Best Tim Hennessy Podcasts (2025)

1
GPT-5: Here We Go Again 45:52

9d ago45:52

45:52

After many months of hype and news stories, OpenAI has released GPT-5, the next major numbered iteration of its large language model. There have been all sorts of models since it released GPT-4 in 2023, but this is supposed to be the big dog. In this ep, we talk about the rocky launch — starting with the fact that most people aren't that impressed …

1
What Are They Planning? (ft. Cam Wilson) 56:48

14d ago56:48

56:48

Today James is joined by previous Down Round guest Cam Wilson, who has written a new book with (another former Down Round guest) Ariel Bogle, Conspiracy Nation, which is about the Australian conspiracy community. While Raph is living it up on the coastline of Croatia, James and Cam had a freewheeling chat about online conspiracy culture, how it has…

1
In conversation with... Tim Killeen 1:11:45

18d ago1:11:45

1:11:45

In this episode of Not Alone Leaders in Conversation, hosted by Rafael Bras, Dr. Timothy Killeen, President of the University of Illinois System, shares his vast experience and insights from an extensive career spanning physics, geophysics, and academic leadership. Dr. Killeen discusses his early life in Cardiff, his shift from pure physics to atmo…

1
Knock On (ft. Tim Stewart) 52:56

21d ago52:56

52:56

Several years ago, Down Round listener Tim Stewart submitted a question to one of our Q&A mailbag episodes: when is the new rugby league video game for PlayStation 5 coming out? We couldn't answer him, because we didn't know what the hell he was talking about. But now, years later, it has come out, and everyone seems to agree it's really not very g…

1
That's Tea 48:19

26d ago48:19

48:19

Tea, the app which offers what it describes as "dating safety tools which protect women", has been hacked. It follows a couple of weeks where it went viral and led the app charts in the US. For those not familiar, it is basically an app version of those 'are we dating the same guy' Facebook groups, where women share pics, tips and intel on bad date…

1
Microsoft's Xbox Conundrum 46:25

1M ago46:25

46:25

Microsoft slashed 9,000 jobs a few weeks ago, with the Xbox division taking a hit including some studio closures. What about that $70 BILLION Activision Blizzard acquisition just a couple of years ago? It sounds like fertile ground for of Raph's largest victory laps to date, after he suggested Microsoft should have ditched Xbox years ago. But first…

1
Grok: Elon's $28 Billion Slur Machine 52:24

1M ago52:24

52:24

Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, went "Kanye Mode" — becoming openly Nazi, seemingly out of nowhere. The boys get to the bottom of the root cause, and muse on the big question: what is the point of Grok anyway? Out: Platforms spending millions on content moderation to root our hate speech. In: Spending billions to have your platform literally spew hat…

1
Meta's Highway Robbery 46:37

2M ago46:37

46:37

For a few weeks, we've been talking about Meta's revenge tour in Silicon Valley, throwing massive bonuses at AI talent at rival companies in order to tempt them over to Zuck's domain. Well, it seems to have paid off now — and the company has announced its Superintelligence team, packed with talent they managed to poach. Then, we go into a Bloomberg…

1
Reading Out Confidential Emails Live On The Air 37:11

2M ago37:11

37:11

After the fanfare of the OpenAI/Jony Ive multibillion-dollar device partnership, io, all references were scrubbed from the internet as if it never happened. After rampant speculation, it was revealed that it was over a claim the whole thing was stolen. From some guy named Jason, no less. Seems like OpenAI is a real drama magnet. We discuss the case…

1
They Do Ads On Computers Now 32:43

2M ago32:43

32:43

Canva has made another acquisition: MagicBrief, the advertising command centre founded by a dear friend of the pod. In this ep, we talk about the acquisition, where it fits in Canva's strategy, and wind off into a bigger chat about the ad market. Then, for some reason, we talk about Apple Music and Spotify. Real smorgasbord here folks. See omnystud…

1
WWDC 2025: Extreme Liquidity 46:49

2M ago46:49

46:49

Apple had its software development conference this week. It announced a whole new design language filled with organic movements and over-the-top animations, serving as the perfect distraction from the company's very public missteps in AI. We go through everything you need to know. Well, at least 60% of it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in…

1
Grammarly's Second Wind 50:39

3M ago50:39

50:39

Remember Grammarly? Of course you do. The briefly ubiquitous piece of software that made sure you were using your possessive apostrophes correctly. Well, guess what? They just received $1 billion in nondilutive investment from General Catalyst to become an all-in-one AI platform? Sounds like bullshit? Well, probably. But it's a business model we'll…

