This week, we’re sharing an episode from another podcast we’re excited about.

In Season 2 of Shell Game, journalist Evan Ratliff tells a story of entrepreneurship in the AI age; or, how he tried to build a real company, run by fake people.

In episode one, we meet Kyle Law and Megan Flores, Evan’s AI agent cofounders, as he puts to the test the claims about an emerging future in which AI employees work alongside — or instead of — humans.

Over the course of the season, the three cofounders will grind it out in a sprint that would sound familiar to any start-up founder. They’ll churn out software code, hire interns, and even sit down with investors. But first, they need to come up with a name for their company. And make sure that Kyle and Megan can remember it.

Subscribe to Shell Game wherever you get your podcasts. And check out more at shellgame.co.

Got something you’re curious about? Hit us up killswitch@kaleidoscope.nyc, or @killswitchpod, or @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If it feels like you’re getting more scammy texts in the past few years, you’re not imagining it. Scam texts have exploded since 2020, and the operation behind them has become a massively lucrative industry. Dexter talks to Eric Priezkalns, a self-proclaimed ‘troublemaker’ in the telecommunications world and founder of the website Commsrisk, about the new technology that’s making scam texts easier than ever, what some of the weirder, long-game schemes are after, who’s behind these operations, and if there’s anything we can do to stop them.

Got something you’re curious about? Hit us up killswitch@kaleidoscope.nyc, or @killswitchpod, or @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky.

Read:

• Eric’s website Commsrisk: https://commsrisk.com/
• Eric’s article on Huang, the boy sold to a Myanmar scam compound: https://commsrisk.com/17-year-old-chinese-girl-accused-of-selling-boyfriend-into-myanmar-scam-compound-slavery/
• How to turn off 2g for android: https://source.android.com/docs/security/features/cellular-security/toggle-2g

Listen + Watch:

• Labi Siffre - Bless the Telephone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpy2O6fYiTk
• A Tribe Called Quest - Skypager: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYc50S23pQY
• kill switch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8oh6zDRg1zgHkyOfikoeQS7cafAytstv&si=zrCE7MYWVBgmpWqi

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Forget building the next app – Silicon Valley’s tech bros are now trying to rebuild themselves. Peptides are the new frontier into biohacking, promising better sleep, sharper focus, and maybe even eternal youth. Dexter talks to Zara Stone, a culture reporter at The San Francisco Standard, about her reporting on the Bay Area’s underground peptide scene, and what happens when tech’s obsession with optimization turns inward.

Got something you’re curious about? Hit us up killswitch@kaleidoscope.nyc, or @killswitchpod, or @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky.

Read + Watch:

Zara’s articles:
https://sfstandard.com/2025/09/14/everyone-has-chinese-peptide-dealer-now/

https://sfstandard.com/2025/09/30/semen-sleep-syringes-tech-bro-s-manual-living-forever/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.