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The MIT Media Lab director steps down, Apple sort of hides its own apps in App Store searches, why big tech should worry about the states as much as Uncle Sam, reviews of the Google Nest Hub Max and why hands-free games actually make you a better driver. Sponsors: Legacybox.com/ride Capterra.com/ride Links: Director of M.I.T.’s Media Lab Resigns After Taking Money From Jeffrey Epstein (NYTimes) How an Élite University Research Center Concealed Its Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein (New Yorker) How Apple’s Apps Topped Rivals in the App Store It Controls (NYTimes) Facebook, Google face off against a formidable new foe: State attorneys general (Washington Post) GOOGLE NEST HUB MAX REVIEW: BIGGER SCREEN, BETTER SOUND, AND A CAMERA (The Verge) Drivetime raises $11 million for interactive audio games like Jeopardy in the car (Venture Beat) Daimler brings driverless truck tests to public roads in Virginia (Venture Beat) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple might have just given us the final reason to delete iTunes, Sonos has its first portable speaker, the Attorney’s General are targeting Facebook as well, it’s duplicating Google services all the way down, and, of course, the Weekend Longreads suggestions. Sponsors: WeWorkRemotely.com CognitoHQ.com Links: Apple Music launches a public beta on the web (TechCrunch) Sonos’ first portable speaker is the $399 Move (The Verge) Streaming makes up 80 percent of the music industry’s revenue (The Verge) New York attorney general is investigating Facebook for possible antitrust violations (CNBC) Google Assistant’s Ambient Mode turns Android devices into smart displays (The Verge)   Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Uber Undone (The Baffler) Coming Soon to a Battlefield: Robots That Can Kill (The Atlantic) Amazon’s Next-Day Delivery Has Brought Chaos And Carnage To America’s Streets — But The World’s Biggest Retailer Has A System To Escape The Blame (BuzzFeed News) Coming Soon to a Small Screen Ne

China tracked Uyghur travelers by hacking Asian telcos, the company formerly known as WeWork drops its IPO target, Samsung has found a fold fix, Apple may bring back both Touch ID and a cheaper iPhone, MIT Media Lab’s founder says the group was right to have accepted money from Jeffrey Epstein, Facebook launches its Dating service in the U.S., SIM swapping is obscure but growing security problem, and the Jeremy Renner app has been shot down. Er, shut down. Sponsors WeWork Remotely Cognito by BlockScore Supercast Links: China hacked Asian telcos to spy on Uighur travelers (Reuters) WeWork Targets $20 Billion to $30 Billion IPO Value (Bloomberg) How Samsung fixed the Galaxy Fold (The Verge) Apple Plans Return of Touch ID and New Cheap iPhone (Bloomberg) MIT Media Lab founder: Taking Jeffrey Epstein’s money was justified (MIT Technology Review) Facebook Dating launches in the US, adds Instagram integration (TechCrunch) Why ‘SIM Swapping’ Is a Growing Security Nightmare (New York Times) I Bro

Google gets a fine and is about to be investigated by all the states, Android 10 is here, a $14k gaming chair is here, a slew of new Fire TV devices are here, and the Light Phone 2 wants to save you from the Internet. Sponsors: Supercast.com WeWorkRemotely.com Links: YouTube will pay $170 million to settle claims it violated child privacy laws (CNBC) Google emerges as target of a new state attorneys general antitrust probe (Washington Post) Google’s paid search ads are a ‘shakedown,’ Basecamp CEO says (CNBC) Android 10 launches today, and Pixel phones get the day one update (Ars Technica) An Update About Face Recognition on Facebook (Facebook Newsroom) Acer announces a $14,000 gaming chair because why not (TechCrunch) Amazon unveils a new Fire TV Cube, soundbar, and over a dozen Fire TV Edition products (TechCrunch) Amazon tests Whole Foods payment system that uses hands as ID (New York Post) The Light Phone 2 Wants to Save You From the Internet (Gizmodo) Learn more about your a

