David Pierce and Verge staffers cover AI industry news, gadgets, and tech policy weekly.
The Vergecast is a brisk, skeptical tech conversation built around the week’s strange product ideas and platform arguments. It mixes gadget testing, interviews, banter, and sharp side-eye at industry hype.
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The Vergecast is a technology news and product discussion podcast from The Verge that mixes formats across its episodes rather than sticking to one structure. David Pierce is the show's primary host in the sampled episodes, typically opening with a personal or domestic anecdote (backyard sprinkler duty, a phone-strap experiment) before moving into the week's technology stories. Per the show's own framing, Nilay Patel co-hosts a separate Friday news edition, while Pierce leads Verge staff writers through gadget- and lifestyle-oriented segments on other days; the sampled episodes reflect that staffer-driven format, featuring contributors such as Allison Johnson on hardware reviews and Jacob Feldman on sports streaming. Recurring subject matter centers on the AI industry — OpenAI's funding, leadership decisions, and product shifts, set against competitors like Anthropic and Google — alongside consumer hardware coverage of foldable phones, phone straps, and other device trends surfacing at events like Mobile World Congress. The show also features extended interviews with guests from outside the tech industry, such as an actor discussing a crypto documentary and a law professor arguing for the elimination of cookie banners. A newer recurring segment, 'Hype Desk,' brings in outside personalities to separate sponsored or influencer-style content from editorial coverage. Episodes frequently reference The Verge's own published reporting and staff by name, giving the show the feel of a companion podcast to the outlet's beat coverage. Sponsor reads for recurring advertisers are a regular part of the episode structure. Listeners get a blend of industry news analysis, hands-on device reviews, and technology policy debate rather than a single narrow focus. The tone is conversational and informal, with hosts and guests editorializing openly rather than maintaining strict neutrality.
Made for: Technology followers who want weekly discussion of AI-industry news, hands-on gadget reviews, and tech policy debates alongside The Verge's own reporting.
What sets it apart: Combines weekly AI and big-tech news analysis with hands-on staff hardware reviews and standalone outside-guest interviews in a single rotating format.
The Vergecast is the flagship podcast from The Verge about small gadgets, Big Tech, and everything in between. Every Friday, hosts Nilay Patel and David Pierce hang out and make sense of the week’s most important technology news. And every Tuesday, David leads a selection of The Verge’s expert staffers in an exploration of how gadgets and software affect our lives – and which ones you should bring into yours.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
The Vergecast connects gadget enthusiasm to the software, business decisions, and daily habits that determine whether technology actually works.
The Vergecast treats consumer technology as a chain of practical consequences. David Pierce moves from hands-on phone enthusiasm to questions about software support, business models, and the infrastructure required after a device ships.
Apple history gets ranked, weird phones get handled, and you get the useful argument behind the spectacle.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A sharp, funny case that cookie banners are a broken web habit hiding behind a tiny inconvenience.
Cookie banners come off here less like a minor web nuisance than a bad default everyone has learned to live with. David Pierce opens with a very Vergecast detour into the SidePhone, a modular minimalist Android phone with swappable controls, including an iPod-style click wheel.
A lively Apple ranking that gives QuickTime, weird 90s Apple, and overlooked creative tools their due.
Apple's best product ever uses a countdown of Apple's top products to poke at a messier company history than the usual comeback myth. David Pierce and Nilay Patel linger on the weird 90s: the PowerBooks, the iMac G3 era, the stretch between Jobs chapters, and the way good…
A future-phone episode whose best argument is that phone straps are less silly than they look.
The title gestures at 6G, modular hardware, and robot phones, but the sharper Vergecast material here is much less sci-fi: how phones became too important to tuck away.
A sharp Vergecast episode on sports streaming, Olympic overload, and what happens when more choice actually helps.
The Vergecast is at its best here when a casual gaming tangent turns into a sharper question about how much modern entertainment asks viewers to manage.
A phone-shopping spiral turns into a clear-eyed look at why the Trump Phone's hardest work starts after launch.
