Countdown to excitement! Every week Christina Warren, Brianna Wu and Simone de Rochefort have accelerated geek conversation. Tech, comics, movies, games and books, no galaxy is off limits! Hosted by Christina Warren, Brianna Wu, and Simone De Rochefort.
455: Booster
It’s Apple Week! Christina and Bri break-down the latest from the iPhone 15 event, covering the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Pro, USB-C, the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Series Ultra 2. They also briefly discuss the drama happening at Unity and talk about a Bloomberg article on the rise and fall of FaZE Clan.
454: Exposed Information
This episode things are getting heated. Larian Studio is patching a bug that made companions in Baldur’s Gate 3 a little too eager to jump into bed with the player. Then, an unnamed chastity cage manufacturer has a massive… data leak. It’s finally bad! Finally, Burning Man attendees are leaving the desert after a weekend trapped in the mud.
453: DEATH TO GOLD
The September Apple event is coming up, and we’re talking rumors — from USB-C ports on every (?) phone, to the DEATH OF THE GOLD COLORWAY… RIP. Plus, will there be a new button on the Pro and Pro Max? Or should I say, the Ultra? Then, an Insider piece asks if social sharing, like the gold iPhone, is dead. We certainly have thoughts about the rise of Discord and the DMs for chatting.
452: Nu Wii U
Sony finally reveals its new Playstation Portal device, and it’s exactly as underwhelming as everyone suspected it would be. Then, Apple supports California’s latest Right to Repair bill — but to what end? Then, Fyre Festival 2 is happening somewhere in the Carribbean. And if you’re one of the lucky 100 who bought tickets, boy do we want to hear from you!
451: Call Us, SBF!
Prolific YouTube hardware channel Linus Tech Tips is going on a week’s pause after a controversy surrounding the review of a cooling prototype — and more. Then, it’s the 25th anniversary of the iMac. Yes, you can scream about it. Finally, justice may finally be served in the world of scammy printer money-making tactics.
450: Leave Section 230 Alone: Alex Winter and The YouTube Effect
Documentarian Alex Winter visits the show to discuss his history with Usenet and Napster, and his new documentary The YouTube Effect. The film covers the history of the platform and its transformation into a massive vector of disinformation. Our conversation goes through that and much more, including the future of Section 230, and the media’s focus on TikTok and Facebook over YouTube.
449: Don’t Throw Things At People
There are rumors of a Nintendo Switch successor afoot, and we’re going to get to the bottom of it! Then, calling the Canadian link tax what it is: a link tax. And a bad idea. Finally, a fan has filed assault charges against Cardi B and we think that’s silly too.
448: Hey Barbie
Samsung’s latest event saw new versions of their folding phones, and they might have Brianna switching sides. Then, yeah, we have to talk about Elon Musk rebranding Twitter as X. But then it’s the marketing event we’ve all been waiting for, Rocket Does Barbie. Greta Gerwig’s latest film is out now and the reviews are unpredictable!
447: The Beginning of the End
Big news on the FTC appeal against Microsoft, and what’s next for the merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard. Who could possibly stand in their way!? And will they do a good job trying to stop this merger!? Then, Meta has released LLaMa 2, its large language model, which is not open source but a second, more interesting thing. Then, NBC News journalist Kat Tenbarge joins us to talk about James Charles’ attempts to uncancel himself.
446: Bored Ape Check-in
Twitter is unraveling over Threads, with a threatened lawsuit on the horizon. Then, we’re checking in with the Bored Apes! How are they doing? Oh… oh. Finally, an important Slate piece from Luke Winkie asks: was Napoleon hot?
445: Many People Are Saying This
Meta has launched its major Twitter competitor, Threads, and there’s a LOT to talk about – from privacy issues, to onboarding, to BRANDS!! How will it fare in the Twitterclone-verse, much less… the fediverse? Then, Twitter itself has had a weird week, to say the least.
444: Who are the Mac Pro Pros?
This week we’re discussing the Wall Street Journal’s extensive reporting on drug use among tech workers on Silicon Valley — from psilocybin to ketamine — and why it’s such a difficult, complicated issue to talk about. Then, the Mac Pro is here, but where are the Mac Pro Pros?? For dessert, an update on Bri’s search for the perfect drone!
443: The Thrust is Wrong
The FTC is shaking and baking, with a lawsuit against Amazon for alleged dark patterns in the sign-up and cancellation process for Amazon Prime. But is this lawsuit really… it? Then, a feature at The Verge goes into the human labor that trains AI, and the shadow industry that makes it all work. For dessert: Brianna buys a drone!
442: Reddit Black-out
The Reddit black-out has begun, and there is a lot of news coming out of Reddit’s conflict with Christian Selig and other third-party app developers, in the wake of Reddit’s API changes. We’ll be discussing that and a huge roadblock in Activision and Microsoft’s proposed merger. Plus, it was Summer Game Fest this weekend! What looks good? All of it, maybe? Even Starfield?
441: How to Spend A Lot Of Money
In news surprising no one, it’s an almost all-WWDC week here on Rocket! We’ve got OS updates and new MacBooks but the story sucking all the air out of the room is Apple Vision Pro headset. Christina interviews Inverse’s Raymond Wong, who demo’d the headset and has all the hands-on details. Plus, a money-grabbing choice by Reddit threatens beloved third-party apps.