Uncanny Valley | WIRED

Even amid a global pandemic, the world of tech keeps on turning. Some companies have responded directly to the outbreak, offering up smartphone-based contact tracing and wearable solutions to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. But none of these options is perfect, and many of them raise ethical concerns about the information they ask for in return.This week on Gadget Lab, we talk with WIRED senior writer Sidney Fussell about Apple and Google's plans for contact tracing and whether anyone is going to buy a new iPhone right now.Show Notes: Read Sidney and Will Knight’s story about contact tracing. Also read Andy Greenberg’s report on the strengths and weaknesses of the Google/Apple plan. Lauren’s story about wearables detecting COVID-19 is here, and her story about whether anyone is going to buy new smartphones is here. Follow all of WIRED’s coronavirus coverage hereRecommendations: Sidney recommends the show Devs on Hulu. Mike recommends the novel Days of Distraction by Alexandra Chang. Lauren recommends Sandra Upson’s WIRED story “The Devastating Decline of a Brilliant Young Coder.”Sidney Fussell can be found on Twitter @sidneyfussell. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our executive producer is Alex Kapelman (@alexkapelman). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Researchers around the world are toiling to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus. But the creation of a working vaccine that can be safely distributed to a broad population requires a tremendous amount of rigor and caution, so the process is likely to take at least a year. WIRED staff writer Megan Molteni has covered the novel coronavirus outbreak since the virus was first identified in early January. This week on Gadget Lab, we talk with Megan about where our efforts to make a vaccine currently stand. We also discuss why it’s been so difficult to get Americans tested for the coronavirus.Show Notes: Read more about the search for a coronavirus vaccine here. Read more about testing here. Also read Maryn McKenna on the potential dangers of rushing out a vaccine. Follow all of WIRED’s coronavirus coverage here.Recommendations: Megan recommends Bon Appétit’s “Test Kitchen Talks” video series. Lauren recommends Medea Giordano’s story about nonprofits, charities, and other companies helping people in need during the pandemic. Mike recommends an episode of the Under the Scales podcast with writer Jesse Jarnow.Megan Molteni can be found on Twitter @MeganMolteni. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our executive producer is Alex Kapelman (@alexkapelman). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The coronavirus outbreak is accelerating in the United States. According to projections, the number of Covid-19 cases in the US is expected to peak around the middle of April. Meanwhile, medical practitioners at hospitals and other health facilities across the country face a shortage of life-saving medical equipment. Without enough ventilators, masks, and tests, the task of dealing with the coming surge in patients becomes significantly more challenging.This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior correspondent Adam Rogers comes on the show to talk about medical supply shortages, why there's so much conflicting information about whether people should wear masks, and how a global crisis changes the way we communicate.Show Notes: Read Adam and Megan Molteni’s story about the math behind predicting the course of the coronavirus here. Read Lauren’s story about email etiquette during a pandemic here. Read Tom Simonite’s story about the shortage of masks here. Read Gregory Barber’s story about how hospitals are preparing to deal with equipment shortages here. Follow all of WIRED’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic here.Recommendations: Adam recommends the show Community. Mike recommends the Houseparty app (provided you hobble its data-collection abilities). Lauren recommends The Wire.Adam Rogers can be found on Twitter @jetjocko. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our executive producer is Alex Kapelman (@alexkapelman). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it can be hard to keep track of what's real and what's not. There is a constant deluge of news from across the world, some of it is based on false assumptions or panicky reactions that fail to put data or science into the proper context.This week on Gadget Lab, a conversation about all the misinformation swirling around the coronavirus pandemic. We talk with WIRED editor-in-chief Nick Thompson about how to parse the information coming out of the White House, whether ibuprofen is harmful to people sick with the virus, and the sometimes surprisingly helpful responses of social media platforms.Show Notes: Read Maryn McKenna’s story about the controversy over ibuprofen here. Read more from Steven Levy about the possible end of the techlash here. Read Tristan Harris on how Silicon Valley could control the direction of the pandemic here. Recommendations: Nick recommends the Techne Futbol soccer training app and also The Naked Gun. Lauren recommends the Headspace meditation app. Mike recommends Bandcamp.com as a way to support your favorite music artists.Nick Thompson can be found on Twitter @nxthompson. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our consulting executive producer is Alex Kapelman (@alexkapelman). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

As the number of coronavirus-caused quarantines has spiked across the globe, people are being driven into isolation en masse. In some countries, social distancing measures have been helping, but they also come a little too late.This week on Gadget Lab, we talk with WIRED science writer Matt Simon about why places like Italy have been hit so hard by the coronavirus and what it could predict as the outbreak ramps up in the U.S. Then, a conversation with WIRED senior writer Adrienne So about how parents can manage having their children locked at home with them after schools shut down.Show Notes: Read Matt’s story about how hard the coronavirus has hit Italy here. Read Adrienne’s story about how to entertain young children during a quarantine here. Learn about all the new, new dinosaurs at Curiosity Stream here.Recommendations: Adrienne recommends Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems. Mike recommends the new podcast Rivals. Lauren recommends the 18-piece Pyrex Simply Store set for saving all your WFH lunches.Matt Simon can be found on Twitter @mrMattSimon. Adrienne So is @adriennemso. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our consulting executive producer is Alex Kapelman (@alexkapelman). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

As COVID-19 sweeps across the world, it has prompted thousands of people to isolate themselves to avoid spreading the virus. This week on Gadget Lab, we look at what happens when schools and universities close, conferences get canceled, and employees are told to work from home en masse. Then, we talk with WIRED digital director Brian Barrett, a longtime remote worker himself, about how to handle prolonged isolation without going completely bonkers.Show Notes: Read Brian Barrett’s tips for working from home without losing your mind here. Read Lauren’s story about how universities are handling the virus here. Read more about the rise of virtual conferencing here. Read Arielle Pardes’ story about the ethics of ordering food during a pandemic here.Recommendations: Lauren recommends the episode of Reply All called “The Case of the Missing Hit.” Mike also recommends a podcast: the Twenty Thousand Hertz episode, “Satanic panic”. Brian recommends just staying home, for god sakes.Brian Barrett can be found on Twitter @brbarrett. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our executive producer is Alex Kapelman (@alexkapelman). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Facebook started in 2004 as a simple network for connecting students at Harvard University. At the time, nobody could have predicted that it would grow to become the largest social network in the world, with 2.5 billion monthly active users, or that it would wield such tremendous influence over our lives, our politics, and our concept of free speech on the web.The progression of events between the Facebook of then and the Facebook of today is cataloged with great detail in Steven Levy’s new book, Facebook: The Inside Story. It’s the product of four years of reporting, including a series of exclusive interviews with Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg. Levy, an editor-at-large at WIRED, joins the show this week to talk about Facebook’s past, present, and future.Show Notes: Read an excerpt from Steven Levy’s book here.Recommendations: Steven recommends Scrivener. Lauren recommends Peloton. Mike recommends the NYT Cooking app, which is now available on Android.Steven Levy is on Twitter @StevenLevy Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our consulting executive producer is Alex Kapelman (@alexkapelman). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior writer and former show host Arielle Pardes drops by to talk about how Silicon Valley has ruined work culture. Then WIRED senior writer Lily Hay Newman comes on for a conversation about cybersecurity, encryption, and the hacker’s mom who infiltrated a prison.Show Notes: Read Arielle’s story about work culture here. Read Lily’s story about how a hacker’s mom broke into a prison here. All of WIRED’s cybersecurity coverage can be found here.Recommendations: Lily recommends Dangerzone, an application made by Micah Lee that takes PDFs you receive and basically scrubs them to make sure they’re clean before re-saving a safe version. Lauren recommends the book Whistleblower by Susan Fowler. Mike recommends Acid for the Children, a memoir by Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea.Lily Hay Newman can be found on Twitter @lilyhnewman. Arielle Pardes is @pardesoteric. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our consulting executive producer is Alex Kapelman (@alexkapelman). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Many companies say they want to diversify their workforce. Far fewer have actually succeeded in doing so, even if they're earnestly trying. And one of the first hurdles can come before any candidates have even been interviewed: The language used in recruiting emails or job postings is often full of unconscious biases—phrases like "gentlemen's agreement" or even "ninja" can deter women or people of color from even applying in the first place. But how do we check our unconscious biases when, by definition, we don't know what they are? A Seattle startup called Textio says it’s using machine learning to help eliminate those biases in real time, by literally changing the writing of hiring managers who are composing the job postings. This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior writer Lauren Goode talks with Textio CEO Kieran Snyder about the way the software works, how tracking language patterns over time can reveal deep insights about how we see the world, and how this kind of “augmented writing” software could eventually be used in applications beyond job postings. Show Notes: Read more about Textio here. Check out other conversations from WIRED25 here.Lauren Goode can be found on Twitter @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our consulting executive producer is Alex Kapelman (@alexkapelman). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.How to ListenYou can always listen to this week's podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here's how:If you're on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link. You can also download an app like Overcast or Pocket Casts, and search for Gadget Lab. If you use Android, you can find us in the Google Play Music app just by tapping here. We’re on Spotify too. And in case you really need it, here's the RSS feed. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On Tuesday of this week Samsung held its annual Galaxy Unpacked event in San Francisco. It did what most tech companies set out to do when they host a big event: Announce shiny new products (Galaxy S20! Another folding phone! Some earbuds!) and get customers stoked for features like "sub-6 5G compatibility" and "Space Zoom." It was the kind of product launch that has become standard over the years for big tech companies.This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior associate editor Julian Chokkattu and WIRED contributor Boone Ashworth join co-host Lauren Goode to chat about all things Samsung and more. We dish all about the new products the company announced, but then we dig deeper to talk about how those products fit into the broader smartphone market. Does anyone really need to spend $1000 on a phone, in the era of the Pretty Darn Good Mid-Range Phone? And are these kinds of events even necessary when so much info about the products is leaked in advance?Show Notes: Read all about Samsung's big launch event here. Read Lauren’s hands-on impressions of the Galaxy Z Flip here. Check out Julian’s first look at the Galaxy S20 line here, and read his review of the Motorola Razr here. Read Shira Ovide’s story in Bloomberg about tech events here. And please watch this delightful clip of Michael Bay speaking at a Samsung event.Recommendations: Lauren recommends this episode of The Daily podcast, about Clearview AI. Julian recommends the Pixelbook Go as a lightweight replacement for the 16-inch MacBook Pro he’s been carrying around. Boone recommends The Circle, a reality series on Netflix. Julian Chokkattu can be found on Twitter @JulianChokkattu. Lauren is @LaurenGoode. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our consulting executive producer is Alex Kapelman (@alexkapelman). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.How to ListenYou can always listen to this week's podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here's how:If you're on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link. You can also download an app like Overcast or Pocket Casts, and search for Gadget Lab. If you use Android, you can find us in the Google Play Music app just by tapping here. We’re on Spotify too. And in case you really need it, here's the RSS feed. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices