The Interface

BBC

What happens when technology collides with real life? Hosted by BBC technology journalist Thomas Germain and social media expert Professor Jessica Maddox, The Interface dives into the stories, trends, apps, gadgets, algorithms and internet obsessions shaping how we live, work, think and connect. From AI and influencers to memes, data leaks, cybersecurity and the weirdest corners of the web, The Interface explores what happens when technology collides with real life. Cutting through the hype, the hosts unpack the platforms, products and online phenomena that increasingly shape our choices, our culture and our sense of self - whether we like it or not! Sharp, insightful and often very funny, The Interface examines our relationship with technology in all its messy, brilliant, absurd and world-changing glory. Along the way, it tackles one of the biggest questions of our age: what kind of future are the likes of Elon Musk, Chat GPT and all the other Silicon Valley giants building, and does anyone really want to live there?

单集

  1. 2天前

    Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen on the real Social Reckoning.

    Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower, joins Jess Maddox and Thomas Germain on The Interface to talk about The Social Reckoning, the new film that follows her story and acts as a sequel to The Social Network. It stars Mikey Madison as Haugen, alongside Jeremy Strong and Jeremy Allen White. Haugen, who leaked internal documents known as the Facebook Files in 2021, explains why she believes Meta (formerly Facebook) needed outside scrutiny, and what she saw as a product manager that changed her mind about fixing it from the inside. She discusses what she says the documents and court filings reveal about teen safety on Instagram and Facebook, and the platform's impact on schools. She also looks at what has changed since 2021, from the wave of US lawsuits over social media design and harm to children, to the EU's Digital Services Act and Australia's under-16 social media ban. Haugen explains what she thinks "practical, moderate oversight" could look like. She also talks about the personal cost of blowing the whistle, and shares her advice for employees at AI labs who may face the same choice. Jess and Thomas discuss why so many films about tech leaders are landing at once, what the shift in public attitudes means for Big Tech, and whether AI companies can learn from the social media era. After our request for comment, Meta told us they had previously addressed the issues raised by Frances Haugen in this episode. They stated they have strict rules against content that encourages or glorifies self harm, that Teen Accounts have strict message settings and nudity protection by default, and they have evidence of decades-long work to develop and release teen safety protections. Meta have also previously acknowledged that they could have done more to prevent Facebook being used to incite offline violence in Myanmar, and they have since implemented corrective actions. The Interface is your weekly guide to the tech rewiring your week and your world. Hosted by journalist Thomas Germain and “professor of the internet” Jessica Maddox, each episode unpacks, week by week, how technology is shaping all our futures. No jargon. Just two sharp voices debating the stories that matter - whether they shook a government, broke the internet, or quietly tipped the balance of power. New episodes drop every Wednesday on BBC Sounds in the UK. Outside the UK, find us on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the video version on YouTube (search “The Interface podcast”). To get in touch with the team: theinterface@bbc.com The Interface is a BBC Studios production. Producer: Becca Bryers Executive Editor: Philip Sellars

    Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen on the real Social Reckoning.

  2. 9月30日

    Should we let AI read our break-up emails?

