Leah Feiger: When we come back we will share suggestions for viewing this week on wired.com. Welcome back Incredible valley. Before we take off, Makena told listeners what they should definitely read on wired.com today. Tori, what do you have to do with us?
Vittoria Elliott: Our colleague Kate Knibbs wrote that the looming malnutrition crisis follows the cuts in the United States International Development. I think that is really important because if you have worked abroad, Leah and we both work in international development or around these circles, then you know exactly how important U.S. food aid is. A, it is really helpful for farmers to get the U.S. government to buy excess crops and transport them overseas, which provides a very important market for American farmers. But in a humanitarian crisis like the ones we are currently seeing around the world, American food is the real lifeline for people in a serious situation. Kate’s report found that the food was wasted in warehouses because the Trump administration and Doge cut the United States Agency for International Development so severely, and in places like South Sudan, the children were hungry. I think this is a good example of systems that are not attractive to averages, and everyday people in the United States are crucial to the rest of the world, and frankly, it can really help the U.S. as a strong and supportive entity’s diplomatic stance.
Leah Feiger: Very good advice. Highly agree. Makena, what about you?
Makena Kelly: Yes. For Grok, this week has been one week.
Leah Feiger: ah.
Makena Kelly: Elon Musk’s chatbot finished Hitler mode this week and said some very horrible anti-Semitic posts online. But I think I would recommend everyone to read it, and here’s what Paresh Dave reported on Grok 4, a brand new version of the chatbot that was released after Elon and its company’s absolute chaos for a week.
Vittoria Elliott: Leah, what is your choice for the week?
Leah Feiger: OK It’s very different from both of you, and I think it’s a good thing and it’s a little lighter to end our notes. Elana Klein wrote an article about Zillow and how people find the cost of their friends’ homes, and the entire culture around them. This is in the cultural part, which is a great read. Everyone was chatting, fun, and was addicted to finding information about friends’ net worth. Highly recommended.
Makena Kelly: I’ll say I’m guilty of it!
Leah Feiger: Yes, of course you are. We are all.
Vittoria Elliott: I’m going to say that after going to a specific party in the past year, my partner left after saying, “You know, I’m starting to believe this person might have family money,” when I looked up at their Zillow stuff.
Leah Feiger: All of these articles we recommend are indeed the best. Like, “Oh, AI is Hitler now, USAID, Dooger, all of this crashed. That’s our show today. We’ll link to all the stories we talked about in the show’s notes. Make sure to check out Thursday’s episode Incredible valleyWe go deep into the mail bag and answer the listener’s questions, your questions. Adriana Tapia made this episode. Macro Sound’s Amar Lal mixed this episode. Kate Osborne is our executive producer. Conde Nast’s global audio head is Chris Bannon. Katie Drummond is the global editorial director for Wired.
