Always enjoyable on a Friday afternoon.

Not since Cheech and Chong … Great, smart, funny podcast.

These two have great chemistry. Have learned so much from this show.

Been listening to the show since it was birthed. Keep up the good work guys! BUT may I make one request: in your summary, could you please add time markers to the segments of your show? I listen to a zillion podcasts, and that feature is invaluable, in order to listen to as many as I do, skipping over a few bits that are not of interest.

I’ve listened to every episode starting at the first one and love this podcast. Casey Newton is so funny!

Yes, love the podcast - Casey and Kevin make what is generally dry tech info accessible while not insulting their audience. It’s also fun.

I just started listening and don’t even know the host’s name but their delivery is so infectious I look forward to listening to them at the end of the week. They remind me of my college days and just exploring the outer edges of tech with classmates.

This podcast brings me so much joy! I do not work in the tech space, but Kevin & Casey’s rapport, their humor and insights have made Hard Fork one of my new favorites.

I live for the opening of the show. So amazingly funny and catchy. I look forward to it each week and the show only gets better from there. Great job guys, keep doing the awesome reporting and informing.

I’m giving a 5 star bc 99% of the time, these guys provide an incredibly thoughtful and balanced approach to covering tech issues, and generally admit to any blind-spots and biases. BUT… regarding the kids and social media conversation. You guys. C’mon. And I get it- when my daughter was 3 (and an angel), I too gave myself a premature high-five about how amazing I was as a parent, and how great she would be at 15. And now here we are… literally every argument and conflict ties back to that little rectangle that’s surgically attached to her hand. And we don’t even allow social media. It has highjacked her brain, it is literally rewiring our kids. To suggest we can “teach them to use it responsibly” when (1) the companies don’t give us the tools to control exposure (2) we can’t even figure out a responsible way to use as adults is so incredibly obtuse. Do you REALLY think all of us parents have just totally given up on parenting? Bc that is the only way mental health, attention, social issues could be such a huge issue, if tech (/social media) isn’t at least a part of it, controlling for all other variables, as the biggest thing to change around how kids socialize vs even 10 years ago. Yet we (working moms) spend more time parenting these days on avg than stay at home Moms in the 70’s. Everyone is a perfect parent until they become one. Or in this case, become the parent of a teen. I’d love to see you revisit this issue with actual parents of teens.

The music on this show is the best. Great all-around podcast!

Casey, we get it. You’re gay. Please stop mentioning your sexuality in the podcast. It seems that your personal life isn’t of interest to the audience.

Decent coverage about currently events in tech, but tends to have a strong anti-tech bias. I wish they’d do a better job not letter their personal politics skews their coverage or even just cover tech in a way that focuses on the positive aspects and possible futures.

I can’t remember how I found this but I’m so glad I did. This is the main podcast I look forward to each week. I really enjoy the hosts’ discussions and perspectives; appreciating their sense of humor and critical thinking on the week’s happenings in tech. In addition, I feel like this is one of the shows that tends to present tougher questions and discussion while remaining respectful with guests. Great job!

critiquing china for banning american social media companies and then encouraging america to do the same is a weird stance to take. I guess as long as meta, google and apple keep inviting you guys to their demos you’re okay with them stealing our data.

I’m to busy to write reviews, but I just have to. This is THE best podcast since the days when Radiolab was king. I look forward to this every week. Thank you all.

The content is generally good. The presentation is tiring — the hosts joke around but are rarely actually funny, they’re always yelling, and and you get the sense they speed up the recording and close up silent breaks, which just makes it all more frenetic. Beyond the hosts, the entire production feels like a game show more than anything else. Just, like, calm down already.

Having an old phone leads to interesting download behavior: I stopped automatically downloading podcasts months ago. The only exception to this is Hard Fork. It’s the one podcast which we listen to every week. Its a fun and informative listen.

That’s all I gotta say! + I love your music and 1 more thing…with all that’s going on we need a little fun! Thanks Casey and Kevin

About the Gemini bias controversy, I think that you and other AI pundits are missing something. Yeah, there’s underlying bias in genAI tools because of the human bias in the internet they all ingested, and in the case of Gemini images, Google “overcorrected”… But the OTHER thing about Gemini – it’s absolute refusal to answer questions about Donald Trump, the January 6 riot, etc. AND its biased responses to lots of other questions related to politically charge concepts or events (see the oped in WaPo on 2/27) … I can’t see how that is something that’s innocent! It smacks to me of the kind of censorship in China, where Tiananmen Square is barely a geographical location of some distant historical interest. I’m not picking on you, but I think that there is something much more alarming and Gemini than generating images of black Founding Fathers. Am I off-base??

I just started listening to this podcast and I’m so into it. The hosts are freakin hilarious. They get great guests. The topics are interesting and relevant.

I’m not even that into tech, and still, I think this is the best show ever. Even when they are interviewing someone I couldn’t care less about, I still enjoy it.

The absolute best tech podcast out there

Boycott all NYT propaganda

Kevin and Casey are so delightful and funny together! I love the banter between the two of them and they are informative about all the latest technology. So glad I found this podcast. Thank you for all your fun and entertaining work!

With Kevin this is a 5 star podcast. Casey constantly is dragging it down with “jokes” that are more like panicked accusations of everyone around him. I don’t know who hurt him in his formative years, but he’s clearly taking it out on big tech. Maybe they represent some kind of bad stepfather to him. Whatever the case, it’s beyond obvious he does not have journalistic integrity, he hates the subjects of his reporting, and he seems more or less unqualified to handle a lot of this source material. This show would be significantly better with Kevin alone, or a new co host.

As someone who is not deeply interested in tech… I’ve found myself, for some reason, absolutely hooked on this podcast. Kevin & Casey have great chemistry and are so witty and informative that I find myself becoming interested in topics that I didn’t even know existed before I found this podcast. Their witty banter is genuinely entertaining- I often find myself giggling along with them. Truly a gem that you don’t have to be in the tech industry to enjoy.

Pretty boring topics, and the hosts are annoying. Also, all viewpoints are pretty liberal.

I look forward to this podcast each. An insider perspective on what’s going on in the tech world, without taking things too seriously.

This is a must-listen podcast for me. I love the chemistry between the hosts the insider scoops and banter. Keep up the quips!

As a life long resident (and big tech employee) of Silicon Valley I LOVE these guys and this pod. I look forward to it every week. There are other pods focused on tech and they ARE good but these guys are still my favorite.

Update: I think it’s gotten better, but I’m on the edge of dropping it cause a few better pods have appeared. Better depth; the sub stack episode dealt well with the complex topic of free speech on the net. But then one more tedious episode on Musk. Ok guys, I get you don’t like his politics and anything negative you can find gets covered. And the guy probably is on a spectrum. But either mix in some balance (what he’s accomplished w more than just a ten second throwaway comment) or drop him as a constant topic. I prefer the latter cause it’s gotten boring and makes other things you say less believable (if you’re this selective in Musk, what else are you leaving out on other topics) (Previous review) Well produced, flows well, good length. But the topic coverage is light. And you’ll only hear 1/3 the story (the very left) of anything that’s remotely political. Lots of cheap shots of anyone they disagree with but I’m used to that on NPR shows.

Imagine two guys, who thought the internet would be really awesome in 2000, and started a podcast about the internet right before the dot come bubble burst, and then pivoted to hating the internet to deal with the embarrassment. That’s basically this podcast - it’s pretty ridiculous. These guys are super embarrassed they wrote/spoke positively about crypto in 2021/2022, and are now just committed to hating it to wash away the “stain.” In their most recent episode, they brought on someone they both admit they respect a great deal for the many amazing companies he invested in and helped build, and then proceeded to complain to him about how some projects they wrote about in crypto “failed” and how embarrassed they are about what they wrote. Guys, get over yourselves. As Chris told you multiple times in multiple ways, timing is everything, and just because something doesn’t immediately succeed doesn’t mean it’s a scam and you should ignore anything like it. Also, it’s pretty funny you claim Helium is a scam/failure. Pretty obvious you haven’t kept up with it lately - it’s actually starting to find its footing and do quite well. It’s very ambitious, but it’s looking more and more viable by the month. Which you might know if you weren’t so embarrassed by it you just decided to completely ignore and hate all things crypto. It’s a very immature response by you guys. You sound like children. Grow up.

I agree that Casey is distracting and throws the balance off with the “quips.”

Together Kevin and Casey together are great- I learn a lot! So thank you

The show hits all of my interests in tech and AI with relevant news and interesting guests. The vibes between the hosts are top tier. They seem to genuinely enjoy each other’s company and always give me a laugh. I look forward to every episode!

I was just coming here to say how much I love Casey’s hilarious humor. He always makes me laugh, and then I noticed the comment saying it’s too much. It’s not too much! I can only wish I had Casey’s sense of humor! Kevin is funny too obviously. Very funny. Both of you guys are killing it. Your devoted listener (who laughs and smiles while in public whilst listening to you)

This is a good podcast that could be great if Casey Newton would just back off on trying to make clever quips. It interrupts the flow with little awkward moments that could be avoided so easily.

The people behind this show just don’t get the difference between journalism and activism. Not sure if it is due to poor education, ego or deviousness but they don’t even try to have objectivity as a goal, though they don’t come out and say it - so if you want hosts telling you what to think, this is a show you’ll enjoy. If you want deep exploration of a topic which allows you to make up your own mind, look elsewhere.