1
In conversation with ... Marcia McNutt 53:56

3M ago53:56

53:56

In this episode of Not Alone: Leaders in Conversation, Dr Marcia McNutt, President of the US National Academy of Sciences, reflects on her remarkable journey and experiences in the realm of science and research policy. Dr McNutt, a renowned geophysicist and leader, delves into her early life influences, academic challenges, and career milestones, i…

1
It's Q&A Time Pt. 1 45:33

3M ago45:33

45:33

It's been a while since we've done of these. We answer your burning questions on topics including but not limited to: Jony Ive's partnership with OpenAI Apple after Tim Cook Atlassian and Immutable, two Australian unicorns Ranking the Magnificent 7 tech stocks by aura/swag See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

1
Google's Little Victory Lap 44:31

3M ago44:31

44:31

We've been saying for a little while that Google has caught up in AI, and is now trying to deploy the full force of its product range and scale to the problem of achieving domination. Dunno if they're there yet, but the I/O conference shows that they're still got a few tricks up their sleeve. In this ep, we go into what they announced, including so…

1
Airbnb for Everything 49:28

3M ago49:28

49:28

Airbnb is in a mid-life crisis. Founder Brian Chesky is undergoing one of his routine meltdowns where he suddenly decides that the short-stay rental platform should actually be a ticket-clipping mediator of literally all human experience. The platform has been redesigned and relaunched, with both 'services' and 'experiences' living in separate tabs…

1
Peak Search 49:04

3M ago49:04

49:04

Last week we gave some cursory attention to Apple's legal troubles in its battle with Epic Games and every other developer who chafes at paying the 30% Apple tax on everything. This time, we give it a little more attention and thought. Plus, the company's services boss Eddy Cue popped up in another trial, and gave us some intriguing insight into Ap…

1
Canva Conundrum [PREVIEW] 2:32

3M ago2:32

2:32

Australia's graphic design unicorn is yet to go public, and find themselves in an intersting position. As we all know infinite growth means you can't just be a really nice graphic design platform, you have to be Microsoft. The boys ask the question, are Canva an enterprise company or for SMEs? Are they for pros or amateurs? What the hell is AI? And…

1
Computer Says I Love You 44:49

4M ago44:49

44:49

Stacked deck today folks. First we return briefly to Tesla to talk about a Wall Street Journal story which reported the company opened a CEO search to replace Elon Musk. Then we move on to the big tech news story of the week: OpenAI rolling out a ChatGPT update that made it too sycophantic. It was funny, but also shows how these big AI firms are th…

1
The President's Friend Premium 30:54

4M ago30:54

30:54

Tesla turned in an absolute shocker of an earnings result, which may be related to why Elon Musk announced he would be turning more of his attention to the electric carmaker and less on being Trump's friend. In this ep, we go into the earnings, give a little update on what the EV market is looking like and what Tesla says it wants to do — and a lit…

1
Nvidia's Latest Problem 42:42

4M ago42:42

42:42

Raph has returned from the land of the free, and we're back in the regular studio for some more Down Round. Nvidia has just been slapped with a new restriction on exporting its slightly less than cutting edge H20 chip, which cost it a $5.5 billion charge. We talk about chips and continue our chat from last week's premium episode about how Trump's t…

1
Studio Ghibli, But Make It Slop Pt. 1 44:30

5M ago44:30

44:30

We talked about the new OpenAI image generation platform last week briefly, but we recorded on the day it released and therefore missed the massive amounts of discourse it generated. We're sorry. We'll never miss the discourse again. But it was a great opportunity to take stock of the AI art conversation, which has only become more heated and baroq…

1
In conversation with ... Julio Frenk 1:11:53

5M ago1:11:53

1:11:53

In this episode of Not Alone: Leaders in Conversation, host Rafael Bras discusses higher education, public health, and leadership with Julio Frenk, the incoming chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles. Frenk, a former president of the University of Miami, shares his rich background—from his family's escape from Nazi Germany to his g…

1
Spitting In A Tube And Selling It To Private Equity 42:15

5M ago42:15

42:15

The chickens have come home to roost for 23andme, the consumer genetic testing company which has gone from making people feel nice about being 4% Italian to languishing in bankruptcy. With the vultures circling the carcass, we reflect on its very weird business model and why it should never have gone public. Then we talk about Google, which has bee…

1
Rippling vs Deel 31:33

5M ago31:33

31:33

HR SaaS is probably the least sexy topic in the world, but fortunately two of the bigger players have made it interesting through bizarre corporate warfare. Rippling has launched a lawsuit against competitor Deel alleging that they placed a spy deep within. The saga contains a honey-pot Slack channel, a mole in the top ranks, and trying to flush a …

