In today’s episode, Zoë Schiffer is joined by senior politics writer Jake Lahut to run through five stories that you need to know about this week—from how satellites are leaking sensitive data to what Zoë learned after interviewing Cybertruck owners. Then, Zoë and Jake dive into how federal workers ended up in the middle of a political fight that they didn’t sign themselves up for.
Mentioned in this episode:
Satellites Are Leaking the World’s Secrets: Calls, Texts, Military and Corporate Data by Andy Greenberg and Matt Burgess
A Plan to Rebuild Gaza Lists Nearly 30 Companies. Many Say They’re Not Involved by Caroline Haskins
A Quarter of the CDC Is Gone by Emily Mullin
Spit On, Sworn At, and Undeterred: What It’s Like to Own a Cybertruck by Zoë Schiffer
Federal Workers Are Being Used as Pawns in the Shutdown by Makena Kelly
You can follow Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky at @zoeschiffer and Jake Lahut on Bluesky at @jakelahut. Write to us at [email protected].
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Transcript
Note: This is an automated transcript, which may contain errors.
Zoë Schiffer: Welcome to WIRED's Uncanny Valley. I'm WIRED's Director of Business and Industry, Zoë Schiffer. Today on the show, we're bringing you five stories that you need to know about this week, including how federal workers are navigating layoffs and political interests in the continuing government shutdown. I'm joined today by Senior Politics Writer Jake Lahut. Jake, welcome back to Uncanny Valley.
Jake Lahut: Great to be back, Zoë. And could I interest you in a Cybertruck?
Zoë Schiffer: Oh my gosh, could you ever. We're going to talk about that today. Our first story, however, is scarier than a Cybertruck might I say. It's about how satellites are leaking all kinds of information from regular calls and texts to military and corporate secrets. Our colleague, Andy Greenberg and Matt Burgess reported this week that a group of researchers from UC San Diego and the University of Maryland found that roughly half of satellite signals are unprotected from anyone coming in and just eavesdropping.