You guys always make the start of my Fridays fantastic. You’re the best - keep up the great work!

Def my favorite podcast :)

The hosts have great chemistry. This podcast doesn’t speak down to me but it also isn’t full of jargon and industry shorthand. They interview their guests thoughtfully and cover a decent variety of topics! I find them to be fairly centrist with their coverage. They discuss Musk and Chat GPT/Open AI more than I’m interested in….but, to be fair, those are fairly important topics lately. My only personal complaint is that it is quite topical, so their library of content isn’t evergreen. I.e. if I go back and listen to an episode from 2 months ago, some of the info will be out of date. But it’s a news podcast so I won’t hold that against them in my rating.

If you are trying to get into a friend chat group with iPhone users that won’t let you in because you’re on an Android, then you need new friends. If you want encryption use Signal. This entire issue is a waste of time.

Podcast quality is good, but their production schedule is such that they are at least 2 weeks behind the news cycle. This makes listening to the latest episode feel like a time machine to a month ago. If they could provide more up to date coverage this show would be great.

I’ve been tuning into the “Hard Fork” podcast for a while now and have always been impressed by the way they unpack complex tech subjects. The hosts have a knack for making intricate tech news understandable and engaging, which is a huge plus for listeners who aren’t deep into the tech world. However, my listening experience has been somewhat marred by the podcast’s noticeable focus on criticizing X (formerly known as Twitter) and its owner, Elon Musk. While critique and analysis are essential, especially in tech discussions, the persistent nature of this criticism seems to overshadow the diverse content they could explore. Additionally, I’ve observed that the podcast occasionally veers into political territory, often adopting a stance that feels too left-leaning. While politics inevitably intersect with technology, the extent and angle of the political commentary on the show can feel unbalanced at times. This aspect might not resonate with listeners who are looking for a more politically neutral or varied perspective. In my opinion, the podcast would benefit from broadening its range of topics and perhaps reducing the emphasis on X and Musk, along with providing a more balanced political viewpoint. Doing so could offer listeners a more rounded and comprehensive understanding of the tech landscape. Despite these concerns, “Hard Fork” remains an excellent podcast for those interested in technology. It’s insightful, professionally produced, and often reveals new perspectives on tech developments. I recommend it to tech enthusiasts and hope to see a wider array of subjects and more balanced viewpoints in future episodes.

Content is good. Been listening for 5 months. Great lineup of guest speakers that suggests NYT clout. Positive chemistry between the hosts. My only turnoff is when they get political. I want their tech insights and not thinly veiled politics, but I suspect 2024 will be more political than ever …

hey, love the show, listen to it religiously. yet, disappointed that when faced with the question of [paraphrasing] "am I a bad person because I wrote a positive 5-star Amazon review after the seller offered [and I, the caller, received] a $60 Amazon gift card" for such a review. i hate to say i am especially disappointed in you, Casey, because you have always, imo, echoed the voice of "the people"–workers, disenfranchised groups devastated by ruthless, techno-mafia monopolies like Amazon, the ordinary folk which includes the small business owners who understand Amazon reviews make and break their business, i.e. their livelihood. While the caller already feels guilt for participating in this morally questionable scheme, I'm surprised that both Casey and Kevin, as well as guest Jenny, doubled down on the guilt and condemn the caller, failing to examine the oppressive infrastructure that Amazon, and Bezos, meticulously constructed—an environment in which a business can thrive or die based entirely on a mass of "reviews" which are widely dismissed, many of which are fake or gamed in some sense (with AI or paid–extorted–reviews), so distrusted that Mozilla has developed software to detect the "realness" (or virtue) of Amazon reviews. To the caller, make that money, girl. Those who are guilty the hyper-aggressive (bald) capitalists who have strong-armed small businesses and therefore exploited everyday consumers (me, you, everyone) into being complicit in this sham called Amazon reviews. I am sorry that these hosts, and Jenny, missed the bigger picture and failed to consider why this situation is a reality—profit if you can, no one should be defending the nonexistent integrity of Amazon reviews. Will adjust my review if this question is revisited and the caller is relieved of responsibility.

Had hoped this would be an informative podcast, but hosts strange obsession and constant criticism of Elon Musk is very off putting. They come off as self-absorbed and unfortunately tend to push a left leaning political narrative in a lot of their reporting that isn’t always reflective of best practices. I’d even go so far as to say that the show sometimes has the feel of the sort of dialogue one might hear at a hair salon, albeit with a tech angle.

That was funny and insightful, Jenny brought a great blend to an already delicious pairing. More please.

I can’t wait to listen to each episode every Friday. The hosts have a laugh-out-loud chemistry and their take on tech is spot on. I’m always learning something from some of the best journalists in this field.