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What technology can't give you | The Gray Area - August 3, 2026 - Vox

Sean talks with writer and philosopher Ian Bogost about his new book The Small Stuff. They discuss what modern life has lost in its pursuit of convenience, efficiency, and optimization. From stick shifts to coffee cups, lawnmowers, and smartphones, Bogost argues that many of the small sensory experiences that once connected us to the physical world have quietly disappeared.

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Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling)

Guest: Ian Bogost

00:00 Intro

02:35 Why we feel disconnected from the physical world

07:23 Gratification vs. self-indulgence

20:09 Why owning things matters

26:05 How remote work ‘flattens’ our space

35:38 Living in expectation

41:35 Accepting sensory gifts

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We made a fantasy draft of the 2028 presidential race | America, Actually - August 1, 2026 - Vox

Who has a good shot at becoming president in 2028? Vox Media podcaster and journalist Kara Swisher and independent journalist and political commentator Don Lemon join Vox’s Astead Herndon for a fantasy draft of the Democratic and Republican fields, making the case for who could emerge as each party’s nominee.

They debate everyone from JD Vance and Kamala Harris to Tucker Carlson and Lemon himself, while discussing the issues that are shaping the next presidential election, including electability, Donald Trump’s influence and who can actually win in an ever-evolving digital media landscape.

00:00 Why the 2028 race could be the messiest yet

02:24 The Republican fantasy draft

04:13 Is Marco Rubio the GOP's safest bet?

05:35 The surprising case for Tucker Carlson

07:12 JD Vance divides the panel

09:09 RFK Jr., Donald Trump (again), and the outsider candidates

12:55 Could Ivanka Trump inherit the MAGA movement?

14:37 The Republican long shots

18:05 The Democratic fantasy draft

19:00 Gavin Newsom or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Who’s the No. 1 pick?

21:35 Can Kamala Harris make a comeback?

24:15 Mark Cuban, Wes Moore & other outsiders

28:30 Don Lemon’s wildest 2028 pick? Himself.

30:36 Josh Shapiro and the moderate lane

32:55 George Clooney enters the draft

34:35 Raphael Warnock and the final picks

37:15 What we learned about the 2028 race

America, Actually publishes video episodes every Saturday tackling key issues in politics, culture, and the economy. Subscribe to Vox’s YouTube channel to get them. Listen to episodes of America, Actually on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app.

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How Google broke the internet | The Gray Area - July 31, 2026 - Vox

The internet is changing. For years our primary gateway to the internet has been search engines: we ask a question, a list of websites pops up, and we choose which ones to click on. But we are rapidly headed towards a different model, one in which AI-generated answers to our questions are our primary gateway to the internet. How we got here starts with Google.

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In today’s episode, guest host Miles Bryan interviews journalist Ryan Broderick to discuss “Google zero,” a point in time when Google stops pointing us towards a list of search results and instead only produces AI-generated answers. Miles and Ryan discuss the evolution of the internet, how search engine optimization changed content production, why AI may fundamentally change how we find information, and what the future of search might look like.

Host: Miles Bryan, Vox Senior Producer and Reporter

Guest: Ryan Broderick, Editor-in-Chief of Garbage Day

00:00 Intro

02:01 What is Google zero?

10:48 Why did Google become so popular?

16:06 Recipe blogs that SEO trap

21:31 Why the internet stopped feeling organic

28:22 Where did the ‘weird’ Internet go?

31:44 What is Ryan Broderick optimistic about?

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How a Super El Niño affects the global climate - July 29, 2026 - Vox

On June 11, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued an El Niño advisory after temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean remained higher than average for several months. Declaring an El Niño isn’t out of the ordinary, as they happen in cycles every two to seven years. But this one could be extraordinary.

Some are calling it a “Super” or “Godzilla” El Niño, and the NOAA predicts an 81 percent chance that it could develop to a “very strong” level, rivaling the historic and devastating El Niños of 1982-1983 and 1997-1998. Experts are predicting it will likely reach its peak this winter and into 2027, bringing heat, rainfall, and other potential extreme weather events.

But even with that foresight and climate models that can confidently predict what might be in store, we still face a test of what could potentially be the strongest El Niño ever recorded and the wild weather that comes with it. We spoke with atmospheric scientists and meteorologists to find out how a Super El Niño forms, why it changes global climate, and what we should expect in the coming months.