687: Uncanny Spaceballs

687: Uncanny Spaceballs

Author: Jason DeFillippo & Brian Schulmeister with Dave Bittner March 8, 2025 Duration: 1:05:12
Techdirt has embraced politics as tech’s twin dumpster fire; Google’s AI Mode proves the internet is just Clippy with better PR; Billy McFarland’s Fyre Festival 2 is literally lost at sea; Tesla sales plummet as Elon’s antics spark protests; Sergey Brin wants engineers to work 60-hour weeks to build their replacements; Trump Media funneled cash to Don Jr. while indie musicians can’t afford to tour; Technicolor collapsed overnight, stranding 10,000 workers; SpaceX exploded—again; Netflix’s remake of A Different World became nightmare fuel; Y Combinator startups are coding on pure vibes; OpenAI is monetizing AI agents at $20K/month; Russian propaganda is infecting AI chatbots; hackers unbricked the Humane AI Pin to make it slightly less useless; ChatGPT now helps Mac developers introduce unexpected bugs; for escapism, read The Tempest by Peter Cawdron or On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder; and in peak dystopia, 82% of indie artists can’t tour—at least we still have humor.

There’s a certain flavor of chaos that defines the technology industry each week, and Grumpy Old Geeks serves as your brutally honest guide through the wreckage. Hosted by Jason DeFillippo, Brian Schulmeister, and Dave Bittner, this isn't a polite roundtable discussion. Instead, it feels like grabbing a drink with friends who have seen it all and have absolutely no patience left for corporate spin or broken promises. They pick apart the biggest tech news stories with a seasoned, cynical eye, always asking the messy questions about what actually went wrong and who should be held accountable. Listening to this podcast is like getting the unfiltered post-mortem from veterans who remember when the internet felt different. The tone is sharp, often funny, and deliberately irreverent-picture a conversation that’s equal parts informed critique and cathartic venting about the state of digital life. You’ll hear them dissect the moves of figures like Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg not as distant celebrities, but as players in a ongoing saga of power and missteps. It’s a weekly ritual for anyone who loves technology but is deeply frustrated by the direction it often takes, offering analysis that’s as informed as it is impatient. If you’re tired of sanitized tech commentary and want a take that pulls no punches, this is the place.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Grumpy Old Geeks
Podcast Episodes
733: Predator Friendly Hunting Ground [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:24:14
The tech world is currently a "nuclear war" over trademarks and alien catapult rants while AI safety researchers flee their posts; Meta and Discord are locked in a cycle of predator-friendly lawsuits and government ID br…
732: We’re Not In the Files! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:06
In this week’s FOLLOW UP, Bitcoin is down 15%, miners are unplugging rigs because paying eighty-seven grand to mine a sixty-grand coin finally failed the vibes check, and Grok is still digitally undressing men—suggesting…
731: I Want My 13 Trillion Dollars! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:19:24
EU vs. Grok, Tesla kills the S/X, mass tech layoffs, Waymo in trouble, South Korea’s AI mess, and record labels suing for $13T. Then: Super Bowl 60, Ted Lasso, Highlander, AirTag 2, new Muppets but no Animal Crackers. Bu…
730: Ethical Broads [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:26:31
California tells Grok to stop making deepfake minors, Musk’s Memphis methane datacenter gets busted, the FTC keeps trying to break up Meta & every government on Earth demands your ID before you’re allowed to have fun onl…
729: Alright Alright Alright™ [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:24:25
Grok gets blocked by world governments as the US Senate tries to stop the deepfake deluge; Meta abandons the Metaverse for AI hardware and high-powered political hires while Bandcamp bans AI slop; Apple and Tesla move mo…
728: No Face to Shoot [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:15:06
A year after the LA fires, we spiral into AI surveillance & protest safety to Meta ads, Disney spying, Grok’s legal black hole, robotaxis at dusk & Tim Cook’s $74M payday. Toss in MTV nostalgia, holiday gadgets & tech su…
727: Merry Slopmas [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:21:17
Hallucinating AI recaps, Tesla’s Autopilot under legal fire, TikTok’s shell game, Reddit fights age bans, iRobot sucks up Chpater 11 and “slop” crowned Word of the Year. Add orbital junk, fake books & Gen-X sideeye - it’…
726: Sycophantic and Delusional [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:17:31
Job Hugging is here, OpenAI’s in damage control mode, the AI bubble is overheating the grid, Instagram pricing games, Waymo gives birth and Uber is selling your data. Also: Disney’s AI dreams, EU smackdowns, and Jason wi…
725: The Mistake Machine [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:15:02
Spotify Wrapped thinks we’re 82, Palantir thinks war crimes are bad for business, and Google’s AI is wiping hard drives. Netflix buys Batman, Fallout S2, ROMCON, Knives Out, scientists invent the blackest fabric ever and…
724: Sam Altman’s Boutique [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:57
The DOGE is dead, Apple and HP are blaming AI for layoffs, teens are lonely (talking to bots!), greedy tech bros are pouring millions into fighting state AI regulations. Welcome to the tech industry, where nothing is a s…