The Vergecast

The Harmony Universal Remote was supposed to be the only controller you needed for all the devices in your life. So what happened? David Pierce is joined by The Verge’s Nilay Patel and John Higgins, as well as Nest co-founder (and current Harmony user) Matt Rogers, to follow the Harmony's timeline from its origins as the "Easy Zapper," through Logitech's acquisition, all the way to its slow death at the hands of smart TVs. And their vastly inferior remotes.

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The new smart glasses from Snap look like an impressive bit of technology, and some of the most advanced glasses we've seen. But Nilay and David start the show by wondering, does that matter if nobody wants to put them on? What would it take to overcome the ear-smashing? After that, they discuss the reasons for (and problems awaiting) Fox's acquisition of Roku, the latest updates from Matter, Facebook's wild AI Mode, and more.

Further reading:

Snap is finally about to ship AR glasses — and they cost a fortune

 Snap Unveils Specs Smart Glasses at AWE 2026

From CNBC: Snap CEO Evan Spiegel on new AR Specs: New opportunity to bring computing to the world around you

Qualcomm’s latest chip hints that more powerful smart glasses could be on the way

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 8 and Surface Pro 12 now come with Snapdragon X2 chips 

Commodore’s Callback 8020 is a retro flip phone with modern ideals 

Google’s first smart speaker in six years arrives next week

Fox is buying Roku 

Fox wants to take over your TV — and the tech inside it 

Netflix was reportedly worried about antitrust scrutiny if it bought Roku instead of Fox.

Fox is taking over Roku City 

How Stephen Colbert’s Replacement Is Helping Tank the Rest of CBS

Will Matter finally be able to do what it should have always done? | The Verge

Thread Direct looks to solve Matter’s biggest setup headache | The Verge

Half a billion people are using Threads every month 

Facebook’s new AI Mode search gets its info from public posts 

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.

We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11.

(Timestamps are approximate.)

00:01:00 Intro

00:02:00 Snap Specs revealed

00:06:00 Snap software advantage

00:08:00 Price comfort reality check

00:10:00 True AR breakthrough

00:15:00 Demos vs daily life

00:21:00 Privacy and moderation risks

00:27:00 Fox buys Roku why

00:29:00 Distribution is power

00:33:00 Roku neutrality ends

00:37:00 Roku Lock-In Debate

00:41:00 Piracy Exit Ramp

00:42:00 Tubi Meets Roku Channel

00:46:00 Go90 Scale Rankings

00:52:00 Distribution Matters CBS

00:57:00 Hype Desk Movies

01:03:00 Knicks Laptop Festival

01:06:00 Brendan Carr Is A Dummy

01:10:00 Radio Ownership Waivers

01:12:00 Threads User Numbers

01:16:00 Meta AI Mode Risks

01:19:00 Matter Joint Fabric

01:28:00 Wrap Up and Plugs
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Your headphones' microphone matters. A lot. And yet we never know how we sound to others, or whether we're clear to our AI assistants! So from time to time, we like to grab a bunch of headphones and put their microphones through some tough real-world tests. This time, with the help of The Verge's John Higgins, we discover the best-sounding mic we've ever tested. And no, it's not on a pair of AirPods. Not even close.

Further reading:

Anker’s new earbuds have the best call quality I’ve ever heard

AirPods Pro 3 review: tripling down on a good thing

Sennheiser’s new Momentum 5 headphones have upgraded ANC and a replaceable battery

The tech world is sleeping on the most exciting Bluetooth feature in years

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11.
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Anthropic and the US government are once again at odds, this time over the Claude Fable 5 model that either is, or is not, or might be, far too dangerous to release to the world. The Verge's Hayden Field explains what's going on with Fable, Mythos, and the whole idea of American AI exceptionalism, before also answering your questions about how WhatsApp and Siri might one day work together, and whether Apple messed up by calling it Siri AI.[10:24 AM]

⁠Inside the fight over Claude Mythos 5⁠

⁠Anthropic cuts off Fable 5 and Mythos 5 access following government order⁠

⁠I tried Siri AI, and so far it actually works⁠

⁠Subscribe to The Verge⁠ for unlimited access to ⁠theverge.com⁠, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ⁠ad-free podcast feed⁠.

We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to ⁠vergecast@theverge.com⁠ or call us at 866-VERGE11.
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Markdown is a system for writing that makes it readable to both humans and computers. It's all about the symbols. You use - to make a list, * for emphasis, ** for even more emphasis. Brackets and parentheses turn into links. Once you know Markdown, you might begin to think in Markdown. Right now it is absolutely everywhere: people are maintaining their Claude.MD files for conversing with AI bots, and writing their notes in Markdown editors like Obsidian. So where did Markdown come from? It came from John Gruber. John joins the show, along with Anil Dash, to tell the story of where Markdown came from and how it took over the world.

Further reading:

⁠The Markdown spec⁠

⁠How Markdown took over the world⁠

⁠Gruber on Apple Notes Markdown support⁠

 ⁠9to5mac: iOS 26 to bring new features for Messages, CarPlay, and more

Subscribe to The Verge⁠ for unlimited access to ⁠theverge.com⁠, subscriber-exclusive newsletters and our ⁠ad-free podcast feed⁠.

We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to ⁠vergecast@theverge.com⁠ or call us at 866-VERGE11.
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