This week, the team dives into how Elon Musk's America PAC is spending millions on the most consequential Senate races of the 2026 midterms — and how most of that money goes to opposing Democrats rather than supporting Republicans. They also break down what's the deal with effective altruism, the once-niche philosophy now at the center of the AI safety debate. Plus, they discuss the backlash again
8 Oct 2026 · 30 minWelcome to Uncanny Valley—an insider look at the people, power, and influence of Silicon Valley—where each week, WIRED’s writers and editors bring you original reporting and analysis about some of the biggest stories in tech. On Tuesdays, The Big Interview with WIRED’s Global Editorial Director Katie Drummond in conversation with influential figures in culture, politics, business, science, and beyond for a discussion captured through the WIRED lens. On Thursdays, WIRED writers and editors Zoë Schiffer, Brian Barrett and Leah Feiger add you to the Slack group thread to let you into what they’re hearing from sources in Silicon Valley and D.C, read you into what trends you should be watching for and how WIRED is thinking about it all.
Latest episodes
The author of The AGI Chronicles says his book “was written by a very tired, overworked, under-slept human being.” Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from Alexis Ohanian’s newest tech venture to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protests. Learn more about
6 Oct 2026 · 35 minThis week, President Trump issued a new “morally binding” AI accord after a lunch meeting with tech executives, that basically says the AI labs are going to regulate themselves. We get into how a non-binding accord will affect AI safety. Plus — we’ll talk about OpenAI’s Developer Day, where CEO Sam Altman announced an AI agent for normies known as Dots. We also get into how AI agents are faring wi
1 Oct 2026 · 44 minOne of AI’s fiercest critics believes the doom talk is about founders making money, not saving humanity. Check out the new WIRED app . Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from Alexis Ohanian’s newest tech venture to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protest
29 Sep 2026 · 31 minLast year, Maddie Kowalski was a regular sophomore attending the University of Florida. That is until one day, a series of anonymous accounts on X started proliferating explicit, non-consensual videos of her. This week, Zoe sits down with WIRED’s senior writer Ej Dickson to discuss the burnerverse — a sprawling, loosely organized network of anonymous accounts that have turned the sexual humiliatio
24 Sep 2026 · 19 minComedian Patti Harrison hates social media. She wishes she didn't have to use it at all. To her, the internet is a slop factory. One of her biggest concerns: intentionally created confusion meant to drive engagement online. So, Katie asks her why. Patti is our cover girl for the WIRED Women issue check out the 5 different covers here. Check out the new WIRED app. Join WIRED’s best and brightest on
22 Sep 2026 · 34 minThe debate of whether AI can kill us has been everywhere lately, but how exactly would an actual AI catastrophe look like? This week, the team went looking for answers and found the three real-world scenarios experts worry the most about — including hacked water supplies, bioweapons, and autonomous robots. We also discuss the highlights of Salesforce’s annual conference, where OpenAI’s Sam Altman
17 Sep 2026 · 37 minEmily St. John Mandel’s 2014 novel, Station Eleven , turned her into something of a pandemic prophet. This month, she’s releasing her newest novel, Exit Party, which imagines two possible American futures—totalitarian state and post-civil-war chaos. Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from Alexis Ohanian’s newest
15 Sep 2026 · 34 minThis week, an AI researcher's resignation from Anthropic went viral on social media after he claimed there's a real chance AI could wipe out humanity by decade's end. WIRED’s Will Knight joins Brian and Leah to assess whether the doom narrative is overblown or overdue. We also discuss Apple’s debut of its $2000 foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo, and the new "always listening" Apple Watch features th
