Elon Musk and The Bots

Election deniers are mobilizing their supporters and rolling out new tech to disrupt the November election. These groups are already organizing on hyperlocal levels, and learning to monitor polling places, target election officials, and challenge voter rolls. And though their work was once fringe, its become mainstreamed in the Republican Party. Today on WIRED Politics Lab, we focus on what these groups are doing, and what this means for voters and the election workers already facing threats and harassment.Listen to and follow WIRED Politics Lab here.Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.

We look back at the year in tech, science, business, and culture—through the medium of a quiz.Amit hosts the annual WIRED podcast quiz, with Morgan, Matt R, Grace, and Matt B vying for the prestigious title.Music by Filip HnizdoProduced and edited by Matt Burgess

Hello, WIRED podcast listeners. We’re on a short break from producing new episodes at the moment, with some big plans for next year. In the meantime, we need your help. Tell us: What are your burning questions about the future. The future of what? Anything. Big or small, strange or serious. We want to hear your questions.And they may even make it into a future episode of the show. Email us at the normal address: [email protected]

Coming up today: Morgan finds out what happens when an AI company steals your face, and Matt Burgess explores the most vulnerable place on the internetThis is going to be the last episode for a little while. We’re taking a short break to work on some exciting changes to the podcast for 2023, but we’ll be back with a new episode in a few weeks. We’ll see you then! The stories we talked about this week:Clearview Stole My Face and the EU Can’t Do Anything About Ithttps://www.wired.com/story/clearview-face-search-engine-gdpr/The Most Vulnerable Place on the Internethttps://www.wired.com/story/submarine-internet-cables-egypt/Music by Filip HnizdoProduced and edited by James Temperton

Coming up today: the WIRED podcast team weighs in on Elon Musk’s dramatic Twitter takeover.The stories we talked about this week:Unverify Me, Daddyhttps://www.wired.com/story/twitter-elon-musk-verification/Elon Musk Has Fired Twitter’s ‘Ethical AI’ Teamhttps://www.wired.com/story/twitter-ethical-ai-team/Twitter Had a Plan to Fix Social Media. Will Elon Musk Follow It?https://www.wired.com/story/twitter-had-a-plan-to-fix-social-media-bluesky-will-elon-musk-follow-it/

Coming up today: the deadly viruses lurking in the permafrost, and what the Bruce Willis deepfake means for the future of Hollywood.The stories we talked about this week:The Bruce Willis Deepfake Is Everyone’s Problemhttps://www.wired.com/story/bruce-willis-deepfake-rights-law/Thawing Permafrost Exposes Old Pathogens—and New Hostshttps://www.wired.com/story/arctic-spillover-risk/Music by Filip HnizdoProduced and edited by Matt Burgess

Coming up today: how gig economy laws caused strip club chaos, and we assess your risk of dying in a nuclear war.The stories we talked about this week:The Gig Law Causing Chaos in California Strip Clubshttps://www.wired.co.uk/article/gig-economy-strip-clubsMusic by Filip HnizdoProduced and edited by Matt Burgess

We look at how social media platforms have responded to the death of Molly Russell and explain why Elon Musk is wrong about depopulation.How A British Teen's Death Changed Social Mediahttps://www.wired.com/story/how-a-british-teens-death-changed-social-media/Elon Musk Is Totally Wrong About Population Collapsehttps://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-population-crisis/Music by Filip HnizdoProduced and edited by James Temperton

Coming up today: as Elon Musk and Twitter (maybe) close in on a deal, we delve deep into the glorious, curious world of bots.(This show was recorded before Elon Musk said he would, in fact, buy Twitter.)The stories we talk about this week...The Quest to Find Twitter’s Elusive Bot Teamhttps://www.wired.com/story/the-quest-to-find-twitters-elusive-bot-team/The Problem With Mental Health Botshttps://www.wired.com/story/mental-health-chatbots/Read all our bot coverage https://www.wired.com/tag/series-bots-run-the-internet/Music by Filip HnizdoProduced and edited by James Temperton

Coming up today: the devastating impact of Iran’s internet shutdown and we find out what happened when a Danish city banned Google from its schools.The stories we talk about this week:A Danish City Built Google Into Its Schools—Then Banned Ithttps://www.wired.com/story/denmark-google-schools-data/Iran’s Internet Shutdown Hides a Deadly Crackdownhttps://www.wired.com/story/iran-protests-2022-internet-shutdown-whatsapp/Music by Filip HnizdoProduced and edited by Matt Burgess