In today’s episode, Zöe is joined by WIRED’s Jake Lahut to run through five of the best stories we published this week — from how the Trump administration is creating and sharing memes to make fun of deportations, to NASA’s ambitious goal to put nuclear reactors on the moon. Then, Zöe and Jake dive into why users kind of hated OpenAI’s GPT-5 release.

Join us LIVE in San Francisco on September 9th

• Get your tickets HERE

Articles mentioned in this episode:

• OpenAI Scrambles to Update GPT-5 After Users Revolt | WIRED
  The Trump Administration Is Using Memes to Turn Mass Deportation Into One Big Joke | WIRED
• Trump Family–Backed World Liberty Financial Sets Up $1.5 Billion Crypto Treasury | WIRED
• Inside the ‘Whites Only’ Community in Arkansas | WIRED
• Why the US Is Racing to Build a Nuclear Reactor on the Moon | WIRED

Palantir Technologies is arguably one of the most notorious American corporations. Cofounded by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, the company has worked with ICE, the US Department of Defense, the Israeli military and sparked numerous protests in multiple countries. But what do they actually do?

Palantir is often called a data broker, a data miner, or a giant database of personal information. In reality, it’s none of these—but even former employees struggle to explain it. Luckily, WIRED staff writer Caroline Haskins joins us to decode Palantir for us.

Join us LIVE in San Francisco on September 9th

• Get your tickets HERE

Articles mentioned in this episode:

• What Does Palantir Actually Do?
• Palantir Is Helping DOGE With a Massive IRS Data Project
• ICE Is Paying Palantir $30 Million to Build ‘ImmigrationOS’ Surveillance Platform
• Lauren’s latest article: Lisa Su Runs AMD - and Is Out for Nvidia’s Blood

In today’s episode, Zoë is joined by WIRED’s Jake Lahut to run through five of the most important stories we published this week — from how bitcoin miners have been racing this year to beat the tariffs, to how AI was used to find a missing hiker in the Italian Alps. Then, Zoë and Jake discuss the details around OpenAI’s latest partnership with the federal government.

Live show tickets at: https://www.kqed.org/event/5459

Articles mentioned in this episode:

• OpenAI Announces Massive US Government Partnership | WIRED
• Trumpworld Knows Epstein Is a Problem. But They Can’t Solve It | WIRED
• Charter Planes and Bidding Wars: How Bitcoin Miners Raced to Beat Trump’s Tariffs | WIRED
• Google Will Use AI to Guess People’s Ages Based on Search History | WIRED
• US Coast Guard Report on Titan Submersible Implosion Singles Out OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush | WIRED
• A Hiker Was Missing for Nearly a Year—Until an AI System Recognized His Helmet | WIRED