Best Hubble Bubble Podcasts (2024)

1
What's Tencent All About? 27:57

1d ago27:57

27:57

Tencent is one of the largest and most valuable companies on earth, with operations that touch just about every part of the digital economy in China and beyond. From WeChat to gaming to film production to payments, Tencent continues to expand far beyond its original station as a Chinese app developer. In this ep, we take a tour through Tencent, inc…

1
GameStop Revisited (PREVIEW) 5:20

7d ago5:20

5:20

This is a free preview of a premium episode. To subscribe to Down Round Premium and get access, head here. You thought that because COVID was long over you could stop hearing about GameStop. Wrong! Keith "RoaringKitty" Gill has returned, and the notorious meme stock has been pumping as a result. We took this as an excuse to revisit the GameStop sto…

1
WWDC 2024: AI For The Rest Of Us Chumps 57:08

9d ago57:08

57:08

This week, Apple held the keynote at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), where it traditionally announces its upcoming software updates. As predicted, the company announced its moves into generative AI – which it is bundling under the name Apple Intelligence – alongside a partnership with OpenAI. In this ep, we dive into the announce…

1
Down Round Featuring Microsoft Copilot + PC (PREVIEW) 4:29

13d ago4:29

4:29

This is a free preview of a premium episode. To subscribe to Down Round Premium and get access, head here. A few weeks ago, Microsoft announced its new Surface Laptop with Copilot + PC, which it intends to be a direct competitor with the MacBook Air. On the one hand, it's an interesting attempt to get Windows PCs back into competition. ON the other…

1
OP position for pregnancy, labour and birth 1:00:18

14d ago1:00:18

1:00:18

In this episode Rachel takes me on the path to enlightenment about the topic of the occipito posterior (OP) position in pregnancy, labour and birth! I ask Rachel why she’s always been reluctant to cover this topic on the podcast! And sit down to discuss: What exactly is an OP position? Why it is considered a problem in our current maternity systems…

1
The Tech-Military Complex 45:10

16d ago45:10

45:10

For a long time, it wasn't a great look for startups and big tech – outside of companies like Microsoft – to openly work with the military-industrial complex. That was for contractors like Raytheon and General Dynamics. Tech generally maintained the sunny disposition that it was better to enable world peace through well targeted digital ads. That h…

1
Google & OpenAI's Rough Couple Of Weeks (Pt. 1) 35:37

23d ago35:37

35:37

In the first part of a two-part episode on Google and OpenAI's tough PR challenges of the past couple of weeks, we dive into Google's launch of AI summaries on the web, which led the venerable search engine to recommend pregnant women blast cigs and amateur chefs to mix glue into their pizza sauce. We chat about the rocky launch, what it means for …

1
Down Round Q&A: Your Boneheaded Questions, Answered 51:49

30d ago51:49

51:49

It's time for another edition of DOWN ROUND Q&A. We solicited questions from both or premium members in Discord and our followers on X, and today we're answering them for you. We cover everything from macOS to LLMs to Boeing and smart homes. Links Down Round on X Down Round on Instagram Down Round on TikTok Sign up for Down Round Premium See omnyst…

1
The AAA Gaming Apocalypse (PREVIEW) 5:17

1M ago5:17

5:17

This is a free preview of a premium episode. To subscribe to Down Round Premium and get access, head here. The pain for the gaming industry doesn't seem over, with Xbox closing studios, more layoffs, Sony fighting with its fanbase and growth looking sluggish. It raises one big question: has blockbuster game development outrun its ability to actuall…

1
They're Putting AI In The Bloody Phones Now 49:47

1M ago49:47

49:47

Apple and Google are both on the precipice of announcing deeper integration of generative AI into their respective operating systems. Google's IO conference is this week, and reporting abounds that Apple has inked a deal with OpenAI to integrate GPT with iOS. There's a big question as to whether they're doing this because users actually want it, or…