    The Interface returns for season two with a new co-host. BBC technology columnist Thomas Germain is joined by Jessica Maddox, a University of Georgia professor who studies memes and internet culture, to break down the tech stories that actually matter in your day-to-day life. Is AI going to kill us all? After high-profile tech workers warned of an AI apocalypse, Tom and Jess look at where the industry's "P(doom)" numbers come from and why some experts say they're based on vibes rather than science. They weigh warnings from Anthropic safety advisor Evan Hubiger, against computer scientist Yann LeCun's view that the risk is close to zero, and ask why AI companies are calling for regulation just before the US midterms. Meta's Muse AI agent: what happens when you give an AI agent access to your inbox? Tom sets up Muse, Meta's new personal AI agent, and hands over 20 years of emails and his calendar. It can negotiate bills and buy things on your behalf, but what does it mean for privacy and the very future of the internet? Tom and Jess discuss the flaws found in the days after launch, and looks at what Meta says it is doing to protect users' data. In response to this discussion, a Meta spokesperson told us that Muse is “designed to be safe, secure and private – with built-in protections and user controls that put people in charge of how they use it." They added that safety and security was a "huge priority" and that Muse had been tested extensively and any identified vulnerabilities had been fixed. Meta says Muse is designed to respect the interests of websites it uses. The company also says users have complete control over what information and services Muse has access to, and the AI cannot access your messages without explicit permission. According to Meta, it delayed the release of Muse for months for additional privacy and security checks. Microdramas: the 90-second shows taking over TikTok. Jess explains why vertical video series like Office Girl and Bound to My Hot Rival, with their mafia heirs, billionaire bosses and cliffhangers, are reshaping Hollywood. Jess and Tom disucuss how the pay-per-episode model works, and what the boom in AI-generated "slop" means for actors. Drawing on media theorist Marshall McLuhan and psychologist Gloria Mark's research, they ask what our shrinking attention spans say about how we watch. The Interface is your weekly guide to the tech rewiring your week and your world. Hosted by journalist Thomas Germain and “professor of the internet” Jessica Maddox, each episode unpacks, week by week, how technology is shaping all our futures. No jargon. Just two sharp voices debating the stories that matter - whether they shook a government, broke the internet, or quietly tipped the balance of power. New episodes drop every Wednesday on BBC Sounds in the UK. Outside the UK, find us on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the video version on YouTube (search “The Interface podcast”). To get in touch with the team: theinterface@bbc.com The Interface is a BBC Studios production. Producer: Becca Bryers Executive Editor: Philip Sellars

    Should we let AI read our break-up emails?

  3. 6月25日

    Is tech ruining the World Cup?

    This week on The Interface: is World Cup tech taking the human magic out of football? For our season finale before the summer break, Karen, Thomas and Nicky start with the World Cup - and ask what happens when football becomes a showcase for ever more technology. This year’s tournament has brought referee body cameras, faster semi-automated offside decisions, and more AI-powered match analysis for teams and broadcasters, all in the name of accuracy, transparency and engagement. But as the game gets ever more engineered, there’s a bigger question underneath it: do these tools improve the sport, or do they slowly sand away some of the human error, chaos and competitive tension that made it thrilling in the first place? Also this week: the infinite workweek. AI was supposed to take tasks off our plates — but in practice, it may be doing the opposite. Microsoft’s research on the“infinite workday” warned that work is already bleeding into mornings, nights and weekends, and that AI could make that worse if companies simply speed up broken workflows instead of redesigning them. And as more people work alongside AI agents, some describe a strange new role: not freed by automation, but stuck supervising it — an always-on form of “AI babysitting” in which the machine keeps working, and you’re never fully off duty. And because this is the last episode of season one, Thomas, Karen and Nicky also look back on their favourite moments from season one, dip into the listener mailbag, and revisit some of the stories we’ve followed over the past 20 weeks - before The Interface heads off for a summer (screen) break. The Interface is your weekly guide to the tech rewiring your week and your world. Hosted by journalists Karen Hao, Thomas Germain and Nicky Woolf, each episode unpacks, week by week, how technology is shaping all our futures. No guests. No jargon. Just three sharp voices debating the stories that matter — whether they shook a government, broke the internet, or quietly tipped the balance of power. New episodes drop every Thursday on BBC Sounds in the UK. Outside the UK, find us on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the video version on YouTube (search“The Interface podcast”). To get in touch with the team: theinterface@bbc.com The Interface is a BBC Studios production. Producer: Natalia Rodriguez Ford Executive Editor: Philip Sellars

    Is tech ruining the World Cup?

  4. 6月11日

    Why is AI burying my CV?

