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PODCAST

The 404 Media Podcast

Welcome to the podcast from 404 Media where Joseph, Sam, Emanuel, and Jason catch you up on the stories we published this week. 404 Media is a journalist-owned digital media company exploring the way technology is shaping–and is shaped by–our world. We bring you unparalleled access to hidden worlds both online and IRL through investigative reporting, smart blogging, and breaking news. At 404 Media you’ll read, and hear, stories you can’t find anywhere else written by journalists who are leading

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All Episodes

38:22

AI Companies Scraped the Web and Are Destroying the...

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/10/05

Jason Kint, the CEO of Digital Content Next, has kept a close eye on some of the biggest tech antitrust and copyright court cases. Kint has a knack for finding particularly incriminating court records in complex ongoing lawsuits. We talk to Kint about the pressures that human creators are under in an AI world, the New York Times' lawsuit against OpenAI, and why Meta's Cambridge Analytica scandal is relevant again.YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/knlbTd5Pij4 Subscribe at 404media.co Learn

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42:27

The FBI Was Hacked. We’ve Seen the Data

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/09/30

Don’t sleep on [@ultrapouches]. New customers get 15% Off with code 404MEDIA attakeultra.com! #UltraPouches #adWe start this week with Joseph’s stories on the massive FBI hack. 404 Media broke this news and continued to cover the breach of data on all FBI employees and their spouses. After the break, Jason tells us how a surveillance company is telling cops it wants to add facial recognition tech to Flock camera data. In the subscribers-only section, Jason and Joseph chat all about Muse, Meta’s

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42:16

The End of Privacy Is Here (with Kashmir Hill)

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/09/28

Facial recognition is everywhere now. It’s in surveillance cameras; it’s soon going to be in Meta’s RayBan pervert glasses, and some students already did that. You now have massively viral accounts that take clips of people, run them through facial recognition software, and then post their name and other personal info for everyone to see. We haven’t fully come to terms with what it means to live in a world where anyone can basically dox anyone else now.To talk through this, Joseph spoke to Kashmir

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46:14

OpenAI Admits AI is Killing the Internet

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/09/23

Take control of your data footprint risk-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Go to https://incogni.com/404Mediaand use code404MEDIAfor60% off an annual plan. That's code404MEDIAat https://incogni.com/404MediaWe start this week with Jason’s story about OpenAI and Microsoft’s big admissions from court records that they are destroying the internet in all sorts of ways, and stealing intellectual property on an unprecedented scale. He admit it. After the break, Emanuel explains how he hijacked a

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49:45

Is AI Making Us Less Human?

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/09/21

When chatbots become our closest “friends,” what happens to our capacity to care? This week I'm joined by Professor Sherry Turkle. Sherry is a licensed clinical psychologist, the founding director of MIT's Initiative on Technology and Self, and the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at MIT. She's a the New York Times bestselling author of multiple books includingAlone Together,Reclaiming Conversation, andThe Empathy Diaries. Her latest

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51:37

404 Media x The Intercept LIVE: How AI Is Used to...

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/09/18

In this bonus collaboration with our friends at The Intercept, 404 Media's Jason Koebler and the Intercept's Sam Biddle and Akela Lacy discuss the ways AI is already used to empower private surveillance companies that filter data to the government, how AI is used in war, and the prospect of an AI apocalypse. This podcast was recorded live in Los Angeles at The Loved One on September 12. Check out The Intercept Briefing podcast wherever you get your podcasts, and find a full transcript of this

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50:33

Humans Are Reading Your ChatGPT Conversations

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/09/16

We start this week with Joseph’s story about the people who are reading real ChatGPT users’ prompts and conversations. He got a bunch of documents all about these contractors and saw real prompts himself. After the break, Sam tells us all about the Automattic CEO getting kicked out. Then coming back again. In the subscribers-only section, Emanuel tells us why a16z thinks enshittification is not real. Inside ‘Project Lily’: The Humans Reading Your ChatGPT Chats Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg

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62:16

Fighting for the Future of Libraries (With Jennie...

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/09/14

This week we’re joined by Jennie Rose Halprein. Jennie is the executive director of Library Futures, a non-profit that advocates for a fair digital future for libraries and the communities they serve. We have written a bunch of stories about libraries over the years, and I have talked to Jennie a few times for those stories. I always have really interesting conversations with her, but a lot of what we talk about never makes it into a story. That’s why I wanted to share one of those conversations

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43:15

DHS’ Secretive ‘Predictive Policing’ Unit Pulling...

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/09/09

Take control of your data footprint risk-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Go to https://incogni.com/404Media and use code 404MEDIA for 60% off an annual plan. That's code 404MEDIA at https://incogni.com/404MediaWe start this week with Joseph’s story about the secretive predictive policing units inside DHS that are analyzing Americans’ financial data and having local cops pull them over. After the break, Jason tells us about the funky shirt designed to fool AI-camera systems. In the

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37:15

This Innocent Woman Spent 13 Days in Jail Because of...

