Do you find facelifts frightening? This week, we celebrate sp0o0ky Halloween by NOT having a party at an AirBnB. Oz unpacks the gadget-filled poker scandal, and Karah contemplates the importance of international accents. Tesla’s new full self-driving profile,“Mad Max” mode, breaks traffic laws. And the scariest thing of all: AI has its own will to survive. Finally, on Chat and Me, Fortune’s Eva Roytburg shares her experience with an AI wearable — the ‘Friend’ pendant.

Additional Reading: 
AirBnB Rolls Out Anti-Party System for Halloween
How Hacked Card Shufflers Allegedly Enabled a Mob-Fueled Poker Scam That Rocked the NBA | WIRED
AI and the End of Accents | WIRED
 AI models may be developing their own ‘survival drive’, researchers say | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian 
Why Tech Bros Are Getting Face Lifts Now | Wall Street Journal
US investigates Tesla’s ‘Mad Max’ high-speed driver assistance mode 
I tried the viral AI ‘Friend’ necklace everyone’s talking about—and it’s like wearing your senile, anxious grandmother around your neck | Fortune

Do you find facelifts frightening? This week, we celebrate sp0o0ky Halloween by NOT having a party at an AirBnB. Oz unpacks the gadget-filled poker scandal, and Karah contemplates the importance of international accents. Tesla&rsquo;s new full self-driving profile,&ldquo;Mad Max&rdquo; mode, breaks traffic laws. And the scariest thing of all: AI has its own will to survive. Finally, on Chat and Me, Fortune&rsquo;s Eva Roytburg shares her experience with an AI wearable &mdash; the &lsquo;Friend&rsquo; pendant.
Additional Reading:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://news.airbnb.com/airbnb-rolls-out-anti-party-system-for-halloween/">AirBnB Rolls Out Anti-Party System for Halloween</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/how-hacked-card-shufflers-allegedly-enabled-a-mob-fueled-poker-scam-that-rocked-the-nba/">How Hacked Card Shufflers Allegedly Enabled a Mob-Fueled Poker Scam That Rocked the NBA | WIRED</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/ai-americanizer-end-accents/">AI and the End of Accents | WIRED</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/25/ai-models-may-be-developing-their-own-survival-drive-researchers-say">AI models may be developing their own &lsquo;survival drive&rsquo;, researchers say | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.wsj.com/style/fashion/why-tech-bros-are-getting-face-lifts-now-94278bb7?st=Ex66Ui&amp;reflink=article_copyURL_share">Why Tech Bros Are Getting Face Lifts Now | Wall Street Journal</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/24/tesla-mad-max-driver-assistance-investigation">US investigates Tesla&rsquo;s &lsquo;Mad Max&rsquo; high-speed driver assistance mode</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://fortune.com/2025/10/03/friend-ai-necklace-review-avi-schiffmann/">I tried the viral AI &lsquo;Friend&rsquo; necklace everyone&rsquo;s talking about&mdash;and it&rsquo;s like wearing your senile, anxious grandmother around your neck | Fortune</a></li>
</ul>

Behind every innovation is a new kind of power. TechStuff unpacks how technology reshapes influence, creativity, and control, from Silicon Valley’s rising moguls to the cultural forces they create. Because tech is the new religion, economy, and entertainment, all at once.

Each week, Oz Woloshyn and Karah Preiss dig into the weird, funny, and sometimes unsettling ways technology, AI, and the internet shape our daily lives. From AI and social media to privacy, digital burnout, and the creator economy, they ask how all this innovation is changing who we are, how we work, love, and make meaning. Smart talk, strange stories, and the questions everyone’s Googling: why AI feels human, why social media feels broken, and what it all says about us.

Get in touch here: techstuffpodcast@gmail.com

Behind every innovation is a new kind of power. TechStuff unpacks how technology reshapes influence, creativity, and control, from Silicon Valley&rsquo;s rising moguls to the cultural forces they create. Because tech is the new religion, economy, and entertainment, all at once.
Each week, Oz Woloshyn and Karah Preiss dig into the weird, funny, and sometimes unsettling ways technology, AI, and the internet shape our daily lives. From AI and social media to privacy, digital burnout, and the creator economy, they ask how all this innovation is changing who we are, how we work, love, and make meaning.&nbsp;Smart talk, strange stories, and the questions everyone&rsquo;s Googling: why AI feels human, why social media feels broken, and what it all says about us.
Get in touch here:&nbsp;<a href="mailto:techstuffpodcast@gmail.com" data-stringify-link="mailto:techstuffpodcast@gmail.com" data-sk="tooltip_parent" aria-haspopup="menu">techstuffpodcast@gmail.com</a>

TechStuff

TechStuff is getting a system update. Everything you love about TechStuff now twice the bandwidth with new hosts, Oz Woloshyn (Sleepwalkers) and Karah Preiss (Sleepwalkers) 

Oz and Karah bring humour and wit to the table as they break down what's happening in tech...and what it says about us. 

TechStuff is the podcast where technology meets culture. 

We speak to the folks building the future to understand what tomorrow will look like and how our technology is changing us: how we live, how we love, how we work and even how we die. With a healthy dose of drama, too, as tech titans clash over their interstellar ambitions. 

 

TechStuff is getting a system update. Everything you love about TechStuff now twice the bandwidth with new hosts, Oz Woloshyn (Sleepwalkers) and Karah Preiss (Sleepwalkers)&nbsp;
Oz and Karah bring humour and wit to the table as they break down what's happening in tech...and what it says about us.&nbsp;
TechStuff is the podcast where technology meets culture.&nbsp;
We speak to the folks building the future to understand what tomorrow will look like and how our technology is changing us: how we live, how we love, how we work and even how we die. With a healthy dose of drama, too, as tech titans clash over their interstellar ambitions.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Week in Tech: Anti-Party Tech, Rigged Card Shufflers and ‘Mad Max’ Mode

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/2925ffc4-8cf8-4e24-b944-b38700234568/transcript