10 Sep 2026 · 30 minWhen Rebecca Kutler accepted the job as president of cable news channel MS Now, formerly known as MSNBC, she knew what she was getting into. The top 3 cable news channel, MS was about to go into a massive re-brand having been spun off from NBC. Despite those betting against her, the rebrand has had continuous double-digit audience growth. No small feat these days for TV news. Katie talks to Rebecc
9 Sep 2026 · 29 minWe're back! This week, the team discusses the two incidents that have been making noise in prediction markets: George Santos getting lifetime ban from Kalshi, and a Google engineer's Polymarket insider-trading case. Plus, WIRED reporters reverse-engineered Flock's AI-powered person-search tool, and the hosts unpack the online meltdown over how to talk about "rogue" AI agents. Learn more about your
3 Sep 2026 · 32 minDevin Stone, the lawyer better known as LegalEagle on YouTube, has been breaking down legal cases - and assessing the accuracy of legal procedurals in film and television -- for years. He talks to Katie about the challenges of keeping up with scandals arising from the Trump Administration. This is a summer re-air! Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of t
1 Sep 2026 · 40 minThe AI race has been framed as a zero-sum game: either the U.S or China will win at the end. But as concerns pile up around the increasing capabilities of AI models — especially AI agents — researchers across state lines are trying to team up to work on AI safety. This week, Zoë speaks with WIRED’s Will Knight about what he saw and heard on the ground when he visited China this summer — and why th
27 Aug 2026 · 21 minKatie sits down with the Westworld showrunner, Jonah Nolan for a wide ranging conversation about what keeps him coming back to sci-fi storytelling about technology and human nature. After decades of writing about Ai, Nolan explains why Ai may be good for burgeoning filmmakers, but won’t replace Hollywood as we know it. Nolan’s past work includes Memento , The Prestige , The Dark Knight, Interstell
25 Aug 2026 · 53 minEarlier this year, insurance executives gathered in a Times Square conference room to play out a scenario — a Chinese cyberattack that knocks out 5,000 US water utilities at once. If you think that’s a far-fetched scenario, think again. WIRED's Andy Greenberg got rare access to the closed-door war game, and walked away with some disturbing conclusions. This week, Brian sits down to talk with Andy
20 Aug 2026 · 22 minAndy Yen is co-founder of Proton, a Geneva-based company that operates a suite of privacy focused products like email, calendars, password managers and more. A former physicist and economist, Yen is a champion of encryption for everyone. So why is he going all in on un-encryptable AI? WIRED senior writer and author Andy Greenberg sat down with Yen to talk about how privacy can survive in a world o
18 Aug 2026 · 40 minThis week, the team breaks down Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg's 6,500-word AI manifesto and why it ultimately rings hollow. Plus — why job seekers are scheduling bot-run interviews at 1 AM, and WIRED's Andy Greenberg joins to unpack Black Hat and DEF CON's best findings, from a hacked kids' smartwatch to a coin-sized device that can hijack a Boeing 737. Articles mentioned in this episode: The Rise of
13 Aug 2026 · 32 minBefore he burst through the 2025 primaries, Zohran Mamdani was polling at the same level as literally "someone else." Then-candidate Zohran Mamdani sat down with Katie to talk about building a social media juggernaut, Big Tech capitulation, and what he learned from previous New York Mayor Eric Adams. This is a summer re-air! We are on a short vacation but back with fresh episodes very soon. Join W
11 Aug 2026 · 37 minThis week, the team breaks down how ICE has collected DNA from nearly a million people this year, including young children, feeding an FBI database indefinitely. Plus — Google Earth's AI slop backfires, the White House's secretive AI cybersecurity plan, a SpaceX rocket crashes into the moon, and WIRED's Molly Taft on the strange left-right coalition fighting data centers across America. Learn more
6 Aug 2026 · 33 minWhen Puck’s Matthew Belloni reported on Amazon MGM Studios decision to dump their Sam Altman biopic mere months after announced an enormous investment into OpenAI to the tune of $50 billion – the news sent a bit of a shockwave through Hollywood as the implications of Silicon Valley's grip on the industry has seemingly entered a new phase. Matt Belloni, host of The Town podcast, joins Katie to disc
4 Aug 2026 · 52 min