1
One Weird Trick That Payments Processors HATE! 54:21

5M ago54:21

54:21

We're back with podcast content after a regrettable interruption last week. This ep we've got a stacked deck. First, we are forced by fate to talk about Trump, Elon and Tesla briefly. Then we get into the lawsuit against creator economy platform and OnlyFans lite platform Passes. This gives us an excuse to go on a whirlwind tour of a few things: Sc…

1
Content Note 0:56

6M ago0:56

0:56

Unfortunately due to circumstances within our control we are unable to record an episode this week. We promise we'll record a really really extra good one next week. Thank you for your patience. Enjoy this AI generated James reading a text message from James. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

1
No Such Thing As A Market Correction 40:55

6M ago40:55

40:55

Tech stocks have been having a rough time since December. The Magnificent Seven, the undisputed kings of the market, have slipped 10% since then — even before the DeepSeek moment. But not all are made equal. Meta, for example, is doing basically fine. Apple isn't too terrible. Tesla, on the other hand, has lost 37% of its value since then. In this …

1
Do You Grok Me? 35:54

6M ago35:54

35:54

Plenty of tech industry nonsense to chat about this week, folks. Elon Musk is fathering his 13th child (and a new Grok model) and trying to destroy OpenAI. Everyone is trying to match OpenAI's Deep Research with similar products of their own. The markets are back. As always, Down Round is here to guide you. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i…

1
Going Deep 30:18

6M ago30:18

30:18

We got a few requests last week to talk more about OpenAI's Deep Research feature that everyone's been going wild about. We thought it was a good opportunity to return to a topic that we've touched a few times over the past couple of years — what sort of work is being threatened with change by new systems like this? In this two parter, we look at D…

1
Apple – Charlie XCX (official lyric video) 32:55

7M ago32:55

32:55

Apple is worth $3.5 trillion. Trillion with a T. But all is not necessarily well in Tim Cook's kingdom. iPhone sales are slowing and the Apple Intelligence rollout was unimpressive and underwhelming. Now rumours abound that they are abandoning their rescue mission for their VR and AR ambitions. Are Apple floundering? Or just doing things The Apple …

1
In conversation with ... Larry Bacow 1:07:50

7M ago1:07:50

1:07:50

In the latest episode of Not Alone: Leaders in Conversation, host Rafael Bras engages in an in-depth discussion with Prof Larry Bacow, one of America’s most esteemed academic leaders, having held prestigious positions at MIT, Tufts and Harvard. The conversation, recorded on Oct 16, 2024, covers a wide range of topics including Prof Bacow’s aversion…

1
DeepSeek Freakout 34:16

7M ago34:16

34:16

It's fair to say things have been a little crazy this week. Thanks to the drop of Chinese AI lab DeepSeek's beautiful, powerful AI reasoning model, tech stocks took an absolute pounding — producing, in no small part because of Nvidia, the largest individual loss of share market value in American history. The freakout wasn't just in markets. AI deve…

1
January Mania 46:47

7M ago46:47

46:47

It's not even the end of January and there's already so much crap going on in the world of tech. We're spoiled for choice here. In this two-parter, we're tackling the various stories that have sprung up around the inauguration of Donald Trump — everything from TikTok to meme coins to Project Stargate and Chinese AI. In this first part, we're lookin…

1
One Big Gold Nugget, Please (PREVIEW) 4:05

7M ago4:05

4:05

The number one social media app in the Apple App Store is currently Xiaohongshu, AKA The Little Red Book, the Chinese social shopping app reminiscent of TikTok but with more shopping. We take a squiz at that, before assessing the latest announcements from Nvidia and what it all means. Strap in, the boys are back for 2025. See omnystudio.com/listene…

1
Based Mark Zuckerberg (ft. Mike Isaac) 1:01:14

7M ago1:01:14

1:01:14

Over the last couple of weeks, Mark Zuckerberg and Meta have signalled a shift in the way the company is run — eliminating factcheckers, rolling back internal DEI policies and bringing politics content back to company platforms. On the one hand, you can read it as an obvious sop to the incoming Trump administration. But there's definitely a cultura…

1
Xmas Spectacular Pt 5: The Accountability Episode 33:42

8M ago33:42

33:42

On Down Round, we make many predictions. Almost all of them are correct. For this episode, we have used the power of AI to forensically audit a representative sample of episodes over the last year, with the goal of answering the question: just how right were we? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

