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PODCAST

What"s Tech?

Enjoy the archives of this retired, award-winning series from Christopher Thomas Plante and The Verge that explained technology bit by bit. The series finale aired December 6th, 2016, shortly before Chris re-joined Polygon as its executive editor. For more on what’s happening now (and next) in technology and gadgets, listen and subscribe to The Vergecast.

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All Episodes

23:32

What is Tumblr?

What"s Tech? ·

2016/01/12

Tumblr was the first social media platform to feel irrelevant. I'm young enough to have blogged my way through high school, but old enough for my blogging to be unusual. I used Xanga, and then LiveJournal. When Facebook launched, I traded both platforms, and decided I'd communicate my goings-on by updating my favorite movies and TV shows. In the late 2000s, Tumblr felt to me like a flavorless combination of Twitter's relentless personal updates and the curatorial blogging of Boing Boing and, at that

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32:18

What is CES?

What"s Tech? ·

2016/01/05

The Verge's Dieter Bohn shares the history of the Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, which is taking place this week in Las Vegas, Nevada. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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30:49

What is a hoverboard?

What"s Tech? ·

2015/12/29

The Verge tested Lexus' hoverboard in August. Thanks to science and a considerable promotional budget, the car maker's hoverboard actually hovered above the earth — as its name suggested. The experience was the culmination of a shared pop culture dream dating back to Michael J. Fox's faithful special effects-aided ride in Back to the Future Part II. It felt perversely historic. Somehow, only a couple months later, the creation of an actual working hoverboard has been overshadowed by a trendy

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28:19

What is Windows 10?

What"s Tech? ·

2015/12/15

Last week, I wrote about Microsoft's plan to bring Xbox One and Windows 10 closer together. I've been wondering what this future might look like. I know a good deal about Microsoft's video game consoles, but Windows remains a bit of a mystery. I switched to Apple laptops in high school, and only recently welcomed a Windows PC into my home exclusively for gaming. But more and more, I'm tempted to switch back to Windows for my work computer. It seems less fussy, prone to viruses, and bland than it did

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27:04

What is an internet router?

What"s Tech? ·

2015/12/08

When I joined The Verge, many of my peers from the video games press congratulated me on a lifetime of writing about internet routers. I laughed at their silly joke. How much, I thought, is there to really say about an internet router? If only my naive self of 2014 had known the truth, that routers evoke a passion among the citizens of the internet like few pieces of technology. I thought people cared about console wars, then I witnessed a debate about the benefits of Netgear's Nighthawk

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19:39

What is Fallout?

What"s Tech? ·

2015/12/01

On a recent Sunday afternoon, you may have noticed Brutus — Fox's NFL mascot — wearing a new set of protective armor. This costume wasn't promoting a nonprofit initiative meant to distract from professional football's abundance of PR debacles, nor was it celebrating Thanksgiving or Christmas. It was an ad for a video game: Fallout 4. As your pupils dilated and the molten cheese dribbled from your pizza roll, you likely found yourself in one of two camps: the camp that recognizes the Fallout brand

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19:18

What is an internet meme?

What"s Tech? ·

2015/11/24

I remember my first meme. I was in my grade school computer lab — this was a time when computers were still novel, not mandatory. My fifth grade teacher was explaining email to our classroom, and how she could use it to talk with a friend in another country about what happened on this week's episode of Friends. Presumably Friends didn't air in said country. After an awkwardly long explanation of what Friends is to a couple dozen 11-year-olds, my teacher decided to show us something more our speed on

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26:00

What is the quantified self?

What"s Tech? ·

2015/11/11

I have tried various health trackers, and they always wind up buried in the bottom drawer of my dresser. I should love the pursuit of a quantified self. I like data; I want to be healthier; I enjoy new technology, even when it's fussy and doesn't really work. But for whatever reason, trackers just leave me feeling guilty at best and competitive with friends and family at worse. I shouldn't be competing, I should be collaborating! We all should be better! This week, I invited The Verge's Science

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24:54

What is alien life?

What"s Tech? ·

2015/11/04

More recently, discussions of extraterrestrial life have become mainstream. Brilliant minds like Stephen Hawking and Neil deGrasse Tyson have made headlines with their thoughts on how humans should or shouldn't make contact. This week, I invited my friend and colleague Loren Grush to explain how science thinks about alien life. It's a bit spooky, like a Halloween-ish episode, airing just a few days late for the horror holiday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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29:07

What is Minecraft?

