kill switch

This week, we’re sharing a clip from another podcast we’re excited about. Two Percent with Michael Easter is a deep dive into the science of living better, balancing rigorous evidence with a healthy dose of skepticism to cut through the noise of the modern wellness industry.
In this episode, Michael takes a nuanced look at vices and whether some of them might actually enhance your life when you use them the right way. We don't have to live like monks to live a good life.
We’re sharing the first segment of the episode featuring Dean Stattmann, a GQ reporter who spent three months sober and wrote a now-viral piece titled "Why My 2026 Resolution Is to Start Drinking Again." His Whoop scores got better, but his friendships, his marriage, and his mood got worse. Dean explains what alcohol actually does for human connection, what anthropologists call "costly signaling," and why moderate drinking might not be the villain the internet has made it out to be.
Check out the rest of the episode and the show, Two Percent with Michael Easter, wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube.
Hit us up: [email protected], or @killswitchpod and @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The wellness and health tech space is more crowded and confusing than ever – influencers are selling dubious health and beauty products and tech companies are developing wearables that track everything, from your sleep to your blood. Victoria Song, senior reviewer at The Verge, calls it the “wellness wild west.” Dexter talks to Victoria about the growing wellness trends online, the gray area between medical devices and wellness devices, and the mental health consequences of it all that no one talks about.
Hit us up: [email protected], or @killswitchpod and @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky.
Links:
Victoria’s newsletter, Optimizer: https://www.theverge.com/optimizer-newsletter
kill switch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@killswitch_pod
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AI agents can do stuff for you: like organize meetings or, accidentally delete your hard drive. Is this the future Silicon Valley wants for us? To get a preview of what it might be like, Evan Ratliff launched a startup with almost exclusively AI employees and documented the whole thing in his podcast Shell Game. Dexter talks with Evan about what it feels like to have a robot apologize for interrupting your lunch, why Clawdbot and Moltbook weren’t as groundbreaking as you might think, and why he thinks fellow journalists should consider using AI agents.
Hit us up: [email protected], or @killswitchpod and @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky.
Links:
Shell Game on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shell-game/id1753117762
kill switch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@killswitch_pod
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Direct File promised a free and easy way for Americans to file their taxes, but after two successful tax seasons, it was shut down. Dexter talks with Merici Vinton, who helped build Direct File, about the project's development, why it was an example of a good government program, and how lobbying from private tax companies and DOGE’s involvement ultimately led to its downfall. Could Direct File make a comeback, or has the opportunity for free tax filing already passed?
Hit us up: [email protected], or @killswitchpod and @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky.
Links:
Merici’s Direct File story: https://fas.org/publication/end-of-irs-direct-file/
kill switch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@killswitch_pod
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wartime propaganda isn’t new – but the use of AI slop in churning out propaganda videos is. And in this proxy war, Iran is winning. Dexter talks to Matthew Gault, who recently wrote about the Iran-US slopaganda war for 404 Media, about the strategy behind Iran’s videos, why the US is losing online, and how AI has amplified an age-old war tactic.
Read Matthew’s piece for 404: https://www.404media.co/iran-is-winning-the-ai-slop-propaganda-war/
Hit us up: [email protected], or @killswitchpod and @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky.
This episode was livestreamed on YouTube. Catch the next one live by subscribing to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/@killswitch_pod
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.