This holiday episode is a greatest hits tour of Diggnation Rebooted with Kevin and Alex in peak end of year form. Scotch gift exchanges and fighting Mike Tyson for $500,000 is a reasonable life choice. There are pronunciation corrections, especially Hyundai, plus plenty of love for retro futuristic concept cars.

AI takes center stage as the duo talks creativity and productivity with tools like Cursor and ChatGPT, including negotiation tricks and extremely questionable AI day trading strategies. The conversation also covers the Telepathy Tapes podcast, autism, neurodiversity, and Alex’s experience with aphantasia. Kevin finally understanding Netflix and chill.

Chapter Markers
00:00 Intro
04:22 Mike Tyson vs $500K
07:52 Hyundai Pronunciation and Car Concepts
13:00 Digg Beta Community Update
16:30 Building AI Web Apps on the Road
18:28 Telepathy Tapes, Autism, and Curiosity
21:56 AI Trading and Bad Financial Ideas
24:55 ChatGPT Negotiation Tactics
29:50 Kevin Discovers Netflix and Chill
31:38 Aphantasia Explained
35:50 Emotions, Money, and Decisions
37:41 End of Year Montage

Alex and Kevin break in the new Digg warehouse studio with brandy cocktails, French pastry flexes, and a surprisingly serious challenge—can Alex stay sober for all of 2025?

They cover Netflix’s rumored $84B move to buy Warner Bros. Discovery (yes, including HBO and DC Comics), AI tools that drop your face into fake movie scenes, and the rise of “etiquette camps” for startup founders. Also: teens in Australia are happy to be banned from social media, a spider-shaped robot now performs endoscopies, and the famous Japanese 7-Eleven egg salad sandwich finally lands in the U.S.—with questionable results.

All that, plus rucking vests, doomscroll detoxing, and a Kindle Color that might actually be good.

SPONSORS

ZBiotics
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and use code DIGG at checkout for 15% off any first-time order of ZBiotics probiotics.

Henson Shaving
Go to https://hensonshaving.com/DIGG
and enter DIGG at checkout to get a free pack of 100 blades with your purchase.
(Note: You must add both the blades and the razor for the discount to apply.)

Wispr Flow
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Monarch Money
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for half off your first year.

DeleteMe
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and use promo code DIGG at checkout.

⏱️ CHAPTERS

00:00 Intro
03:00 Holiday cocktails get dangerously brandy-forward
04:41 Kevin explains his weighted rucking vest
07:23 Inside Digg’s new office + upcoming community features
13:06 New Year’s goals: chess apps and digital pianos
15:00 The bet: Can Alex stay sober for all of 2025?
21:10 Netflix may buy Warner Bros. Discovery for $84B
30:28 Silicon Valley founders now attend etiquette bootcamp
41:28 Australian teens are glad social media is banned
49:10 Nano Banana AI drops you into fake movie scenes
53:40 Deepfakes, bot farms, and internet misinformation
1:03:37 Pill-sized robot crawls your gut for science
1:09:05 Kindle Color Scribe vs. the Remarkable showdown
1:18:57 Japan’s viral 7-Eleven egg sandwich hits the U.S.

This week on Diggnation, Kevin ends his seven-month break from alcohol with a glass of wine and some podcast-inspired reflection on why being too rigid about anything might be its own kind of burden, While Alex sips wine and regrets live theater. Kevin reveals he has aphantasia, aka the inability to conjure mental images, which he says disqualifies him from certain forms of _ahem_ nostalgia. The pair dive into the existential horror of AI-enabled children’s toys that suggest you play with knives and explore kinks. On a lighter note, converting vintage cars to electric sparks a surprisingly feasible business idea. Waymo’s freeway rollout gets love, as the duo dreams of an L.A. where robots take the wheel and people take naps. Meanwhile, Michael Burry shorting AI stocks makes Kevin wonder if we’re still in early-internet territory or just early-stage delusion. Bezos launches an AI company because of course he does, and Nintendo drops the first look at its live-action _Zelda_ movie, which may or may not have been necessary. Also: eggnog aging, budgeting apps, and a play that made Alex fear for his life. It’s an episode.