    This week on The Interface: is AI quietly sending your CV to the graveyard? Karen starts with the growing role of AI in hiring and why it may be far more powerful, and more worrying, than most jobseekers realise. Automated hiring systems are now used across large parts of the labour market, and Stanford researchers say a handful of dominant models are creating an “algorithmic monoculture”, where the same software can shape outcomes across multiple employers. Their recent study of more than 4 million job applications found repeated racial disparities in AI‑based screening, raising the stakes for anyone applying into a market where software may judge you before a human ever does. We look at how these systems scan CVs, how candidates are trying to game them, and what happens when tools designed to “streamline” recruitment start quietly deciding who never even gets a chance. Also this week: Thomas asks whether slow messaging might actually be better for us than instant messaging. After trying Roost — an app that sends messages at deliberately different speeds, from snail mail to carrier pigeon — he steps back to ask how we got so used to the pressure of instant replies in the first place. Messaging once felt novel; now it is the default form of contact, with Americans sending billions of texts a day and younger users often preferring texts to calls. But that speed comes with emotional costs: reply anxiety, relationship strain, and a culture in which silence itself can feel loaded. Tom asks whether slower communication might feel frustrating at first but ultimately more humane. And Nicky looks at Silicon Valley’s latest genre experiment: tech CEOs turning themselves into entertainment. With Founders Fund launching MAFIA the GAME - a game show featuring Sam Altman, Palmer Luckey, Bryan Johnson and other tech luminaries - the people building the future increasingly seem to want control not just of products, but of the story around them. Nicky asks what this says about a culture where power depends not just on having the best technology, but on telling the best myth about yourself. The Interface is your weekly guide to the tech rewiring your week and your world. Hosted by journalists Thomas Germain, Nicky Woolf, and Karen Hao, each episode unpacks, week by week, how technology is shaping all our futures. No jargon. Just three sharp voices debating the stories that matter — whether they shook a government, broke the internet, or quietly tipped the balance of power. New episodes drop every Thursday on BBC Sounds in the UK. Outside the UK, find us on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the video version on YouTube (search “The Interface podcast”). To get in touch with the team: theinterface@bbc.com The Interface is a BBC Studios production. Producer: Natalia Rodriguez Ford Executive Editor: Philip Sellars

    Why is AI burying my CV?

  5. 5月21日

    Are we entering a world without screens?

    Karen Hao’s away this week — but it’s a special episode: Thomas and Nicky welcome their first ever guest, senior reporter at MS NOW, Brandy Zadrozny, to decode the tech stories rewiring your week and your world. First: are we heading for a world without screens? Bloomberg reports Apple is in late‑stage testing of AirPods with tiny cameras - not for selfies, but to give Siri “eyes” so it can understand what you’re looking at and respond in real time. We explore what that signals: less phone‑tapping, more ambient “AI companion” computing - and why earbuds (oddly) might be a more plausible bridge to screenless tech than headsets or smart glasses. If the interface moves from screens to always‑on assistants, what changes about attention, privacy - and who gets to shape the world you experience? Next: the hidden clipping industry flooding your feed - now in politics. Brandy takes us inside the booming “clipping economy”: armies of freelancers paid to slice long content into viral short‑form clips and push them across TikTok, Reels and Shorts until something hits. The twist is that the tactics that built internet stars are increasingly being borrowed to build candidates - blurring what’s organic and what’s engineered. We ask who’s hiring clippers, what kinds of accounts they use, how political disclosure rules get sidestepped, and what happens when elections are fought in the attention economy. Finally: if AI can simulate public opinion, what even counts as a poll? Pollsters and researchers are experimenting with “synthetic” respondents - AI‑generated “digital twin” voters trained on real datasets - to answer questions at speed and scale. But if headlines still say “the public thinks…”, when the truth is “the model predicts…”, are polls measuring opinion - or shaping it? In a polling era already bruised by credibility crises, we ask what trust looks like when the respondents might not be human. We reached out to Gallup for comment and they responded: Gallup does not currently publish approval or favorability ratings for individual political figures, and we have no plans to incorporate simulated responses on that subject now or in the future. We are in the beginning phases of some exploratory research on simulated responses. Through this work, we are hoping to learn whether AI systems and emerging methods can help deepen our understanding of how humans think and behave. You can read more about our approach in our methodology blog. We also contacted Apple for comment but did not hear from them before the release of this episode. The Interface is your weekly guide to the tech rewiring your week and your world. Hosted by journalists Thomas Germain and Nicky Woolf (and this week, with special guest Brandy Zadrozny), each episode unpacks, week by week, how technology is shaping all our futures. No jargon. Just sharp voices debating the tech stories that matter. New episodes drop every Thursday on BBC Sounds in the UK. Outside the UK, find us on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts — or watch the video version on YouTube (search “The Interface podcast”). To get in touch: theinterface@bbc.com The Interface is a BBC Studios production. Producer: Natalia Rodriguez Ford Executive Editor: Philip Sellars

    Are we entering a world without screens?

  6. 5月14日

    Is AI harvesting your knowledge on the cheap?

