBO show White Lotus.Emily Dreyfuss can be found on Twitter @EmilyDreyfuss. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

6 Elo 202137min

If you've been on Twitter, then you've been on Black Twitter. No other subsection of social media has produced ideas and movements as influential or as dynamic as those that have come from Black voices on Twitter. In the early days, it existed as a space where Black people could connect, bat around some jokes, and share their experiences. Over time, Twitter’s Black community grew to become a driving force of real-world social change. It catalyzed culture and led to important movements like #OscarsSoWhite, #MeToo and, of course, Black Lives Matter.This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior writer Jason Parham joins us to talk about his three-part oral history called “A People’s History of Black Twitter,” what it means to be Black online, and how Black Twitter has changed society.Show Notes: Read Jason’s oral history of Black Twitter (Part I, Part II, Part III). Also read his September 2020 cover story about TikTok and the evolution of digital blackface.Recommendations: Jason recommends the show Jett on Cinemax. Lauren recommends the July 28 episode of the Daily podcast, The Saga of Congress’s Jan. 6 Investigation. Mike recommends The Summer of Soul on Hulu.Jason Parham can be found on Twitter @nonlinearnotes. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

30 Heinä 202127min