Material
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Material is a weekly discussion about the Google and Android universe. Your intrepid hosts try to answer the question, “What holds up the digital world?” The answer, so far, is that it’s Google all the way down. Hosted by Andy Ihnatko and Florence Ion.
- 1 hour 4 minutes557: Close to the Borders of Sad
Google employees plead with executives to place limits on the military's use of AI. Gemini faces its first major lawsuit. Google and Epic Games finally settled on something. And Android gets an integrated desktop mode.
Links and Show Notes:
Google employees call for military limits on AI amid Iran strikes, Anthropic fallout
Google Workers Seek ‘Red Lines’ on Military AI, Echoing Anthropic
Google faces lawsuit after Gemini chatbot allegedly instructed man to kill himself
Google and Epic announce settlement to end app store antitrust case
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6 March 2026, 4:00 pm - 1 hour 8 minutes556: Open Marriage
Samsung reveals its new family of Galaxy smartphones and invites Perplexity to hang out on the couch with it and Gemini.
Links and Show Notes:
A First Look at the Galaxy S26 Series: Samsung’s Most Intuitive AI Phone Yet
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Debuts With a Better Camera and a Built-In Privacy Display
Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Fix Everything You Didn’t Like About the Galaxy Buds 3
Perplexity APIs deliver powerful AI to the world’s largest Android device maker
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27 February 2026, 5:00 pm - 1 hour 1 minute555: 1212
Google reveals the Pixel 10a. Flo uses Gemini's music-making abilities to help recruit bands for the Warped Tour.
Links and Show Notes:
Google's Pixel 10a Brings Gemini Live and Satellite SOS to the Mid-Range
Exclusive: Google's secret 'Project Toscana' fixes the Pixel's biggest face unlock flaw
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19 February 2026, 6:00 pm - 1 hour 3 minutes554: Android 17 Fake Out
The Android 17 beta dropped this week... and then it was retracted? Supposedly deleted Nest camera footage plays a crucial role in the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping case.
Links and Show Notes:
Android 17 Beta 1 is here with major updates for adaptive apps, performance, and media
Google sent personal and financial information of student journalist to ICE
Google Fulfilled ICE Subpoena Demanding Student Journalist Credit Card Number
Google recovers "deleted" Nest video in high-profile abduction case
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12 February 2026, 7:00 pm - 1 hour 3 minutes553: Levers
Google made a ton of money last quarter, perfectly justifying why Gemini is here to stay.
Links and Show Notes:
Alphabet Announces Fourth Quarter 2025 and Fiscal Year Results
Google Books removed all search functions for any books with previews
Project Genie: Experimenting with infinite, interactive worlds
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6 February 2026, 9:00 pm - 1 hour 3 minutes552: The Ghost Inside
Chrome gets infused with more Gemini in the big update that hit this week. And Google's pushing hard for its AI to be seen as a creative tool.
Links and Show Notes:
Become the main character in a new city with AI features from Google Arts & Culture
How animators and AI researchers made ‘Dear Upstairs Neighbors’
Star in your own memes: Introducing Me Meme in Google Photos
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29 January 2026, 6:15 pm - 1 hour 10 minutes551: "The best place for kids and teens"
YouTube's CEO made some major declarations this week, including that it's the best place for your kin. And is Google Keep next on the chopping block? At least one of its core features is.
Links and Show Notes:
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23 January 2026, 10:00 pm - 1 hour 10 minutes550: It's Happening!
The thing that everybody said was probably going to happen happened, so let’s talk about it as a thing with facts as opposed to a bunch of rumors.
Links and Show Notes:
Grok being used to create sexually violent videos featuring women, research finds
Exclusive: Google VP confirms ChromeOS isn’t going anywhere, and neither is 10-year support
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15 January 2026, 6:00 pm - 1 hour 3 minutes549: Everything That Happened to Me Happened on a Dell
Happy New Year! It's back to business with the podcast. Let's talk about CES 2026 and what Google announced it's doing on your TV and in robotics.
Links and Show Notes:
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9 January 2026, 6:00 pm - 54 minutes 1 second548: In Defense of Santa
How did Waymo do during the San Francisco blackout? Also, a late addition to the Google Graveyard, canceled after 25 years of service.
Links and Show Notes:
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24 December 2025, 6:00 am - 57 minutes 54 seconds547: Such Pageantry
YouTube finally has the rights to the Academy Awards. What does this mean for the rest of the broadcast TV landscape? Another Google service was laid to rest in the graveyard.
Links and Show Notes:
UK to “encourage” Apple and Google to put nudity-blocking systems on phones
Google will end dark web reports that alerted users to leaked data
Bringing state-of-the-art Gemini translation capabilities to Google Translate
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18 December 2025, 9:00 pm - More Episodes? Get the App