In today’s episode, host Zoë Schiffer is joined by senior writer Max Zeff to discuss five stories you need to know about this week—from the political fallout after the release of the Epstein files, to why two young Mormon men created an app to help men stop “gooning.” Then, we dive into Gemini 3’s release and how companies like Google and OpenAI are homing in on AI profitability.
Articles mentioned in this episode:
- How Donald Trump Lost Control of the Epstein Spin Cycle
- Trump Takes Aim at State AI Laws in Draft Executive Order
- Nvidia CEO Dismisses Concerns of an AI Bubble. Investors Remain Skeptical
- Young Mormons Built an App to Help Men Quit Gooning
- Gemini 3 Is Here—and Google Says It Will Make Search Smarter
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You can follow Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky at @zoeschiffer and Max Zeff on Bluesky at @mzeff. Write to us at uncannyvalley@….com.
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Transcript
Note: This is an automated transcript, which may contain errors.
Zoë Schiffer: Welcome to …'s Uncanny Valley. I'm Zoë Schiffer, …'s director of business and industry. Today on the show we're bringing you five stories that you need to know about this week, including how companies like Google and OpenAI are homing in on profitability as they develop their AI consumer-facing products. I'm joined today by … senior writer Max Zeff. Max, welcome to Uncanny Valley.
Max Zeff: Thanks, Zoë. It's great to be here.
Zoë Schiffer: Our first story is about how the Trump administration has completely lost the narrative around the Epstein files. It feels like we could talk about this every week, but this week in particular, it's really important. Our colleague David Gilbert wrote about the increasing pressure that President Trump was receiving from everyone, and we really do mean everyone, from QAnon followers to a coalition of GOP lawmakers and democratic legislators to release the files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. On Wednesday this week, Trump finally signed the bill passed by Congress releasing roughly 20,000 documents on Epstein. But as David put it, the damage to the administration's brand already kind of feels like it's done.
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