Apple News In Conversation

A medieval-monster slayer. A tiny alien named Roscoe. A talking plate of spaghetti. These are just a few of the customizable companions available through AI-chatbot apps like Kindroid, Tolan, and Character.AI. In her latest piece for the New Yorker, journalist Anna Wiener explores the rapidly expanding world of these products and the people who use them. She joins Apple News In Conversation guest host Sam Sanders to talk about the users she met who are in relationships with AI chatbots, the Silicon Valley creators building them, and the risks of forming emotional bonds with technology.

Last June, journalist Andy Greenberg received an anonymous email from someone claiming to be trapped inside a scam compound in Southeast Asia. The source, using the pseudonym Red Bull, said he had access to a trove of internal materials exposing the inner workings of the criminal operation — and that he was willing to risk his life to share them. Greenberg has now published Red Bull’s story in Wired. He joins Apple News In Conversation guest host Sam Sanders to discuss what he uncovered about the shadowy world of global scam compounds, and what happened when Red Bull tried to escape.

We are in the middle of a protein boom. Protein food products make up a more than $100 billion industry — and it’s still growing. In a new book, Protein: The Making of a Nutritional Superstar, health scholar Samantha King and sociologist Gavin Weedon reveal how marketing, industry interests, and cultural trends — not nutritional science — have turned protein into the most popular nutrient of the moment. King and Weedon sat down with Apple News In Conversation guest host Sam Sanders to talk about the real reason protein is everywhere, and how to think differently about your intake.

Twitter was created 20 years ago. Many saw the platform as an online public square — a place to connect with strangers, spark viral debates, and even launch careers and social movements. When Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, he began reshaping it in his own image, eventually rebranding it as X, and redefining how it operates and what it’s used for. New York Times technology reporters Ryan Mac and Kate Conger, authors of Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter, join Apple News In Conversation guest host Sam Sanders to unpack that transformation, and what it reveals about the future of social media.

The Academy Awards are finally here. The race to win isn’t just about art — it’s also about creating carefully orchestrated, big-budget campaigns. Katey Rich, awards editor at The Ankler and host of the Prestige Junkie podcast, joins Apple News In Conversation guest host Sam Sanders to pull back the curtain on what it really takes to win an Oscar, who she thinks will bring home the gold this year, and why — even in an era of streaming and shrinking audiences — the awards machine still matters for the movies we love.