1
Into The Quantum Realm (PREVIEW) 5:19

1M ago5:19

5:19

This is a free preview of a premium episode. To subscribe to Down Round Premium and get access, head here. Quantum computing has been a research and academic pursuit for decades, but it has been picking up buzz over the last few years as both big tech companies and smaller startups get into the space. The Australian government recently announced a …

1
Newborn weight loss 57:39

1M ago57:39

57:39

In this episode it’s us together again in the cauldron and Katie chats with Rachel about all things early weight loss… and gain in babies. We look at: · Why do babies lose weight? · What is normal weight loss? · Are there some babies who are more likely to lose more weight than others? · What’s with the panic once we hit the (not so magical) number…

1
OK Fine, We'll Talk About Hubbl 52:21

1M ago52:21

52:21

Anyone who lives in Australia would be aware of Foxtel's new streaming box Hubbl, thanks to an absolutely overwhelming ad campaign pitching it. We talk about the Hubbl, and use it as an excuse to dive into streaming more generally, and what's been going on since the last time we talked about it. Links Foxtel faces its streaming apocalypse – AFR Dow…

1
TikTok Ban Watch 2024: The Final Chapter (?) 49:39

2M ago49:39

49:39

Well, it happened: the US passed legislation to force ByteDance to divest TikTok in the country. Now, the company technically has 12 months to make it happen. But is that the end of the story? In this episode, we discuss how we arrived at this point, what avenues TikTok has left, and who or what might acquire TikTok if it comes down to that. Links …

1
Now It's Meta's Turn To Go All In On AI 41:52

2M ago41:52

41:52

Everything is chatbots now. Every company must become a purveyor of bespoke chatbots.The latest cab off the rank is Meta, which just unveiled Llama 3, the latest version of its open source LLM. But this time they have integrated it deeply into Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, whacking a big nasty chatbox over the searchbar in all these apps. In th…

1
Have We Replaced The Smartphone Yet? (PREVIEW) 5:58

2M ago5:58

5:58

This is a free preview of a premium episode. To subscribe to Down Round Premium and get access, head here. As Downies will know well, one of the themes we're keeping an eye on is the number of products and product categories that are trying to replace the smartphone, which has been lagging in sales and hype of late. Two devices which pitched a bold…

1
The Coming Tsunami Of AI Music 49:24

2M ago49:24

49:24

Over the past few weeks, there has been a surprising amount of movement in the AI music space. Suno and Udio are two lavishly funded AI music generation startups which just launched new models, which allow you to make songs in a wide range of genres from prompts. While not perfect, they both sound pretty good. At the same time, Spotify is trialling…

1
The importance of the amniotic sac 1:01:27

2M ago1:01:27

1:01:27

In this episode Rachel talks to Katie about all the wondrous and darn right fascinating things about the amniotic sac. · Why is the baby surrounded by fluid, and what is it made of? · Women are often told they have too much or too little fluid. Is this a problem? · We also discuss why Rachel is (slightly!) obsessed with the function of the amniotic…

1
Capital Inferno Heaven (feat. Kyle Harrison) 1:03:08

2M ago1:03:08

1:03:08

This week, we're joined by Kyle Harrison, who is General Partner at Contrary, a US venture capital fund. As well as investing, Kyle writes the newsletter Investing 101 2.0, where he shares his various insights into the VC ecosystem – including where, in his view, it's all gone wrong. Kyle joins us to chat about the state of VC after the end of the …

1
The Worst Tech Acquisitions Of All Time (PREVIEW) 6:12

3M ago6:12

6:12

This is a free preview of a premium episode. To subscribe to Down Round Premium and get access, head here. Sometimes a company merges with or acquires another, and it turns out to be a bad idea. That's OK. We all make stupid decisions. There's nothing to be ashamed of, even when we're talking about multibillion-dollar deals. Some of these bad acqui…

