Boops, Toots and Squeals

Boops, Toots and Squeals

Author: J.D. Biersdorfer and Pedro Rafael Rosado August 13, 2025 Duration: 27:46

On this week’s episode, El Kaiser and J.D. wade into the river of recent news about artificial intelligence — while stopping to pour one out for the soon-to-be-discontinued AOL dial-up modem service. Hear it all (and more) with one click of the Play button for PTJ 384!

• Alexa Got an A.I. Brain Transplant. How Smart Is It Now? (The New York Times)

• OpenAI Brings Back Fan-Favorite GPT-4o After a Massive User Revolt (Gizmodo)

• GPT-5: Overdue, overhyped and underwhelming. And that’s not the worst of it. (Gary Marcus Substack)

• Apple App Intents Voice Control Feature for Siri, Apps; iOS 26 Release Timing (Bloomberg)

• Apple’s new Siri may allow users to operate apps just using voice (TechCrunch) 

• Computer Science Grads Struggle to Find Jobs in the A.I. Age (The New York Times)

• Inside the Multimillion-Dollar Gray Market for Video Game Cheats (Wired)

• Reddit will block the Internet Archive (The Verge)

• End of an era: AOL to discontinue its dial-up internet service after 30 years (The Guardian)


Tune into POP | TECH | JAM for a weekly conversation that feels like grabbing a coffee with friends who are just as obsessed with the latest streaming series as they are with the inner workings of a new gadget. Hosts J.D. Biersdorfer and Pedro Rafael Rosado steer this independent audio magazine, blending sharp commentary on movies and television with insightful, accessible discussions about the technology shaping how we experience all that culture. Each episode is a deliberate mash-up, finding the unexpected connections between a trending app and a classic film, or how a breakthrough in tech might influence the next must-watch show. You'll hear thoughtful reviews, dig into news that matters across these intertwined worlds, and get a sense of the genuine curiosity and rapport the hosts bring to every topic. This podcast thrives on that energetic mix, creating a space that’s both informative and engaging without ever taking itself too seriously. It’s less a formal broadcast and more of a dynamic, ongoing jam session-hence the name-where pop culture and digital life collide in entertaining and thought-provoking ways.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 170

POP | TECH | JAM
Podcast Episodes
PTJ 248: Knock, Knock [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:58
Who’s there? It’s this week’s episode of Pop Tech Jam, with ideas for coping with the current state of the world. From SEC hackers to Nest’s new indoor/outdoor security system to Equifax still doing harm to its customers…
PTJ 247: Hello, Epic Equifail! Goodbye, Cassini! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:21
As the scale of the epic security fail at the Equifax credit bureau comes into focus, El Kaiser and J.D. throwback to Episode 159 and a previous conversation about freezing your credit to ice out identity thieves. Among…
PTJ 246: What’s the Frequency, Siri? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:49
After a two-week summer vacation, El Kaiser and J.D. return to the studio to catch up on the week’s technology news: Facebook ‘fesses up to a chunk of Russian ad buys during the election, Amazon looks to expand its corpo…
PTJ 245: Blasts From the Past [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:24
You have your good history and you have your bad history — and both kinds are mashed up here this week on Pop Tech Jam. The violent protests in Charlottesville last weekend were amplified in all directions thanks to soci…
PTJ 244: Across the Universe [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:54
Whether it be The Defenders kicking butt across the New York City zone of the Marvel Universe or NASA’s assorted spacecraft exploring the real universe, this week’s episode of Pop Tech Jam has you covered. El Kaiser and…
PTJ 243: Sound and Fury [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:08
After a discussion about the stirring audio mix used to back the film Dunkirk, El Kaiser and J.D. make a lot of noise about this week’s technology news — including new government regulation around the world. However, if…
PTJ 242: So Long, Old Paint? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:36
Close Encounters of the Third Kind is coming back for a 40th-anniversary run, but a couple of old standbys are getting boxed up for the software attic. El Kaiser and J.D. take a stroll through the week’s headlines and ta…
PTJ 241: Glass Houses [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:20
After a two-week hiatus, El Kaiser and J.D. are back with the tech news of the week — including Amazon’s latest experiments for making money and Google Glass finally finding a home of sorts. And how about that Doctor Who…
PTJ 240: Hall Monitor [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:02
It’s almost like we needed the Justice League to come sort things out with all the disruptions erupting all over the technology scene this week. So, you ask, what happened? Yet another ransomware attack spread rapidly wo…
PTJ 239: Leak Week [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:38
June is Internet Safety Month, but it hasn’t been very safe for the personal information of 198 million people, which got exposed by sloppy data handling. The notoriously private Apple got trolled as well when a top-secr…