Podcast Summary: This Week in Tech (TWiT) 1064 – "TWiT Best of 2025"

Episode Overview

Date: December 28, 2025
Host: Leo Laporte with rotating TWiT panelists
Theme: A celebratory look back at TWiT’s most remarkable and impactful moments from 2025, highlighting key tech developments, listener stories, reflections on the show’s 20th anniversary, and panelist discussions on technology trends such as AI, privacy, and product launches.

Main Segments & Key Insights

1. Celebrating 20 Years of TWiT and Listener Community

[00:00 - 11:13]

• Leo kicks off with heartfelt thanks for listeners, especially Club TWiT members whose support kept TWiT going through tough transitions, including downsizing to the Attic studio ([00:18]).
• Listeners contributed emails and stories from diverse backgrounds—including a long-time viewer working at USAA who was thrilled to hear TWiT praise their app ([08:29]), and a listener tuning in from prison, grateful for TWiT’s free access for inmates ([09:31]).
• Panelists (Dan, Harper Reed, and others) reflect on their first appearances on TWiT, reminiscing about early podcast tech and the evolution from analog recorders to cloud-based remote recording ([12:00]).

“We’ve made it 20 years, and it’s because of all of you. That’s something I’m especially grateful for.” – Leo Laporte [00:46]

2. AI in Media, Art, and Society

A. AI in Film Production

[03:40 - 07:00]

• Discussion of Oscar-nominated film "The Brutalist," which used AI (Reespeacher) to perfect Hungarian dialogue and generative AI for visuals, sparking debate in Hollywood about the “rightful” use of AI in creative arts ([03:40]).
• General consensus: the line between technology and art is blurry, but concerns mount around deepfakes and fully synthetic performances ([06:01]).

“There is some line... If we found out that Brad Pitt we were looking at was actually just AI, that’d be creepy.” – Victoria [06:01]

B. AI and Coding: The Rise of “Vibe Coding”

[16:28 - 23:41]

• Harper Reed details hands-on experience with OpenAI’s Codex and the workflow paradigm called “Vibe Coding”—prompting AI to generate code from natural language, even bypassing traditional IDEs ([17:19] onward).
• Leo and Harper discuss the implications: anyone can now “vibe code” apps, eroding the craftsmanship of coding but massively expanding accessibility ([18:44]).

“You have someone who’s seen a computer for 15 minutes and they’re like, ‘Yeah, I just made an app...and it’s perfect.’ And you see it, and you’re like, ‘Yeah, that’s pretty good.’... It removes the craft.” – Harper Reed [22:19]

• Both note historical parallels to industrialization (“we are all farmers, and industrial farming is coming for us”), and joke that code artisans will be relegated to the ‘farmer’s market’ of programming ([23:41]).

C. AI, Work, and Society: Job Displacement Fears

[34:18 - 47:52]

• Jason Calacanis and the panel discuss rapid job displacement due to AI, questioning whether Universal Basic Income can work, and how automation (e.g., robo-taxis, warehouse robots) shifts profit to corporations versus workers ([34:18], [39:46]).
• Concerns about the evolution of capitalism, potential for “a vast and growing underclass,” and deep skepticism about tech’s commitment to the social good ([47:52]).

“All of this really looks like it's not to make society better, but to enrich a small number of people, the executives... It's going to drive income inequality crazy.” – Leo Laporte [46:36]

3. Privacy, Hackability, and Everyday Security

DIY Privacy: Building an Anonymous Laptop

[65:09 - 74:33]

• Brian Wolf shares the story of building a laptop with no traceable connection to himself, assisted by ChatGPT and extensive pen-testing from friends, including anonymous VPN payment and public library Wi-Fi ([65:34]).
• Emphasizes both the power and peril of AI as a tool—it aids in making such projects more feasible, but confidently “hallucinates” errors if the user lacks expertise ([73:25]).

“What amazed me is how confident GPT is. That’s the problem: it’s confidently wrong if you don’t know enough to know that it’s snowballing you.” – Brian Wolf [73:25]

Legal and Structural Limits to Privacy

• Victoria and Leo discuss the difficulty of maintaining anonymity in the face of legal process (warrants, subpoenas), underscoring the importance but imperfection of technical and legal safeguards ([76:31]).

4. Reflections on Apple’s 2025 Product Event and the New Tech Marketing

[48:50 - 63:35]

• Panelists debate Apple’s recent event: few product surprises, a heavy focus on “design” as branding, the divisive new orange color (described as everything from “pumpkin spice” to “doo doo brown”), and shifting focus from media to influencers at launch events ([51:34]).
• Victoria describes her hands-on experience covering the event, and laments the increasing presence and priority of influencers over journalists ([61:42]).

“It was a weird event...Going in, you can assess what the thesis will be. This year, it was a little hard to figure out...when we got there...it became pretty clear the thesis was design.” – Victoria [51:41]

5. Community, Legacy, and TWiT’s Future

[78:10 - End]

• Leo closes the episode with a round of thanks—from TWiT staff to listeners—for keeping the community vibrant after two decades. Promises to keep bringing insight and fun in the coming year, hinting at more big tech stories to come in 2026 ([78:10]).
• Memorable quip in signoff:

  “As I have said for 20 years, and I have to say it again, happily so, another TWiT is in the can. Happy New Year, everybody.” – Leo Laporte [80:52]

Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• On AI in Film:
  “They used an AI tool from a Ukrainian specialist...to tweak Brody and Jones' Hungarian dialogue to make it sound more authentic. That has sparked outrage...” – Leo Laporte [01:46]

• The Craft of Coding under Threat:
  “We have all these details about farming, and someone’s just going to come in and replace all of us with industrial farms. We’re going to the farmer’s market.” – Harper Reed [23:41]

• On UBI and Capitalist Pressures:
  “It would be like unemployment or food stamps...the question is, will we create enough new jobs to make up for the ones that are lost?” – Jason Calacanis [36:32]

• On Influencer Culture at Tech Events:
  “These events...geared towards media...to see influencers have a bigger seat at the table and get prioritized was really interesting.” – Victoria [61:42]

• On Building Untraceable Tech:
  “Now I have this laptop that technically is not traceable back to myself.” – Brian Wolf [69:59]

Segment Timestamps

| Segment | Start | End | Notes | | --------------- |-------|-------|----------------------------------------------------------| | Intro & Community | 00:00 | 11:13 | Leo’s thanks, listener stories, 20th anniversary | | AI in Film | 03:40 | 07:00 | “The Brutalist” and creative AI debates | | Vibe Coding & AI | 16:28 | 30:02 | Demo/discussion of AI-powered coding, job impacts | | AI and Jobs | 34:18 | 47:52 | Jason Calacanis on automation, UBI, societal impact | | Apple Event | 48:50 | 63:35 | Apple 2025 event, influencer rise, product strategy | | DIY Privacy | 65:09 | 74:33 | Brian Wolf’s laptop project, privacy, AI guidance | | Legal Privacy | 76:31 | 78:10 | Legal limits of anonymity, First Amendment | | Closing Thanks | 78:10 | 80:52 | Staff, legacy, and the future of TWiT |

Conclusion

This “Best of 2025” episode blends nostalgia, sharp commentary, and hope for the future, highlighting TWiT’s steadfast commitment to listener engagement, honest dialogue, and clear-eyed perspectives on technology’s impact. The varied reflections—from AI’s disruptive power to the changing landscape of tech journalism—underscore TWiT’s continuing value as a home for authentic, accessible tech conversation.

For more episodes and community engagement, visit twit.tv. If you enjoyed this recap, consider joining Club TWiT to support their independence and deep dives into tech.