Unreliable Narrator

The Democrats won a landslide victory in the midterms. How could they actually wield power effectively during Trump’s final two years. Or: how could they Charlie Brown another football? We take our questions this week to Search Engine’s chief political correspondent Ezra Klein. 🚨Become an Incognito Mode member!

Elizabeth Holmes is the unlikely star of the year’s most talked-about movie, You Can See Everything. The Holmes we meet onscreen is enigmatic, enough so that some viewers have even begun to root for her.To Tyler Shultz, though, she’s still his former boss who tried to take apart his life and his family. What it was like working at Theranos, and what it’s been like watching the internet react to the new Elizabeth Holmes.Bad Blood by John CarreyrouAlex Gibney’s documentary The InventorSign up to become an Incognito Mode member!

A new scam – aided by AI and remote work – is letting one of the most sanctioned regimes on Earth sneak tech workers into the American job market. How it works, what they’re like as co-workers, and the stories of the Americans swept up in the scheme. Inside North Korea’s Operation to Conquer the American Job MarketSend us your questions for our upcoming AMA!Sign up to become an Incognito Mode member!

Jensen Huang is CEO of the most valuable company in human history, NVIDIA. He is arguably the one person who could slow down the AI race. But he’s made a massive bet that AI is safe. Is that conviction, insulation, salesmanship, or something else? We find answers in his very unusual life story. The Thinking Machine by Stephen WittSign up for Incognito Mode

An interview with a writer, Meghan O’Gieblyn, who started lying to herself about her relationship to alcohol and God. And afterwards wondered: when did it start? Why did it happen? How do you make peace with the part of yourself that wants something that could destroy you? Meghan O’Gieblyn, Will and AttentionSign up for Incognito Mode

Nine months ago, three podcasters attempted to build a better internet. Today -- they confront foreign adversaries on a digital battlefield.Watch the Machine Gods trailer.Instructions for moving your Forkiverse account to a different server.Become a premium member!

Search Engine has some exciting news about the moving image to announce, and we’re sharing an interview we loved with an unusual architect.Check out the video version on Freakonomics' YouTube page.

An email hits our inbox with the subject line: “My Dad is making a Bollywood Movie… is he being scammed?” We investigate. Become a premium subscriber.

A Japanese listener gets so many houseguests she starts a spreadsheet to try to figure out what's going on. Why has American tourism to Japan gotten so out of control? The story of a government plot.Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S. by Roland KeltsAmetora: How Japan Saved American Style by W. David MarxBecome a premium subscriber!

Mahmud Almadhoun ran a soup kitchen in the north of the Gaza Strip. In November 2024, he was killed. A reporter tries to answer a big question. Was Mahmud intentionally targeted? And if so, what does that mean about the future of war?Listen to The Gaza Chef.Become a premium member!