715: Our Wizard Lies
Grumpy Old Geeks26 Syys 2025

715: Our Wizard Lies

Grumpy Old Geeks is back with another round of righteous griping and eyebrow-raising headlines in Episode 715: Our Wizard Lies. We kick things off in FOLLOW UP, where TikTok is still the geopolitical hot potato that both the U.S. and China promise to sort out “someday, maybe,” while Wired’s global editorial director explains how tech’s growing political clout is playing out under Trump. From there, it’s a cavalcade of absurdities: DOGE as federal workforce demolition derby, and crypto bros trying to turn Charlie Kirk’s death into meme-stock retirement plans. Late-stage capitalism is nothing if not creative.

Then in IN THE NEWS, Amazon gets spanked with a $2.5 billion fine for Prime trickery, Microsoft yanks cloud services from an Israeli military unit, and Palantir goes full lifestyle brand—yes, you too can cosplay as a drone strike enthusiast with a $99 pair of gym shorts. Silicon Valley philosophers warn AI regulation would literally summon the Antichrist, while banks whisper the bubble might pop before the devil even arrives. Meanwhile, YouTube toys with letting COVID and election denialists back into the algorithm, “SIM farms” threaten New York’s cell networks, and unlucky tourists are finding themselves trafficked into cyber-scam slavery across Southeast Asia. Progress!

MEDIA CANDY tries to lighten the mood—sort of—serving up everything from Elio, Tron: Ares, and Disney price hikes to AI musicians cashing million-dollar checks. Lionsgate, on the other hand, learns you can’t feed four John Wicks into an algorithm and get an anime out the other side. Over in THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE, we get furries on the DC Metro, Disney plotting your every park step via Ray-Ban spy glasses, a Ponzi scheme in RadioShack cosplay, and even a Jim Henson Company anniversary auction. We close out with shout-outs and sighs, because sometimes the world doesn’t deserve a mic drop—just a slow shake of the head.


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Show notes at https://gog.show/715


FOLLOW UP

US and China agree to agree on a TikTok deal

WIRED global editorial director on tech's growing political power under Trump

The Story of DOGE, as Told by Federal Workers

Crypto Bros Are Trying to Monetize Charlie Kirk’s Death


IN THE NEWS

Amazon to pay $2.5 billion for allegedly duping millions to sign up for Prime

Microsoft cuts off cloud services to Israeli military unit after report of storing Palestinians’ phone calls

Palantir Wants to Be a Lifestyle Brand

Silicon Valley’s latest argument against regulating AI: that would literally be the Antichrist

AI Experts Urgently Call on Governments to Think About Maybe Doing Something

‘Workslop’: AI-Generated Work Content Is Slowing Everything Down

Deutsche Bank Issues Grim Warning for AI Industry

YouTube may reinstate channels banned for spreading covid and election misinformation

‘SIM Farms’ Are a Spam Plague. A Giant One in New York Threatened US Infrastructure, Feds Say

They traveled to Thailand. They wound up cyber scam slaves in Myanmar.


MEDIA CANDY

Elio

Superman

Human: Origins

Human: Journeys

Alien: Earth

The Traitors Ireland

Disney is raising the price of Disney+, Hulu subscriptions next month

Wicked: For Good | Final Trailer

Lilith Faire: Building a Mystery

Tron: Ares

AI Artist Signs Million-Dollar Record Deal

Lionsgate Is Finding Out It’s Really Hard to Make Movies With AI

Jimmy Kimmel May Be Back. Trump’s Attacks on the First Amendment Aren’t Over By Merrill Markoe

Jimmy Kimmel is Back!


THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE

Dave Bittner

The CyberWire

Hacking Humans

Caveat

Control Loop

Only Malware in the Building

Disney Explores Using Ray-Ban Meta Glasses To Guide Guests Around Its Parks

The Happiest Story on Earth: 70 Years of Disneyland

The Mandalorian and Grogu | Official Trailer | In Theaters May 22, 2026

The Jim Henson Company 70th Anniversary Auction

Feds Say Company That Bought RadioShack Was Running $112 Million Ponzi Scheme

Furries ride the DC Metro

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jaksot(733)

419: I’ll Drink to That

419: I’ll Drink to That

Shout out to the clan; liable for counterfeits; Walmart+ taking on Amazon Prime; e-Scooter frenzy is over; unintended consequences of ride sharing - pollution and alcohol; Billy never Idles; self-driving cars are hard; Altered Carbon; Obi-Wan on a motorcycle; stand-up fest; CoronaCoin; drone shark week; feedback loop.Show notes at https://gog.show/419See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

4 Maalis 202054min

418: Seven Miles per Hour

418: Seven Miles per Hour

Talking music & tech with Andy Stochansky; Clearview AI gets hacked; DoorDash delivering a confidential IPO; no 1st amendment right to be on YouTube; Coronavirus panic; Bloomberg pushing Twitter boundaries; EasyMile needs seatbelts; don't keep a balance on your mobile payment apps; no iPhones for bad guys in movies.Show notes at https://gog.show/418See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

29 Helmi 202039min

417: Death, Taxes, and Streaming

417: Death, Taxes, and Streaming

Wine drone prank; Netflix postmortem emails; welcome to the streaming wars; collapsing Daqri & the state of AR; Westworld, Better Call Saul return; Dracula; Narcos Mexico; Stephen Fry's 7 Deadly Sins; sanctioned deep fakes; Staples podcasts; BSG & Ron Moore; subscription cars; Slickwraps; feedback.Show notes at https://gog.show/417See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

26 Helmi 20201h 6min

416: Helicopter Mode

416: Helicopter Mode

A walk down music industry memory lane; unions; blockchain & the supply chain; 30 years of Photoshop; Uber's horrific climate; antitrust spooks Apple, Google, Amazon; tricking Teslas; caucus tools; our social media diets; the complicated ethics of spyware; wireless network maps; truepenny & straight fingered bawcocks.Show notes at https://gog.show/416See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

23 Helmi 20201h 8min

415: Up Shipt Creek

415: Up Shipt Creek

Amazon climate change fund; sex bots; gig economy, Shipt & bringing the magic; don't start a trivia company; Doordash tables are turned; the bracelet of silence; Amazing Stories; Ray Donovan gets a wrap-up; the Farewell; Avenue 5; Pandemic; the Last Day; Terminus; the Houston Astros; Rihanna, Kate Hudson and subscription models; wine drones; feedback.Show notes at https://gog.show/415See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

19 Helmi 20201h 21min

414: Brew-Ha-Ha

414: Brew-Ha-Ha

Cyberwar is here; thoughts on leaving Facebook; AI for Coronavirus; Russian spacecraft trailing US spy satellite; Jack asks Elon for help; ICE buying cellphone location data; Netflix autoplay off; the Expanse; Star Trek: Consolidating; Oscars; getting lost and sometimes found; beer rage; feedback loop.Show notes at https://gog.show/414See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

12 Helmi 20201h

413: Hey, Handsome Guy!

413: Hey, Handsome Guy!

Twitter's finances; Google tells Clearview AI to cease & desist; Paypal's banned word list; Shadow Inc Iowa caucus app just incompetence; China's dystopian drone usage; anonymized data no longer exists; Hue security flaw; Wacom's data collection; Mr. Beast passes out his credit card on YouTube; Gen X; an excellent phone both; Lady Gage pirates a photo to protest pirates; hot camera talk.Show notes at https://gog.show/413See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

8 Helmi 20201h 9min

412: Bottle Head

412: Bottle Head

More tech unions; put your thinking caps on when you launch your browser; gig economy unintended consequences; Alexa Is A Human; checking in to butthole; the Good Place; Hardcore History; Mo Amer; Daniel Sloss; 2 billion hours of Sandler; Mumbai red lights; Google photos; bottle heads & coronavirus; feedback.Show notes at https://gog.show/412See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

5 Helmi 202059min

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