Samsung is gonna take another crack at foldable phones with a different design, sleep tracking is coming to the Apple Watch, Firefox 69 locks down everything, and a deep dive into the whole Ring Doorbell and Neighborhood controversy. Sponsors: Joybird.com/ride Promocode: RIDE WeWorkRemotely.com Links: Samsung Is Secretly Working on a Foldable Phone That Collapses Into a Square (Bloomberg) Apple Watch sleep tracking revealed: sleep quality, battery management, more (9to5Mac) Firefox 69 arrives with third-party tracking cookies and cryptomining blocked by default (VentureBeat) Upcoming Firefox update will decrease power usage on macOS by up to three times (ZDNet) Ring Neighbors Is the Best and Worst Neighborhood Watch App (WireCutter) Founders of Successful Tech Companies Are Mostly Middle-Aged (NYTimes) The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The biggest iPhone attack ever, Microsoft wants to make tablet mode on Windows 10 more desktop-y, airlines are banning Macbook Pros, Jack Ma and Elon Musk debate AI and the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Castro Listennotes.com/api Links: Mysterious iOS Attack Changes Everything We Know About iPhone Hacking (Wired) Project Zero (Google Project Zero) Microsoft unveils new tablet experience for Windows 10 (The Verge) The Long-Term Stock Exchange raises $50 million in new funding (Axios) More Airlines Ban MacBook Pros in Checked Luggage (Bloomberg) When Elon Met Jack: Musings on AI, Mars and the End of Civilization (Bloomberg) The Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Unix at 50: How the OS that powered smartphones started from failure (Ars Technica) Wi-Fi 6 Will Be Here Soon. What Is It? (Wired) Mobile payments have barely caught on in the US, despite the rise of smartphones (CNBC) Drone Bubble Bursts, Wiping Out Startups and Hammering VC Firms (Bloomberg) Older people are embracin

Apple makes nice with repair shops (and saves the date for the iPhone launch next month), an undersea cable mostly already built could be axed cause… China stuff, YouTube says it’s made progress on cleaning up its algorithm, and a machine learning betting company that says it can make sports betting a no-lose proposition. Sponsors: Castro Listennotes.com Links: Apple is allowing independent repair shops to officially service iPhones (9to5Mac) Indictment says accused Capital One hacker also used exploited cloud servers for cryptojacking (GeekWire) National Security Concerns Threaten Undersea Data Link Backed by Google, Facebook (WSJ) YouTube to adjust UK algorithm to cut false and extremist content (The Guardian) Former MLB Pitcher’s DC Startup Lands $23M for Sports Betting Platform (DCInno) Inkitt raises $16M led by Kleiner Perkins to publish crowdsourced novels in 'mini-episodes' (TechCrunch) Netflix ships milestone 5 billionth disc (CNET) Subscribe to the ad-free feed! Learn more

Apple walks back the Siri grading program, Peloton’s S-1 reveals an interesting company, Fitbit’s interesting new smartwatch, don’t travel if you use social media at all, and another new service enters the Google Graveyard. Sponsors: Castro Jobs At WillowTreeApps.com: bit.ly/swiftjob Links: Apple is turning Siri audio clip review off by default and bringing it in house (TechCrunch) Peloton (Finally) Drops Its S-1, Revealing Sharply Rising Revenue And Net Losses (Crunchbase News) Fitbit Versa 2 hands-on: Alexa makes a good smartwatch better (Engadget) The Fitbit Versa 2 Chases Apple's Dominance (Gizmodo) Fitbit’s new premium subscription service hopes to sway you with personalized data, challenges, and more (The Verge) US border officials are increasingly denying entry to travelers over others' social media (TechCrunch) Incoming Harvard Freshman Deported After Visa Revoked (Harvard Crimson) Microsoft's lead EU data watchdog is looking into fresh Windows 10 privacy concerns (TechCrunch)

Anthony Levandowski is arrested, Facebook is taking another run at Snapchat with something called Threads, Yelp adds personalized results for the first time, the BBC wants in on the voice assistant craze, The Irishman IS coming to theaters after all, and why people are standing in line, INSIDE World of Warcraft. Sponsors: Castro Vistaprint.com/ride Links: Former Star Google and Uber Engineer Charged With Theft of Trade Secrets (NYTimes) Instagram’s latest assault on Snapchat is a messaging app called Threads (The Verge) Yelp adds personalized search results to its iPhone app (Engadget) BBC to launch Alexa rival that will grasp regional accents (The Guardian) Sprint launches its 5G network in NYC, LA, Phoenix, and Washington, DC (The Verge) Microsoft announces Surface event on October 2nd in New York City (The Verge) Google Maps will now let users combine transit directions with biking and ride-sharing (The Verge) Netflix Unveils Release Plans for Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Irishman’ (Variety)

Google and Dell team up for enterprise-grade Chromebooks, Baidu makes big leaps in smart-speaker market share, Binance lets you lend crypto for interest, publishers sue Audible and why, when it comes to autonomy, maybe we should swim before we try to drive. Sponsors: Castro LinkedIn.com/ride Links: Google and Dell team up on the first Chromebooks made for business (Engadget) Baidu replaces Google to become number two in smart speaker market in Q2 2019 (Canalys) Binance enters into crypto lending space, offers interest-earning opportunities for BNB, ETC and Tether (The Block) Top U.S. publishers sue Amazon's Audible for copyright infringement (Reuters) Amazon’s Audible Sued by Publishers Over New Text Feature (Bloomberg) Netflix tests human-driven curation with launch of 'Collections' (TechCrunch) Deconstructing Google’s excuses on tracking protection (Freedom to Tinker) The Robot Ship Set to Cross the Atlantic and Change the World (Daily Beast) Learn more about your ad choices. Vi