David Pierce's phone-shopping spiral gives this Vergecast a useful frame: after years on iPhones, even a seasoned phone reviewer can get slowed down by the boring parts, from moving an eSIM to living with a Motorola Razr's odd AI pop-ups.
Host Jack Rhysider narrates true hacking, breach, and privacy stories from the people involved.
Aria Knight breaks down one AI case study per episode, from Amazon's biased hiring tool to TikTok's voice cloning.
Season-long reported deep dives into one giant company at a time, from Disney to Tesla.
Brian McCullough's daily tech news digest, mixing solo rundowns with reporter interviews.
David Pierce opens The Vergecast from his backyard, where he is on “sprinkler duty” after new sod was laid and he has to water it for 10 days.
The Vergecast opens with a New Yorker profile of Sam Altman and the line that it is "deeply fascinating," then immediately frames the discussion around OpenAI and the problem of being "unconstrained by truth." The hosts also reference RFK starting a podcast this week and joke about "the Webby for being unconstrained by truth," before turning back to the profile.
Consent pop-ups are the target.
QuickTime gets robbed.
This episode discusses Apple's 50th anniversary, featuring a product ranking system and interviews with experts to analyze the company's current state and historical impact.
This episode of the VergeCast discusses Meta's ongoing court losses and their potential broader implications, while also touching on AI and Bluetooth technology in a conversational tech-focused format.
The host discusses his extensive testing of various smartphones, including flip phones and foldables, before returning to iPhone, and previews a conversation with a reviewer about the current phone landscape.
This episode discusses hiring for podcast production roles at The Verge while touching on AI-related topics through sponsor messages.
Host David Pierce interviews Paul Ford about the impact of AI on technology and business.
The Vergecast covers the week's most important technology news and explores how gadgets and software affect our lives.
Host David Pierce discusses iPad updates, Apple product reviews, and interviews about the Live Nation-Ticketmaster trial and AI policy conflicts.
This episode of Version History explores the history and cultural impact of the Furby toy, examining its role in tech history.
A technology news podcast discussing the week's most important tech stories and gadget reviews.
A live stream discussion analyzing Apple's latest product announcements including the MacBook Neo, iPhone 17e, and iPad Air.
David Pierce opens with a backlog.
Nilay and David discuss Samsung's Unpacked event, new phones and headphones, Xbox news, and a controversial FCC statement.
The episode discusses AI developments, including an interview with Claude Code's creator, and tech history rabbit holes.
The hosts discuss recent tech news including Apple, Google Pixel, Samsung, and AI, with a humorous segment about a colleague.
Phones keep asking for more jobs.
A weekly tech news podcast covering the latest gadgets, software, and industry trends, with host discussions and expert insights.
David Pierce is losing his phone mind.
The Vergecast covers the week's most important technology news, with discussions on gadgets, software, and their impact on daily life.
Host David Pierce discusses his personal phone shopping dilemma and previews interviews about AI training on books and Netflix's strategy.
A technology news podcast covering the week's most important tech stories, gadget reviews, and software discussions.
The Vergecast discusses the week's most important technology news and gadget reviews.
This episode of the VergeCast is the first of two annual year-end episodes where the host and guests discuss the biggest stories, trends, and moments of 2025.
This episode features an interview with Nick Thompson about running and AI, followed by a discussion with John Higgins on TVs, blending technology and lifestyle topics.
Host David Pierce, in his new house, discusses smart home possibilities with expert Jen Tuohy, going room by room to evaluate what's worth the investment.
This episode of Version History explores the Amazon Fire Phone, a failed smartphone, discussing its bad ideas and place in tech history.
The hosts discuss smart home technology and answer listener questions about products and philosophy.
Host David Pierce promotes the Version History podcast and introduces an episode about the Microsoft Zune music player.
David Pierce discusses Apple shortcuts automation, reviews Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses, and debates Apple Shortcuts with Steven Robles.
This episode of Version History explores the cultural and technological impact of the video game Guitar Hero.
Host David Pierce discusses testing new iPads and previews segments on handheld gaming consoles and AI's impact on intelligence.
This episode explores the history and impact of Sony's Watchman portable TV.