Episode notes
Journalists, public figures, and just about anyone with an online presence today can suddenly face harassment: ranging from nasty posts and replies to real life threats like doxxing. Dexter talks with Ramy Ghaly, a security professional, about how online harassment has gotten worse, how to respond if it happens to you, and what you can do, right now, to prepare and protect yourself. Got something you’re curious about? Hit us up [email protected] , or @killswitchpod, or @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky. Resources: Pen America’s Online Harassment Field Manual:…
Podcast
kill switch
Kaleidoscope · Tech & Science · English
Were we sleeping when everything changed? Seems like the technologically driven future is already here. On kill switch , we explain the right NOW of our super charged technological lives. New host Dexter Thomas answers questions big and small – like who’s behind Shrimp Jesus, and could you ge
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11 Feb 2026 · 35 min
a tour of the year’s worst new tech
Tech companies are constantly putting out new products to chase the hype – but they’re not all winners. Each year, nonprofit consumer advocates put on an award ceremony recognizing the lousiest of the bunch, called the Worst in Show. Dexter talks with Liz Chamberlain, who runs Worst in Show, about this year’s awards, the products that earned them (spoiler: a product featured during the Super Bowl is on the list), and what we risk when we chase the hype (read: add AI to everything). Got something you’re curious about? Hit us up [email protected] , or…
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4 Feb 2026 · 37 min
how the internet learned to extract
For a while, the internet felt like it might actually work. Dexter talks with legal scholar and author Tim Wu about his new book The Age of Extraction and how that early optimism faded as companies learned how to extract value from just about everything. Got something you’re curious about? Hit us up [email protected] , or @killswitchpod, or @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky. Read + Watch: The Age of Extraction , by Tim Wu: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/691177/the-age-of-extraction-by-tim-wu/ kill switch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@killswitch_pod See…
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28 Jan 2026 · 33 min
how an editor uncovered an AI journalist
When an editor at a local magazine in Toronto received a pitch from a promising new freelancer, he didn’t expect it to spiral into an obsessive investigation. What followed was a deep dive into a web of fake interviews, impossible bylines, and fake reporting. Dexter talks with Nicholas Hune-Brown to trace how he uncovered an AI journalist and what it reveals about journalism today. Got something you’re curious about? Hit us up [email protected] , or @killswitchpod, or @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky. Read: “Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI…
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21 Jan 2026 · 35 min
the hack that broke myspace
In 2005, Myspace pages were flooded with the saying “Samy is my hero” and then suddenly, the platform went dark. Dexter talks with Jack Rhysider, host of the podcast Darknet Diaries , about Samy Kamkar, how he accidentally took down the biggest social media platform at the time, and how it changed the modern Internet. Got something you’re curious about? Hit us up [email protected] , or @killswitchpod, or @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky. Listen: Jack’s Darknet Diaries episode with Samy: https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/61/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy…
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14 Jan 2026 · 33 min
everything’s a game… even baptisms
From language learning to investments to Amazon leaderboards, it seems like everything has become a game. But are these gamified things actually fun, or are we the ones being played? Dexter talks to philosopher C. Thi Nguyen, who recently wrote a book about why gamification can suck the life out of things called The Score . They talk about why the same mechanism in games and gamified metrics – the scoring system – works so differently, why gamification can trick you into caring about the wrong thing, and how this phenomenon hits everything… even baptisms. Got something…
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24 Dec 2025 · 22 min
from ‘click here’: an illusion of control
This week, we’re sharing an episode from the podcast Click Here , from our friends at Recorded Future News and PRX: Jake Gallen was a rising star in crypto. Then, after what seemed like a routine YouTube interview, his digital world unraveled. His NFTs? Liquidated. His social accounts? Hijacked. It turns out, the hackers didn’t need phishing links or fake job offers. They needed something much simpler: a Zoom invite. Subscribe to Click Here on Apple Podcasts ( https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/click-here/id1225077306 ) or wherever you get your podcasts. Got something…
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17 Dec 2025 · 34 min
now you can bet on real life. but should we?
Betting used to be something you did in a casino. Now it lives in your pocket and you can bet on just about anything: sports, Labubus, elections, and even forest fires. Dexter talks with Emily Stewart, senior correspondent at Business Insider , about why betting is everywhere, how any of it is legal, and if it’s changing how we experience real world events. Got something you’re curious about? Hit us up [email protected] , or @killswitchpod, or @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky. Read: Emily’s article, “Everything’s casino”:…
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10 Dec 2025 · 38 min
social media reveals life behind bars. prisons want to block it
Social media has gotten a bad rap over the past decade – we blame it for our growing loneliness, shorter attention spans, and polarized politics. But for incarcerated people, social media can still live up to its original promise of connection. And for those on the outside, contraband cell phones give us an unprecedented look into what life is like behind bars. Dexter talks to Jeremy Busby, an incarcerated journalist, about how social media has helped to force positive changes in jails and prisons, and why he thinks prisons want to ban it. Shout out to the Never Post Podcast and the…
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3 Dec 2025 · 32 min
when the ref’s a robot
In the high-stakes world of sports, referees have always been under intense scrutiny… but what if tech could take some of the pressure off? Or will we lose something by replacing the referee with a robot? In this episode Dexter talks with Joe Lemire, senior writer at Sports Business Journal , to explore how new technologies like Hawk-Eye are reshaping sports officiating. Got something you’re curious about? Hit us up [email protected] , or @killswitchpod, or @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky. Read: Joe’s article on automating officiating in sports:…
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26 Nov 2025 · 34 min
new from kaleidoscope: shell game (season 2)
This week, we’re sharing an episode from another podcast we’re excited about. In Season 2 of Shell Game, journalist Evan Ratliff tells a story of entrepreneurship in the AI age; or, how he tried to build a real company, run by fake people. In episode one, we meet Kyle Law and Megan Flores, Evan’s AI agent cofounders, as he puts to the test the claims about an emerging future in which AI employees work alongside — or instead of — humans. Over the course of the season, the three cofounders will grind it out in a sprint that would sound familiar to any start-up…
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