Chapter Markers

00:00:00 - Kevin's First Sip in 7 Months
00:00:56 - Welcome to Episode 23
00:02:58 - Rethinking Alcohol Rules
00:07:44 - Aged Eggnog: Discuss
00:09:25 - The Two-Two-Two Rule Returns
00:12:15 - Birthday Trips and Holiday Plans
00:14:08 - LA Auto Show Highlights
00:15:14 - Converting Classic Cars to EV
00:17:47 - EV Startups: Why It’s Hard
00:19:20 - Zelda Movie: First Look
00:20:26 - Who Is Wes Ball?
00:22:53 - AI Toys Gone Wild
00:24:49 - Kuma Bear’s Kink Talk
00:33:48 - Predator and The Red Carpet
00:34:47 - Christmas Music Timing War
00:37:05 - Kevin Has Aphantasia
00:40:49 - The Spank Bank Problem
00:43:44 - Creativity With Constraints
00:52:56 - Waymo Hits the Freeway
00:53:52 - Driverless Rides + Paranormal Play
01:02:47 - Game Awards: Who’s Nominated
01:08:42 - Burry Bets Against AI
01:10:53 - AI: Bubble or Beginning?
01:18:07 - Internet vs. Quantum Hopes
01:19:30 - Bezos Launches Prometheus AI
01:21:26 - Robots and Retail
01:24:14 - Episode Wrap-Up

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In this episode, we go full spectrum, from the rise of AI-powered web browsers like ChatGPT’s Atlas and OpenAI’s latest updates, to what it’s actually like hitting six months sober and realizing Jack Daniels might still text back.

We celebrate some new EV purchases (yes, there’s a BMW iX involved), talk about Rivian’s new electric bike, and break down one of the boldest art heists in modern history, where a crew literally used a bucket truck to steal royal jewels from the Louvre.

Somewhere between Apple’s innovation slump, the philosophy of consciousness, and the idea that our brains are just rendering reality like a bad GPU, we try to make sense of existence one story at a time.

Basically, it’s us doing what we do best: chasing tech, culture, and absurdity until it all makes some kind of sense.

📝 Key Points

• Kevin hits six months sober and talks about resetting his relationship with alcohol
• Alex unveils his new BMW iX EV and breaks down its design and performance
• New AI-powered browsers like ChatGPT Atlas shake up how we search the web
• Kevin orders the new Rivian electric bike with 100-mile range and smart features
• Breakthrough retina-implant tech gives vision back to people with macular degeneration
• Deep dive into consciousness, perception, and whether reality is just “rendered” in our brains
• Debate over Apple’s next AI move: build its own model or partner with OpenAI or Google
• Meta’s identity crisis and why the company keeps missing real innovation
• Why a 500-mile EV range could change how drivers emotionally connect to electric cars
• The Louvre Museum jewel heist: thieves, a bucket truck, and French security fails
• Reflecting on time, mortality, and the truth that every 100 years everyone is new
• Finding meaning in the moment instead of doom-scrolling through negativity

⏱ Chapters

00:00 Intro
05:00 The Shirtening Cometh: Computer Costume Creativity
12:00 Louvre Larceny: Art Theft Gone Wild
17:00 Brain Zaps for Gym Motivation
19:00 AI Browsers: The Future of Web Surfing?
27:00 Kevin’s Crypto Conundrum
30:00 The Great Car Reveal: Alex’s New Ride
37:00 Electric Dreams: The Future of EVs
43:00 Two-Wheeled Freedom: Kevin’s E-Bike Adventure
48:00 Seeing Is Believing: Retina Implant Breakthroughs
54:00 The Philosophical Rabbit Hole
1:02:00 Time Flies: The Fleeting Nature of Existence
1:07:00 Living in the Moment: Kevin’s Life Philosophy
1:11:00 Apple’s Appetite for AI: To Build or to Partner?
1:17:00 The Meta Muddle: Facebook’s Identity Crisis
1:21:00 iPhone Woes: Apple’s Production Predicament
1:24:00 Wrapping Up: Sober Reflections and Future Fun

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RSVP for Chicago Digg Meetup! https://app.getriver.io/beta/events/digg-human-captcha-chicago-irl-meetup-sc1

In this week’s Diggnation:
Kevin and Alex drink a mysterious brain fuel that tastes like chemical warfare, get roasted by OpenAI’s video model (bald caps included), and pitch a LAN party for aging nerds. They also question if computer science degrees still matter, fantasize about neurotech that forces you to work out, and ask the most pressing question of our time: what if Instagram was just... Instagram again? Oh, and there's a legit HIV prevention breakthrough hiding in there, too.

Sponsors

ZBiotics
Get 15% off your first order at zbiotics.com/DIGG with code DIGG at checkout.

