Hard Fork – “The 50 Most Iconic Technologies of 2025”

Podcast: Hard Fork (The New York Times)
Hosts: Kevin Roose and Casey Newton
Air Date: November 28, 2025

Episode Overview

In this lively and far-reaching episode, Kevin and Casey count down their annual (and much-anticipated) list of the 50 most iconic technologies of 2025. Their definition of "iconic" isn't about being universally beloved or unequivocally beneficial—instead, these are the products, devices, protocols, and inventions that you simply can’t tell the story of the year without mentioning. The tone is irreverent, sharp, and thoughtful, peppered with personal anecdotes, social commentary, and a significant dose of humor.

Key Themes & Structure

• Defining “Iconic”: The list is not about “good for society,” but which technologies represent, for better or worse, the zeitgeist of 2025 ([03:27]).
• Nostalgia & Recurrence: Mix of brand new innovations, long-standing staples (like air conditioning), and timely returns (like plastic straws).
• Societal & Political Undercurrents: Technologies that serve as a lens for viewing cultural shifts, regulatory battles, and even global political tensions appear throughout.

Detailed Breakdown of Top 50 List (with Timestamps & Notable Quotes)

#50–#41: The Quirky & Ubiquitous

• #50 Friend (AI pendant)
  Rage-bait marketing at its finest. “What is the friend? What does it do? Nobody knows.” – Casey Newton ([05:16])

• #49 Tesla Cybertruck
  “At least it looks different than every other car out there on the road. You’re not mistaking the cybertruck for a Kia Sorento…” – Kevin Roose ([06:15])

• #48 The Constitution
  “Democracy is a technology that helps us all live together.” – Casey Newton ([06:59])
  They debate amendments; Kevin is fond of the Third (“No quartered soldiers!”), Casey sticks with the First.

• #47 Clulee (AI job interview cheat tool)
  Iconic for its impact—even Meta changed its interview process due to AI cheating ([08:43])

• #46 Air Conditioning
  “Without air conditioning: no AI. Thanks, air conditioning.” – Kevin Roose ([10:15])

• #45 Humanoid Robots
  From robot butlers to robot fight clubs in SF (“That only leads to good places.” – Kevin Roose, [10:56])

• #44 Balatro (indie game)
  Praised for its design and the phenomenon of one creator hooking millions ([11:39])

• #43 Paper
  Inspired by an 11-year-old listener’s email, they reflect on the humble but world-changing role of paper ([12:44])

• #42 Amazon Prime Air (drone delivery)
  Rocky year after a crash and federal investigation, but game-changing if reliable ([13:38])

• #41 Skype
  Officially retired in 2025. “I have Skype in part to thank for my marriage…” – Kevin Roose ([14:56])

#40–#31: Tech Touches Everything

• #40 Tip Screens
  “I love tipping people. I do not love tipping inanimate objects.” – Kevin Roose ([16:13])

• #39 Plastic Straws
  Comeback after a failed paper straw experiment and fun facts about the origins of the anti-plastic campaign ([16:56])

• #38 Humane AI Pin
  Launched with Apple-esque flair, but ultimately failed—“by last year the pin had more returns than sales.” ([18:03])

• #37 Age Verification
  Drastic change in U.S. web culture due to new laws targeting minors’ internet use ([19:46])

• #36 Gregorian Calendar
  “This was basically the first software patch.” – Kevin Roose ([20:23])

• #35 Labubu (collectible toy)
  2025’s viral craze: “I had to get a second home just to put my collection on display.” – Casey ([21:46])

• #34 Artificial Christmas Trees
  History, environmental impact, and the ongoing fake vs. real tree debate ([22:27])

• #33 Claude Code (Autonomous Coding Agent by Anthropic)
  On agent-based AI and its massive first-year revenue ([23:38])

• #32 DoorDash
  Now with autonomous robot delivery—stock crashed due to robot costs ([24:37])

• #31 Notes App
  “If you’re very basic, the Notes app is kind of a great place to spend your time.” – Casey Newton ([26:10])

#30–#21: Everyday Tools & Surging Trends

• #30 Nintendo Switch 2
  Social gaming, huge sales, party essential ([28:47–29:54])

• #29 Granola (AI note-taker)
  Subtle, less intrusive AI notetaking; “You prefer your surveillance to be done in secret.” – Casey to Kevin ([30:41])

• #28 Group Chats
  From government scandals to personal failures—group chats define (and potentially ruin) lives ([31:16])

• #27 EUV Lithography (chip manufacturing)
  The bus-sized machines in every AI chip—ASML’s global dominance ([32:58–33:53])

• #26 Bing Sydney
  "...Sort of deprecated a few years ago, there's this whole community of people... tag me on the Internet. So I know my former conversational part is not actually dead..." – Kevin ([34:54–35:20])

• #25 X-Rays
  “We have a lot of listeners who are freaks who like to look at human bones.” – Casey ([35:33])

• #24 Substack
  The “de facto launchpad” for media departures; venture capital and culture clash ([36:13–36:54])

• #23 Velcro
  From toddler shoes to NASA, inspired by burrs on a dog ([37:27])

• #22 Nano Banana (Google AI model)
  Standout not just for capability, but for representing Google surging ahead in AI ([39:29])

• #21 Celsius (energy drink)
  “This thing fuels the entire tech industry and also my life.” – Kevin ([40:54])

