kill switch
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kill switch
Were we sleeping when everything changed? Seems like the technologically driven future is already here. On kill switch, we explain the right NOW of our super charged technological lives. New host Dexter Thomas answers questions big and small – like who’s behind Shrimp Jesus, and could yo...
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social media reveals life behind bars. prisons want to block it
Social media has gotten a bad rap over the past decade – we blame it for our growing loneliness, shorter attention spans, and polarized politics. But...
when the ref’s a robot
In the high-stakes world of sports, referees have always been under intense scrutiny… but what if tech could take some of the pressure off? Or will we...
new from kaleidoscope: shell game (season 2)
This week, we’re sharing an episode from another podcast we’re excited about.
In Season 2 of Shell Game, journalist Evan Ratliff tells a story o...
who is profiting from scam texts – and can we stop them?
If it feels like you’re getting more scammy texts in the past few years, you’re not imagining it. Scam texts have exploded since 2020, and the operati...
‘my peptide guy’ is the new tech bro flex
Forget building the next app – Silicon Valley’s tech bros are now trying to rebuild themselves. Peptides are the new frontier into biohacking, promisi...
‘my internet bed is broken’ is just the start
A few weeks ago on Monday, October 20, a major outage in Amazon Web Services took down a bunch of the Internet. How did an error in one data center in...
workslop: how AI is making you hate your coworkers
Corporate America has bet on AI to make work faster and cheaper. Companies like Meta and Microsoft are laying off employees, hoping it will save them...
maybe ICEBlock was 'activism theater,' but is banning it protecting us?
ICEBlock was an app created to help people report ICE sightings. Then, Apple pulled it from the App Store. But in between those events, there was a se...
your onlyfans girlfriend might be a guy (or a robot)
If you’re chatting to a popular OnlyFans model: no, you’re not. That job was outsourced long ago. Teams of “chatters”, often in the Philippines, are p...
will blind gamers ever play Zelda like I do? (part 2)
As a blind video gamer, the options for the kinds of games you can play are limited. Not only are accessibility features not a standard practice in ga...
playing video games while blind (part 1)
Ross Minor plays a lot of videogames. He is also completely blind. Despite losing his sight at 8 years old, he’s now working in the industry, making v...
television for the dopamine generation (but kids aren’t watching)
It’s like “TV on TikTok,” but kids aren’t watching these. Instead, middle-aged women are on the cutting edge here: Vertical dramas are like full-lengt...
AI beats to study to
Lo-Fi beats once stood as the chill soundtrack of the internet, a cozy genre rooted in human touch and imperfections. But in recent years, AI-generate...
the glassholes are back
Wearable tech is having a moment – after the implosion of Google Glass back in 2013, which faced backlash and ridicule, we’re now readily embracing we...
should you use a chatbot for therapy?
Every day there’s a new story about how people are using AI chatbots for therapy – even ChatGPT, which was never designed for that purpose. But, as ba...
a software update bricked my car
The Fisker Ocean was supposed to be the "world's most sustainable vehicle." With a range of 400 miles, a strong emphasis on software and a price tag o...
vtubers and why "it’s not silly to be an anime girl on the internet"
VTubers, or Virtual Youtubers, are growing at a rapid rate in the United States. Just last month, 1200+ fans paid up to $180 each to attend Fantastic...
why are women still signing up for tea?
Tea called itself a women’s safety app. Then, 4chan found it. Selfies, IDs, even private messages were left exposed after two massive data breaches. T...
tech review: tablets in prisons
This week we want to take a look at a little-known technology kept from public view: electronic tablets in prisons. Dexter talks to Gaby Caplan, a jou...
how to: make better passwords
If you’ve been resistant to using a password manager, or if you want to step up your overall digital security, this episode is for you. Dexter talks t...
the algorithm made me say it
We’re living in a world shaped by algorithms. They’re not just curating our feeds, they’re changing the way we speak.
Dexter talks with Adam Al...
how to poison AI music scrapers
AI music generators are not only the product of scraped (read: stolen) music, they’re also threatening the livelihood of musicians. But there are peop...
how to: break up with netflix (and spotify, and…)
Once upon a time streaming delivered a utopian fantasy – anything you wanted to watch or listen to, at your fingertips. Now, we’re saddled with dozens...
boomers, doomers, and the new empire
Big Tech promised AI would solve our biggest problems. But behind the hype there is a more unsettling reality: labor exploitation, environmental harm,...
why are predator drones flying over LA?
When ICE raids sparked massive protests across Los Angeles, something unusual appeared in the sky: Predator drones. Dexter talks to Joseph Cox over at...
sideways thinking: why is Nintendo so weird?
The Nintendo Switch 2 is out – but why did Nintendo credit someone who died in 1997 in a press release for the console? Dexter talked to Patrick Klepe...
is using AI worse than driving a car?
Dexter doesn't have a car. But he uses AI… a lot. So, is his environmental impact worse than someone who drives a truck to work every day?
This...
how did Twitter’s AI get so obsessed with white genocide?
For about 24 hours, Grok, Twitter’s AI chatbot, went berserk. You could ask it about puppies, sports, or movies, and it would reply with a bizarre dia...
can AI create ‘ethical’ true crime?
Almost two million people watched a horrific story of a murder in Colorado: the “grisly” death of a real estate agent who had a secret affair with his...
why is the US gov using a ‘cartoonishly hackable’ messaging app?
About 48 hours after the US National Security Advisor was spotted using a weird cloned version of Signal, someone said they’d hacked it. It took them...
how to make money from fake AI videos
Have you seen Shrimp Jesus? What about the Hollywood sign burning? It probably feels random, but it’s not. There are real people behind AI Slop, and t...
the biggest hack that never happened: the xz utils story
While you were going about your life, we all narrowly avoided a complete disaster. This is the story of how one lone Microsoft engineer saved all of u...
could you be arrested by a computer?
Welcome to our first episode of kill switch, where we’re diving right into the deep end – investigating how police departments are implementing AI tec...
Introducing: kill switch
Sleepwalkers is now Kill Switch, where we explain the right now of living in the future. Everything from making money on saving fake baby animals to h...
Sleepwalkers Is Back
Were we sleeping when everything changed? Not if you listened to the first season of this podcast, because a whole lot of what we explored is now real...
Modern Alchemy
We explore the hidden role of cobalt in the A.I. revolution. The element is a key ingredient of lithium-ion batteries, which power everything from cel...
Sleepwalkers at CES
In this special bonus episode, Oz and Karah share their trip to the Consumer Electronics Show. They present excerpts from a conversation with Matt Mon...
AI & Us
In this special episode, Oz and Karah examine our evolving relationship with the technology we create. Karah meets Jason Cohen, CEO of Analytical Flav...
Deus Ex Machina
The rules are changing. At a time when technology promises to allow the lame to walk and the blind to see, we're forced to ask: what makes us uniquely...
Algorithm, M.D.
A.I. is already better than human doctors at diagnosing skin and breast cancer. And as machine learning advances, it's becoming able to decode more co...