Square
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Claude (by Anthropic)
Get 50% off your first three months of Claude Pro at claude.ai/DIGG

DeleteMe
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Monarch Money
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Chapter Markers

00:00 Intro
03:01 The Shirtening Cometh + When Digg Collabed with Nike
06:06 Happy Birthday, Now Here’s a Deep Cut About Early Digg
07:42 Kevin’s Pro Phone Era and Apple’s Unhinged Glass UI
10:13 Tron Eris, Fake Beer, and Probiotics for Grown-Up Drinkers
14:15 Sora 2 Balds Kevin, Internet Debates If It’s an Upgrade
17:18 Deepfakes, Surrogates, and the Death of “That’s Clearly Fake”
21:31 Brain Zaps for Gym Motivation: Welcome to the Neurotech Era
26:11 Huawei Shrinks AI, Your GPU Fan Starts Screaming
28:36 Local AI Models, No Cloud, No Corporate Listening Devices
34:10 Sponsored by Square: Tap to Pay, Stay for the Data
35:56 Claude 4.5 Fixes Code, GPT-5 Throws Vibes and Errors
41:20 Why Build Apps When AI Can Just Read Your Mind
42:44 Kevin Gives Away Free App Ideas, Again
45:46 “Old Man Weekend”: LAN Parties, Diner Coffee, No Wi-Fi Allowed
52:13 Sponsor Break: Delete Yourself, Then Budget Wisely
54:12 The $40 HIV Shot That Could Change Everything
56:30 Herpes, Stats, and the Stigma Nobody Wants to Talk About
1:02:14 Instagram, But Worse: Where Photos Go to Die
1:07:07 Windowless Jet, Giant Screens, and One Extremely Texas Grill

Broadcasting from Kevin’s new ADU bunker (goodbye Neuehouse, we barely knew you), Kevin and Alex are back with 80-ish minutes of tech, pranks, and philosophical spirals. From Apple’s latest brain-implants-that-go-in-your-ears to a Samsung fridge trying to sell you stuff while chilling your oat milk, it’s a full spectrum ride through what the internet's doing to us—sometimes with our permission, sometimes with ads. Also: AI fails, mystery stereo tubes, and a German slug with strong prank energy.

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Chapter Markers
0:00:00 – Cold open
0:00:39 – Officially episode 20, welcome to the chaos.
0:01:03 – Kevin lost an office, gained a backyard studio.
0:02:24 – Studio tour features incense, Buddha, and a suspiciously nice stereo.
0:04:33 – Phones are ruining mindfulness and wrecking millennial intestines.
0:06:03 – Political engagement exists mostly to keep you angry.
0:09:16 – Alex pitches viral videos about artisanal charcoal.
0:11:05 – Kevin reviews face lasers, Alex reviews earbuds.
0:13:41 – ZBiotics wants to save your liver from you.
0:16:09 – Thanks San Francisco, next stop Chicago.
0:18:57 – AirPods Pro 3: now with live translation and pulse checks.
0:21:06 – An impromptu hearing test roasts the hosts’ ears.
0:22:27 – Apple keynotes should be heckled MST3K-style.
0:23:16 – Kevin hates phone cases, Alex chooses peach.
0:26:24 – MagSafe wallets meet crypto credit cards.
0:27:43 – Kevin turns credit points into a Japan trip.
0:30:16 – Apple pretends to avoid AI, then demos AI.
0:35:57 – Rumors fly about touchscreen Macs and chip envy.
0:37:54 – Claude AI shows off its straight-A student energy.
0:40:48 – LMNT: electrolytes, but Navy Seal-approved.
0:43:29 – Meta glasses want to record your entire existence.
0:47:37 – Tech companies now monetize the in-between moments.
0:51:10 – Zuckerberg’s AI kitchen demo burns the recipe.
0:55:25 – Samsung fridges now idle as ad billboards.
1:01:47 – Kevin asks if the internet can still be fun.
1:09:05 – Diggnation is officially everywhere now.
1:09:57 – Monarch Money: couples’ therapy disguised as budgeting.
1:12:36 – DeleteMe erases your data from shady corners of the web.
1:14:20 – A German slug pranks neighbors by ringing doorbells.
1:16:28 – Childhood pranks involved eggs, TP, and fire bags.
1:18:48 – Kids now bond over lag screens instead of bike rides.
1:20:26 – Wrapping up with meetups, studio thanks, and goodbyes.

