From the desk of journalist and podcast host Evan Ratliff.
Latest:
> The new season of Shell Game is out, a miniseries of three episodes on the nature, makers, and meaning of AI slop.
> New story out in Bloomberg Businessweek, about the the expanding roles of chatbots and AI agents in the legal system, including AI as coconspirator, as snitch, as lawyer, as witness, and as criminal.
> Season 2 of Shell Game won a 2026 OJA award and a Signal Awards Gold Medal.
> Season 2 of Shell Game is complete! Despite landing partially at the tail end of the year, the show was a best of 2025 from Vulture, The Information, and The Economist, and others. It was a finalist for both The Ambies and the iHeart Podcast Awards.
> Season 1 of Shell Game was excerpted in an extended segment on This American Life. The team there did a masterful job of condensing it into a one-episode tale. It’s the perfect primer in advance of Season 2, coming on November 12.