1
Xmas Spectacular Pt 3: Shark Tank (ft. Becky Lucas & Joyride) 29:29

8M ago29:29

29:29

Just like we did last year, we're continuing the silly season with another entry of DOWN ROUND SHARK TANK. On social media and in our Discord, you submitted your startup pitches, and now we're going to decide if we will invest. Joining us on the panel are friends of the pod Becky Lucas and Joyride, who will assist us in the mammoth task of evaluati…

1
Xmas Spectacular Pt 2: Q&A Continued (PREVIEW) 5:18

8M ago5:18

5:18

This is part two of our annual Xmas spectacular, and we continue to answer your questions. To hear the rest, sign up to premium: downround.net See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.By Down Round

1
Xmas Spectacular Pt 1: Q&A 46:58

8M ago46:58

46:58

This is part one of our annual Xmas spectacular, and we are answering your burning questions. Is AI a bust? Why is a company called AppLovin worth more than 100 billion dollars? Has Raph watched any movies in 2024? An insane prank. Subscribe for part 2, which is out now: downround.net See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

1
Apple Intelligence: The OFFICIAL Down Round Review 50:54

8M ago50:54

50:54

Apple has been hyping up its late-ish foray into the world of LLMs and artificial intelligence since June. But now a decent range of Apple Intelligence features are available — as long as you have the right device —like writing tools, image generation, notification summaries and so on. In this ep we talk about it, Apple's strategy, and why it all f…

1
Unpacking The Social Media Ban (ft. Cam Wilson) 50:37

8M ago50:37

50:37

Australia passed legislation banning social media for kids under 16, as we've discussed in previous eps. But in today's episode, we're getting into the nitty gritty. We're joined by Crikey reporter Cam Wilson to tease out some of the specifics of the legislation and how it might be enforced. We also force him to debate the greatest question of our …

1
The Back Of The Smart Guy Queue (PREVIEW) 5:50

9M ago5:50

5:50

This is a free preview of a premium episode. To subscribe to Down Round Premium and get access, head here. Crypto is back. The industry is excited by the forthcoming Trump presidency and what it means for their little online coins. Bitcoin just hit $100,000. But the mood is a little different this time. There's less pontification on the future of m…

1
The Failed Kickstarter Club 42:56

9M ago42:56

42:56

Kickstarter. A gadget head's paradise... and hell. The boys revisit the glory days of crowdfunding, what was the vibe that made it prolific, and the pitfalls that befell it. And, most importantly: what does it tell us about love? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.By Down Round

1
Just Browsing Thanks Mate 44:45

9M ago44:45

44:45

The US Department of Justice wants to force Google to sell Chrome, its browser, for antitrust reasons. It raises the question: who would buy it? Could it live as a standalone company? That opens a whole can of worms for your favourite tech podcast, as we talk about browsers and why they're such a strange business. See omnystudio.com/listener for pr…

1
In conversation with ... Robert Langer 1:03:19

9M ago1:03:19

1:03:19

In this episode of Not Alone: Leaders in Conversation, hosted by Rafael Bras, Prof Robert Langer of MIT talks about his impressive career and contributions to medicine, including the co-founding of Moderna and the development of groundbreaking drug delivery systems. He shares his early influences, experiences with ADHD, the challenges he faced in a…

1
Bluesky Thinking 35:20

9M ago35:20

35:20

The the wake of the US election and the increasingly weird vibe on X, there has been yet another exodus of users to the promised land of "any text-based timeline but Twitter". That means people are talking about Bluesky again. In this episode, we revisit the erstwhile decentralised social media platform and check in on its progress, asking the ques…

1
The Podcasting President 40:51

9M ago40:51

40:51

It's the first week after the US election, and Down Round is officially making the leap into being an American politics podcast. OK, not really. But there's actually plenty of Down Round relevant themes here. In this ep, we talk briefly about the new state of tech politics now that the conservative side of the industry is on the march. Then, we go …

1
Is Technology Good? (ft. Mark Di Stefano) 45:18

10M ago45:18

45:18

We are joined once again, for our sins, by the Australian Financial Review's Rear Window columnist Mark Di Stefano. A freewheeling episode on everything from smartphones to AI girlfriends, where we all perform some ruthless self-critique and ultimately come out happier, more self assured and about 10 IQ points dumber. See omnystudio.com/listener fo…

1
Coins, But On The Computer 4:12

10M ago4:12

4:12

This is a free preview of a premium episode. To subscribe to Down Round Premium and get access, head here. We're putting on our hazmat suits and going back into the world of crypto. Or, at least, one promising part of it. Stripe recently bought Bridge, a startup which built a stablecoin issuance and settlements API. That sounds boring, and perhaps …

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