Diggnation Episode 19 is part tech dispatch, part suburban diary. Kevin and Alex open with updates on sobriety, lawn mowing, and a Linux laptop built from scratch. Then it's into smart home experiments, including security cameras that yell at people a little too enthusiastically.

Digg news includes app store approvals, invite rollouts, a bot-thwarting system called the Human Captcha Project, and new plans for user-led communities. They also drop "Digg Daily," an AI-powered news podcast you can call by phone like it's 2006 again.

Other highlights include a Chinese EV promising 1000 miles per charge, some soul-searching about Tesla, a look at Polymarket’s ethical gray zones, and Chipotle being delivered by drone. Add in complaints about LA transit, the surprise return of CDs, and Google’s Pixel 10 flexing real-time translation.

DeleteMe
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---
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Learn more at square.com/go/DIGG.
---
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Chapter Markers
00:00:00 - Diggnation begins. You chose to press play.
00:01:22 - Kevin’s sober. Alex fought a spider.
00:03:08 - Lawns were mowed. Childhoods resurfaced.
00:05:14 - Kevin builds a Framework laptop. Linux approves.
00:08:19 - Security cameras now yell at people.
00:15:15 - Digg app gets approved. Embeds are live.
00:16:36 - Human Captcha Project launches. Your way into Digg.
00:17:36 - Users pitch ideas. Communities expand.
00:21:42 - Homemade beef jerky enters the chat.
00:23:20 - Digg Daily becomes a phone-in podcast.
00:29:30 - A Chinese EV promises 1000 miles.
00:38:07 - Sponsor: Delete Me. For digital vanishing acts.
00:42:08 - Prediction markets meet ethics. It's complicated.
00:54:45 - Chipotle delivery by drone is real.
00:59:43 - LA transit vs. DC. Everyone loses.
01:03:39 - Sponsor: Square. Business gets infrastructure.
01:05:21 - Sponsor: Element. Electrolytes want attention.
01:08:01 - CDs return. Audiophiles feel seen.
01:17:26 - Kids once entertained themselves. Wild.
01:21:30 - Pixel 10 does real-time translation.
01:28:46 - Pixel Watch and Apple Watch square off.
01:30:59 - Closing remarks. You made it.

This week on Diggnation: Kevin discovers a squatter secretly living in a staged LA home during a house tour, Alex tries to explain time dilation without having a full existential meltdown, and the team breaks down what actually happened at Digg’s first real-world community meetup. We’re talking mind blanking, deep meditation states that register as sleep, and why your brain sometimes just stops working for a bit. Plus: rollable laptops, modular microLED home theaters, ChatGPT’s 700 million users, and why we’re finally moving the Digg app out of TestFlight and into the App Store for real.

0:00:00 – Set flipped, drinks poured, chaos begins anew
0:07:06 – Found: one squatter, one closet, zero warning
0:10:28 – LA meetup: skeeball, tequila, surprisingly deep convos
0:12:09 – Groundbreakers now handing out keys to the castle
0:13:44 – TestFlight is dead; long live the public app
0:15:41 – Your brain sometimes goes full blank on purpose
0:17:55 – Kevin meditated so hard his ring thought he died
0:23:44 – Time isn’t real and Einstein broke everyone’s brain
0:26:27 – Laptops now roll up like scrolls, because of course
0:34:50 – ChatGPT hits 700M users, including your mom
0:36:54 – Claude, Gemini, Perplexity: the AI hunger games begin
0:58:03 – Kevin vs. boa constrictor: a wildly confident mismatch

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🧑‍🤝‍🧑 People Mentioned:
Justin (Digg's CEO)
Mau (Diggnation Producer)
Will Harlan (winemaker)
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Chris Hutchins (points/miles guy)

🧑‍💻 Users Mentioned:
@michde – Why does your mind go blank?
@sabbah – Zoo Asks People To Donate Their Healthy Pets As Food For Its Captive Predators
@linux – Defrag 98: Entertainment from My Youth Complete with Sounds

🛠️ Products & Brands Mentioned:
Z-biotics
Oura Ring
World of Warcraft
Lenovo Thinkbook Plus Gen 6
MicroLED displays
ChatGPT
Claude
Gemini (Google Ultra)
Perplexity
Square
Monarch Money
Ubiquiti
Amazon
Google Opal
American Express
Figma
Nvidia
Stripe
SpaceX
Wix
TikTok
Mac
NVR
C Drive
TestFlight
App Store
Google Play Store
OLED displays
Pixel 10
Apple Intelligence