The Edge

A podcast for surviving our modern world. With help from UC Berkeley experts, California magazine editors Laura Smith and Leah Worthington explore cutting-edge, often controversial ideas in science, technology, and society. Should you be able to choose your baby’s IQ? Are algorithms really smarter than people? As we face a planet devastated by climate change, what is the future of food? All that and more. A production of California magazine and the Cal Alumni Association. // Reported and hosted by Laura Smith and Leah Worthington; produced by Coby McDonald; artwork by Michiko Toki; original music by Mogli Maureal

The Edge is a society podcast hosted by California magazine, with 36 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

California magazine hosts The Edge, a society show with 36 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  The Edge

  #34 Digital Infrastructure with Nicole Starosielski

  May 21, 202646 minS0

  <p>When you send a message to a friend—whether by text, email, or social media—you probably don’t think much about where it’s actually going. We’ve grown so accustomed to our free-floating devices and digital clouds and seemingly wireless connectivity that we might not realize just how wired our digital world truly is. The reality is, every message we send travels through a vast physical system: routers, cell towers, data centers, power grids, and miles of undersea and terrestrial fiber networks. And every part of it depends on human decisions. This means that the future of digital in...

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  The Edge

  #33 Talking to Whales with Gašper Beguš

  Apr 7, 202629 minS0

  <p>For decades, researchers believed that whales communicated using a sort of underwater Morse code—simple, repeated patterns of clicks. But recent advances in technology have revealed a much more complex, even human-like language. Now, with artificial intelligence, scientists are getting closer than ever to translating their vocalizations. UC Berkeley’s Gašper Beguš is one such researcher building advanced AI to learn and decipher sperm whale communication. But what happens when we crack the code? What might whales tell us—and what would be the practical, ethical, and legal implications of what we learn? </p><p>Further reading:</p>Berkeley...

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  The Edge

  #32 Cults with Poulomi Saha

  Mar 11, 20261h 5mS0

  <p><b>Wild Wild Country. Escaping NXIVM. The Path. Holy Hell. That’s just a few of the vast and growing collection of documentaries, podcasts, docuseries exploring the history and legacy of cults. What explains this explosion of interest? Associate professor of English and resident cult expert Poulomi Saha joins Editor-in-Chief Pat Joseph live onstage to discuss America’s long enthrallment with—and participation in—cults. </b></p><p><b>Further reading: </b></p><b>Watch the full</b><b> live conversation with Poulomi Saha on YouTube</b><b>Buy your tickets</b><b> for “Alone in the Algorithm: Human Connection i...

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  The Edge

  #31 Bad Bunny with Petra Rivera-Rideau

  Feb 5, 202639 minS0

  <p><b>No doubt you’ve heard a thing or two about Bad Bunny recently. He’s a rapper, singer, and producer, also known as the “King of Latin Trap”—and reggaeton, of course—who’s soon to become the first solo Latino to headline the Super Bowl. But he’s also Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, a 31-year-old from Puerto Rico and an outspokenly political artist, using his platform and music to address humanitarian crises, gender-based violence, and political corruption. Our guest today is Petra Rivera-Rideau, an expert in music and racial politics who completed her Ph.D. at UC Berkeley and a...

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  The Edge

  #30 Deepfakes with Hany Farid

  Aug 14, 20251h 2mS0

  <p><b>Some Catholics no doubt took offense, but no one was seriously harmed by the Pope-in-a-puffer-jacket meme. Far more sinister deepfakes are on the rise, however, with scammers now frequently using widely available technology to bilk the unwary, and political campaigns marshaling AI to sow lies about their opponents. Perhaps the greatest threat is not the deepfakes themselves but that their mere existence can cause us to question the veracity of nearly everything we see and hear online and in the media. So, how concerned should we be about the proliferation of fake media? And what, if anything, is...

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