Phonograph

Overview: Rob and Britta listen back to four years of podcast stories about artificial intelligence, from The Daily's first demo of ChatGPT through Bing falling in love with Kevin Roose, an untamed poetry model, A.I. psychosis, and two Claudes who can't stop talking to each other. Along the way we trace how the stories we tell about A.I. keep changing and what those stories tell us about who we imagine A.I. to be. Links for this episode The Daily, "Did Artificial Intelligence Just Get Too Smart?" (December 16, 2022) This American Life, "First Contact," Act One of Episode 803: Greetings, People of Earth (June 2023) Hard Fork, "The Bing Who Loved Me + Elon Rewrites the Algorithm" (February 17, 2023) This American Life, "I Wish I Knew How to Force Quit You," Act Two of Episode 832: That Other Guy (May 31, 2024) I Am Code by code-davinci-002, edited by Brent Katz, Josh Morgenthau, and Simon Rich, with the audiobook read by Werner Herzog Radiolab, "The Alien in the Room" (December 12, 2025) Death, Sex & Money, "AI Confessions: A Chatbot Saved My Life" (March 2026) The Guardian, Black Box: The Chatbots (September, 2026) This American Life, "Escape Claudes," Act Two of Episode 896: I Know What You Need (August 28, 2026) Search Engine, "The machines are learning… to do crimes?" (August 6, 2026) Music - Blue Dot Sessions

In light of Nikole Hannah-Jones's recent essay about the fallout from choosing a school for her daughter, Rob and Britta to go back to a discussion of "The Problem We All Live With," a story reported by Nikole Hannah-Jones for This American Life and produced by Chana Joffe-Walt in 2015. Rob and Britta dig into how that episode and recent events both exemplify the necessity of documentary journalism, even when a journalist is documenting her own doubts about her own ideals. Show Notes: TAL Episode 562: The Problem We all Live With Longform Podcast interview with Nikole Hannah-Jones Third Coast Audio Festival Session: Make Them Care Saint Louis Public Radio's coverage of the Francis Howell town meeting "Choosing a School for My Daughter in a Segregated City" by Nikole Hannah-Jones In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own? This American Life: An Argument Music - Blue Dot Sessions

Overview: On this episode, Rob and Britta explore the audio work of Alex Kotlowitz, a documentariean and writer best known for There Are No Children Here. He's spent years building a quietly stunning body of non-narrated stories for Chicago Public Radio and This American Life. Britta's conversation with Alex is woven into our discussion of his stories about home, money, love, and trauma. Support Phonograph on Patreon Links for this episode: A Trip to the Boundary Waters – The New Yorker Radio Hour Panthers and Palm Trees – Stories of Home, produced with Amy Drozdowska Mothers of Invention – This American Life Episode 298, Getting and Spending An Almost Perfect Guy – Love Stories, produced with Amy Drozdowska In Country, In City – This American Life #484, Doppelgängers Harper High School, Part One – This American Life Episode 487 Harper High School, Part Two – This American Life Episode 488 The Bigness of the Small Story – Alex's 2016 Third Coast talk Amy Drozdowska – the full Stories of Home, Love Stories, and money series archives

On this episode, a break from the usual format. About a year ago, Rob came home from his 30th high school reunion with a story he couldn't stop telling: how he tried to apologize to a woman that reunion whose friendship he'd ended their junior year of high school. To get to the bottom of what the story meant, Rob sat down with a close friend, set up two microphones, and told her the whole thing. Rob and Britta talk about what happened when he did, and why a story might mean something different depending on who's listening when you tell it. Support Phonograph on Patreon Links for this episode: Alissa Duryee's music Cheri Johnson's writing Julie Censullo's podcasts Music from Blue Dot Sessions

Overview: On this episode, Rob and Britta dig into the career of editor and writer Julia Barton, whose incredibly varied career has spanned the golden era of public radio, an experimental podcast recorded while doing the dishes, and an executive editing role at Pushkin Industries. Along the way she's traced the hidden architecture of radio—where it came from and what it costs the people who work inside it.  Support Phonograph on Patreon Links for this episode: RadioWright — Julia's Website Continuous Wave — Julia's Newsletter Weekend America — A Life Changing Letter DTFD: The Podcast — Julia Barton Unsung Icons of Soviet Design — 99% Invisible The Broadcast Clock — 99% Invisible Neither Confirm Nor Deny — Radiolab If You Could Do Anything — Anxious Machine The Best Audio Storytelling According to Pushkin — HowSound Music from Blue Dot Sessions