1
Vapes: Smoking, but less cool and more illegal 42:55

3M ago42:55

42:55

One of the great turnarounds in 21st century was the tobacco industry's shift toward a so-called 'smokeless' future – agreeing that cigs are pretty bad for you, and that a range of hi-tech vapes could be a less bad replacement. Of course, it hasn't actually worked out that well, with public health bodies and governments around the world cracking do…

1
Apple Takes A Sideways Step On AI (PREVIEW) 5:50

3M ago5:50

5:50

This is a free preview of a premium episode. To subscribe to Down Round Premium and get access, head here. This week, we're back on Apple. There are two big reasons: one, they're being sued by the United States on antitrust grounds. And secondly, multiple news reports suggest they are looking for a partner in the generative AI space – which might b…

1
Neuralink: No monkeys were harmed in the production of this episode 38:54

3M ago38:54

38:54

Last week, it was reported that Elon Musk's Neuralink had successfully allowed a patient to play chess with his mind. It represents a small – and maybe a tad overhyped – step towards the company's goal for a full brain computer interface. In this ep, we discuss Neuralink, brain-computer interfaces, and exactly what Musk and others in the space are …

1
Dropbox: What's going on up there? (PREVIEW) 3:23

3M ago3:23

3:23

This is a free preview of a premium episode. To subscribe to Down Round Premium and get access, head here. Dropbox. There's a name you probably haven't thought about in a while. Once among the hottest startups on Earth, it lost some of its lustre once every major company in the world began offering consumer and enterprise cloud storage. But it's st…

1
BYD: How hard can a battery and four wheels be? 46:39

3M ago46:39

46:39

This week we're looking at BYD, the Chinese battery maker turned electric vehicle behemoth, which is now the world's biggest EV maker. Following on from our premium episode about the Apple Car a couple of weeks ago, we talk about the current state of the EV market, how BYD found success, and why the world is still relatively slow on the uptake of e…

1
Pregnancy sickness and hyperemesis breakthrough with Professor Sir Stephen O’Rahilly FRS 47:09

3M ago47:09

47:09

In this episode I discuss with Professor Sir Stephen O’Rahilly all things pregnancy sickness and Hyperemesis. Just a few months ago the scientific evidence was published highlighting what causes pregnancy sickness and hyperemesis. This breakthrough discovery came from the work of Prof Sir O’Rahilly, his team and the team from Dr Marlena S. Fejzo in…

1
TikTok Ban Watch 2024 45:17

3M ago45:17

45:17

Well folks, it's happening again. The US is threatening to ban TikTok. A bill is currently worming its way through Congress which would ban the app unless it fully divested itself from ByteDance, its Chinese parent company. This led TikTok to engage battle stations, and launch probably the stupidest PR campaign in recent history. In this episode, w…

1
Why Apple Scrapped Its Car (PREVIEW) 5:27

3M ago5:27

5:27

This is a free preview of a premium episode. To subscribe to Down Round Premium and get access, head here. The fabled Apple car – also known as Project Titan – is no more. After working on it for the last 10 years and blowing $10 billion, the company internally announced that it would scrap the project and reassign many of its staff to generative A…

1
The AI Girlfriend Experience (feat. Tom Cashman) 54:29

4M ago54:29

54:29

One less discussed angle of the rise of AI and widely available LLMs is the relationship dimension. From ChatGPT's personalisation features to AI chatbots on Meta platforms, through to porn and sexbots, many people are using AI for companionship. It's big business too, with The Information reporting that pornbot providers are one category of AI com…

1
The Nvidia Earnings Blowout (PREVIEW) 5:21

4M ago5:21

5:21

This is a free preview of a premium episode. To subscribe to Down Round Premium and get access, head here. Nvidia, the graphics card company turned into AI chip powerhouse, posted its earnings at the end of last week. Surprising no one, they were huge – propelling the company even higher up the charts of the most valuable companies on Earth. In thi…