What"s Tech? ·

2015/10/28

This week Microsoft released Halo 5, the latest installment of its most iconic exclusive for Xbox consoles. The adventures of Master Chief and his console cohorts, however, pale beneath the popularity of the stories created by players in the universe of Minecraft. Designed largely by a single gamer maker and purchased for billions of dollars by the software giant, Minecraft has the potential to be the Super Mario of a generation, not in how it plays but what it represents for an entire culture of

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23:54

What Is The Patriot Act

What"s Tech? ·

2015/10/20

A little over a month after the events of September 11th, 2001, an Act of Congress called the USA Patriot Act was signed into law by then President George W. Bush. Despite its controversial expansion of government power pertaining to domestic surveillance, law enforcement, and border security, President Obama signed an extension of what were key provisions in 2001. That extension expired this past summer, but parts of the extension were renewed for another four years under a new name, the USA

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31:24

What is TV?

What"s Tech? ·

2015/10/13

"There's too much television," said FX CEO John Landgraf at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour. Landgraf, whose in part responsible for the success of shows like Fargo, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Archer, and The Americans, painted a landscape in which a mountain of good programs impede a wandering audience from discovering the truly great shows. Landgraf has firsthand experience: FX alone produces the aforementioned critical hits, along with The Strain, American Horrors

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43:16

What are online ads?

What"s Tech? ·

2015/10/06

As someone whose paycheck in some part comes from ad revenue, talking about online advertising can feel complicated. At their worst, digitals ads are annoying, intrusive, and for those of us with modest data plans, costly. Ads also provide revenue for the majority of websites — including this one — allowing visitors to read, watch, and listen to news and entertainment free of cash payment. This month, a conversation about the merits and value of online ads came to a boil when Apple began allowing

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19:01

What is ASMR?

What"s Tech? ·

2015/09/29

I have ASMR. Or maybe the correct phrasing is that I'm susceptible to ASMR. It's tough to talk about the phenomenon, because ASMR lacks the mandatory scientific evidence that proves, well, its existence. And if it does exist, what the hell is it anyway? A group of people have taken to the internet to discuss, examine, and enjoy a shared pleasurable sensory experience triggered by specific sounds. Not every person has the same stimulants. Some people get a tingle on their neck when they hear a soft

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31:50

What is Tesla?

What"s Tech? ·

2015/09/22

The electric car isn't a newfangled idea birthed from the neck of a generation of idealists jaded by the economic, cultural, and atmospheric cost of oil. Our grandparents' grandparents' generation dreamed of electric cars. Some of them actually built the clear, quiet vehicles. And yet, the crop of electric cars feel, over a century later, futuristic. What changed between the 1830s and today? What took the electric car so long? This week, I invited The Verge's car lover Sean O'Kane to talk about

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24:57

What is instant replay?

What"s Tech? ·

2015/09/15

After 16 games, dozens of touchdowns, and countless hits, the Dallas Cowboys 2014 season came to an end in January when officials, reviewing an instant replay, decided a mind-imploding reception by all-star wide receiver Dez Bryant was in fact not a reception at all. The decision seemed illogical at the time. How had officials used such powerful technology to make such a seemingly asinine call? This year, instant replay will continue to play a pivotal, if not maddening, role in professional

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29:03

What is Destiny?

What"s Tech? ·

2015/09/08

Destiny became so popular, so quickly that it’s success seems almost like, well, it’s destiny. But that wasn’t the case. Developer Bungie’s road to making the massive first-person shooter is strange and storied. This week, nearly a year after its release, the game will receive a substantial update, making the experience more accessible for even more players. And next week, the largest expansion to the game, The Taken King, will be released. Now is the perfect time to learn what this game is and how

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33:36

What is Star Wars?

What"s Tech? ·

2015/09/01

The transformation of the fan-made greeting "May the 4th be with you" into the foundation of an annual Star Wars publicity storm had the sharp smell of cynicism. But this week it seems quaint. Force Friday, a new, wholly corporate creation, will close this work week on September 3rd. The day is an announcement and celebration of the toys and merchandise fans will see by this holiday. I'm thrilled to see The Force Awakens, but I'm already exhausted by the Star Wars hype that could continue

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14:39

What is fantasy sports?

What"s Tech? ·

2015/08/25

A Forbes article from last years cited 33 million annual players of fantasy football. More shocking, much of fantasy football’s growth has happened in just the past 15 years thanks the to advent of online leagues. To explain fantasy football, and fantasy sports in general, I invited SB Nation host and contributor Susannah Collins to the show. Collins covers the NFL at Vox Media, and will be premiering a new show on the site later this year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit

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37:13

What is Virtual Sex?

What"s Tech? ·

2015/08/18

My earliest memories of the internet are in AOL chat rooms. I’d spend the summer of 1998 in chats dedicated to games, James Bond movies, baseball, and whatever else interested my ten-year-old mind. Each conversation was unique, but they always began the same way. I would say, “Hello.” And a strange somewhere across the world would respond, “a/s/l/. Age. Sex. Location. “I am thirteen,” I’d explain. “Male, and from Missouri.” If they were my age, the conversation would continue. If they older, they’d

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