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
703: None More Black [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:43
ICE raids and FuckLAPD.com highlight America’s surveillance circus; a Norwegian tourist gets booted over a JD Vance meme; Big Balls lands at Social Security; Tesla robotaxis need adult supervision; judges can’t decide if…
702: TikTaco [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:24:51
Trump punts the TikTok ban again; Tesla mows down dummies and dumps Cybertrucks like yard sale junk; AI kills jobs, fries budgets, and melts brains; Microsoft and Wikipedia pump the brakes; Altman wants your electricity;…
701: Dancing in the Streets [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:18:19
We light a candle for legends and torch bad takes; Molly White says truth still matters as apathy and flaming Waymos rise; “No Kings” protests erupt while Elon licks Trump’s boots; Uber reinvents the worse bus, Tesla del…
700: Going Antiquing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:19:28
Elon and Trump’s feud torches billions while launching a sketchy crypto wallet; DOGE fires someone for praising government efficiency; Ukraine weaponizes open source code in a drone blitz; U.S. states fumble social media…
699: TACO 2025 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:17:31
AI asks if it’s 2025 and proves it’s not; Facebook’s violence spikes after policy changes; Trump Media dives into Bitcoin and DJT dives with it; Texas wants teens off social media; Germany eyes a Big Tech tax; Anthropic…
698: Watch Out for That Tree! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:20:32
Elon Musk melts down mid-interview and calls the reporter an NPC; 23andMe auctions off your DNA to Regeneron; Coinbase insiders leak customer data; OpenAI buys Jony Ive’s studio while planning spy-wearables; Klarna flip-…
697: Office of Defects [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:17:16
This week on Grumpy Old Geeks: Trump hawks crypto for $2 million a plate; Elon tunnels into taxpayer wallets; NFTs get nonprofit’d into irrelevance; Microsoft axes more staff while Metaverse washouts DoorDash from traile…
696: Googliearchs [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:25:03
Crypto bros drain Kuwait’s grid; Celsius founder lands 12 years; Apple ethics on trial; DoorDash devours Deliveroo; Google gives Gemini to tweens; Tesla’s “Robotaxi” is too basic; Grok goes streaking; AI ghosts your gran…
695: Mad Hatter [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:16
On this episode of Grumpy Old Geeks: Staingate delamination gets messy; Trump’s meme coin gets government domains; Elon wears two hats to a Trump meeting; DOGE hands housing laws to AI; MoviePass launches crypto box offi…
694: Hammers Don’t Hallucinate [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:23:43
Fyre Festival reboots as a music app; Amazon and Microsoft hit pause on AI infrastructure; Google’s AI hallucinates confidently; Kevin Roose wants us to feel bad for Skynet Jr.; OpenAI wants Chrome despite being broke; P…