Hard Fork

The New York Times
  • 4.6 (11)
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • EVERY TWO WEEKS

“Hard Fork” is a show about the future that’s already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

  1. 6 HR AGO

    Tech Grapples With ICE + Casey Tries Clawdbot, a Risky New A.I. Assistant + HatGPT

    This week we’re talking about the tech industry’s response to the killings by federal agents in Minneapolis and the federal government’s strategy to control the narrative on social media. Then we follow Casey through his trial of a new open-source A.I. assistant called Moltbot (formerly Clawdbot) and consider whether it is worth the security risk. And, finally, it’s time for a look at the rest of the week’s tech news with a round of HatGPT. Additional Reading:  False Posts and Altered Images Distort Views of Minnesota ShootingA Moment-by-Moment Look at the Shooting of Alex PrettiIt’s a War: Inside ICE’s Media MachineSome Amazon Employees Get ‘Project Dawn’ Calendar Invitation Discussing Upcoming Job CutsTikTok Data Center Outage Triggers Trust Crisis for New U.S. OwnersFormer FTX Crypto Executive Caroline Ellison Released From Federal CustodyAnthropic C.E.O.’s Grave Warning: A.I. Will “Test Us as a Species”Inside the White House Screening for Amazon’s ‘Melania’ DocApp for Quitting Porn Leaked Users’ Masturbation HabitsAlaska Student Arrested After Eating A.I.-Generated Art in ProtestSteak ’n Shake Adds $5 Million in Bitcoin Exposure, Deepening Bitcoin CommitmentSpaceX Weighs June I.P.O. Timed to Planetary Alignment and Elon Musk’s BirthdayLinkedIn Will Let You Show Off Your Vibe Coding Expertise  We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

    1h 11m

  2. 23 JAN

    Will ChatGPT Ads Change OpenAI? + Amanda Askell Explains Claude's New Constitution

    Ads are coming to ChatGPT’s free and low-cost subscription tiers. We explain what they’ll look like, why OpenAI is taking this approach and whether the company can court advertising dollars without compromising quality and user trust. Then, Amanda Askell, Anthropic’s in-house philosopher in charge of shaping Claude’s personality, joins us to discuss the company’s newly released “Claude Constitution” and what it takes to teach a chatbot to be good. As a bonus, if you’re interested in learning how to get started with Claude Code, you can check out our tutorial on YouTube. Guest: Amanda Askell, a member of Anthropic’s technical staff Additional Reading:  OpenAI Starts Testing Ads in ChatGPTClaude’s Constitution Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

    1h 14m

  3. 16 JAN • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Jonathan Haidt Strikes Again + What You Vibecoded + An Update on the Forkiverse

    This week, Jonathan Haidt, author of “The Anxious Generation,” returns to the show to discuss new research about how social media is harming teens and what it’s been like to become the face of a global movement against the platforms. Then, we asked what you were building with Claude Code, and you blew us away. We’ll share some of our favorite projects that you sent us. And finally, we’re joined by PJ Vogt, the host of “Search Engine,” to talk about our early adventures in the Forkiverse and what we’ve learned so far about running a social media network.   Guests: Jonathan Haidt, social psychologist and author of “The Anxious Generation"PJ Vogt, host of “Search Engine”  Additional Reading:  Mountains of Evidence Meta’s Internal ResearchAn NYT Event in LA - Trump: The First Year of His Second Term  We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

    1h 15m

  4. 13 JAN • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Can We Build a Better Social Network?