About a year ago, Elon Musk was doing so much crazy stuff, I was desperate for someone to tell me what was going on. So, I reached out to Rob Maurer from the Tesla Daily podcast to be a sort of Elon whisperer for me. Rob was great and gracious, and actually, that was the beginning of the weekend bonus episode idea in a way. Well, a year on… let’s take Elon’s temperature… and Tesla’s. Great conversation with Rob about where Tesla is at, and also, congrats to the Tesla Daily podcast on turning 2 years old! Subscribe now! Tesla Daily! Sponsors: Capterra.com/ride Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

YouTube shuts down channels over Hong Kong content, some of Facebook’s Libra partners are having second thoughts, the WSJ finds some shady items on Amazon, the reviews of the Galaxy Note10+ are in, and the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: BRD's Top 10 Crypto Memes PixelUnion.net Links: Google shutters more than 200 YouTube channels amid Hong Kong protests (CNBC) Facebook’s Libra backers look to distance themselves from project (Financial Times) Amazon Has Ceded Control of Its Site. The Result: Thousands of Banned, Unsafe or Mislabeled Products (WSJ) SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 10 PLUS REVIEW: SHOULD YOU SPEND FOR THE STYLUS? (The Verge) The Galaxy Note 10+ Is Damn Near Perfect (Gizmodo) REVIEW: SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE10+ (Wired) Weekend Longreads: Top 10 Crypto Memes (BRD) All 84 startups from Y Combinator's S19 Demo Day 1 (TechCrunch) Here are the 82 startups from day 2 of Y Combinator's S19 Demo Days (TechCrunch) The Exclusive Inside Story Of The Fall Of Overstock’s Mad King, Patrick B

Will we see an iPhone Pro next month? Google has a new proposal for ad tracking, Android deserts dessert nomenclature, why hasn’t tech solved parking yet, and why The Irishman might be a major fork in the road for Netflix. Sponsors: PixelUnion BRD.com on Twitter! Links: Apple Readies Camera-Focused Pro iPhones, New iPads, Larger MacBook Pro (Bloomberg) Google proposes new privacy and anti-fingerprinting controls for the web (TechCrunch) Google deserts desserts: Android 10 is the official name for Android Q (The Verge) The Google Play store’s visual refresh (Android Developers Blog) Google DeepMind Co-Founder Placed on Leave From AI Lab (Bloomberg) SpotHero raises $50 million to bring underutilized parking spaces online (VentureBeat) Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman is a perfect example of Netflix’s big screening dilemma (The Verge) Classified Ad: Nintendo Dispatch is a weekly Nintendo podcast with Nintendo fans Michael, Christina, and James. Each week they breakdown the latest news, game rel

Next gen chips from Intel, the real HQ2 for Amazon is in India, the controversy around Apple blocking ad tracking on kids apps is a real case for King Solomon, and Ben Thompson makes a compelling bull case for WeWork. Sponsors: Pixelunion.net Read the Blog Post from BRD: Here Links: Intel Launches Comet Lake-U and Comet Lake-Y: Up To 6 Cores for Thin & Light Laptops (AnandTech) Dell unveils new XPS, Inspiron, and Vostro models with Intel Comet Lake processors (VentureBeat) Exclusive: Alibaba postpones up to $15 billion Hong Kong listing amid protests: sources (Reuters) Amazon opens its biggest global campus in India (Reuters) Gmail in G Suite now uses AI for inline spelling and grammar suggestions (VentureBeat) Shazam data is powering Apple Music's newest chart, the Shazam Discovery Top 25 (TechCrunch) Apple aims to protect kids’ privacy. App makers say it could devastate their businesses. (The Washington Post) The WeWork IPO (Stratechery) Classified: The Merge Conflict podcast is a we

Twitter suspends a bunch of China-linked accounts, is Apple TV+ dead on arrival? 23 towns in Texas are hit with ransomware, and why isn’t Alexa in your car? Sponsors: DataTribe.com/challenge PixelUnion.net BRD's Longread About Libra Links: Information operations directed at Hong Kong (Twitter) Removing Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior From China (Facebook) Updating our advertising policies on state media (Twitter) Apple Targets Apple TV+ Launch in November, Weighs $9.99 Price After Free Trial (Bloomberg) Apple splashes $6bn on new shows in streaming wars (Financial Times) States to Move Forward With Antitrust Probe of Big Tech Firms (WSJ) Sony to acquire Insomniac Games (Polygon) Over 20 Texas local governments hit in 'coordinated ransomware attack' (ZDNet) The first Lightning security key for iPhones is here, and it works with USB-C, too (The Verge) Amazon Wants to Put Alexa in Cars. Google and Apple Are There Already (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megap

