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This is the story of what happens when Evan Ratliff, co-host of Longform and a longtime tech journalist, makes a digital copy of himself, powered by AI, in order to understand how amazing and scary and utterly ridiculous the world is about to get.
In Episode 1, Evan clones his voice, hooks it up to ChatGPT and his phone line, and sends it off to tangle with customer service representatives.
New episodes drop on Tuesdays.
Visit shellgame.co to find out more, subscribe, and support the show.
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What would happen if you created a digital copy of yourself, powered by AI, and set it loose in the world? Over the past six months, Evan Ratliff has been trying to find out. He combined a clone of his voice, an AI chatbot, and a phone line—many phone lines, actually—into what are called “voice agents.” Then he sent them out… as himself. They talked to sources and colleagues (including his fellow Longform co-hosts), friends and family, scammers and spammers, other AI voice agents, and even therapists. The result is a story of what it feels like when you try to take control of the very technology that threatens to replace you.
New episodes drop on Tuesdays starting July 9.
Visit shellgame.co to find out more, subscribe, and support the show.
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John Jeremiah Sullivan is a contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine and has written for Harper's, The New Yorker, and GQ. He is the author of Pulphead and the forthcoming The Prime Minister of Paradise: The True Story of a Lost American History.
“I love making pieces of writing and trying to find the right language to say what I mean. It's such a wonderful way of being alive in the world. I mean, your material is all around you. ... I'm lucky that it has stayed interesting for me. It hasn't faded. The challenges of writing, they still glow.”
Show notes:

Sullivan on Longform

Sullivan’s GQ archive

Sullivan’s New York Times Magazine archive

10:00 “Uhtceare” (Paris Review • May 2021)

28:00 Pulphead (FSG Originals • 2011)

30:00 The Best American Essays 2014 (Mariner Books • 2014)

30:00 “The Ill-Defined Plot” (New Yorker • Oct 2014)

50:00 “Man Called Fran” (Harper’s • Sept 2023)

50:00 “The Final Comeback of Axl Rose” (GQ • Aug 2006)

50:00 “Upon This Rock” (GQ • Jan 2004)

50:00 “Peyton’s Place” (GQ • Oct 2011)

50:00 “Leaving Reality” (GQ • Oct 2011)

54:00 “Pulp Fever” (Daniel Riley • GQ • Nov 2011)


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The hosts answer a few listener questions.
Evan’s picks for some podcasts to try:

Creative Nonfiction

Press Box


The Stacks Podcast:


Sunday Long Read

True Stories

Question Everything


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Ta-Nehisi Coates is an author and journalist. His next book is The Message.
“I don’t think we have the luxury as journalists of avoiding things because people might say bad things about us. I don’t even think we have the luxury of avoiding things because we might get fired. I don’t think we have the luxury of avoiding them because somebody might cancel some sort of public speech that we have. I then have to ask you, what are you in it for? Like, why did you come here? Did you come here just to make a living? Because there are many other things where you could make more money.”
Show notes:

ta-nehisicoates.com

Coates on Longform

Longform Podcast #7: Ta-Nehisi Coates

Longform Podcast #97: Ta-Nehisi Coates

Longform Podcast #168: Ta-Nehisi Coates

Longform Podcast #225: Ta-Nehisi Coates

Longform Podcast #360: Ta-Nehisi Coates and Chris Jackson

Longform Podcast #408: Ta-Nehisi Coates

04:00 "Fear of a Black President" (The Atlantic • Sep 2012)

05:00 The Beautiful Struggle (One World • 2009)

12:00 "The Case for Reparations" (The Atlantic • Jun 2014)

13:00 Between the World and Me (One World • 2015)

36:00 "The Mask of Doom" (New Yorker • Sep 2009)

40:00 "How Tech Giants Cut Corners to Harvest Data for A.I." (Cade Metz, Cecilia Kang, Sheera Frenkel, Stuart A. Thompson and Nic Grant • New York Times • Apr 2024)

42:00 Shell Game (Evan Ratliff • 2024)


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Jay Caspian Kang is a staff writer for The New Yorker and a co-host of Time to Say Goodbye.
“At some point, you have to kick it out the door, and it’s never finished to the degree that you would finish a magazine piece. But it, in some ways, is more interesting because it is produced in a short amount of time, and it’s read as something that is not supposed to be complete. It’s just meant to provoke or to provide thought or whatever, to provide some sort of context on a certain issue or not. And I actually like that a lot better than the magazine writing. I respect the magazine writers—obviously, I was one—but for my disposition now, in my lifestyle, I actually enjoy having to produce this thing every week.”
Have a question for the mailbag? Email the show or leave a voicemail at (929) 333-2908.
Show notes:

@jaycaspiankang

Kang on Longform


Kang on Longform Podcast (Oct 2021)


Kang on Longform Podcast (Aug 2017)


Kang on Longform Podcast (Apr 2013)

Kang’s New Yorker archive

06:00 Coin Talk


08:00 Tyler Austin Harper’s Atlantic archive


10:00 Serial


12:00 The Daily


20:00 “The High Is Always the Pain and the Pain Is Always the High” (The Morning News • Oct 2010)

28:00 James (Percival Everett • Doubleday • 2024)

34:00 “American Son” (ESPN • July 2024)

35:00 Kang’s VICE archive


42:00 “Mike Francesa Still Believes in the Power of Radio” (New York Times • Aug 2018)

43:00 Kang’s Grantland archive


43:00 Kang’s New York Times archive



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