Hard Fork – "Our 2026 Tech Resolutions + We Answer Your Questions"

The New York Times | Aired: January 2, 2026
Hosts: Kevin Roose & Casey Newton

Overview

In this lively and reflective New Year's episode, Kevin and Casey revisit their 2025 tech resolutions (with palpable honesty and humor), lay out ambitious (and sometimes personal) new goals for 2026, and dive into a wide-ranging mailbag of listener questions on tech, AI, ethics, and even the ancient mystery of the Turing Test. The show moves deftly from big-picture industry trends to granular advice and classic "Hard Fork" banter, all while surfacing moments of vulnerability, sincerity, and plenty of laughs.

1. Review of 2025 Tech Resolutions

(See: 03:20–10:14)

Casey’s 2025 Resolution: “Medium Good at Meditation with AI”

• Result: Admitted flop. Casey candidly recounts how despite good intentions, his meditation routine never developed into a sustained habit, even though AI (specifically Claude) offered thoughtful guidance.
  • Casey: “Every single time I did it, I felt very good. However, my instinct to meditate again was non-existent... it never became a habit.” (04:05)
• He shares that, instead, rediscovering “a sense of purpose” at an AI conference and re-energizing his journalistic mission helped his well-being more than tech or any cognitive intervention.
  • Casey: “The best thing I did for myself, though, was...I just kind of rediscovered my sense of purpose. That did more for me than any individual meditation session.” (05:08)

Kevin’s 2025 Resolution: “Be the Poster I Wish to See”

• Kevin resolved to be more active and authentic on social media rather than just lurking and complaining about online toxicity. Reports “medium good” success.
  • Kevin: “I posted more freely. I was less worried about...trying to sort of anticipate all of the potential objections or people who might get mad. I would just kind of let it rip.” (08:19)
• Casey counters, praising Kevin’s visible engagement and fun interactions online, but both agree that embracing a lower-stakes, niche-posting approach is healthy.
  • Kevin: “It is actually not possible to please everyone in your audience...I’ve started to feel okay with niche posting...It is salutary for me to sort of put my feelings out into the world to get some feedback.” (09:26)

2. Tech Resolutions for 2026

(See: 10:14–22:54)

Kevin’s 2026 Resolutions

• Get Good at Short-Form Video
  • Rationale: As all social platforms shift toward video, especially short-form, Kevin wants to figure out a style of high-quality, journalistic video that feels authentic for him—without succumbing to viral gimmicks.
    • Kevin: “Everything is TV now...There’s a lot of low quality short form video out there...But there are many more people in the world who like getting their news and information in the form of short videos.” (12:23)
  • He acknowledges the challenge for journalists: “There’s something about that format, combined with the earnestness of the average journalist...it does come across like a fifth grader giving a book report.” (14:39)
• Personal Resolution: Practice “Being Where I Am”
  • Inspired by observing highly successful people’s ability to be fully present (i.e., not checking their phones during important conversations), Kevin wants to compartmentalize his digital life and monotask more.
    • Kevin: “It was a lesson that you actually don’t have to know what’s going on in all the pockets of your life at once...I find it very difficult to just be present.” (15:11)

Casey’s 2026 Resolution

• Stop Changing Productivity Systems
  • The self-professed “world’s twitchiest and most promiscuous user of productivity software” pledges to stick with his current system—Capacities—for the entire year.
    • Casey: “I finally cracked it, Kev. I think I’ve cracked it.” (16:54)
  • He details his approach, mixing a daily journal, lightweight to-do list, and “blips” (tiny idea notes inspired by Andy Matuschak) which resurface via spaced repetition for inspiration and research.
    • Casey: “Every morning, it randomly selects five of these blips and shows them to me...it has made researching my columns so much easier.” (18:34)
  • He acknowledges the temptation to be lured by ever-improving AI journaling tools, but remains hopeful that his current stack will evolve with him.

3. Listener Mailbag: Tech, Ethics, and Balatro

(See: 24:57–59:56)

A. Podcast Name Origin

• The show’s initially intended focus was crypto; “Hard Fork” is a blockchain term for a chain-splitting event, symbolizing a break from old to new. The runner-up title was “Not Gonna Make It (ngmi),” vetoed by NYT lawyers to avoid conflict with Slate. Both hosts now prefer the current name.
  • Kevin: “A hard fork...is when you fork a chain like Bitcoin or Ethereum...and start over.” (28:05)
  • Casey: “Thank God for the lawyers at the New York Times, otherwise this show would be very cringy.” (27:53)

B. AI Santa Ethics

• A listener asks whether deepfaking Santa into home security footage for his young children is “going too far.”
  • Both hosts find it charming (and funny). Kevin’s only concern: “I am a little curious about the fact that you have so many security cameras installed around the interior of your home, but I won’t ask any further questions.” (32:03)
  • Casey warns, semi-jokingly: “There might be some blowback if you give your children the idea that...they can't actually separate truth from fiction anymore.” (32:35)

C. Corporate AI Hype vs. Broken Basics

• A pharma worker is frustrated that their company dedicates vast resources to AI while basics like WiFi fail daily.
  • Casey: “There is a view...which I call the New York view of AI, which is, ‘what can’t it do?’...But if you have a boss who says, ‘use AI for everything,’ and gives you no additional instructions, I understand why you’re very frustrated.” (34:08)
  • Kevin: “It is not mutually exclusive to say that AI can do incredible things, even within an organization that still struggles with basic technology stuff.” (35:51)

D. Data Centers in Space & Jurisdiction

• Listener asks if the real reason for data centers in space is to evade earthly regulation.
  • Kevin: “I don’t actually think that space is as lawless as it may seem...We have something called the Outer Space Treaty that says nations are responsible for what their citizens do in outer space.” (38:28)
  • Casey (riffing): “Space law is maintained by the Green Lantern Corps...they’re going to have Hal Jordan to answer to.” (38:51)

E. Model Poisoning and LLM Hallucinations

• Could bizarre chatbot hallucinations be due to AI rivalry and model poisoning?
  • Casey: “I would be very surprised if what you’re reading is the result of an effort to poison each other’s models.” (39:51)
  • Kevin: “The one other possibility...A lot of sort of AI companies...are doing distillation...whenever these models start seeming confused about which model they are.” (41:31)

F. Humanoid Robots & Child Attachment

• How concerned should parents be about delegating childcare to future humanoid robots?
  • Casey: “This has been a huge question throughout science fiction...Can mechanical love substitute for the biological kind?” (42:25)
  • Kevin: “Some tasks...are just that—they’re tasks...But I think Emma’s instinct to guard these interactive moments is right.” (44:58)

G. Deciding Which AI Models to Cover

• Several listeners ask why Hard Fork focuses on certain AI models (e.g., skips Copilot, barely mentions Grok).
  • Casey: “For us to be delivering you something every week that feels fresh and exciting, we’ve got to get to the frontier.” (48:00)
  • Kevin: “We should at some point do an episode about the boring AI tools that people are using...But as for Grok, I actually do think we should probably talk about Grok at some point.” (50:53)

H. Customer Service Chatbots & Responsibility

• Is a company responsible when its AI customer service agent promises something it doesn’t deliver?
  • Casey: (References “Moffatt v. Air Canada”) “...the tribunal in Canada called this argument, ‘remarkable,’ and said, the chatbot is just part of your website, Air Canada...You should absolutely go hog wild...you might be able to get it.” (52:41)
  • Kevin: (On chatbot mischief): “Do you remember that Chevrolet of Watsonville chatbot?... people were just going nuts trying to jailbreak it.” (52:46)

I. The (Post-) Turing Test

• Why was there no grand moment for passing the Turing Test?
  • Casey: “In some ways, the Turing Test was discredited before it was passed. Because...just because it can issue a convincing response, a machine is actually thinking.” (54:16)
  • Kevin: “The ability to hold a conversation is not actually intelligence...But this is a case of shifting goalposts. I think we should have marked this in some way.” (55:34, 57:02)

J. Balatro Strategy (Closing Fun)

• Daniel requests Casey’s latest strategies for the roguelike card game Balatro. Casey nerds out, giving specific joker combos and tips.
  • Casey: “Pair [Hanging Chad] with the Photograph Joker...that is usually enough to win the game. That’ll get you to your a hundred thousand score.” (57:38)
  • Kevin: “A thing that I have learned through playing Balatro is that addition and multiplication are different things...Balatro really teaches you to feel the exponential.” (59:03)

4. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Kevin’s Parental Realization: “Now that I have a three year old, I see that [talking to your kid about shipping logistics] was not perhaps the best plan.”
• On Social Media Courage: “There is actually not failing at meditation. You just haven’t succeeded yet.” – (06:58, via one of Kevin’s ‘meditator friends’)
• On Short-Form Video’s Rise: “Podcasters feel like they're being dragged into this video thing...I am trying to take a more open-minded and curious approach.” (13:44)
• On Expanding “AI” Coverage: “We should talk about the boring AI tools that people are using...I take this feedback, especially about Copilot.” – Kevin (50:53)
• On AI Ethics & Parenting: “There might be some blowback if you give your children the idea that...they can’t actually separate truth from fiction anymore.” – Casey (32:35)
• Casey on Productivity Monogamy: “You are becoming monogamish with your productivity stack.” – Kevin (17:41)
• The Turing Test’s Passing: “If you had shown a large language model to a computer scientist back in the early days...they would have died like a medieval peasant encountering Mountain Dew.” – Kevin (56:01)
• Balatro Wisdom: “You want all of your jokers to just be XML as fast as you can. Make that happen and you will win the game.” – Casey (59:42)

5. Episode Flow & Tone

• Language/Tone: The usual Hard Fork blend: wry, honest, self-deprecating, sometimes competitive (“my boyfriend... saw through space and time... well, great job, sweetheart.”), but also filled with real admiration for new tools and a sense of responsibility towards the listening audience.
• Pacing: Quick transitions (often via light roast between hosts) and a rhythm of deep dives punctuated by fun tangents, e.g., AI Santas, Green Lantern Corps as space law, closing Balatro nerd-out.

6. Timestamps for Key Segments

• 2025 Resolution Review: 03:20–10:14
• 2026 Resolutions: 10:14–22:54
• Mailbag, Part 1 (Name, Santa, Corporate AI): 24:57–38:53
• Mailbag, Part 2 (Data Centers, LLM Poisoning, Robots, Models): 38:53–50:55
• Mailbag, Part 3 (Chatbot Liability, Turing Test, Balatro): 50:55–59:56

7. Summary Takeaways

• 2026's tech landscape will demand adaptability—whether in media skills (short-form video), healthy digital boundaries, or sticking with what works (even software!).
• AI’s limitations are as real—and as worth discussing—as its powers; cultural and philosophical challenges (truth in media, labor, law, and parenting) abound.
• Hard Fork remains a space where curiosity, humor, and humility shape the conversation—the new “frontier” is as much about how we use technology, not just what’s next.