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/09/07

This week Jason talks to Lindsey Isaacs and her lawyer, Patrick McGeehan. Last year, Lindsey was falsely arrested and imprisoned after authorities used Flock’s license plate reader system to pull over the wrong person in a hit-and-run that killed three people. Lindsey spent 13 days in jail because of this screwup.This all happened because authorities were looking for a black dodge Durango, and used Flock’s freeform search to look for a black SUV. Lindsey happened to be driving a black dodge

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40:57

We Spoke to an Amazon Worker Destroying Books for AI

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/09/02

Take control of your data footprint risk-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Go to https://incogni.com/404Mediaand use code404MEDIAfor60% off an annual plan. That's code404MEDIAat https://incogni.com/404MediaWe start this week with Emanuel’s follow-up to his Amazon book scanning story, in which he spoke to someone who worked in the Amazon warehouse which destroys books to train Amazon’s AI products. After the break, Emanuel and Sam tell us about the same few names appearing in LLM output over

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42:08

How Cyber Sleuths Tracked Down a Nigerian Scammer

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/08/31

This week Joseph talks to Paul Raffile, a cybercrime researcher, and Erin West, founder of Operation Shamrock. The pair recently traveled to Nigeria to track down a scammer and meet a bunch more. This conversation is some fascinating insight into how scammers live, how they can be identified, and platforms like Meta’s responsibility.I Hunted the Men Who Blackmail Children Online Youtube Version: https://youtu.be/973m4leS25c Subscribe at 404media.co Learn more about your ad choices

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33:14

Cops Are Making Fake Flock Cameras and Amazon Packages

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/08/26

Take control of your data footprint risk-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Go to https://incogni.com/404Mediaand use code404MEDIAfor60% off an annual plan. That's code404MEDIAat https://incogni.com/404Media We start this week with Jason’s piece on a cop making a fake Flock camera to catch a vandal. How can you be charged with destroying expensive property if… the camera wasn’t real? After the break, Sam tells us about how Darth Vader loves Flock. In the subscribers-only section, we talk a

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47:28

Your AI Companion Doesn’t Love You with Bridget Todd

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/08/24

Go to https://surfshark.com/404Media or use code 404Media at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark!Tech companies want you to believe that the chatbots they profit from are the always ready, never judgemental, constantly affirming friend in our pockets. But are the people using them as companions under some kind of deep self-delusion? Or are they seeking something else? This week I’m joined by Bridget Todd. Among many other projects and accomplishments, Bridget is the creator and host

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53:11

Amazon is Destroying Rare Books to Train AI

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/08/19

Take control of your data footprint risk-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Go tohttps://incogni.com/404Mediaand use code404MEDIAfor60% off an annual plan. That's code404MEDIAathttps://incogni.com/404MediaWe start this week with Emanuel’s big story about Amazon buying, and destroying, masses of books to train AI. After the break we talk about a couple of wild cases where people are using AI. In the subscribers-only section, we talk about Meta’s new smart glasses patent and research into how

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46:18

The Future of Deepfakes and the Decline of Reality...

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/08/17

The past, present, and future of deepfakes, as seen by the world’s leading expert on synthetic media.I think we’re pretty good at telling the difference between an AI generated image and a real photograph, but when I need help I call Hany Farid. Farid is the cofounder of GetReal, a company that specializes in detecting deepfakes and other AI-generated images, and is the developer of PhotoDNA, a perceptual hashing algorithm that helps companies automatically detect and remove some of the

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48:31

Mark Zuckerberg’s 'Superintelligent' AI Future That...

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/08/12

We start this week with Jason’s article about Mark Zuckerberg’s plan for Meta’s AI agents. They don't sound fun at all. After the break, Emanuel tells us how a company offering “100% human-written” medical research is actually all AI. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph explains why some cities are ditching Flock then immediately replacing those cameras with Axon ones.Take control of your data footprint risk-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Go to https://incogni.com/404Media and use

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53:02

How to Surveil the Police (with William Gude)

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/08/10

Go to https://surfshark.com/404Media to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN, with the reassurance of a 30-day money-back guarantee, or just use code 404MEDIA at checkout. That's https://surfshark.com/404Media. This week, we talk to William Gude, who runs Film the Police LA. Film the Police LA is a YouTube channel, Instagram account, and Twitter account where William does exactly what it says in the name: He films police in Los Angeles to hold them accountable. William has been doing this for years,

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50:27

This Man Might Go to Prison for Wiping His Phone

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/08/05

Get 15% off OneSkin with the code 404 athttps://oneskin.co/404We start this week with Joseph’s article about Samuel Tunick, the man charged with allegedly wiping his phone before DHS officials could search it. It’s a wild case with a lot to unpack. After the break, Jason tells us all about a TikTok Shop scheme powered by AI. In the subscribers-only section, we talk about possibly the dumbest AI tool ever made. You're Invited: 404 Media's Third Anniversary Live Podcast and Party! ‘The

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50:15

Former Flock Employee Speaks Out: Says He Was ‘Lied To’

The 404 Media Podcast ·

2026/08/03

Take control of your data footprint risk-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Go tohttps://incogni.com/404Mediaand use code404MEDIAfor60% off an annual plan. That's code404MEDIAathttps://incogni.com/404MediaThis week Joseph speaks to Jonathan Paz, a former Flock employee and now candidate for Congress in Massachusetts’ 5th District. They talk all about Paz’s work at Flock, how he was tasked with trying to convince cities to buy Flock cameras, and when he ultimately quit the company. It’s a

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