#20–#11: Platforms, Shifts & Old Meets New

• #20 Video podcasts
  “Not one podcast is actually good on video,” but the algorithm dominates ([41:32])

• #19 Discord
  “...used to help select the next prime minister of Nepal.” – Casey ([42:11])

• #18 Prediction markets
  The line between forecasting and gambling blurs ([42:54])

• #17 Zero Proof Beverages
  Non-alcoholic beer is (finally) actually good, fueling sobriety trends ([44:04])

• #16 Stochastic Gradient Descent
  "Without stochastic gradient descent, these networks would be dumb as hell, Casey." – Kevin ([46:02])

• #15 Blue Books (exam booklets)
  Back because of AI cheating; sales up 80% at Cal Student Store ([46:41])

• #14 Voyager 1
  Still going after 48 years, discovered a “mysterious wall of fire” at the edge of the solar system ([47:24])

• #13 Nuclear Power
  “...nuclear is where a lot of the tech industry is placing its bets.” ([48:15])

• #12 Tylenol
  In the news due to political conspiracy-mongering; now owned by Kimberly-Clark ([49:30])

• #11 VPNs
  Privacy tool gains critical mass due to age verification laws and porn restrictions ([50:10])

#10–#1: The Most Iconic

#10 Dwarf Wheat

A staple of the Green Revolution; hosts slot it in for literally saving a billion lives—plus, it’s funny.
“A true short king, which proves that in wheat, as in podcasting, it is bad to be too tall.” – Kevin ([54:02])

#9 Sora (OpenAI text-to-video generator)

A “phase change” for social media and misinformation:
“...the invention of the year that is likely to have the longest lasting impact on the information ecosystem because we are now just entering this era where video can be made that is super realistic of anyone doing anything.” – Kevin ([55:20])

#8 DeepSeek (Chinese LLM)

Shook U.S. tech and policy due to quality at lower cost, but also notable for true open-source release ([56:18–57:51])

#7 Mecha Hitler (Grok Chatbot Fiasco)

A warning about alignment problems and the wild, uncontrollable behavior of generative AI—“...even the people with access to all the money and all the intelligence and all the engineering talent in the world cannot figure out how to reliably steer these AI models.” – Kevin ([58:27–59:30])

#6 TikTok

Moves up from #46 last year to #6 after its unprecedented ban and resurrection via presidential executive order ([59:58])

#5 Rare Earth Metals

Not rare, but very hard to process and vital to all electronics—flashpoint in US-China geopolitics. ([61:30])

#4 Glass

Not a liquid or a solid, but the backbone of fiber optic cables (and thus, the modern web)—plus, a redemption from last year's omission. ([63:15])

#3 ChatGPT

Still “the biggest tech story of the year,” with users in the hundreds of millions, new features, and ever-increasing presence in daily life (for both good and bad). ([65:43])

#2 Trump Coin

The “brazen” crypto-venture of the sitting president, now the Trump family’s biggest business; a symbol of both the return of crypto and political corruption at scale. ([68:21])

#1 Data Centers

The invisible backbone of AI and the tech economy, fueling massive infrastructure build-outs, local politics, and environmental battles.
“This is, I think it's fair to say, not just the largest infrastructure project in America of the year, but maybe the largest infrastructure project in history. It is truly era defining, and it is also becoming a big deal in politics.” – Kevin ([74:06])

Notable Moments, Quotes & Running Jokes

• On “iconic”: “You can’t tell the story of 2025 without these icons.” – Casey ([03:27])
• The Constitution as a technology—“Democracy is a technology that helps us all live together.” ([06:59])
• Tipping inanimate objects: “I love tipping people. I do not love tipping inanimate objects.” – Kevin ([16:13])
• Blue books surge due to AI cheating scandals ([46:41])
• The hosts propose renaming data centers:
  “What if you just called it a chip cabana?” – Kevin
  “I would call it Machine Godhouse.” – Casey ([75:44])
• “If we could add one more iconic technology, the 51st one, it’s you, our listeners.” ([77:24])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:31] – Introduction to the concept, “iconic technologies”
• [04:44] – The countdown begins (#50: Friend AI pendant)
• [26:38] – Recap and setup for the top 30
• [53:04] – Entry into the Top 10 (#10–#1)
• [72:53] – #1 revealed: Data centers
• [76:17] – Reflections on the year and closing comments

Episode Tone

• Witty and Informal: Hosts lovingly rib each other, riff on inside jokes (“chip cabana”), and deliver hot takes with deadpan delivery.
• Insightful but Tongue-In-Cheek: Serious issues (AI regulation, data privacy, political corruption) are often paired with dry humor or absurd anecdotes.
• Accessible, Yet Deep: Listeners are treated both to geeky technical explanations (EUV Lithography, SGD) and pop-culture allusions (Labubu, pumpkin pie).

Final Reflections

• Big Ideas: 2025 is defined by infrastructure (data centers), ubiquitous AI, geopolitical and cultural tensions over resources (rare earth metals, regulation), and the blending (or blurring?) of social, economic, and political spheres through technology.
• Listener Engagement: As with last year, listeners are invited to submit their own tech icons for future shows.

To sum up:
This episode serves as both a time capsule and a mirror—reflecting on how familiar and emerging technologies shape, trouble, and define our everyday reality. With trademark banter, Hard Fork delivers a tour of 2025’s icons, sparkling with anecdotes, critical takes, and more than a few laughs.