    AI is coming for your job — but not in the way you think. Karen says the real shock isn’t mass replacement (yet). It’s that AI is already reshaping work into something more precarious, more fragmented, and easier to squeeze. Data annotation and “AI training” are booming - but now the growth is in skilled labour. AI firms are hoovering up graduates and specialists to teach models the expertise they still can’t reliably produce. That’s the uncomfortable irony of “PhD‑capable” AI: to get there, it needs real PhDs (and near‑PhDs) feeding it knowledge, task by task. As Sam Altman once put it: “We see a future where intelligence is a utility, like electricity or water, and people buy it from us on a meter.” Meanwhile, the graduate job market is shrinking fast. Is this the “uberisation” of knowledge work - stable careers broken into gigs, paid by the piece, constantly monitored - with workers training the systems that may later deskill or replace them? Nicky follows the dark logic of the online “health information ecosystem” - a system that profits from panic. A deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship should be a contained public‑health story (serious for passengers, near‑zero risk for most people). Yet within hours it’s rebranded online as a “plandemic”: vaccines, bioweapons, “Covid 26”. The contradictions don’t slow it down, because the point isn’t truth; it’s engagement. In a world where more people get health advice from influencers and podcasts, fear becomes a business model: whip up anxiety, funnel it to “link in bio”, sell a cure, rinse and repeat. The real danger, Nicky argues, is what this does ahead of the next genuine crisis: an audience already primed to distrust guidance when it really matters. And Thomas asks: is your car spying on you - and is it about to get worse? Modern cars aren’t just transport; they’re data machines. Connected vehicles can track where you go and how you drive, and that data can be shared or sold, often ending up with insurers and data brokers. The worrying bit: new US rules will push carmakers to add in‑car monitoring (including infrared and biometric systems) to spot tired or impaired drivers - creating an even bigger trove of sensitive data, with few clear limits on how it’s used. The Interface is your weekly guide to the tech rewiring your week and our world. Hosted by journalists Thomas Germain, Karen Hao, and Nicky Woolf, each episode unpacks, week by week, how technology is shaping all our futures. No guests. No jargon. Just three sharp voices debating the stories that matter - whether they shook a government, broke the internet, or quietly tipped the balance of power. New episodes every Thursday on BBC Sounds in the UK. Outside the UK, find us on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the video version on YouTube (search “The Interface podcast”). To get in touch with the team: theinterface@bbc.com The Interface is a BBC Studios production. Producer: Natalia Rodriguez Ford Executive Editor: Philip Sellars

    Is AI harvesting your knowledge on the cheap?

  7. 4月30日

    Why is everything a conspiracy?

    What's the playbook that gets real‑world breaking news moments to become instant conspiracy theories? After an attempted attack at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, clips and early reports were quickly represented as “staged” narratives online. We dig into why big, chaotic events are now prime fuel for conspiracy thinking, how the state does little to suppress it and what this does to trust when the public feels exhausted by the constant churn of misinformation. Next, Meta’s next training data source: its own employees. Reports say Meta is rolling out tracking software on US staff computers to capture mouse movements, clicks and keystrokes — and even occasional screen snapshots — to help train AI agents that can perform work tasks. Meta says the data won’t be used for performance assessment, but it raises a bigger question: when “how you work” becomes training data, who is watching, and what will happen to your job when the training is complete? And finally: the age of “too perfect” writing. A new Chrome plug‑in called Sinceerly rewrites your polished emails to add typos and casual imperfections - because looking human is suddenly a status symbol. We talk about the cultural whiplash of AI in everyday communication, and what happens when authenticity becomes something you have to prove. The Interface is your weekly guide to the tech rewiring your week and our world. Hosted by journalists Thomas Germain, Karen Hao, and Nicky Woolf, each episode unpacks, week by week, the unfolding story of how technology is shaping all of our futures. No guests. No jargon. Just three sharp voices debating the tech stories that matter — whether they shook a government, broke the internet, or quietly tipped the balance of power. New episodes drop every Thursday on BBC Sounds in the UK. Outside the UK, find us on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the video version on YouTube (search “The Interface podcast”). To get in touch with the team: theinterface@bbc.com The Interface is a BBC Studios production. Producer: Natalia Rodriguez Ford Executive Editor: Philip Sellars

    Why is everything a conspiracy?

  8. 3月12日

    Will a new law change the internet forever?