    Over the past year we’ve been working with the podcast “Search Engine” on a project that reimagines what the internet can be. What if instead of rage-baiting, a social platform incentivized friendly interaction and good faith discussion? Today we’re bringing “Hard Fork” listeners an episode we made with the “Search Engine” team called “The Fediverse Experiment” where we end up creating our own social media platform.   Guest: PJ Vogt, host of the podcast “Search Engine.”  Additional Reading:  The Dream of the Fediverse Is Alive on ThreadsWhat Is Mastodon and Why Are People Leaving Twitter for It?  We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

    41 min

  5. 9 JAN • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Grok’s Undressing Scandal + Claude Code Capers + Casey Busts a Reddit Hoax

    Users of X are asking the platform’s built-in A.I. chatbot, Grok, to remove clothing from images of celebrities and everyday people. We talk with the New York Times reporter Kate Conger about how some of the targets of this sexual harassment, including children and their families, are responding, and whether anyone will take action to stop it. Then, we recap a holiday break spent experimenting with Claude Code. We unveil what we built, how we did it and why the tool’s dramatic improvement could be scary for society. And finally, Casey debunks a viral Reddit post that accuses the food delivery industry of shocking exploitation. We explain how a scammer tried to fool us all using AI-generated evidence.   Guests: Kate Conger, New York Times tech reporter covering X.  Additional Reading:  Elon Musk’s A.I. Is Generating Sexualized Images of Real People, Fueling OutrageDebunking the A.I. Food Delivery Hoax That Fooled Reddit  We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

    1h 16m

  6. 2 JAN • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Our 2026 Tech Resolutions + We Answer Your Questions

    Happy New Year! We’re kicking things off by sharing our tech resolutions for 2026 and reflecting on how we fared with our social media and meditation goals from last year. Then, we open up the listener mailbag and answer your questions on data centers in space, who’s to blame when a customer service A.I. bot lies to you and whether it’s OK to deepfake Santa into your home security footage. Also, get your very own “Hard Fork” hats, now available at the Times Store: https://store.nytimes.com/products/hard-fork-baseball-cap   Additional Reading:  What I Learned About Productivity This YearData Centers in Space + A.I. Policy on the Right + A Gemini History MysteryShuffling Some Whimsy Into Poker and Blackjack  We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

    59 min

  7. 30/12/2025 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    The Wirecutter Show: Tips for Using A.I. Smartly With Kevin Roose

    Kevin recently joined the hosts of The Wirecutter Show for a conversation about the A.I. products he’s using, strategies to make chatbots work better and his beloved robot vacuums Bruce Roose and Bruce Roose Deuce. It’s a conversation we think Hard Fork listeners will enjoy. We’ll be back in your feeds with our annual tech resolutions episode on Friday.    Additional Reading  Tips for Using A.I. Smarter With Hard Fork’s Kevin Roose  We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

    35 min

  8. 26/12/2025 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Where Is All the A.I.-Driven Scientific Progress?

    The leaders of the biggest A.I. labs argue that artificial intelligence will usher in a new era of scientific discovery, which will help us cure diseases and accelerate our ability to address the climate crisis. But what has A.I. actually done for science so far? To understand, we asked Sam Rodriques, a scientist turned technologist who is developing A.I. tools for scientific research through his nonprofit FutureHouse and a for-profit spinoff, Edison Scientific. Edison recently released Kosmos — an A.I. agent, or A.I. scientist to use the company’s language, that it says can accomplish six months of doctoral or postdoctoral-level research in a single 12-hour run. Sam walks us through how Kosmos works, and why tools like it could dramatically speed up data analysis. But he also discusses why some of the most audacious claims about A.I. curing disease are unrealistic, as well as what bottlenecks still stand in the way of a true A.I.-accelerated future. Guest:  Sam Rodriques, founder and chief executive of FutureHouse and Edison Scientific  Additional Reading:  The Quest for A.I. ‘Scientific Superintelligence’Top A.I. Researchers Leave OpenAI, Google and Meta for New Start-Up  We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

    39 min
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Hosts & Guests

4.6
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

“Hard Fork” is a show about the future that’s already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Information

  • Channel
    The New York Times
  • Creator
    The New York Times
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    179
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2022 THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY; The New York Times encourages the use of RSS feeds for personal use in a news reader or as part of a non-commercial blog, subject to your agreement to our Terms of Service.
  • Show Website
    Hard Fork
  • Provider
    The New York Times Company

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