1
Unpacking the Reddit IPO 53:02

4M ago53:02

53:02

Reddit is going public. After a false start a couple of years ago, the online message board is undergoing the IPO process, setting markets up for the biggest social media IPO since Pinterest in 2019. The company has filed its S1, which for the first time lets the world peek into Reddit's books, also revealing what it thinks are its biggest risks an…

1
Periods and perimenopause with Dr Lara Briden 1:07:42

4M ago1:07:42

1:07:42

Lara Briden is a naturopathic doctor and bestselling author of the books Period Repair Manual and Hormone Repair Manual — practical guides to treating period problems with nutrition, supplements, and bioidentical hormones. With a strong science background, Lara sits on several advisory boards and is the lead author on a couple of peer-reviewed pape…

1
The Great Xbox Surrender (PREVIEW) 3:36

4M ago3:36

3:36

This is a free preview of a premium episode. To subscribe to Down Round Premium and get access, head here. The gaming world was ablaze over the past few weeks over reports that Xbox was throwing in the towel and letting some of its biggest exclusive titles go to its eternal rival, the PlayStation. It riled up the Xbox ultras and raised questions ab…

1
Sora: Watch out, Hollyweird! 39:29

4M ago39:29

39:29

Last week, OpenAI announced Sora, its text-to-video model. Only a few people have their hands on it, so all we have to go off are example videos provided by OpenAI. But it looks good – and like a leap forward for AI video creation. This has raised lots of questions. How does it work? How much crap is about to flood our internet feeds? And is Hollyw…

1
Why Is OpenAI's Sam Altman Raising $7 Trillion? (PREVIEW) 3:14

4M ago3:14

3:14

This is a free preview of a premium episode. To subscribe to Down Round Premiun and get access, head here. The word on the street is that Sam Altman, the once embattled and now seemingly fine CEO of OpenAI, is currently out in the market trying to raise money for a new microchip-related venture. The amount of money he's raising? Seven trillion doll…

1
23andme: 30% Irish, 30% English, 30% Scottish, 100% cringe 36:20

4M ago36:20

36:20

One of the big crazes of the last few years was consumer genetic testing. Through services like 23andme and AncestryDNA, regular punters could find out their ethnic background, link up with distant cousins, and find out what mysterious blood illnesses they were genetically predisposed to get. But there is trouble in paradise. 23andme has lost a sta…

1
Google Search: Why it sucks now, and what's coming next (PREVIEW) 4:53

4M ago4:53

4:53

This is a preview of a premium episode. We're currently running a sale on Down Round Premium – head here to score an annual membership for $49 instead of $70. Only until Sunday Feb 11. Let's face it: Google Search sucks now. We've talked about it on many episodes, along with the broader conversation about how AI might disrupt it. In this episode, w…

1
What's Going On In Australian VC? (feat. Damian Fox) 56:26

5M ago56:26

56:26

Hey! Down Round is still running a sale on premium membership until Friday February 9. Sign up using this link, and you can get an annual membership for $49 instead of the usual $70. Today we're diving into the world of Australian startups and venture capital. After the end of the post-COVID tech boom, you might find yourself wondering who is inves…

1
Apple vs The EU: Brussels goes sicko mode (PREVIEW) 5:29

5M ago5:29

5:29

This is a preview of a premium episode. We're currently running a sale on Down Round Premium – head here to score an annual membership for $49 instead of $70. Amazing stuff. Last week, we talked about Apple shaky Vision Pro launch, thanks to a number of key developers saying they wouldn't be making apps for the mixed reality headset. This week, the…

1
Ozempic: The biggest Danish hit since the Smørrebrød 46:41

5M ago46:41

46:41

Hey! Down Round is running a sale on premium membership. Sign up in the next week using this link, and you can get an annual membership for $49 instead of the usual $70. This week we're talking about the much-hyped weight loss drug Ozempic and its producer, Danish pharma giant Novo Nordisk. Thanks to the crazy success of Ozempic, Novo Nordisk is no…