Libra gets competition, Spotify and Roku get family friendly, Amazon is sitting out the launch of Disney+ (for now), Ikea is serious about becoming a smart-home player, and can the world’s largest semiconductor chip kickstart an AI revolution? Sponsors: Pixelunion.net BRD.com Links: Binance planning to launch ‘Venus,’ similar to Facebook’s upcoming cryptocurrency Libra (The Block) Spotify's Premium Family plans get an explicit content filter (Engadget) The Roku Channel is adding a kids and family section with free TV shows and movies (The Verge) Disney+ will stream on these devices at launch (The Verge) Ikea goes all in on smart home tech (The Verge) Hacker Releases First Public Jailbreak for Up-to-Date iPhones in Years (Motherboard) A new unicorn is born: Toor Insurance raises $100 million for a $1 billion valuation (TechCrunch) Root raises $350 million to drive auto insurance change (Axios) Cerebras (Pierre Lamond) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On a recent weekend longreads segment, I recommended a piece by The Verge’s Julia Alexander asking whether Netflix’s recommendation algorithms were broken, or maybe borked. We’re going to talk a bit about that today, but since Julia is on the Streaming Wars beat at The Verge, you know how I love to talk about the streaming wars, and we are right about at the point where the battle is going to be joined in earnest.  Sponsors: CognitoHQ.com Wix.com/podcast :) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coinbase says all your bitcoin base are belong to us, Apple sues a “virtualization” company, was Amazon offering vendors a pay to play scheme with Amazon Choice, and, as always, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Metalab.co MacStadium.com/ridehome Links: Exclusive: Coinbase Buys Xapo Custody for $55 Million, Eyes Lending Business (Fortune) Apple Files Lawsuit Against Virtualization Company Corellium for Illegally Replicating iOS and Apple Apps (MacRumors) Amazon offered vendors ‘Amazon’s Choice’ labels in return for ad spending and lower prices (Digiday) YouTube shuts down music companies' use of manual copyright claims to steal creator revenue (TechCrunch) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Weird gadgets that are actually really useful (ZDNet) Trump Tumult Has Gadget Giants Splitting Along U.S.-China Lines (Bloomberg) THREE YEARS OF MISERY INSIDE GOOGLE, THE HAPPIEST COMPANY IN TECH (Wired) WEWORK ISN’T A TECH COMPANY; IT’S A SOAP OPERA (The Verge) WeWTF (ProfGalloway.com) Elo

Facebook tweaks groups, Google Assistant lets you remind family members, can we be training voice AI in a better way, say hello to the Sega Genesis Mini, and the free app that can save your life out in the wilderness. Sponsors: Metalab.co Macstadium.com/ridehome Links: Facebook is simplifying group privacy settings and adding admin tools for safety (The Verge) THE SEGA GENESIS MINI BUILDS ON WHAT MADE NINTENDO’S TINY CONSOLES GREAT (The Verge) UPS has been quietly delivering cargo using self-driving trucks (The Verge) Stay organized and productive with new Assignable reminders (Google) Do Tech Companies Really Need to Snoop Into Private Conversations to Improve Their A.I.? (Slate) What3words: The app that can save your life (BBC News) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

WeWork files for its IPO, a huge data leak reveals fingerprints, facial recognition data and more, are you going to have trouble taking your MacBook Pro on your next flight, why Two and a Half Men is the next big piece in the streaming wars and why I’m bullish on an Airbnb for boats. Sponsors: Metalab.co MacStadium.com/ridehome Links: WeWork files for long-awaited IPO (Axios) Major breach found in biometrics system used by banks, UK police and defence firms (The Guardian) FAA Bans Recalled MacBook Pros From Flights (Bloomberg) AI Startup Boom Raises Questions of Exaggerated Tech Savvy (WSJ) HBO Max eyeing ‘Big Bang Theory’ and ‘Two and a Half Men’ in $1.5 billion deal (The Daily Dot) Facebook Paid Contractors to Transcribe Users’ Audio Chats (Bloomberg) Peer-to-peer boat rental marketplace Boatsetter raises $10M as it looks to grow globally (TechCrunch) Subscribe to the ad-free feed right HERE in your podcast browser! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices