In the days before his inauguration, President Trump announced his own cryptocurrency, TRUMP coin, a move that could stand to make the Trump family significantly wealthier. And now, Trump has offered investors something else– access to him, when he recently announced he’ll hold a private dinner with the largest investors in TRUMP coin. In this week’s episode, we talk about Trump's venture into cryptocurrency and the giant web of ethical concerns it presents.

You can follow our hosts on Bluesky—Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond.

When former national security advisor Mike Waltz had a picture taken of him last week, he didn’t expect for the whole world to see that he was using TeleMessage, a messaging app similar to Signal. Now the app has been hacked, with portions of data linked to government entities like Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and companies like Coinbase. Today on the show, we’re joined by WIRED senior writer Lily Hay Newman to discuss what this incident tells us about the growing vulnerabilities in government communications.

Articles mentioned in this episode:

• Mike Waltz Has Somehow Gotten Even Worse at Using Signal
• The Signal Clone the Trump Admin Uses Was Hacked
• The Signal Clone Mike Waltz Was Caught Using Has Direct Access to User Chats

You can follow Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky @zoeschiffer, and Lily Hay Newman @lhn.

In the year 2000, measles were declared eliminated from the United States. But thanks to declining vaccination rates, Americans may have to contend with a much scarier future for the deadly disease. Today on the show, we talk about the state of measles, and we explain the role Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, has played in the shifting culture around vaccines in America.

You can follow our hosts on Bluesky—Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond.

President Trump’s tariff standoff with China has caused chaos, confusion and major delays for companies of all shapes and sizes. As everyone waits to see what happens next, some businesses that depend on international trade are already feeling major impacts, saying that they might not meet their production deadlines. And one of those deadlines is pretty important: Christmas. Today on the show, we're joined by WIRED's Senior Business Editor Louise Matsakis to talk through the latest on tariffs.

Articles mentioned in this episode

• Donald Trump Is Already Ruining Christmas
• OpenAI Adds Shopping to ChatGPT in a Challenge to Google
• The Agonizing Task of Turning Europe’s Power Back On

You can follow Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky @zoeschiffer.

Under the new Trump administration, more and more visa holders and foreign visitors are being detained or denied entry at the border. It’s also becoming more common for people to be questioned or detained because of content on their phones, laptops and cameras. In today’s episode, we’ll tell you what you need to know about your carrying devices across the US border, and how to stay safe. Plus, we share some pretty spectacular recommendations for your downtime.

You can follow our hosts on Bluesky—Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond.

China has long been a really important market for Tesla and for Elon Musk, but after the rising US tariffs and rising competition in the electric vehicle market – Tesla may be on the outs in China. Today on the show, we’re joined by Zeyi Yang, senior writer at WIRED, to talk about what it all means for Elon Musk’s company.

Articles mentioned in this episode

• DOGE Is Building a Master Database to Surveil and Track Immigrants
• Stumbling and Overheating, Most Humanoid Robots Fail to Finish Half-Marathon in Beijing

You can follow Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky @zoeschiffer.

There have been a number of protests in the past few months pushing back against President Trump’s most recent policy changes, and we're likely to see more. Today on the show, WIRED’s Senior Editor of Security and Investigations, Andrew Couts, talks us through the technology being used by law enforcement to surveil protests, how surveillance tech has evolved over the years, and what it means for anyone taking to the streets or posting to social media to voice their concerns. Plus, we share WIRED tips on how to stay safe, should you choose to protest.

You can follow our hosts on Bluesky— Michael Calore is @snackfight, Lauren Goode is @laurengoode, and Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond.

The trial between the US Federal Trade Commission and Meta began this week—and the future of the company is at stake. The FTC wants Meta to sell off two prized assets, Instagram and WhatsApp, arguing that it acquired them illegally to suppress competition. Today on the show, Senior Writer Paresh Dave joins host Zoë Schiffer to talk about what we know right now about the government’s case—and what we learned when Mark Zuckerberg took the stand Monday.

Articles mentioned in this episode

• FTC v Meta Trial: The future of Instagram and Whatsapp is at stake