1
Born at Home with Amanda Banks and Eleanor Currie 48:58

5M ago48:58

48:58

Where and how women choose to birth matters. Born at Home is a stunning documentary film exploring what it takes to have a positive and transformative birth experience. Empowered by the homebirth of her second child in 2020, Amanda Banks together with long term dear friend Eleanor Currie, set out to create a film exploring Homebirth in QLD. With a …

1
Twitch: Give me $20, now (PREVIEW) 5:56

5M ago5:56

5:56

This is a preview of a premium episode of Down Round. To subscribe and listen to this episode and our full archives, go here. Twitch, the venerable video game livestreaming platform which has repeatedly attempted to become the livestreaming platform for everyone, recently announced a slew of layoffsf. It also confirmed that the company, owned by Am…

1
The Vision Pro Developer Revolt 45:40

5M ago45:40

45:40

Apple is releasing its Vision Pro mixed reality headset in the US next month. But some of the biggest platforms in the world – from Netflix to Spotify – have announced they aren't supporting it from the get go. That's partially because it's a niche device with an uncertain chance of success... but could it also be a rebuke of Apple's notorious deve…

1
Rabbit R1: Another screen for you to look at -- but with AI! 43:52

5M ago43:52

43:52

The age of the AI device is upon us. At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, the undisputed star was the Rabbit R1, a standalone AI companion device which uses a 'large action model' to understand the things you like doing on your apps and platforms, and does them for you. Will it work? Who knows. But Raph bought one. We discussed the hype about …

1
Breastfeeding and medication with Wendy Jones BSc, MSc, PhD, MRPharmS 1:03:09

5M ago1:03:09

1:03:09

Wendy Jones BSc, MSc, PhD, MRPharmS is known for her work on providing a service on the compatibility of drugs in breastmilk and has been a registered breastfeeding supporter for 36 years. She is passionate that breastfeeding should be valued by all and that medication should not be a barrier. In her employed life she was a primary care pharmacist.…

1
The New York Times vs OpenAI: Whoever wins, we lose 58:37

5M ago58:37

58:37

Over the Xmas break, the New York Times announced it would be suing OpenAI for copyright infringement, alleging that its GPT platform is trained on copyrighted NYT content. This has become a problem, according to the NYT, because OpenAI is now a direct competitor. We dive into the lawsuit, and chat a bit about the media, AI and what the future of c…

1
The Down Round Experience Pt. 4: Happy New Year 41:16

6M ago41:16

41:16

Happy New Year! We trust you're all well. Today, we're looking back on the 2023 that was – diving into some of the episodes we recorded and checking in how those things landed at the end of the year. These include: Afterpay/BNPL Crypto and NFTs Tech layoffs Instant groceries Dating apps See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

1
The Down Round Experience Pt. 3: Enter the Shark Tank (ft. Joyride) 36:35

6M ago36:35

36:35

This is part 3 of Down Round's Christmas and New Years production, all recorded in one session. To get every part, sign up to Premium here. The Down Round Community is overflowing with geniuses. The next trillion dollar company will no doubt be founded by someone who is currently paying us $7 a month, representing one of the highest ROI investments…

1
The Down Round Experience Pt. 2: Hack the planet (PREVIEW) 3:09

6M ago3:09

3:09

This is part two of our marathon holiday record. This is a preview – the full episode is available for premium subs. Sign up here. The Down Round holiday episodes continue. As the beers continue to flow, we turn our critical attention to another major tech event of December: the hack and leak of Insomniac Games, a first-party developer owned by Son…

1
The Down Round Experience Pt. 1 - Bird, Figma/Adobe, and how we make this damned thing 34:51

6M ago34:51

34:51

Welcome to our holiday special. We have recorded a marathon 4 hour podcast with much holiday spirit (we got drunk), and will be dropping it in parts throughout the holiday season. We started with a quick reflection on the latest news: Bird Scooters has gone under, and Adobe's planned acquisition of Figma has collapsed. Plus, due to listener demand,…

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