    What happens when the tools built to protect children risk exposing everyone else, and who should decide which parts of the internet are “safe” enough to access without showing ID? As lawmakers in the US push forward with the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a much bigger battle over the future shape of the internet is coming into view. At the heart of the debate is age verification, a measure designed to protect children from pornography and harmful content, but one that could force all of us to prove who we are every time we go online. Digital‑rights advocates warn that tying government‑issued ID to everyday browsing could usher in unprecedented levels of state and corporate surveillance, fundamentally altering how the internet works and how we behave on it.  Also this week: as Meta said subcontracted workers might sometimes review content, including films and images, captured by its AI smart glasses for the purpose of improving the "experience", we ask, who can see what you can see, and do you want them seeing it? And we untangle the mystery of the unlikely resurgence of wired headphones - from security concerns to cultural nostalgia. And, crucially, we ask which sound best, wired or bluetooth? The Interface is your weekly guide to the tech rewiring your week and our world. Hosted by journalists Thomas Germain, Karen Hao, and Nicky Woolf, each episode unpacks week-by-week the unfolding story of how technology is shaping all of our futures. No guests. No jargon. Just three sharp voices debating the tech stories that matter - whether they shook a government, broke the internet, or quietly tipped the balance of power. New episodes drop every Thursday on BBC Sounds in the UK. Outside the UK, find us on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the video version on YouTube (search “The Interface podcast”). To get in touch with the team - email us at theinterface@bbc.com The Interface is a BBC Studios production. Producer: Natalia Rodriguez Ford Executive Editor: Philip Sellars

    Will a new law change the internet forever?

  9. 3月5日

    Is AI running modern warfare?

    As Washington moved toward a joint US and Israeli response to Iran, a parallel fight over military access to frontier AI broke into the open. Anthropic, maker of Claude, refused a Pentagon demand for “unrestricted” use of its models, citing red lines on domestic mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth then labelled the firm a “supply chain risk,” a designation intended to bar defence contractors from using Anthropic’s tools. Within hours, OpenAI announced a deployment deal with the Pentagon, then hurried to revise and clarify its safeguards after a backlash. The consumer response was immediate. Users posted cancellations under “Cancel ChatGPT,” third‑party trackers reported a sharp spike in uninstalls, and Anthropic’s Claude climbed the app charts. We ask why the military wants large‑scale AI, what it is already using it for, and what this showdown reveals about democratic oversight, privacy and accountability when state demand meets platform power. Also this week: are prediction sites, where anyone can bet on future events, being abused by users with inside knowledge — and are these platforms now shaping events rather than merely forecasting them? The Interface is your weekly guide to the tech rewiring your week and our world. Hosted by journalists Thomas Germain, Karen Hao, and Nicky Woolf, each episode unpacks week-by-week the unfolding story of how technology is shaping all of our futures. No guests. No jargon. Just three sharp voices debating the tech stories that matter - whether they shook a government, broke the internet, or quietly tipped the balance of power. New episodes drop every Thursday on BBC Sounds in the UK. Outside the UK, find us on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the video version on YouTube (search “The Interface podcast”). To get in touch with the team - email us at theinterface@bbc.com The Interface is a BBC Studios production. Producer: Natalia Rodriguez Ford Executive Editor: Philip Sellars

    Is AI running modern warfare?
  • 9 集

关于

What happens when technology collides with real life? Hosted by BBC technology journalist Thomas Germain and social media expert Professor Jessica Maddox, The Interface dives into the stories, trends, apps, gadgets, algorithms and internet obsessions shaping how we live, work, think and connect. From AI and influencers to memes, data leaks, cybersecurity and the weirdest corners of the web, The Interface explores what happens when technology collides with real life. Cutting through the hype, the hosts unpack the platforms, products and online phenomena that increasingly shape our choices, our culture and our sense of self - whether we like it or not! Sharp, insightful and often very funny, The Interface examines our relationship with technology in all its messy, brilliant, absurd and world-changing glory. Along the way, it tackles one of the biggest questions of our age: what kind of future are the likes of Elon Musk, Chat GPT and all the other Silicon Valley giants building, and does anyone really want to live there?

信息

  • 创作者
    BBC
  • 活跃年份
    2026年
  • 单集
    23
  • 分级
    儿童适宜
  • 版权
    © (C) BBC 2026
  • 节目网站
    The Interface

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