A year after relaunching The Onion in print, CEO Ben Collins sits down with Katie to talk about why “going into something and not ruining it is bravery.” He tells her the first order of business to get the beloved fake newspaper back on its feet: get rid of all the dick pill ads. They discuss blogging at 15, analog journalism, disinformation, and the freedom that comes with being humorous.

Follow the UnCanny Valley feed for WIRED’s best and brightest as they provide an insider analysis of the overlap between tech and politics, from the influence of Silicon Valley on the Trump administration to how inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots fanned the fire on social protests.

In today’s episode, Zöe is joined by WIRED’s Leah Feiger to run through five of the best stories you need to know about — from how AI is eliminating entry level jobs to how a secretive Democrat group is funding high-profile influencers. Then, Zöe and Leah dive into the scoop that AI researchers recently recruited to Meta’s Superintelligence Lab are already leaving — some of them, back to OpenAI.

Join us LIVE in San Francisco on September 9th

• Get your tickets HERE

Join WIRED’s best and brightest as they provide an insider analysis of the overlap between tech and politics, from the influence of Silicon Valley on the Trump administration to how inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots fanned the fire on social protests.

Articles mentioned in this episode:

• Researchers Are Already Leaving Meta’s New Superintelligence Lab | WIRED
• AI Is Eliminating Jobs for Younger Workers | WIRED
• Elon Musk’s xAI Sues Apple and OpenAI Over App Store Rankings | WIRED
• A Dark Money Group Is Secretly Funding High-Profile Democratic Influencers | WIRED
• What It’s Like Watching Dozens of Bodies Decompose (for Science)

As the summer comes to an end, we’re thinking about what unplugging, going offline — the ultimate luxury — looks like in 2025. With a growing slate of apps aiming to reduce our screen time and some tech leaders trying to reinvent the internet as it was, where are we heading? WIRED’s features editor Jason Kehe joins us to discuss how as users we are now best positioned to take the power back.

Join us LIVE in San Francisco on September 9th

• Get your tickets HERE

Join WIRED’s best and brightest as they provide an insider analysis of the overlap between tech and politics, from the influence of Silicon Valley on the Trump administration to how inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (Ai) chatbots fanned the fire on social protests.

Articles mentioned in this episode:

• Going Dumb: My Year With a Flip Phone | WIRED
• Bluesky Is Plotting a Total Takeover of the Social Internet | WIRED
• Alexis Ohanian’s Next Social Platform Has One Rule: Don’t Act Like an Asshole | WIRED